Nami lay in bed staring at the ceiling while Grimmjow snored peacefully in blissful sleep beside her. She winced as another muffled squeal erupted from Ichigo's room. Gritting her teeth, she rolled onto her side. This was too much. He was just pushing it too far. Her patience had already been tested to the limit and having this shrieking, giggling girl spend the night was more than she could stand. She had endured the vacant stares in response to simple questions and even shrugged off the fact that her husband stared openly and longingly at the woman's huge breasts. But having to listen to this was more than she could handle. Throwing back the covers and accidentally hitting her husband in the process, she ignored his startled grunt while getting out of the bed.
"Where are you going, honey?" he inquired sleepily with a yawn.
"Downstairs for a drink," she muttered, snatching on her robe.
"But you're still breastfeeding," he mumbled, settling into a comfortable position.
"Water, you idiot," she growled, opening the door and stepping out of the room. She shrieked when she ran right into someone. The super big breasts of Ichigo's houseguest collided with hers. Due to size and momentum from Orihime's monumental chest, she was overpowered and knocked off balance to fall right on her behind.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman giggled reaching down to help her. The towel she held at her breasts separated and nearly fell.
"I'm fine," Nami protested, pushing her hand away. "Please, just stand back up and go to his room." She scowled darkly at Ichigo who stood behind the woman with burnt orange hair and vacuous brown eyes wearing only a towel around his waist. Why in the hell were they out running in the hallway like this was a damn frat house? There was a bathroom attached to his room for Pete's sake and there was no reason for them to be out here half-naked in towels. So what were they doing? "Where are you two coming from?"
"Uh...um...we were - " Ichigo began turning an ever increasing shade of embarrassed from pink to red.
"We were in the hot tub!" Orihime helpfully provided.
Nami groaned and allowed her face to twist in disgust. Well, the hot tub would have to be drained and refilled now. Raising her nose in the air, she passed by them then stepped back to stand beside Ichigo. Without looking at him, she said, "We need to talk."
Ichigo hung his head in shame and apprehension as if he had just been caught by his mother. She had just spoken the four most deadly words to come out of a woman's mouth. He could only imagine what awaited him.
"Now?" he inquired with dread hoping she meant later. He watched her features continue to tense up while he waited for an answer.
"Now," she confirmed, staring ahead to avoid looking at him. "I'll be in the kitchen waiting."
"Damn," he muttered, going to his room as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Should I leave?" Orihime asked.
"Yes. I think so," he told her, wanting her gone before whatever was about to happen happened.
Nami was sitting at the table tracing the top of her glass with her finger when he walked into the kitchen. Keeping her eyes averted, she avoided making eye contact with him. She was worried about him. What he was doing could not be healthy for him emotionally - or physically for that matter. Going as far as having overnight guests in addition to the constant stream of women flowing around her children and husband was not setting well with her. This had to stop.
"Don't bring anymore women home," she stated with finality leaving no room for argument.
"This is my home too," he dared to argue anyway.
Nami raised her brown eyes to his, a fire of anger igniting within them that burned into his face. She pressed her lips together to keep from saying something they would both regret. Taking a sip of her ice water, she concentrated on calming herself down.
"I'm worried about you. I don't think this is good for anyone. Don't bring anyone else over until you know it's pretty serious or at least relatively long-term. I've had enough Ichigo, and I don't want it to go on any longer," she said, her eyes never wavering from his.
Ichigo swallowed, taking a moment to choose his next words very carefully. "There's only been a few - "
"A few? A few dozen maybe," she hissed, fighting for control. She did not want to start yelling and wake the babies.
"There hasn't been that many," he snapped indignantly, color rising to his cheeks.
"Shall I name them? Rukia, Rangiku, Isane, Tatsuki, Nel...I actually kind of liked her...Yoruichi - "
"Okay. I get the idea. That's enough."
Nami bit her lower lip as she watched him cover his face with his hands and lean forward to prop his elbows on the table. She could not help but notice he looked so tired and unhappy.
"What are you running from?" she asked, placing her hand on his arm.
"You," he mumbled behind his hands.
Nami withdrew her hand in surprise. She had not expected that answer. Momentarily stunned, she blinked when he continued to talk.
