What?! A part three of Comforting Embrace after four years?! What in the bloody hell is going on?!

Remember when I said this might be a full-fledged chapter fic? Well, it might become just that, but I'm still undecided. As it is, this chapter was purely developed out of inspiration after reading Selina MacCloveror's drabble It Would Be Nice. :] So I dedicate this chapter to her, one of my favorite authors and good friend.

Enjoy!

-X-

Comforting Embrace
Part III

Kagome Higurashi couldn't see her feet. Which was just as well. She was seven months pregnant, after all.

With an annoyed huff, the young woman glared down at her protruding stomach. Or tired to, at least; her stupid, milk-laden breasts were blocking her view. God, but she couldn't wait to have this kid. The morning sickness was absolutely horrendous, she was so sick of having to pee every goddamn ten minutes – she could swear it was practically dancing on her bladder! – and waddling everywhere so that she pulled off looking like a fat penguin with no problem at all. Her boobs hurt like hell every time she put the slightest pressure on them and don't even get her started on the ridiculous cravings she's been having.

Kagome shuddered and made a face. She'll never forget the look on her husband's face when she'd asked for caviar and mustard. And thinking back on it now, she didn't blame him.

With a low grunt of effort, Kagome braced her hands the lip of the old wooden well she was resting on and heaved herself up, one hand going to her swollen belly and the other flailing around to keep her balance. Honestly, she felt like a giant walrus—

A soft bump against her hand, barely there, instantly shattered her sour mood and Kagome looked down at her belly, a warm, loving smile gracing her features. All previous rants about being pregnant momentarily forgotten, the young woman felt a wave of motherly pride wash through her, the thought of carrying life within her womb doing funny things to her heart and making her warm all over.

She really couldn't wait to have this baby.

"Oi, wench! What the hell are you doing? I told you to wait for me in your time, dammit!"

Kagome blinked, frowned, and then turned toward her mate with her hands her hips; a heated glare aimed his way as her blood boiled. A wench, was she? "I'm pregnant, Inuyasha, not invalid! I won't break, dammit." She pointed a finger at him, legs akimbo. "And don't call me wench, you jerk!"

Oh yes, and did she mention the mood swings?

Non-pulsed by the sudden anger thrown at him, having had seven months to get used to them, Inuyasha rolled his eyes and walked toward his wife, mate, and the love of his life. He ignored the glower on her face in favor of sniffing her over for any signs of distress or hidden injures. Wench liked to be sneaky sometimes.

Heaving a sigh, her bad mood dispersing for the second time in the past three minutes, Kagome patiently stood until he was satisfied before offering a tired smile. "I'm fine, Inuyasha. We're both fine. You're the one who build the ladder so you should know how sturdy it is, even with a five hundred pound woman climbing it."

Inuyasha quirked a brow and scoffed. "You're not five hundred pounds, wench. So quit it."

"Certainly feel like it," she mumbled, wrinkling her nose and stuck her tongue childishly when she heard a soft chuckle.

"C'mon, the others are waiting and Shippou's practically levitating he's so damn excited." Kagome laughed and Inuyasha allowed a soft smile to surface at the sound. "Still wish I coulda gone, though," he grumped with a slight pout and put a supporting hand on the small of her back as they headed toward the village.

Kagome smiled at him. "I wanted it to be a surprise for you. Besides, remember the first time you went with me? The doctor practically wet himself and he was only trying to do his job." She gave him a pointed stare.

Inuyasha snorted. "He had it comin'. He had no fucking right to touch you like that." He growled as he recalled the way that stupid human put his paws all over his Kagome. He was damned lucky he didn't get gutted right then and there.

The glare was back. "Inuyasha, he was only doing his job. He had to see if there were any fetal anomalies with our baby." He stared. "Which is bad." He grunted and turned away.

"Still don't understand why you didn't have him tell us that time," he continued, watching her carefully through his peripheral vision as she waddled her way up the hill. He was tempted to just pick her up and carry her the rest of the way, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate that, which would equal a grumpy mate, so he resisted. Barely.

Kagome shrugged and tightened her grip on his sleeve as they crested the hill. "I wanted it to be a surprise back then, but changed my mind later. Plus it makes it easier to shop now, too." She grinned at his expectant look and shook her head. "Nope, not yet. You have to wait like everyone else."

Her mate groaned in frustration and pouted. She laughed.

Fifteen minutes later Kagome was seated comfortably in Kaede's hut between her husband's raised knees and with a warm bowl of the old priestess's infamous stew cradled in her hands. Currently she was using his chest as a backrest and he didn't seem to mind all that much. Fact, his hand slithered its way beneath her shirt to smooth over her side and come to rest upon her swollen belly as his chin landed on her shoulder, a soft sigh of contentment escaping his nose.

