The little family stayed in the hospital for a few days just to make sure baby Hiten was ready to go home. Dr. Robbins told them a sack was discovered in Hiten's throat where his tonsils should be but it seemed to be normal for his body. She monitored it for the duration of their stay but reported it wasn't growing so she doubted it was a tumor.

"If he seems to have trouble breathing or you notice an abnormal lump in his throat don't hesitate to call" she told them.

Their little group came to visit everyday but not all at once. Sesshomaru became agitated if too many people were in the room. The first day Kagome & Sango came by & squealed over the beautiful little bundle, fawning over him & telling him how precious he was. Sesshomaru tolerated it for a while before he shoo'ed them away, annoyed with all the noise they were making. The next day, Miroku, Koga & Shippo paid them a visit. It touched something in Inuyasha's heart to see Koga cooing to his child.

"You're gonna be a good father one day" the hanyou told the wolf quietly after he'd pulled him to the side, to which the wolf only blushed & rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Their friends brought food by the droves even though the hospital food was pretty good.

"Just in case you guys get a bad case of the mud butt here" Miroku said, causing Sesshomaru to immediately send him out.

The nurses offered to help with the changes & calming Hiten down if he woke up while the parents were sleeping but the inus insisted on taking care of the babe themselves.

"You guys won't come home with us so we might as well get used to it" Inuyasha explained. Many times he was seen slowly walking through the halls at three or four in the morning, gently bouncing his baby boy to get him to go back to sleep.

"He's such a good father" the nurses whispered, "I wish I had a baby daddy like that"

Sesshomaru took every opportunity he could to sleep when Hiten slept but when Inuyasha would leave to go to work, someone had to check & balance the check book, pay bills, & arrange for their mail to come to the hospital. When Inuyasha went to work this morning Dr. Robbins came in to talk about the sacks in Hiten's throat.

"They're growing very slowly but surely" she said, mouth in a thin line.

Sesshomaru's stomach was twisting uncomfortably at the news. "Alright so what are we going to do about it? Do we know if it's c-cancer or…is it actually a tumor?"

She could see the news was stressing him out & she wished she'd told him while Inuyasha was present so he could be a form of comfort. "I want to get a sample before we do anything, especially if it's going to be invasive. He's much too young to just go digging around in his throat, especially if it's nothing serious. I'll simply swab his mouth with a Q-tip & send it to the lab for testing. When we get the results we'll know from there"

"& how long will the results take?"

"About two days, usually. Sometimes longer if it's something serious. Considering you guys are demons I'm sure it'll come back quickly & put you all at rest"

He appreciated her optimism. It made it easier to break the news to Inuyasha when he came back after getting off from work…but the hanyou did not take it very well.

"A what?!"

"Yasha, calm do-"

"Don't 'Yasha, calm down' me, Sessh! A fucking sack?! What the fuck is it?! How the fuck we know if it's comfortable for him to breathe?! You guys been paying attention to that shit, huh?! Is he uncomfortable?!"

Sesshomaru glanced down at Hiten who was feeding at the moment, his hands opening & closing absentmindedly. "Well I'm pretty sur-"

"Nah, fuck that! I want tests on that thing right now! I ain't tryna hear—no, no, don't tell me to calm down, damn it!"

Dr. Robbins tried her best to interrupt the angry rant before Hiten started crying but it was too late: the boy let out a little whine then a soft cry, turning his head this way & that in frustration. Sesshomaru sighed & rocked him until he quieted then turned a glare to his mate. "Inuyasha, we understand your anger-"

"Anger?" the hanyou asked, eyebrows near his hairline, "Anger? Sessh, this has nothing to do with me being pissed. Who would I even be pissed at? I don't think…no, I c-can't lose another kid. I can't. I wouldn't be able t-to take…"

Dr. Robbin's heart went out to the young half demon as he got choked up though he refused to cry. "We're going to swab the area before we even consider anything invasive. Anything that involves cutting him open will be an absolute last resort"

Inuyasha nodded, wiping his nose off his sleeve & turning away. His body language was stiff; the only thing she wanted to do was hold him & tell him it was going to be ok. Thankfully Sesshomaru was (at least he seemed to be) holding up much better than his significant other & he laid his son in the nest of fluffy blankets beside his bed. "So as we're waiting for the results, what will be done?"

"We're going to continue monitoring him & measuring the area to keep track of its size. It doesn't seem to be bothering him & he seems to be breathing & swallowing just fine so hopefully it'll dissolve on its own"

The inuyoukai nodded, crossing his arms in consideration. "Was his entire body scanned for other abnormalities?"

"No, we didn't want to keep him away from you two for too long, considering he's feeding. I'm not entirely comfortable with it considering he's so young though…"

"Hiten has two very strong parents of demon heritage" Inuyasha grumbled, "He'll be fine under your x-rays or whatever you guys use to scan his body"

Dr. Robbins swallowed thickly, still not comfortable with the thought but nodding anyway. She slowly approached Hiten & very gingerly picked him up, patting his back gently when it seemed like he was about to start fussing. "I'll be back as soon as possible"

After she left, Inuyasha took a deep breath. "I don't like this shit, Sessh. We can't catch a fuckin' break"

"Let's see what the results are before we complain of not catching a break, Yasha" Sesshomaru whispered, already feeling the loss of not having Hiten by his side.

