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"Thanks," Ichigo said, his eyes moving to the stairs, as his thoughts went to Orihime. I could tell she wasn't feeling to well over the past hour and a half. But, she always brushed off any questions that related to if she was feeling alright. With a smile and a laugh. That thought had him sighing. Just a little more than a week left of her pregnancy. Her due date's really close now… I don't know about Orihime, but I don't if I'm prepared for this. The past nine months have certainly gone by in a blink of an eye. To think that this time next week, I could be a dad…


Saturday morning, the 7th of May

Opening her eyes slowly, Orihime had to adjust the bright light pouring in through the window. Pushing herself to sitting up, she had to pause to collect herself. Mentally everything felt weird to her. It was kind of like that delirious feeling she'd get after taking a nap in the middle of the day. That thought had her eyes flickering over to the clock, an eyebrow raising at how it showed it was three in the afternoon. I slept late, again. Closing her eyes, she sighed heavily.

Deciding she was hungry and wanting food, but didn't move from her spot. She let her mind start to wander, and kept her eyes closed. It wasn't until almost ten minutes later that she snapped out of it. The feeling of Mina kicking from inside of her, had her pushing the covers back to get out of bed. Pulling her hair up in a bun on the top of her head, then adjusted her pajamas. She had slept in a darker grey t-shirt that fit her comfortably, and black capri yoga pants. Tapping the password in on her phone, she unlocked it as she left the bedroom. Yawning as she saw she had messages from her friends. However, she locked her phone again as she reached the top of the stairs, and focused on stepping down them carefully. Just as she got the bottom, her eyes went to the living room to see that their friends were over this morning.

"Hey," Ichigo greeted her, having seen her first. "Good afternoon."

"You must have slept well," Yuzu added from where she and Karin were sitting at the kitchen table. Karin listening to music, and Yuzu working on her list of supplies she'd need for her Summer art program. Isshin had just now joined them from the kitchen.

Orihime didn't get a chance to respond as Tatsuki spoke up. "You just now woke up?"

Orihime, yawning again, stretched her arms up above herself. "Yeah I did."

"Well you went to sleep a good amount of time before we even left," Rukia said, thinking about when that was last night. "Which was about eleven thirty, I think."

"Yeah it was," Toshiro confirmed, his eyes on Orihime. It was just him and Rukia there today from the shinigami. While they may have cleared it with Shigekuni to stay in this town more, they still had to go back to Soul Society every few days. Renji and Rangiku were at the Soul Society now.

"That's almost sixteen hours of sleep," Akira said, having calculated it up in her head.

Orihime dropped her arms down, and moved closer towards the back of the couch Ichigo was on. "It's not like I slept that whole time," she pointed out tiredly, resting her hands on the back of the couch, and leaning slightly over to kiss Ichigo. "I woke up almost every hour from midnight to about seven, and after that it was every other hour that I woke up until I got up just now."

"Judging by how much you are yawning, apparently you didn't get enough sleep," Ichigo said, having turned a bit on the couch to face Orihime more.

Orihime was going to straighten back up, but the way she was standing now was stretching out her back a bit. Leaving her forearms resting on the back of the couch, she rested her forehead down on the back of the couch as well. "I feel like I'm dying."

"How is that different from any other day?" Tatsuki asked, having been sitting on the opposite side of the couch Ichigo was on, and she had turned to face Orihime as well.

"I hate you," Orihime mumbled back, too exhausted for Tatsuki's teasing.

"Good," Tatsuki shot back almost immediately, a smirk on her face. "Because god forbid that best friends should actually like each other."

That made Orihime laugh, and roll her eyes. Straightening back up, her eyes flickered to Ichigo. "I really don't want to do anything today."

"Well you don't have to worry about that," Ichigo replied, smiling warmly at her. "While you were sleeping, I went and finished up the shopping for some of the smaller stuff at the house. You can just stay here and relax today."

"Okay-" Orihime broke off at a braxton hicks contraction, and took in a sharp breath. Her eyes closing, and moved one hand to her bump.

That dropped the smile right off of Ichigo's face, and his hand went to rest on one of hers on the back of the couch. "Orihime?"

"Just a braxton hicks contraction, no big deal," Orihime replied, saying what she usually did whenever he would question her having one.

"How are those going by the way?" Isshin asked, his doctor side on his mind as he looked over from patient files he was reviewing.

"They have been about the same this past week or so. Occasionally happening, but starting to slightly hurt worse as days go by. Either that or they are just wearing me out enough to make me think they are hurting worse," Orihime replied to Isshin, walking past the table to go into the kitchen and get food. Walking back out a couple minutes later with Gatorade and pop-tarts. Heading straight for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Ichigo asked, having been watching her since she walked out of the kitchen.

Orihime stopped by the stairs, and yawned again. "I think I'm going to lay back down."

"So sleeping for over probably eleven or twelve hours in total is not enough?" Tatsuki asked, once again teasing Orihime. Using that tactic to cheer Orihime up had been working over the past week or so.

"I feel like even if I sleep for a whole day, it still wouldn't be enough," Orihime replied, smiling back at Tatsuki.

Ichigo nodded, and spoke up. "Okay, well make sure you eat and drink at least half of that Gatorade before you go to sleep. You haven't ate or had anything to drink since yesterday."

