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

Dear Baby

Dear Hikari,

You are my dear sweet angel, and I will always love you.

Things are going to be changing soon. I know it is going to be difficult, trust me, I know. So I'll need you to be brave and understanding.

And always remember how very much we love you. That will never change.

Your devoted Mama

Kagome put the journal in her pack and waited until Hikari was off drawing pictures with Shippo before she approached her mate. Though what she was about to tell him would affect them all, he deserved to be the first to know.

"Inuyasha..." she touched his sleeve to turn his gaze from the kids to her. "...we need to talk."

Suddenly she had his full attention.

"I didn't do it," Inuyasha protested, "It was Miroku's idea!"

"No, it's not that. I had something I wa..." She stopped in mid word and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You didn't do what?"

"Talk about what?"

Her left eye twitched. Kagome debated on whether or not she should push to find out just what mischief he and Miroku had been up to, or if she should go ahead and have the talk she had planned. If he was blaming Miroku, it wasn't bound to make her very happy, and she didn't want to have this talk while talking to a hole in the ground where she had SAT him.

With great effort, the miko managed to push her curiosity to the side and smile at her husband. The way her mate cringed made her suspect that her smile wasn't as cheerful as she thought it was.

"I...er... hear a call for help!" he hanyou obviously lied through his teeth... and fangs. "I'll just go see if everything is okay and will be right back."

She would mangle her brother for teacher her mate that particular trick. Inuyasha must have seen her brother pull that trick on their mother one too many times. And the thing was, there was no way she could catch him in a lie. Besides, if her brother taught him right, he could technically NOT be lying if he heard so much as a ladybug calling for help. Or the call for help may have been himself.

"Good morning, Kagome," said Sango as she rewrapped the cloth around her infant son, Kichiro. Toutoi, only slightly older than Hikari, still stayed close to his mother. The little boy rarely wandered far from his mother, unlike his sisters. Suki was quite the... independent spirit, and her twin was rarely far behind. Poor Yuki. Kagome wondered if the girl would forever be apologizing for her sister and picking up after her.

Kagome was nearly bursting with questions for Sango on how she handled things with her own children, but she managed to keep her tongue. After all, she needed to talk with Inuyasha first. If she could find him.

"Do YOU know what Inuyasha and Miroku have been up to?" asked Kagome.

As expected, Sango froze in place, and an aura of danger surrounded her. "Explain." Pregnancy did NOT turn Sango into a sweet gentle soul. If anything, it turned her fiercer. Sango placed Kichiro in Kagome's arm, detached Toutoi from her skirt and told him to stay with Aunt Kagome, then stormed off with a growl that could rival any dog demon's.

She would have felt sorry for Miroku if he hadn't ruined all her plans.

"Mama?"

Kagome looked down into a pair of blue-grey eyes, practically twice their size. Hikari's most powerful weapon... puppy dog eyes.

With a sigh, Kagome sat on the ground. Without fail, whenever she held Kichiro, Hikari had a sudden need to sit in her mother's lap and be held. It was easy to forget that Hikari was still so young. Her vocabulary was far beyond her years, and her father's blood had her racing around with the speed and agility of kids more than twice her age. She, too, had an independent spirit.

"Everything okay, sweetie?"

"I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, Hikari."

Hikari looked at her thoughtfully. Then twisted her mouth and squinted an eye as she was trying to think of something else to say. In moments she started getting twitchy. Sitting still was not one of the little girl's favorite things to do. It was almost funny that she self imposed her most hated punishment (sitting still in one spot) out of jealousy.

"Do you want to say 'hello' to Kichiro?"

"No."

"He likes you, you know."

Hikari shrugged. She was only interested in the baby when Sango or Miroku was holding him. She wondered how Sango got her other children to not feel like the new baby was an interloper. Suki was as protective as the baby as if she were his ferocious guard dog (though not how she would say it out loud) and Yuki acted like he were her very own babydoll. Toutoi though... he rarely acknowledged the baby. How did Sango handle that?

"Ban!"

And just like that, Hikari went from cuddly baby, to playful pup sprinting across the field to tackle her favorite playmate. Shippo abandoned his drawings to guard her as Ban's brothers started poking their heads out of bushes. Kagome watched as Hikari darted this way and that, confusing the older brother into tripping himself up. She grinned. Looked like her little girl was learning how to use her size and agility (and lessons on being wily from her older brother) to her advantage. The play dates were sure to be more and more interesting as the kids grew older.

