A/N: Just to let you know that thee chapters will literally just be brief accounts considering we have a lot of years to get through before we get to the present so if there's anything you're not sure about or if I'm not clear enough about something, just let me know. Sorry about the wait, had an impossibly busy month… I won't go into the specifics but it's been very tough for me so excuse errors etc. But I made a very special effort in getting this out so please take the time to leave a review – I would really appreciate it!

Also, thank you to HollyRose93, Bmast, Hallie-Clancy, peacemaker51, ncd94, bdogrulz and the three unnamed guest reviewers! It's nice to see old reviewers back as well as being introduced to new ones!

Enjoy!

It was different.

Everything was… well, strange…

It was a situation they should have been prepared for, but sometimes, one gets so caught up in trying to deal with the present, that they neglect to think about the future. Of course, they were very capable at dealing with strange. They had been coping with those sorts of situations their entire life – or rather, their entire existence.

Of course, they knew all that now.

But it still didn't make the situation any less strange.

Lacing his fingers with his wife-to-be's as they kneeled down, Ichigo Kurosaki found himself returning the direct, mildly pleading stare of the head captain.

Rukia Kuchiki placed both their hands against her thigh and after a moment of unbearable silence, she heard Ichigo mutter, stubbornly, "So, let me get all this straight…" He began, evidently formulating his anticipated response carefully in his mind, "…You want me to be Captain again."

"Yes." The mellow, authoritative voice of Yamamoto replied, quietly.

"Of a permanent, trained squad…"

"Yes."

"…And–"

"–Please just say it all in one go, Kurosaki. The suspense is killing me." Byakuya muttered dryly, his presence almost unnoticed as he stood quietly behind Yamamoto.

But Byakuya had that sort of presence that never went unnoticed.

Rolling his amber eyes, Ichigo continued, "I'd nearly done anyway, dammit." He took a slow breath, before finishing, deliberately slowly, "…And Rukia… to be my lieutenant?"

"Yes." Yamamoto repeated yet again, bowing his head.

"Got there in the end."

"Thank you, Captain Kuchiki." Yamamoto interjected, before he fixed his eyes back on Ichigo, "So, what do you say?"

Ichigo took a deep breath and shook his head, "Don't get me wrong, Yama, it's a lovely offer but I have difficulty believing that this deal is as simple as all that. Why the hell do you want me back? Furthermore, what makes you think I want to come back… to serve you?" He scoffed, loudly, "Is this so you can just push us both around again and try to manipulate us?"

Rukia stiffened silently beside Ichigo and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Manipulate you?" Yamamoto repeated, musing over the word, interestedly, "No. Kurosaki, let us not forget that you intend to marry one of our own."

"She isn't yours to claim." He bristled, reflexively moving closer to her.

Byakuya took a step forwards, "Kurosaki, she is a spirit. You are a human. She is among us and is a part of our society whether she wants to be or not. You, no matter how hard you try, cannot change that. You must understand that in order to wed Rukia, you need to offer yourselves into the services of the Soul Society."

"I don't need to do a damn thing." Ichigo spat, furiously, glaring at Byakuya through angered ambers.

"All he means is that Rukia has already been a part of the human world. She doesn't belong there. You need a place to stay. We are offering you comfortable living conditions with a high pay. There is nothing manipulative about that." Yamamoto added, surveying Ichigo, carefully, "We rarely accept humans to live with us, Kurosaki, so stop being so proud and accept it. For the sake of your future wife and your son."

Flinching inwardly, Ichigo shook his head. It wasn't fir to bring Hiro into this. Ichigo would give up everything for their happiness, but this is something he had difficulty accepting. "I can't believe you don't have some sort of ulterior motive. If I want to marry Rukia, I will, and if I want to live on Earth with her, I will."

He barely even felt Rukia tug her hand out of his and stand up, "If you'll beg my pardon, Captains, I feel a bit of a spare part in all this. Please, get in touch with me once you've all decided my future. I'd be pleased to hear the outcome."

Without another word, she turned and strode from the room, holding her chin parallel to the ground.

The three men watched her leave and Ichigo closed his eyes, "I'll be back in a moment." He stood up and followed her outside, not waiting for a response from the other two.