"Will do," Orihime replied, moving to adjust the Gatorade to resting under her arm, and holding her phone and pop-tarts in that hand. She used her free hand to hold the railing as she started up the stairs. The pop-tarts on her mind, and sleep not so far behind.

Later that evening

Having maybe got an hour of sleep after laying back down earlier, she had woke up with a headache that wasn't going away. Now she was downstairs, and settled on the couch. Leaning back against a pile of pillows, her hands resting on her bump, and a cool washcloth resting on her forehead. She wanted to find sleep again, but with how uncomfortable she was, it was clear that wouldn't be happening. Faintly hearing the sound of Yuzu's voice saying dinner was ready, she sighed, and sat up. A hand going to rest on the washcloth.

"Hey, you don't have to get up. I can bring your dinner to you," Ichigo offered from the other side of the couch. Having been checking some of the homework problems Orihime had to do on her computer before she would email the homework to their math teacher.

"It's fine," Orihime replied, taking the washcloth off her forehead, and moving to stand up. "I need to move around a little bit." With that said, she moved to go sit down at the table. However, her effort of trying to eat and relax was only able to last barely ten minutes. She had paused in eating, and took in a sharp breath at the pain she was feeling. With her head pounding and her overall body aching, the occasional braxton hicks contraction was a little too much. I feel miserable. Finally admitting that to herself had her setting her fork down. Leaning back against the back of the chair, she rested her elbow on the arm of the chair, then her head on her hand.

"You okay?" Ichigo asked her, concern clear in his tone.

Orihime's response was just a sigh, as she remained silent. Trying to get a hold on this pain she was feeling.

"Is the pain becoming more consistent?" Isshin asked her, having noticed her being in pain wasn't getting much better lately. From an outside perspective, her breaks of being pain free and not being uncomfortable have started to diminish completely by now. It makes me wonder if she'll go early or not.

Shaking her head at Isshin's question, Orihime lifted her head up from her hand. "No, it's not consistent. They keep coming and going at different times…" trailing off, she rubbed her bump for a moment. Deep in thought. Finally she moved to push her chair back to stand up.

"Where are you going?" Ichigo asked, inwardly realizing he was hovering lately. Always asking her how she was feeling and where she was going. But, unfortunately I can't shut that part of me off.

"I'm not that hungry anymore," Orihime replied, standing up, and steadying herself.

That had Yuzu standing up right away. "I'll go put your food in the refrigerator, so if you want it later, you can just heat it up."

"Thank you Yuzu." Orihime pushed in her chair, and moved to turn to go towards the stairs.

"If you want something else, I can make it for you. Or if you want, I can go pick something up for you," Ichigo offered her, his eyes studying Orihime as she stopped.

"I really just want to go lay down, but thank you for offering," Orihime replied, noticing that didn't stop Ichigo's look of concern, she offered him a smile. "I'm just tired Ichigo. It's no big deal. You don't have to worry about me." With that said, she almost lost her smile, but turned her head away before Ichigo could notice. Going upstairs, she right away changed into her pajamas. It was an achy process as she felt like her muscles were gone, and she was all sluggish moving. Mina on the other hand felt like she was participating in her usual circus of movements.

Turning off the light after she finished changing, she climbed into bed, and laid down. She turned to face the wall after a moment, and focused on feeling Mina move. Her eyes adjusting to the dark room just enough to where she began to notice her vision blurring, and the stinging feeling start. Her ears picked up on the sound of the door opening, and she took in a breath as footsteps were heard on the carpeted floor.

"Orihime."

She had already known it was Ichigo who had come in, so it wasn't surprising to here his voice. She moved to where she was on her back. Her upper half propped on her pillows a bit, as her eyes went to Ichigo. Not saying anything in response for the fear of her words failing her trying to push past all the pain she felt.

Ichigo's eyes had adjusted with the light coming in from the hall, and he could finally see Orihime's face a little better. Which is how he noticed her expression, and the tears in the corner of her eyes. "Orihime?"

Hearing the question in his tone behind saying her name this time, she shook her head, and took in a breath. "I don't feel good," she started, almost immediately that admission had hit her hard. Her wall of appearing to be fine crumbled down, and her tears started to fall. "At all."

As soon as she started to cry, Ichigo moved to sit on the bed beside her. Helping her sit up, before he embraced her. Holding her to him, he felt her shake, and his hand started to gently rub her back in small circles. He opened his mouth to offer her something that showed he understood how much pain she was in. But he couldn't. Because he honestly had no idea what she was going through. He had got hurt a lot of times in his eyes, but he just didn't know how to relate to the type of pain she was in now. That thought had him frowning deeply. He moved one hand to the back of her head, and the other remained rubbing her back. "I'm sorry Orihime. I hate that you are in pain, and I'm sorry that I can't do anything for you. But, I'm here for you."

The next morning

Having had to wake up around six for Orihime's doctor appointment that morning, Orihime and Ichigo didn't get back home until eight thirty. It had been a pretty quiet morning, as Orihime was exhausted and worn out from lack of sleep last night. She hadn't even bothered with makeup or really doing her hair that morning. She had worn sweatpants and a comfortable shirt to her appointment. The appointment itself was fairly quick, and she had dilated to nearly a full centimeter. No effacement yet. Mina was still head down.

