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"That sounds wonderful." Orihime said, pausing in reaching for the baby shampoo, so she and Ichigo could kiss. A loud splash sound was heard, getting both their attention, and they found Bingo had returned to the bathtub and the front half of his body was currently in the tub next to Mina, who was giggling away at the golden retriever.

"Bingo!" Ichigo exclaimed, but both he and Orihime both laughed. The clueless golden retriever, just remained where he was, as his tail wagged furiously. "I know we talked about you getting a bath, but you need to wait your turn."

Orihime laughed as Ichigo worked on getting Bingo's upper half back out of the bathtub, and she just looked to Mina who was all giggles. I love our little family.

Almost three weeks later, April 28th

"Oh I can't believe he's already one," Orihime gushed, as she and Ichigo were currently face timing Kira and Ryuu, who were holding up Hiroko to the camera. "It feels like the last year just flew by so quickly."

They all laughed at that, and Kira settled Hiroko back on her lap. "You're telling me. I still remember how much effort it took to get him here. I feel like I was just in the hospital meeting him for the first time, and it makes me cry like all the time."

"Yes, all the time." Ryuu agreed, making them all laugh again.

Kira focused back on the camera. "You two seem to be doing well. It feels like I can actually feel the happiness radiating off the two of you, and it's so nice. I feel like the last time we talked you two seemed kind of down."

Orihime and Ichigo shared a look, as they both know that the last time they talked last month, they had a lot of stuff going on. Finally, Orihime broke eye contact with Ichigo, as she smiled at Kira and Ryuu. "Well, the last few weeks have been great."

"We're both just really happy." Ichigo agreed, once again sharing a smile with Orihime.

Hiroko started to fuss, as he wiggled off of Kira's laugh to go walk over to his toys. Which had Kira all smiles. "I can't believe he's walking. He's been doing it for the past month and a half, but it's still so crazy to see."

"Mina's only been walking for a few weeks, but she's taking on the world now," Ichigo said, his eyes going over the phone to see where Mina was currently walking across the living room to grab one of her toys that had rolled over there. "As amazing as it is, there is also a whole new world of fear that she's going to injure herself now."

"That's true, but that's just a part of life," Ryuu said, his eyes going to Kira, as he smirked. "Hiroko fell the other day, and had a little tiny scratch on his cheek. Kira cried more than he did."

"I just don't want to see my baby hurt, thank you," Kira shot back, shaking her head at how that made Ryuu laugh. Her eye focused back on Orihime and Ichigo. "This is kind of just another reminder of how long we've known each other. We met each other February last year, and it doesn't feel like it's been that long."

"I know," Orihime said, chuckling at the thought. "Our entire friend group went through a lot of changes this past year. Speaking of, have Michi and Hayate made any more decisions on their wedding."

"Not really. They both think they want to have it this upcoming January, but that's not for certain yet. They want to have it up in the Northern mountains with all the snow." Kira replied.

"That would be fun," Ichigo said, petting Bingo when he came over for some attention. "The weddings we've gone to lately have all been around the same time of year, and it's usually the same concept."

"You know what though," Kira said, her eyes twinkling. "I'm excited about your wedding. It's going to be so much fun."

"Well we certainly hope so," Orihime said, as they all laughed. Mina walked over, reaching up for Orihime as she started to fuss, and Orihime picked her up. "As much as I hate to, I think we're going to have to go. Mina needs to go down for her nap."

"Hiroko probably is going to be wanting his nap too soon," Ryuu said, as Kira had got up to go over to pick up Hiroko. "It was nice getting to chat with you two though."

"It was man, and we're sorry we can't make it for Hiroko's actual birthday party," Ichigo apologized, having taking over holding the phone as Orihime was more focused on Mina now. "We've just got a busy next few days."

"No worries," Ryuu replied, as Kira had returned back to look at the phone with Hiroko in her arms. "We'll talk to you guys later."

"Alright, happy birthday Hiroko." Orihime replied, a smile at the sight of the little baby boy on the phone. When they finally ended the facetime, she sighed and stood up from the couch with Mina. Trying to soothe her, as she walked around a bit.

Ichigo sighed as he put the phone down, and leaned back on the couch. Watching Orihime walk around with Mina. "I'm surprised she's lasted this long without going down for her nap. She usually is like a clock."

