Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story (and Hikari) belongs to me.

A Day of firsts

Happy first Birthday, my sweet Hikari,

One year old already! It is so hard to believe! It seems that just yesterday you were born. You are growing so fast! And you are turning into such a pretty little girl! Everyone who sees you adores you. You melt the hearts of everyone you meet, even some of the villagers who hate demons and those with demon blood.

I'm very very proud that you are learning so quickly…But, really Hikari, most babies have Mama or Dada be there first words. And no matter what ANYONE says, I refuse to believe that "Blades of Blood" could possibly be your first word, well... sentence. Those were just babble sounds that just sounded like words. They were.

Luckily we were able to catch almost all of today's firsts on film. I'm grateful that Miroku and Sango were interested in how the camcorder worked and were able to catch them.

Your adoring Mama

Tears pricked Kagome's eyes as Hikari took her first shaky step. For a moment she thought her daughter was trying to walk to her... but only for a moment. Still, she cherished that moment.

Shippo had been trying to coax the little girl into walking every day for nearly two weeks. Some days, no matter how sweet and touching of a scene it was, really began to get on Kagome's nerves. A person can only stand to hear Shippo use THAT pitch in his voice so many times before wanting to rip off their own ears. But nothing worked. Not promises of treats or toys or sweet words and promises of giving her anything she wanted.

What worked?

Kagome grimaced. If the silver hair and adorable puppy ears on her daughter's head wasn't a clue that she was Inuyasha's daughter, this certainly would.

Ramen. Hikari caught a scent of chicken flavored ramen. She had been watching Kagome make dinner, her stormy eyes sparkling with interest. But so far she hadn't been allowed to try the delicious smelling food. Too high in sodium, Kagome had told her pleading husband as he tried to get her to agree to let Hikari have a bite. Inuyasha had grumbled to Hikari as he fed her the mush in the jars that were supposed to be nutritious. She tried to keep a straight face and pretend that she didn't hear him promise the little girl that as soon as she was old enough, he was making her the biggest pot of ramen EVER and they wouldn't let mama have a bite.

When Kagome was about to give Inuyasha his cup of ramen, she gasped as she saw Hikari study her for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision and began to pull herself to her feet using Shippo hair (who was used to Hikari pulling on his hair).

"Quick!" Kagome hissed, "Get the camera!"

Miroku had been already playing with the camcorder that Kagome had brought with her on her last trip to the future (a present from her mother, but in reality was for her mother so she could make copies of the Hikari chronicles for herself), so he was quick to get it aimed on the girl.

But before the prickling behind her eyes could turn into full fledged tears, Kagome noticed that Hikari's eyes were not on her, but on the cup of ramen that she held in her hands. One step turned to two, then three. She wobbled for a moment, then her steps became surer as she made her way to her mother. She held up her chubby little arms and looked up and Kagome with wide puppy eyes and adorable ponytails... with untied bows.

"She walked!" Shippo squealed. "She took her first step!"

Suki looked disdainfully at Shippo, and made a show of ignoring the group as she went back to drawing. Her twin sister clapped happily, and Sango bounced her son on her hip as she made cheered. Inuyasha's chest was puffed out as he reached out to pat his little girl on the head. As Shippo made sure that Miroku got the feat on camera,

Kagome stared at her daughter in amazement. The quickness of her steps was a little alarming. She may not be the most experienced with babies, but she was sure that they fell once or twice when covering the distance of a couple of yards their first time walking. It must be because of her demon blood, she thought. It was the only explanation.

Hikari made a noise and made grabbing motion towards the hot cup. Kagome smiled gently down at the little girl. She looked so cute in her little red fire rat robe. Inuyasha insisted Hikari wear it whenever they go outside, though it seemed to be the child's favorite thing to wear inside as well. It was a little surprising that it was in good of shape it was considering it was also Hikari's favorite thing to chew on. And that little girl's teeth were sharper than the average baby's.

"No no, sweetie, this is for your daddy. I have some mashed carrots and peas for you. Yummmmm. You can have cake tonight when we see Obaasan. Your grandmother has a huge party planned."

The little girl made the umphing noise again and reached for the cup. Kagome smiled again, then gave it to Inuyasha. She bent to pick up her daughter to praise her for walking all on her own.

But the praise would have to wait. Hikari wasn't interested in that. She ignored her mother and looked at her father. Her eyes narrowed as he pried open the lid from his cup of ramen.

"MINE!" Hikari bellowed angrily.

The word was clear as a bell and stopped everyone in their tracks. They weren't the burbbly sounds they were used to her making as if testing out how sound worked. Kagome was torn between parental pride of her child's first word, or mortal embarrassment at her choice of word. At least it wasn't one of Inuyasha's swear words, she consoled herself. A part of her mind wondered which word to put in the baby book as her first word...? 'Blades of Blood' or 'Mine'?

When no one moved to give Hikari the cup of noodles, she narrowed her pretty eyes, clenched her tiny fists, and let out a mighty roar.