So after Ichigo had parked the car in the driveway, Orihime was yawning as she took off her seatbelt to get out. On the way home, she had nearly fell asleep because she was so tired, but with Mina kicking away like she was, sleep wasn't exactly possible. It wasn't until they were walking inside the house, that she had to pause by the couch nearest the stairs. A hand moving to rest on her chest. The pain she was feeling just from overall body soreness was making her nauseous, and she had been feeling that on and off on the way home.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ichigo asked almost cautiously. As Orihime had been rather irritated whenever he'd ask her that so far this morning. But as he looked to her now, he knew it was a bit different this time. "You are extremely pale."

"I feel nauseous," Orihime replied after taking a breath to try and soothe the nausea down. Moving upstairs then, she barely made it to the top, before her feet took her to the bathroom. Just barely making it in time as she threw up. When she finished, she realized Ichigo had come in and held her hair back out of her face. Flushing the toilet, she allowed Ichigo to help her up. After washing out her mouth, and washing her hands, she brought both hands to her face.

"What was that? Do you really feel like you are getting sick?" Ichigo asked her. It's getting warmer outside now that it's May, but I guess she could still get sick.

Orihime was shaking her head back in response to Ichigo. "I'm just in a lot of pain right now. I think that's what caused me to get so nauseous."

"Go lay down, I'm going to call Dr. Ayame just incase," Ichigo declared after a moment of thinking. However instead of leaving the bathroom, Orihime had just moved to sit down on the floor.

"I'm just going to sit here for a minute." She murmured to him, her head leaning against the cool bath tub. The nausea not completely gone.

Grabbing his phone from his pocket, Ichigo dialed the number of Orihime's doctor. After having to be on hold for a few minutes, he was lucky enough to catch Orihime's doctor between patients. Her doctor explained that Orihime was right in guessing that it was the pain that could cause it. If she's not exhibiting any other symptoms of being sick, it's most likely just her body's reaction to being overwhelmed by being so uncomfortable and in pain for such a long time. Then she gave the advice to make sure Orihime stays hydrated so she doesn't get dehydrated from getting sick like that.

Finishing up with the phone call, Ichigo slipped his phone back into his pocket, before kneeling down next to Orihime. "Do you feel any better?"

"Not really," Orihime replied, taking in a breath, as she pushed her hair back out of her face. "I just want to try and get some more sleep."

"Okay." Ichigo agreed, helping her up, and walking with her back to their bedroom. He pulled back the covers for her, and helped her slip off her shoes. Once Orihime was laying down, Ichigo reached down, and stroked her hair back out of her face. Because her eyes were closed, she didn't see the frown that crossed Ichigo's face. So, not only is she uncomfortable and in pain, but now she's getting sick? Is it going to be like this until she gives birth?

A hour later, almost ten o'clock

Everyone apart from Orihime was awake now. Ichigo having gone downstairs to finish some homework while Orihime slept, and the rest of the family filtered down the stairs over the past hour.

"How did Orihime's appointment go this morning?"

This question came from his dad, and it had Ichigo looking up from his homework. Focusing over where his dad was sitting on the couch across the room from the one he was one. "Orihime's checking out fine. Her blood pressure seemed to have improved even better than the last appointment. She's dilated a full centimeter now, but no effacement… While that's good and all, when we came home she got sick because of all the pain she has been in."

"Have you ran that through her doctor?"

"That was the first thing I did," Ichigo replied to his dad, setting his homework down on the coffee table to accept the coffee mug Yuzu had handed out to him. Half coffee, half milk. His eyes following his younger sister over to where his dad was, where she handed him a travel coffee mug. "Her doctor said that it's most likely the pain overwhelming her body that had her get sick." Taking a sip of his coffee, he then proceeded to explain to the others about Orihime getting upset last night. As after it happened, he had remained upstairs with Orihime, holding her as she went to sleep.

"I feel so bad for her," Yuzu said, a frown on her face, as she propped a hand on her hip. "Maybe she'll enjoy a smoothie when she gets up. I'll make it for her once I start breakfast."

"Well Karin and I shouldn't take that long at the store," Isshin said, standing up from the couch as Karin walked out of the kitchen with her own travel cup full of coffee. Having started drinking it a bit more regularly, even with her dad not as agreeing to it. "We'll be back in less than an hour."

"Yeah, hopefully it doesn't take that long," Karin added, her eyes closed as she sipped her coffee from her coffee mug.

"Is that coffee?" Isshin asked, his eyes on Karin.

"Maybe," Karin replied, leisurely sipping her coffee again, before moving towards the front door.

Almost an hour later

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Orihime greeted the others, and moved to go sit at her usual chair. Sitting in the chair brought on the aches and pains she had been feeling that were the reason she got up from bed in the first place. Sipping at the smoothie Yuzu had made, it made up for how bad she felt a little bit, but it didn't stop her from shifting uncomfortably in her chair.

"You're not comfortable are you?" Ichigo asked her, having recognized her shifting in her chair as her being uncomfortable.

"No," Orihime replied with a sigh.

"We might have got you something that could help," Isshin said, his eyes going to Karin, who had got up to go get that something.

