The next morning, Lyra woke up to the twins crying. Sesshomaru was trying to calm them down but it was difficult to juggle two of them at the same time. She didn't realise how she had managed to sleep for so long but she forced herself awake to help Sesshomaru.
"They must be hungry," she said groggily. "I'll try to feed them both at the same time."
"Will you be able to?" he asked.
"Yeah. I have two boobs so why not?"
Sesshomaru couldn't argue with that logic. Lyra slowly sat up, not wanting to further cause damage to her healing. Once she was up, she gathered cushions around her so they could help her to support Ryu and Rai. Once she was set, she opened up her kimono to free both of her breasts. Sesshomaru wasn't phased by it at all since he was used to it when Mikazuki used to be breast fed. He passed Ryu over to her first and she latched him on. His crying instantly stopped as he began drinking. Then Sesshomaru placed Rai down on the other side and he too fell silent.
"I will check on Mikazuki," he told her. "Will you be okay?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yes. And please can you bring him in with you? I really miss him."
"Of course."
After Sesshomaru left the room, she sighed and looked down at the two babies. She felt so lucky to have been blessed with two babies in one go. It was a real surprise but she was so happy. Now she had three sons who she knew would make Sesshomaru proud.
She looked at Rai. "I expect you to look out for Ryu," she said before looking at Ryu. "And the same goes for you." Then she looked back at Rai. "Or are you Ryu and he's Rai?" she said, her eyes glancing back to Ryu before darting back and forth between the two of them. "I am such a terrible mother..."
Because her hormones were so all over the place, she sat there and began sobbing while feeding them. After a few minutes, Sesshomaru returned. Upon finding her in tears, he got worried and rushed over to her.
"Lyra, are you hurt?" he asked as he kneeled down beside her.
She shook her head and sniffed. "No. It..." She breathed shakily. "It's just..."
"Just what?"
She looked at him and sobbed. "I can't remember who's who."
Sesshomaru sighed deeply out of relief that she wasn't hurt. "Is that something to cry over?"
"But... But..." She sniffed. "I'm a bad mother. I don't even know who my own children are."
"Lyra, you will get used to it." He gently held Ryu's head. "This is Ryu." He then moved his hand to Rai. "This one is Rai."
"See? How come you never forget?" she questioned through her crying.
"You just gave birth to them yesterday evening. Your body went through plenty of trauma." He moved to sit behind her before running his fingers through her hair. "You are an incredible mother."
"Yeah. An incredibly idiotic mother."
"Don't be silly." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "You're the world's best mother. You saved Mikazuki from Naraku."
"I guess..." She sniffed again. "Where is Mikazuki anyway? I thought you were going to bring him."
"He's sleeping."
"I miss him."
"I will bring him now if you wish."
"Yes, please. Ryu and Rai have fallen asleep too."
Sesshomaru helped her by taking Ryu from her and placing him inside the cot. He then took Rai and placed him beside Ryu. Luckily the cot was big enough for the both of them, however, they decided to get them both separate ones so they could grow properly.
Sesshomaru went and got Mikazuki and carried him with his head on his shoulder since he was still asleep. Lyra quickly held her hands out because she wanted to hold him.
"Be careful," he told her. "Do not move too much."
"Okay, okay. Just give me my baby."
Sesshomaru lowered the sleeping Mikazuki down into her awaiting arms. She smiled brightly as she lay him down across her lap whilst holding him in her arms. She brushed some of his hair back from his face.
"He seems so big now..." she said sadly.
Sesshomaru sat down beside them. "I agree. He does. And now he has a responsibility to his brothers."
She frowned at him. "He's still just a baby."
"I mean when he's older. Besides, I already know that Mikazuki will become a great role model for Ryu and Rai."
"Yes, he will." She smiled and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "I still can't believe he's three years old. Do you remember when he took his first steps?"
A small smile reached Sesshomaru's lips. "I do."
Lyra suddenly started sniffing again as she closed her eyes. And then she burst into tears making Sesshomaru do a confused double take.
"Why are you crying again?"
"Be-aus-he-rowan-up-an-I-"
"I can't understand you."
She took a few deep breaths to calm her crying as she fanned her face with her hand. Once she was calm enough, she looked at Sesshomaru with glazed eyes.
"I'm crying because he's growing up and I can't deal with it."
