Two weeks later found Kurama pacing again. "Calm down, Shuichi," Shiori said.

"It was due last Monday. It's a week late. Why is it a week late?" Kurama was on edge, his hope that he could have both the child and Hiei dwindling with every day that passed.

"Just calm down, Shuichi," Shiori reassured him, rubbing his shoulders when he collapsed on the couch. "The baby will come when he's ready. You just have to be patient. It hasn't been long enough that we need to worry."

Kurama nodded, but Hiei and Shiori could do nothing when he stood and started to pace again.

It was around two in the morning four days later when Hiei woke with a cry. Kurama was on his feet in an instant, turning the lights on, shouting to Shiori. She rushed into the room, followed closely by Shizuru and Yukina who had been staying there since the due date had come and gone. Hiei didn't make another noise, just gripped Kurama's hand so tightly, Kurama felt sure it was going to break. "Breathe, Hiei," Shiori instructed. "Breathe and wait."

"Wait for what?" Hiei snapped.

"We've gone over this, Hiei," Shiori replied calmly. "The contractions need to be close together."

"Damn it," Hiei shouted. "They started last night! They're just worse all of a sudden. And they are close together."

There was some panicked scrambling, and then Shiori was gripping Hiei's other hand as Shizuru instructed, "Even breathing, Hiei. Then push." After about twenty minutes piercing shrieks filled the room, as Hiei's head collapsed onto the pillow. Shiori looked from the baby to Hiei to her son. Then Shizuru saw the blood. She placed the baby in Shiori's arms and said, "Leave, Shiori."

"But—" the older woman began to object.

"Just go!" Shizuru commanded.

Shizuru, Yukina and Kurama worked feverishly over Hiei for half an hour, trying to stop the bleeding. When it finally stopped, Kurama checked Hiei's pulse. He couldn't find one. "No." He whispered, collapsing in the chair next to the bed. "No. This is all my fault."

"Kurama," Shizuru said quietly, "There was nothing you could do." She put her hand on Kurama's shoulder, where he had crossed his arms on the bed and hidden his face.

"Don't, Shizuru," he snapped, not looking up. "Just leave."

Shizuru pulled her hand back and led a sobbing Yukina from the room. The sound of the baby wailing down the hall was only broken by the sound of Kurama's sobs. Then, "Why are you crying, fox?"

Kurama sat bolt upright, tears still streaming down his face. "Hiei?" he whispered.

"Who else would it be?"

Kurama breathed a sigh of relief and began crying all over again. "You're alright. You're alive. You're alright."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hiei was genuinely bewildered by the tears.

"There was so much blood, Hiei," Kurama answered, brushing a loose strand of hair from the forehead still damp with sweat. "You didn't have a pulse."

"Just because you couldn't find one didn't mean I didn't have one, fox," Hiei reminded him. Kurama nodded but didn't say anything else. He just leaned in and brushed his lips against Hiei's.

Then Kurama left the room. The faces he met were grim. "Why are you smiling?" Shiori asked.

"He's okay," Kurama said, tears flooding his eyes once again. "He's okay." Then he walked back to Hiei without so much glancing at the child that was still screaming in Shiori's arms.

The others followed him, relief the primary emotion on their features. Kurama sat down next to Hiei and grabbed his hand. Then he saw the grin on Shizuru's face. "Shizuru?" he asked. "What's up?"

"Don't you guys want to meet your daughter?" she asked innocently.

Hiei and Kurama stared at Shizuru for a long time, waiting for her to deliver the punch line. "Daughter?" Hiei finally asked.

"Yeah," Shizuru said, "We were surprised too."

"Heh," Kurama laughed. "I guess we all just assumed it would be a boy, since we're both guys." He shook his head. "Two Xs. Unbelievable. But what can you do?" He looked at his mother. "Let's see her."

Shiori held the baby out to her son. She was tiny, wrapped in a blanket and howling. "Shhh," Kurama whispered, tilting her so Hiei could see the child in his arms. "We're here."

Hiei gently lifted the baby from Kurama's arms and said, "You've been a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

"Hiei!" Shiori objected.

Hiei ignored her. "But that's okay. You're here, Kurama's here, I'm somehow still alive. I guess… I have a lot to be thankful for." The moment Hiei had started to speak the baby girl had started to get quiet. Then she quieted entirely and drifted to sleep in Hiei's arms.

The two men stared down at their daughter. Her black hair was matted to her head, its evenness broken only by the small, charcoal grey fox ears that twitched in her sleep. Shiori saw Kurama and Hiei looking at them and said, "She's got the tail, too."

Kurama nodded and smiled. "I figured as much." He looked at Hiei. "She's ours. Who would have thought? She's ours."

"And she needs a name," Shizuru said pointedly.

Kurama laughed to himself. "I'd thought of a few names for boys, but genetics never really crossed my mind through all this. At least not beyond how genetics made it possible."

Kurama looked at Hiei, who said, "I have no idea what you're even talking about. Genetics mean nothing to me."

Kurama laughed then asked, "Do you have any ideas for a name? Because I kind of like the name Nessa."

"Nessa?" Hiei asked.

"It's Hebrew," Kurama answered. "Means 'miracle.' I think it's appropriate considering all that has happened."

Hiei nodded and looked down at the child asleep in his arms. "Nessa. Miracle." He shook his head. "And to think I was ashamed of carrying this."

Shizuru groaned. Everyone looked at her, and she explained, "There are a lot of dads who are overprotective of their daughters. I can already see that this poor girl is going to have two. Heaven help her." The others laughed quietly, and then everyone tried to return to bed. But the excitement had been too much and none of them slept, least of all Hiei and Kurama. They were too preoccupied holding their baby for sleep to even cross their minds.

