Chapter 23: The Future
Kagome lied asleep in his study on her pillows with their daughter asleep beside her. Sesshomaru stopped working to look at the two of them; it was a relief to be back at the palace despite the troubles that whirled around them.
His mate had died, her brother was enraged and Kagome would give birth any day now. They had been back at the palace for a few months and Takashi demanded use of Kagome after she had giving birth and was saving within Sesshomaru’s own palace to make sure that she was secreted away. It frustrated Sesshomaru that he could not banish Takashi from his home and keep his family save from the other Lords.
Offers of marriage were beginning to come for Mizuki since she was his only daughter for the moment.
No demon would ever have his little Moonlight or any other daughter that Kagome would give him. They would all say under his protection and all challengers for his daughters would die at his claws and fangs.
Reaching out, his hand gently touched his little girl’s hair. But at least there was hope for them because of his mother’s old connections. He had never know that his mother was childhood friends were the Lady Rie and her mate, the Great Lord Hotaka. It was because of the two of them alone that Take had not Kagome taken from him…yet.
Looking at his sleeping daughter as he soothed her silver locks, he wondered how many others would be born with the same silver hair as he and how many would be born with their mother’s black hair.
He looked forward to the birth of their unborn.
Sesshomaru longed to hold his firstborn son and dreaded the death of the half demon child that was growing with his concubine. It would be a bittersweet moment for him and him alone. Kagome needed not to suffer the loss of their child and he would see to it that she did not have to suffer it. Maybe his sword would be able to save the child, though he had his doubts.
“Sesshomaru? What’s wrong?” Kagome asked him, surprising him as well. With her pregnancy so far long and the drain of it on her, Kagome was often asleep when she did not wake to eat and make waste. It was likely that she had awaken hungry.
“It is nothing that you need to worry about Kagome. You need only rest and prepare yourself for the birth,” He told her calmly before he got from and went to the table in the center of the room. The table was load with food that Kagome had been craving as of late.
“You’re not being honest with me, Sesshomaru. Remember your promise? Or was it all just empty words?” Kagome asked him and he prepared a tray of food for her.
He stopped and turned to look at her.
“No, Kagome. My words were true to you that day, but you do not need the stress at the moment or would you want to trigger another labor before the children are ready? I know you have no desire to endanger our children in such.” Kagome paled at his words and he watched as her hands carressed her enlarged stomach where their children were housed within her.
He felt guilty for being over harsh with his words, but he had meant every word and would keep his promise that everything would change for them.
He was quick to finish his task and took the tray to Kagome’s side, where the food seemed to travel about her plate instead of to her mouth. “Kagome, you need to eat.” He muttered to her reluctances, worried that this would become a bad habit for her with her pregnant state.
“If I tell you now, will you eat?” He asked, disliking how weak he had seem to become clay towards her needs and wants. Kagome looked at him warily but nodded to his question.
“I have some concerns about the birth and there after it.” He told her calmly, unsure as to how to explain that this birth would be different from the last one.
“What concerns?”
“No one will be attending you for this birth-”
“WHAT! But this one is more dangerous than the last, one or all of the babies could die this time.” Kagome said with a panicked voice. Sesshomaru glanced at Mizuki and knew that this was not a conversation to have with a baby around.
“Kagome, calm down or you will wake Mizuki.” Kagome instantly calmed and looked down at their daughter even as tears came to her ocean blue eyes. “You will not be alone when you give birth. With the other Lords there before I was forbidden from being there.”
“But you said that no one will attend me as I give birth.”
“No one, but I will attend you as you give birth. Male dog demons are protective of their females when they are pregnant, when one’s female is about to give birth…he has this almost irresistible urge to kill any near his female and his offspring during the birthing.” Sesshomaru explained to Kagome. “But because of the other Lords and Sakura’s actions, I was able to hold off attending you. This will not be the same as before and only I will attend you as you birth our children.”
“But what if something goes wrong?” Kagome questioned softly, her eyes shining with concern and fear. Sesshomaru sighed at her words, he had done much to quiet her fear of him but he knew that being alone with him as she gave birth made her horrible wary of what they were about to do.
“You will live and will not become-”
“The babies, Sesshomaru. I could careless about myself. I’m worried about the babies and something going wrong with them.” Her words were like a vice grip on his heart, a painful and possibly fatal squeeze on his heart with each word that she had spoken to him. How could Kagome hold such power of him?
Each day, it felt like it only grew stronger and stronger. Yet, he could not hate it still or even give the power a name.
