Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.
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Month 8 part 2
"Kagome." Sango looked her best friend dead in the eye. "We have a huge-almost-kinda-not-really-but-it-actually-kind-of-is problem."
"Uhhh...What?" Kagome looked at her funny.
They were shopping for baby stuff. Things they would need once it was here. Bottles, diapers, baby wipes, powder, baby soap, ect, ect. Kagome had asked her to go to the pharmacy section and get her some baby vitamins and she had come back with two boxes in her hand that Kagome couldn't identify and a frightened expression on her face.
"We, and I mean me, have a huge-almost-kinda-not-really-but-it-actually-kind-of-is problem!" Sango repeated.
"What are you talking about? What huge-almost-uh-kind-of problem?" Kagome asked turning her attention away from the extremely soft baby blankets.
"This huge-almost-kind-of problem!" Sango shoved one of the boxes into Kagome's hands.
Confused, Kagome looked at it.
It was a home pregnancy test.
Before she could ask, Sango was talking.
"Remember when I was PMSing at your baby shower? Well I was in a bad mood because I had been feeling nauseous and tired all week! I'm not sick, I'm not coughing or anything, but I've been throwing up a lot. I thought I had a stomach virus or something but as I was trying to find the vitamins I saw this! Then I started thinking-"
"Slow down." Kagome cut her off because, in her worry, she had begun talking too fast to understand. "Are you late?"
"Yes." Sango moaned. "I didn't even notice until I saw the box and it hit me! Oh, kami, Kagome what if I am?"
"You should talk to Miroku about this." Kagome said passing her the box back.
"Kagome, I can't do that!" Sango very nearly wailed. "What if it's positive and he doesn't want it?" She gasped. "Or-or what if it's negative and he does want it? Or if it's positive and he does want it! Kagome, what do I do!"
"You take a deep breath and calm down." Kagome said putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.
Sango did as she was told, still looking panicked.
"Okay, this is what we're going to do." Kagome said slowly and in a calm voice. "We're going to buy this test and go back to me and Inuyasha's place. Then you're going to take this test. If it comes out negative, nothing to worry about. We throw the test away and no one needs to know. If it is, you need to talk to Miroku. Especially if you're pre-"
"Don't! Say it." Sango cut her off, her eyes shut.
Kagome smiled at her. "Put the test in the cart Sango and we'll get you to my place in a moment. Deep breaths. It's going to be okay."
Sango was pacing in Kagome and Inuyasha's room.
Inuyasha was across the hall still trying to finish wallpapering Inumaru's room. Kagome had offered him assistance but he had said since she was making the baby without his help he could make the room without her help. So they were assured of their privacy though his curses did float between the walls at regular intervals.
Much like when Kagome and Inuyasha had tested, the tiny white stick was sitting on a nightstand, face down, as they waited for the test to finish running.
Kagome was sitting down, guarding the stick until the time was up because Sango kept looking like she wanted to grasp it and check before it was done but Sango was wearing a hole in the carpet from her pacing. She was biting on her thumbnail, thinking and looking worried.
"Kagome, what if I am pr...Kami, I can't even say it!" Sango moaned.
"Don't look so worried. It's not that bad." Kagome assured her. "Miroku, even if he doesn't want the baby, which I highly doubt, will do everything in his power to take care of it. But I know him, and I know you, and I know you'll do what's best for both of you. And I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what."
Sango looked at her best friend and smiled, looking like she was on the brink of tears. "How much longer?"
Kagome looked at her watch and smiled. "Ready?"
"Not really." Sango said as Kagome picked up the stick.
Kagome looked at it for a second, read the result, then held it out to her, her face expressionless.
"Is it bad?" Sango asked taking it.
"You tell me." Kagome said still not giving her any hints as to the answer.
Nervous, scared, and just a little excited underneath it all, Sango turned over the pregnancy test and read the result.
"Aren't you beautiful?" Kagome said placing the last of Rin's hair in place.
Rin was a vision. A princess out of a fairy tale.
She had glowed when she tried her wedding dress on in the store but now she sparkled, she shimmered, she glowed, and she outshone everyone in the room. Which was only her bridesmaids and her mother at the moment.
