That Night At the Inn

Modern Talks Part 1

Kagome reached out and pulled the sliding wood doors of the well house opened and smiled at her house. It was always nice coming home.

Though, more and more lately, she was starting to feel like she wasn't coming 'home'. It was more of the feeling a person got returning to their mother's for the holidays. It was always home but never actually home.

She started to walk out when she realized InuYasha wasn't following her.

She turned and saw him standing at the top of the steps, looking at her house like he wished dearly to never enter there.

"It'll be okay." Kagome encouraged as she held her hand out to him. "Come on."

"You mated a half demon." he said quietly as if afraid the sound of his voice might bring down the ire of her family on his head.

"Yes. And?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha thought back to all the moments he had been abused as a child. It seemed stupid to only realize it so late but what would people think of his child? He in no way wanted his pup to suffer as he had. The village treated him kind enough but he wasn't mating and breeding with the women. And Kagome's mother liked him fine when he wasn't impregnating her daughter.

People only ever liked him because he was strong enough to protect them.

Isn't that the whole reason he gained power? So no one would hate him, so people would respect him?

Kagome seemed to read the direction his thoughts had taken because she returned to his side and took his hand in hers.

"InuYasha, have I ever judged you about being a half demon?" she asked.

"No." he said honestly. In fact, she often acted like he was as human as her.

"In this time, we try not to judge people by what they look like or who their parents were." she leaned against his chest. "We judge them based on what they do and the choices they make. And you are the greatest man I've ever known. Mama thinks so too. So don't worry."

InuYasha nodded but looked unconvinced.

"Come on." Kagome pulled him. The only way to prove it to him was to take him inside to where her family was probably already having dinner.

She opened the back door and entered.

"Mama! Souta, we're back!"

"InuYasha!" she heard Souta cry as the sound of a chair being pushed away from the table came from the kitchen.

A second later her little brother was running down the hall.

"Hey, sis. Hey, InuYasha." he beamed. "How's my nephew?" he reached up and gave Kagome's belly one stroke as if greeting the fetus within.

"Kagome, InuYasha. Welcome." her mother poked her head out of the kitchen frame. "Give me a second. I'll fix you something to eat. Kagome, do you want anything special, dear?"

"Anything is fine." Kagome told her happily as she pulled InuYasha forward into the kitchen.

"Where's your shirt?" Souta asked.

"Uh, it was..." InuYasha hesitated, not sure saying 'the explosion destroyed it' would be a good answer.

"An explosion destroyed it." Kagome filled in for him and InuYasha flinched sure that, now, her family would realize what a bad match he was for her.

"Co-o-ol!" Souta exclaimed. "You survived an explosion?" The question was directed at InuYasha.

"Uh..." InuYasha wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh, is the baby okay?" Mama Higurashi asked as they walked into the kitchen.

Gramps was at the table eating and carefully not looking at either of them.

"The baby is fine." Kagome said letting go of InuYasha. "Let me help, mama."

"We're having steak tonight." Souta said happily.

InuYasha had had steak on a previous trip forward in time and had enjoyed the meat immensely. So he sat at the table with Souta who immediately started chattering as Kagome washed the two extra steaks so her mom could cook them real quick.

InuYasha wanted to bring up the baby, to talk to her family about it, but he wasn't exactly sure what to say.

'Sorry' was no good because he really wasn't. 'Oops' seemed honest enough but rude. 'I'll take care of your daughter' was only pretty honest if a bit formal.

So he just sat there as Souta chatted his ear off. The boy had stopped eating; waiting for them, but Gramps ate as quickly as he could then excused himself.

InuYasha watched him go remembering what Kagome had said about him not exactly being used to the idea yet.

"Don't worry about Gramps." Souta told him, smiling a bit. "He's just got his ponytail in a knot. He'll get over it."

"Souta, don't talk about your grandfather like that." Mama Higurashi admonished as she put the steaks into the pan. "Kagome, go sit down, dear."

"I'm fine." Kagome smiled. "InuYasha, are you thirsty?"

"I just made some lemonade." Mama Higurashi said indicating to the fridge.

Kagome served him a glass of the sour-sweet drink and, a few minutes later, he was eating with her family.

Souta kept talking though InuYasha tuned him out a bit. He was listening more to the conversation between Kagome and her mother. They were discussing baby names and the elder Higurashi was telling her own birth stories.

It was comfortable and, he imagined, not unlike similar situations that would occur in his time.

After the food was gone, Mama Higurashi stood and gathered the plates. "InuYasha," she smiled, "why don't you help me with the dishes?"

"But-" Souta started to complain, wanting to beat InuYasha at video games again.

"Souta," Kagome cut him off, "let's go find InuYasha a kosode shall we?"

"Why me?" he asked as Kagome stood up.

"We keep the traditional clothes in those boxes in the shed. You certainly don't expect a pregnant girl to lift anything heavy, do you?" she asked.

Grumbling, Souta reluctantly followed his sister out leaving InuYasha with his mother.

"InuYasha, bring the rest of the plates in here." she said.

"Uh, sure." Knowing when he was being isolated for a one-on-one talk, InuYasha gathered the rest of the dishes and followed her to the sink.

"You dry." she handed him a towel after he set them down.

"Alright." he nodded.

They fell silent as she washed and passed the wet dish to him. They only spoke when she was telling him where to put something up.

The silence was part enjoyable and part maddening to InuYasha. He was happy that she wasn't yelling at him and that she was comfortable around him. But it was driving him mad that she wasn't talking about it!