"She definitely was fighting sleep that's for sure," Orihime said, finally feeling light Mina was settling down, she moved to the stairs. "I'm going to go put Mina upstairs in her crib."

Ichigo turned the TV off, and got up. "I'll start cleaning up around here for when Tatsuki and Karin get here."

"Spray some air freshener, and light a candle. With it having been raining so much, I feel like our house smells like wet dog," Orihime's voice carried over from the stairs. "We also need to give Bingo a bath at some point."

"I'll get right on that!" Ichigo called back, as he started collecting Mina's toys from all of the floor. We might need more than just air freshener and a candle, this place could use a serious deep clean.

Almost two hours later

"Okay, so I think we've got a general idea of what we want for Mina's birthday," Tatsuki said, as she looked at the list that was between her and Karin. "We can all agree that it's mostly for the adults, as there will be only three kids there."

"Even so, I think we need to have some things for the kids to have fun doing," Karin said, humming in thought. "Raya and Emi both love crafts, so we can just get some stuff for them to do. I'm sure Mina would love them too."

"What about one of those cute little ball pits?" Tatsuki asked, her eyes on her phone, as she was looking for more ideas. "You can basically buy it anywhere, and it should be entertaining for the kids."

Karin frowned when Bingo had nosed his way under her hand for some attention. "What if Bingo tries to swallow the balls from the pit though?"

"He's got enough toys to distract himself with. Besides even if he did happen to get a hold of one of them, I think he might just crush it. I don't think he would swallow it."

Karin wrote the idea down on their list. "Okay, well we should get some extra ones just in case some of them do get destroyed. We can just order those online when we order some of the other decorations later."

It got quiet after Karin stopped talking, as she and Tatsuki looked across the table in Orihime and Ichigo's direction. Ichigo smirked back at them, as he motioned to himself and Orihime. "Oh is it our turn to give input on our daughter's party?"

"I mean it's not really necessary," Karin said with a shrug. "We've got it basically completely covered."

Tatsuki nodded in agreement with Karin. "Yeah, you guys don't really need to do anything."

"Except pay for the entire circus that you two have planned." Ichigo countered, rolling his eyes at how Karin and Tatsuki both nodded back at him.

Orihime chuckled, as she rested her hand on top of Ichigo's. "I think what Ichigo is trying to say is that we thank you both very much for helping us with this. We really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Tatsuki and Karin chorused.

Glancing at the time on her phone, Orihime stood up from the table. "Well, Mina's bound to be waking up any minute now. I think I'm going to go grab an early glass of wine."

"Oh me too." Tatsuki jumped up to follow Orihime into the kitchen, a big grin on her face.

Ichigo scowled in their direction, more specifically in Tatsuki's. "Tatsuki, don't drink too much, because I am not planning on driving you all the way back to your apartment at two in the morning. You'll just have to stay here."

"You make that sound like it's a punishment." Tatsuki shot back.

Grumbling under his breath, Ichigo sighed. "It is."

Karin chuckled at her brother's annoyance, as she got up from the table. "Toshiro is coming by to pick me up any minute, so I'm going to go ahead and get my stuff together. If there are any changes you and Orihime want to make, just let us know on the group text."

"Uh thanks for your help," Ichigo said, his eyes following Bingo who was busy circling Karin, as she was putting her jacket on. "I know you've had a lot going on."

"Between school, work, and training, it kind of feels like I haven't stopped and taken a break in a while," Karin said, chuckling as she finished with her jacket. "I don't mind it though. I like to stay busy. However, I don't think I'll be keeping up with this busy schedule next year."

"You're going to try to do more Somi work so you won't have to work at the gym next year?" Ichigo asked, when she nodded, he smirked. "You'll probably have more fun doing that anyways. It'll pay more, and you might have more free time."

"That's the idea," Karin said, her eyes going down to her phone. "Yuzu wanted to be here today too, but she had to work. She did say that she'll make Mina's birthday cake and some more desserts for the party."

"Alright." Ichigo said, his eyes leaving Karin, who had gone to say goodbye to Orihime and Tatsuki, as Toshiro had apparently arrived outside. His own eyes went down to the list that Orihime had been making of their plans for Mina's birthday. A smile started upon his face, as he found himself imagining the day. I can't believe in another couple weeks, Mina will be one.