"I don't know if I can stay here anymore. I can't stay here and watch another man live the life I want with the woman I want," he explained, lifting his head to look at her.
"Ichigo," she whispered, unable to speak any louder since emotions were constricting her throat. She had no idea how strong his feelings still were for her after all this time. Picking up her water, she quickly set it back down when her hand started trembling so hard the water sloshed in the glass.
"I'm sorry. I'll begin making other arrangements for a place to live. Besides, I need to get back to having a life of my own. I can't get on with my life if I stay here with you," he said, rising to his feet.
Nami stared at her hands that were lying flat against the top of the table. The forefinger of her right hand moved to trace the simple gold band on her left ring finger. Let him go. Just let him go. It's what's best for all of us.
"What about Yusei? And Hisoka? That baby loves you. He doesn't understand and he doesn't care that you're not his biological father. How will he..." Her voice faltered and the tears streamed down her face. She watched as they splashed onto the smooth red surface of the table after dripping from her chin. How will I live without you?
"He will be fine, sweetheart. I'll still see him and Yusei. You will be just fine too," he murmured, taking her by the hand.
Nami watched as his thumb traced the gold band on her finger like she had moment before. She raised her chin to look up at him. Her tears blurred him in her vision, and she could not tell what he was feeling because she could not see him clearly. Closing her eyes, she felt the tears fall down her cheeks. With his gentle hand on the back of her neck, she allowed him to pull her head forward until her forehead was pressed against his hard abdominal muscles.
"You'll be better off without me. Your husband loves you and will take care of you. I can only stand in the way of that," he said, stepping back so she could stand to her feet in front of him.
"You're right. I'm going to bed," she sniffed, sliding past him to get around him and make her way out of the kitchen.
"Nami?" Ichigo called before she could fully exit the room.
"What?" she asked without turning back.
"I, um, I..." He hesitated until she turned back around to look at him. The tears were still running down her face so he could not bear to tell her anything that would cause her more emotional distress. He would not tell her he loved her because it would only hurt them both. "I hope you sleep well."
Nami forced a smile to her lips before nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement. There was no way she would be sleeping well, if at all, tonight. She took one heavy step after the other, forcing her legs to rise to climb the stairs. Climbing back into bed with her husband, she noticed he was no longer snoring just before his arm encircled her waist and pulled her back to his bare, muscled chest that was hard against her back.
Grimmjow raised his hand to stroke her hair. He had heard the whole conversation because he had listened at the bottom of the stairs. Their voices had resounded nicely off the black and white tiles in the kitchen and carried easily to his ears in the foyer less than twelve feet away. In all honesty, he hated to see Ichigo leave because they had become great friends. He was also immensely enjoying the eye candy that visited his house on a regular basis. His wife did not seem to mind as she moaned and cried through each orgasm he gave her, but he had been wrong about that. What else had he been wrong about? She seemed to look at him differently now. There was something missing, something lost since he was no longer half...whatever he was. Feeling her quiver against his body, he tightened his arm around her and buried his nose in her hair. As much as he liked Ichigo as a friend, he loved her too much as his wife. He would not lose her after all he had been through to make her his.
~...~
"Grimmy!" Nami cried out from the nursery.
The screams of Hisoka rang in his ears as Grimmjow threw back the covers and launched himself out of the bed. What could possibly be wrong? Had something happened to the children? Her scream had ignited a fear and panic within him he had not felt in years, mostly because he had heard it in her voice. He glanced around the nursery trying to get his thoughts in order and assess the situation.
Yusei was playing happily on the floor with his toys. The child looked up at him and smiled before raising his little arms to be held. After picking up the child, Grimmjow swung his head to see Nami standing in the open doorway to Ichigo's room with a caterwauling blue haired baby in her arms. Walking over to her, he peeked over her head to see that the room was empty of everything but the furniture.
"He's gone," she whispered. "I can't believe he left like that."
Grimmjow pressed his lips together to keep from saying something inappropriate. He could not believe Ichigo had left that way either. He never would have pegged the man for a coward who would sneak out in the middle of the night without saying good-bye or even giving them a hint that he was leaving. Putting his arm around his shaking wife, he pulled her to him to hold her as she cried. Goose bumps raised across his skin as her warm tears fell onto his bare chest and cooled as they rolled down his pectoral which flexed spastically from the odd sensation. He was furious. If he ever saw Ichigo again -
"He didn't even stay for their birthday. The boys will be a year old next week. We have their party planned and everything. He won't even be there. What will people think?" she sobbed, not really giving a damn what people thought because their situation had been unusual to say the least to begin with.