Karin walked back from the hall the study was on a moment later. An exercise ball with her. "Dad thought this would be good to see if it'll help you get more comfortable when you have to sit down for a while."

"You didn't have to-"

"It's alright," Isshin interrupted, waiving off Orihime's words. "Hopefully it'll help a bit."

After switching out her chair for the exercise ball, Orihime did notice the difference. Even though it didn't completely get rid of her being uncomfortable, it did make it more comfortable to sit down. "This actually feels better. Thank you Isshin."

"It's no problem at all," Isshin replied with a nod.

The rest of breakfast went by smoothly, and after they were done, Orihime got up and put her dishes in the sink, and came back over to the table, one hand going to the exercise ball. "I really like this thing."

"We should bring it to the house with us when we go move our stuff from here over there," Ichigo said, walking out of the kitchen after Orihime. His eyes on Yuzu, who was getting her bag and shoes on. "Where are you going?"

"Dad and I have some things to do today," Yuzu replied, slipping on her shoes, and straightening back up.

"Yes, there is a meeting I have to go to for the trip that Yuzu's going on for her art program. Then we are going to just see what happens after that," Isshin said, his eyes on Karin now. "Do you need anything while your sister and I will be out?"

"Nope," Karin shot back, plopping down on one of the couches, and grabbing the remote for the TV. Having the day off from coaching the soccer team at the recreation center, she was planning on relaxing today.

Isshin's eyes went to Orihime and Ichigo next. "What about you two?"

Sharing a look with each other, Ichigo watched Orihime shake her head, and he looked back to his dad. "We're good."

"Alright, well we are going to go ahead and get out of here," Isshin said, going to leave with Yuzu.

Just as the door closed, Ichigo's phone buzzed. The sound it made was the one whenever there was a hollow. Ichigo was quick to pull his phone out of his pocket, and see where the hollow was. There was actually a few of the hollows from what he sensed. Just the thought of their being hollows, brought on an inner excitement at the thought of hollows being here.

Orihime sensed the hollows as well. Leading to her eyes moving to Ichigo, but a braxton hicks contraction stopped her from speaking. It caught her off guard enough that it made her make a noise of pain.

Hearing that, Ichigo dropped the smile off his face. "I think I'm just going to let the others get them," he said, pushing his phone back into his pocket. "They'll be able to handle them."

"No," Orihime disagreed, taking a breath as the painful feeling passed. Her eyes back on Ichigo. It's been nearly a week since the last hollows were seen. Which was during the fight with Aizen. He looked so excited that there were actually hollows appearing just now, and I know he only wants to stay because of me. "I'll be fine Ichigo. You can go."

Ichigo's expression softened. "Are you sure?"

Orihime nodded back at Ichigo, offering him a smile. "It was just a braxton hicks contraction. It's no big deal. Now go before I change my mind, and never let you leave the house ever again."

"Alright," Ichigo laughed, leaning over to her, and kissing her once. Turning, he bounded up the stairs. Going to leave his body upstairs in their bedroom while he went to go to the hollows.

Waiting until she felt Ichigo's presence start to go away from the house, Orihime used her feet to push the exercise ball out of the way, and moved over to the couches. Her eyes flickering to the TV to see that Karin had stopped on the show Scandal. "I haven't watched that show."

"Neither have I… I was reading the synopsis on my phone to see if it would be good, and it seems like it has good ratings," Karin replied, her eyes flickering over to Orihime. "Want to watch it with me? Just to see what it's about?"

Orihime nodded, as she settled after adjusting the pillows behind herself on the couch. "Sounds good to me."

A couple hours later

"Okay," Orihime started, as they finished up the second episode. Her eyes going to Karin. "I already love this show."

"Me too," Karin agreed, laughing along with Orihime at how they both were clearly getting sucked into the show. And we've only watched two episodes. With that thought in mind, she stood up, and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm going to go make us some snacks. I'm dying over here."

"Same-" Orihime's phone ringing stopped her from speaking. Seeing it was Ichigo, she accepted the call, and put the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

Ichigo: So we got rid of the hollows, and after that we went over to Urahara's.

Orihime laughed at his words. "I know. You already told me that when you texted me after you got rid of the hollows."

Ichigo: Right, well I was originally planning on coming back home, but I was wondering if it'd be okay if I could get some training in? Since I'm here and all.

Again with the laughter from Orihime. "Ichigo, you don't have to ask my permission. You can train if you want to."

Ichigo: I know, but I don't want to leave you home by yourself. With you having braxton hicks contractions more, and the pain you had been in over the past few days, I just feel bad-

"Ichigo," Orihime interrupted him, smiling at the concern in his voice. "It's all okay. I'm here with Karin, and we are having a nice time… If you showed up it would ruin our girl time."

Ichigo: (Laughing) Alright, but if you need me at all-

"Call you right away," Orihime interrupted, her smile widening. "I know the drill."

Ichigo: Well, I love you, and text or call me if you want me to come home.

"I'll be fine without you for a few more hours Ichigo," Orihime laughed, a smile still big on her face. "But, I love you too. Be careful."

Ichigo: Will do.

Orihime ended the call, and laughed. She heard the humor in Ichigo's voice, and it always made her smile when he was happy. It seems these past few days have been more of him worrying about me than focusing on himself. I hope he has fun training today. Feeling Mina moving more inside of herself, Orihime sighed as she stood up. "Karin do you need any help?"

