This is my first hetero preg, so be nice. However, if you are feeling particularly spitful today I forgive you if you flame me.
Ishida studied the grains in the table. The wood was some cheap pine that had been varnished to prevent rotting. It was nothing special other than the fact that concentrating on it kept the nervousness at bay.
This was not supposed to happen. They were only 17. He wasn't ready for this. It had to be a mistake. They had protected themselves so this wouldn't happen.
Orihime was his world. Without her he would be nothing; worthless. Whenever his life seemed harsh just the thought of her smile made it bearable. She was the reason he bothered getting out of bed in the morning. He loved her.
Now it looked like that love was going to be tested.
He heard the bathroom door open down the hall. She walked into the living room, shaking slightly.
"Well?" he asked looking into her glistening eyes. She nodded and handed him the pregnancy test displaying the pink plus sign.
"Shit." It was the only world he felt summed up their predicament. "Shit."Orihime had giant tears falling down her cheeks. Ishida hugged her, allowing the simple touch of their bodies to bring comfort. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Ishi," she said, using her pet name for him. "Ishi, what are we going to do? I don't want an abortion or anything. What happens to the souls of unborn babies? Do they go to soul society too? I don't want to kill our baby."
Our words hit Ishida like a sledge hammer and created a lump in his throat. He had already known abortion wasn't an option. Orihime's kind heart couldn't bear the idea of killing anything.
"We'll keep it Orihime. You and me. We'll get through this," he whispered to her. As she cried into his shoulder, he hoped his words weren't an empty promise.
~~~
"You're pregnant!" said Ichigo, shocked.
They had called their friends over to Orihime, and now Ishida's, apartment to tell them. Tatsuki (who had been informed of soul society), Sado, Rukia, and Ichigo were sitting on the couch gapping at the couple.
Ichigo got a sly look and added, "Geez, Ishida I didn't think you had it in you."
"What's that supposed to mean," growled his rival, glaring through his glasses.
"Shut up baka! This is serious," yelled Rukia, whacking Ichigo across the head.
"So you're keeping it," said Tatsuki. It was a statement not a question.
"Yeah. Me and Uryu figured we could do it."
"And of course we'll help you," said Tatsuki. Sado hummed in agreement.
~~~
Much to Ishida's annoyance Ryuken insisted that they have all the treatment done at his hospital.
"If my grandchild turns our better than his father I might just have to give up the name 'The Last Quincy,'" said Ryuken, when Ishida had protested. The remark left him on edge and it was only Orihime who could calm him.
They waited in Ryuken's office for the results of their first check up.
"It sure was nice of your dad to pay for everything, Uryu," said Orihime, attempting to break the tension surrounding her boyfriend. Ishida scoffed quietly. The door behind them creaked open, revealing the doctor who would be delivering the baby.
"Everything looks good. We estimate you are about six to seven weeks into the pregnancy. You said you haven't had morning sickness yet, but that should come fairly soon. It lasts around a month. Make sure you get plenty to eat and drink. If you'd like I can prescribe some vitamins for you," the doctor explained.
"Sure that would be great!" exclaimed Orhime, giving the doctor a warm smile. Ishida couldn't help but smile too. Orihime's smiles were intoxicating.
"Come on in if anything seems unusual and I'll see you in a month," said the doctor handing Ishida the prescription.
~~~
Ishida woke and looked over at the bedside clock. It read 6:30 AM. Why the hell had he woken up? That's when he noticed Orihime was gone, the covers still warm where she had lain next to him. He heard retching sounds coming from the bathroom.
"Crap," he muttered getting up. Orihime was bent over the toilet, throwing up the little bit of the pasta and marshmallow casserole that was still in her stomach from last night's dinner. Ishida held her hair back as she finished. Finally, she pulled herself from the toilet. He helped her rinse out her mouth and led her back to bed.
~~~
Sado, Ichigo, and Ishida had decided to have a guy's night since Renji was visiting. They were in a small restaurant, sharing a platter of calamari.
"So how's Orihime?" asked Sado.
"Hormonal. Yesterday, I mentioned that the shirt she had on had a small stain on it and she cried about it for almost a half hour. And yesterday night she actually made normal tasting spaghetti," explained Ishida, taking another drink of his soda.
"Wait, so your telling me that instead of craving weird food, she's craving normal food," clarified Ichigo. He laughed.
