I Don’t Want a Mate

A/N: L&D is labor and delivery. If an expecting mother has any questions about something that has come up and can't get in touch of her doctor than she calls the on-call nurse to determine what to do. L&D is also where the child is born, after delivery the mother is usually moved to another room.

Ch 8: Welcome to the World

The day they left for her time, much to Kagome's annoyance, her breasts had started to leak. She recalled that as they had flown to the well she had noticed something damp on her shirt. Looking down, she had spotted the a large wet spot over one of her breasts. While a wet spot on her shirt were frustrating and a little embarrassing, it was easy to manage with nursing pads, as long as they didn't slip at an inopportune moment. Pity she didn't have that luxury in the fudel era, and she made a mental note to purchase some nursing pads as soon as possible. She had not anticipated leaking before the baby was born and thus had not thought to buy any on her last visit, or inquire about her husband's times equivalent as the forest held little that could be used as a nursing pad.

Cussing mentally, she was about to get her husband's attention and demand that she be set down in order to change her shirt when she had looked up and noticed his nose twitching. Apparently he had noticed the smell and was trying hard to ignore it. When she had suggested landing, he had quickly complied. She should have known that something was up when he didn't insist on continuing and having her change right before they entered the well. They were still a good distance from the portal but it was typical of Sesshoumaru to want to be punctual no matter what. As soon as her shirt was off, and she was trying to think of something to use to absorb the milk, she had a silver head attached to the offending breast. In a matter of moments, she had been laid down on the hard dirt, of the convenient cave they were in, and was being pleasured. She had been proclaimed afterward as a 'tasty treat'. Her husband had apparently found the sweet taste of her breast milk quite delightful and took to suckling her before ravaging her.

She wasn't sure if the suckling was a dog demon thing or a Sesshoumaru thing, but decided she didn't care, it felt rather good on sore milk-laden breasts. The sex after he was done with his snack was quite nice as well, it had apparently aroused her husband significantly. She had a suspicion that if it wasn't snowing outside she would have been ravaged in full view of any wondering demon, or human, that happened to venture by. He had taken her twice before he'd allowed her to clean herself and continue on their way to the well.

It was good to be home. Modern luxuries were a necessity for the pregnant Kagome. She wasn't sure which she needed more, hot water at her fingertips, which she didn't have to go outside for, or the delectable sweets readily available. She had tried to explain how to bake a few modern day treats to the palace's chef, but all the attempts to follow her instructions failed. She had even, in a fit of pique, attempted to bake something herself, only for it to end in disaster. Her mate had to come and fetch a sobbing Kagome from the kitchens. She did not take her failure well. Perhaps it was the difference in supplies, or perhaps the equipment was to blame. No matter the cause the result was the same, a failed lump of dessert, slightly burned on the outside and rather liquidy on the inside, and a sobbing pregnant woman. The poor chef was quite frantic with worry over his life while he tried to calm the lady and await the arrival of an overprotective dog demon. Thankfully for the chef, his lord was able to decipher his mate's sobbed explanation, and after deeming that the tears were not the fault of the poor chef the chef's life was spared. Their trip had taken longer than normal, and she was grateful that her mate could put up wards for her room once they had reached her home, she had a feeling they were going to need it, if the way there had been any indication.

Sesshoumaru prowled around the shrine in search of his mate. Her mood swings were getting rather annoying. All he had done was suggest that they retire to their room. She had then accused him of viewing her as a milk dispenser. Apparently she had taken offence to his earlier suckling. Then she had claimed that he found her unattractive and that she didn't want to be touched before storming away. Now he was forced to track her down by scent. Thankfully she hadn't thought to block it. He could hardly be blamed for his desire for his own mate. It wasn't his fault that the sweet taste of her breast milk was intoxicating, or the soft curves she'd gained were enough to drive him mad with desire. Her scent alone was enough to make him mindless and allow his beast to take over. Just a few days ago, she couldn't keep her hands off of him, not that he minded, and now he wasn't allowed to touch her.

