This is my gift for the holiday exchange over on tumblr. My gift is for Child-of-the-Ashes and her prompts were; present, family, and spending Christmas in an unusual place. I tried to incorporate all three prompts into this story, so I hope I did well. I apologize that this is late. I hope you guys enjoy this and have a very good new year!

Standing out in the winter air, Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he waited for his fiancée to answer her door. He was in a bit of a foul mood since his crazy father decided to just kick him out to grab their 'Orihime-chan', which resulted in Ichigo punching him in the face. She wasn't getting married to his father, yet he could tell his father was only saying such things to get a reaction from him. He was thankful the short midget wasn't around to tease him; in his case, it felt more like harassment than teasing but Rukia always kicked him before running off with Renji.

He was contemplating knocking a second time before the door opened, revealing his beautiful fiancee, who looked a bit flushed from running around her apartment.

"Ichigo!" she paused before looking at him with a look of concern on her face, "Aren't you here early?"

He shrugged, "The old man decided to kick me out early. He went on about babbling nonsense again so I decided to take him on his offer and leave." He left out the part of his father saying she was both of theirs because he knew it would've made her laugh.

She shrugged before pulling him inside and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Merry Christmas!"

He returned it with a smile on his face, "Same to you." He took a step back, noticing her Kitchen was a mess and he looked at her with a scowl. "Have you been cooking again?"

She nodded, "If I'm invited to your place for dinner, I need to bring something with me."

He sighed, "Hime, for the tenth time, you don't have to bring anything with you. Yuzu has everything under control and Karin is surprisingly helping her. You didn't have to dirty your kitchen for our sake."

She frowned, "I know that! I chose to because I wanted to. Besides, it's only dessert. I didn't actually bake a lot of things. Tatsuki-chan dropped off a new recipe for me to try before she left town. I thought I could try making it with your family."

"Well, did you need help in the kitchen?"

She giggled, "No, everything's already in the oven. I just have to tidy up and get properly dressed. There's actually another place I want to go before we go to yours, if that's okay with you?"

He smiled, "I don't see why not. The dinner won't be done until about six and it's only one. I'm relatively sure we have time to kill before heading there."

She gave him a knowing look, "You just don't want to share me with your family."

He gave her a lop-sided grin, "Well, you can't blame me." Cupping her face, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her smile into the kiss before pulling back, "You're so beautiful."

She laughed when she saw him blushing. Even though they were going to be married soon, Ichigo still felt embarrassed to compliment her. She found it endearing that he chose to only say such words when they were alone, even if Tatsuki and Rukia both complained he should do it more.

He scowled at her, which gave her the opportunity to snake out of his arms and run towards the kitchen. "I have to get this cleaned up! You stay in the living room and don't move."

Shaking his head, he sighed before plopping himself on her couch. Something told him it was gonna be a very long day.

.

.

.

After the dessert was finished and Orihime had cleaned herself up, they headed out to this special place she mentioned earlier. He noted the place they were going to was quite familiar and as much as he wanted to ask her, he felt like asking would ruin the surprise. At first, Orihime had run ahead of him, excited to be going here, but she eventually slowed to walk beside him. He noticed she has a small bouquet of flowers and had offered to carry the dessert in his other hand. When he saw them, he felt a tightening in his chest, because he was starting to understand where they were actually going.

His suspicions were correct when he saw the gravestone of his mother in front of them. He watched in silence as Orihime bent down to place the bouquet in front and give a small prayer before taking a step back to allow Ichigo space.

He couldn't think of anything to say to his deceased mother, and he chose to stand there in silence. When he felt Orihime's hand on his, he turned to give her a small smile before looking back at the stone. He had a feeling his father was gonna come here soon, but he chose to remain silent. When Orihime felt his hand tighten around hers, she gently rubbed his arm with her free hand and breathed in the fresh air.

"I thought, since we were going to be spending time with your family today, we should at least say hello to your mother. I remember spending all those Christmases without onii-chan, and how lonely it was. But I never once felt sad about it. I knew he was always watching, and if I was more aware of the spirits a lot sooner, maybe I would've seen him standing there. Christmas is supposed to be a time for family, I've never forgotten that."