She finished the dishes without saying a word and took his towel to wipe off the table and he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Please." he pleaded a bit. "Just...say whatever it is you wanted to say."

"What do you mean, dear?" she asked wiping down the table.

"You got me alone to talk, didn't you?" he asked.

"No, dear." she smiled at him. "I wanted you to help me with the dishes so Kagome wouldn't volunteer. She's pregnant now and needs to get used to taking it easy until the baby is born."

"But..." had he been wrong? InuYasha was sure she wanted to talk to him. "Then why did Kagome lure Souta away?"

"She actually needed help getting those boxes." she assured him as she set the towel down on the counter. "They can be quite heavy. Or did you like walking around half naked?"

InuYasha shook his head, a bit flabbergasted. "So...you don't want to talk about the pup?"

"Pup?" she repeated. "Oh, the baby. Well, I always want to talk about my grandbaby. But I guess that's not what you meant, huh?"

InuYasha looked away, uncertain of himself.

"It's a bit soon for Kagome to be pregnant." she admitted. "At least by this time's standards. But Kagome is hardly a modern girl anymore. For your time, she's past the point where most girls would have had a baby or two. Am I wrong?"

He shook his head. "I know you're happy about a baby. But...me...I...?"

"When Kagome was little," she said petting her son-in-laws cheek, "I prayed that one day she would find a good man. A man who could protect her but trust her to stand on her own. A man who she could depend on and who would depend on her. A man she could love and trust with all her heart and who would love and trust her in return. I never said I wanted him to be a specific race or ethnicity. I just wanted her to be happy with him and he be happy with her. You are happy with her, aren't you?"

"Of course." InuYasha said immediately.

"Then I'm happy with you two." she reached out and hugged him tight. "I welcome you into my family with open arms, InuYasha dear, I always have. Never question that. Kagome knows who is good for her, I trust her."

InuYasha smiled a bit and relaxed into her embrace. It was a mother's embrace, an embrace he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

"Thank you."

XXXXXXXXX

"Here, dear." Mama Higurashi passed Kagome some warm tea as she came out of the kitchen, her own cup in her hand. "Where's InuYasha?"

"Thanks." Kagome took it with a smile. "He's out with Souta playing fe-I mean catch."

"How nice." her mother sat beside her. The TV was on but the sound was low and neither were really paying attention.

"I don't know what you said to him, but thanks." Kagome smiled at her mother. She had removed InuYasha's robe and returned it to him along with a new white kosode she and Souta had dug up. Tessaiga was resting by the back door with an umbrella and she had put on some comfy pajamas instead.

"I didn't really say anything." she smiled, taking a sip of tea. "Just pointed out the obvious."

"He can be a bit dense." Kagome said lovingly, staring into her tea.

"How long will you be staying?" her mother asked.

"InuYasha wants me to stay here until Naraku is gone." Kagome said. "I don't know how long that will be though."

"Naraku...He's the man we all hate, right?" her mother asked. It was kind of hard keeping track of all these people she had never met and only ever heard about.

"Right." Kagome nodded. It was odd; telling her mother what went on in the Feudal Era. Not because of the 500 year time difference. Not at all. It was odd because it felt no different than telling her about what had happened at school that day. "He's worried about what Naraku would do if he found out I got pregnant. I am too, truth be told."

Her mother nodded. "I understand that."

"He'll be leaving here soon, though." Kagome said. "For about three days. Tessaiga has a crack that he wants fixed. If Tessaiga is broken, he can't use it. And he's strong without it but he needs it to defeat Naraku."

"He's gotta do what he's gotta do." her mother agreed. "While he's gone, I'll take you to the doctor for a check up."

Kagome almost protested. InuYasha should be there for anything involving the baby. But a hospital with all of the chemical scents and sick people would be a nice little slice of hell to him. It would be better for him not to go. So she closed her mouth and nodded. "We'll get a sonogram picture and show it to him. I wonder what he'll think."

"Probably something along the lines of 'what's that little black and white dot'." her mother laughed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Nice catch!" Souta cried. What had started out as a standard game of toss and catch had quickly turned into an extreme version of fetch.

Souta would throw the ball as hard, as high, as fast as he could and InuYasha would go after it before tossing it back. It was fun and driving the ten year old boy to giggles at the impossible catches the half-demon could make.

"Too easy." InuYasha tossed the ball back as he got ready for the next pitch.

"You're going to be a great dad." Souta remarked in an off hand way as he threw the ball up high.

But InuYasha didn't leap after it and the ball bounced back to earth. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" InuYasha blinked, pulled from his thoughts. "Oh, uh, nothing."

"You totally blanked out there." Souta said walking to his side. "What did I say?"

"You..." InuYasha hesitated. "You really think I'll be a good father?"

"Are you kidding?" Souta beamed. "You'll be the greatest dad ever!"

InuYasha blinked then smirked. "Oh, yeah?"

The boy nodded energetically. "I know it!"

"So, you're excited Kagome's pregnant?" InuYasha asked feeling a bit insecure again.

Souta nodded again. "I knew it would happen sooner or later. I'm happy for both of you."

InuYasha laughed once, quietly. "You're a bit mature for your age, kid."

"That's what they say." Souta grinned. "Want to play more ball or go inside and bug Kagome?"

"Bug?" InuYasha asked, not familiar with the term. "Kagome doesn't like bugs."

"I meant annoy." Souta clarified. "Want to go annoy my sister?"

"No way." InuYasha said seriously. "When she gets annoyed I get a face full of dirt."

Ah, Yes InuYasha, and it'll only get worse when the mood swings kick in. it was nice knowing him huh? Thanks for reading and please leave a review!