Two weeks later, May 11th

"This is too much," Ichigo said, pulling uncomfortably at the tux he was wearing. Staring it himself in the mirror, he scowled. "Why does this have to be so difficult?"

"Well, at least this one was easier for you to put on." Hikari pointed out from where he and some of the others were sitting on some couches.

"Yeah, that last one took you nearly thirty minutes." Renji added, one of the few that was not sitting around, and was busy looking around the place to try to find something entertaining.

Ichigo glanced over to the others. "I know I've already said this, but I appreciate you all coming out for this. I obviously have no idea what I'm doing."

"Clearly," a feminine voice was heard, before Tatsuki walked in. Her eyes taking Ichigo in, before she smirked. "Please tell me that's not what you're going to wear."

At her smirk, Ichigo scowled and motioned to the rack of tuxes that the person who worked at the store had pulled out for him to try ton. "No, but I had to start somewhere. I don't know what I'm doing."

"Obviously." Tatsuki replied, chuckling again at the tux that Ichigo was wearing.

"You don't have to be so snarky about it," Ichigo shot back, crossing his arms as he watched Tatsuki go to the rack to look through it. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago?"

"I've been with Orihime. I had to take a break after what seemed like the hundredth dress she tried on," Tatsuki shot back, pulling a tux off the rack, and shoving it into Ichigo's hands. "Put this one on."

After Ichigo had gone back behind a screen to change, Uryu pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and focused on Tatsuki. "You don't seem like the type to care about clothes, but yet you have interest in what Ichigo is supposed to wear?"

"I don't actually care," Tatsuki replied, leaning against one of the tables. "But I know Orihime's preferences, and what will compliment whatever dress she eventually decides on. We wouldn't dare give Ichigo actual creative control on his tux."

Ichigo poked his head out from behind the changing screen. "I'll have you know that I helped plan a lot of our wedding."

"Sure you did."

Narrowing his eyes at her, Ichigo scowled and focused back on changing. "Does Orihime know what dress she wants to get?"

"I don't know," Tatsuki replied, smirking as she heard Ichigo cursing as he was changing. "I had to take a break to come over here to help you, as clearly the people you brought with you are not helpful at all."

While some of the others protested that grumbles under their breath or eye rolls, Toshiro eyed Tatsuki. "I resent that."

Smirking at Toshiro's words, Tatsuki crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, everyone except for Toshiro… Although he clearly wasn't doing a good job in helping, because he let you put on that monstrosity that you were wearing when I came in."

"I'm mainly here because we have plans to spar afterwards." Toshiro countered, as Hikari had walked away to take a phone call from Mai. Being one of the only ones who didn't know of the shinigami world, they were able to talk more freely about it when he or Mai weren't around.

"Thanks a lot," Ichigo said, finally coming out from behind the screen, and back over to the mirror. Adjusting the sleeves a little, he eyed his appearance closely in the mirror. "So, what's the verdict?"

Studying Ichigo for a long moment, Tatsuki approached, and straightened out some of the tux. Giving it one last glance over, she nodded once. "That's the one."

"Really?" Ichigo asked, fidgeting with it a little bit more. "Are you sure about-"

"Don't argue with me," Tatsuki interrupted him, slapping a hand to his back. "Buy the damn tux."

At the Falcon's Pub

"Okay, this has been the longest day of my entire life." Orihime complained, as she propped her head up with her hand. Grabbing a french fry from her plate, she ate it, and sighed. "I don't want to look at another wedding dress ever again."

"That's kind of unfortunate," Akira said, a big grin on her face. "Considering the fact that you haven't picked on yet, and you kind of need one for your wedding."

"Do you think jeans and t-shirt would be acceptable?" Orihime countered, then she waved a hand. "Never mind, I wouldn't want to wear jeans on purpose. I'd just stick with leggings."

"I would be okay with that," Rukia said, motioning to the leggings she was wearing. "Karin—Ichigo's sister—turned me onto leggings, and now they are the only thing I want to wear ever. We can just make everyone wear leggings instead of dresses."