"We shouldn't be encouraging those mangy fleabags to play with Hikari."

"Inuyasha..." Nothing like wolf demons to bring her mate out of hiding, "...be nice."

"See! She just scratched her elbow! Fleas..."

Kagome laughed, she couldn't help it. "Wouldn't it be funny if both of them had a fondness for wolf playmates?"

"That's not funny." He cocked his head to the side. "Both of them? Shippo doesn't care one way or another about those stinkin' wolves."

Kagome took a deep breath, then turned to face her mate. Hadn't she been rehearsing what she was going to say as soon as she was certain? After the nervous hanyou nearly destroyed her mother's home with his impatience the last time they thought it was positive, they decided it would be best to find out first and THEN tell him.

She let out her breath and touched her belly.

"Inuyasha..."

Before she could say another word he had her wrapped in his arms. His heart was beating so hard and so fast she could feel it through his robes. He was trembling.

"Kagome... Are you... Are we...?"

She laughed again, holding him tightly.

"Yes, my love, we are going to have another baby."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kagome and Inuyasha took a step apart. They looked down into the furious eyes of their daughter. The fury turned to heart break, and the girl bolted.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Inuyasha was grateful that Shippo had taken off after Hikari to watch after her. He had taken Kagome off to celebrate the good news, then set off to have a talk with his little girl.

A baby.

They were going to have another baby...

He was beside himself with joy.

And terror.

Hikari's birth had not been easy on Kagome. Would she survive another baby? He hadn't wanted her to go through childbirth ever again. He hadn't wanted to take the chance of losing her again. He was happy with one child. Hikari was the light of his life, he had never wanted more.

But another baby... two children. His family.

Keh, and no one thought he'd have even one!

Would the baby be another girl? Would Hikari like having a little sister? Suki and Yuki seemed to enjoy playing together. Maybe they would become the best of friends. A daughter...

Or would the baby be a boy? Kagome seemed to like having a little brother. He was barely able to muddle through being a father to a little girl... how would he teach his son to grow into a good man? A son...

Please, he prayed, please just let them be okay. Please let Kagome and the baby survive.

It wasn't difficult to find Hikari. He simply followed the heart breaking sound of her sniffles.

"Hey sweetheart."

Hikari curled into a tighter ball near the base of a tree.

"Come on, baby." He squatted down and held out his arms. As always, his heart warmed when his little girl ran into his arms and clung to him. He leapt up onto a large outhanging tree limb and got comfortable. "Big news... huh?"

She sniffled and nodded.

"You're going to be a big sister." He pats her head gently. "But you will always be my baby girl."

"I will?"

"Always." His ears perked up with inspiration. "Want to go to a trip to your grandma's house?"

He didn't have to ask twice. Grandma's meant chocolate chip cookies and strawberry milk. In the blink of an eye they were in Kagome's old living room. Souta screeched in surprise, making a bowl of popcorn go flying.

"Uncle Soda!"

"Hey pipsqueak!"

Souta brushed the popcorn off his pants and went to scoop up his niece and twirled her around. "You staying for dinner?" When Inuyasha nodded, Souta launched into a discussion of the newest video games that he had to show him.

"In a bit, kid. Going up to the attic."

"Sure! I'll let Mom know you're here? Is Kagome coming?"

"Feh."

"You didn't tell her you were coming? Oh man! I can't wait til she gets here! This is going to be great!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and took Hikari's hand.

"When your mom and I were younger, before you were born, before she and I were mates, she used to go to school. And not long before she was finished, she had this assignment about family. In a way, it was an assignment about you."

Hikari was wide eyed. "Me?"

"Yup." He opened up the attic door and put Hikari on the stairs to climb in front of him. His nose led him to the boxes that belonged to Kagome.

"She had this pretend baby that she had to take around. She had to pretend it was her real baby. Then she had to do all this stuff that was supposed to teach her how to be a good mom. We kept a journal... I mean, she kept a journal. And that's how we got the idea to keep a journal for you to read when you are older."

He opened the box, Hikari peering curiously inside, and found the old assignment folder.

