12 Days Later
Kagome yawned as she took a sip of her coffee. It was 7:30 in the morning and Keitaro was up getting ready for school. Amazingly, Ami was awake too, chattering excitedly about what she wanted for Christmas, which was in two days.
" Ami, sweetie. Why don't you think about what you want for breakfast. Santa already knows what you want for Christmas." Kagome sighed as Ami stopped talking, deep in thought.
Kagome took another sip of her coffee as the doorbell rang. She set down the cup and walked to the door, where Miroku stood in his police uniform.
" Uh, hey Roku. What's going on?" Kagome greeted as she let him in, and they walked to the kitchen.
" Oh, nothing. I just came to talk to you about something." Miroku said as he sat at the kitchen table next to Ami, messing up her hair with his hand.
" Mommy! Uncle Roku's picking on me!" Ami whined as she swatted Miroku's hand away.
" Leave her alone, Miroku. Ami, what do you want for breakfast?" Kagome asked.
" Hmm…..CEREAL!!!" Ami exclaimed happily.
" So let me guess, Miroku," Kagome said as she got out a box of Lucky Charms and a bowl, setting them in front of Amy, " This is about Inuyasha, huh? I knew it was too good to be true. I don't hear from him for over a week, and now he'll ruin the rest of my week by asking for something."
Miroku chuckled. Inuyasha had stayed at his parent's house, watching every last video he could get his hands on, " Yes, it's about him. He wants a chance to get to know the kids."
" That's bad news." Kagome sighed and rubbed her temples.
" It's not necessarily bad news." Miroku defended.
" You're one of those people that watch 'Gillian's Island' reruns hoping that they get off the island aren't you?" Kagome said sarcastically.
" Kagome--" Miroku started.
" No, Miroku. He'll just leave again and I can't put my kids through that. Especially Keitaro, he's went through that pain once already and I'll be damns if it happens again." Kagome said, trying to keep her temper under control.
" Ooohhh, Mommy you sweared!" Ami scolded.
" No I didn't." Kagome smiled as Ami giggled.
" Kagome, come on. Sango agrees with me." Miroku said
Kagome raised her eyebrows, " Oh really? Because she just told me yesterday not to trust him."
" Damn." Miroku muttered, " If she was talking to me I would've known this."
" You and Sango aren't talking?" Kagome asked. Concerned, " What did you do this time?"
" I don't know, I didn't ask her." Miroku said as he made a face at Ami, causing her to giggle.
" Miroku, Miroku, Miroku," Kagome sighed, " I'll give you the key to having a long marriage."
" You?" Miroku scoffed and smirked, " I find that ironic."
" Miroku I can help you get her to talk to you again. I'm sure Jiro doesn't like having you two not talking to each other.."
" Actually, he thinks it's hilarious, " Miroku sighed, " And thanks anyways, but I don't need your help. I'm not scared of my wife."
" Oh, have you remarried?" Kagome asked sarcastically, " But seriously, Miroku. I'll help you if you need it."
Miroku thought for a second then smiled, " I'll tell you what happened if you agree to let Inuyasha pick Ami up from your mom's house, bring her here, then go sledding with all of us later on."
Kagome furrowed her eyebrows and thought for a second, " Fine, Now spill."
" Ah, ah ,ah. Call him first." Miroku slid a phone across the table to her.
Kagome rolled her eyes and dialed a number, waiting impatiently for Inuyasha to answer,
" Hello, Yasha's House of Drugs. Can I take your order?" Inuyasha answered, his voice practically showing that he was smirking on the other end of the line.
" Inuyasha." Kagome sighed.
" Ahh, Kagome. My best customer." Inuyasha chuckled.
" You knot what? If you can't even take a simple conversation seriously, you can forget about getting to know my kids." Kagome growled.
" Aww, come one Kags. Where's your sense of humor?" Inuyasha asked in a sing-song voice.
" I married you didn't I?" Kagome said in a bored voice.
