I do not own Bleach.
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and Day! What better way to celebrate than naming a baby? Anyway, here it is...chapter 14! Special thanks to stephfarrow94 and Misc. Ink for reviewing! Ruby Warrior Girl 730 and Lunartar for favoriting! Rhelana for following! Thanks to every one for reading!
The fourth captain hated to wake the new father considering the said father and the baby were sleeping so peacefully. She imagined they'd both had a hard day, but she couldn't very well let them sleep in the uncomfortable chair all night. Unohana walks toward the sleeping eighth captain and lightly shakes him making sure not to jostle the baby, "Captain Kyoraku, it's time to wake up."
She gently shakes him a few more times before he opens his grey eyes and registers where he is. He then looks down at the baby and smiles again, "I didn't realize I was so tired until I sat down."
"It's fine, Captain Kyoraku. You needed to get some rest." She looks at the baby's monitor and smiles at how well she's progressing by only being held by her father for a few hours, "Unfortunately, it's time for the baby to go back into the incubator and for you to get some real sleep." She carefully takes the baby from his arms and places her softly back into the incubator.
He puts his shirt back on and stares longingly into the incubator at his daughter, "How is Jushiro doing?"
"He still hasn't woken up, but his vitals are looking better the more the day progresses." She readjusts settings on the incubator to fit the new vitals of the tiny patient and turns to look at Shunsui, "You should go home and get some proper rest."
The brunet shakes his head, "I'm not leaving either of them. I wanna be here when Ju wakes up."
"I thought you might say that." She begins walking toward the door and he follows her, "I don't normally allow this, but for you and under the circumstances, I have set up and extra bed in Captain Ukitake's room for you."
A huge relieved smile spreads across his bearded face at Unohana's great news, "Thank you so much, Retsu. You don't know how much this means to me."
"Come along then and get your rest. You'll need it for everything you'll have to deal with in the future." The two captains make their way out of the baby's room and back to Jushiro's room, "Your lieutenant was kind enough to bring you a change of clothes."
Shunsui smiles as he sits down on the extra bed put out just for him, "She's a good kid."
Unohana nods, "Well, good night, Captain Kyoraku and congratulations on the birth of your daughter."
"Thank you, Retsu." He smiles at his fellow captain, "We couldn't have done it without you." She just returns his smile and leaves the room, allowing the eighth captain some privacy to change his clothes.
Shunsui lays down in the bed provided for him which is close enough to his lover's bed that he can reach out and hold Jushiro's hand as they sleep. He smiles when he feels how warm the thirteenth captain's hand is. It had been so cold earlier and the fact that it was warm again made him happier than he'd been almost all day. The brunet couldn't wait for those warm hands to hold their daughter. He wanted to see the big, beautiful smile on Jushiro's face when he looked at their daughter for the first time. As much as the eighth captain would have loved to watch his white haired friend all night, his eyes become heavy and he falls asleep even though he'd taken a nap while holding the baby. For now, he could only dream of the three of them being together, but soon his dreams would be a reality.
The next morning, Shunsui is awakened by the sound of his lover groaning. The brunet sits up and rubs the soft skin of Jushiro's cheek with his finger tips. The thirteenth captain finally opens his green eyes to see his best friend staring down at him, "Shunsui? Where are we?"
The white haired shinigami blinks a few times in confusion as Shunsui continues smiling down at him, "We're at Squad Four, remember?"
"The baby?!" Jushiro's hand immediately shoots down to his stomach as he tries to sit up, but the brunet places a hand on his lover's chest to prevent him from sitting up, "Is the baby okay?!"
"Calm down, Ju." He gently pushes the thirteenth captain back down into a reclined position, "The baby has a long way to go, but she's doing just fine. You on the other hand are all stitched up and you don't need to make any sudden movements."
Jushiro's emerald colored eyes widen at Shunsui's words and a proud smile forms on his pale face, "The baby is a girl? We have a daughter?"
Shunsui returns his lover's happy smile and nods, "And, she's so beautiful. I can't wait for you to see her. She looks just like you with her fair skin and she has the most gorgeous black hair, just like yours used to be, but it's not straight like yours." His smile widens as he continues talking about their little baby, "It's wavy like mine and she's so little, but she's such a trooper. I can't wait for us to be together and see you hold her."
A few happy tears slide down Jushiro's face at Shunsui's description of their daughter, "Did you hold her? Is she doing okay?"
"I held her yesterday and Retsu says just from me holding her, she's stronger than before." He wipes his lover's tears away with his finger, "Just imagine how much healthier she'll be when you get to hold her."
The thirteenth captain is quiet for a long time, taking in everything his brunet lover has told him about their child and begins sitting up, "I need to go see her."
"Wait, Ju." He stops the white haired man's departure from the bed, "You can't go anywhere until Retsu checks on you."
Jushiro lets out a frustrated sigh as Shunsui pushes him back onto the bed, "Then where is she? I want to go see our baby?
The brunet chuckles softly at his best friend's insistence, "I'm sure she'll be here soon, Ju."
Just as Shunsui had suspected, it didn't take the fourth captain long to appear once she sensed her white haired patient was conscious. She enters the room to see the new parents talking as if nothing serious had happened the evening before, "Good morning, gentlemen." The two of them turn to see the raven haired woman standing in the doorway and she smiles at their anxious faces, "Ready to check on the baby, I see." She walks to the side of Jushiro's bed and begins her examination, "I won't take too long and let the new family finally be together at last."
Shunsui watches her every move as she examines his lover, "Is everything okay?"
