A: N/: I forgot to explain the premise of this story. After the devastating loss of their first child as a newborn, it chronicles the memories, expressed in italics, and the real-time emotions and feelings that they experience in every-day life, expressed in normal type. More than likely you will not realize what happened to Sachio until about the fourth or fifth chapter, as only the first page of each chapter is dedicated to the memories section. I have deliberately decided to make it seem a little disjointed, because I am trying to portray through words, the simple fact, that although they, Inuyasha and Kagome, are trying to pretend that everything is fine, both know that it is not, and neither is willing to make the first move to fix the problem. Sorry for the extra long intro. Read on!

Chapter Two

Soft laughter filled the room, and he grinned. He'd known she wouldn't be angry. He'd watched the videos about how labor was supposed to progress, and Kagome filled none of the requirements. From the moment she came out of the bathroom and announced that she'd "made a mess", to the doctor's order to push, she'd been calm, serene, and beautiful. He stared in amazement as she laughed her way through another contraction, and braced for the next push. They had deliberately chosen not to determine the sex of the baby, and Inuyasha was anxious to see what they'd produced.

"I see the head!" Dr. Minamoto voiced loudly. "Silver hair and a pair of ears!"

Inuyasha glanced quickly at Kagome, and saw tears fill her eyes, her smile beaming at him tenderly.

"Come on Kagome, one more big push, and this baby will be out!"

Inuyasha hurried to the head of the bed, and grabbed his wife's hand, he watched her happy face contort into a grimace of effort, and heard the small moan she issued as she pressed down, and was amazed by her strength. He hid a wince when her hand tightened around his, and tilted his ears toward the end of the bed, waiting to hear that first intake of precious air. He watched Kagome's face relax, heard the doctor exclaim "ah!" and heard suddenly a small whoosh ripple in the air, his gaze shot to the foot of the bed, where a nurse had taken a small, blanket wrapped, moving thing and was holding it carefully while Dr. Minamoto, clamped the umbilical cord, and then whisked the bundle away, to be cleaned. Anxiously, Inuyasha awaited that yowl of irritation, and finally, finally, when the blanket was removed, he heard a loud crow go through the room.

Beside him, he heard a stuttering breath, and turned to see his wife, sobbing quietly, and knew that she too had been just as worried. Their eyes met, locked, and he knew that they had never had a more precious moment together. Quite suddenly a small bundled was placed on Kagome's stomach, and the nurse whispered the word congratulations. Inuyasha looked up and realized the whole room had cleared.

"So, Daddy, would you like to see?" Her voice wavered and he knew that she must be exhausted and yet she was still going. Ever so slowly he reached out a hand, and picked up the small bundle; carefully he untangled the complicated tucking and folding of the blanket, and got his first glimpse at his son. There were no words. He felt his eyes grow moist and blinked hurriedly, but it didn't work. He was beautiful, all righteous indignation, with his tiny balled up fists, and angrily squinted eyes, but he could still make out the tiny claws and the golden eyes. His ears were still folded down to his head, still moist and feebly moving, trying to get into an upright position. He looked at his silent wife, and said, with a voice that cracked: "It's a boy. It's a boy."

She smiled, because she'd known all along that this baby was going to be a boy, and said in that same exhausted, delighted voice, "Sachio. Let's name him Sachio."

"Fortunate. I like it." The smile in his voice and on his face said more than enough.

Inuyasha came to with a start. His first coherent thought was that it was a dream. His second was to wonder where he was. He quickly assessed his surroundings and found that he was in his bed, lying next to Kagome, who was moving fitfully in her sleep. Quietly, he moved the covers to the side, and slipped out of the bed, before re-tucking his wife in and heading to the living room.

