Hi! I can't believe I haven't uploaded a new chapter in this fic since June lol oops.

This is just a short little chapter about a big moment for new parents and their young children :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters. All rights to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 10: Toddle

"Inuyasha, hurry!"

"I'm coming, woman! Calm down!"

"I will not calm down! I swear, if you miss this…"

"I won't miss it!"

Izayoi and I were in our home waiting for Inuyasha to return. He'd been on an extermination job with Miroku, so it was just the baby and I. Izayoi had been crawling for a while, and she'd begun to try and pull herself up on things as if to try and walk. She hadn't quite gotten there yet, so Inuyasha and I had become helicopter parents as we waited for her to finally start toddling.

Well, I had become a helicopter parent. Inuyasha…not so much. He was still excited, but not in the obsessive way I was.

Izayoi must have smelled him coming before I'd heard his footsteps approaching from outside the house; she'd brought herself up into a half-standing position when Inuyasha came through the door.

Izayoi smiled, her two small fangs glinted in the afternoon sunlight that was leaking in through the doorway.

"Hi, Izy," Inuyasha cooed upon seeing her. He kneeled down and held his arms open. "Are you ready to walk?" Izayoi stood up shakily and clapped her hands together once before falling back down. Her smile disappeared and she looked near tears.

"It's okay, Izayoi," I said quickly to try and comfort her. "Try again! Walk over to Daddy." Izayoi slowly pushed herself back up into a standing position as Inuyasha held his arms out wider.

"Come here!" he said encouragingly. Izayoi's smile returned and soon enough…

She took her first steps.

"Inuyasha, she's doing it!" I said excitedly. Inuyasha smiled brightly, his own fangs showing.

Izayoi slowly but surely walked over to Inuyasha and fell down into his arms.

"Izy, you did it!" he said. "You walked!" Inuyasha looked up to meet my eyes and smiled. I felt tears in my eyes as I walked over to them.

Inuyasha held one of his arms out to me and pulled me into the hug.

"We're so proud of you, Izayoi," I said as I kissed the top of her head.

Inuyasha moved closer to me once I'd removed my lips from her hair.

"My turn," he said flirtatiously. I giggled and met him in a kiss.

We pulled away when Izayoi squirmed out of our arms. She began to toddle again and Inuyasha and I immediately started clapping for her.

I couldn't help but laugh. We were such parents.

Later that day, we took her over to Sango and Miroku's house to show them her new ability. Yohei, Sango and Miroku's son, had been walking for about a month so he and Izayoi slowly chased each other around the room. Izayoi wasn't as experienced, so she had to crawl at times. It only made the adults laugh.

On our way back home that night, I caught Inuyasha watching Izayoi from where she was sleeping in his arms as we walked.

"She's gotten so big," he commented as he smoothed her hair down. "It's really crazy…I miss having a little baby." I laughed.

"Well, I'm sure eventually we'll have another one," I said. "Do you want another baby?" Inuyasha nodded. "Not right now," he replied. "But maybe when Izy gets a little older." I wrapped my arm around Inuyasha's waist as we walked.

"Okay," I said simply. I heard Inuyasha chuckle.

"Okay," he repeated.

"But for now we better start baby-proofing at home," I said. "Izayoi is gonna start getting into everything even more than she already does." Inuyasha looked at me questioningly.

"What the heck is 'baby-proofing?'" he asked. I laughed.

"Sorry, future term," I replied. Even though I'd been living here for a few years now, I still couldn't help but drop a future term or two here and there. "It just means that we need to make sure the house is safe now that she's more mobile. We pretty much did that when she was born, but we'll probably have to do another once over since she's going to be toddling everywhere." Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "We can do that tomorrow." I leaned my head on his arm.

"Doesn't it seem weird?" I asked. "That we're married and we have a baby?" Inuyasha laughed.

"I wouldn't describe it as weird," he replied. "Freaking unbelievable, maybe." I rolled my eyes good-naturedly.

"You know what I mean," I said. Inuyasha smiled at me.

"Yeah, I do," he replied. "It is weird, but in the best kind of way." I smiled right back at him.

Once we'd reached our house, we walked in and laid Izayoi on her futon before going over to ours and crawling under the blanket.

"Good night," Inuyasha said as he draped his arm around my waist.

"Good night," I replied.

And it was a good night, and it was also a good life.

A/N: I hope you guys like this little collection of fics. When I do get around to writing new chapters, I always feel really happy. It's nice to create little moments in Inuyasha and Kagome's lives.

Much love. :)