He eagerly awaited the arrival of his pup. Her hormonal induced mood swings would slowly start to ebb away after the birth and he'd have his pup at long last. He was not, however, looking forward to six weeks of not being able to take his mate. The delectable scent of his mate mixed with his led him to the back of the shrine and toward the garden. Perhaps he could distract her. He had heard from his mother-in-law that pregnant women often have cravings. Remembering the incident in the palace kitchen, Sesshoumaru concluded that, yes, his mate had had cravings, for sweets apparently. Perhaps he could distract her by asking if she had any cravings and even suggesting a few? He wouldn't mind a nice slice or two of chocolate cake about now. It was stressful trying to take care of a very pregnant mate that didn't want to be taken care of.

Sitting on a bench beneath a maple, the garden was dusted in glittering snow. The light of the moon reflected off of the tiny flakes making Kagome appear ethereal. "Mate, you should not be sitting in the snow in your condition."

"My condition? What exactly is my condition?" Apparently she was still irrational, or it would be obvious that her condition was pregnancy. She turned swollen red eyes on him, silently challenging him to say something wrong. Now if only he knew what the right thing to say was.

"It's obvious what your condition is, you're having a craving. A craving for chocolate cake." Sesshoumaru changed the subject, sort of. No matter how he answered her question it would be wrong, he sensed it. Plus, he wanted some chocolate cake and getting it under the guise of her having a craving would work quiet well. He could just get it himself but it was more fun to try and induce the craving in his mate. He wondered how many times it would take mentioning it to her before she asked for him to acquire chocolate cake for her.

"My condition is I have a craving for chocolate cake?" Kagome was incredulous. Where did that come from? She hadn't had any cravings. Cravings were for like, pickles in your ice cream not chocolate cake. Right? Well there was that time that she really wanted Creme Brulee and dissolved into tears after several hours of failing to make it, along with everything else she tried to make that day. Deciding that she wasn't up to trying to decipher her paradox of a mate she stood up finally registering the cold went inside.

Smirking Sesshoumaru followed her. It may not have earned him his chocolate cake but she did go inside. Now maybe he could find out if her breasts were sore again. If he couldn't have cake a little milk wouldn't be remiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You are not leaving with out me, mate." Sesshoumaru knew that today she was planning to accompany her mother out shopping. However, he was worried because it was close to her due date. They had decided to live with her family for the entire last month of her pregnancy. Neither Kagome, nor her mother, wanted her relatives to miss out on the occasion, and Sesshoumaru didn't want to risk any complications with the time travel while in labor. With that, the demon deemed that living with them for that last stretch of his mate's pregnancy was the safest plan all around.

"Sesshoumaru, it'll only be for a couple of hours. We're just going into Tokyo for a while then we'll be back." Kagome was annoyed. She understood that he wanted to be there in case anything happened, but really it was fine. Well, there was that odd liquid she found in the crotch of her panties this morning, but she was pretty sure it was urine. After all, the baby was already in position, and had been for nearly two weeks as it was pressing on her bladder. As unattractive as it sounds, it could be urinary leakage, simple as that. It's not like her water broke or anything. After all, everyone told her she'd know when it happened. So no worries.

"I will accompany you on your outing, Kagome, there is no use arguing. I will not chance missing the birth of my pup." He narrowed his eyes at his mate. She could be stubborn all she wanted but he'd still do as he pleased. Especially in this.

"Fine," Kagome threw up her hands in defeat and stomped, as best she could, off. "I have to go the bathroom, again, I'll be back in a bit." Entering the bathroom, she cursed, yet again, the fact that her child was pressing on her bladder. She swore she spent as much time in the bathroom as she did sleeping. Her eyes drifted down. The crotch of her panties was yet again another wet spot.

