Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.
One chapter left guys!
Okay, you guess pointed out a stupid mistake I made and I fixed it, sorry about that!
Birth
"You know, in the movies, this takes two minutes, tops." Inuyasha said smiling at Kagome who lay on a hospital bed, her body wrapped in a pink gown and covered by a thin but very warm blue blanket. She was sweating from the contractions that had been wracking her body for the last 7 hours and her hair was limp. To top it off her legs were up in a pair of stirrups that were also covered by the blue blanket.
"I wish." she said smiling up at him. The epidural was in, flooding her body with pain meds, but it had reached the point where she might as well have been taking Advil for the pain for all the good it did her. Which she couldn't take anyway because Dr. Sholtz had banned her from drinking water, she was only aloud to suck on ice chips and eat Popsicles. The latter of which had turned her tongue bright red.
Inuyasha was holding her right hand, what she called her power squeezing hand. When a contraction his she did her best to crush his finger bones. Sango was holding her left one, petting her hand and talking her through the pain. Sango's hand she wasn't crushing, at least not as hard.
Miroku was sitting on an only slightly comfortable plastic covered chair in the corner, sending her sympathetic glances followed by masked ones toward Sango. They hadn't said a word to each other since they left the restaurant and Sango was trying her hardest not to look at him and even harder trying not to imagine herself in Kagome's position.
"Yeah, 'cause we all know the movies are 100% accurate." Sango said sarcastically but without any real heat in her voice.
They had all been there since Kagome was admitted, except Miroku who had stepped out for a few minutes to buy her a large bouquet of lilies that sat on her bedside table.
"It shouldn't be much longer. A few more hours." Sango smiled at her.
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." Kagome said rolling her eyes, but the smile on her face took the sting out of her words.
"Knock, knock." A smiling face popped her head into the door. "Kagome?"
"Mom." Inuyasha said. "Dad."
The elder Talahashi's came in, Inutiasho carrying a large basket of roses.
"Hello, Kagome." Izayoi said leaning down and kissing her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Fabulous." Kagome said as Inutaisho put his basket on the empty nightstand.
Before they could say anything, there door opened.
"Food time." Souta said walking in, his arms full of WacDonalds food for everyone but Kagome. Behind him was Kagome's mother and Gramp's, both of them smiling at her.
"Sorry we took so long." Midori smiled. "The line was killer."
"Did you fly here? All the way from California?" Inuyasha asked his dad as Izayoi sat next to Sango and was joined by Midori.
"No." He shook his head, crossed his arms, and looked down at the girl about to bring his first grandchild into the world with pride. "We had just landed in Rome when your call came in. Took off immediately afterwords. How are you feeling?"
"Excited. Slightly guilty." Inuyasha admitted.
"The guilt gets worse during the contractions doesn't it?" Inutaisho asked, a smile on his face.
"It is kind of my fault." he admitted.
"It takes two to tango, dear." Izayoi smiled at him. "Kagome knew what she was getting into and she can't wait to have Inumaru either."
"Your mom's right." Kagome smiled up at him and he smiled down at her, for a moment wrapped in their own bubble of happiness.
Which was rudely burst when the pain monitor on Kagome's right started graphing another contraction and her eyes closed.
Immediately she began squeezing his hand and Sango started petting her arm. Izayoi was petting her hair, and Midori had a hand on her stomach, each one of them talking her through it, reminding her to breath.
It felt like a wave. The pain started slow, then grew. It hung onto it's peak, when Kagome was focusing on not screaming, then it would ebb away. Ebb and flow, that's how she would describe it with the ebb, thankfully, lasting longer than the flow. The contractions were irregular, sometimes lasting only 30 seconds, some times lasting a full minute. They were getting closer together as well but they didn't come in at specific times, they just came with barely any warning.
"This, son, is why the human race would die out if men were responsible for giving birth." Inutaisho told him as Inuyasha kept flinching from the pressure Kagome applied on his hand.
"Hello?" Another person popped their head inside just as the contraction faded away.
Everyone looked to the door, Kagome still holding the echo of pain in her eyes.
"Rin? What are you doing here?" Kagome asked feeling extraordinarily guilty.
"You didn't think I would let you do this without me, did you?" her cousin asked coming inside. She had obviously gotten dressed in a hurry, her hair was messy and her socks didn't match, one was white the other orange.
"You're supposed to be on your honeymoon." Kagome said as Izayoi moved so Rin could hug Kagome. "Sesshomaru's going to kill me."
"It was Sesshomaru's idea to come." Rin said making the entire Takahashi family do a double take. "After you called I turned around and he was already throwing our stuff into our suitcases. I'm pretty sure nothing got back where it was supposed to and we probably forgot some things. Besides that, Sesshomaru owns the hotel, we can return whenever we want."
