Epilogue

Twenty Years later…

A black haired, amber eyed mini soul reaper stumbled after his mother. He tried to grab her captain's haori, but she was too fast. Suddenly, a tall figure picked up the little boy with one arm. The little boy's giggles filled the air causing his mother to turn around laughing at the sight before her.

Her husband held their son up in the air acting like he was flying. "Are you having fun?" She asked.

"Of course, midget." He replied laughing. Kaien reached for his mother, but she just blew kissy faces at him, which caused him to cackle.

Once he was pacified, she turned to her husband. "We've talked about this, strawberry. You promised not to hover around every corner like you are now. I'm assigned to desk duty. I doubt that I'll get injured except for a paper cut!" Rukia told Ichigo causing him to grin sheepishly at her as he rubbed his head with his free hand.

When Rukia turned back to head towards her office, Ichigo walked closer to her and attempted to steal her armful of paperwork. "I hover because of your poor eating habits and because you don't need to carry around all that paperwork around! What if you trip and hurt yourself?" He asked.

Trying to calm her temper and not yell in front of Kaien, Rukia growled, "Ichigo, I'm four months pregnant not incapacitated! Besides, I eat what the baby craves so don't blame that all on me!"

"But Rukia!" Ichigo whined at his beautiful, furious wife.

A gentle breeze passed through the porch. "Kurosaki, listen to your wife..." Byakuya commanded as he appeared right next to Rukia, who was distracted and grinning proudly. He slyly stole the paperwork from his sister causing Ichigo to smile broadly. "And you my dear sister, should listen to your husband."

"Give them back!" Rukia yelled at her brother. "I can carry them! You don't need to do my work for me."

"No!" Byakuya stated. "You are overworking yourself!"

"Byakuya Kuchiki!" The petite woman growled as the floor began to get icy.

"Yes, Rukia Kuchiki-Kurosaki?" He replied sweetly with a smile.

"When I get my hands on you…" She trailed off after she took a step towards her brother, who flash stepped away as quickly as he came.

"MAMA!" A loud scream cried through the air as she watched her son reach out for her. Sighing slightly, Rukia took Kaien from Ichigo. "I love you, mama! I missed you..." Kaien told her. Rukia snuggled her son closer. He was the only thing in her life to keep her sane when Byakuya and Ichigo tag teamed her when she was pregnant.

"See you've been working too much! Kaien misses his lunches and walks with you!"

"Ichigo, I am trying to get everything organized before I go on maternity leave." Rukia rolled her eyes at her husband. He was bad when she was pregnant with Kaien, but this time his overprotectiveness was 10 times worse.

"That's no excuse for over working yourself! You could always have Karin take up more of the slack..." Ichigo pleaded. He knew his sister was busy with her new position and her husband, but still his sister could help them more since she and Toshiro were considering children.

"Ichigo, Karin has her hands with learning everything. She's still a new lieutenant!" Rukia told him.

"Which is why Byakuya and I have interfered a lot recently, but Karin can handle some extra work." He argued.

"Then who's going to watch Kaien with both of you helping me?"

"Toshiro would help if you asked, and Renji as well..." Ichigo told her trying to laugh at the look of horror on Rukia's face. Leaving her child unsupervised with either one slightly scared her. She never knew what to expect when Kaien came back from hanging around them.

"I can play with Uncle Shiro and Aunt Karin?" Kaien asked happily as he heard their names.

Rukia started to say no, but she hated to see disappoint on Kaien's face. " How about you..."

"How about playing with your Uncle Ukitake?" The older white haired male said as he appeared in the doorway of Squad 13. Rukia let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her old captain.

"I don't want to bother you, Captain Ukitake." Rukia told him, even though she was ecstatic to see him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jushiro now or at least Ukitake? You're the Captain of Squad 13, Rukia." The white haired man told her.

"You'll always be my captain." She replied with a smile. Ichigo watched the two interact. They always had a father-daughter bond; hence, why Ukitake had such an influence in Kaien's life.

"So Ukitake, are you sure you don't mind watching Kaien?" Rukia asked apprehensively. She hated asking others to watch her child.

"Of course not! You know I love kids!" Ukitake exclaimed.

Rukia looked shyly over at her former captain. "You know, you can always take over Squad 13 again if you don't want to babysit!"

"Rukia, I'd much rather keep little Kaien than deal with all the paperwork, you know that!" He said laughing. Suddenly he pulled a sweet treat form his pocket.

"Candy!" The little boy screamed happily.

"Yep. He's your problem now!" Ichigo told Ukitake as he took Kaien from Rukia and handed him to the old captain. "Thank you again!" Ichigo whispered lowely.

"Ichigo, you just can't…. AH! Strawberry! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rukia asked as Ichigo scooped her up bridal style.

"I'm kidnapping my wife for a date! Got a problem with that?" He asked her. Rukia just laughed at her husband's planning apparently, everything from Kaien to Byakuya and Ukitake randomly showing up was planned.

Ichigo took Rukia to a quiet picnic location overlooking a pond. A magnificent spread of food was out before her. She dug in to the food with full gusto, and looked at her husband when she inhaled 75 percent of the food. Ichigo was worried at his wife's appetite because she seemed to be eating more than just for two.

Rukia had a surprise for her husband. She confirmed her suspicions when she visited Unohana for a check up earlier. "So Ichigo…"

"Hmm?" He muttered as he chewed on a sandwich.

"I was thinking about naming our girls Masaki Hisana and Miyako Yuki…"

Suddenly, Ichigo started coughing and choking on his sandwich. Once he finally regained his composer, he asked, "Girls? Twins?"

Rukia nodded at her husband. "Really, Ichigo, I don't know why you should be surprised. Twins do run in your family after all."

The largest grin to have ever been seen in the Soul Society appeared on Ichigo's face. He pulled Rukia to him and hugged her tight as they enjoyed the prospects of being parents once again. The future of the Soul Society was safe in the Kurosakis' hands now.

The end!

Thanks again everyone! I hoped you enjoyed this story!

(AN) I know the names are not original, but I felt like they would name their children after people who influenced their lives greatly, so the names are a nod to those individuals.