Furrowing her brows she realized that every time she was in the bathroom this morning there was one there. Could she really have a urinary leakage all day? She had woken up early this morning, not an uncommon occurrence these days, and noticed fairly quickly the wetness. It bore no color to it. Deciding that she had to satisfy the nagging doubt in the back of her head, Kagome resolved herself to do something that she considered gross but a necessity. Kicking off her maternity undies, she braced herself for what she was about to do and raised them to her face holding them close to her nose. Delicately she sniffed. No smell. If it was urine it would smell, right? Frustrated she decided to call L&D and ask about it. She had been leaking like this since around eight this morning it was almost noon now. Balling the soiled garment in her hand she smoothed down her dress and re-entered her bedroom.

"Is there something the matter?" Sesshoumaru noticed immediately his mate's confusion and frustration. Turning to look at him she replaced the phone she had just picked up.

"I know this sounds weird, but bare with me. You can refuse since it's going to be an odd request okay?" Sesshoumaru nodded. Whatever it was had her perplexed. "Now this morning I noticed some wetness and, well, I just realized that it's not going away. I thought it was from the baby pressing on my bladder, but now I'm not so sure. I mean, if my water broke we'd know right?" Sesshoumaru shrugged, he certainly didn't know much about labor. She didn't act like she was in labor and her water breaking signified the theoretical emanate arrival of labor. "Here, smell this and tell me if it's urine or not."

Ok, he was not expecting a pair of undies to be thrust at him with that statement. Taking a delicate very shallow sniff he confirmed that it was, in fact, not urine. Kagome groaned. "To hell with it, I'm calling L&D to find out what's going on." Turning away from him, he watched as she tossed the soiled garment in the laundry bin and reached for the phone again. How the hell was he reduced to sniffing her undies?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome sighed while waiting for the nurse to come back in. The L&D nurse on call had told her to come in to see if her water had broken. Apparently there was a slight chance that it had, indeed, happened. Sesshoumaru stood in the corner of the room looking bored. Her mother was sitting on a stool with a large grin plastered to her face. She seemed convinced that Kagome was indeed going to deliver today. Kagome saw her husband stiffen and his eyes flickered to the door. A sharp knock sounded through the room before the plain brown door was pushed open.

"Hello, Mrs. Narita, the test results should be ready by now." Moving to the counter the nurse peered into a petri dish containing a strip of paper. "Your water did indeed break."

Kagome frowned. "But I was told that I'd know when my water broke. That I couldn't miss it. All I have is a," Kagome waved her hand to assist in her search for the right word, "leak."

The woman smiled at her and chuckled softly. "That's exactly what it is. You have a high break. What that means is your water broke at the top instead of the bottom. If it had broken at the bottom of the sac then you would have experienced the sudden flood of fluid, much like if you had wet yourself. You, however, broke at the top meaning that the amniotic fluid must travel down the outside of the sac then out of you. It's a steady leak." The woman bustled around the room writing on a clip board. "We'll have to get you into a room. According to what you said, your water broke some time this morning before eight and it's now after one. If you don't go into labor by three we'll start you on a labor inducing medication."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sesshoumaru was bored, anxious and excited. It appeared that there was a lot of waiting involved in child birth, no wonder the males in his time steered clear of the birthing room. It had been hours since they had been shown to a birthing chamber. Kagome was laying in bed watching TV and chatting with her mother. The doctor had been summoned and placed her on a drug that would induce her labor, not that it was working. She'd been on it for several hours, and every so often, the doctor would come back in and increase the dosage. Glancing out the window he felt his frustration boil. What the hell was taking so long? Her water had broken early this morning, so why wasn't his pup being born. Souta had been summoned as soon as Kagome had been admitted to a room. There was no telling when the birth would happen at this rate. They needed him here to make sure the blood sample never made it to the lab. They couldn't chance it being examined. Sesshoumaru was ready for this to be over with. He was ready to place the spell on his pup to hid it's heritage. Part of him admitted that he was also worried as, youkai births were quick and relatively painless. From what he'd learned of human births, the labor alone could take up to twenty hours, or more in same cases.