"Honey, don't. Just hush, please," he pled with her as she continued to babble nonsense. It was only making him more angry to see her this way. He kissed the top of the head of the fretting Hisoka between them. A smile curled his lips as he watched the orange haired baby held on his hip pat his upset brother on the back lovingly.
"So-ka, So-ka," he murmured to his brother before devolving into their own private language that sounded like babbling to the grown ups.
Nami noticed the interaction between the babies and how Yusei was comforting his brother. It was calming her down as well to watch the boys as they communicated with each other in their special way. She looked up to gaze into the beautiful blue eyes of her husband who was looking down at her and brushing his fingers through her hair to soothe her.
"It will be all right. I promise," he told her before leaning down to kiss her briefly. "I'm sure he had a good reason for leaving this way."
"Yeah, sure," Nami mumbled in return. She was less than convinced to say the least. Her eyes closed as her husband pulled her close and she took comfort in his embrace. It had been a while since he had been so easy and gentle with her. She would have to talk to Kisuke about her husband's rough tendencies. But first, she had to get over the shock of Ichigo being gone.
~\..'../~
Kisuke thought for a minute after Nami posed the question to him. Why was Grimmjow's libido and aggression out of control? His gray eyes studied the woman in front of him as she balanced a child on each hip. He could not help but smile at himself for thinking that she looked like a milkmaid because the double entendre was not lost on him as his eyes skimmed over her chest that had nearly doubled in size since the boys came along. Shaking his head, he forced his mind back to pondering the matter at hand. She had come to him with a valid concern so he needed to take it seriously.
"It's possible that there was a steep rise in testosterone with another male in the household. You know, his body's way of asserting his dominance as the Alpha male in the family. Maybe that will decrease now that Ichigo is gone," he explained, immediately regretting his words when her face caved in with sadness. Before she began to cry, he rushed on to say," Perhaps it's due to an over stimulation of the hypothalamus which would have been caused by the...uh, um, treatments he was given to get rid of his condition."
"I'm beginning to the think that was a bad decision, Kisuke," she rejoined, sitting down in the chair next to his desk. She suddenly felt so tired. Ichigo had been gone over a month now but it still hurt like it had happened yesterday. Grimmjow was still being...well, himself. The new and not necessarily improved him anyway.
"For who? You or him?" he inquired, rolling toward her in his chair.
Kisuke reached for one of the boys, taking the placid and quiet Hisoka into his arms. It astounded him how the child could be so different personality wise from his biological father. He tickled the baby's ribs to make him laugh so he could get a good look at his prominent incisors. Continuing his examination of the child, he studied the boy's blue eyes which were a brilliant icy blue like the eyes of an Alaskan husky. The pupils were beginning to elongate, and he wondered if the mother noticed. Stealing a glimpse of her face as she nuzzled into the wild orange spikes of Yusei, he was sure she had noticed.
There was not much she did not notice, especially about her husband. Apparently, Grimmjow had not told her that he had been coming for weekly visits to Kisuke's office for the last six months. Certain symptoms had began popping up and the past threatened to invade the present. As Kisuke looked at her now, he considered that she would welcome a return of those symptoms of her husband's condition from the past. Swallowing hard, he knew exactly what had caused her husband's steep rise in libido and aggressive behavior, and he was hiding the reason from her. He had been giving Grimmjow hormone and DNA injections again to suppress the return of the half feline creature.
"Answer the question, Nami," he prompted her as she continued to stare at nothing while deep in thought.
Nami turned her dark brown eyes on him, staring at him for a long moment. She allowed her intent gaze to penetrate him until he shifted nervously under her silent perusal.
"Me," she answered bluntly and truthfully.
"I thought so," he mumbled, running his finger over the furry pointed ear of the child in his lap. This was simply incredible. He held a scientific impossibility in his hands. He still could not get over this. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for what he was about to do. Despite her husband's wishes to keep it a secret, he was about to tell her the truth. She deserved to know. She needed to know. "Nami, there's something I need to tell you."