A/N: Haha glad you guys liked it. I'm not sure why I decided to have Kouga cheat. I just thought it might be a good little story arch. A reviewer suggested it, and I rolled with it. Gotta watch how he handles things. And, more importantly, if Tamako finds out.
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Chapter 38: The Little Lilly and Shining Prince
The final few months of her pregnancy remained stress free. She was almost nine months pregnant, and Kouga barely even allowed her out of their bedroom. She spent a lot of time relaxing. A few times she thought she'd felt contractions, but it never lasted, and her water never broke.
She was getting so tired of being pregnant. Her whole body felt huge and felt like it wasn't even her own. It was amazing feeling her pup move inside her stomach, but it was starting to get old. She was starting to get fussy and uncomfortable in her own skin. Everything was uncomfortable. Sitting, standing, sleeping, moving, bathing. She just wanted to deliver her pup already.
And Kouga was doting lately. It was cute, but sometimes he almost seemed like he was acting guilty to her. Guilty about what, she wasn't sure. But she didn't want to know. At least, not until after she had the pups. She knew it wasn't a good idea to stress while she was still carrying.
She actually was past her expected due date. Though, the expected dates were nowhere near as good as they would be in modern Tokyo, she only could tell a round-about date in the feudal era. And even though it wasn't a specific day, she was frustrated that it was lasting longer than it should.
The night of the new moon was coming, very soon, and the closer the night got, the more nervous she got. She wanted to deliver before the night of the new moon, she definitely did not want to deliver as her human self. Human women died during childbirth a lot of times here in this era. With her demonic blood, she had a better chance. But, if her demonic blood was locked away inside her...would it still save her from certain death?
When the night of the new moon came, she felt so restless. Unable to sit still, shifting where she sat.
"It'll be fine." Kouga promised as he walked into the room. Walking over to her and sitting beside her, offering her a bowl of soup slowly. "You'll be fine. The pup will wait."
"How do you know that? Kami Kouga.." she said with a sigh. Taking the bowl from his hands and looking down at it. "I'm probably over reacting. I hope I am. But if I go into labor tonight...I'll die." she said, looking up at her mate.
"Nonsense. If you go into labor tonight, you will be fine." he assured. Reaching over and brushing her hair out of her face, smiling to her. Yeah, he felt guilty...more than guilty. He also hadn't gone to meet with Ayame again since that last time. He'd nearly missed the birth of his pup, Tamako had been in trouble while he'd been off rutting with Ayame. There was no way he would be apart from Tamako for long anymore. So, he stayed around, close to the den, not even going out on hunts.
"I'm giving birth to a hanyou child. Its difficult to survive childbirth to begin with, especially for human women..." she said, looking down at the bowl.
"Your friend Rin went through it just fine, didn't she?"
"True..." Tamako said. Taking the bowl and bringing it up, gently starting to take a drink from it, closing her eyes just halfway.
But she still couldn't help but worry about it. She could feel the strange things beginning to set in. The feelings flooding over her brain. The feeling of worry was part of it. She was open to her human emotions normally, but it was like a dam had burst within her, letting out a flood of emotions and feelings, assaulting her. It got worse the farther the day went on.
It was harder on her father though. He didn't openly express his emotions the way she did. So, getting more of them seemed to effect him more.
Once the sun had finally set, Tamako looked up at the window, seeing the light fading away to the moonless night. As the sun set, Kouga already worked on lighting the torches that would light up their room. Tamako let out a sigh as she felt the change overtake her. Her claws and fangs shrinking, her hair turning from a dark silver to black, brown overtaking her golden orbs. And the most drastic was her inuhanyou dog ears being shifted to regular human ears. As her human ears started to appear, she reached up to rub along the lobes slowly. It still felt strange every single time.
And as the night went on, she remained pretty uncomfortable, even more than normal. Several hours after the sun had set, she whined and shifted, gritting her teeth.
The action caused Kouga to look over at her. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah...yeah I think so. Just a small pain. So long as its not accompanied by more, I'm not worried." she answered. Leaning back on one hand, resting her other hand on her stomach, looking down at it slowly. "Come on babies...hang on 'till tomorrow for mommy." she said with a soft smile.