"No, I got it!" Karin called back.

Okay, I guess I'll wait. Orihime thought, going to where she had moved the exercise ball. She nudged it with her feet over to the couches, and stopped it. Sitting down on it already felt better than sitting on the couch.

After dinner, that evening

Focusing her eyes on the window, Orihime blinked at the light coming in. It had lessened tremendously as the sun had starting setting, but there was still some light coming in through the window. After dinner, she had got in the shower, and decided to lay down to try and get some sleep. The sound of the door opening meant Ichigo was done with his shower already, as he had gone in after her. She remained still on the bed, and waited until he had got in bed beside her. Once he was settled, she adjusted to make herself comfortable. With a smaller pillow underneath her baby bump to support bump. Her head resting near Ichigo's arm that he had under the pillow his head was on, and her hand on her bump. Her legs loosely tangled with his.

"Surprised you aren't asleep already," Ichigo started, moving the hand that wasn't under his pillow to stroke Orihime's hair back. Her bangs having already dried, while the rest of her hair was taking a bit longer. "You looked like you were almost too tired to take a shower."

"I'm too tired to do anything. But yet here I am, getting up everyday," Orihime replied with a light laugh, then she yawned. "After spending most all today watching television with Karin, I was surprised to find I was a little more relaxed by the time dinner came around."

"I'm glad to hear it," Ichigo kissed her once, before his thoughts went to moving to the new house. "I know we planned on moving all of Mina's stuff we have here over to our new house tomorrow, but I was hoping we could move it to Tuesday. I think I might do a little more training with Urahara tomorrow."

"He's training you again?" Orihime asked, watching him nod, before a smile grew on her face. "You know who you should get to train you? Toshiro."

"No way in hell is that a good idea at all," Ichigo shot back almost immediately. "He already doesn't like me, and I don't think us training together would be a good idea."

"You are missing out, he's really funny, and a good teacher," Orihime said, yawning once more. "I mean when he's not being a completely annoying jerk face when he tries to scare me every other minute of the day that is."

Hearing her say that had Ichigo laughing. His eyes focusing up on the ceiling. "Yeah, well I think I will still pass. You can deal with Toshiro all you want to," he said, his thoughts then moved to Mina, as he could just barely feel her moving from where Orihime's bump touched the side of his abdomen.

Orihime's eyes fluttered closed, as the silence between them went on for a few more minutes.

Ichigo's thoughts went from Mina to back to thinking about moving to the new house. "Once we get Mina's stuff moved in to the new house, then we can start on our stuff I guess. You've got some stuff from your old apartment in one of the rooms downstairs as well, as well as some of the stuff I moved downstairs when you moved in here. Then we've got our actual stuff we use more often up here. I'm thinking Friday would be a good day to actually officially move in. I know it's cutting it pretty close with your due date being on Sunday. But we'll be moving most everything that we have here to the new house around the middle of this week. So it shouldn't be that bad… What do you think?"

Ichigo was met with silence. Which had him looking away from the ceiling over to Orihime. Seeing her eyes closed, and her breathing steady. It made him smile. Leaning his head over a bit without trying to move his body too much so he wouldn't wake her back up, he kissed her forehead softly. "I love you… so much."

The next morning, the 9th of May

Sitting up in bed, Orihime yawned and stretched. It was a little past seven now, and Ichigo had already got up to get ready for school almost an hour and a half ago. She had fell back asleep after he got up, but woke up just a few minutes ago. Checking her phone, she smiled at a text message from Tatsuki about how lucky she was for not having to go to school. Orihime was quick to type back, and remind Tatsuki that she wasn't all that lucky. As she still had to do the work. She felt her phone buzz not even a minute later.

Tatsuki: At least you don't have to actually be in the school building. That's the worst part, if you ask me. That place is like prison.

Orihime laughed at Tatsuki's response. Feeling somewhat hungry after focusing on some of Mina's kicks, she finally got up. Feeling a bit nauseous after a wave of overall body ache's hit her, she had to take some deep breaths as she left the bedroom and walked downstairs.

"Orihime?" Yuzu's questioning voice was the first thing Orihime heard when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

That right away had Ichigo turning his head to find Orihime there. "What are you doing up? You don't have to go to school today."

"I know," Orihime replied with a nod of her head, and a following sigh. "I don't really feel that good, and I think I'm hungry. But, at the same time, the aching is making me nauseous."

"How about I boil you water for some ginger tea?" Yuzu offered, already standing up from her chair.

"And maybe something that'll be easy on your stomach. Crackers maybe." Isshin suggested to her.

Yuzu was nodding at her father's suggestion, as her eyes went back to Orihime. "Anything else you want?"

Having gone to roll her exercise ball over to the table, Orihime paused before sitting down. "Maybe some peanut butter with the crackers- if you don't mind that is."

"Alright, it's no problem at all," Yuzu replied, turning to go into the kitchen.

Settling on her exercise ball, Orihime moved her hands to her baby bump. Rubbing occasionally where Mina would kick her. She wasn't really paying attention to what the others were talking about, as she was only focused on how tired she was. Hearing her phone buzzing on the table had pushed her away from her thoughts, and she picked it up from where it laid face down on the table. Seeing it was from Tatsuki, she read it, and laughed.