"Rukia?" He called after her, seeing her perched delicately on the roof of the building opposite.

She glanced down at him and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for walking out like that."

Flash-stepping his way up to sit beside her, he rested his elbows on his knees, "No, don't be. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been talking about you as though you don't have a mouth of your own."

"Which you know I do." She shifted her eyes to his and gave a small smirk.

"Mm…" He nodded, placing a hand on her stomach and leaning forwards to kiss her lips, gently.

She smiled against them and closed her eyes briefly before pulling away, "So, what do you want to do about all this, Ichigo? It's a good offer." She told him, quietly.

"You think so too? Oh, gosh, you dead people are all so confusing. Haven't you seen the way they've treated us when we were in their power? Don't you remember what happened?"

"Of course I do." She murmured, "I don't have amnesia, you know. I'd have to have a pretty severe bump on the head to forget all that…"

"So, why do you think this is a good idea?" He asked, facing up towards the sky, exhaling, "I thought we just wanted to be quietly happy, you know. None of this drama."

Rukia rested her head against his shoulder, "Ichigo, I know you love to fight. I know not alongside them, but they aren't familiar with human emotions – not properly anyway. They're really just trying to… to make peace. Put the past behind us all. Think about it, Ichigo, they're offering us a good position. If we don't like it, we can go. But please, I want to make things right with Byakuya again. Despite it all, he's a really good Uncle."

"Yeah, back when Hiro didn't have a Father." Ichigo grumbled, moodily, but already feeling himself being overruled by her sweet, seductive velvety tones.

Rukia looked up at him and slapped the back of his head, "Stop being childish." She scolded.

Ichigo couldn't be bothered to apologise and he just sighed, "Do you really want to do this?"

Kissing his shoulder, softly, she placed a hand on his forearm, "I think we should give it a try."

"Oh, gods, alright. Fine. I'll accept." He mumbled, pulling her to stand up, "Come on, then. The quicker we get this over with, the quicker we get to go."

Rukia nodded and within seconds, they were kneeling before the head Captain once again, "Okay," Ichigo began, "We accept your offer, but on the condition that we are not given a fully trained squad… I want to make sure we get our old one back."

Yamamoto paused for a second and nodded, "I can accept that. Thank you, Kurosaki."

He stood up and brushed down his robes, "We'll return in a few days, but Hiro needs to see his Earth family. He's been missing them and they've been missing him too."

Rukia slid her hand into his and pulled him towards the door, "Thank you, Captain."

He gave a slight, wrinkly smile before adding, "Oh, and speaking of Earth, Kurosaki… you do know… you won't be keeping your body if you're to be a permanent Captain here."

What?

Rukia froze and slowly turned to face the two Captains, "You don't mean…"

"Physical death, yes, I do mean that." Yamamoto nodded, speaking as if the disposal of Ichigo's mortal body was nothing but a business matter, "You know I have stretched the rules enough as it is; I cannot allow a human to marry a noble, respectable Lieutenant. It is not allowed. But, of course, you'd be willing to sacrifice that for her, wouldn't you?"

Ichigo blinked after a moment and nodded, "Yes, of course…"

"No, Ichigo." Rukia murmured, turning to face him. He couldn't get rid of his body. She grazed her eyes along his jawline, picturing how much better it looked when he was in his real body – one reason among many as to why she could rarely resist him when they were together on Earth. Even before she recognised the human emotion of 'love'.

There was a certain attraction to the way his muscles were so shaped and defined and – she really needed to start focusing on what they were discussing again…

"Rukia, this isn't up for discussion."

She was about to object, but Ichigo glanced over at Yamamoto, "Out of interest, old man, Yama, was this the proposition you tried to offer me before we fought?"

Ignoring the lack of disrespect the headstrong, young man used, Yamamoto nodded, "Yes."

Ichigo said nothing, but nodded, and turned to pull Rukia out the door with him.

…

"Now then, young man, what about a hug for Granddaddy?!"

A loud, booming voice echoed from the living room the second Ichigo, Rukia and Hiro piled through the front door the following day.