Inuyasha enveloped him in hug that relaxed every muscle in his body. "We're gonna be ok, though. We all will. I'm not losing either one of you…know that"

Sesshomaru took a deep breath & willed himself to stay calm. It was a good sign that Hiten was breathing with no trouble. As long as it stayed that way, the inuyoukai was satisfied. He agreed, Hiten was much too young for surgery that may or may not help at all. It all boiled down to the fact that until they knew what it was, they should probably just leave it alone.

The hanyou straightened & walked over to their little fridge. "You want anything?"

"No thank you" Sesshomaru murmured. His chest was beginning to become sore. He needed to feed.

Inuyasha sauntered back with a bottle of sweet tea & sat on the bed, every once in a while taking slow sips as if he was deep in thought. "I hope we have a girl next but I'm gettin' the feeling our next child will be another boy"

The silver haired beauty mentally acknowledged the hanyou was just trying to distract him from worrying about Hiten. "You get a feeling?"

"Yeah like…we were hoping our first child would be our second child's protector when we aren't around but I don't think either one of us considered the first & second child being the same gender"

"Would that change anything?"

"Well…no but ever since you sent me the link I haven't been able to get that Minnie Mouse crib out of my head…"

A laugh bubbled out of Sesshomaru's throat before he had the chance to smother it.

Inuyasha grinned at him & put a hand on his leg. "He'll be alright, Sessh. I just know it"

Before the inuyoukai could respond there was a knock at the door & Dr. Robbins stepped in, a surprisingly talkative Hiten in tow. She smiled at the parents before giving him to his birthing father who immediately began feeding him.

"So whatcha find, doc?" Inuyasha asked.

Dr. Robbins took a deep breath. "The sack is still growing by about a fraction of a centimeter every few hours. It's moving his vocal cords & his epiglottis aside but he doesn't show signs of trouble breathing nor has it affected his speech"

Hiten took that moment to say something in his own language which made Inuyasha wonder.

"He's the most active newborn I've ever seen"

The blonde doctor nodded, smiling at the enfant fondly, as if she were a proud mother herself. "He is. He's acting as most eight month olds do. He quite advanced" she said, not missing Sesshomaru's proud smile, "However, we did find two more sacks, one in each wrist. They are bigger & seem to be very similar to the one in his throat. We had to take a sample of his blood & we're sending that to the lab as well"

Inuyasha went over to his fiancée when the demon took several deep breaths & put an arm around his shoulders. "Will it take the same amount of time as the first lab you sent?"

"Blood labs very rarely take more than twenty four hours. The minute I get the results I'll be sure to update you guys. Here's my extension. If you guys have any other questions or concerns please contact me, no matter what time of day it is"

She handed them a piece of paper from her pocket with her extension written on it & wished them a good night before showing herself the door. The inuhanyou rubbed his mate's shoulders slowly, murmuring softly in his ear about how everything was going to be ok. For a moment, it seemed like he was trying to convince himself. He couldn't accept it not being ok; he couldn't handle anymore heartbreak & God forbid anything should happen to Hiten…Sesshomaru would be absolutely devastated. No amount of therapy was going to help with that loss.

Sesshomaru turned slightly & wrapped his arms around Inuyasha's waist, burying his face in his mate's shirt. "I just want to go home…"

Inuyasha ran his hand over the inuyoukai's hair a couple times & rubbed his back. "Me too, mama…me too"

…

..

.

Shippo came to visit them the next day. He was so nervous about graduation (which was in two days) that he absentmindedly walked back & forth across the room, Hiten in his arms, as he rambled on & on about everything that could possibly go wrong.

"You know I'm not too coordinated, Inuyasha, what if I trip over my robes? I won't even get up if I fall! Just tell them to mail me my diploma while I roll back to the car!"

Inuyasha chuckled. "If you fall, you just fall. No biggie. Now if you shit your pants…that would be worth talking about for years"

"You're not helping!"

The hanyou laughed again & took another drink from his cup of sweet tea. "You're just nervous cause this is important. Take a couple deep breaths, you'll be ok, shorty" he said then jerked his chin at the youth, "Mind his neck, yeah?"

Shippo gently put his hand on the back of Hiten's head & patted him on the back. "This is calming"

"Yeah the feeling of being close to another body is soothing to a baby"

"I was referring to me!"

Just as Inuyasha threw his head back & laughed, Sesshomaru walked in from his daily walk around the hospital, looking quite relaxed now that he could get up & move around. He nodded to Shippo & accepted a kiss from his mate before he got a bottle of water out the fridge. "Has Dr. Robbins came in yet?"

"She did earlier but she wanted to wait until you came back before she told me anything" Inuyasha answered, watching closely when Shippo pulled Hiten back & held him up in the air, talking nonsense gibberish to him.

Sesshomaru frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. That meant the news was pretty bad. He couldn't see how it could be really good. Either the sacks were harmless or they were life threatening but harmless didn't necessarily mean really good. What if they became a threat later in life?

