"Hi. Good morning. I'm here," Kagome whispered. The helpless newborn lying on her crisp white hospital sheets was her obsession. Perfect petal lips smacked gently. Every so often she made the cutest little noise. Dark confused eyes tried to focus on their new world. She had the tiniest hands and the sparsest patch of black hair. Her skin smelled like heaven. She couldn't resist kissing the heels of her soft feet before sliding nice clean booties on. A familiar shadow passed the closed door to her suite. Her loyal centurion would not leave his post.
"Come, Inuyasha. Baby just woke up, didn't she? Yes she did."
"The nurses sent me to ask if you want your breakfast on a tray? I don't want to disturb you." His eyes glanced down at the baby mystified by the rays of morning sunshine coming through the window. "The cook is making hot cakes."
"No, I want us to eat together. We're coming. Can you grab her blanket?"
After five days in Tokyo Sunshine, Kagome knew most of the staff including the orderlies. There was a small lounge on the ward for mothers in good condition who wanted to escape their rooms. Inuyasha didn't like surrendering Baby to the nursery but Ichika-san was a kindly woman with grandchildren of her own and entirely human. They claimed a small table in the blue-and-white room with tasteful furnishings. She was hardly the only woman with a plastic bracelet on her wrist. Two other women were having a meal together. Inuyasha held on tightly to her hand when she pushed it across the table. Once again, her heart swelled in her chest until she thought she would burst.
I love him. I love Her.
"Hey, what did I say about crying?" Inuyasha growled quietly. The young girl who delivered hotcakes with fresh berries and plenty of cream barely noticed her sniffles. Kagome distracted herself with lots of syrup. And hot buttered toast that crunched perfectly between her teeth. Feeding a newborn every three hours left her positively starved. The Sight allowed her to follow the new String wrapped around her ring finger to the happy innocent in the nursery. She could feel Baby's strong life force in her crib like a second heartbeat. It was all Kagome could manage not to leave her seat. Her hands gripped the edge of the wooden round table.
"Kagome?"
"I know she is safe but I keep checking on her. It's silly." Of course Inuyasha understood. He tilted his head. The fabric of his hat shifted while he tuned in like the world's best baby monitor. She let out a shaky breath. When her overprotective husband resumed eating, so did she, but she was determined to reclaim her daughter as soon as possible.
"So when is your mother coming?"
"Mama went back to the store for another car seat, she didn't like the first one. She promised to call when she gets here so we can do the discharge paperwork. Then the neighbor is going to drive us home."
"I can carry you both. It's not that far to the Shrine." The offer was genuine but obliviously spoken. Not only was it too cold outside to expose Baby to prolonged wind, but she was recovering from twenty-one hours of labor. If he thinks I'm climbing onto his back with a newborn in a sling, he's crazy.
"No."
Inuyasha shrugged but he deferred to her judgment like she knew he would. The half-demon freely admitted total ignorance about babies and 'female things' but he definitely liked their daughter. It was invaluable to have a husband with boundless energy to watch her infant, who could smell a dirty diaper a mile away, who had an inherent sense about when Baby was merely fussing or smelled distressed. Their newborn would go quiet when the big thing with bright red clothing and shiny white hair hovered. She had woken up in the middle of the night to catch him tucking Baby into her portable bed...fulfilling his oath to make sure she kept breathing.
"Hey there, twitchy. Keep kicking those little feet."
In hindsight, yes it had been stupid to jump into the Well alone, Inuyasha had kept on at her for hours about that admission. But five days ago she had been terrified of losing their family. A terror that had continued during her mother's mandatory ambulance ride to the hospital. Then not only did he reappear like magic, but he had known how to dial the right numbers on the telephone and find the hospital. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes suspiciously when pride threatened to overwhelm her.
"Pass the syrup before you eat it all."
"Jerk." Kagome didn't mean it but she appreciated the assist. The tidal wave of new emotions subsided while she considered her figure. Dr Akiyama had confirmed she was healing well but she was on prescribed medical rest for a month. Since the Well was inactive, they couldn't go back home but Souta and Grandpa had sworn to get the Higurashi house ready to accept a healing mother and fragile new infant. They were moving her desk to storage and putting Souta's newly painted crib in its place. Rin was rapidly sewing new baby clothes to replace the ones they'd lost. According to Souta, Mama was stocking enough food to keep even Inuyasha fed.
