The Epilogue

"What a life we built,
carved out of sorrow and ache,
heartbreak and waiting."

-Tyler Knott Gregson

Rise.

Fall.

The movement of his breath didn't distract her from the sleep that was creeping up on her, instead lulling her more and more with each passing moment. They were tangled together like pretzels, one of her legs wrapping itself between both of his for warmth, her head pillowed on his chest. Kagome always found it awkward to position her arms when they curled up like this, but not this time, for once. One was, of course, wrapped around his waist like he was her lifeline. The other one, the one usually trapped underneath her body, rested against her waist, reaching towards the other hip where he draped one of his own to meet hers. Their palms were flat, their fingers crossing together, his nails playing carefully against her rings.

The moment was perfection. It was like coming home for the first time in months, taking that first breath in after being under water for a moment too long, or feeling the first warmth of spring sunshine against your skin after the most impossibly cold winter. Relief, true relaxation and happiness all encased in one exquisite embrace.

Until a shock of pain blossomed over her belly, eliciting a surprised gasp from her. It felt like it started directly where their fingers were splayed together, a bit closer to his palm than hers, before spreading over the whole of her abdomen.

"Brat," her bedmate muttered under his breath. "He better not kick at me like this when he's born."

"Maybe he just wants your attention, Yash." She heard the 'tsk' from him before she'd even fully finished the sentence.

"He needs to calm down and let his mother rest." He tapped softly on her swollen belly and the resulting deluge of movement had her bladder screaming. "Or maybe just come out already. Look at this, Kagome, I can see his whole little foot under your skin." Kagome didn't bother to crane her head to see, much too comfortable and familiar with the sensation and sight to bother. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"He hasn't got much space anymore," Kagome reminded. "We'll be induced Monday if he doesn't come on his own before then. Let him soak it in." He hummed in agreement, settling for letting his son took shots at where his hand met hers.

"How many more do you think you'll want," he asked after a beat of silence, running his free hand through her hair. "I know you'd said none before, but now we're here."

"We don't even have one yet," she muttered, "and this one wasn't even planned."

"I did warn you to get back up protection when you said you were spotting." He tapped her nose affectionately with the words, causing her to scrunch her face up in return.

"I thought it was from taking it too late one day, not because it was a messed up batch. And you could have said more than that. Like, gee, I don't know, 'hey, it's a coming up on a full moon around the same time you'll be ovulating, I don't think you're birth control is working, maybe get condoms this weekend.'" Kagome cracked open her eyes to peer up at him.

"You expect me to take in consideration the fall of your ovulation cycle with the phases of the moon?" She could hear the humor in his voice despite the critique he was giving her. "Kagome, I wasn't the one adamantly against children; it would have never occurred to me." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head with the words. "And you weren't really complaining at the time, anyway."

He was right. She hadn't been. But who could blame her? It had been too much. He'd been too hot, too close, too handsy, and she'd been all too willing to let it continue. It made sense, from a biological stand point. They'd both been at their most vulnerable, and neither of them had ever been very good at distancing themselves from each other. Instead, Kagome's greeting kiss to her husband when he'd arrived home for a long day at the office had resulted in a trail of clothes leading to their bedroom with repeat performances to follow for most of the night between short bouts of sleep. Inuyasha had told her the next morning that there was a high possibility that she could have gotten pregnant, and he'd offered to get Plan B from the corner store, but she'd brushed him off. They'd had no issues the last three years, why would that suddenly change?

Kagome was rudely pulled from her reminiscing as another bout of pain spread across her abdomen and she hissed out in frustration.

"I'd be happier about all this," she seethed, letting go of Inuyasha's hand to rub against where the pain had been the strongest, "if he wasn't so hell bent on destroying the place on his way out." He hmmed in response, still accepting little kicks where he was resting his hand. "How the hell is he kicking in so many places?"

"Maybe it was an elbow," Inuyasha offered up, moving his hand to do soothing circles over the entirety of her baby bump. "He's my kid, he's gonna be a fighter."

"Well, it feels like he's trying to rip me apart." Kagome harrumphed, reaching for the down comforter pooled at their hips and pulling it up over them both.

"Has it been like this the entire time?" Kagome let her eyes drift open at his question, having not missed the deep amount of remorse in his statement.

"Yash," she warned, "don't put yourself through a guilt trip over something you couldn't prevent. How were you supposed to know that Johann would be moving to the states?"

"I should've just sold the company, Kagome." He was looking at her fiercely, his gold eyes sparking that familiar unsteady heartbeat in her chest. "The minute we got the news from the midwife that you couldn't fly, I should have just sold the whole damn thing. Or given it to Daichi."

"Giving Daichi a company is not a good idea."

"And giving him my place here with you is?"

"He just helped out around the house."

"That fucking runt put together the entire nursery!"

"Because I asked him to! I didn't know when you'd be home, and the midwife kept saying 'any day now' like it was a threat and I needed it done. It was driving me crazy!" She'd said it in a jumble, eyes trained on his chest to avoid eye contact. She was a bit embarrassed with her outburst, but it wasn't abnormal for her. Not now, anyway. Pregnancy hormones had ruined her sensibility.

