Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.
Dear Baby
Dear Baby,
I love you.
I wasn't really sure how to start my first letter to you. So I figured that I should let you know the most important thing first. I love you very much. And no matter what happens in life, you will always have your mother's love.
Kagome chewed on the end of her pen. She wasn't sure what else she should say in her letter.
Yesterday Inuyasha had helped her clean up one of the rooms that was being used for storage in her family's shrine. They were going to turn it into a nursery. While they were cleaning they ran across an old assignment from school where she had to take care of an electronic baby for a month and keep a journal to record things. Kagome smiled at the name on the folder... Mikomi. Although it had been a pain at the time to write up things, looking back at it filled her with fond memories. Just naming her had been quite the ordeal.
She wanted her child to have a similar record to one day look back on and see just how much they loved her. At first Inuyasha had rolled his eyes at the idea, after all, didn't she graduate school so she wouldn't have to do anymore homework? But in the end he relented.
In fact, the journal she was using was one that he had chosen. She lost count of how many stores they had gone into to find the perfect book. What they found was leather bound in an old style with a wrap around cord to keep it closed. It was water sealed and nearly indestructible. Of course, they hadn't found one made out of fire rat hide like Inuyasha really wanted, but it would suffice. It wasn't a beautiful or cute baby book, but it would definitely be unique.
At her mama's request, the first thing they did was take a picture of her belly. Of course she wasn't showing, she had groused. The baby was only the size of a peanut. But her stomach seemed to mesmerize Inuyasha, and who could say no to her mother's warm brown eyes. Besides, one day she may like to see the progression. Kagome smiled at the picture on the first page. Inuyasha had 'helped' paste it into place. With the amount of tape and glue he used, there was no way it was coming loose. There was also no way to write anything on the page, so she had started her letter on the second page.
She didn't want to share the fears she had for the baby. She didn't know if she should warn him or her of the dangerous life she was about to embark on. Kagome giggled to herself.... em-bark.... Wisely she decided not the share the joke with Inuyasha.
Sighing she stood up, aware that Inuyasha was now on high alert. The poor guy was going to stress himself into a bundle of ulcers if he went into full protective mode every time she moved. Not to mention that it got on her nerves.
"Just going to the bathroom," she told her antsy spouse.
He jumped to his feet, worried and half feral. "Need me to..."
"No," she hissed. "I don't need any help."
If he was this jumpy in her relatively safe time, she couldn't imagine how much more stressed he'd be in his own time. She wondered if she should set down some ground rules for when they get back. No going absolutely crazy every single time she moved or someone looked at her. Or, heaven forbid, talk to her!
She opened the bathroom door and locked it behind her. Not that locks would keep Inuyasha out if he really wanted in. But he had gotten the hang of respecting the idea of a locked door at least. In front of the mirror Kagome lifted the edge of her shirt so she could see her belly. It looked the same. It was hard imagining that there was a tiny life form in there. She frowned at the memory of Souta referring to it as a parasite. She'd get him later for that. Not so much for making fun of her, but for worrying Inuyasha. He was afraid of this pregnancy as much as he wanted it. He was scared the baby may have claws and may not make a subdued entrance. He had nightmares of the baby clawing its way out. Not that he shared those nightmares in so many words, but she knew. And he was afraid what would happen to the child of a hanyou. His own childhood had scarred him for life.
Would... would people attack her child? She bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn't give Inuyasha such a hard time about being overprotective. Maybe she should start practicing with the bow again. Since Naraku had been defeated, she hadn't had much practice.
"Do you need some water?" he asked through the door. "Some crackers? Lemon lime soda? Lemons?"
Kagome dropped the hem of her shirt back down and smiled at the door. He really could be sweet. She opened her mouth to say no, then the nausea hit again and she was doing exactly what Inuyasha was worried that she was doing.
The door burst off its hinges as Inuyasha decided that locked doors really weren't his thing. Kagome didn't complain as he held her hair back while she threw up, patting her back gently and saying he was sorry over and over again.
Morning sickness.
HA!
Morning, afternoon, evening, didn't matter. She was practically living off of crackers and water. According to her mother she shouldn't be experiencing morning sickness quite so soon. But Kagome could barely recall a time when her life was actually normal. She wondered if she should visit Jinenji's mother to see how different giving birth to a hanyou was to a human child. Maybe she had some tips she could pass along.
"We should take you to the doctor," Inuyasha said nervously. "I think you have hyperemesis gravidarum. The book says six weeks for the sickness. You aren't at six weeks yet. We should take you now."
Kagome spat one last time and flushed. She HATED that book.
"I don't have hyperemesis gravidwhatever, Inuyasha. I'm fine."
"But the excessive vomiting.... you can't eat... you need nutrition Kagome! You'll get sick! Have you weighed today?"