"What?" Ichigo asked at her laughing, his eyes leaving his dad and Karin to focus on Orihime.

"Tatsuki just texted me and said I needed to make you go to school," Orihime replied, as she opening up a message to reply to Tatuski. She started to text Tatsuki back, as she continued talking. "Akira's apparently going to be late today, and Mai doesn't usually come early because she has to drop Emi off at daycare. And you know the shinigami aren't showing up at the school today. So she's bored out of her mind. She said that since I'm not going to be there, she needs you as her back up."

"Well that just makes me feel special since she basically said I'm her last resort," Ichigo laughed, rolling his eyes at how that had Orihime laughing too, a smile on his face.

Orihime smiled back at Ichigo, locking her phone, then she set it back on the table. "Either way, I told her that you will be there soon. So you should probably get a move on."

"Alright," Ichigo said with a sigh, moving to stand up from the table to go put his dishes from breakfast away.

Just as Yuzu was walking out of the kitchen. A plate of crackers with peanut butter on them, as well as a hot cup of tea. Setting them down on the table in front of Orihime, Yuzu smiled at her. "Okay, let the tea steep a few more minutes before drinking it."

"Thank you Yuzu," Orihime replied, smiling at the younger girl. The scent of ginger hitting her nose first, and it made her already want to drink the tea.

Yuzu's focus went from Orihime to her father. "Can we go ahead and go to school? I have to turn in a project for my art class before school starts."

"That's fine with me," Isshin replied, moving to get up after finishing off his coffee.

As the Kurosaki's moved around and got ready to leave, Orihime remained at the table. Sitting on her exercise ball, and starting on eating her peanut butter covered crackers. She watched them all move around to get ready, and really appreciated taking a moment to relax. I didn't realize how hectic it is when we all get ready to leave in the morning. Getting to watch like this, really shows how crazy things get.

"Dad, I'm going to walk to school this morning. I haven't got to work out as much since Soccer ended, and since I'm coaching the soccer team at the youth recreation center, I'm trying to stay in shape to be able to keep up with a bunch of eight and nine year olds," Karin told her father, already heading towards the front door.

"Alright, be careful," Isshin replied, starting to the door as well with Yuzu.

Ichigo came back down the stairs with his school bag in hand. Going right over to Orihime, he then kissed the top of her head. "I love you. If you need me at all today-"

"Call you right away," Orihime interrupted, smiling up at Ichigo. "I know."

At the sight of Orihime smiling, it had Ichigo smiling, as he leaned over and kissed her again. "I'll see you after school."

"Alright, have fun," Orihime told him, watching as he left the house. After he closed the door, she focused back on her peanut butter crackers she finished them off, and got up. Putting the plate away in the kitchen, she grabbed her ginger tea from the table. It had steeped enough, and cooled down a bit by now. Going to set the tea on the coffee table, she turned and went to grab her laptop from upstairs.

Soon she was settled in a comfy pile of pillows and blankets on the couch. Her hot tea on the table along with pop-tarts. She was going to see if she could manage to eat them as the nausea from her body aching didn't seem that bad anymore. She had her laptop open with the plan of going ahead and continuing on her school work.

The sound of the front door being unlocked a few minutes later had her lift her eyes up from her computer screen. Her eyebrow rose when Karin walked inside. "Did you forget something?"

"I don't feel good," Karin replied, dropping her school bag to the ground before going to shut the front door, and locking it back up. Signaling she didn't plan on leaving again.

Motioning for Karin to come over to her, Orihime felt Karin's forehead. "You don't feel warm."

Karin shrugged, crossing her arms after stepping back from Orihime's hand. "Well then… I'm cramping. I don't know. Whatever excuse it'll take for it to be okay that I'm staying home, then pretend that's what's going on." Was what Karin said, noticing Orihime raise an eyebrow, she sighed. "I thought I'd stay home to hang out with you. You might go stir-crazy if you're here by yourself all day."

That had Orihime in silence for a moment. Despite her responsible conscious screaming at her that she should send Karin to school, Orihime finally sighed to shut it up. "Alright, but on one condition," she started, as she pointed to the TV. "You start up Scandal on Netflix, and I'll keep pretending that I'm going to be getting work done today."

That had Karin grinning, as she nodded once. "Deal."

Later on that afternoon

The sound of the front door being unlocked wasn't heard by Karin or Orihime. Both had been laughing, so they didn't notice that it was the rest of the family walking in. Isshin coming home from work, Ichigo from training with Urahara, and Yuzu from the art studio.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo questioned Karin first.

"Yuzu said you weren't in school today," Isshin added, an eyebrow raised at his darker haired daughter.

With Karin's eyes on her now, Yuzu shook her head timidly at Karin. "I'm sorry-"

"No, don't apologize to her," Isshin interrupted Yuzu, his eyes back on Karin. "Did you not go to school today?"

Karin, with a frown on her face, was quiet in response to her father. Orihime watched Karin's hesitation, and decided to speak up herself. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. Karin only stayed home to hang out with me. I knew better-"

"No, it is not your fault, Karin knows better…" Isshin interrupted Orihime, holding a stern look on his face, as he watched Karin for a long moment. Finally he broke the silence with a sigh. "Well it seems like you two had a good day."

