Future Unfolding
It was late afternoon and the sun was setting, casting long shadows and painting the sky orange. The autumn breeze riffled through the trees making weak leaves break off and drift to the ground, littering the street corners. The ground was covered in yellow, orange, and red leaves.
A small, two-story gray house with red door stood at the end of the road. Trees surrounded the yard and a small white picket fence wrapped around the property.
Inside the house was quiet. A ticking of a clock could be heard from the kitchen and the crackling of a fire in the living room filled the house with a homey scent. A furry, black cat napped in the last remaining sunlight streaming in from the long living room windows.
In his office, the red-haired, tattooed Soul Reaper sighed and turned off the laptop from where he had finished his business report. He swiveled in the black leather desk chair and looked around the room. Bookshelves lined the far right wall and were stocked to the top. All thanks to his little bookworm of a wife.
He got up off the chair and walked to the large fish tank, quickly dropping food in and crouching down to peer inside, making sure all fish were accounted for. His wife had an unlikely tendency to kill the fish no matter how hard she tried to keep them alive.
He shook his head and smiled at the memory of her running around the house frantically with a dead fish in her hands, cursing at the world and not knowing what to do.
He stood up, turned off the light, and walked out the door. He could smell the smoke from the fire and headed in that direction.
Renji rounded the corner of the hallway and came into the living room where his lovely wife was sitting curled up on the couch with a blanket and reading. Her dark, caramel hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail and she was wearing one of his sweatshirts.
"Hey, Honey-"
"Shh!" she complained and glanced up over her book at him. "Renjj! I'm at a sad part! Her lover is dying!"
He rolled his eyes and walked to sit next to her. "How much longer are you going to be reading that book?"
She scoffed, "Until I finish it."
"It looks like you have a hundred pages left," he remarked, noticing the thick unread side.
"I'll finish that it an hour."
Renji frowned and glanced at the clock on the TV stand in front of them. "It's already six o'clock. Ichigo and Rukia will be here for dinner in an hour."
"What!" The book slipped from her hands and she jumped up, throwing the blanket off and making the cat get startled and hiss. "No, no, no. It can't already be six!"
"Oh, yeah, because I'm a liar," Renji joked. He suddenly became blinded. He angrily gripped the blanket that was thrown over his head and jerked it off. Allison was already running for the kitchen.
"Damn! I still have to cook!" She yelled, disappearing from sight. The clanging of pots and pans soon followed.
He chuckled, having a feeling that dinner would be burnt. He folded the blanket and straightened up a bit. The house wasn't dirty at all, all thanks to his cleaning maniac of a wife.
Forty-five minutes later the smell of food filled the house.
"Did you burn anything?" Renji asked, standing behind her from where she was stirring something on the stove.
"No, I did not!" She said happily, turning her head back to smile and kiss him.
"Need any help with anything?" He asked her.
"Could you set the table and then maybe watch this? I have to change and fix my hair."
"Sure," he agreed, taking the wooden spoon from her. He turned the heat down to keep from scalding the bottom and gave the mixture a few stirs. He set the spoon aside and went to set the table.
After about twenty minutes, Allison came back. Renji looked up from the pot and stared. Her long hair was loosely curled, flowing down her shoulders and back, stopping just above her tiny waist. Her brown eyes had a smoky look. She wore a short red dress that hugged her small frame and a silver locket necklace that he had given her on their first anniversary. She caught him staring and blushed.
The doorbell rang a few seconds later. "Oh!" Allison smiled, "They're here!" She hurried to the front door and swung it open. She greeted Ichigo and Rukia and they did the same in turn.
"We brought cake!" Rukia said happily, lifting a white box over her head.
"Thank God," Allison laughed. "I forgot about dessert."
"See, Ichigo, aren't you glad I made you stop on our way over?"
He rolled his eyes and walked in the direction of the kitchen.
"Where's Renji?" Rukia asked.
"Kitchen. Dinners ready. And I cooked it all myself, may I add."
Rukia looked at her uneasily. "And the result?"
"Perfect!"
Rukia laughed and they made their way into the kitchen, chatting about the wonderful lessons they have been receiving from Ichigo's younger sister, Yuzu, on cooking. The two woman already heard Ichigo and Renji throwing insults at one another.
"Hey!" Allison yelled when they came into view. Rukia glared at them and put her hands on her hips. "This is a dinner party! No fighting!"
Ichigo groaned. "He started it."
"You asked for it!" Renji shot back.
"Okay, let's eat!" Allison demanded.
~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~
All the food was eaten and pieces of cake were being handed out. Once everyone was seated again, Allison decided now was the time to tell Ichigo and Rukia the real reason they were here.
She cleared her throat and fidgeted with her dress. "I...have some news to tell you guys," she started. Rukia looked up and Ichigo leaned forward when the words sunk in and there underlining meaning. Allison glanced over at Renji and he gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. "Well..." she continued, "I guess there's only one way to say this." She looked back over to Ichigo and Rukia and smiled. "I'm pregnant!"
A huge grin spread across Rukia's face. "That's great!" She jumped out of her chair and ran around the table to meet Allison and hugged her. She laughed and Ichigo walked over to them.
"Congratulations you two," he smiled, slapping Renji on the back.
Rukia stepped back and said, "It just so happens that I have some big news, too."
Allison scrunched her eyebrows together. "You're pregnant, too?"
She laughed. "No, could you even imagine little Ichigo's running haywire! Nii-sama would not be pleased."
Ichigo choked on his coffee and Rukia ignored it. "The Strawberry finally asked me to marry him! I'm finally engaged!"
"Aw, that's great you guys!" Allison said.
Renji shoved Ichigo's shoulder, "Dude, Byakuya is gonna kill you when he finds out."
"Don't remind me," Ichigo grumbled.
"When's the date? Do you have one yet?" Allison asked, excitedly.
"Around April would be nice."
"Six months away," Allison breathed. Then her eyes suddenly became wide. "Oh no! I'm gonna be huge by then!"
"You'll look beautiful no matter what!" Renji piped up from the corner of the kitchen, making Allison roll her eyes.
The four best friends sat back down at the table and talked about the future and what was held in store for them. What they didn't know was that their whole get together was being watched and their "future" may never happen.
A/N: My first story! I really had no idea where I was going with this. I just got bored and decided to write whatever came to mind. I think this is a fairly okay one-shot. Although the more I read over it, the more I think it's a bit pointless and no one will read it. Hmm, way to be optimistic! Haha, anyway review please and I guess flames are okay. If people really like this and want more, maybe I could make this actually have a plot and a story. But that's for the future when more people actually read this. For now I'll leave it up to the readers!
~ WhiteSheWolf17.