"Yeah, but don't mention anything negative, or it sets her off. Luckily I haven't done anything to make her angry." All the men shivered at the idea of a pissed off Orihime.
"Anyway, you guys want to go to the arcade after this?" asked Ichigo.
"Sure. I'll whip your ass at air hockey," replied Renji, giving a wolfish smirk.
"Wanna bet!" The red head and carrot top glared at each other.
Beep Beep Beep
"Guess we'll have to put that game on hold. There's several hollows in downtown," Renji reported, after looking at his soul pager.
"Shit!" said Ichigo, "I forgot to take a pill or Kon with me. I'll be right back." Ichigo ditched his body on the roof of the restaurant, certain no one would go up there and find it.
The men found the hollows jumping from building to building, breaking a few windows and sending some citizens for cover. Ishida pulled his arm back and release a spray of arrows on the white masked monsters. While fighting, one of the creatures snuck up behind him. He only had time to look back as the spike swung down on him.
"I reject!" The spike smashed into a huge powerful shield giving Renji enough time to cut the hollow in half. Ishida looked down to see Orihime kneeling on the ground.
"Are you alright?" he called to her.
"Just tired. I didn't know I could make a shield that big." Ishida helped her up. "Are you sure? You look tired. Maybe..."
"I'm fine." Orihime kissed his cheek to reassure him. The hollows had been defeated and the others were gathering around them.
"I'll take you home. Meet you guys at the arcade," Ishida said to the others. He laced his fingers as they walked.
Orihime wanted to protest, but already knew Ishida was to much of a gentleman to be deterred. Better off just going along with it.
~~~
Everyone at school had been giving Orihime looks since her bulge had started to show at 20 weeks. He had overheard a group of girls talking about how careless she must have been to get pregnant at 17.
"She's starting to look like a fat cow," said one of the girls to her friend. It took all of Ishida's will power not to put 1200 arrows through them. Luckily, Orihime didn't hear it.
"So me and Uyru have an announcement to make!" cried Orihime over a plain tuna and mayo sandwich at lunch. All their friends looked over. "We went to the doctors the other day and found out that it's going to be a girl."
"Cool, so how'd they figure that out," asked Tatsuki.
"They did an ultrasound. Wanna see the picture?" Orihime dug into her bag and produced the photo. You could clearly see a round head attached to a tiny body. One hand was raised up slightly, allowing you to see all five fingers.
"Wow," breathed Tatsuki as she examined the picture. Ishida smiled at the photo. Wow didn't even cover it.
Beep Beep Beep
"What is it Rukia?" exclaimed Ichigo as she examined her soul pager.
"Just a couple of weak hollows. You guys mind dealing with Kon and Chappy for a while." Rukia and Ichigo popped in the pills and took off, leaving behind their bodies. As soon as they were out of sight, Kon and Chappy kissed. It was ironic that the two mod souls loved each other, when the people they inhabited denied it.
"Common, lets get back to class," Tatsuki murmured.
~~~
"Orihime!" yelled Rukia bursting into the apartment. Ishida and Orihime jumped where they had been watching TV on the couch. Rukia had Ichigo draped across her back in a fireman's hold. He was bleeding from a wound in his chest.
"Kurosaki-kun!" cried Orihime. Ishida laid him out on the couch as Orihime called forth her shun shun riku. The gash in Ichigo's chest started to knit together.
"What happened Rukia?" asked Ishida.
"We were out taking care of a few hollows. One of them could use mind control. It took over his mind, and he attacked me. He fought against it and he hurt himself so he couldn't fight me anymore. It was Kaien-dono all over again" Rukia sat down on one of the floor mats covering her face in her hands.
"Uryu, I feel dizzy," said Orihime once she had finished mending Ichigo's wounds. She swayed a moment before fainting. "Orihime!" Ishida cried out catching her before she hit the ground.
~~~
Ishida sat in the waiting room at his father's hospital. They had taken Orihime as soon as they had entered for testing. Rukia was beside him in her gigai. Ichigo had his head resting on her shoulder as he fought sleep.
Finally the big double doors opened to reveal Ryuken. He gestured for Ishida to follow him.
"Who's that?" asked Rukia.
"My father," cursed Ishida, standing up and following the white haired man.
"So," Ryuken started once they were safely in his office, "What happened?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Why did Orihime suddenly faint?"
"Because she used up too much rietsu. When a woman with rietsu, like Orihime, becomes pregnant the body begins using mass amounts of rietsu to protect the baby. Almost like a second womb. Your mother had the same problem."