"There it is." Inuyasha sighed.
" Inu--" Kagome was cut off when she heard Keitaro yelling her name as he ran down the stair to the kitchen, " Hold on a sec."
Inuyasha listened as he heard Keitaro's footsteps, then Kagome's voice.
" What's the matter?" Kagome frowned.
" Mommy, I'm sick. I can't go to school." Keitaro smiled and help up a thermometer.
Kagome read the temperature, " Wow, 145 degrees. That's pretty high."
"Yep! I know!" Keitaro smiled, thinking his mom had fallen for his trick.
Miroku grabbed the thermometer and shook it, " You know, this sounds pretty serious. Maybe we should recheck it…Bend over."
Keitaro's eyes widened, " Huh?"
" You heard me, Bend over." Miroku said seriously, holding the thermometer in his hand.
Keitaro looked from Miroku, to Ami, to Kagome, then back to Miroku, before turning and running.
" Where ya going, Keitaro?" Kagome called after him, smiling.
" School!" Keitaro yelled as he ran upstairs to finish getting ready.
Kagome giggled and shook her head.
" Um hello? You still there Kag?" Inuyasha asked, bringing Kagome's attention back to her phone conversation.
Kagome rolled her eyes, " Yeah, I'm here. So Miroku told me you wanted to get to know the kids."
" Yeah, what do you think?" Inuyasha asked, trying to keep himself from sounding too hopeful, " Can I do it?"
Kagome sighed, "Yeah. So you pick up Ami from my Mom's house around 3:30, then come to my house. We're taking all the kids sledding. Don't be later!"
Inuyasha let out a sigh of relief, " Thanks, Kags. This…this mean a lot to me."
" Yeah, yeah. Just don't forget. Bye." Kagome hung up before Inuyasha could say anything.
Miroku smiled as Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to Ami, her expression softening, " Ami?"
" Hmm?" Ami was eyeing the cereal box.
" I have to tell you something really, really important okay?" Ami turned to Kagome, " Do you remember the man that was at Uncle Roku's birthday party?"
Ami scrunched her eyebrows and shook her head no.
" The guy who looked like Uncle Sesshy?" Ami shook her head again and Kagome sighed, " The guy I threw a cupcake at?"
Ami giggled and nodded her head, " That was funny!"
Yeah it was," Kagome smiled then sighed, deciding to just tell her straight out, " Ami, that man is your Daddy and he's going to pick you up from Grandma's house today."
Ami's eyes widened, " Really?…..YAY!!"
" Yea, yeah. Calm down and eat your breakfast." Kagome smiled, slightly, glad that here news had received a good reaction.
Ami giggled and looked at the cereal box, " Mommy, can I eat the box?"
" No, why do you want to eat the box when you can eat the cereal?" Kagome asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
" But the box is pretty." Ami protested.
" Yeah but…um…you see…"Kagome shot Miroku a look that said 'Help me'.
" Ami, you want to know the real reason why you can't eat cardboard?" Miroku said seriously and Ami shook her head enthusiastically, fully attentive to Miroku, " Eating box's can ruin your life. One day, you could end up living on the street in a box. Then you'll eat the box and be homeless!"
Ami nodded her head slowly, then gave a toothy smile and took a bite of her cereal to show she understood.
Later That Day
Inuyasha opened the car door and stepped out as Kagome and Keitaro walked to his car to meet them. Inuyasha went to the back door where Ami was, opened it, and sniffed, " What the hell? What did she do?!?"
Kagome frowned and knelt in from of a pouting Ami, " Oh. Apparently someone had a little accident."
" Apparently someone pissed all over the backseat of my car!" Inuyasha growled.
" I told you I had to go!" Ami whined,
" But why would you pee in my car?" Inuyasha argued.
" Maybe because she's only four! And besides you have leather seats. It won't be too hard to clean." Kagome said as she carefully helped Ami out of the car.