Her skin was glowing, a wedding glow or Rin's own internal fire Kagome wasn't sure, but her eyes burned with happiness and overwhelming joy. Her white dress was perfect on her, the orange obi bringing out dark red streaks in her hair that Kagome had never noticed before. They weren't salon streaks, they were natural highlights, a part of her. Her hair was up in a bun with two crossing hair chopsticks in it. They both had dazzling silver charms dangling from them, the symbols for hope, love, fertility, and happiness.
Kagome wasn't sure how Rin had done it, then again she was a beautician, but her make-up made her dark eyes pop out along with the orange of her dress. Her french tips sparkled and her toes were sporting the same design through Rin's orange heels that no one could see with the floor length dress anyway.
Kagome, Sango, Sakurako, and Karin were all dressed and ready to go. Their hair was down to further contrast with Rin like their colors. The flower girl Amori was all made up and her mother was holding her basket of orange rose petals as she straightened her daughters dress in the next room.
Karin, who Rin had introduced as her sister, was in actuality Rin's blood mother and the woman wearing the mother-of-the-bride dress was actually her grandmother. Kagome had asked why she had introduced them differently and Rin had said something about that her mother being her soul sister and her grandmother being her soul mother. Kagome didn't really understand but figured it wasn't any of her business.
"Is everything ready?" Rin asked, all her nerves gone, replaced by the warm glow of her wedding day.
"Yeah." Kagome said. "As soon as the priest gives the word we're going to start.
"Nervous, honey?" her grandmother asked.
Rin shook her head. "Not at all. This feels...right."
"I'm so glad." she kissed her granddaughter on the forehead. "Karin, I know you two play at being sisters but this is her wedding day. Do you have anything to say to her? As a mother?"
Karin, as small and beautiful as her daughter, smiled. "Yes. Rin, tonight is a very special night for you. Or it will be when you reach Paris. I want you to know, no matter what happens, I refuse to be called grandma."
Rin laughed. "Okay, Karin. Mom, can be grandma."
"I'm already grandma."
"No. You're a grandma." Karin corrected. "To us, you're mom."
The grandma/mom smiled at her, for all intents and purposes, daughters. "Well, then I get to make the mom's speech."
"Go, right ahead. I'm Aunty Karin."
Rin smiled and directed her attention to her grandma/mom.
"Rin, you couldn't have found a better man if you tried." she said placing a hand on her shoulder."I know he'll be good to you and treat you well and I know you'll be happy. I may not have chosen him but you've always had eccentric tastes. I'm so happy for you, my dear." She hugged her, trying to hold back tears.
Across the church, in another room, Sesshomaru was putting the cuffs on his tux.
"Sesshomaru's getting married, I'm having a baby, Miroku I think you're the only one not with a huge commitment between us." Inuyasha said sipping champagne. He had brought a bottle to celebrate Sesshomaru's last minutes as a bachelor. Inuyasha and Miroku were the only ones drinking it though.
"Hey, I have a cat with her, okay?" Miroku laughed.
"I still can't believe Sesshomaru is the first of us to get married." Inuyasha laughed.
His brother ignored him. Rin got upset when he baited and teased his brother and on this, her wedding day, he would do nothing that would upset her.
"I bet Kagome would marry you if you asked." Miroku said.
"Think so?" Inuyasha looked at him.
Miroku was shocked into silence. He had been expecting a 'Keh, whatever' to that statement. "Are you drunk already? Lightweight."
"I'm not drunk." Inuyasha said finishing off his glass of champagne. "It's a wedding day, I'm in that kind of a mood."
"You going to pop the question at the reception or something?" Miroku laughed.
"Maybe! You don't know!" Inuyasha told him. He wasn't drunk but he was a little buzzed and light in the head.
Inuyasha, being his brother, go the honor of best man though Sesshomaru only gave him that because Kagome was Rin's maid of honor and she would enjoy the symmetry. Miroku, a loyal worker of his named Jaken, and a young man with a split personality, both of which were excellent at their job, named Ah and Un were his groomsmen. Ah had laughed and said he had four groomsmen and Un had said but he only had three bodies up there. He was quite aware of his split personality but seeing as Sesshomaru had no complaints with either of their work he didn't care.