She nods as she finally examines the incision with a look of approval, "Everything seems to be getting back to normal." She addresses the thirteenth captain after replacing the blanket over his lower body, "Your daughter will never know how lucky she is to have a mother like you. If you hadn't risked your life and used your own reiatsu to save her, she wouldn't be here today."
Jushiro looks at her face for a moment and then looks at Shunsui before speaking, "But, I wasn't even aware that I'd done anything."
Unohana gives him a look of admiration as she speaks, "As your child grows, the two of you will do many things to help her that you never even thought was help. That's what it means to be a parent and one day when you least expect it, she will thank you for it and the two of you won't even know it was something that you needed thanking for." She holds her hand out to the thirteenth captain to help him out of the bed, "But, enough of my talking, I'm sure you want to see your baby."
Jushiro takes her hand long enough to get out of the bed and stand up. He then sits down in a wheel chair one of the assistants brought in at Unohana's orders. The three captains make their way down the hall to the baby's room and Jushiro feels as if his heart is about to beat out of his chest from the anticipation of finally getting to see the being that had occupied his thoughts and body for so long.
Unohana opens the door to the baby's room holding it open, allowing Shunsui room to push his lover into the room. The wheelchair finally stops in front of the incubator and Jushiro stands up from the wheelchair in order to see his daughter better. A warm smile appears on his face as he places his hand on the glass, wanting to touch her. The fourth captain opens the incubator and lifts the baby out just like before and gently hands her over to the thirteenth captain.
As soon as the baby is placed safely in his arms his heart skips a beat at the loving feeling that takes over his heart and the trembling reiatsu that meets his with familiarity, "She's so tiny, but she's so perfect." He turns to Shunsui with an awed expression on his face, "I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful baby."
The brunet smiles as he places his arm around his white haired lover's shoulders, "How could she not be beautiful when she looks like you?"
Unohana watches the three of them for a few minutes before breaking their family moment, "I'll leave the three of you alone and when I come back perhaps this little one will have a name." She gives them a wink before leaving the room.
Jushiro is suddenly pulled from gazing at his daughter's face to look at Shunsui with an amused look on his face, "I'd almost forgotten she needed name. We never picked one out."
"Yeah, because we thought we had more time." He places his large hand over the baby's head, but he brushes a stubborn strand of black hair away from her forehead with his finger, "What do you think we should call her, Ju?"
The thirteenth captain sits back down in the wheelchair still holding the petite baby as he thinks about an appropriate name, "Well, she's a blessing really. That's the best way to describe her." He brushes the same strand of hair away from her forehead that Shunsui had moved, "I never would have thought this was possible, but here she is and she's so beautiful."
Shunsui stands behind Jushiro and looks down at the baby before leaning down and placing a kiss on the top of his lover's head, "Then how about Emiko (beautiful blessing child)?"
An accepting smile springs to Jushiro's face, "It's perfect, Shunsui."
"Do you really like it?" He looks at the baby's face and thinks it's a wonderful name, but he wanted to make sure it's what Jushiro actually wanted to name her.
The white haired shinigami nods as he snuggles Emiko closer to his chest, "I love it."
The two new parents are so wrapped up in staring at their new addition, that they don't even hear the door open and the snap of a camera until a familiar voice says, "Got it, the first family photo."
The captains look up to see Nanao, Kiyone, and Sentaro standing in the doorway and the eighth lieutenant has the camera Urahara gave them in her hand. Shunsui bounds over to where they are and tries to grab all of them up with one hand to drag them toward the baby, "The three of you have to come see our kid. She's the prettiest thing you will ever lay eyes on."
The three visiting squad members are dragged to Jushiro's side to look at the baby and Sentaro is the first to speak, "Aw, what's her name, captain?"
The thirteenth captain looks up at them as he answers, "Emiko…isn't that a lovely name? Shunsui came up with it."
Kiyone nods, "I think it's the best name ever. I told Sentaro the baby would be cute."
"No, I told Kiyone the baby would be cute and look just like you, captain." He shoves the diminutive woman out of the way.
She bows her body up and clenches her fists, "You know good and well that I said the baby would look just like the captain!"
Emiko begins fidgeting as best she can with her limited muscle mass, but the message is clear, she doesn't appreciate the third seats' arguing. Nanao grabs both their shoulders and turns them toward the door, "Perhaps, the two of you should go and get Captain Ukitake a change of clothes."
The two arguing Squad Thirteen members make their way out of the room still squabbling. Shunsui looks at his lieutenant and smiles, "Thanks, Nanao."
Throughout the day and the week it seemed as if almost everyone from Seireitei came to visit little Emiko and they all had to have a picture. In fact, when Urahara came to visit, the camera was full so the new parents handed it over for him to develop the film. Luckily, the shop owner brought a new one with him. Every day someone from the Living World came to see Emiko. They all had to come one at a time to prevent too much traffic in the Dangai, but that suited Shunsui and Jushiro just fine and Emiko didn't know the difference.
When the family finally gets to leave Squad Four, Emiko is a little over a month old. She was still only four pounds, but that seemed like an enormous amount of weight compared to the one pound she weighed when she came into the world. Her hair was thick, black, and wavy and she had fair skin just like her mother, but her eyes were the shining grey color of her father's eyes.
The new parents say their thanks and goodbyes to Squad Four as they head back to their home to begin their new life with their brand new family.
TBC…
Yes, you read that To Be Continued right. The next chapter will be after Emiko is 3 months old and show how well the new parents are coping. It will also be the last chapter and I'm kinda sad to see it end.
The baby's full name is Emiko Aya Kyoraku which according to Google Emiko means beautiful blessing child, Aya means unexpected, and we all know Shunsui's last name is Kyoraku. If those translations aren't right, I apologize.
Thanks for reading!