"Kagome," he said it softly, sitting up against the headboard and pulling her with him. "Did you really think I wouldn't be here in time to do everything you wanted?"

"It's been four months since you left and you said it would only take two to get that new guy trained." Kagome allowed Inuyasha to pull her back to his chest, effectively trapping her in a cage of his arms and legs.

"I'm sorry," he whispered then. "I didn't think it would take so long."

"It's okay," she intoned back, transfixed by the way his hands moved across her huge bump. "Just don't miss the next one."

"Next one?" He laughed behind her. "How do you go from wanting zero kids to wanting two?"

"Not giving him a sibling is just cruel. Then he'll turn out spoiled like Daichi and we can't have that."

"No," he said, pressing a smirking kiss to her shoulder, "I don't suppose we can."

"Mother fucker," Kagome hissed as a pain shot through her once more, causing her to sit bolt upright from where she'd been leaning against her husband. "Fucking hell," she added when it finally passed, afraid to relax just yet.

"I'll go call the midwife," Inuyasha said then, extracting himself carefully from the bed. Kagome had expected that, wincing as she came to the same realization he had.

"We have time," she argued, "they're still far apart and short. We don't have to get her here now." Kagome looked up at him, surprised to see him already pulling on a sweatshirt and grabbing his cell phone. They had no cell service in their house, both a perk and nuisance to their mountain oasis.

"She said to call her at the first sign of labor." He kissed her forehead before handing her the cardigan she'd had on over her sports bra and maternity leggings. "And after I get off the phone with that witch, I'm going to go check all the screws on the nursery furniture. If anything's lose, I'm neutering that boy."

Kagome could only 'hmm' in agreement before pulling her cardigan on, standing carefully after putting her own slippers on and following him to the door.

"What if he comes too quick," she called to him as he opened the porch door, "what if she doesn't make it in time?" Inuyasha eyed her for a minute before closing the sliding door back, meeting her halfway between the dining area and the living room.

"Then I get to do what I wanted in the first place and help bring my own child into the world," he swept some of her hair away from her face, tucking it back into the long braid she'd woven it into that morning. "We'll be fine. I've done it before. Most importantly, I love you," he said with great intention, pressing a lingering kiss to her lips.

"I love you too," she said with just as much emotion when he'd pulled away. "But in a few hours I'll probably hate you and I'm not sorry for that."

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her tightly and pressing more kisses to her face.

"You can hate me all you want as long as you forgive me enough in a few months to make another one of these," he said it as he ran his hand along her bump possessively.

"A few months!?" She pulled back away from him, shocked. "A few years. I am not going through this again so soon."

He laughed whole heartedly before pushing her towards the couch with another kiss.

"If this were the feudal era, I would have given you at least three kids by now," he joked.

"If this were the feudal era, I would have made you 'sit' for that."

"Sit me all you want now," he rebuked, heading back out the door. "I'll take them all if that's what it means to have this life together."

Kagome watched as he made the phone call with a sweet smile on her face, an overwhelming bubbling in her heart as she ran over his words in her head again. Somehow, they'd found a perfect peace after everything, and it made her feel so full. The emotion spread through her like a warm fire, releasing the aches and cracks that had accumulated in the months that he'd been tied up with work and she'd been tearfully missing him. It was all worth it, even if it had taken four months for Inuyasha to train someone and get home. The warmth just poured out of her heart, through her limbs, into her aura and onto her feet.

Wait, no. That wasn't right.

"Yash," she cried, looking down at her feet, and trusting his hearing to catch her next words, "I think my water just broke."

Fin.

A/N:

It's been almost a year since I first uploaded the short one shot that grew into this beast. I have yet to understand, fully, what it means to me to have technically completed this piece. I wanted to write this differently and near the end I couldn't give this the energy it deserved anymore. So many of you have relayed that you wish I had more work for you to read, or that you'll be keeping an eye out for my stuff and I appreciate that. I'm not here to promise anything, not here to say I've got big plans for my future on this website. I don't.

Instead, let me apologize. I'm sorry. I would write a lot of these chapters in one sitting and would proofread quickly because hearing my head voice was odd. I thought I caught all the mistakes, but the chapters were long, and I was working against a self-imposed time line. I would also let the opinion of few a distract me from the story I had to tell, and I'm sorry. I missed my point so many times by doing that. I'm sorry I don't have the heart to edit this now. I don't have any intention to change what's been posted, and instead want to keep it as it is for reference for my future self.

If you're still reading this, I commend you. This is my letter, my response, to all of you who have continued to read through this. Thank you. Thank you for liking this story, thank you for taking this journey with me. Thank you for seeing this update in your inbox and coming to read what I had to say after months of silence.

Take this short one-shot esque epilogue as my peace offering, a toast to one year of growth and to all of you who feel like friends despite the pen names and the distance between us.

I'll see you all soon

K. Marjorie

P.S. Happy Valentines Day!

PSS: Anyone interested in a exert from something new for IY ff I'm working on? Debating posting a short one shot later this week.