He cupped her cheek and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "You can't expect him to stay as a baby forever."
She sniffed, frowning at him again. "He'll always be my baby."
"I am not saying he won't be. However, he will eventually grow up but he will always be yours."
"Okay..."
She looked at Mikazuki he again as he was beginning to stir, stretchinh his arms up above his head. Slowly, he opened his eyes and when he saw Lyra, he instantly smiled.
"Mama!" he cheered.
Lyra laughed softly as a tear fell down her cheek. "Yes, mama's here."
He got up and held her cheeks with his small hands. "Mama ky-ing," he said with concern, still not able to say the word properly. "Sowwy."
She smiled and shook her head. "No, Mikazuki. I'm just happy."
Whilst still holding her cheeks, he puckered his lips and kissed the tip of her nose. It was a habit he had of doing and Lyra just loved it.
"Mikazuki, remember the baby in mama's tummy? Well, the baby is out now," she told him. "But there was two of them. One of them was hiding."
"Baby brudda."
She laughed and nodded. "That's right. Do you want to see them?"
He nodded. Sesshomaru stood up and held his hand out to Mikazuki. He got off Lyra's lap and held his father's hand. He walked off to the cot while Lyra watched his reaction. He was still a bit too short to see over the edge of the cot so Sesshomaru lifted him up. Mikazuki seemed amazed upon seeing two little babies sleeping in what used to be his bed.
He pointed at each of them. "One. Two," he counted before clapping excitedly. "Yay!" he cheered as he lifted his hands up.
"That's correct, Mikazuki," Sesshomaru said. "Ryu and Rai."
"Wyu and Wai," he repeated.
Sesshomaru couldn't help it and kissed his cheek. "Such a clever boy. Will you look after them?"
"Yes, dada!"
Lyra placed her hand over her heart. "My baby boy's so great!"
Mikazuki suddenly climbed down from Sesshomaru's lap before running back to Lyra. But instead of getting on her lap, he sat on the bed beside her and pulled the quilt over him.
Lyra laughed and looked at Sesshomaru. "He's taken your space."
"Nonsense." Sesshomaru walked over and sat on the other side of Mikazuki. "I can still fit."
Mikazuki suddenly started pushing Sesshomaru and clutching onto Lyra's arm.
"No! My mama!"
Sesshomaru and Lyra found his behaviour odd. He had buried his face into her side and was gripping onto her sleeve.
"What's the matter, Mikazuki?" Sesshomaru asked.
Lyra frowned softly. "I think he might be jealous."
"There's nothing for him to be jealous about."
She sighed. "I know but he's only three. He can already sense that my time will have to be split between him and the twins."
Sesshomaru gently stroked the top of Mikazuki's head. "He will get used to it. I will focus more of my attention on him."
She nodded. "I think that will be best."
She put her arm around him and cuddled with him so he knew she still loved him the same. She never thought about the jealousy side of things before but it made sense. He got all of their attention for three whole years and that would suddenly be taken away from him.
They both knew it was a delicate situation and their parenting skills were truly about to be tested.
***
Later that day, everyone came to visit Lyra and the twins. There was definitely a lot of fuss over them. However, Lyra had requested everyone to give a little attention to Mikazuki. She didn't want him to think that everyone had forgotten about him because of his little brothers. Of course, they were all great with him too.
Even though the well had opened up again, Kanda chose to remain in the feudal era. He had decided to go back only to let his family know that he was safe and to explain what had happened. He also wanted to take Sabu there one day to meet his family. However, he felt as though he had found a permanent home in the feudal era.
Inuyasha and Kagome soon got married and lived their lives happily. Kagome trained to be a priestess under Kaede's teachings and Rin had grown close to them too.
Sesshomaru began taking Mikazuki out of the palace a lot more. Not only did he want their bond to grow while Lyra was busy with the twins, he wanted to begin teaching him the ways of the world. Sesshomaru had taken on his role as the Lord of the West. He controlled the lands, ensuring that other demons were not unnecessarily causing havoc and killing humans. If they did, he would get rid of them. Respect grew for him amongst demons and humans alike and Lyra couldn't have felt more proud. She couldn't believe how much he had changed since she first met him. She often reminisced the days when they first crossed paths. And now, they were married and had three young boys.
Life had only just begun.
(This is not the last chapter! There's one more to come so the next chapter will be the the last one.)