Chapter Thirty-One

"Push." Riko stood between Sesshomaru's legs and watched as the baby's head progressed.

"Make this stop." Sesshomaru strained again. It felt like he was getting nowhere.

"You can do it, Sesshomaru." Inuyasha stood at his side, watching his mate give birth to their first child. "Come on. Push."

"I am pushing!" Sesshomaru tightened his grip on Inuyasha's hand.

"That's it. Almost there."

Sesshomaru gasped as he felt the head pass. "Oh, Kami. No more."

"Almost. Keep pushing." Riko pulled a loop of cord up over the baby's head and watched it turn. "Big push now."

"It has your markings. Keep pushing, Sesshomaru." Inuyasha moved down where he could see well.

"My Lord, would you like to trade places?"

Inuyasha looked at Riko. "You want me to catch the baby?"

"That's up to you. But make up your mind. Do you want to be the first to hold your child?"

"Fuck yes." Inuyasha took Riko's place. He smiled up at Sesshomaru. "Come on. I'm right here. Push."

Sesshomaru strained again. "Don't you drop him."

"Shut up." Inuyasha laughed softly at the joke. A week earlier Sesshomaru had been teaching him to do diapers using a melon and he had dropped it, making a mess on the dining room floor. "Push."

"I am pushing!" He bared down harder and gasped as his baby left his body. It started screaming and his chest warmed at the sound. He turned his head to the side and watched Inuyasha. He was wrapping the baby in a towel. "Let me see it."

Inuyasha held the baby up. "It's a boy."

Sesshomaru couldn't help smiling at the grin on his mates face. "Are you sure?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "I think I know what a penis looks like." He pulled open the towel so Sesshomaru could see for himself.

Sesshomaru held his arms out. "Give him to me."

Riko put a hand on Sesshomaru's trembling thigh. "You must wait, my Lord. Until you pass the afterbirth. You don't want to pull the cord."

Sesshomaru's hands trembled. Inuyasha moved the baby to where he could touch it. "A boy, Sesshomaru. He looks just like you."

Fingers touching the baby's wet head, Sesshomaru felt something in him relax. For the entire pregnancy he had been terrified that he would lose the baby. He had horrific nightmares and woke up screaming almost every night for two months. But Inuyasha was there and he quickly calmed him. He hadn't left Inuyasha's side for two months. The one time he had tried being alone, he had had a panic attack. So Inuyasha let him follow him around. "I want to hold my baby."

"Just a few minutes, my Lord." Sesshomaru groaned, pushed, and the afterbirth slid out. Riko tied it off and cut the cord. "Okay. You can give him the baby now, Lord Inuyasha."

Inuyasha carried the baby to Sesshomaru's side and placed him on his chest. "He needs a bath. But he's beautiful."

Sesshomaru couldn't stop staring. Inuyasha was right, the baby looked just like him. He had all of his facial markings. He shifted the baby to his breast and it stopped crying and latched on. Sesshomaru closed his eyes and felt the rest of himself completely relax. "I had a baby."

Inuyasha grinned. "Yeh. You had a baby."

Inuyasha helped Riko clean Sesshomaru and bathe the baby. Then he carried him to bed. While Sesshomaru fell into an exhausted sleep, Inuyasha laid beside him and watched the baby. It alternated between sleeping and nursing. He changed its diaper twice. He dressed him in the tiny kimono that Sesshomaru had set aside for his first clothes. He could have laid there for days watching the tiny little thing.

Sesshomaru woke for the first time in months without having had a nightmare. He turned his head to find Inuyasha lying beside him, staring at the baby. Sesshomaru look down at it and smiled. "You dressed him."

"Yes." Inuyasha was curling a tuft of soft white hair around his finger. "He's so small."

"He's perfect." Sesshomaru lifted his hands and feet and counted toes and fingers. "Have you chosen a name yet?"

"No. I thought I'd let you name him."

Sesshomaru frowned at his mate. "That's your job. And I haven't thought of any. Because it's your job."

Inuyasha touched the baby's cheek and smiled when its mouth twitched towards his finger. "I know. I already named our first born, Sesshomaru. And you're such a liar. I know you've already thought of names you like."

"Akihiko."

"See. Was that so hard?" He kissed the baby's forehead. "Akihiko. I like it."

Sesshomaru smiled. "Thank you."

Inuyasha shrugged and sat up. "He's your baby." He stretched until his back popped. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Almost healed." The baby started to nurse again and he touched its cheek softly, watching its mouth move.

"I have work I need to do. Court today. Will you be alright alone?"

Sesshomaru smiled again, still watching the baby. "I'm not alone."

"You know what I meant, Sesshomaru."

"We'll be fine. Go be Lord."

Inuyasha watched them a moment more. He hated to leave them, but he was the Lord and he had duties to attend. He had already shirked his duties the day before because Sesshomaru was showing signs of going into labor. He met Riko in the hall on his way out, he was carrying a bowl of stew. "That for Sesshomaru?"

"Yes, my Lord. Stew made from the afterbirth. It will make his milk rich and help him healer faster, though I doubt he needs much help with that. Has he woken?"

"Yeh, a little while ago. He's watching the baby nurse now. I have court starting soon."

"Which is why I was coming now. Your steward is waiting to call court to session." Riko moved past Inuyasha and into the bedroom. "You go on, my Lord. Sesshomaru is in good hands."

"Mmm." Inuyasha watched his family a moment longer. Sesshomaru had never looked so beautiful. He finally turned away, and went to do the job his father had passed on to him, the life he had accepted as his. Being Lord of the Western Lands.