"Mom?" asked Ishida.
"Now Orihime over exerted herself which means the baby's rietsu was weakened as well. You'll be lucky if she doesn't have a premature birth," said Ryuken, completely ignoring the look of pain on his son's face.
"Is there anything I can do?" asked Ishida pushing down his immediate emotions.
"Don't let her use her powers, and keep her away from the shinigami," instructed Ryuken.
"What? Why do I have to keep her away from Kurosaki?"
"Because I don't want another of my lineage consorted with shinigami."
Ishida wanted to punch him, but instead he slammed the door, leaving an echoing quiet in the office.
~~~
Orihime's belly now looked like she had swallowed a whole cabbage. They were resting in bed after making love. Ishida's head rested on her swollen belly as she stroked his hair.
"It's so cool Orihime. I can hear her in there." He looked up at his beloved to see her smiling down at him.
"I love you," she whispered to him. Ishida reached up, entangling his fingers in her vibrant orange hair. He pushed his lips to hers, kissing gently. It was one of those rare moments when he felt all the pain melt away, leaving him with nothing but happiness.
He felt a small push against the hand that still resting on Orihime's stomach.
"She kicked," Orihime giggled. Her laugh sounded like a thousand bells to Ishida.
"So you said you had godparents in mind," he spoke.
"Well I was think Tatsuki and Kurosaki," Orihime suggested. He nodded and kissed her again. She fidgeted when he felt up her breast.
"I'll tell you one thing. This kid's not going to go hungry."
"Oh Ha, very funny," she said sarcastically and punched him lightly on the head. "Go to sleep."
~~~
Kon was standing in his stuffed animal body, holding Chappy's pill in his hand. It was raining outside and the mod souls had appeared on the door step.
"Can we stay here a while? I think Ichigo would kill me if I stayed with him," said Kon.
"Why would Kurosaki want to kill you?" asked Ishida, letting the plush lion inside.
"Well ya see…uh…Ichigo and Rukia said they were going hollow hunting, so me and Chappy thought we would have some time alone, but...I guess we didn't have as much time as we thought," explained Kon. Ishida raised an eyebrow. So they had finally gotten caught.
"All right, but only for a while okay." Orihime found a small pink bunny with a blue smock for Chappy's pill.
It wasn't long before they heard a pounding on the door.
"Ishida! Orihime! Let me in! I know you're hiding them in there."
"Give it a rest Ichigo. So you caught them making out. Big deal," said Ishida through the door.
"Is that what they told you? That pervert was using my body to..."
"What? You mean him and Chappy were..."
"Put it this way Ishida. They'd already hit a few homeruns by the time we found them."
"Oh." Ishida looked over to where Kon and Chappy were hiding in the cupboard. No wonder Ichigo wanted to pound them.
"If I let you in, you have to promise not to kill them. Let them explain first. Understood?" said Ishida.
"Fine," the front door mumbled. Ishida opened it to reveal a drenched, pissed off, murderous Kurosaki Ichigo. Rukia was standing behind him, quiet and staring at the pavement.
"So where are they," he demanded. Kon and Chappy emerged from where they had been hiding in the cupboard. Ichigo shot daggers at them. They cowered behind Orihime.
"Stop it Kurosaki-kun! These two love each other you should be happy for them," said Orihime, shooting dagger right back at Ichigo. Everyone's (except Ishida's) jaw dropped. No one else had seen Orihime pissed off and hormonal before.
"You are the blindest man I have ever met. I used to love you, and you looked right through me! I thought I was going to die from all the pain you caused me! If it wasn't for Ishida, I probably would still be in pain! And now you're doing the exact same thing. RUKIA LOVES YOU MORON!"
Ichigo was floored. He looked behind him to where Rukia was crying.
"Is it true Rukia," asked Ichigo. Rukia could only nod her head.
"But I thought you and Renji."
"Renji? He's like my brother," said Rukia, looking up to meet Ichigo's face. "I love you, Ichigo." She reached forward and hugged him. A huge smile replaced his surprised expression as he realized what Rukia had just told him.
"Finally," muttered Ishida, turning to Orihime. The young girl's face looked pained as she grasped her stomach.
"Orihime?" He rushed forward and supported her as she sagged in pain.
"I think it's time."
"WHAT! But you're not due for another four weeks." Ishida watched as Orihime road out another bout of pain.