Having not expected that to come out of her dad's mouth, Karin nodded slowly. "Yeah it was a good day…" She trailed off, still not sure if she should really be accepting that her dad was somehow okay with her skipping school that day. I mean it's not like we did anything productive. We just have been finishing up watching the second season of Scandal.

"I agree, apart from how my back has been aching nearly all day," Orihime added with a sigh.

Karin reached to the back of the couch, and grabbed the heating pad. "Here, use this again, I'll turn it back on," she handed over the heating pad to Orihime, and moved towards the floor by one of the side tables where she could turn the heating pad back on.

Isshin watched Karin doing so, and crossed his arms over his chest. Both Ichigo and Yuzu had already gone to put their stuff away upstairs, and he himself hadn't moved yet from the living room. I know I shouldn't be encouraging Karin skipping school, but it seems that maybe it did some good for Orihime to have her here.

The next morning

Starting down the stairs, Isshin's eyebrow raised at the sight of Ichigo already down there. His son was standing behind the couch that was closest to the stairs, and had his arms crossed. "What are you doing up this early?"

Ichigo didn't say anything back, but just nodding in the direction of the living room.

Getting to the bottom of the stairs, Isshin was finally able to see what Ichigo was down here for. Karin and Orihime were both asleep on the couch across from the television. The last episode of the tv show they had been watching was paused. "How long have they been asleep?"

"A couple hours," Ichigo finally spoke up, his eyes still on Karin and Orihime. "I've been coming down here every once in a while throughout the night just to check on how Orihime was doing. She was exhausted, but couldn't go to sleep. So that's why they were both down here all night. To be honest, Karin looked exhausted, but she insisted on staying down here. That she was fine and wanted to keep watching… I think she only did that just to keep Orihime company."

Hearing that, Isshin's eyes went over to Orihime and Karin. Watching Karin more specifically for a moment. "I think it'd be fine if Karin stayed home from school one more day."

"You are condoning Karin staying home again?" Ichigo asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's clear she has been helping Orihime feel better," Isshin started in reply, as he shrugged. "What will another day hurt?"

That had Ichigo shaking his head. "You would have never let me get away with that when I was Karin's age."

"May I remind you of the cumulative amount of days of school you have missed over the last couple years?" Isshin countered, a smirk on his face at his son.

"That's not the same," Ichigo replied almost immediately in his defense. "I was taking care of hollows and arrancars."

"You are right, it's not the same," Isshin's smirk grew on his face. "Karin has my permission while you never did. You did what you wanted."

At his dad laughing then, Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot dad."

The two moved into the kitchen then, Isshin starting on making the coffee. "So, are you two planning on moving Mina's stuff over to the new house?"

"I don't know," Ichigo sighed with his response. "I want to. But, I have a feeling Orihime's not going to feel up to it."

"Well, I can help you do it. Orihime can stay here. I'm sure she and Karin will be back to watching their TV show whenever they wake up anyways." Isshin offered, grabbing the coffee from the pantry.

"That'd be great, thanks." Ichigo replied, his thoughts going to how much stuff they had left to bring over to their new house. It's not that much now. Just Mina's stuff, and the basics of what Orihime and I use everyday. I can't wait to be officially moved in.

The next day, Wednesday, 11th of May

Parking the car in the driveway, Ichigo's eyes flickered over to Orihime after having turned the car off. Seeing she still hadn't started moving to get out of the car. "You okay?"

"I don't know yet," Orihime replied, feeling exhausted on top of the overall body aches. It had been going on like that nearly the entire morning, and now in the afternoon. They had gone to move some of their stuff over to the new house, after Ichigo had left school early around eleven thirty that morning. Ichigo and Isshin moved the rest of Mina's stuff over to the new house yesterday, and today was some of their own stuff. They just had basic stuff left at Ichigo's dad's house, and they were planning to fully move in on Friday.

Knowing that Orihime wasn't feel that great, Ichigo didn't question her further. Getting out of the car, he walked around to the passenger side. They had taken the Land Cruiser because Orihime didn't have to bend down to get inside like she had to do with her Mercedes. Opening the car door, he helped Orihime step out of the car, and grabbed her bag for her. "Come on. Let's get you inside, and you can relax."

"That sounds so nice," Orihime replied, one hand on her baby bump, and the other holding Ichigo's hand. "But with how much Mina is moving right now, relaxing seems far from possible." They started to the front door, Orihime having to take much slower steps than usual. Walking was increasingly uncomfortable, and Mina was much lower now so it made her back ache when she walked even more.

After Orihime was inside, settled on the couch, the back door had opened, and Karin had come inside. "Oh, that was you guys coming in after all? We thought we heard your car pull up."

"Yeah, we just got back from her appointment," Ichigo replied, as he moved over to Orihime adjusting some pillows for her where she needed them.

"How was the appointment?" Isshin asked having come inside after Karin, Yuzu not far behind them. Yuzu having been working on a sketch of Karin kicking her soccer ball into the goal in the back yard.

"It was ridiculously too long," Orihime shot back tiredly, as she closed her eyes. Having finally settled, she was hoping to catch a quick nap.

