Author's Note: Written as a little incentive to lure psycochick32 back to the Inuyasha fandom... she requested happy times in the post-canon universe. Here ya go, hun.
Sunshine was the one commodity never lacking in her life now; gone were the days of crossing five hundred years in a heartbeat and tapping into a seemingly never-ending source of supplies. Her mother would always seem to know when she would be returning; Kagome would be welcomed home with a mug of hot tea, a pile of supplies and a smile.
She considered the fact grimly as she pottered outside, a basket of fresh herbs under one arm. "At least I have plenty of time to get these dried before nightfall," she told herself.
The worn tatami mats were already spread out at the back of the house she shared with Inuyasha, ready for her. The miko crouched down, balancing the basket over the growing swell of her belly. It was not as easy as she had hoped; it was hard to keep her grip on the rim with one hand as she dipped her other hand in and out of the basket.
As she had expected, the basket eventually fell from between tired fingers and rolled onto the ground, scattering herbs in every direction. "Damn," sighed Kagome before addressing her belly. "You're not making this easy for me, aren't you?"
The very pregnant miko slowly climbed back to her feet, puffing slightly. "You're Inuyasha's child through and through."
It had been an attractive idea initially; Kagome wanted nothing more than to bear her husband a child. She had plenty of experience with children (babysitting for her mother's friends) and Inuyasha seemed more than happy to be a father. The piece de resistance had been the fleeting, childish fantasy of whether a baby with one quarter inu youkai blood might sport his father's adorable ears.
Rather than bending down to pick up the fallen things, Kagome waited patiently, her arms folded, a mildly exasperated look on her face.
"Any minute now, Daddy will be here," she told her unborn baby. "... Three... two... one..."
"Kagome!"
"Hi, Inuyasha." The red blur whizzed over and skidded to a halt in front of her. Inuyasha's normally sleek silver hair looked disheveled, his gold eyes wide with worry, cheeks flushed with exertion
Kagome would normally have been touched by his concern if she had not been treated to the same display at least three times in a day.
"What the hell happened?!" His anxious gaze slid from Kagome's stomach, to the strewn basket of herbs, to the calm expression on Kagome's face and back to Kagome's stomach again. "What did you do?!"
"I was trying to dry the herbs so I can make salves out of them," she explained patiently. "And before you chew me out about not staying in the house in the afternoon, we were all out of dried herbs because somebody hasn't been letting me out of the house for the past two weeks."
Inuyasha's ears drooped with every violent emphasis Kagome put on her words. "But I was only worried about you and the baby," he protested.
He had said the magic words. His wife's fury melted away and she stepped forward, resting her forehead against his shoulder. "I know. I'm sorry. But honestly, there's no need to be so over-protective of us all the time."
He ran a clawed hand tentatively over her rounded belly. "I can't believe I'm gonna be a father." The other hand found Kagome's, the warm fingers intertwining with her own. "What if I'm not a good one? I don't know anything about taking care of a kid."
"You'll do fine," she reassured him. "I know you'll be the best father; I've seen you and Shippou together."
Hesistantly he smiled, his fingers finding hers and squeezing.
The moment was ruined when a distant voice echoed through the trees.
"Inuyasha, is Kagome-sama alright?"
The hanyou's ears wilted under his wife's piercing gaze. "So we were returning from one of Miroku's jobs when I heard you drop the basket," he explained. "I ran off and left him there."
She sighed, torn between amusement and annoyance. "You apologise to him when he gets here."
The monk appeared a short while later, red in the face. "Kagome-sama!" he exclaimed. "Is everything alright? What happened?"
"It's nothing," said Inuyasha grudgingly after his wife prodded him. "Kagome dropped her basket of herbs, that's all."
"You overreacted as usual," she added a little teasingly as Miroku sighed in relief.
"Well, thank the Buddha nothing happened."
"Yeah," muttered Inuyasha under his breath, stooping to pick up the scattered leaves and put them in the basket. "Not now, anyway..."
"Can you imagine how he'll be like when the baby's finally born?" said Kagome, sipping her tea.
Sango smiled, her youngest playing contentedly in her lap. Haruko and Emiko were in the corner of the room, fighting over a plush toy cat in Kirara's likeness Kagome had made for them. Their godmother glanced worriedly over at the battling sisters, wondering whether her creation would be able to stand up to the girls.
"He won't be able to bring himself to leave your side, Kagome-chan."
Kagome grinned wickedly. "Normally that wouldn't be a bad thing." She sighed, caressing her belly. "Tell me, Sango-chan, how did you and Miroku-sama find, uh, private time after the girls were born?"
Her friend blushed deep crimson. "If you must know, we had Kohaku and Shippou babysit them. Took us a week to clean up the resulting mess."
The women burst into laughter. One of the girls let out a piercing shriek as she lost her grip on the abused plushie and tumbled to the floor. Before her mother could react, she recovered and clambered upright. "Hiraikossu!" she shouted, picking up a stray toy – Kagome recognized it as one of Shippou's – and tossing it at her sister.
Emiko squealed as the wooden snake flew at her – and crashed harmlessly into the plush toy she held up, using it as a shield. Both girls then immediately let out a snarl which was uncannily similar to Inuyasha's and went for each other's throats.
Sango sighed. "Kagome-chan, do you mind taking Satoshi for a while, please?" She handed the infant to her best friend and walked over to her dueling daughters, seizing one in each hand by the necks of their kimonos.
