Chapter 12 - The Birth
For hours, Ayala paced the floor; Rin said that walking helped bring the baby sooner. Kome walked beside her, and every few minutes, a contraction would rip through Ayala and she would grab his arm. His forearms now had little ovals bruises where her fingers had dug into his flesh. Why wasn't the baby coming?

Kaiba assured them that this was normal -- babies came in their own time, but Kome was worried. His father had never told him about this part. Ayala suddenly grabbed him and cried out as another contraction hit, this one longer and more painful. She doubled over and Kome scooped her up and carried her to bed. The contractions were coming faster now. Rin said this was a good sign and rushed to get her mate. A few minutes later, Kaiba appeared and checked her out, and then he announced that it was finally time. The baby was coming!

Following Kaiba, Kome carried his mate to the South Tower while Rin went to inform Bakura and Tala that they were needed. Rin had prepared a little bed out of a deep pile of blankets piled onto the floor and Ayala was placed on it. On the other side of the room was the birthing tub, now filled with warm water, waiting for its time. Kaiba waited as long as he dared, and then together he and Kome lifted Ayala into the tub. As she sank into the warm water, the pain seemed to lessen. Kaiba instructed her to push when the contractions came. She gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could.

In a parallel to his own birth, Kome supported Ayala in the birthing tub as she pushed for the last time. A head appeared in the warm water, and Kaiba scooped the baby out -- giving the little girl to Rin to care for. After the placenta expelled, Kome picked his exhausted mate out of the tub, taking her back to the bed of blankets. Servants removed the tub while Kaiba checked the newborn.

Kome watched the mage, his brow furrowed, wishing there was something he could do to hasten the examination. As if reading his mind, Kaiba turned to him, "You should take Ayala back to your room. It will take us some time to finish the examination."

"You are not going to hurt her, are you?" Kome asked, now more worried than ever.

"I promise I will cause her no undue pain."
"What does that mean?" Kome asked as his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I want to take a blood sample and there will be a prick of a needle on her foot, but that is all. It will only take seconds."

Reluctantly, Kome nodded and picked up Ayala, still wrapped in blankets, and carried her to their room. The two of them no longer felt complete; their daughter had to be with them to make their family.

In the South Tower, Kaiba was looking at the blood sample under the microscope that he had procured from the Human World. He was comparing it to Tala's blood, but there was nothing unusual about either sample of blood. Tala was holding the baby, trying to sense something, but again she sensed nothing.

"Maybe she is just a little baby and nothing else." Tala offered.

"I want to make sure before I let her leave this tower." Kaiba said, and then asked Rin to bring Taiki to the tower. His stepson was a rare Black Unicorn with an uncanny ability of sensing things that no one else could.

Downstairs, Ayala lay in bed with Kome stretched out beside her, wrapping his diminutive mate in his strong arms. Her small breasts began to fill with milk and tears began to form. "She wants to be fed. She is hungry!"

"She will brought to us soon, my love." Kome told her, praying that his words would be prophetic.

In the tower, Taiki now held the baby, and she smiled up at the young Unicorn. "I feel nothing but goodness in her. Kiri told me that the duplicate that jumped inside of him had an evil feel to him. If the baby were the same, I'm sure I would sense it."

Kaiba nodded and Taiki gave Rin the baby, who immediately started nuzzling at her. "She is hungry."

"Well, I can't find anything unusual and neither Tala or Taiki can sense anything evil, so there is nothing more we can do. Let's take her back to her parents." 

Kaiba walked down the stairs with Rin following. They knocked lightly on the bedroom door, and Kome jumped up to answer. Rin carried the baby to her mother, and Ayala saw her daughter for the first time. The baby had reddish hair like her mother, but seemed more human than wolf, but then both Ayala and Kome were half-human/half-wolf hybrids. Ayala unbuttoned her gown and the baby began her very first meal. Kome watched for a moment, his eyes misting, then turned to Kaiba.

"What happens now?"

"We cannot find anything different about her. Both Tala and my stepson, Taiki, tried to sense something and found nothing, so I am going to recommend to Kurama that you be allowed to return home with her. You will need to keep an eye out for anything unusual and it would be wise to bring her to the Castle for periodic checkups and so Tala can hold her. But she seemed to be a normal child." Kaiba answered.

"Thank you. I will be glad to get my family home." Kome said with a smile.

"May I ask one question?" said Rin.

"Yes?"

"What are you going to name her?"

"Her name is Kayla."

That night the bassinette remained empty as Kayla slept between her parents, in her mother's arms and surrounded by her father's warmth.  They didn't know if they could keep her safe, but they were going to try as hard as they could.

The very next day, after receiving approval from Kurama, the new family set out for home. InuYasha went with them, carrying the bassinette and the various odds and ends they had accumulated at the Castle. As they approached the Village, the wolf scouts surrounded them, sniffing at the baby and making little whimpering sounds. Ayala asked what they were saying and Kome replied that the wolves were giving their approval of their daughter. A couple of them were howling, sending word ahead, and very shortly, Kouga arrived with Kagome in his arms. Kouga hugged his son and then his daughter-in-law, while Kagome held her first grandchild.  Finally, the family was back together!
The months passed and still there was no sign of the duplicates. In the Castle, Shilo seemed content, but he was no longer the happy boy that Aara remembered; now he was a quiet, withdrawn young man. Even though the binding eased the pain, nothing could erase the knowledge of what he had gone through. Shilo had seen too much pain, too much death; first his mother when he needed her most and then his partner and first love.

In the Village, Kayla was growing up without incident. Each month she was taken to the Castle to be checked by Kaiba, and then held by Tala and Taiki. And each month the results were the same: Kayla was a normal baby.

It was in the world of Suzaku that the next duplicate surfaced, and his target was Queen Vara.

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