"Well, where is he?" Inutaisho asked.
"Gift shop." Rin smiled at him, she looked like a woman who had enjoyed her snuggles while she was gone and was planning on getting back to them soon. "We were going to get you flowers but we figured everyone else would do that. We were right." she laughed as she looked at the rose basket, the lily bouquet, and vase of daisies from Kagome's family."
"By 'we' you mean 'you' right?" Inuyasha asked. "That's way too creative for Sesshomaru to come up with on his own."
"Is it now?" Sesshomaru asked from the door.
Kagome looked at him and gasped.
He had gotten dressed in a hurry too. His hair was wild and his shirt untucked, he still looked sexy, but he looked more put together than she had ever seen him. His face was still cold and careless but his bad-ass image was ruined by the fact that he was carrying a large 4 foot tall teddy bear in his hands with a bright blue ribbon around its neck.
"This is for Inumaru." he said bringing it forward and setting it next to her bed.
"It's perfect." Kagome said touching the plushy fur.
"His name is, as I can understand it from his tag, Teddy."
Kagome laughed gently. "Original."
"So, how's she doing?" Izayoi asked as Inuyasha lifted the cup of ice chips to Kagome's lips.
"She's dialated 8 cm." Sango said happily. "It shouldn't be too much longer.
"Thank you for coming, Sesshomaru." Kagome said releasing Sango's hand and laying it on top of Sesshomaru's.
"We're even now." he said to her.
"Even?" Inuyasha asked.
"I introduced him to Rin." Kagome said smiling up at him, knowing he hadn't meant it as being mean.
"One son is a married man the other is a father." Inutaisho took deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Boys, you're making your mom feel old."
Izayoi gave him a funny look and gave Sesshomaru a hug. "How are you dear?"
"Fine." he said simply. She didn't have to and yet she treated him like he was her own and raised him as such. He loved her just as much as Inuyasha did.
"I can't believe you're all here." Kagome smiled at them. Her whole family, converged in one room.
"Like I would miss this." Rin smiled at her and Sango nodded agreement. "You're just hormonal 'cause little Inumaru is coming."
"Yeah." Kagoem smiled down at the large bump in her belly that would be gone in a few hours. If not sooner, she pleaded as another contraction started.
All the females converged on her and Inuyasha cringed again and she began squeezing his hand.
"He looks just like I did when I was in his position." Inutaisho said leaning against the opposite wall. "What's wrong with you, Miroku?"
Miroku looked up at him, his eyes troubled. "Sorry, I'm happy for her I really am."
"So why the long face?"
"Sango's pregnant." Miroku said simply.
Inutaisho raised an eyebrow. "Are congratulations in order?"
"Of course!" Miroku said as if it was obvious. " At least I think so. I don't know about her. She lied to me about it. She said the test was negative."
"And you found the test and discovered she was lying, is that it?"
"No, she told me the truth right before Kagome's water broke." Miroku let out a deep breath. "I don't know what she thinks about it."
"Then ask her." Inutaisho said simply as the girls backed off of Kagome now that her contraction was over. "The sooner you clear the air the better."
Miroku nodded and left the wall. He respected Inutaisho more than anyone, if he said talk then Miroku would listen to his advice and do so.
He walked right up to Sango and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned, startled, and her smile faded upon seeing him. He didn't know if that was a good thing. "Can I talk to you? Privately?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Kagome, I'll be right back, okay."
Kagome smiled at her. "Hurry up."
Sango nodded and followed Miroku from the room, closing the door behind her.
'Privacy' was just outside in the hallway. "Now, let's try this again. You said you were pregnant?"
Sango, who found the white tile on the ground extremely interesting at that moment, just nodded.
He sighed and bit his lip. "So, what do you want to do?" He said it almost like a whisper, with no infliction at all.
"I'm keeping it." she said looking defiantly into his eyes. "I don't care what you say I'm keeping it and why the hell are you smiling like that this is a serious matter!"
A wide grin had spread across his face and before Sango could blink he had pulled her into his arms and was twirling her around in a circle. "Oh, I hoped you would say that!"
"Really?" Sango asked looking down at his as is arms were around her waist holding her above the floor with his eyes level with her stomach. The stomach that he promptly kissed.
"Of course." His smile was bigger, brighter than she had seen it since she had agreed to go on their first date. "I was afraid you wouldn't want it."
"That's what I was afraid of." Sango admitted as he lowered her to the ground but kept her in his arms. "Except, you know, with you."
"How could you think that." He asked smiling at her. "Would I fight as hard as I did for you if I wasn't prepared to spend the rest of my life with you?"
Sango smiled as he put his forehead against hers. It wasn't much but it was enough for her. Just being with him was enough for her.