Ah and Un and Jaken were off seeing to last of the details leaving Miroku and Inuyasha with Sesshomaru.
He found that Miroku's suggestive remarks and Inuyasha's general annoyances didn't bother him all that much today. Rin would say something about this day being magical, he just thought kami had blessed him with extra patience that day.
So he put his tux on and straightened the lapels. "Is father here yet?"
"Yeah." Inuyasha said. "I saw them coming a few minutes ago. Most likely mom will want to talk to Rin first and dad will be happy about getting another daughter."
"'Another'." Sesshomaru repeated/
"Yeah, he considers Kagome his kid."
"All the more reason for you to marry her." Miroku said.
"I'm not marrying someone because my parents want me to. And who asked you to play matchmaker anyway?"
"I figured it was only fair because Kagome fought so hard to get me into Sango's good graces." he smiled.
"Kagome's already in my good graces." Inuyasha grumbled. But he didn't reject the idea of marriage with her outright which Miroku considered progress.
Before he could open his mouth to continue the conversation the old priest appeared at the door, smiling. "It's time. The other two groomsmen have taken their position."
"I'm coming.' Sesshomaru said giving himself one last check.
"Let's go get Sesshomaru hitched!" Inuyasha laughed as h and Miroku laughed.
Sesshomaru took one last breath and followed them.
It was familiar to him. Not being married, but the actions, the words, the piano music that was so old he wondered how it wasn't cliche.
He stood by the priest, his head held high, his hands clasped together in front of him, waiting. Beside him was Inuyasha, then Jaken, then Miroku, then Ah and Un. Each standing there, their hand's clasped in front of them, their backs straight, with orange roses in their buttonholes.
Orange roses.
His Rin was so unique.
The carpet running down the isle was white with orange trim, Sesshomaru had no idea why he noticed that detail above the others. Maybe it was the way the orange flower petals stood out in stark contrast with it when the flower girl had made her way down the isle, the ring barer Shippo beside her, looking down at the sparkling wedding rings on his white satin pillow. He looked cute, as Rin would say, wearing a tiny little tux and standing next to little Amori who was making sure not a piece of carpet got away without a few rose petals.
Behind her, carrying a bouquet of white roses with tiny orange rose buds, was Rin's best friend Sakurako.
Behind her, looking unexpectedly female, was Sango who was smiling though her eyes were filled with apprehension. He didn't know over what but it didn't really matter at that point.
Behind her walked Rin's mother, despite her insistence that she call Karin her sister she was still labeled mother in Sesshomaru's mind. He could see why other people bought the she's-my-sister-story, Karin looked far too young to have a daughter Rin's age.
If you want to see how a woman will look old, look at her mother. If this phrase was true than Sesshomaru could see absolutely no complaints on the horizon.
Behind her, carrying a slightly larger bouquet, was Kagome. You could see the obvious swell of her belly and she was the only one not wearing heels though you couldn't see. She waddled slightly though you could tell she was trying to diminish the affect and still she looked beautiful. Sesshomaru could admit, just to himself, that despite his other faults, Inuyasha had good taste in women.
Kagome took her spot across from Inuyasha and looked to the back of the church.
Sesshomaru couldn't see her yet, just her silhouette through the thin white curtains they hung there just for this occasion.
He heard them. The sets of notes that signaled her coming.
The entire church stood, reporters trying to get a good look at his bride. The curtains were pulled back just as the march really started.
There she was, smiling at him in all her splendor.
Sesshomaru noticed just then how right this music sounded. It wasn't cliche at all, especially not with her dainty feet walking slowly down the isle to their beat.
He didn't really notice her dress, or the large bouquet of orange roses with white rose buds in her hands. He was captivated by her face. Had she always been that beautiful or was he just now noticing?
Before he could really comprehend that she was walking towards him, she was there, smiling up at him, her eyes brighter than the sun.
The music stopped playing but he could still hear it in his head, it sounded like an angels choir.
"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today..."
The words were so familiar. He could speak them from the top of his head in his sleep. He had heard them repeated in movies and on TV, he had read them books. They were familiar, they were known, they were easily recognizable.