"Girls, what did I say about fighting?" she said sternly.
"Forget?" supplied Emiko hopefully. Haruko nodded furiously. "We're really sorry, Mommy," she added.
"We won't do it again, promise." Emiko delivered the killer line as her sister looked on.
The former slayer opened her mouth to say something else but decided not to, cowed by the identical wide-eyed looks of innocence – complete with dangerously wobbling lower lips – the twins were sporting.
"Fine. But if I hear anything – just one sound! – Mommy's taking your toys away and giving them to Satoshi." Slaying youkai was so much easier than parenting, she thought.
She put them both down and watched as they scampered away, looking for more mischief to get into. Kagome's eyes were sparkling with mirth. "They've got both your fighting skills and Miroku-sama's ability to talk his way out of trouble," she grinned. "They're your daughters, all right."
"They must have learnt the innocent looks from Shippou," said Sango weakly.
Her friend laughed – and winced, putting a hand over her belly. "Ooh. He kicked me."
"He?" asked Sango, kneeling beside Kagome and touching the spot. "How do you know it will be a boy?"
Kagome smiled. "I just know it."
"Hey, bouzu."
Miroku looked up from the little wooden toy he was whittling away at. "Yes, Inuyasha?"
"... What's it like being a father?"
"Ahh, so that's what you were moping about all afternoon?" The monk grinned, setting aside the knife. "So glad you asked."
The hanyou looked askance at the unnatural gleam in his friend's eye. "Damnit, monk, there's no need to get so excited about a stupid question like that."
Miroku casually ignored him. "Well, my friend, fatherhood is like this wood carving," said the monk, holding up the rough chunk of wood.
Inuyasha snorted.
"Don't look down on this humble piece of craft, Inuyasha," interjected Miroku, wagging an admonitory finger.
"It's a damn piece of wood," growled the hanyou. "What has bloody being a father have to do with that?"
Miroku turned the crafted wood over in his hands, running a finger over the rudimentarily carved neck and head, down the back and flanks.
"... Remember that time when I told you Sango was pregnant with the girls?"
"Yeah – how could I forget? You almost drove me and her mad with your fretting for those nine months," grinned Inuyasha. "Hell, Sango was this close to leaving her kids fatherless."
The monk sighed deeply. "The point I'm trying to make is fatherhood can't be taught." He gestured with the half-finished carving. "I was so scared when I held them for the first time; I remember thinking that these two young, innocent people were suddenly our responsibility. You learn as you go along – like wood being shaped by the knife – and eventually, the finished product is beautiful."
Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a few toys obviously intended for his children: three identical little dogs with perky ears reminiscent of Inuyasha's and a fluffy tail.
The hanyou took one and examined it, turning the carving over in his hands. "Damn, Miroku," he said in a low voice, all the cockiness gone. "I never knew my old man. What if I can't be the father my kid deserves? Kagome's so excited about us becoming parents and I don't want to disappoint her."
"Nonsense," answered Miroku cheerfully. "Are you scared of children, my friend?"
"Scared? Like hell I would be frightened of a little brat!"
"Spoken like the man who destroyed Naraku." The monk moved closer and clapped Inuyasha's shoulder; face serious. "I am absolutely certain you have nothing to worry about it, seeing the way you looked after Shippou all this while."
"Keh." Gruff as the hanyou's reply was, the faint blush on his face gave him away.
Miroku took the carved dog from his friend. "I hope Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't mind that he was used for inspiration," he grinned, tapping the luxuriant fluffy tail of the toy.
A wicked grin curved over Inuyasha's face. "I'm tempted to show it to the bastard when he next visits." One curved claw turned the figure over. "This is very nicely done, though. I didn't know you were that good at craft."
"Oh, I didn't make those. Kohaku did, the last time he was here." The monk picked up the slightly lumpier, yet unfinished carving he was whittling away at earlier. "This is my work."
Inuyasha took one look at it and snorted loudly. "What's that extra one for, anyway? Don't you only have three kids?"
Miroku only smirked.
The hanyou came out of the house, still pale and shaking, cradling a small bundle in his arms. Miroku rushed over, his children clinging to his legs.
"I'm a father," said Inuyasha in a dazed voice, a huge grin on his face. "Damnit, Miroku. I'm a father."
The monk grinned at his friend's happiness. "What are you doing out here, then? Go in to Kagome-sama."
Sango came out not long after, exhausted but radiant, shooing away an excited Rin on an errand. Haruko, Emiko and Satoshi immediately let go of their father and ran to her, their little hands fisting in the hem of her skirt.
Miroku sighed. "All those endless piggyback rides and tickle attacks and they still prefer Mommy." His wife giggled; walking over to him, she gave him a hug and a quick kiss.
"That's because you exclude Mommy from the tickle attacks," Sango whispered teasingly in his ear.
Inside the hut, Inuyasha wrapped one arm around his wife and pressed his lips to her forehead.
"Kagome..."
She understood without him needing to say anything more; tired as she was, she reached up to touch his cheek. He put the baby back into her arms and slowly pulled the blanket from his sleeping face.
The newborn boy screwed up his face, woken by the sudden light; he cracked open one eye which was the exact shade of amber as his father's.
"He has your eyes," Kagome said softly, kissing her son.
Sunshine was not the only thing she had in abundance; so was love and happiness.