Pushing through the legs of his parents, Hiro scrambled towards the sound of the voice, and yelled gleefully, "Granddad!"

"It's like I don't exist anymore…" Ichigo muttered, moodily, as he kicked off his shoes.

Rukia didn't reply, but closed the door behind them, gently.

"So, made it back alive, did you?" Karin smirked as she leaned against the doorpost to the living room.

Ichigo nodded, "Just about… but, you know… there are a couple of things I need to talk to you about that." He told her, gravely, before Rukia placed her hand forcefully in his, "But not yet. We'll wait until tomorrow. It's getting late."

Sighing quietly, Ichigo gave a tight smile, "Of course. Tomorrow. But we will talk."

Once they had settled down on the sofa, Ichigo turned to Rukia and teased, lightly, "Hey, guess what. Soon I won't be allowed in this room…"

"Why?" She whispered.

"Because…" He lowered his voice, "…It's the living room."

Rukia stiffened and fixed her eyes on Hiro, "I think it's his bedtime." She ordered, her voice deadly dangerous.

Ichigo sighed and nodded, in defeat, "Alright, little man, time to get to bed." He said, almost inaudibly… so nobody could hear. He was dreading going to bed that night… He had the feeling he was in grave trouble.

Neither he nor she had time to be alone together since the talk they'd had with Yamamoto. When they had a few seconds to be together, Rukia had spent it in silence, working on the papers they had to fill out.

Ichigo decided his could wait…

Rukia rolled her eyes, tersely, and spoke, loud enough for Hiro to hear, "Bedtime, baby."

Hiro allowed himself plenty of time to listen to comments on how much he'd grown, and how much he was turning out to look like his Father, (but apparently more handsome, according to Isshin) and that he was no longer little enough to carry around everywhere – but still little enough for Granddad to dangle him by the ankles…

Rukia tapped her foot impatiently and glanced at the clock.

21:58

"Hiro." She addressed him, her voice soft, but effectively coherent, "Bed. Now."

He stopped giggling and Isshin placed him down back on his feet, "Sorry, my wonderful third daughter."

Rukia gave a good-natured laugh – but only Ichigo could sense just how difficult it was for her to keep up the pleasant appearances.

He needed to step up to her and be a man – his family would be unable to cope with her if she snapped… In fact, he was debating whether he'd be able to or not, having said that.

Ichigo stood up and grabbed Hiro around the middle, slinging him over his shoulders, "Come on then, you." He growled, playfully, "Let's get you into bed."

Hiro sighed, "Okay but you have to read me a bedtime story."

"You say that like I won't enjoy it." He laughed, softly.

In fact, if it put off the wrath of his fiancée, he would happily read Hiro a bedtime story.

Check that… he'd read him two.

…

After the third book had been placed back onto the bookshelf, Ichigo stopped off at the bathroom on his way into the bedroom, changing into his grey pyjama bottoms.

Rukia was staring out the window, wrapped up in Ichigo's dressing gown, her arms folded as she watched the wind dance lightly through the silhouetted leaves on the trees.

Dropping his clothes onto the floor and heading towards the bed, feeling like a misbehaving child, he yawned, "Night, Rukia."

"Night." She said, softly, not turning around.

Trying to settle himself, Ichigo just found it wasn't the same without Rukia beside him. Exhaling, he turned towards her and he flicked back the covers, patting the space on the mattress beside him, "Aren't you coming to bed?"

Her wide, violet eyes, seeing something other than the night outside the window, flickered towards him for a brief moment, "Not yet." She replied, fixing her gaze back to the window.

Ichigo closed his eyes and shook his head, "Rukia Kuchiki, get your fine ass in the bed and stop being so damn morose."

"Why?" She countered, heading over to sit in the closet and pull her legs up onto the makeshift mattress.

His amber eyes widened and he sat bolt upright, "Oh, no, Miss Kuchiki. You are not sleeping in there tonight. Get in the bed or I'm cramming in there with you!" He ordered, his tones climbing towards mildly hysterical.

Slamming the door shut, she answered her voice just as even as it was before, "No. You're not. Ichigo, give me a few minutes to get changed."

"What? Why? I've seen you naked before loads of times! For goodness sake, Rukia, we have children!"