Kouga smiled, leaning to rest his hand on her stomach. His head leaning down and kissing her stomach by his hand lightly. "Yes, pup. Wait 'till morning at least. We can't wait to meet you, but...we can wait until tomorrow." he said.
Tamako giggled a little, looking at him slowly. "You're too much." she said.
Grinning and looking up at her face. "Hey, made ya laugh."
"Mm, true." she said. Shifting slowly to start to sit at the edge of their bed, taking in a deep breath, letting it out through her lips just slowly.
"You're not okay. I'll go get one of the women.." he insisted, moving to stand up.
"I'm fine." she said again, looking up at him. "I'm just really pregnant and really uncomfortable in my own skin. I'll be fine."
Looking down at her, nodding just a bit and moving to sit down again. "If you insist. But you should try to get some sleep."
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She'd taken him up on his offer and laid down to sleep. Laying on one side since that was the only position she could sleep comfortably in with her stomach.
And she slept for several hours. Kouga even fell asleep next to her. But, she awoke somewhere in the middle of the night. She wasn't sure what time it was, but it was late. Shifting out of Kouga's arms to move to sit up, wincing a little bit.
As she felt a pain spread from her back and around her stomach, she let out a small noise. Her hand slammed down onto the bed, gripping the sheets that had been covering them tightly. It hurt, a lot more than when she'd had false labor. In her mind, she cursed her human body.
Once the paid died down, she took in a breath, relaxing a little. Maybe it was a fluke. Leaning on her hands a little, she tried not to make too much noise, not wanting to wake Kouga for nothing.
But, when she felt another of the same sharp pain several minutes after the first one. Gasping, her hand moving to clamp down onto Kouga's arm, gripping it tightly. Her mouth dropped open in a soundless scream, no noise coming from her throat. Closing her eyes tightly as her fingers gripped Kouga's arm as tight as her human fingers would allow.
Feeling the grip on his arm made him stir, shifting and opening his eyes a little, looking up at her. "Mm...Tamako? Is everything okay?" he asked. She was gripping him pretty tightly, though since she was a human her grip couldn't hurt him too bad.
Riding out the pain without saying a word before she let out a breath, breathing a bit hard, shaking her head. "N-No...no Kouga it hurts..." she said slowly, opening her eyes a little and looking at him. "G-Get someone...and...and my daddy, please..." she asked.
Nodding to her before he stood up. "Alright, I'll be right back." he said as he stood, walking out of the room to get one of the women.
She let his arm go to let him stand up, shifting in bed, biting her bottom lip slowly. She hoped it would end. The pain was so much worse in her human form like this.
Kouga had spoken to Inuyasha first since he was on the way. And of course, since he never slept on his human night, Inuyasha was wide awake. So as soon as Kouga said something, Inuyasha was to his feet and out his room, walking into Tamako and Kouga's.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he entered. Moving to sit next to his daughters side, taking ahold of her hand gently.
Nodding slowly. "For the moment. It just hurts...a lot. It feels a lot like those contractions I was having a few months ago...but its worse." she told him. Taking her fathers hand, gripping it a little. "D-Daddy...daddy I'm scared."
He held her hand, his other arm moving around her shoulders and rubbing her arm gently. "I know honey, I know. It'll be fine, Kouga went to get one of the women. If you are having the pup, you'll be just fine." he assured, looking at her with a soft smile. He was nervous, too, but he wanted to comfort his daughter.
Looking up at him and smiling just softly, nodding. "T-Thanks daddy..."
"Anytime, Princess." he said with a soft smile, hugging her a little and kissing the side of her head gently as he rubbed her shoulder.
She sat still for a while, the pain gone. And just when she thought it would be fine, it hit again. Taking in a breath, her fingers gripping her fathers hand slowly, closing her eyes tightly. "O-o-oohhh shiiiiit..." she whined out as she held her fathers hand in a vice grip.
Inuyasha let her grip his hand as tight as she wanted, holding her against his chest. He hated seeing his daughter in pain, knowing he couldn't help her. Even this kind of pain. No matter how old she was, she was still his little girl, and he wanted to take her pain away. But, logically he knew he couldn't do that. He just wished it.
It was during that contraction where Kouga came back with two women, the same two that had helped her when she went into false labor a few months ago.
One woman moved to Tamakos side, making Inuyasha let her go. Taking Tamako's hand herself and helping her lay back. "Here, lay back, it'll be just fine." she said to her with a small smile.