She slapped his hands away when he moved to grab the scale. She was NOT setting foot on that thing again. EVER!!! Or at least for another week. She was worried any weight gain would be from lack of exercise and too many munchies in front of the television set. Inuyasha was very reluctant to let her do anything. There was a week her feet never touched the ground. Though she wasn't complaining about being carried, that was kind of nice actually.
"I'm not going to the doctor, Inuyasha. It just hit early. The book isn't going to cover when the baby is part demon, now is it?"
His ears drooped. "I don't want to lose you, Kagome."
She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "You won't lose me. You're stuck with me forever."
He planted a kiss on top of her head. "You might want to brush your teeth..."
A hairbrush whacked him on the back of the head.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
Morning sickness was going to kill him.
He couldn't stand Kagome being so sick all the time and not being able to do anything about it. He hated feeling so helpless. Kagome was so certain this was normal. Her mother didn't seem worried and she had given birth to two pups. But this was KAGOME!
The book was supposed to help him understand the changes Kagome was going through and what to expect. Her mother... his mother now, had given it to him to help ease his mind. He was grateful for the audio book, otherwise he would never have understood the strange words on the book. He had been practicing his writing and reading of words for some time now and was getting okay enough at it, but not enough to understand all that.
He smiled at the memory of Kagome catching him writing. He was practicing his letters in the dirt with a stick. They were words from her world. She didn't ask why he was learning, but had helped him anyhow when the others were busy or not paying attention. At first he wasn't sure why he had been so interested in it. Then he realized that Kagome was his life, and he wanted to be able to be a part of her life no matter where she was. So he would learn her words from her world. It had startled him at the time that no matter how the battle with Naraku went, he would follow Kagome wherever she went, and in whatever form he was allowed. He was hers as much as she was his.
When Kagome told him that they were going to be parents he was thrilled. For about two seconds. Then terror set in.
Him? A parent? He couldn't handle Shippo!
He was pretty certain that his mate wasn't going to approve of bonking their child on the head to discipline the pup. What did he know about parenting? He was raised with little to no memory of his father. And his mother died when he was so young! Sure he had seen Sango and Miroku with their two kids, but he hadn't been paying attention to how they were being raised, he was too busy making sure they didn't crawl off of cliffs. What if he messed things up? What if he warped the pup for life and it ended up turning into a deranged lunatic killer??? What if he messed up so bad that Kagome would think she was better off raising the pup alone? Or with that flea bitten wolf!!!!
He growled low.
The wolf would never harm his pup! Of course, Kouga wouldn't be the only threat to his little one. Hanyous were fair target to humans and demons alike. How demon would his pup look? Would it have ears like his or Sesshomaru's? When it got really mad would it turn demon? Would it have claws like his? Would it accidently hurt Kagome? Or would it be more human? Weak, unable to protect itself from those trying to rid the world of impure blood?
Would they have to escape to Kagome's time to be safe? There were fewer demons here. But what if someone found out the pup was different? He had watched shows on the television with Souta about how they experiment on people who are different. Kidnap them and keep them in secret holding facilities then force them to work as super agents.
Was there no place that was safe for his family?
He listened as Kagome rinsed her mouth out with the wash that smelled so strongly of cinnamon. He wasn't crazy about the smell or the taste, but it beat that minty one. Ick. He wondered if the pup would have her strange obsession with being clean.
Quickly he tried to pretend that he wasn't doing his own obsessing and tried to look busy fixing the door. He didn't know why they bothered with the locks on the door. One little push and they just break down. It wouldn't keep anyone out if they wanted in. In fact.... none of the doors were too safe. He would have to find a way to keep the doors extra secure while he was away. It would help protect them when he took Kagome back to the village.
His mate stormed out of the bathroom ready to yell at him for being rude... again. He used his own subduing spell on her (a kiss, he found, was the most powerful spell of all). Then scooped her up and took her downstairs and set her back down at the kitchen table where she had been writing earlier. He would fix her something to eat while she wrote.
"I'm not sure what else to say," she confessed.
He looked at what she wrote and read the words slowly. "Who says you have to write a lot? You say what needs to be said and that's that. You'll write more when it's time to write more."
Kagome smiled at him gratefully and he felt like he had just slayed a monster. She quickly signed Love, Your Mother below the lines she wrote.
He sat beside her and touched the journal.
"Can..." This was uncomfortable. He felt a little stupid for asking. The journal was Kagome's after all. But it was his pup too.... "Can I write, too?"
Her face lit up like a sunrise. He didn't feel so stupid after all. He took the pen from her and wrote his own note to their pup. His writing was slow, but it was steady. He was proud that he didn't break the pen or rip the paper.
Give your mama a break, kid. Stop making her puke.
Please.
Inuyasha
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
Author's Note: To clear up any confusion, this chapter takes place after the last chapter of Kagome's Baby.