Mai laughed, as she rested a hand on Orihime's shoulder. "We'll definitely consider that option, but don't give up on finding a dress just yet. Maybe if you try again in a month or so, they'll come out with new styles that you might like better."

Rin nodded in agreement with Mai. "Plenty of my friends who have got married are all over the place when it comes to finding wedding dresses. Some find them on the first day, and some take months to find them. That's probably why your wedding planner suggested you start looking around early."

"I just was hoping it wouldn't take months," Orihime said, sighing heavily. "I wanted to just go out and find it right away. I don't want to have to keep doing this for months."

Akira raised a hand. "I second that. Being in wedding dress shops makes me want to die a little bit."

While the others laughed, Rangiku smirked at Akira. "You didn't seem to be upset at the last one when they were serving champagne."

"You're not wrong." Akira agreed.

The door to the bar was heard opening, and in came Tatsuki. As soon as she got to the table, she scowled. "I am so glad we are eating something, because I am about to starve to death. If I had to go to one more wedding dress shop without eating, I probably would end up killing someone."

"I ordered you the usual, wings and fries." Akira told her, eating on her own fries, as she motioned for the food waiting for Tatsuki on the table.

After biting into one of the wings, Tatsuki hummed happily. "This is so freaking good right now."

Orihime looked to Tatsuki curiously. "So did Ichigo manage to pick out his tuxedo?"

"Yes," Tatsuki said, chewing the food in her mouth, before she continued. "Only because I picked it out for him though. You should have seen the disaster he was wearing when I first got there."

Orihime chuckled, as she glanced down at a text on her phone. "By the way, I invited Hana to come and meet up with us. She's just getting off the morning shift at the hospital. She might have some new ideas."

"That was nice of you to invite her." Mai said.

"Well I like here for one thing," Orihime started, as she picked up another fry. "And who knows? She and Isshin could be having a wedding of their own with how well their relationship is going right now. I want to include her if I can. I would have invited Yuzu and Karin too, but they just have so much going on today."

The waitress came by their table, and Tatsuki held up a hand. "Can I get a beer?"

"I second that." Akira added.

"Sure," the waitress said, her eyes sweeping the table. "Anyone else?"

It was quiet for a moment, then Orihime nodded. "Yeah, I would like one as well."

That evening, 5 p.m.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow when he heard noise coming from the front porch. It was just him and Bingo downstairs, as Mina was upstairs taking a nap. Almost a little suspicious at first, he slowly stood up and peeked over to the door. However, as he did that, he could just barely hear Orihime cursing on the other side of the front door. Walking over, he unlocked it, and opened it to see on the other side. He smirked at her. "Can I help you?"

A big smile grew on Orihime's face, as she stepped closer. "I was just looking for my fiance actually."

"Well you've found him," Ichigo said, chuckling as he stepped aside to let her inside. He watched her go inside with a little bit of unsteadiness, and his smirk returned. "You've been drinking."

"A little bit."

"How did you get home?"

"Hana gave me a ride."

Hearing that, Ichigo turned and walked onto the front porch. Looking around the house at the part of the driveway he could see, he could see Hana's car was parked, and she was looking up at the house. He gave her a wave to signal that she was okay to leave, and he watched her wave back and start to drive down the long driveway to leave. Going back inside, he raised an eyebrow at Orihime taking off her shoes in the middle of the hallway.

Orihime was sighing, as she started on her jacket next. Trying to avoid stepping on a very excited Bingo that was circling her feet. "Hana was the only one of us who was actually able to drive so..."

Ichigo trailed behind Orihime, picking up her shoes, her purse, and finally her jacket. Setting them on one of the bar stools, he followed Orihime into the living room space. "We really need to do something for her and my dad. They've helped us out a lot the past two months. Well, my dad's helped out us out for much longer, but still, we need to do something for both of them."

"We can send them on a cruise," Orihime suggested, falling over the arm of one of the couches, and laying down. "Somewhere tropical."

Unable to help but laugh at Orihime's actions, Ichigo more calmly sat down next to her. "Did you end up picking out a dress?"

"No… I tried, I really did. But I kind of just gave up after lunch."

Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo looked down at the time on his phone. "That was four hours ago."

Orihime laughed. "We had a couple of drinks at lunch, then the next dress shop we went to had champagne. Then it went downhill from there."