Twenty minutes later, Sango and Miroku rejoined Kagome who was panting and had her eyes completely shut.
"What did I miss?" Sango asked running to her friends side as Miroku joined Inutiasho and Sesshomaru who were leaning against the wall. Inutaisho's eyes were faraway, no doubt remembering his wife's own labor, and Sesshomaru was studying Kagome, wondering what Rin would go through, hopefully sometime soon.
A few minutes later their doctor joined them and knelt between Kagome's legs as all the guys diverted their eyes.
"I think it's time." he smiled up at them.
After that everything seemed to happen really fast.
Three doctors were in with their scrubs on and everyone but Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome's mother were shooed from the room. They were in the waiting room down the hall, a few watching the boring TV program and Rin was pacing and Miroku was leaning against the wall with a stupid grin on his face.
In the delivery room, Kagome was panting and sweating and squeezing both Inuyasha and Sango's hands and her private place was no longer so private.
Inuyasha was wincing and sweating himself and Sango and Midori were talking to her, reassuring words repeated like a mantra.
"Not yet." Dr. Shotlz told her again.
The pain was horrible. Kagome threw back her head and cried out wordlessly. She just wanted to push so badly damn it all!
"Breath, Kagome, breath." Sango was saying as Midori pet her head.
"Get him out!" Kagome yelled at the doctor, her hair was damp and limp from sweat and kami it hurt!
"You can do this, sweetie, you can do this." Kagome's mom said encouragingly.
Inuyasha, wisely, was not talking and just letting her break his hand.
"Okay, Kagome, push." Dr Sholtz said.
With a triumphant and pain filled cry, Kagome did so.
"Keep breathing, dear." Midori said as the other two doctors moved about.
"Okay, I see his head. Push again." Dr. Shotlz said.
Kagome's entire world had shrunk. She could hear her mom and best friend though she wasn't really paying attention. Her lifelines were the two hands she was crushing and the voice that was giving her calm directions, guiding her through this.
"Hold on, Kagome, don't push yet." Dr. Shotlz said as he examined the head to make sure the umbilical cord hadn't wrapped around his neck.
"Another push, Kagome." he ordered her.
Kagome didn't realize that tears were falling down her face along with sweat as she did as she was told.
Dr. Sholtz was guiding the shoulders through her vagina, the largest part of the body. Once they were clear he smiled up at her. "Okay, Kagome. One more push and make it a good one."
Kagome was breathing hard and she was tired but she did it. She put all her focus on pushing, on getting it out of her.
She yelled as the baby slid out and into Dr. Shotlz's waiting, experienced hands.
Kagome was breathing hard but she could hear it, she could hear him crying.
She opened her eyes and saw them putting twin clamps on two different spots on the umbilical cord about three inches away from each other.
"Want to do the honors?" Dr Sholtz asked Inuyasha holding up a pair of sharp scissors.
Inuyasha pried his hand from Kagome's and took them in the other, working, hand. Almost unsure, he took a deep breath and placed the scissors on the umbilical cord. "I just cut?" He asked.
"Just cut." Dr. Sholtz said.
Inuyasha took another deep breath and cut the life line between Kagome and Inumaru.
"Look at him." Kagome said as Inumaru breast fed almost desperately.
Inuyasha was next to her, one arm around her shoulders.
The family had only left a half hour ago, leaving Inuyasha alone with his son and Kagome.
"He's incredible." Inuyasha said, captivated. The denial he had felt before he felt the baby move was nothing compared to the denial he had felt until he had actually seen his son moving and crying.
Kagome was still tired, unbelievably so, but she didn't want to sleep in case she missed a moment of Inumaru's life.
He was so tiny, like a baby doll. The hair on his head was dark and whispy and he had Inuyasha's bright violet eyes. He couldn't focus on anything with them yet but their color was dazzling. He was wrapped in a blue cloth in a special way the doctor had taught them.
"You know, I was thinking." Inuyasha said. "I want to draw up another contract."
"Inuyasha." Kagome said looking up from her child. "Didn't we go through this already?"
"Yeah, but I want to change the terms." He said smiling at her. "I was going to give this to you later but..."
He walked across the room to the briefcase he had sitting in his chair.
"Inuyasha, I told you I don't want a contract between us." Kagome said, confused and slightly hurt.
"I think you'll like this contract." he smiled and came back to her, a single piece of paper in his hands.
"Inuyasha-" she stopped when she saw the paper he put in front of her.
On the top, in official letters, were the words:
Marriage Certificate
"Inuyasha!" she gasped.
"We'll have the ceremony when you feel better." he said smiling at her. "But I just wanted to pass the idea by you now."
She smiled up at him, their son held tight in her arms. "Let's discuss it over dinner. A business dinner. Is Friday good for you?"