Looking at his mate again, he was reassured to know that she wasn't experiencing any discomfort. The labor hadn't even started yet. She was still dilated at two centimeters as she had been for the last two weeks. The pup was in position, so what the hell was taking so long? Reining in his frustration, Sesshoumaru went back to looking out the window. It would happen when it happened. He had waited roughly nine months for the pup's birth, he could wait a few more hours. If there was something wrong than the doctor would tell them. There was a procedure to cut the pup from Kagome if anything did go awry, and he prayed that nothing did. The wait was killing the normally patient youkai. He couldn't think of any other time where he felt such anxiety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Finally,' Sesshoumaru grumbled mentally. It was late at night and Kagome had finally started labor. It had been rather entertaining to watch as she yelled at the nurse. The woman had been coming in periodically to check on how dilated Kagome was. She had just left a few minutes ago when Kagome yelled that the pup was coming. This sent her mother scurrying back out for the nurse. The woman was not pleased to be brought back in so soon. She even had the gull to tell his mate that she was wrong. Sesshoumaru mentally smirked. 'Wrong indeed.' As the woman checked, Kagome had dilated the last centimeter before her eyes. The impudent woman rushed out to get the doctor.

The medication they had put her on to induce labor had taken several hours to actually do it's job. It had to be close to ten by now. They'd been here for nine long hours just waiting for this to happen. The doctor had also tried to speed up the process by breaking the water again. This time by the use of a strange hook-shaped needle. He had wanted to protest that that woman was not going anywhere near his mate with any needle. He bit his tongue, however, it was for the best. This whole process was taking too long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The yelling was hurting his ears and his mate's distress was aggravating his beast. After nearly four hours of labor the pup was getting ready to enter the world. Sesshoumaru was consumed with the desire to comfort his mate. The damn doctor, however, kept complaining that he was in the way. Was it his fault that he wanted to witness his pup being born? Finally, knowing that if he didn't do something soon his beast would take over, he moved to the side of the bed and allowed Kagome to grasp his hand. His ears may hurt more with being closer to every scream but his beast was willing to suffer through it. And anyway, he needed to be close to his pup to cast the illusion.

Leaning over her bent and parted legs, Sesshoumaru glanced down and spotted a crown of silver hair, slick and curly. The head slid out of Kagome's channel and Sesshoumaru cast the illusion swiftly and silently before anyone could notice any abnormalities. The doctor ordered Kagome to stop pushing while she cleaned the pup's mouth and nose of fluids. If Sesshoumaru wasn't so preoccupied by his pup and mate's wellbeing, he would have chuckled at Kagome. She wasn't about to stop pushing. The pup was coming out and now. Other than screaming at every push, Kagome was doing well. She didn't cry like he thought she would. He could see the intense amount of pain in her aura. His had risen, unbidden, to entwine with hers. He still wasn't sure why their aura's would interact the way they did. Only during mating and the feeding of the unborn pup should her reiki interact with his youki at all.

"Mr. Narita, if you would like you can cut the cord." Snapping his attention away from the spectacle of their flirtatious auras, Sesshoumaru moved over to stand near the doctor. He managed to stop himself from shedding his disguise and using his claws in favor of cutting the cord the human way. His job was done for the most part.

Sesshoumaru moved back to his mate's side. Kagome's midnight black hair was matted down with sweat and she reeked of several strong smells. Even dampening his senses didn't block everything. Her skin was spotted by moisture and she had bags under her eyes from exhaustion. He had never seen her more beautiful than he did at that moment. His illusion would hold on their pup until he released it so he could afford to stay near his mate.

Leaning down toward her, he petted her damp hair. "You did wonderful, mate." Sesshoumaru whispered in her ear. Pulling back slightly their eyes locked. Even exhausted her radiance shined through.

"I don't hear any comments about abnormalities. You cast the spell in time I take it." She was careful to keep her voice low. They didn't need anyone to overhear.

"Yes, everything is fine." Sesshoumaru moved away after placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Rest, we will take care of everything else."