" Maybe you should've raised our kids not to pee in someone's car!" Inuyasha yelled as Kagome stood up.
" If you have a problem with the way I raise my kids maybe you should have stayed and helped!' Kagome took a menacing step towards Inuyasha, her eyes narrowed.
" Well I--" Inuyasha was cut off.
" Hey, hey, hey. No fighting in front of the kids." Sango scolded as she reached them and looked at Ami, wrinkling her nose, " Come on, Kiddo. let's get you changed."
15 Minutes Later
" All right, you've got you gloves, sweater, sweatpants, snow pants, snow boots, snow jacket, scarf, hat, hood, and water proof gloves." Kagome said after finishing getting Keitaro ready, " You ready to sled?"
Keitaro attempter to talk through his scarf, most of it coming out as a muffled mess. Kagome chuckled and pulled the scarf down, " What did you say?"
" I said, I don't think I can move!" Keitaro whined, looking like a giant, multicolored marshmallow.
" Sure you can." Miroku said as he entered the room, Jiro in his arms looking like another marshmallow, " If you can't walk, we'll jus turn you into a human bowling ball! Hey Sango, what do you think?"
Sango frowned, " Miroku, I'm not speaking to you remember?"
" Ok." Miroku shrugged his shoulders and made a face at Jiro, who giggled.
Sango put her hands on her hips, "Don't you want to know why?"
" Nope, I trust your judgment." Miroku smiled at he as Sango's eyes narrowed.
Kagome rolled her eyes and turned to see Inuyasha enter the room with Ami, ready to go sledding, " Okay, we're meeting Sesshomaru at the hill. Let's go!"
3 Hours Later
" I'm just trying to make conversation here! You always say we never talk anymore!" Miroku argued as the group made their way up to Kagome's house after sledding.
" Well, I didn't say it bothered me!" Sango crossed her arms over her chest.
" Can you two shut up already?" Inuyasha growled, readjusting the sleeping form of Ami in his arms, " You're giving me a headache."
" Inuyasha! I can't believe you just said that. Kagome did you hear what he just said to me?" Sango argued, although her voice was quieter.
" Surprisingly…I agree." Kagome kept her eyes on the two little boys waiting patiently on the porch for them to catch up, " If not for our sake, think of Jiro. I'm sure he gets tired of hearing his Mommy and Daddy fighting, especially since it's almost Christmas."
" Well…I guess--" Sango was interrupted.
" Mommy, can we have dinner?" Keitaro whined as they reached the front door.
" Pleeease Auntie Kagome?" Jiro whined next to him.
" Yea, In fact, Uncle Souta already took care of dinner. He's waiting inside with it." Kagome smiled.
" Yay, pizza!" Keitaro cheered.
" Nope, he made goof." Kagome explained.
" Oh…yay! Frozen pizza!" Keitaro cheered again and Kagome rolled her eyes.
2 Hours Later
Kagome sat back down in her chair in the kitchen after checking on the kids. Ami, Rin, Jiro, and Keitaro had fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie. The adults had gathered in the kitchen, reminiscing.
" Man, I remember the first time we found out you were going to be in a play." Sesshomaru said to Inuyasha, smiling at the memory.
" Ah, shut up man." Inuyasha grimaced at the memory while everyone else just laughed.
Flashback
A 14 year old Inuyasha sighed as he dropped his school bad on the living room floor before walking into the kitchen. He entered as Sesshomaru straightened himself from looking into the refrigerator.
" Hey man. What's up?" Inuyasha asked as Sesshomaru took a sip of his soda.
Sesshomaru turned to Inuyasha and spit out his drink, spraying everything in front of him with soda, his eyes wide, " Dude, are you wearing makeup?"
" Yep," Inuyasha smiled, " Because after today I'm Inuyasha Takahashi, student slash actor."
" Really? I was thinking something along the lines of 'Inuyasha Takahashi: Man slash woman." Sesshomaru smirked.