So why was it only now that he noticed the meaning in them? Heard them and noticed how special they were. How unique, how promising, how hopeful.
"With this ring, I do thee wed." he said, speaking words so old they rang with a sort of ancient power. On her delicate, nimble little pianist hand, he slipped on a orange diamond wedding ring.
"With this ring, I do thee wed." she repeated after him and slid on the simple silver band with only 1 very small orange diamond onto his ring finger.
"By the power invested in me," the old priest chanted as Sesshomaru took her hands into his own, "I now pronounce you man and wife." He smiled at them. "You may now kiss the bride."
Like he needed the old man's permission.
She wore no veil, he liked that. It would be a damn shame to cover those beautiful eyes.
He pulled her towards him and wrapped one arms around her waist. The waist that was so small it could practically fit in the palm of his hand. She wore heels today, so it was easier to get access to her mouth.
The kiss they shared wasn't nearly long enough. A simple seal, a promise, then it was over. He could only lean back because he knew there would be more when they got to Paris.
There was another que from the organ but he didn't notice because he was lost in her eyes.
They began leaving the front of the isle in pairs.
Amori and Shippo walked down together followed by Ah and Un and Sakurako. Sango and Miroku left after those two followed by Jaken and Karin. Kagome and Inuyasha went down together last then it was their turn.
Without once taking his eyes off of his beloved, Sesshomaru tucked her arm and his and led her down the isle.
Inuyasha stood up in front of the reception, holding up his glass and about to make his toast. He had the microphone in his hand and was telling everyone to 'shut your trap'!
Rin giggled at his word choice and Sesshomaru wished it wasn't illegal to kill his brother.
"Okay." Inuyasha said to the waiting crowd. "I'm not really good with speeches, so I had a hard time coming up with one. I could have gone with the trying-to-be-funny-and-failing route. I decided not to. I could have gone with the speech full of mushy sh-" he caught Kagome's eye and her deadly look and changed the word, "sh-stuff. Not really my thing, so I abandoned that idea. In the end, I was scratching my brain for a few hours wondering how to go about this. I decided honesty was the best policy."
He looked at Rin who was practically glowing. "Rin, I want you to know that I have a lot of respect and love for you. You deserve so much better than this bonehead here and he should go to sleep each night counting and thanking kami for each of his blessings."
Rin giggled and Sesshomaru glared harder.
"You are an amazing women, Rin. I'm not sure how Sesshomaru is going to keep up with you, you're a lot more hyper than anything he's used to. I just want to say, go easy on him. And Sesshomaru, you better treat her right because she deserves it." Inuyasha smiled. "In all seriousness, when Kagome said she had thought of someone who would like you the way you are Sesshomaru-you know, cold and uncaring?-I was a little more than doubtful. I thought that there was no way there was a person who was sweet enough to offset your Ice King personality. I thought it was virtually impossible for a person to be so happy and fun that even your fun-sucker personality couldn't affect them."
While his brother spoke, Sesshomaru's eyes kept getting thinner and thinner as he glared at his brother who was carefully avoiding his gaze.
"I didn't think it was possible to find your ability to kill with a stare attractive." Inuyasha continued, enjoying his ability to tease his brother publicly. "And then I met Rin. She is definitely your match Sesshomaru. She has a will to match yours and a heart so warm it could melt whatever icy glares you throw at her. Besides that, she's the most fun person I've ever met and you're no fun at all. Opposites really do attract."
"Anyway, before you kill me with that stare, I guess I'll just say congratulations Sesshomaru and my deepest, most heartfelt wishes that you two live a long and happy life together." Inuyasha lifted his glass and toasted the two.
"Remind me to kill him when we get back from Paris." Sesshomaru growled to Rin after Inuyasha sat down.
"I thought he was funny." she smiled.
"You also think I'm...cute." he said the word with his nose crinkled in distaste making Rin laugh.
With the speeches done and the new couple about to start their first dance together, Sango got up from her seat and went to Miroku's side.
He smiled and took the hand that she placed on his shoulder.
She leaned down and whispered in his ear.
Miroku's jaw dropped and his eyes got wide and he turned and looked at her in disbelief.