While the other woman looked at the men. "Okay, Kouga, Inuyasha. Out. Both of you. Out out out. There are no men allowed in the room." she said. Moving to shoo them both out towards the door.
Tamako looked up at Kouga and Inuyasha, shifting to sit up on her elbows a little. "N-no...please, can't...can't one of them stay?"
The woman doing the shooing glanced back at Tamako, blinking. "But, my lady...men are not allowed in a birthing room. And if you are truly giving birth, they're not allowed in here..."
"But...but I...I can't do this by myself...please." she said, looking up at Kouga with pleading eyes. "K-Kouga...d-do something..."
He nodded to her. "I'm staying." he insisted, looking and nodding to Inuyasha. "It'll be fine." he said. Walking around the woman and to the bed, looking down at Tamako with a soft smile. "If you want me here, I will be here." he said. He'd promised himself he would be there for her if she needed him, no matter what, especially after he'd nearly missed her going into labor.
The woman sitting by Tamako growled a little. "I do not like this..."
"Did I ask you what you liked?" Kouga asked, shooting a look at the woman. "I am not leaving my mate. She is scared, can't you see that?" he asked. Moving to take a seat next to Tamako and reaching out one hand to her.
When she saw his hand, she smiled a little. Reaching out to take ahold of it, gripping it tightly. "Thanks." she said.
Nodding to her and shifting a bit closer to her, his other arm wrapping around her shoulders. "You don't have to thank me. I won't ignore when you ask for help. Ever." he told her.
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The pains themselves ran their course within a few long, grueling hours. It hurt so much with each contraction. Each one caused her fingers to grip onto Kouga's, her teeth to grind together and a small scream to come from her lips. She wanted to push, so, so bad. But the women had been telling her not to, not yet.
When it was finally time to push, Kouga shifted to settle himself behind her so she could lay back against him for support. She sat in-between his legs as he held both of her hands, rubbing them with his thumbs, kissing the back of her neck. Her long black hair had been pulled up and tied into a messy pony tail since she'd been sweating and complaining it was hot. Kouga's own hair wasn't in its long pony tail, but fell over his shoulders.
Holding her there as the women shifted her feet. Her feet moved to rest on the edge of their bed. She had a few towels laid underneath her as not to mess up the bed too much.
When she got into position and was given the green light to start pushing, she took in a breath and nodded. Gripping Kouga's hands tightly as she pushed, her feet grinding into the bed underneath her. A scream ripped from her lips as she pushed.
Letting her grip his hand, leaning and kissing the back of her earlobe slowly. "Damn babe, you grip hard for a human.." he whispered softly.
As she finished pushing, she took in a breath, breathing hard. "Oh shut the hell up. This isn't funny. And if you think it is, I'd like to see you push out a kid!" she snapped. She couldn't help it, her entire body hurt, even more-so than it would have if her demonic blood was there to help her through it.
"I...I didn't mean anything by it..." he said slowly, a little hurt at her snap.
One of the women looked to Kouga, shaking her head. "She does not mean it. Its the pain. This is partially why men are not allowed in the birthing room."
Tamako rolled her eyes, looking at the woman. "Do not tell me what I mean and don't mean!" she said. Taking in a few deep breaths, looking down at the other woman sitting between her legs to receive the baby.
"Focus, Tamako. Take a deep breath and one more long push." the woman instructed.
Nodding to her, taking in a very deep breath before she started to push hard again. Her fingers dug into Kouga's hand, screaming out loudly and clamping her eyes tightly shut.
This time, he did not make any remark on how strong she was gripping him. He was too afraid that she would lash out at him. And somewhere, he knew that she didn't mean it, he just didn't like hearing it from her.
After that push, she fell back against Kouga, breathing hard, sweat running down her skin. "H-holy hell...holy hell...n-never again, I swear...never...never again." she muttered slowly.
"Never again what?" he asked, looking at her face, letting her head lay back on his shoulder.
"Never...again will you do this to me. Kami...Kami this hurts." she whined.
He sort of knew it was the pain talking and she didn't really mean it. But he still didn't like hearing it. Holding her and kissing the side of her head slowly.
Once she rested, it was time for another push. Even though she'd wanted to push, she began hating it, since it brought more and more pain each time.