Together they hurried down the hall to the glass wall outside the nursery where all the newborns were on display. Under the nameplate 'Baby Takahashi' was their miracle child. The baby thrust her legs forward and moved her fists over her head. She kept a grip on Inuyasha's elbow. The jittery movements worried him but she was perfect. Even in the hour apart for breakfast, she wanted her child. Her husband waited outside while she retrieved Baby from the nursery.
"Yes, that's right. Smart girl. You know me." Kagome kept her voice sweet and soothing. Inuyasha walked ahead of her to prevent any accidental collisions with the other humans wandering the corridors. Baby made a sound when they passed the peerless floor-to-ceiling glass walls that showed the manicured gardens bathing in the sun's light. It only reminded her how insanely expensive a five-day stay in a luxury maternity hospital with a ranked chef would be. Even with her mother's charity voucher, how could they afford it? The incoming mothers all wore clothes from boutiques that looked like couture arrangements from a magazine. Her mother cut coupons to save for Souta's middle-school tuition! She was mentally balancing their checkbook by the time they returned to the suite. Inuyasha draped a striped blanket over her shoulders and settled on her gray chair's matching striped footstool.
Where are we going to live?
It was a fairly uneventful two hours until Dr Akiyama appeared for Baby's final checks. The only condition that concerned the physician was Baby's unusual hyperkeratosis that prevented her from getting a vitamin shot. Inuyasha rolled his eyes but he exposed his forearm to submit to an examination. The unnaturally thick demon skin that was resistant to swords easily repelled a modern needle. Kagome held her breath while the doctor marked the 'condition' on the chart for continued monitoring. She was so relieved she breezed through the lecture about the feeding schedule on the pamphlets, weight gain, potential complications, scheduling her first postpartum clinic visit, registering the Baby...
At least she wasn't born with dog ears. Those would be harder to hide.
She stared at Inuyasha trying to imagine cute dog ears on her baby until he squirmed.
"Higurashi is at the reception desk if you want to gather your things. Take care of yourself, Kagome-chan. You have my private number so call me day or night if you have a concern. Ayumi is coming down from school next week to visit. Maybe we could have a dinner?"
"Yeah, totally."
"And you, Inuyasha-san. Congratulations on the new baby. She's a beauty." Dr Akiyama with her pastel pink scrubs and pinned up curls smiled at them both. The door's weight closed the gap behind her. Inuyasha squirmed when she suggested HE hold the baby so she could finish getting dressed. It was a brief battle to force him into the chair with his arms outstretched. He stayed completely rigid while she tossed oh-so-many clothes into her luggage. The exchange couldn't happen fast enough for Inuyasha. The young male comfortably hauled her luggage through the doorway. She stopped to make sure nothing had been left behind.
"Hello, Higurashi." Inuyasha beat her to the busy nurses' station. Her mother was very calmly reviewing the release forms but she did stop to check on her stimulated grandchild with a pen in her hand.
"The car is waiting downstairs. Ready to go home, little one?"
Inuyasha beat them both to the luxury black passenger van with the opened cavity waiting under the overhang. Instead of her neighbor, Sara popped out from the other side of the car. The girl waved.
"Hey Kagome-chan! Your mom said you needed help bringing the baby home?"
"Sara-san called the house to check on you and I told her the situation and she graciously offered her family car. There's even a driver! He has excellent references and a perfect driving record." Mama gestured to the seat already installed by the staff. It took a moment for the hospital visitor's tag on Sara's lapel to click.
Mizutani S.
There were dozens of voided checks in her family's financial records for substantially large donations from a law firm. Strings had been pulled for the excessively expensive Tokyo Sunshine to save her a priority spot in a private wing. Kagome's feet were rooted to the spot when Sara showed Inuyasha how the special safety seat was secured to the vehicle to protect human babies. He pulled on the little straps that would lock the baby in place.
"Why are you so invested in my family?"
"What else are friends for?" Short Sara with her brown hair nearly slipped on the curb step but Inuyasha caught her elbow. Her fellow schoolgirl giggled when Inuyasha remarked about 'his' baby riding into battle. "Inuyasha is very silly! Would you rather ride in the back with your baby?"
"Inuyasha," she cautioned. Years of practice put him on alert. His eyes cooled from astonished gold to serious amber. He followed her gaze to Sara. The girl was giving the driver very specific directions on how to arrive at the Higurashi Shrine where she had never visited.
"You know the city really well, Sara. How long have you lived in Edo?"
"Like, practically forever, and since I'm going to do my clinical hours here I know my way around. Have you checked the tire pressure?" Sara bounced around to harass the uniformed man. Her mother complained when she forcefully pulled the brochures out of her grip. On the hospital's main advertisement was a list of corporate donors.
