The Affair

A/N: So. Hope y'all really liked that last one. The ball is really getting rolling here... and to clear up any confusion, my now-ex-husband is not Noah's father... it was Noah's stepfather, and we tried... but it just didn't work out. Now me and Noah's father are... heating back up a little bit. And, yes, he IS kind of pissed off at me for running off with his son... but he'll get over it. He didn't need a baby on his mind anyway! haha. Anyways... we're off!

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Despondent, distracted,

You're vicious and romantic.

These are a few of my favorite things.

All of those flavors and

this is what you choose:

Past the blues, past the blues,

and onto something new,

Something real, make it timeless.

An act of God and nothing less will be accepted.

So if you're calling me out...

Then count me out.

Yea, we're stubborn and melodramatic,

a real class act.

You see, I know a few of your favorite things.

Five in the morning and all comes out pouring,

Love, out the same way in.

Something real, make it timeless,

an act of God and nothing less will be accepted.

I said real... make it timeless,

an act of God and nothing less will be accepted.

So if you're calling me out...

Then count me out.



mmm, mm, mm, mm.

mm, mm, mmmm.

(sigh)



- Taking Back Sunday, "Divine Intervention"

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Chapter Ten: The Reason.



When Rin and Sesshomaru slowly opened the door, the delivery was already finished. They'd run into Kouga and Ayame in the hall, watching the nurses bathe and weigh the small male infant. They found Kagome hidden under a thick blanket and a polka-dotted hospital gown, dead asleep. Her hair was a sweaty, knotted mess, and she was a little red and puffy. They backed out of the room slowly, nearly bumping into Miroku and a very pregnant Sango.



"Oh, you guys made it here before we did!" Sango whispered loudly, a little jealous that they'd gotten to see the baby first.



"We only just got here," Rin told her, leading the two to where Kouga and Ayame stood in awe. There he was, a pink little boy with black hair and golden eyes. They could barely make out the two small black and white spotted puppy's ears atop the child's head.



He slept soundly that night, as did Kagome. The next morning, she was a little groggy and still puffy, but her skin had returned to its normal olive hue, and she was allowed to have guests finally.



Finally, the time for the baby's arrival came. The nurses wheeled him in, smiling big bright smiles and telling Kagome how lucky she was to have such a well-behaved and healthy son. She took him up in her arms and stared down at him, marveling at him. He watched her steadily with his big, bright eyes, and Kagome almost teared up when she saw them and his pup's ears.



"He really is my brother's son," Sesshomaru mumbled in a little bit of remorse, and Rin slapped his arm, gesturing to Kagome's crestfallen expression.



"What are you going to call him?" Miroku asked quietly, knowing how delicate Kagome was right about now.



It took her only a second to smile and answer, "His name is Shippo. Shippo Taisho."



Kouga nearly jumped out of his chair in shock. "You're going to give him that dirty, no-good, rat bastard's last name?!" he exclaimed. He caught Sesshomaru's dirty look from the corner of his eye and mumbled, "No offense."



"None taken," Sesshomaru replied genuinely. "My brother had no reason to treat his woman in such a way. Especially not when she was with his child."



"I'll say!" Sango cried out. "He practically DROVE you out of Japan! And you were four-months pregnant, for Kami's sake!" She nearly shook with anger, and Miroku patted her knee comfortingly. "Dear, he didn't know," he told her gently.



"I know he didn't know!" she cried out. "But he should have been able to figure out that something was up with Kagome! She was moody, and she was lonely, and she needed him! And he was too busy being shoved up Kikyo's ass!" She growled, frustrated. "I wish he had never come to work at our damn movie theater! We would have been just fine without him!"



But Kagome shook her head in disagreement. "I don't wish that." She gazed down at her son, and her face brightened at the sight of his golden eyes staring back up at her. She raised him up to her face and nuzzled his nose with hers playfully. "I could never wish that."

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On the other side of the world, oblivious to what was happening on the other side of it, Inuyasha was sitting on the sofa, listening to Kikyo drawl on and on about her day when the phone rang suddenly. He was more than a little surprised to see Sesshomaru's number on the caller ID. He quickly stepped outside, not bothering to offer an explanation to Kikyo, before answering with a stiff but curious, "Hello?"



"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said through the receiver. "I was just wondering something."



"Oh, yea?" he asked. "And what's that?"



"Are you dense?"



Inuyasha blinked. He and his brother had never been on very good terms, but Sesshomaru was rarely very straightforward with his hostility toward Inuyasha. "I like to think not," the hanyou answered carefully, still curious as to where this was headed. "Why?"



"No reason," his older brother answered, and Inuyasha could picture his cold demeanor, his nonchalant shrug. "Just wondering." Click!



Inuyasha stared at the phone for a minute, his nose wrinkled a little. "What the hell was that about?" he wondered. He had half a mind to call Sesshomaru back up and demand that he explain what the fuck was going on... but he knew that that would have no effect on his icy older brother. So he just let it go and went back inside to be talked to to death.

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Rin gave her husband a strange look as he rejoined them in Kagome's hospital room. He just flashed her his cell phone and smiled gently at her. "I just needed a question answered, that's all," he murmured in her ear, giving her a soft kiss on the temple.



"So we're going to be staying in the loft with you for a while," Miroku was telling Kagome. "We'll be helping you out with Shippo until he's big enough to stay in his own room; then we'll move into our own place and let you two have the apartment to yourselves."



"What about your baby?" Kagome wondered, looking at Sango's prominent baby bump.



Sango waved a hand. "We'll figure something out," she told her best friend. "Won't we, babe?" she asked Miroku, patting his knee gently. He smiled and patted hers back. "Of course we will," he replied.



"And we'll be staying for just a few days," Rin chimed in excitedly, and Sesshomaru nodded at her side, taking her hand in his. "We want to make sure you and our nephew get settled in just fine."



Kagome smiled as she rocked her son in her arms. He was sleeping now, but he would be up before she knew it. And Kagome was very grateful to have her friends by her side.



Of course, she would have liked to have Shippo's father by her side as well. But she could wait.



She could wait.

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A/N: there you go! And i argued with myself for a while, wondering if I should make Shippo their kid or not, or just leave him as Noah... But, honestly, my son really DOES remind me of Shippo sometimes; he's just so darn CUTE! Of course, we all know that Shippo isn't a quarter Inu demon, he's really a full kitsune, but I'm changing things around. The character will be the same, but his ethnicity and appearance won't be. So, just deal with it. I've got great plans for "Shippo."