"That explains a lot," Ichigo chuckled, resting a hand on her back. "Well, you'll find a dress eventually."

"It's so unfair that you've already found your tuxedo though," Orihime mumbled, enjoying the feeling of his hand gently rubbing her back. "Tatsuki said that if she didn't help you out, it would have been a disaster."

Ichigo's eye twitched hearing that. "I think that was really her over-exaggerating a little bit… Anyway, Mina's birthday is in two days, and we have to buy some of the last minute stuff."

"We have people for that."

"Yes my sisters and Tatsuki are helping, but we have to actually do some of it ourselves."

"I can't go anywhere right now."

Ichigo laughed at her 'matter of fact' tone. "I'm aware. I meant like go tomorrow and do that stuff," he said, noticing that Orihime nodded her head a little at that. "Okay, I think it's time we get you upstairs."

Orihime groaned, and pressed her face against the couch. "I don't want to get up."

"Yeah well our daughter's about to wake up from a nap, and I have to start dinner," Ichigo said, standing up from the couch. "It's the perfect time for you to go upstairs, take a shower, and try to sober up a little bit."

"Stairs." Was all Orihime mumbled, as she remained where she was.

"I've got you covered." Ichigo said, leaning over and picking her up bridal style.

Orihime smiled, as she settled comfortably in his arms. "This would be a lot more exciting if we were both going to be naked."

Ichigo laughed and started to the stairs. "Okay then. Let's just get you upstairs for that shower."

A couple of days later, May 13th, Mina's Birthday

Mina's little cries from the baby monitor woke Orihime and Ichigo, but Ichigo was the first to slip out of bed. "I'll get her."

Orihime nodded, yawned, and she stretched out a bit. Smiling at how Bingo had eagerly jumped off the bed to go after Ichigo. She could hear Ichigo talking to Mina through the baby monitor, and it brought a smile to her face as Mina's cries softened to coos.

A few minutes later, Ichigo returned to the bedroom. This time with Mina in his arms. He walked over to the bed, waited for Bingo to jump up, before getting back in bed himself. "She just needed a change, she'll probably need some breakfast soon though."

"I think I will too," Orihime said, smiling as Ichigo had set Mina between them, and she tickled her daughter's stomach. "Happy 1st birthday baby girl."

Mina just giggled at the tickles, and enjoyed the attention both her parents were giving her.

"You know she was holding onto that bear when I walked in there," Ichigo said, also holding a smile on his face as his daughter's laughter was like music to his ears. "The one we got her at the New Years festival when you were pregnant with her."

Orihime laughed. "Yeah I remember. She has barely touched that thing at all, but it seems like these last few days she will throw a fit if that bear is not in her crib with her."

"It's funny how she's all of a sudden attached to it," Ichigo said, sharing a smile with Orihime, as they looked onto Mina. "This past year has gone by so quickly. There were so many nights in the beginning that felt like they went on forever, because we were both going off of barely two hours of sleep each night. However, it's amazing because, in a blink of our eye, we're here on her first birthday."

"Honestly though, it's been the best year of my life," Orihime said, smiling as Bingo had pushed his way closer, and nudged at Mina's feet. "Yes it's sad to think about how quickly she's going to grow up, but being able to watch her hit all these milestones is so worth it. Her starting to talk, eating solid food, crawling, and walking… I will remember those moments forever."

"This was the year for change that's for sure," Ichigo said, his smile softening. "We found out a lot about your family tree this year."

Orihime nodded, and let her head rest back on her pillow. She remained quiet for a moment, then she sighed. "I've been thinking about it. Even though Aizen and Kurahime were my biological parents, that doesn't say anything about me as a person. The only thing that matters to me is that I was blessed to have the opportunity to be Sora's sister. That's something that I will never take for granted… If anything, this year taught me how important family is. Your family has been so accepting of me. I feel so much closer to Rin's family too. It feels like they've become part of my family too."

"On another note, I felt the same way with Mai, Hikari, and Emi," Ichigo said, his hand going to Mina's back to keep her from falling back after she had leaned away from Bingo's nose. "Mai and Hikari helped us out a lot when you were pregnant and gave us so much advice. I feel like they kind of became family too… Honestly, I think we owe a lot of our lives to Mina. If she wasn't here, our lives would be very different."