Kagome smile and turned her head to place a kiss to his temple before returning to her meal. He nuzzled her neck in return.

On some level, Kagome still couldn't believe that this was actually real. Eight months ago she would have laughed if someone told her she'd be sitting like this right now, resting against Inuyasha, her husband and mate, seven months pregnant and happily chatting it up with her family from another world. And eight months ago, Inuyasha definitely wouldn't be holding her like this, his face buried in her neck and a relaxed rumble emitting from his chest. Gone was the rough, shy hanyou she had met three years ago who would blush at the slightest touch and deny any accusations about being soft and good-hearted.

Her hanyou was still rough around the edges, swore like a sailor and blushed around her mother, but she loved him all the same and wouldn't change a thing about him.

A sigh of her own escaped her lips and she closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her, the hand on her belly drawing soothing patterns and his claws grazing her flesh just so, eliciting a few soft giggles to bubble up. She felt him grin into her neck and she reached back to gently flick an ear. He barked a soft laugh at that one, his face still hidden in her neck.

"So, Kagome," Miroku suddenly said, setting his own bow of stew down. He was incredibly happy for the two and his eyes gleamed as he smiled at them. "Do you have any good news for us?"

All eyes turned toward the girl from the future and Kagome flushed at the attention, but smiled nonetheless. "Maybe…" she said innocently then squealed when she felt a poke in her side courtesy of her hanyou husband. "Alright, alright," she laughed and sat up a little straighter, putting down her bowl. She let them wait in suspense, clearing her throat, brushing off non-existent dust off of her shirt and settling more comfortably into her warm chest behind her.

Inuyasha grunted and leaned forward to give her a pointed stare. Honestly, he was just as excited as the others, his hands flexing on her form and his ears flicking atop his mop of silver hair nonstop.

Kagome stared innocently back and he rolled his eyes. Kagome snickered then turned back to her friends – her second family – and the smirk that graced her features had her friends staring at her warily. "First," she began and connected eyes with each person in the room. "You all have to guess what it is!"

Collective groans sounded throughout the small hut and Kagome snickered evilly, doing a little Kagome-jig right there on the floor. Damn, but this was fun.

"Kagome," she heard her mate warn against her neck and she snickered again.

"Can't you just tell us?" Shippou pleaded from his spot next to her, his eyes liquid, impossibly wide, and a cute pout adorning his young features. "Please?" Miroku and Sango nodded eagerly to this while Kaede just shook her head and chuckled fondly.

"Nope!" she chirped and the fox kit huffed, crossing his small arms and scrunching up his face.

"Fine," he grumped then looked thoughtful for a moment before declaring, "It's gonna be a boy 'cause then we can play together and get all dirty and do pranks on the girls and play in the mud and fight and--!"

A clawed hand reached out to lightly bob the kit on the head before withdrawing and reclaiming its place on her belly beneath her shirt. "Oi, you'll be doing none of things with my pup until it's bigger than you, shrimp."

Kagome rolled her eyes and laughed at the now pouting child. "Okay, one vote for boy. Sango?" She turned to her best friend and sister.

Sango smiled and instantly replied, "A girl. The twins would love to play with her when she's older, I'm sure." Her friend's face softened and glowed with motherly pride as she mentioned her two daughters, only a few months old as they lay sleeping peacefully just behind them.

Miroku gave his wife a loving smile and reached over to grab her hand. "A boy," he said simply and locked gazes with Sango, who blushed but smiled back nevertheless.

Inuyasha snorted at the cheesy display of affection and his mate rolled her eyes. He was time tens more affectionate than that when they were alone. Clearing her throat to rid of those particular thoughts, Kagome turned her attention to the woman she thought of as grandmother and smiled. "Kaede? Would you like to guess?"

The old woman smiled and shook her head. "Nay, child, I shall not be joining in on the wagering. I will be happy if it is a boy or a girl. Or both." Her eye twinkled mischievously and Kagome chuckled.

"Okay, so one vote for a girl, two for a boy. Inuyasha?" Kagome looked over her shoulder at her mate, an expectant brow raised.

"Keh." Instead of answering, he buried his face in her neck again, nuzzling the flesh and tightening his hold on her form.

Rolling her chocolate orbs, Kagome shrugged and turned toward her friends again, who all were staring at her expectantly. Shippou was almost vibrating in anticipation. Positively beaming, Kagome waited a few minutes in suspense…and then, "It's a—"

"Lady Kaede!" A fairly rotund man practically fell into the hut in his haste, the tweed matting covering the door being swept aside in an impatient shove. "Lady Kaede! Quick! Hezaa has awoken from her sleep and is shaking violently and her face is pale like a fish's belly! We don't know what to do!"