It went on like this for a while. Pushing, cussing at Kouga, threatening him, then breathing and more pushing. It was getting closer and closer to dawn, but she couldn't even feel it in the pain filled daze she was in. The sun wasn't quite up, but it was working on it.
Finally, with one push, she felt a sort of relief as the pups head emerged from her. The woman there to catch the baby smiled. "Alright, one more hard push and we're done." she promised.
Tamako nodded. "Fine. But only one damn more." She insisted. Shifting to brace herself and breathing hard, giving a long, hard push, a scream coming from her lips.
With that push, the woman was able to coax the baby out, cleaning its mouth and moving to quickly cut the cord. Small cries filled the room as Tamako fell back against Kouga, panting hard.
The woman wrapped the baby in a cloth, cleaning it slowly before she glanced up at them. "Its a boy." she told them.
Kouga smiled, glancing down to look at his son as the boy cried in the womans arms. She shifted to hand him to the other woman that was with them.
The second woman took the pup, moving to clean him off in a bucket of water they'd brought a while ago.
Though, something wasn't too right. Tamako took in another breath, gripping Kouga's hand a little.
The first woman looked up. "Oohh we're not done." she said slowly when she noticed what was happening. Moving in-between Tamako's legs again, looking up at her. "I'm sorry, Tamako-chan...you'll have to give me a few more pushes, okay?" she asked.
Tamako pouted and then nodded. Shifting to sit up a little again, gripping Kouga's hands tightly.
At those words, he looked back down at his mate. So, there were two pups? Great, more yelling and pain. He didn't want to see her in pain anymore, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. It had to happen.
Bracing herself for another set of pushes, Tamako gripped Kouga's hands tightly, pushing hard and screaming out loudly once again. At least she'd gotten a break for a few minutes.
This time, it was a little easier. Not much, but a little. It took less pushes to see the pups head. And it became really different from a normal birth as the sun rose over the horizon. The usual pulse went through her body, making her gasp within her pain. Leaning her head back against Kouga's shoulder. Pushing once more hard, a scream ripping from her throat as she pushed. With this push, it wasn't only the baby that emerged from her. A familiar pulse went through her body as her demonic blood awoken with a-vengeance. She felt the demonic energy surge through her, her eyes flashing their normal color, her hair transforming back, along with her fangs, claws and ears.
The transformation that always felt the same, felt different this time as her eyes began to flash a blood red. Gasping as she screamed with her final push, the woman between her legs caught the baby, doing the same thing as she'd done for the first. Cleaning out its mouth and cutting the cord before she moved to clean it.
"Its a girl..." the woman said. But Tamako was barely aware of her words. Breathing hard at the feel of her demon blood pulsed through her veins. Leaning back against Kouga, closing her eyes halfway, panting softly. It was such a weird feeling giving birth in the middle of her transformation.
Her eyes drifted all the way closed as she passed out against Kouga's chest. At first he didn't notice, his eyes looking over at the two pups that cried in each womans arms, a smile crossing his lips. "A boy and a girl..." he said slowly, looking down at Tamako. "Tamako..?" he asked, shaking her a little. "T-T-Tamako?!" he asked, a bit more panicked.
One of the women placed the baby down in a small bassinet that had been made for them and moved to look over Tamako. Reaching to see if she had a pulse and feeling her forehead. "Oh...oh she is fine, Kouga. No need to worry. Just exhausted. Let her rest." she suggested.
Nodding slowly, he gently moved her to lay on the bed, reaching to brush the hair out of her face and smiling. Kissing her cheek gently, nuzzling his nose against it. "Rest, love." he told her. Shifting a little off of the bed and glancing at his son and daughter, smiling a bit more.
Very carefully he moved to pick his son up, bringing him up to his chest, looking down at him as the boy cried out loudly. "Hey, shh shh, no crying son. Daddy's right here. My little man..." he said softly to the boy. He couldn't believe he was a father, that this pup was half of him. One of the women showed him how to hold the boy a little better.
At the sound of his fathers voice, the boy sniffled and opened his eyes a little, looking up at him slowly. He was a half demon instead of just a quarter, Tamako's demonic blood assured that. And his eyes were like his fathers, like all wolf demons. But, his pools were golden instead of cerulean like Kouga's. He already had a small patch of black hair, too. And his ears were like his fathers, pointed. And his skin was softly tanned like his fathers too. He would almost be a carbon copy of Kouga if it weren't for his golden eyes.