"I just don't feel like putting on a show tonight."

Ichigo was affronted.

He had just been slighted!

Mooching back towards the bed, he sighed and sat down, watching the door tentatively. After a few moments of Ichigo's knee bobbing up and down, anxiously, Rukia reappeared clad in one of those damn sexy, thin nighties.

Ichigo throbbed.

Yes, he throbbed.

His heart… his head… and... Ahem… other things.

She stared at him, one pale, slender hand resting lightly against the edge of the closet door. After a few passing seconds of feeling completely intimidated and a little frightened, Ichigo glanced to the side, clearing his throat.

Gods, she must have known what she was doing to him.

The way her raven hair was delicately ruffled, her straight, white teeth pressing gently on top of her lower lip as she surveyed him through unreadable, troubled eyes.

"Why did you do it?" She asked, finally, after those painful minutes of unbearable silence.

"Do…" He swallowed, quickly, "Do what?"

She closed her eyes and pulled the door closed, moving slowly towards the bed, "Ichigo, you're nineteen dammit."

"Nearly twenty." He reasoned, shifting uncomfortably on the mattress, "And so what? What does this have to do with anything?"

Sitting down beside him, her eyes searched his features. Grazing her nails down his chest, watching the adorable way he shuddered beneath her touch, she murmured, "Your skin…"

Struggling severely to remain focused, Ichigo raised his eyebrows, "Mm? What… what about it?"

She placed her full, pink lips beneath his ear and kissed her way along the underside on his jawline, "Your jaw…"

"My jaw?" He repeated, distractedly, exhaling quietly as he leaned forwards.

"Mm…" Running her fingertips over his shoulders and along the blades, she brushed her lips along his, feeling his hand slide to rest on her thigh.

"What about them?"

Twisting her fingers into the hair tickling the nape of his neck, she dropped her forehead against his, her eyes closing, "Ichigo, you cannot get rid of this body."

He paused and opened his eyes, pulling away slightly, "Yes, Rukia, I can and I will. Let me do this for you… for us."

Her grip on him tightened and her shoulders weakened, "But I've had so many memories with this body…"

"No… they were with me. I was just in this body." He kissed her lips, "Listen to me. I promise I will wait for as long as I can… but this will happen… and you will learn to accept it whether you like it or not."

Meekly, she glanced away, "So we don't have to tell your family yet?"

Pulling her onto the mattress and hovering above her, he pressed his lips against hers, "No. End of discussion. Now… we may as well make the most of it while it's still here, yes?"

Too distracted to object, she nodded, submissively, "Yes, Ichigo."

A small smirk tugged at his lips, and he kissed his way down her smooth, pale throat, "That's right. Now shut up and enjoy yourself."

…

It had been a long day.

Or, rather, a long week…

… Okay, it had been a long few months.

A very long few months.

Of course, time seemed to be dragging because for one, Ichigo Kurosaki almost found himself taking upon himself too much work to handle.

But not only did the days seem longer, they also seemed crazier.

See, after things had begun to settle down and Byakuya had come to terms with the fact that his sister really was going to get married, he had offered to support them both as much as possible.

He began this by telling them he knew about the baby.

After Ichigo had managed to calm Rukia down (and shrug off the black eye she had delivered him), they had a discussion with Byakuya about a 'plan of action'.

Though Ichigo didn't particularly want to involve Rukia's brother in their 'plan of action', he had to admit to himself (very quietly), that in actual fact, Byakuya's help was appreciated.

For one, he had bought Ichigo a house to live in – alone – but it wasn't too far from the mansion, which meant he could visit Rukia occasionally. However, they had agreed ('they' being Rukia and Byakuya) that the couple may live together after marriage, which Ichigo had been a little opposed to at first, but knew that if Rukia agreed to it, then there would be no changing her mind.

For another, he had ensured that once Ichigo and Rukia had decided to return to their posts as permanent Captain and Lieutenant but of their old squad and with an entirely new, modernised barracks building.

So, really, Byakuya hadn't turned out to be as useless as Ichigo had anticipated.

However, although he had made them both as comfortable as possible, Ichigo was still finding it difficult to cope considering he was working alone.

