The Week After Christmas II: A Late Gift - 9 months before Bleach Continued.

Ichigo stood in front of his house and admired what he had done. He had slaved for days putting up lights, hanging giant ornament balls in the trees, and staking an inflatable Santa in the front yard, not to mention the numerous other little things his wife asked him to. Now after all that work and effort, after all the cuts, scrapes, and smashed fingers, after drilling a hole in his foot, (don't ask) he had to take it all down.

Rukia walked out of the house and stood beside Ichigo. "You've been staring at it for almost an hour now," she said. "When are you going to start taking all of it down?"

"I still haven't decided where to start," said Ichigo.

Rukia shrugged. "How about the beginning?" she said. "Typically that tends to be the best place."

Ichigo gave her an annoyed look. "Very funny Midget," he said sarcastically. "Do you plan to help me with this mess?"

"I'm the one who put it up," she said. "You are the one who gets to take it down."

"What?" yelled Ichigo. "I was the one who put it up, you just stood there and watched."

Rukia crossed her arms. "It's called supervising," she said. "It's very hard work telling you where to put things and that you are doing a bad job at it."

"You've been talking to Dad again, haven't you?" asked Ichigo.

"I didn't have to," she said. "I remembered this from last Christmas and it seemed to work out very well."

"Oh really," said Ichigo slowly walking up to Rukia. "Do you remember what the last thing we put up was?"

The memory brought a smile to Rukia as she wrapped her arms around Ichigo's neck. "Not really," she said. "Why don't you remind me?" She lifted her head and met Ichigo's lips. Ichigo pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. A moment later they broke off and Rukia patted him on the chest. "Now I remember," she said smiling. "But you still need to get this stuff down before tomorrow."

"Arrrgh," said Ichigo lightly pushing Rukia away. "Give me one good reason why you can't help."

Rukia shifted from one foot to another and looked nervous. "I'm waiting for something to finish."

Ichigo face got a sick look on it. "Don't tell me you're trying to cook again," he said. "The last time you did I got sick for a week."

Ichigo braced himself for the flow of insults and possible RTO's (Rukia Thrown Objects) but to his surprise, none came. "It's not that," she said softly. "I'm just waiting for something. When it's done you'll be the first to know."

Ichigo wanted to say something else, but Rukia just walked inside and shut the door. "What's with her?" he asked himself.

Ichigo began to take the decorations down and stow them away for next year. After he had done, he decided to go to the Market area and look for something to buy Rukia. As he walked, he ran into Hinamori who was looking at a dress. "Hey, Hinamori," said Ichigo.

Hinamori jumped at the sound of her name and bowed to Ichigo. "Good Afternoon, Captain," she said.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. "You don't have to be so formal," he said. "Just call me Ichigo."

"Sure," said Hinamori picked up a vase and began to look at it. "What brings you out here?"

"Just looking around," he said looking at a picture. "Rukia is a little down right now, so I decided to try to find something to get her despite Christmas being only a week ago." Ichigo looked at Hinamori. "You visited Rukia a few days ago with Rangiku and the other SWA member's right? Do you know if something is wrong?"

When he asked this, Hinamori nearly dropped the vase she was holding. "No, nothing was wrong," she stammered. "Rukia was just fine."

Hinamori let out a nervous laugh and Ichigo arched an eyebrow. He hadn't known Hinamori too long, but in the short time he did know her he came to realize she was a terrible liar. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Hinamori began to sweat a little. "I'm absolutely sure," she said. Silently Hinamori prayed that Ichigo wouldn't push to far. Rukia had told them to keep it a secret and if any of them said anything, she would kill them slowly. "I don't suppose you know what kind of stuff Captain Kuchiki likes?" she asked hoping to change the subject. "I became his Lieutenant and I want to make a good impression."

Ichigo grunted. "I could care less what that stuck up jerk cares about," he said.

Hinamori tugged Ichigo's sleeve. "Can you think of something?" she begged. "It would really help me out."

