thank you so much for the lovely reviews, this is a slightly slower albeit necessary plot chapter

Slowly he sauntered towards her, he could not have been any older than maybe 18, and while he was tall for his height he had the lean athletic build of a runner. His tanned skin stretched tautly over his well-toned frame as his crimson hair shifted with his movement. His hair was thick and shaggy hanging just so the tips brushed his shoulders, his eyes large and green seemed to be smiling at her. He approached her slowly as she saw Tstiayuga fade into the trees, taking her hand he motioned her to sit.

"You are correct" his voice rang in her head, a rich masculine baritone.

She smiled at him and before she could stop herself launched her body into his in a full blown and slightly overly enthusiastic hug. He chuckled and reciprocated the affection, grinning with a wide half cocked smile that reminded her of another red head.

"Why are you here?" She asked hesitantly.

"To speak with you about some things you should know, this isn't going to go like a typical human or even shinigami birth and childhood" he shook his head rustling his red hair. She reached a hand up to stroke it finding that despite its coarseness it still retained a silken quality.

"How will it go?" She listened attentively as he filled her in on everything, his growth rate would be quicker, reaching his final form in a matter of years basically by the time he was one he would appear to be much older and he told her in about 4 years he would be in his mid-twenties and that was when his growth rate would slow to normal. It was imperative he grow up fast he had told her as she started to cry.

She wanted a normal childhood for him, able to enjoy the fun and pleasures of being young and yet it looked like duty was going to rub that from him, from her and from the two men. As silent tears rolled down her cheeks she felt his strong arms pull her into his embrace, nuzzling into the crook of his shoulder she quietly cried as he soothed her, gently rocking. She cried her sadness out and then determined to find a way decided in her heart that they would still enjoy every moment of it.

"Do you have a name?" He nodded his eyes dancing

"Who gave it to you?"

"You did, before you even knew me. My name is Ryū umare,, but you all call me Ryu for short."

"Will I see you again?" She asked as he stood to walk away.

"You will see me soon enough, mother."

Renji wanted to tell everyone, and had been about to blab to Matsumoto when a sharp jab of Shuuhei's elbow had silenced him. Knowing that she had been about to hear something juicy and had been thwarted the well-endowed woman pouted trying to use puppy dog eyes to get the two men to spill but it had not worked. Sighing she settled for simply enjoying their company as they walked to their respective duties, knowing that from the way they had acted it probably had to do with Ayla, well maybe she would pay her a visit later.

Ayla sat calmly while the 4th division staff fussed over her, or rather what was inside of her. Ultrasounds proved her to indeed be pregnant and instead of progressing at the normal rate she was progressing faster than anyone had expected. Unohana had estimated her pregnancy would be a matter of months, probably around 4 if her calculations were accurate. Ayla silently thanked kami that was the case, 9 months sounded terrible so at least there was a silver lining, wait; 4 months to prepare those two for fatherhood? She groaned inwardly as she face palmed with apprehension. The three of them had agreed to keep it quiet for awhile, at least until they had time to digest the enws themselves. She knew Shuuhei could handle it but Renji, she had her doubts.

Renji was elated and completely beside himself with joy. He was going to be a dad, the red head had never dreamed of this and above all else his kid was going to be a god, or was it demi-god? Hell it didn't even matter that brat of theirs was going to be crazy powerful, his smile couldn't be any bigger and he was already walking with what Shuuhei had called "proud-papa swagger". There was so much he had to do, they would need the basics of course but his mind was on other things, he needed to build a training area for the child to make sure they grew strong and he needed to go ahead and see about roping some of the others into additional training. As much as he was remiss to admit it he knew he would need help though he was sure not too many higher ranked shinigami would protest too much being able to say they had a hand in training such a powerful warrior. Oh yes, this child would be a warrior born of himself, Shuuhei and Ayla there was little doubt to that he only hoped that he would be up to the task. He threw himself into his paperwork glancing every now and then at his captain trying to decide how exactly to ask him to train his future child when the time arose.

Shuuhei had been acting as captain ever since Tousen had defected, the weight had been heavy on his shoulders and their little family did much to lighten it. Now it appeared to the 9th as if an alien had appeared and simply taken over their vice-captains body, he was smiling, walking with lighter steps and humming to himself as he began an assault on the massive amount of paperwork in front of him. It had never occurred to the analytically minded Shuuhei that he could have a child with Renji, he was after all a man; but now that there was a most pleasant addition to the equation he was letting himself feel the warmth of it flood his body. Not only had they been able to create a child but the child was infused with all three of them, truly a child borne out of love if there ever was one. He didn't doubt either one of his mate's parenting skills, he knew Renji would be indulgent and spoil the child most of the time acting like no more than a giant child himself, he knew Ayla would be consistent, steady and true and would provide a very secure environment, as for him; he puzzled over what he could give the child. He knew his ways were different from theirs as both his mate's tended to be brasher than he, maybe he could teach the child how to be subtle, analyzing, tactical, yes he mused he had a lot he could offer the child.

Ryū umare—means dragon born

Next chapter will be a slight time jump. gotta keep things moving along