The reason being that Rukia had finally begun to show and now looked pretty heavily pregnant, but because the baby was developing at such a rapid pace, it meant she could barely stay on her feet for longer than ten minutes.

She had insisted to continue working, but Ichigo ordered her to stay at home until the baby was born.

Dropping his robes to the floor as he closed the front door behind him, Ichigo decided he was in need of some comfort food before going to see his fiancée.

And he knew of a certain tub of his favourite ice cream was waiting for him in a certain, hidden location.

Mooching over to his freezer wearing nothing but his boxers, he routed around in the drawers and couldn't help noticing that the ice cream had mysteriously disappeared.

Straightening up, a confused expression crossing his features, he closed the door and headed upstairs towards his bedroom, following the scent of a familiar reiatsu.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, his amber eyes landed on a very pregnant, hormonal woman.

She was shovelling the ice cream into her mouth, a forlorn expression twisting her features. Chuckling a little at the comical sight, Ichigo shook his head and moved towards her, "Hey, Rukes, what's going on?"

Well, what he really wanted to know was how she found his well-concealed tub of ice-cream, but she probably wouldn't have appreciated that question right then.

She just glanced up at him, moodily shoving the spoon back into her mouth.

Okay, this was getting serious…

Gently taking the spoon from her mouth and placing it down on the windowsill, he sat down at the bottom of the mattress and trailed his fingers lightly along the smooth skin of her feet, "What's troubling you, Lieu?"

A small, concerned frown tugged at the corners of her pink lips, "I'm a mess, Ichigo. What have I done to deserve you?"

…Definitely serious.

Puffing up his cheeks before releasing the air, he began to gently massage the souls of her feet, and eventually, he watched the worry lines creasing her features dissolve and relax.

"Is this the hormones or is this Rukia talking?" He asked, softly.

She let loose a frustrated sigh, "I don't know…"

"Now," He murmured, after a few moments of contemplation, "what's all this about?"

He held her gaze with his eyes for a prolonged moment, imploring her to respond – but she just sighed and tilted her head back against his headboard, "Nothing… I'm just stressed…"

"Stressed?" He asked, continuing the soothing motions with his thumbs against her feet, "About what?"

"Oh, I don't know!" She exhaled, grumpily, "The baby… and just… everything, really."

Ichigo watched his fiancée through careful eyes, a small smile pulling at his lips as he traced his fingertips delicately up along her shins towards her knee, "Everything? Or… or just a lot about the baby?"

Letting loose a mildly exasperated growl, Rukia muttered, "I don't know, Ichigo. I'm just tired; I haven't had a great deal of sleep in the past…"

"…8 months." Ichigo supplied, helpfully.

Rukia refrained from rolling her eyes, but she nodded all the same.

Well, things would only get worse…

"And you're worried about how she will… develop."

It was almost difficult to speak of their unborn without caution. Although both Rukia and Ichigo had accepted the fact that their soon-to-be-daughter was going to be… well… different, it was still hard to come to terms with the fact that raising her would be entirely different to raising Hiro – and not just in the ways of the personality modifications. It would be completely, completely different.

And that was a fact.

"I still don't know whether we should tell others."

"Well… we could tell Byakuya… at some point. Though I know he'd only blame it on me." Ichigo grumbled the quiet reply, rubbing gentle circles on the back of Rukia's legs.

Chewing thoughtfully at her lower lip, Rukia nodded, "You're probably right, but that doesn't mean it is your fault."

Ichigo pursed his lips for a silent moment, before he spoke, bluntly, "So, whose fault is it? Is it yours? Because last time I checked, you were totally normal."

Raising an eyebrow, Rukia expelled a quiet breath of laughter, "I'm glad you think so."

He glanced up at her and gave a small smile, "Okay, you're not totally normal."

"If I wasn't heavily bearing your seed, I would beat the crap out of you." She sent him a slow, sweet smile.

Ichigo smirked at her and quirked an eyebrow, "Mm… I'm sure you would, darling."

"Of course I would and you damn well know it, strawberry-head."