Kouga smiled down to his son. "Hey there, little man. That a boy." he said. Glancing to one of the women slowly. "You can bring Inuyasha in whenever." he said. It was probably the first real time he referred to Inuyasha by his name rather than a snarky nickname like mutt.
The woman nodded. As they finished cleaning things up, they laid Kouga's daughter down into the bassinet that the boy had been in at first before they took what needed to be taken out and thrown out. Standing up, walking to the door, one of the women looked to Inuyasha as she walked out. "Tamako is fine. She gave birth to two healthy pups. She is sleeping, but Kouga said you could go in." the woman said, starting to head out to take the dirty cloth away.
Inuyasha nodded a little, standing up and moving to the door. Hearing his daughters screams all night had made him a nervous wreck. But, hearing that she was okay made him smile. Walking into the room, he glanced at his daughter asleep on the bed and then to Kouga. "H-Hey.." he said slowly.
Kouga looked up at him, nodding gently. "Hi. She's...she's just sleeping. She's fine."
"Did she...transform in the middle of it?" he asked curiously. The change had taken over him, and usually it took over both him and Tamako at the same time.
Kouga nodded a bit. "She did." he said as he looked back down at his son.
Inuyasha nodded, looking at the crying bundle in the bassinet at Kouga's side. Sitting down by it and looking at the girl inside. Smiling as he reached one hand in, being careful of his claws. Running his finger along the small fist the girl was holding.
At the feel of his finger, the girl unclamped her hand and moved to clamp it around Inuyasha's finger. Slowly she opened her eyes, sniffling and crying still softly. Unlike her brother, she had her mothers eyes, but they were her fathers color, a soft cerulean. The hair atop of her head was still black, but she had small dog ears that were sat on the top of her head, twitching a little bit.
He was almost afraid to pick her up, so he sat there, looking down at the baby in the bassinet, his eyes meeting hers as he let her grip his finger.
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Tamako slept for quite a while. Kouga was fine with it. He sat holding his new pups one at a time. When she woke up, he was holding their daughter in his arms while Inuyasha was occupied with their son.
She shifted, laying on her back, her arm falling across her stomach. Feeling that she had her slim waist back, she took in a breath, opening her eyes just slightly and glancing around. Seeing Kouga sitting there with the small bundle, she smiled a little. "Hey..." she said softly.
Looking down at her, Kouga smiled. "G'morning." he said happily.
Shifting to push herself to sit up a little, looking at both Kouga and her father. "Wow...you're getting along." she said, shifting to stretch herself a little. She felt better, her demonic blood was working to heal her body. She wasn't fully there, but almost.
Moving to the bed, Kouga held their daughter, slowly moving to let Tamako take her, smiling. "We have a son, and a daughter." he told her.
She took their daughter, holding her carefully and smiling a little, looking down at her. "Kami...my beautiful little girl." she said as she cradled the baby. "What will be her name?" she asked, glancing at Kouga.
He hadn't named them yet. Well, he hadn't announced their names yet. He wanted Tamako to be awake for that moment. "Her name will be Sayuri. And our son will be called Koichi." he said.
Smiling at his choice, she looked down at her daughter. "Sayuri...little lilly...thats adorable. I like it. And Koichi, shining prince...good choices, love." she said as she cradled their daughter. Glancing to her father slowly. "You like it, daddy?"
Inuyasha nodded just a bit. "Uh huh." he said, still seeming fascinated by the baby laying in-front of him. He didn't have much experience with babies, Tamako hadn't been a baby when he first met her.
She giggled a little at his reaction to the question, seeing him still looking at Koichi.
Turning her attention down to Sayuri, reaching her hand to run the back of her finger along her cheek gently. "Mm..my babies tried to kill mommy." she said with a light giggle. Leaning and kissing the top of her head slowly.
Glancing back to Kouga, Tamako bit her bottom lip. "I...I'm sorry. I was...a little mean..."
"Yeah, but its fine. I understand. You were in pain. But you did great. They're beautiful." he told her. Moving to sit next to her, looking down at their daughter.
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