“You and our children will be fine when the birthing begins. I promise, Kagome.” He told her as he hoped that it was a promise that he would be able to keep.
oOo
Takashi glared at the concubine that was riding his cock. Sesshomaru had given her to him as a way of distraction, but the demoness was more of an annoyance than a distraction. If he could have, he would have gone and taken Kagome by force but the Lady Rie and her mate were a barrier that he could not take down at the moment.
The thought of when he had arrived made his blood boil with violent rage that demanded blood.
His carriage had touched down in front of the gates of Sesshomaru’s palace. He stepped off his carriage as though he was entering his own palace to which would be true as soon as he took control of Kagome. His cock twitched in pleasure at the thought of taking her and forcing himself on her lovely flesh.
He frowned at the sight of Sesshomaru’s mother waiting for him instead of Sesshomaru. Where was Sesshomaru? Was the Great Lord of the West to much of a cowardly dog to face him?
“Good Lady Nora, it is a pleasure to see you again. Where is Lord Sesshomaru and my sister? I would have thought they would have wanted to greet me?” Takashi asked calmly with a handsome smile aimed at the demoness, who was baring her fangs at him in a pointed smile. He knew that it was veiled threat to him, but he found the female too weak to be a threat to him.
“My son has left for a time with his concubine and mate. He felt it would be best for all so that they could work on their recent conflicts.” Nora lied to him. He knew that his sister was dead and was glad to be rid of the worthless bitch. Her death had given him more than he would have gotten with her alive.
After all, he now owned Kagome because of her death.
“Then I will have to wait for their return then. I hope to see your granddaughter as well since I must wait for their return.”
The fact that Sesshomaru returned with Kagome that afternoon and had been unable to take the beauty for his own had him slamming a fist into his new concubine’s face. The demoness fell back and looked at him with fear in her amber eyes. The sight of the female disgusted him, she was nothing compared to Kagome and so he would have her.
He just needed to wait until she gave birth than he would take her for his own. After all, Sesshomaru had allowed his sister to die without an child born between them and had no adult children to give him as payment for the loss. By right, he was allowed to take any adult female that was related to Sesshomaru as payment. Kagome would be certainly be seen as such since she had conceived and gave birth to Sesshomaru’s live offspring. She would be seen as such until she fell pregnant with his own child.
Then she would be seen as his until she gave birth to the number of children that he felt was the equivalent of his sister’s life or until he bought her from Sesshomaru permanently.
oOo
Nora watched the servants as they worked about Kagome’s music room, the eternally blooming cherry trees filled the room with a sweet scent. All of the gifts that hung from the trees were being taken down and out along with the seating cushions. She watched everything with the eyes of a hawk, not wanting anything to out of place as the servants prepared the place for the birth.
Normally Nora would have went about preparing the formal birthing chambers as she before Mizuki had born. But Kagome’s music room just felt as if it was the best place for Kagome and her son. They needed a new place to begin anew together.
Sesshomaru had told her of his promise of change that he had made to Kagome and knew that her son would follow through with it. She would do everything in her power to aid her son as well.
The birthing would just be the start of everything.
Sesshomaru hadn’t been there for the first birth and had been forbidden because of the Lords that were attending it at the time. This time, it would be only Sesshomaru that would be there with Kagome. Kagome would have a happy memory of birthing among the forever blooming flowers with Sesshomaru there to help bring their children into the world.
“This is beautiful, Nora. We should take our tea in here sometime soon,” Her friend, Rie said as she walked into the room, her long flowing green hair done up with a few jade hairpins.
“I’m afraid that will have to wait until after the birth of my new grandchildren and we’ll have to ask Kagome if it would be alright. Sesshomaru had this room made as a gift to her after she gave birth to Mizuki.” Rie looked at Nora with wide eyes before looking around the room once more.
“This was a birth gift? My goodness, Sesshomaru must truly love her deeply then. Though I do remember my father giving my mother something this wonderful for giving birth to me.” Rie muttered as she walked over to one of the boxes full of the precious jewelry. She was going to have to talk with her mate, Hotaka about the lackluster birthing gifts.
After all, giving birth was painful and expensive jewelry was the less a male could do for his female for going through…multiple times.
“Oh? What did your father give your mother? My mate gave me a garden for every child that we had…and then gave me the meido stone for Sesshomaru being born alive.” Nora said softly, thinking of how every garden surrounded the grave of one of their many pups. She hadn’t visited a single grave since Kagome had conceived Mizuki and felt it was long overdue to visit all her gardens again.