Kagome nodded slightly and her eyes drifted shut. "I love you, Sesshoumaru," she whispered. Sesshoumaru froze. It had been barely audible, even to his hearing, but he had heard it. A smile tugged at his lips. He had hoped that she would learn to love him as he had learned to love her. It hadn't been hard for him. His beast had wanted her for so long, and he had watched her from afar learning to respect her. After spending almost every waking, and even sleeping moment, by her side for most of the last year, it wasn't hard for him to fall for her. He had accepted that it may take many years before she could return his feelings.

Today was truly the best day of his immortal life. His pup had been born and he found that his mate loved him. Looking at her sleeping face, he decided that he wouldn't mention it. Not yet. She knew that he loved her. Once he realized it he had started to say it. He wasn't even sure when the first time was that he had proclaimed his feelings; it didn't matter anyway. The only thing that did was that she knew it, and he made sure that she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Souta was in place and Kagome was now crying. While she had held up well during the labor and delivery, she had apparently been torn during the process. The doctor was attempting to stitch her, and Sesshoumaru was having a hard time keeping from cleaving the woman in half. His beast had decided that the good doctor was the cause of his mate's pain. There was nothing he could do. He had been assured that her painkiller was still working. Not that it mattered to him. Even during labor, his mate had screamed, moaned, and writhed in pain after the first hour. She had only had a respite during their one hour break before the doctor appeared again. They had been told that she wasn't in any 'pain' and that it was the pressure she was feeling. Well it was obvious that the 'pressure' was enough to cause her pain. During labor, it was the pressure of the pup pushing its way out, and now it was the pressure of her tender flesh being tugged into place and stitched together.

Taking a deep breath he decided that he needed to concentrate on something else. Across the room laid his pup, swathed in a blue cloth and a blue bonnet on his head. The nurse had commented on the pup's unusual hair but dismissed it as merely being hereditary since Sesshoumaru possessed the same color. Gazing at his son, he wished that he could dispel the illusion. He desired to see his pup without enchantments, once everyone left, he'd drop both his and his pup's.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the nurse move away from the crib his son was in after placing her pen down on the chart. Souta moved to the other side of Sesshoumaru and leaned casually against the table with the blood sample and the pup's chart on it. His elbows rested against the surface as he leaned his back against it.

"Sis is really making a lot of noise over there."

Glancing at Souta without turning his head, Sesshoumaru replied, "Indeed, she is tired and in pain."

"She's always loud when she's hurt." Souta watched for a little while longer before appearing to be satisfied. Turning slightly, he kept one eye on the medical personal attending to his currently screaming, cussing, and crying sister while he deftly pocketed the thin tube lying on the counter. "Now seems like a good time to bother her. Those poor people just don't know how to handle her." Sauntering off, Souta proceeded to distract Kagome by picking a fight with her.

Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly. He knew that Kagome didn't plan on causing such a fuss, it was just natural for her to do so when injured. Like Souta said, she was loud when hurt. She didn't like to be touched when injured or sick. He could understand that. He also liked to nurse his wounds alone. However, Kagome's current state did provide an excellent distraction.

It amazed him how casually Souta had procured the vial though. Frowning, he hoped that the boy wasn't used to such things. In this case, it was acceptable, but he knew that his mother-in-law would be heart broken if it was a common occurrence for the youth to acquire things in such a way. Looking at the scene behind him, he realised that if he hadn't seen Souta take the vial he never would have guessed it was him. Nothing in the boys demeanor suggested anything amiss. He was busy distracting his sister's attention away from the thankful doctor and nurse.

Turning his attention away from the commotion, Sesshoumaru settled once again on studying his son. Soon he'd be able to take off the spell and see more than the charcoal gray eyes that were gazing back at him, and the mass of silver curly hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: A brief thanks to my husband for helping with the cravings part of the chapter. I actually had my husband do that to me several times when I was pregnant. It was a form on entertainment for him to see how often he had to suggest something before I ordered him to obtain it. He would literally follow me around saying "You want heath bars" until I ordered him to go to the store and get it. He'd do it several times a day for several days until I would give in. Persistent isn't he?