He stroked a fire in the depths of the fireplace, before reaching to grab a few photo albums from one of the nearby bookshelves. He smiled in wonder. In just four shorts months, Kagome had managed to chronicle every moment of Sachio's young life, from the very moment he was born, to the fleeting moments before his death. Not for the first time since the loss, he cursed himself, and he cursed Kagome. How could the two of them, who had defeated demon after demon, finished the Sacred Jewel, destroyed Naraku, and forged a life together in feudal Japan as a miko and a half-demon fail to save their biggest treasure? Not even his demon speed and strength, not even her arrows and healing miko aura could have prevented this tragedy. He heard a sharp gasp from the door, and whipped his head to the door with a feral growl.

Kagome stared at the shattered bookshelf, and perversely found herself wondering when she could make a trip to IKEA to buy another BILLY bookcase. Her husband was staring at her with those ferocious glowing red eyes of his, and it made her want to tear her hair out by the roots. Why? Why did he have to be alone to express his anguish? In that first week, she had watched him as he sat at the kitchen table and stared at the wall phone, as if he would suddenly get a phone call, telling them that it was all a horrendous mistake, and wondered if he realized that she was slowly dying inside. The week after that, she came into the kitchen to find him gone, and realized that his car was gone. She'd waited patiently for him to return and when he finally had; he'd walked through the door fell on his knees, placed his head on her stomach and wept. That was the first and last display of any real emotion she'd seen to date.

Carefully, she walked over to Inuyasha, ignoring the growls coming from deep in his throat, and enveloped him in a tight hug. The growling increased in volume, until it was almost a roar, and Kagome felt her shoulder shake with the sobs that she was attempting to repress. Her world was crashing around her, and her only solace, Inuyasha, was nowhere to be found when she needed him, it was always a charade with them now. Suddenly she realized that growling had subsided. That his warm solid arms had wrapped around her shaking frame, and that soft, wet thumps were hitting her on the head. She lifted her head, and stared into Inuyasha's beautiful golden gaze and realized that he was crying, crying with her. Her heart shattered all over again. The careful guard she'd managed to build around herself dissipated and she lurched into his chest and cried all over again.

Inuyasha woke slowly the next day, stretching comfortably under the slight weight on his chest, and repositioned his arm. Gradually, he let himself awaken, one sense at a time. He twitched his noise, and inhaled deeply of the sweet jasmine scent surrounding him. Tilted his ears, and heard the familiar soft purr of his wife's snore. Finally he blinked open his eyes and looked down. He was surprised to see that it was actually his wife, draped across his body, and not a mirage. It had been awhile since he'd touched her and now it just felt awkward. He could see the puffiness underneath her eyes that had come from her tears, and smiled at the soft gurgle she made when he ran his finger softly underneath her eye. Slowly he moved her to the side, stood up and cradled her in his arms, before walking with her to the bedroom, where she moaned softly, before reaching around for a pillow, and snuggling around it.

Forty minutes later, after taking a warm shower and putting on a fitted navy polo, gray slacks, and black half-rimmed sunglasses, Inuyasha slipped into black leather loafers, kissed his wife goodbye and headed off for his regular Monday afternoon lunch spot.

Miroku smirked as he walked past his wife on the way to the front door. Slapping her lightly on the behind as he passed, he grinned when he heard the regular outraged shout. He opened the door, and smiled as he saw the usual gruff exterior of Inuyasha's scowling face.

"Hey!"

He was rewarded with a grunt and a rough nudge to the side. Sango rushed to the front of the house as fast as she could, given the extra weight she was carrying, and Miroku saw the brief flash of pain in his friend's eyes before he pasted on an obviously fake smile and gave Sango a hug.

"Inuyasha! How is she, I've been worried about going to see her in my present condition. I'm not sure about how she'd respond."

"Yeah, I'd say that's the right choice to make." Inuyasha blatantly ignored the hurt he saw on Sango's face. He hated the fact the he could no longer have a casual lunch or dinner date with his friends and his wife, or his family. But he couldn't bring her to come outside of the house for anything but work and groceries.

He saw Miroku wrap his arm around Sango's waist in a silent display of comfort and found himself feeling like a slight ass. Unsure what to do, he asked cheerfully: "What's for lunch?"