"We took this pretend baby to stores to see how much babies cost. We took her to places that we would take our own baby one day. You." He pulled her into his lap and started showing her the different places they had taken the doll, and read to her parts of the journal Kagome had written. Leaving off the parts where she accused her teacher of trying to make her insane of course.

After they put everything back, they went back downstairs, where Kagome was waiting for them in the living room. Souta was sorely disappointed when there was no argument. Kagome just smiled at her husband and baby, and patted the spot beside her for Hikari to sit.

"I brought your journal," she told Hikari. "Your father and I have been writing in it since the very first day we knew you existed inside of me. Would you like me to read to you?"

Hikari nodded as she cuddled into her mother's side. Inuyasha sat on her other side and fluffed her hair.

"Dear Baby, I love you. I wasn't really sure how to start my first letter to you. So I figured 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." She kissed Hikari's head. "I will always love you, Hikari. No matter what. And nothing, and no one, can change how much I love you. And the baby will love you too. You will be his or her big sister, like Shippo is your big brother."

Hikari worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Can we get the baby a journal too?"

You are going to be the best big sister the world has ever known, pup. I just know it.

Daddy

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Hikari wasn't sure what she thought about a new baby. What if Mommy, and Daddy love the new baby and not her. What if Shippo didn't want to be her big brother anymore? What if wanted to be the new baby's big brother. Would they forget about her?

Suki said babies were nothing but trouble. They scream and cry and are smelly and wake you up all night long. Hikari didn't think that sounded like something she wanted in the house. But Yuki said they were sweet and adorable. Sigh. Sweet and adorable really didn't seem to make up for all the noise and smell though. Toutoi wouldn't talk about having a baby brother at all. Toutoi, Suki said, acts like a baby because he got replaced by a new baby.

Ban said he hated having so many brothers. He said they are bossy. But those are big brothers, not little ones. His little brother he said was a pest. Would a little sister be as big of a pest as Ban's little brother?

Her daddy always fought with his brother. But Mommy loved her brother, even though they teased each other.

Hikari didn't like getting teased though. And she didn't want to fight. And she didn't want to have a screaming smelly baby in her house and being a pest! She didn't want to be replaced! She hated the baby! She wished her mommy and daddy would take it back. She didn't want one!

"Hey."

Hikari didn't even know she was crying til Shippo started rubbing her face with the sleeve of his shirt. She hadn't asked Shippo. She wasn't sure she wanted to. After all... SHE was the little sister to him. What if he didn't want her? What if he never wanted her? What if he liked his new little sister more? Or if it was a little brother, would he never play with HER anymore?

"That's crazy!" said Shippo in a horrified voice. "I wanted you more than anything in this whole world, Hikari." He grinned, "Didn't know you were talking out loud, did you?"

"But I... I'm a pest..."

Shippo thought about it for a moment. "Sometimes. But so am I. Sometimes. It's what brothers and sisters do... pester each other. Doesn't mean we don't love each other." He held her at arm's length and stared at her in the eyes. "I don't know if you know this or not... but I'm a fox."

Hikari giggled and glanced at his poofy tail.

He took a deep breath. "And I have fox ears. You..." he said as he flicked one of her ears, "Have dog ears. So does Papa. And Mama has full human ears." Hikari stared at him. "Mama and Papa adopted me. I had a family before them, before you. They are gone now. I was alone and scared. Then Mama, Papa, and I became a family. When they told me that they were going to have a baby, that'd be you, I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the whole world. I loved you from that very moment. I knew that you were mine to take care of. Mine to teach. And mine to protect. You are MY little sister. MY family. And it's the most important, wonderful, amazing thing in the world."

"But... the baby..."

Shippo hugged Hikari. "You will always be my baby sister. And you and me will make a great big brother big sister team for taking care of OUR new baby brother."

"Or sister."

"Or sister," he agreed. "We'll be team Shikari!"

"Team Hippo!"

"What? No? Team Shiphik." Shippo brought out a new journal. "So... you ready to make the first entry?"

"Together?"

"Together!"

Dear Baby

Mommy and Daddy said I can be first to say hello to you. I am Hikari. I am your big sister. Shippo is our big brother. He's helping me write.

I will love you.

And you will obey me.

Sister

Author's Note:

Yikes, only one more chapter? Really? How is that possible?

Thanks for everyone's encouraging reviews. I really do love hearing from y'all.