E.D.O. Financial Group, Personal Wealth and Investment Banking / Financing available.
Kagome swallowed hard to contain her panic but she knew getting into that car was a trap. She waved Inuyasha forward to hold the baby and hide her in his Robe. The driver was checking the tire on the opposite side when Sara circled back. Inuyasha grabbed her mother's arm to pull her away with his back to the car.
"Kagome-chan?"
Summoning enough reiki from her soul to blast Sara against the side of the car was effortless. Powerful maternal instinct easily dominated any doubts she had that Sara was just a normal human girl. The masterful illusion the demon wore cracked like porcelain on concrete. Her barrier kept the creature pinned to the sliding door. Sara's petite curvy body was now a tall, broad-shouldered male demon in a buttoned-up blue shirt. The driver was alerted by the car shifting sideways. He shook.
"Who are you?"
"What in the world are you doing?" Mama peeked. Inuyasha gave her the baby so he could catch the driver before he could disappear in a poof of black smoke. The man begged Inuyasha to let him go.
"Kagome, wait - "
The barrier pressed down harder on his chest and shoulders to immobilize him. She kept her hands extended. Any more pressure and even a demon's ribs would crack. More than that and she could easily purify him.
"What do you want with us? Who are you!"
"We're friends, remember? I'm Shippo, your friendly family fox guardian. And Hachiemon!"
"How can you expect me to believe a single thing you say? You pretended to be my friend. I confided in you! But all that time you were lying to me. Are you trying to steal my baby? Are you trying to eat me?"
"You needed an ally at school! What else could I do? We couldn't interfere!" The demon struggled but failed.
"So you admit you HAVE been spying on me!"
"To protect you!"
"If you ARE Shippo, then you should have stopped us releasing the Crow in the first place!"
"And interfere with your honeymoon? What if that stopped you from trapping It in the first place? Or kept your baby from being born at all? Weren't you the one to tell me that messing with time could be dangerous?"
"Then tell me something only Shippo-chan would know."
The shapeshifter wrinkled his nose for a moment before focusing on Inuyasha.
"The night before we met Miroku, you remember? Kagome was taking a bath in the river and we were talking. Just us. I took off my clothes but you stopped me before I could jump in. And then I asked you why not and you got embarrassed because you hadn't gotten very far with her yet. Then she screamed at the perverted snow monkeys. Hachi attacked us while we were talking about it the next day."
"It is not what it sounds like, Higurashi! I didn't even like Kagome then!"
"Aha, I knew you saw me!"
"And remember that time you taught me the Wind Scar? Ga-ga-ga and Zu-ba-ba?"
"Eh?"
"I know! Inuyasha. Remember when we were fighting the Band of Seven and Renkotsu almost killed our humans? I was using my fox fire to protect their bodies. Who else would know that? We were the only two there. You pulled them away from the fire so they could breathe. Myouga's potion saved them and you cried."
"H-he's lying! Men don't cry like little girls. Shut up!" Whatever Inuyasha said, she had seen his tears lying on the dewy virgin grass in the Feudal Era. Not tears of sadness but tears of relief. Happiness that he was not alone. She dropped her hands to set him free. Inuyasha shoved the chauffeur but did him no further harm. The guy looked frightened enough.
"You believe me, don't you Kagome?" It was a grown man's voice, not Shippo's girlish falsetto, but the hope in his eyes rang true. The thought of reuniting with at least one of their friends made her stupid with hope. Inuyasha pushed forward to grab him by the collar.
"I swear on my murdered father's pelt, I am Shippo of the Demonslayers." Without the blinding light, it was easier to get a clear look at the demon. Despite being five hundred or more years old, he barely looked older than Inuyasha. Five red proud bushy tails swished in a bundle behind him. Without the glamour a serious scar scratched across his left eye. There were permanent burns on the skin exposed by his rolled-up sleeves. Evidence of more than a few battles.
Oh, Shippo.
The kitsune that used to sit on her shoulder was taller than her. Inuyasha watched with narrowed eyes when he clasped two hands on her shoulders for a respectful hug. An emotional shudder coursed through him. His body had changed and his aura had grown but underneath it all was the boy they had saved filled with centuries of love.
"Shippo-kun!"
"I promised, didn't I? I kept everyone safe when I could."
"You sent us all that money, didn't you? All those donations to the Shrine coffers. Our bank account."