All business, the old priestess unfolded herself from the floor as fast as she could and quickly gathered her medical supplies. "Shippou, I need ye to fetch me a basin of water from the stream and meet me at Kinso's home. Quickly, if you please." She followed the worried man out of the hut, disappearing as the entrance flap fell back into place.

The young fox child nodded, earlier excitement fading, and grabbed a bucket as she sped out of the hut, eager to help in any way he can.

Kagome gasped and made to stand up but Inuyasha held firm. "Don't worry about it, wench. Kaede can handle it. You're not going anywhere." His hold on her tightened as if to emphasize his point.

"But—"

"No."

"What if she needs—"

"I said no, Kagome."

"Inuyasha—"

"End. Of. Discussion."

Put out, Kagome huffed and crossed her arms under her heavy bosom, pouting as she leaned back into his chest. "I hate you right now."

"Yeah, yeah, I love you, too."

Kagome ducked her head and smiled.

-X-

It wasn't until dusk that everything had settled down and Hezaa's family had been reassured that she would sleep peacefully through the night and to not hesitate to fetch the old priestess again should something else happen. Weary from long hours tending to the ill young woman, Kaede had retired to bed early and Shippou had followed soon afterward, although he claimed his fatigue developed from keeping watch over the pregnant Kagome the night before and not because his young self had grown tried from helping out Kaede all afternoon.

Miroku and Sango had gathered their sleeping daughters and bid farewell, heading to their own hut for a good night's rest as well, leaving Inuyasha and his rather grumpy mate to their own devices in the dwelling the half-demon had constructed as a present for his wife.

Currently, Kagome was sitting on their futon, ignoring her persistent husband while studiously folding the pile of rumbled clothes she had neglected to do earlier. She didn't exactly mind; it gave her something to focus on instead of the clawed hands that continuously tried to sneak past her notice and cop a feel.

Kagome rolled her brown eyes and brushed away the hand that snuck into her peripheral vision and turned her back to him, a small huff escaping past her lips.

Inuyasha sighed and grumbled under his breath before leaning forward and trying to catch his mate's eye with his own. "C'mon, Kagome…put that down and pay attention to me." He crawled up behind her and bent his head to nibble on her ear, his hands snaking around her waist and inconspicuously inching toward the garment in her hands—

But he was too slow and Kagome jerked away from him, shooting him a narrow eyed look before scooting away and getting to work again.

…And then realizing that the pile of garments was now out of her reach. She glared at the offending clump of clothes. Go fold yourself, goddamn it.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whined again and once more reached for her, determined to get his wife's attention. Kagome avoided his touch once again and turned her back to him, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air.

Ears drooping, the half-demon sighed again and ran a clawed hand through his hair. "This isn't about earlier, is it?" he questioned, frowning.

"Humph" was the only answer he got.

Inuyasha groaned and ran a hand down his face. "Kagome…dammit, wench, you can't go helping Kaede in your condition. I don't want you taxing yourself when all you have to do to run out of breath is stand up, for Christ Sake!"

A very heated glower was thrown his way and Inuyasha realized what he insinuated. "Are you calling me fat, Inuyasha?"

Said half-demon paled and rapidly shook his head. "No! No, I'm not calling you fat! You're the one who said you were five hundred pounds, remember?" he oh so intelligently reminded.

Inuyasha really didn't like the look that came into her eyes then and frantically he tried to come up with something to appease his moody and obviously very displeased mate. "Uh, a girl!" he blurted, desperate to keep that dreaded word from leaving her lips.

Kagome paused, blinking in slight confusion as the air left her lungs in a soft whoosh and Inuyasha visibly relaxed. "What?" she asked, a frown marring her features.

Inhaling, Inuyasha cautiously crept toward his mate and arranged himself behind her, his previously groping hands sliding forward to rest gently on Kagome's swollen belly. He leaned down and nuzzled her temple. "You asked me earlier what I wanted." Inuyasha sighed and kissed her temple before whispering in her ear. "A girl. I want a girl."

Like a single flame dimming until it was nonexistent, the anger swiftly left Kagome and in its place she felt something warm and wonderful well up inside her and pushing tears of joy to brim her mocha eyes. "Inuyasha," she breathed and turned around in his arms to steal his breath in a loving kiss only meant to be shared between lovers.

Izayoi, their beautiful baby daughter, was born two months and three days later.