"MIIIIIIIIIINE!"

Strangely, Inuyasha looked even more proud of Hikari. But lucky for him, he kept the cup of noodles out of her reach. Instead, he scooped her up and swung her around. The motion distracted her from the noodles and sent her into a bout of giggles. Inuyasha had barely stopped moving when Shippo jumped on to his shoulder.

"Wow! She sure can yell!" the fox kit said admiringly.

"Keh. Takes after her mother."

"WHAT?"

"Did you see her walk, Inuyasha? She did so great!"

"She sure did. She'll be running before long. You better have caught that on tape, monk. We'll show it at her party tonight."

She'd be... running? Kagome felt a little dizzy. Hikari was fast enough just crawling! She could barely keep up as it is, what would she do now that the little girl could move even faster? Sango and Miroku's hut was fairly baby proofed for their kids, but what about their home? Do they have things out of her reach now that she could stand and walk? She wasn't worried about her mother's place. That house was baby proofed before Hikari was even born. How would she keep her from running into the woods and into the waiting jaws of some demon when her back was turned for a moment? Or some demon hating villager who happens to wander into their village? Walking around she would be much easier to pluck from the ground by flying demons! Kagome began to hyperventilate.

Would she survive motherhood?

"Why does Hikari get two parties?" demanded Suki as she threw down her crayons. "She had a party yesterday! She got presents YESTERDAY! Why does she get two? I only got one! AND I HAD TO SHARE WITH HER!" She pointed angrily at Yuki, who then began to cry.

Yuki's crying got her little brother crying. Toutoi's crying got Hikari to start wailing. Hikari's tears panicked both Shippo and Inuyasha. Kagome watched as Inuyasha scooped up his daughter and tried everything he knew to comfort her. She went to his side and tried making cooing noises at the baby while he bounced her and patted her and made funny faces. Shippo climbed up to her shoulder and tried as well. But as long as the others were crying, she wouldn't be calmed. Miroku watched the scene with a serene calmness that Kagome didn't understand. Maybe he was just enjoying the sound of all the little voices.

"Will you do something about your brat?" snapped the dog demon.

The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees, and every single eye went to Sango, who had frozen in the middle of trying to comfort Toutoi. Even Hikari, the youngest, didn't even sniffle as the demon slayer's eyes narrowed at Inuyasha.

"What. Did. You. Say?"

Kagome prayed he didn't answer her.

But he did.

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"Really, Inuyasha," Kagome scolded as they walked (and limped) towards the well. "How am I supposed to explain to Mama that the reason we are late to Hikari's very first birthday party is because you picked a fight with our best friends."

Inuyasha growled. "Hey! If their brat hadn't started whining and throwing a tantrum then Hikari wouldn't have been so upset!"

Kagome paused a minute. Either she agreed with him that it was the monk's kid who started the whole thing, or she'd try to make him apologize. And he wasn't apologizing! He's not the one who threw the first punch. Some help Miroku was. Asking his wife to please not get blood on the floor while he took all the kids outside was not helping. Shippo had taken an interested Hikari, and Kagome was saying some stuff on the sidelines, but he hadn't really paid attention during the fight. He didn't think Sango did either. Mostly all he did was block blows. It wasn't really a fair fight. She had no weapons and wasn't dressed in her fighting gear. Motherhood, however, hadn't dulled any of her hand to hand combat skills though. He rubbed his cheek and wondered if he actually bruised with that last hit.

"Inuyasha," she said gently, making him suspect that a lecture was coming, "You can't call other people's children 'brats'. Especially Sango's kids. And most especially in front of her."

"But Suki started it," Shippo said, defending Inuyasha's actions. The kid came in handy sometimes. But then he frowned. "Inuyasha calls ME a brat ALL the time!"

Kagome sighed. "I know, and it isn't a very nice thing to do or say."

"HE calls ME an idiot all the time! And he IS a brat!"

Maybe they should try to cut the party short. He hoped Kagome wasn't getting sick, but it looked like she might be coming down with something. She seemed to be rubbing her temples a lot today. When she spoke, her voice was tight. Maybe her throat was hurting too. "Calling people an 'idiot' isn't a nice thing to do either. But Shippo is a kid."

"You call me an idiot too, though."

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU..." she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before blowing out the breath. "It isn't a very nice thing when I do it either," she said through gritted teeth.

Inuyasha grinned. It wasn't often his mate admitted to being wrong. He plucked Hikari from her arms merrily and lowered her down until her feet touched the grass. Shippo scurried behind her to make sure she didn't fall. The headache apparently went away as Kagome took one of Hikari's hands and he took the other and they made their way slowly to the well. His brilliant daughter, however, didn't even wobble as she walked slowly, but with great joy. Well, maybe once, but that was really Shippo's fault for assuming she was going to fall and startled her into wobbling.

"I wish I could go to Kari's party, too," sighed Shippo as they reached the well. "I bet it would be a lot of fun."

"Meh. Only if you like cake and ice cream and a bunch of other noisy brats."