"It was nothing, really. A few centuries of compound interest and a few mon turns into serious cash. Oh you won't have to worry about a bill from Tokyo Sunshine. Wanna see the car?" The kitsune led her forward by the hand to show her all the super cool safety features. Kagome half-listened while she waited for the double-cross but it was simply male excitement over an absurdly expensive machine.
"Mama, this is Shippo-kun. My friend from Inuyasha's world. And Hachiemon?"
"H-heh hello Kagome-sama! It has been a very long time. Good to see you. Thank you for not hitting me," the disguised raccoon dog whimpered.
"How very good to meet more of your friends!"
Mama carefully strapped Baby into her car-seat while she and Inuyasha took the other seats on the row. Mama claimed the next row beside Shippo so she could twist around to check on her grandchild. Hachiemon waited until they were all strapped in to start the car's finely tuned engine that ran like a whisper. Kagome patted Baby's tummy over her straps to reassure her.
"We're going home…"
Inuyasha didn't like cars but he wanted to protect their family. So he was the first one out of the vehicle when they slowed from a crawl to a stop on the main road below the Higurashi Steps. She struggled to figure out the complicated straps and buckles until Inuyasha simply broke them. Baby thrust her legs forward in excitement when he scooped the entire seat out of the metal demon.
"Hey, little girl. I've got you. I can carry her up the stairs, right? It is pretty steep."
"As long as you walk and don't run. No sprinting!" The unwieldy seat weighed nothing to the guy so there was no chance of him dropping her. Hachi volunteered to take guardianship of the luggage and dirty laundry. Shippo was strong enough to hoist her up the steps. Inuyasha was sitting in the floor of the family room making sure their daughter was free of her 'dog leash'.
"Kagome? Ka-go-me..."
"Ssh, I know. It has been a very big day. Here I am." The fussy noises quieted when she held Baby. The bustle of luggage, footsteps thundering down the stairs, the overlapping voices were all too much for her to handle. Kagome waved Inuyasha off to escape upstairs to the serenity of her childhood bedroom. Her unnamed infant was calmer with less stimulation. "Papa doesn't know any better. We have to teach him to play a little nicer now that we're home. Speaking of which…" The crib in the corner had been pasted pink and filled with a plush new mattress but she chose to lie down with her daughter. The newborn was content with staring at her face.
The next time she opened her eyes it was dark in the room. There was a moment of panic-induced frenzy until she saw Baby snoozing in her little crib with her fists over her head. She nearly tripped over Inuyasha but he caught her.
"Woah, clumsy girl! What's the hurry?" The half-demon lowered her down to get her bearings. "Your mom just put 'er down."
"How long was I asleep?"
"Most of the night. I think using your powers on Shippo wore you down. Stay put." Inuyasha patted her shoulder on the way out. She bent down to pick up the photo albums in the floor. There were new photos inserted from the camera that developed on thick white laminate. Mama and the nurses. Souta and Grandpa in the hospital outside the nursery. A newspaper with circled advertisements caught her eye.
'One bedroom apartment located in downtown Tokyo, third-floor. Utilities not included in rent. Amenities include dishwasher, fridge and on-site laundry.'
Kagome turned on the soft light on her nightstand to help her poor human eyesight. She went over to the crib. The pink lace blankets matched the beautiful paint. Her daughter was taking a serious nap. Inuyasha's hands squeezed her hips. A kiss burned through the cotton shirt she was wearing. Someone had taken her sweater during her snooze. And removed her shoes.
"Your mom fed her milk from a can and changed her twice and helped her break wind. Then she washed her down and changed her clothes again. Have you seen that thing rotting on her belly?"
"The umbilical cord? Yeah. It will fall off on its own. Perfectly normal." They both sat in the floor to enjoy tea and cookies and look through the pictures. Mama had gone through several rolls of film to permanently capture Baby's first week. It was sweet to watch Inuyasha identify his 'favorites'. There was a basket of cute toys too complicated for a twitchy newborn but they had been purchased with a father's love. Kagome added a touch more dairy to her Royal Milk.
"Moroha."
"Hmm?"
"Her name is Moroha." The sound filled the space between them.
"Moroha." Kagome bit the end off a crisp chocolate-tipped bread stick. "Two sides, a double edge?"
"I want her to be the best of us both." The sentiment was more honest than she was expecting and suddenly she knew their family would thrive in whatever world they occupied because they were together. Even if their home was lost on the other side of a magical well. Their impossible baby girl conceived in one era and born in another would grow up in a world different than her father's but she would have a father. A good, loving, awkward Papa whose dog ears kept revolving back to monitor every breath and heartbeat.
