Chapter Thirty-Four
Kaien's POV
I walked to my Captain's office; he said that he felt healthy enough to be there today. I was just about to knock on the door when I heard a girlish squeal, "Don't let Daddy kiss you Mommy! He'll give you cooties!" I could have laughed but the shock of hearing my captain and his wife were acting like a normal married couple kept me silent. "It's too late!" my captain exclaimed playfully, "Mom's caught them from me. Now it's your turn!" Midori squeaked loudly in defiance, "You can't do that Daddy, you're my Daddy!" "So it won't work?" my captain questioned in faux curiosity, humoring the girl. "No." she stated firmly. I felt a chuckle threaten to escape the back of my throat, that kid was quite the character. "So you know what that means then?" I heard my captain question playfully. "Uh-oh!" Midori gasped then squeal with delight. "Mommy, help! Daddy turned into the tickle monster!" she begged for help in between giggles. I was on the verge of laughing; I never would have thought I would hear this conversation. I heard Heather's footsteps approach the two and then a prompt "Ew!" from Midori.
"Someone's at the door, dear." I heard the woman point out. She's getting really good at sensing spirit energy despite the division she's in. "Huh? Oh! Come in, Kaien." he called and I entered the room without hesitation. "Good morning Captain, Mrs. Ukitake and…" I paused and looked for the mop of blonde hair that belongs to their daughter. "Squirt!" I called the moment I noticed her poking her head out from behind her hiding place which happened to be behind her step-father's leg. "I'm not a Squirt!" she exclaimed stubbornly, crossing her arms and gave me an attempted a stern expression. I simply smiled at her, the kid had spunk. She was the spitting image of her father except for her eyes; they changed colors supposedly like her mother's. I don't want to risk getting that close to my captain's wife to disprove the rumor.
"I see that duty calls. We'll see you later." Heather stated before reaching up to give the captain a kiss. I watched him lean in slightly in attempt to capture her lips again after she pulled away. "Can I stay with Daddy and Mr. Kaien, Mommy?" Midori asked, not moving from her place causing her parents to stop what they were doing. Heather looked to Midori and back to my captain questioningly and he made an uncertain expression. "I'm going to be awfully busy, Dori. Maybe next time." Captain Ukitake replied gaining an "Aw, okay." from a slightly disappointed Midori and hugged the man's leg. She then turned to me and saluted playfully, "Bye, Mr. Kaien, Sir!" I returned the gesture and replied, "See ya, Squirt." Heather picked up her daughter and spoke to me, "Until next time, Lieutenant Shiba." "Have a nice day, Mrs. Ukitake." I replied before I shut the door behind her.
I turned to my captain whom just sat down at his desk with a dreamy smile on his face. "Are you alright, sir?" I asked even though I knew that everything was okay. "Couldn't be better, Kaien." he replied, putting his hand over his mouth thoughtfully. "I'm happy for you, Sir." I told him honestly. I always thought that he needed someone and was skeptical about his marriage to Heather but today just proved me wrong. It's obvious that they moved from friendly behavior and passed the smitten stage.
We got down to business that seemed as if would never end. By the time it hit noon we were done with the pesky paperwork and out to view the division's progress. New recruits have come in and needed our attention but my captain seemed distracted about something every so often. I think I had an inkling as to who he was thinking about.