"I LOVE CAKE AND ICE CREAM!"

"Inuyasha... you can't call the other babies 'brats', remember?"

"You ain't never even had ice cream, brat."

"But if it goes with cake I'd love it because CAKE IS SO GOOD!"

"Inuyasha! No calling the other babies 'brats'! Promise me!"

"Can you bring me ice cream back?"

"Keh. If I don't eat it all."

"KAGOME!"

"INUYASHA!"

"What?" He looked over at his wife in confusion, wondering why she looked like she was two steps away from going into purifying mode. He looked around, but didn't see what she could be so upset about.

H e watched as she took a calming breath. She counted to ten, which had him a little worried. Her counting to ten hardly ever worked. How in the world was counting supposed to keep you from getting mad anyhow? Generally it just irritated him when he had to count. It reminded him of all those math assignments that used to make Kagome wake up in a cold sweat, and occasionally screaming in fear. How in the world would she think that numbers was going to calm her was beyond him. And the deep breaths she was doing never helped him either. All it did was overwhelm him with the scents around him, and since whatever was around him was what was getting him mad, it was just going to make him even madder.

"Inuyasha," she said in a quiet voice, "What would you do if someone called Hikari a brat?"

"WhaWHAaaWwho...?" The rest of the sentence was lost in his haze of anger. "Who dared called her that? WHO?" He looked around for the monster who would call his sweet little girl a brat. "I'LL KILL THEM!"

"BRAT?" screeched Shippo. "It's not true! Don't listen to them, Kari! You are a sweet angel!"

"Tell me, Kagome! Who said it?"

"I'll bite his head off!" Shippo snarled, more vicious looking than Inuyasha had ever seen him. Ever red hair was standing on end, even his tail, and his green eyes glowed with anger. Well just too bad. Shippo could bite whatever he wanted with the scraps that were left when HE was done with them!

But instead of coming forth with a name, Kagome just took Hikari back from him and sighed. She leaned against the edge of the well and watched them as they made plans to slaughter the person who would say such things about the light of their lives.

"Calm down, you two," she told them. "No one called Hikari a brat. But do you see now how someone could get mad when you call their child a name like that?"

Shippo's fur smoothed somewhat. "No one called her a bad name?" Then he was back to himself and cooing to Hikari that of course no one would call her a brat because she was such sweetie. The babytalk got a bit much for Inuyasha, but at least his rage started calming.

"You tricked me?" he asked suspiciously.

"I didn't trick you...I just asked what you would do if someone said to Hikari that you said to Suki."

"But Suki IS a brat and Hikari is not." Kagome patted the spot beside her for him to rest beside her. He didn't trust it. That nearly always meant that a lecture was about to happen. "We'll be late for her party," he said in what he hoped wasn't an obvious attempt to escape scolding. Shippo noticed what was about to happen and squeaked out a 'goodbye' and disappeared. Brat.

"Inuyaaaasha..."

"SIT!"

Inuyasha flinched, but didn't fall. First he noticed that Kagome was laughing hysterically with a giggling Hikari. Then it dawned on him that it wasn't Kagome's voice that issued to command. Great. Of all the words for Hikari to pick up... At least when Kagome started her lecture, she was in a much better mood. He smiled at her, he couldn't help it. She really was beautiful. How had he gotten so lucky to have her, and to have Hikari. Hikari... a little bit of both of them.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Keh, of course."

She looked skeptical, but at least she didn't outright call him a liar. "I said, Suki is just feeling a little jealous and left out. Not only does she have to share everything with her sister, but she just got a brand new little brother who takes up a lot of Sango and Miroku's attention. And it is especially tough on her with Hikari there to also compete with for the attention. So if she starts throwing a temper tantrum or doing anything that seems a little 'bratty', just... try to cut her a little slack. It isn't easy being an older sister. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"So you'll not call Suki a 'brat' anymore?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'll try." He couldn't reeeeeally actually promise that.

"And no calling any of the kids at the party a brat either," she said.

He sighed and eventually nodded.

Then he kissed his mate... just because he could.

Hey Pup,

Happy first Birthday!

It'll be tough figuring out how to get all your gifts back into the house. We made three trips to get them all. And some were left in the future with your grandmother for the nursery she has set up for you there. I even took pictures of your face covered in icing. Hey, I think that's a great way to eat cake too. Don't know why everyone got all cranky about it. But at least we got a whole cake to ourselves, eh pup?

Oh yeah, be easy on your cousin Suki. You're mom thinks she's a brat too, but we just aren't supposed to say so. The kid gets jealous real easy since she's not nearly as special as you are and can't compete.

Daddy

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Author's Note: I couldn't remember what I originally named one of the characters, so I decided to try and find my story on fanfiction. I had no idea there were so many stories with Kagome and Inuyasha having a baby! I haven't read any of them, and though I was tempted to peek at some, I decided to hold off reading any of them until I was finished with this story.

Thank you so much for your reviews. I do appreciate them very much. You guys really make my day!