Leaning forwards and pressing his lips to hers, softly, he whispered into the kiss, "Then it's a good job you are heavily bearing my seed."

Raising her fingertips to his jaw, she closed her eyes and trailed her nails delicately along his burning skin, "Well, I won't be forever, darling. And I look forwards to the day where I can, once again, kick your ass."

"Don't raise your hopes, sweetheart, you'll be out of practice." He teased, quietly, sliding his hand to rest on her hip and tug at her robes.

Rukia raised one arm to wrap around his neck and she kissed softly along his jaw towards his ear. Brushing her lips against his lobe, she purred, "I wouldn't worry about that. It won't take me long to get back into it."

Ichigo would never admit that right then, he was almost – emphasis on the 'almost' – scared.

But he knew, that as soon as Rukia was back up to full health, she would see to it that his ass would be well and truly beaten…

He hoped she'd forget about it by then…

"You know what I'm looking forwards to after all this is over – aside from you abusing me?" Ichigo asked, his hands tightening on her hips.

Twisting her fingertips around the hair at the nape of his neck, she asked, "When all what is over?"

"You know. The pregnancy and everything…"

"Oh? And… what would this thing you are so looking forwards to be?" She questioned, not bothering to conceal the amusement lacing her tones.

Planting a kiss against the underside of her jaw and trailing his lips towards hers, he responded, "You."

Letting loose a hoarse laugh, Rukia shook her head and pulled back to look at him for a moment, "Well, if you're talking about what I think you are, then you can get that notion out of your head for a long time yet."

"What?" Ichigo stared at her, crest-fallen, "Why would you say that, Rukes?"

"Because, Captain Kurosaki, once the baby has been born, our lives will not go as swimmingly as you think. Sorry to break it to you, but we won't be making love for a very long time…"

This was information that Ichigo was positive he did not want to hear at all, "What No! Not even one little… tiny… session?"

Kissing his forehead, fondly, Rukia sighed, "Don't count on it."

He couldn't believe it, "But, Rukia! I haven't touched you like that in…"

"…6 months?" She offered, evenly, "I know. You think it doesn't bother me either?"

"Why, does it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, curiously at her.

"Of course it does, Ichigo, but I'm just better at hiding it than you are." She reasoned, "I'm a professional at acting, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. How could I forget?" He muttered, "So when you say ' a long time'… just to clarify… that won't be longer than a few days until everything's settled down, right?"

Rolling her violet eyes, Rukia shook her head, "Ichigo, I'm sorry, but she will be a baby. They don't look after themselves. She'll be up at regular intervals in the night, need constantly looking after. Aside from that, we also have Hiro to look after. Parenting isn't as easy as you might think."

She confessed herself highly amused at the sheer mortification painting itself all over his features. Letting loose a gentle laugh, she kissed just behind his ear and tightened her arms around his neck, "Sorry to break it to you, Ichigo."

"Yeah. Me too." He responded, solemnly.

"Do you need a minute's silence?" She teased, pulling him with her as she leaned back against his headboard.

"No. I need sex. Brutus Maximus misses you." He whined, moodily, resting his forehead against her shoulder.

"Yes, I miss him too." She patted his back, soothingly, still smiling to herself, fondly. He really was an idiot.

But a cute idiot at least.

…Not that she'd ever tell him that thought had crossed her mind.

"But, honestly, you don't expect me to wait until after our honeymoon, right?"

Rukia laughed, softly, "Well, what do you think honeymoons are for?"

"Good point. But when we will have it?" He asked, popping his lips.

"What – the honeymoon or sex?"

"Both, I guess."

She shrugged, kissing the top of his head, "All in good time, Ichigo. All in good time."

"Well good time isn't good enough." He whined, quietly.

Rukia laughed and pulled him to lay beside her, wrapping an arm around his middle and resting her head against his shoulder, "Believe me, it will be sooner than you're expecting."

Wondering vaguely what that was supposed to mean, Ichigo suddenly felt the exhaustion consume his body and he mumbled an unintelligible complaint before relaxing against her.

But, if only Rukia realised that not only would it be happening before Ichigo was expecting, but also it would happen far sooner than she was expecting too…

But… That would all be in good time, right?

…Right…