Inuyasha growled and leapt at his brother.
" No fair!" Sesshomaru laughed, " I can't hit a woman."
The two fought until the kitchen was a mess, which was how a very angry Izayoi found them.
End Flashback
" Man, we go our asses chewed out for that one. Mom was so pissed!" Inuyasha smiled.
" Yeah." Sesshomaru agreed.
" Oh, but nothing compares to how mad she was during our whole prank war thing between us and Sesshomaru's friends." Miroku smiled at the memory.
Flashback
" I'm sorry, Auntie Izayoi. It was just a joke." Kagome explained as she, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Koga cleaned the kitchen, which looked as though two tornados had town through it, literally.
" Yea, a joke that went horribly, horribly wrong." Inuyasha mumbled as he swept.
" I have a joke too. It's where my foot doesn't plow through your ass. Lets hope that doesn't go horribly, horrible wrong!" Izayoi massaged her temples, " I and sick and tired o you stupid shenanigans."
" But our shenanigans our fun!" Inuyasha protested.
" Yea, while Sesshomaru's shenanigans are evil and cruel." Koga added.
" Which means they're not real shenanigans at all." Sango pointed out.
" AHHH! Evil shenanigans!" Miroku let out a girlish scream.
" Oh, I swear to God. If one of you says shenanigans one more time, I'll beat you with a broom!" Izayoi threatened.
" Hey Kagome?" Inuyasha called to Kagome, who wasn't paying attention, " What's that restaurant you like? You know, the one where you can sign the walls?"
" Oh, you mean Shenanigans?" Kagome asked, oblivious.
Everyone else in the room 'ooohhed' as Inuyasha held out his broom to Izayoi, who looked ready to kill.
End Flashback
Kagome was in tears, laughing at the memory, " Holy crap! She chased us for like two hours!"
The others laughed for a few seconds before they heard Ami yell from the living room.
" Oh, I'll be right back." Kagome stoop up but Inuyasha placed a hand on her arm.
" I'll check on her, is that's okay with you." Inuyasha offered. For the entire day, he had been feeling more and more fatherly and protective f his kids. He loved to hear himself being called Daddy, and felt like they were a family again.
" Sure." Kagome smiled and sat back down, watching as Inuyasha left the room.
" Well, someone's changed." Sango said, smirking.
" I know. I just hope it's for good." Kagome smiled softly.
1 Hour Later
Kagome opened the door for Inuyasha to leave. Everyone else had left a little while ago while Inuyasha stayed to help put Keitaro and Ami to bed.
" Thanks again, Yash. For everything." Kagome said.
" No, thank you for giving me another chance. I know I didn't exactly deserve it, but," Inuyasha sighed happily and smiled, " I'm really glad you did. They're great kids."
" Thanks!" Kagome smiled a genuine smile before yawning.
" Um, it's late. I should go." Inuyasha impulsively bent down and kissed Kagome on the cheek, then froze," Uh…I'm sorry."
" What do you mean?" Kagome asked, " You missed."
Inuyasha looked confused for a second as Kagome stood on her toes, bringing her lips up to meet his. Inuyasha instinctively cupped her cheek, deepening the kiss. Kagome's arms snaked around Inuyasha's neck…when they heard a giggle.
Kagome jumped back and looked up at the top of the stairs, where Ami sat giggling, her hand covering her mouth.
" Mommy and Daddy were kissing!" Ami stated the obvious as she continued to smile and giggle.
" You think that's funny?" Kagome smirked as Ami nodded her head, " Oh, we'll see who's laughing when I send you a postcard from Disneyland. Get to bed, peanut."
Ami giggled and ran back to her room.
Kagome turned back to Inuyasha and smiled nervously, " Well I should uh…go check on her…um Bye!"
" Bye." Inuyasha hesitantly kissed Kagome's cheek again before walking out to his car, a content smile on his face.
Kagome closed the door and leaned against it, smiling slightly, before going upstairs.