He looked down at her, and felt a bit of shock at hearing the tone in her voice. "Do you regret it?" she looked at him with a confused expression and felt himself clarifying his question, "Not finding your parents, I mean."

She shook her head, "No. I have been looking since we sent Sora to the Soul Society, but if they really cared about me, they would've found me on their own. For all I know, they may already be there. It's hard to say, really. But I don't feel any sort of guilt for not being there. I used to when I was growing up, but the feeling just kinda left when I realized it was pointless to blame myself for their mistakes. Onii-chan protected me from them, and if I had found them, they might've abused me again. When I realized onii-chan didn't want me around them, I stopped looking. There wasn't anything I could've done anyway. What would I say if I did? 'Hi, I'm your daughter that was taken from you when I was only three.' I can't even imagine what would happen if I ever met them again."

He nodded in agreement. Ichigo couldn't find the right words to say, but he knew with Orihime, you didn't have to talk or say meaningless words. She would always listen to you, whether you had something important to say or not. He did notice her expression change, which made him feel a bit concerned. She seemed fine, but her reiatsu was a bit higher than normal.

"Hime, is there another reason you decided to come here? You seem a bit nervous."

Shaking her head, she smiled at him, "Well... There is another reason why I came here, and I figured you two should be the first to know, before I tell everyone else."

Seeing his face in confusion made her giggle before she took a deep breath. She felt immense happiness when she gently rubbed her stomach and she noticed his eyes move from her face to her stomach before his eyes widened.

"You're..."

She nodded before she squealed as he picked her up and swung her in his arms. Laughter could be heard from a distance as the couple stayed in their own world. He kissed her in happiness before settling her down in front of Masaki's grave.

"When did you?"

"I actually just found out last night. At first I was debating telling you over the phone but I felt this was too important to discuss. So I decided to tell you here. I wanted Masaki-chan to know the same time as you. I didn't get you a gift so.."

"You are my gift. And so is the little one. You have no idea how happy I am, Hime. I don't even know what to say..."

She shook her head, "You don't have to say anything." Grabbing his hand, she smiled, "Just being yours is enough."

He felt a lump in his throat at her words and decided to crush her into a strong hug, inhaling her scent. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he mumbled, "Thank you."

Pressing a kiss to his cheek, she whispered, "I love you very much Ichigo. You have no idea how happy I am that we're getting married soon."

He pressed her closer to his body, feeling her warmth radiate from her skin. "I love you too, Hime. You've made me the happiest man alive."

She laughed, "I'm not so sure about that. You may just get sick of me."

He shook his head, "Nah. If anything, you might get sick of me being over protective. But I promise you, I'm gonna be the greatest father and husband you'll ever have."

She felt tears in her eyes as she kissed him, his words making her feel warm and safe. He didn't waste time in kissing her back, allowing himself to be drowned in her. She only made him feel this way, and he always felt tongue-tied around this weird girl. And she was now going to be birthing his child on top of marrying him in a few months. This was definitely the best Christmas he's ever had.

They pulled away, but stayed close enough to each other that they both blushed. Scratching his head, he sighed before looked at her, "I guess we should head to my house now. Dad might start calling soon if I don't have you over."

She giggled, "I like your father. He's hilarious."

He snorted, "More like screwed up in the head."

She gasped, "Ichigo! He's your father! Show him more respect."

"Hey! Don't defend his stupid ass! He shouldn't attack me in the morning or every time I walk in the door! A normal father wouldn't beat up his son every time he saw him!"

She laughed, causing him to laugh with her, "Well... I guess it's his way of showing he loves you."

He shrugged, "Ah.. Well, I guess we should get you over there. Besides, we wouldn't want this dessert to go to waste. Yuzu will be very happy, she loves chocolate."

She smiled at him before turning to Masaki's grave. "Goodbye Masaki-chan! I promise to take very good care of your son. He's good to me and I want to protect and love him too!"

Squeezing her hand, he gave her a smile before he turned to his mother's grave. "Bye, mom. I hope you're happy where you are."

With that, they both headed to the Kurosaki clinic to spend time with his family. Christmas this year was definitely going to be exciting and interesting.