"Alright," said Ichigo. "But you have to tell me what is bothering Rukia, ok?"

Hinamori smiled. "I'll tell you everything I can," she said.

Sighing Ichigo nodded. "Look all I know is that if you can make a good pot of jasmine tea and keep everything in his office clean and efficiently ran then you will be okay," he said. "Oh and keep Yachiru away from him, that will really impress him and keep you on his good side."

Hinamori bowed. "Thank you very much," she said. "I guess I need to stock up on candy, or I could take some from Toshiro. He has tones of it stored in a storage room that Captain Ukitake gives him on a regular basis."

Before she could leave, Ichigo cleared his throat. "You're supposed to tell me what's wrong with Rukia," he said.

"Oh yeah," said Hinamori lightly tapping herself in the head with her knuckle. "I guess I forgot." Hinamori looked around and motioned for Ichigo to come closer. Ichigo leaned forward and whispered. "I don't know, and that's all I'm going to say."

Ichigo jerked up. "That's not fair," he said. "You said you would tell me what you could."

Hinamori nodded. "I kept my end of the deal," she said. "That's all Rukia said I could say if anyone asked." She laughed as Ichigo began to realize he had been played. "Look," she said. "Just buy Rukia some Chappy toy and go home and talk to her. I'm sure she will tell you when she is ready."

Hinamori waved goodbye and walked off. Ichigo turned down a road and walked into a Chappy store and bought a pair of Chappy slippers and a box of candy. He took his gifts and walked home. When he got to the door he found Rukia waiting for him. "How you doing?" he asked.

Rukia got up from the chair she was sitting in and took Ichigo by the hand and lead him back to the sofa. After he sat down, Rukia sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder. "What's in the bag?" she asked.

Ichigo opened the bag and pulled out the candy. "You were feeling bad so I got you some candy," he said. Rukia took the box and set in on the table. Slightly irked Ichigo pulled out the slippers. "I also got you these."

Rukia squealed and snatched the slippers from his hand and placed them on her feet. "They are so cute," she said shaking her feet and making the ears flop around. She kiss Ichigo on the cheek and leaned on his chest. "Thanks for the late Christmas gift."

Ichigo smiled and put his hand around her shoulders. "Anything to make you happy," he said.

They sat there for a moment. "I have a gift for you too, Ichigo," said Rukia.

"Really," he said leaning towards her for a kiss. "What could it be?"

He was about to kiss her when he felt her finger on his lips. "Not that," she said. "I have something else." Rukia took a deep breath. "Ichigo," she said. "I'm pregnant."

Rukia watched as a thousand expressions crossed Ichigo's face. For a moment he didn't move then suddenly he picked her up and hugged her. "I don't believe it," he said. "This is…great. This is awesome, it's beyond…I've got to tell Dad. He'll be thrilled to death." Ichigo for a moment thought about what his dad's reaction would be. "Then again, maybe I should hold off telling him. When did you find out?"

"Today," she said. "At the last SWA meeting I got sick and threw up. Unohana took me to the hospital and ran some tests and told me I may be pregnant. She told me it would be a week before the tests told her for sure, and I just got the results this morning."

"Why wait so long to tell me?" asked Ichigo.

Rukia sighed. "I wasn't sure how you would react," she said. "It happened so sudden and I…"

Before Rukia could say anything else, Ichigo shut her up with a kiss. "Idiot," he said. "You should have told me sooner, I would have taken us out to a big dinner to celebrate."

Rukia smiled. "How about a nice dinner for two," she said softly. "In our bedroom perhaps?"

Ichigo returned her smile. "How about we skip dinner?"

Rukia nodded and Ichigo carried her up to their room. "I am looking forward to one thing," he said as he climb the stairs.

"What's that?" asked Rukia.

"Bragging to your brother," said Ichigo. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when I tell him. It will be priceless." Ichigo laughed. "Between that and the baby, this is the best Christmas present ever."

Rukia let out a giggle. "Merry Christmas, Idiot."

Ichigo kissed her on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Midget."