Rie looked over at Nora when the other demoness had mentioned her children. Rie had always known that Nora fell in love with each child that had grown in her womb and that each death had been a torture that the other demoness could not stop. After all, what female human or demoness could not fall in love with the life that grew within her, was apart of her?
“He gave her her freedom. He took the arm guards that were sealing her power off and gave her back the charm that would allow her to come and go as she pleased. I think that was the moment that he won her heart completely, though it would be her leaving to help others that saw her killed.” Rie muttered softly as she walked to Nora.
She took Nora’s hand and lead her from the room, hoping to take her friend’s mind from the dead. “Let’s go have tea in the gardens, yes?”
Nora smiled at her friend, knowing what the other demoness was trying to do. “That sounds like a lovely idea.”
oOo
Kagome gasped as she was awoke by a sharp pain shot through her body. “Kagome? Is something wrong?”
Kagome glanced at Sesshomaru as he sat up beside her and look at her with the question echoing in his eyes. She looked at him as she recognized the pain for what it was. She was in labor and she was having a contraction at that moment. The moment that she had feared was finally here and she didn’t know if she was ready for it.
“Kagome-”
“Its…Its started,” She stammered as tears came to her eyes. Sesshomaru said nothing and simply nodded his head before gently picking her up. Silence echoed through the palace as Sesshomaru quickly carried Kagome through the dark halls to her music room. Kagome looked at it in confusion to see that it was no longer her music room, but instead changed into a birthing room for her.
“Sesshomaru?”
“We’re bring our children into the world together this time. Mother wanted it to be in a place that would sooth you as we did so.” He explained as he lied her down on the futon. He went back and closed the door going about the room and lighting the candles around it. Kagome watched as her contraction slowly ended.
“Your mother is pushy,” Kagome grumbled as she got herself comfortable for the birth. She couldn’t believe that she was going to give birth to six babies in the hours to come.
“I don’t disagree with you on my mother’s…pushiness, but I agree with her that this will be better than the formal birthing chambers.” Sesshomaru told her as he moved to return to her side and cut the clothes from her. Kagome blushed as Sesshomaru did so and was quick to protest his actions.
“You’ll be too uncomfortable giving birth otherwise, besides I will be getting naked with you so you need not be uncomfortable being the only one.” Though she knew his words were meant to calm her and be reassuring, Kagome only found herself for the formal birthing chamber more than before. Hell, she wouldn’t even mind the pervert Lords returning to watch her give birth if it meant that Sesshomaru would get dressed.
Amazing body or not, after all that had happened between them…she did not like seeing his body or having him see her own.
She moaned in pain as another contraction suddenly hit her and her discomfort about being naked and Sesshomaru being naked melted away from the forefront of her mind. Sesshomaru had taken off his kosode and moved to massage her back when he realized that she was having another contraction. Kagome frowned at Sesshomaru for doing so when the midwives hadn’t done so before, but frowned even further when she realized that it was helping with the pain.
“The midwives suck.” She muttered when the contraction ended. “Are you keeping track of-”
“The contractions? Yes, I am and why do the midwives…did you say suck? I’m not sure that I understand what you mean by that, Kagome.” Kagome looked at him for a moment to make sure that she had heard him right.
The look on his face told her that he was being honest and it was an comfort that he was still keeping to his promise to be honest and to work towards change in their relationship. Kagome knew that to hope that Sesshomaru would let her go would be foolish and only hurt her in the long run. After all, she had given birth to his daughter and was in the middle of laboring to bring more of his children into the world. The demon would never let her go and she would never leave without her babies.
“They’re terrible is what suck means, Sesshomaru. They were always licking me down there or milking me or something unpleasant.” She frowned at the thought of the unpleasant checkups that she had undergone when pregnant with Mizuki and the ones that she had undergone in this pregnancy as well.
Sesshomaru didn’t attend her checkups where his mother did and Nora never protested anything that had been done to her body against her will. No, instead the demoness threated to make sure that Kagome would obey or had threated in the past to make sure that she obeyed. Kagome found that Nora had done such since they had returned and found it a welcome change.
She wondered if Sesshomaru had talked with his mother about it and thought to ask him when another contraction hit again. Feeling the pain fill her, Kagome didn’t think on it anymore and simply focused on the task at hand.
She needed to focus on the future as she worked to bring her children into the world after all.