"Now Orihime over exerted herself which means the baby's rietsu was weakened as well. You'll be lucky if she doesn't have a premature birth."
His father's words echoed in his mind.
~~~
"It hurts," gasped Orihime. She pushed, squeezing Ishida's hand as she did so.
"One more should do it," said the doctor between her legs.
"Common Orihime. One more, I'm right here," he whispered to her. Ishida wiped the sweat that was running down her forehead. She grimaced one last time and then sagged back into the pillow.
He saw a tiny bloody mass rushed away. His face paled when he noticed there was no crying.
"Where is she?" asked Orihime. She opened her eyes to look at Ishida.
"They're just checking to make sure she's okay. I love you so much." He pressed his cool lips to her forehead.
"Ma'am. We have to stand you up," said the nurse.
"Why?" asked Ishida.
"Not moving after birthing can cause clots to form. It's also better if we move you to one of the recovery rooms."
Ishida and the nurse helped Orihime stand. She was shaking like a leaf, but they managed to walk her to the wheel chair in the corner.
~~~
Ishida pushed his hand through the glove in the tank. His daughter slumbered in the small plastic box. She was premature and therefore her lungs hadn't had time to develop fully. She could breath on her own, but couldn't get enough oxygen out of the normal air.
"Daddy loves you Katsu," he said, stroking the tiny tuft of black hair. She had her mother's big brown eyes, and he could feel her tiny strong rietsu.
When he had fallen for Orihime he had thought that he couldn't love anyone more. He was wrong.
"I'm going to be a better father to you then mine was. I promise."
~~~Six years later
"Crap," cursed Ishida grabbing his coat and rushing out of his office. He had completely lost track of time.
"Ishida-sama, wait," called his secretary. He slowed down and the woman handed him the small beautifully wrapped present.
"Thanks."
"In a hurry Ishida-san?" one of his colleagues mentioned as Ishida jumped into the elevator.
"My little girl's birthday and my wife would kill me if I'm late."
Traffic was horrible of course which meant he got home fifteen minutes past the start of the party.
Orihime was in the kitchen putting four candles on Katsu's favorite cake; celery and apple. It seemed she had taken after her mother when it came to food.
"Hi, sorry I'm late," he pecked his wife on the cheek. "How was your day?"
"Well the restaurant was busy, and Katsu's teacher said she'd never seen a child draw such weird pictures."
Ishida looked over at the fridge. There were dozens of drawings, most of them of shinigami, Ishida using his bow, Orihime using shun shun riku, and of soul society from when they had visited last August.
"I can only wonder why," Ishida murmured sarcastically. They had talked to Katsu about their 'family secret' as they called it, and she knew better then to talk about it at school. It was harder when she was still too little to understand. He remembered when she had made friends with a ghost boy at the park, not understanding he was dead. Katsu had cried when Ichigo had to perform the soul burial.
It really all happened so fast?
Katsu rushed into the kitchen, tailed by several of her friends.
"Mommy! Aunt Rukia and Uncle Ichigo are here," she giggled.
"Oi, Ishida," said a voice behind him. A large calloused hand landed on his shoulder. He was spun around to face the shinigami.
"Hi Katsu," greeted Rukia, but the little girl only had eyes for the present in her hands. Rukia saw her staring and handed the box to her.
"Can I open it now, Daddy?" she asked.
"Sure." No sooner had the words left his mouth then the colorful wrapping paper was on the floor. It turned out to be a professional artist's kit, complete with paper, markers, crayons, and colored pencils.
"Is this a new one Ishida." Ichigo motioned to a drawing on the fridge. It was clearly one of the orange-head in his shinigami gear surrounded by his black rietsu. "She's better then Rukia."
"I heard that," said his girlfriend from where she was doing Katsu's friend's hair on the floor.
"Daddy," Katsu said pulling on her father's black work pants. He scooped her up and kissed her. "Do you have a present for me too?"
"Yup, right here," he pulled out the tiny box from his pocket.
"It's small," stated the girl raising an eyebrow.
"Well if you don't want it." Katsu shook her head violently and took the present. She opened the box to see a plain bracelet with a cross attached. The little girl's face was confused for a moment, than it lit up as understanding dawned on her.
"You're gonna teach me!" Ishida nodded. "But it's a big responsibility Katsu. You think you can do it?"
"Yeah! I'll do it on the pride of the Quincy."