"That's very true..." Orihime trailed off, as she watched Mina playing with Bingo. Then she raised an eyebrow, as Mina got distracted as she had turned to Ichigo.

"Dada."

Ichigo's eyes widened, as he brought his hands to Mina. "Yes Mina, I'm dada," he said, laughing as she giggled, and he felt a stinging in his eyes. "I've been waiting to hear that."

Orihime smiled and reached over for one of Ichigo's hands. "I told you that she'd get it eventually."

That afternoon

"They did a great job." Ichigo said, as he threw away some of the plates and napkins left over from lunch. Mina's birthday party was in full swing, and a majority of the guests were out in the backyard or on the back porch now.

"We definitely need to thank them when they came back in," Orihime said, eyeing what was leftover from lunch. Tatsuki and Ichigo's sisters had come up with a barbecue style lunch for the adults, and the kids had a cute little buffet bar of snack foods. "Yeah, lunch was delicious too."

"I think I'm mostly looking forward to the cake that Yuzu made though." Ichigo said, eyeing the birthday cake that they had yet to cut into.

Orihime smiled as she noticed where Ichigo's eyes were focused. "She made it triple chocolate just for you apparently. On Mina's birthday."

"Trust me, Mina is going to love it," Ichigo said, waving off Orihime's smirk. "She's my daughter, so chocolate should basically be her middle name."

The others started coming back in then, Raya and Emi racing inside right over to the ball pit that was centered in the living room. Mina was much slower, as she was holding onto her grandpa Isshin's hand. However, once she was back inside the house, she let go of his hand to go straight over to Orihime and Ichigo. Her hands stretched upwards towards them.

Ichigo had leaned down to scoop Mina up, and Orihime smiled at her. "We were wondering when you'd give us some of your attention. You've barely looked our way since everyone started arriving here."

"She just likes all the attention." Ichigo said.

"Do you want all the attention?" Orihime asked Mina, tickling her belly a little to get her to laugh.

"Mama." Mina said, wiggling so she could switch from Ichigo to Orihime's arms.

"That's right, I'm mama," Orihime said, adjusting Mina, as she pointed to Ichigo. "And who's this?"

"Dada." Mina said, now reaching back over to Ichigo.

"That's right," Ichigo said, chuckling as he accepted Mina back. Walking her over to the living room, he set her down in the ball pit to play alongside Raya and Emi. "So I would say the ball pit is a success."

"Of course it is." Karin said from where she was sitting on one of the couches with Toshiro.

The focus went to Mina, who was busy learning how to toss the balls up in the air from Emi and Raya. One of the balls she threw landed outside the ball pit. Bingo sneaked around the legs of some of the people in the living room, and grabbed the ball in his mouth. Trotting over to the ball pit where Mina had her hand outstretched, he set the ball back in the pit for her.

Mina's face lit up, as she pet Bingo's face. "Bingo."

There was a ton of aw-ing from the people in the room at that moment, and then some laughing and hollering from the kids.

"They are full of energy," Isshin noted, as he sat down next to Hana on a couch. Raya and Emi chasing each other around the living room had got their focus. "We haven't even had cake yet."

"Don't worry," Tatsuki said, waving it off. "Karin has plans to run around with them outside, and hopefully that'll tire them out."

"We'll be sure to leave you two in charge of that," Orihime said, smirking at her best friend. "I have a feeling that after I eat that cake, I'm going to want to take a nap."

"Same here," Ichigo agreed, his eyes swept around the kitchen and living room that was full of their family and friends. Then back to his daughter, who was enjoying the ball pit now with Bingo, whose front half was now in the ball pit as well. Finally, his eyes landed on Orihime, and he wrapped an arm around her. "I'd say this was a pretty successful birthday party."

"I'd have to agree with you there," Orihime said, her eyes meeting his, as she smiled. "This has been a great year… I love you Ichigo."

"I love you too," Ichigo said, kissing her once, and when their kiss broke, his smile widened. "Here's to many more."

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and the next few chapters are almost bittersweet to write. The end of this story is coming soon, and I can't wait to share it with you all. What was your favorite scene this chapter?

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