At around five in the morning, Hiei told Kurama, "As much as I already love her, we're using protection from now on, Kurama."

Kurama laughed quietly. "Of course. One is one more than I planned for."

When morning rolled around, Shizuru took the first chance she got to call Keiko, who appeared at the door less than twenty minutes later. "I want to see him," she said, walking past Shiori.

"Not him," Shizuru corrected. "Her. The three of them are in Kurama's room."

"Her?" Keiko laughed. "Can you imagine the two of them raising a girl?"

"Yeah," Shizuru said. "She's going to be spoiled rotten and anytime she brings a boyfriend home, he'll have more than one parent to worry about."

Keiko laughed and ran up the stairs. She opened the door as quietly as she could. Hiei was asleep in the bed, the baby in his arms. Kurama was in the chair next to the bed, looking as though he too was about to fall asleep. "Can I see her?" Keiko whispered. Kurama nodded and, careful not to wake Hiei or the child, lifted the girl from Hiei's arms and handed her to Keiko. "She's beautiful," Keiko said. "What's her name?"

"Nessa," Kurama replied. "When we go for a birth certificate, we're going to say Nessa Minamino. Life is simpler that way."

"Nessa," Keiko repeated. "I like that. I always wanted kids. And now… Kurama, I have never been more jealous of anyone in my life."

Kurama smiled. "You'll get your chance. And knowing Yusuke, it won't be very hard to convince him to help you." Keiko's face reddened, and Kurama asked, "Speaking of which, when is the wedding?"

"A month from now," Keiko replied, rocking the baby. "When are you going to tell Yusuke and Kuwabara about her."

Kurama laughed. "Hiei and I talked it over, and we decided we'd just show up and not tell them anything. They can figure it out for themselves. And if they can't… well…"

"They're more stupid than we thought," Keiko finished for him. He nodded. Then she suggested, "How about we have a birthday party for her at the temple? They don't need to know it's for her. Party is the only word they'll need to hear."

"Kind of like pregnant was the only word Shiori needed to hear to accept everything?" Kurama asked.

"Kind of," Keiko laughed. "Just not so extreme."

Four days later, everyone met at the temple. When they got there, Yusuke and Kuwabara found Yukina holding a baby, and the other women gathered around adoring it. "Whose baby is that?" Kuwabara asked, knowing it couldn't belong to any of the women in the room.

"She's not mine," Yukina said. "Do you want to hold her?" She passed the baby to Kuwabara.

"She's adorable," Kuwabara said. Seeing the ears, he looked around and found Kurama. "Who'd you knock up, Kurama?"

Looking at the baby, Yusuke said, "You sure Kurama's the father, Kuwabara? She may have the ears, but she's got Hiei's hair and eyes. Could be either one of 'em."

"Shorty, a father?" Kuwabara snorted. "Give me a break."

Hiei had heard enough. He dashed across the room and snatched his daughter from them. "I don't trust you not to drop her."

Kuwabara looked taken aback. "Then again…" Hiei didn't respond. He just walked back across the room and sat down next to Kurama.

Then Yusuke noticed how close Kurama was sitting to Hiei. He saw the arm resting along the back of the couch, almost around Hiei's shoulders. And one of Genkai's lessons forced its way into his mind. "Genkai once told me some demons can get pregnant," he said slowly.

"Some humans can get pregnant, you moron," Keiko reminded him.

Yusuke shook his head. "What I meant was that some male demons can get pregnant. Could they both be the father?" His question was asked more to himself than to anyone in the room, but he was given an answer anyway.

"And we have a winner," Shizuru said. Then she added, "And because you're both too stupid to ask, her name is Nessa."

"And before you even ask," Kurama interrupted, "we are never letting either of you babysit."

A short time later, Kurama and Hiei began renting their own apartment, struggling to take care of a baby they had never thought was even possible. Shiori was woken up on multiple occasions to answer questions from the panicked parents. And she immediately began enjoying the treat of spoiling her granddaughter.

Nearly five years later, Kurama and Hiei both appeared to pick their daughter up from her first day of kindergarten. Most humans had adjusted to the presence of demons well enough that they were able to send her to a human school without too much of a fuss. She was different. But then again, so were her parents.

The school let out, and she saw her fathers. "Dad, Daddy!" she yelled, running toward them. Kurama easily picked her up, and she waved a paper in his face, "Look what I made!" Kurama nodded his approval, despite the fact that he hadn't been able to see what it was. "Here, Daddy," she said, handing the paper to Hiei. "It's a picture of us."

Hiei took it and looked it over. He smiled and said, "It's beautiful, Nessa. One for the refrigerator. But before that, how about we stop somewhere and get a snack?"

Nessa squirmed in Kurama's arms, and he set her back down. "Pickles and ice cream?" she asked hopefully.

Hiei bit his tongue, slightly sick at the thought. Then he said, "If that's what you want, Nessa. We can get you some pickles and ice cream."

She clapped her hands together before grabbing their hands and dragging them down the street. She spoke the hole way, talking about all the things she had done at school. Hiei and Kurama smiled, despite the fact that half of what she said was unintelligible. They let the small girl drag them down the street, grateful for their miracle.

Grateful that they had the opportunity to dance to music that was no longer silent. Instead the music was the jabbering of one little girl who had tied them all together as a family.

KG64: And there is your story. I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, Nessa is the only one I own, and her name really is Hebrew for miracle.

Kiyoshi: And now that you've finished this story, we need to go work on the important ones that you should have been writing *drags KG64 away from her beloved pickles, ice cream and silent music*

KG64: *shrieking* NO! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED! SAVE ME! AND THEN REVIEW!

Kiyoshi: Do the world a favor and quit talking.