There was a knock at the door & Koga & Ginta came in bearing gift bags. Inuyasha greeted his favorite frenemy warmly & shook Ginta's hand before he gestured to the bags. "What's all this?"

"Oh just some gift cards" Ginta said off-handedly, like it was no big deal, "We didn't know exactly what you guys needed so we got you cards to Target, Babies-R-Us, Amazon & Oshkosh B'gosh"

Inuyasha's eyes disappeared behind his bangs. "Wow…that's…that's a lot of cards. Thank you, guys"

"I told him you just needed a card from Target. You'll need all the money you can get for diapers" Koga said & greeted Shippo before gently taking Hiten from him, "Cause you're gonna be shittin' up a storm, aren't ya, little buddy? Yeeeah, your daddy's breath & your loaded diaper will both smell the same"

"Fuck you, ya scrawny wolf. Thank you again, Ginta"

"Why are you guys still here anyway?" Koga asked, laying Hiten on his shoulder, "Sessh is up & about & the kid seems to be good so…"

Inuyasha took a deep breath. "They found sacks in Hiten's throat & the inside of his wrists"

"Sacks? Like…they're filled with pus or something?"

The hanyou could tell the wolf came to the easiest conclusion instead of saying cancer & he appreciated it. "They aren't really sure. His lab results come back today & hopefully the doctor will have some good news for us"

Koga gauged Sesshomaru's reaction but the inuyoukai was staring out the window, his face expressionless.

'He must be so worried' the ookami thought.

"I gotta get going, you guys" Shippo said, gathering his things off the chair in the corner, "You sure you guys will be able to make it? I can just get the DVD"

"Of course we will" Inuyasha said, "You won't hear us yelling, 'It's about time!' as you walk across the stage if we get the DVD"

Sesshomaru chuckled.

The fox demon rolled his eyes & nuzzled his nose into Hiten's hair. "See ya little buddy"

As he walked out Inuyasha noticed Ginta look briefly at the door then at Koga before he shifted in his chair to get more comfortable. The hanyou knew it must be weird being in the room with a new baby & you were too new to the group to hold him so now you were just ready to go. But he was enjoying the company & he was proud to show off his son to his friends. "Ya wanna hold him?"

Ginta's eyes got huge. "Hold the baby?! Oh no I couldn't! I-I wouldn't even know-…"

Koga smirked & gently maneuvered the sleeping Hiten onto his boyfriend's shoulder, murmuring how to hold him. "Yeah just like that"

The young wolf was shaken at first, so afraid he was going to break the tiny demon if he even breathed on him, but eventually he began to relax & even started gently bouncing him. He looked up to see pride shining in Inuyasha's eyes & careful observation in Sesshomaru's.

"Think you two will have kids in the near future?" the half demon asked, smiling when both wolves blushed.

"Well I mean…the way things are going…" Koga started.

"We're fine without knowing the details, thanks" Sesshomaru murmured.

"Aw, you jealous, Sessh?" the wolf asked, that old arrogant smile he was known for in place, "I'm in a serious relationship now, sweetheart, you're a little too late"

"I never wanted you in the first plac—"

"Oh no!"

Inuyasha & Sesshomaru were immediately on alert as Ginta halfway stood up, holding Hiten at arm's length. Cream colored vomit covered the front of the wolf's shirt, dribbling to the floor like pancake mix. The wolf whined & handed the baby off to his parents who were struggling not to laugh before he waddled to the bathroom, complaining the entire way. "Ughhhhh! I'm never having kids!"

Koga's face was a sickly shade of green. "Ohh, I don't feel so good…"

He had to completely turn his back as Inuyasha cleaned up the mess; the hanyou laughed the entire time.

"Maybe you guys shouldn't have a kid. You know how often babies throw up? & they shit a lot too. Like…a lot. & the smell is really disrespect-"

"C'mon Ginta, let's go!" Koga shouted, walking out the door quickly. The smaller wolf followed a few seconds later, his shirt clean of vomit but wet & his face also a sickly shade of green. He waved to them before bowing out of the door.

Sesshomaru, changing Hiten on the bed, chuckled. "That is an interesting couple"

Inuyasha nodded & was getting ready to respond when there was another knock on the door. "Yeah?"

Dr. Robbins stepped in, her face unreadable. Immediately Inuyasha went to stand beside his mate, holding his hand for support. A doctor that was not smiling was a doctor who was about to tell you something you don't want to hear. "Give it to us straight, doc"

She took a deep breath & swallowed a few times. "The labs came back. We're not entirely sure what it is so we will have to surgically go in for a sample"

The inuhanyou's heart wedged into his throat. "But…but why? Why do you need to know what it is if it's not bothering him?"

"We are afraid…if they happen to burst…it would be disastrous & would probably kill him"

"What do you think the sacks contain?" Sesshomaru asked, his hold on Inuyasha's hand tightening.

"Again, we're not entirely sure but the skin of the sacks are very thick, implying that whatever it contains is quite strong. We are afraid if something happens & the sacks burst the liquid inside, Hiten would aspirate & die"