Ichigo laughed at Orihime's response, and looked over to his dad. "It went well. Orihime's dilated another centimeter, so she is at two right now, and it's looking like she's slightly effaced now as well. Mina's getting lower, and it looks like she's still head down. So everything's looking good."

"That's good to hear," Isshin said, clapping his hands together as he remembered something. "I picked up a few more boxes for you and Orihime to pack the stuff that's in your room, they are in the study right now. So you can take those up there whenever you want."

"I'll go ahead and do that now," Ichigo said, his eyes flickering to Orihime. "Do you need anything?"

"I need Mina to stop kicking me repeatedly," Orihime replied, having known Ichigo was talking to her without having to open her eyes.

Once again, Ichigo found amusement with Orihime's words, and smiled as he leaned over to kiss the top of her head. "Maybe she'll settle down."

"I doubt it," Orihime replied, resting her head back on the pillows, and sighing.

Later that evening

Orihime was alone in the house again. Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin were at the fine arts center in the city. Both Yuzu and Karin had meetings about their summer programs tonight. Although Karin wasn't confirmed on going yet, Isshin was still agreeing to go to the meeting. Ichigo was out getting food for Orihime, so she was here alone. Although that didn't last for more than an hour, as there was the sound of knocking on the door. "Come in!"

The door opened then, and in came her friends. "What if we were serial killers?" Toshiro was the one to ask this, as he had walked in first. "You would have just let us into your house."

"Okay, one I sensed your spiritual energy," Orihime replied, not moving to get up from the couch. "And two, does it look like I want to get up right now?"

"Not particularly," Toshiro replied, smirking at her annoyed look. He and Rukia had returned back from the Soul Society a few hours ago with Renji and Rangiku. He and Rukia had went to join the others yesterday for a meeting with Shigekuni, and then were finished up today.

"So, how's it going?" Tatsuki asked, plopping down on one of the other couches first, the others following suit. "You look comfortable."

"Looks can be deceiving," Orihime replied, her eyes focusing on Tatsuki briefly, before looking up to the ceiling. "I feel like I'm dying right now." Moving to put one arm over her eyes, the other hand remained on her baby bump.

The others laughed at Orihime's honesty, and Akira was the next to speak. "How much longer do you have?"

"Including today… four to five days. My due date's on Sunday. But, there is no telling how long Mina plans to stay in my body," Orihime replied, that thought making her sigh heavily, and she still kept her arm over her eyes. "Probably as long as she possibly can, so they'll end up having to induce me." While that had everyone laughing, Orihime sighed into silence. A moment later, she frowned. "Sorry, I'm not the best company right now. I haven't felt good all day."

"It's fine Orihime," Tatsuki replied almost immediately, having not really been bothered by Orihime's silence.

"Don't apologize," Uryu added.

The front door opened again, before Orihime could speak up. Ichigo walked inside, his eyes going to the others first. "Oh, hey guys," he greeted their friends, before his eyes went to Orihime. "I got you your food. I also got you a smoothie from Alona's."

"I'll take the smoothie, I don't really think I want to eat right now," Orihime replied, reaching her hand out to accept the smoothie Ichigo handed over to her.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked after handing over the smoothie. "You haven't really ate anything since early this morning for breakfast, and it wasn't even that much-"

"Ichigo," Orihime interrupted him, her eyes sharp as she looked to his eyes. "If I try eating right now, I am going to throw up. I will eat later when I'm not nauseous. I'm hoping the smoothie won't be that bad for me as it is."

"Okay," Ichigo replied, sensing the possible mood swing that would come his way if he disagreed with her. Going to put her food in the microwave, he paused after closing the door. Rubbing his temples he sighed. I don't what I can do. Orihime's been rather testy since earlier today, and everything I say, I feel like has the potential to irritate her… I guess all I can do, is try my best to keep from irritating her. I know she doesn't mean it, and it's just the mood swings. But, it just seems like hardly anything can be said without causing her to have a mood swing. These last few days are going to be interesting.

The middle of the night

Turning away from the front door, Orihime continued her pacing across the living room. Turning as she reached the table, to return back to the front door. She hadn't yet gone to sleep, and it was nearing four thirty that morning. She was exhausted, and wanted so badly to sleep. But, I'm so damn uncomfortable, sleep is impossible. Finally stopping over by the back of the couch nearest the stairs, she moved to rest her forearms on the back of the couch. Leaning over slightly to try and stretch a bit.

"Okay," Ichigo's voice was heard from where he walked out of the kitchen, and over to where she was. He was currently carrying a cup of hot tea carefully. "Vanilla chai tea with soy milk, and extra vanilla flavoring for you. I think I did it how you like it, but you can just taste it and I can add whatever else you think it needs."

Orihime moved to straighten up from where she was leaning over, and sat down on her exercise ball. Taking the tea from Ichigo she sipped at it. It wasn't too hot as the soy milk had cooled it down a bit. But it tasted just exactly how she wanted it to. "No, it's really good. Thank you."

Ichigo pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. Picking up his phone to check the time. "Well it's almost four thirty in the morning. If we keep this up we are going to end up seeing the sunrise."

Orihime frowned hearing that, and she took another sip of her tea. "Ichigo, you know you don't have to stay down here with me. You are not the one who can't go to sleep."

Ichigo smiled at Orihime, as he set his phone face down. One hand going over to rest on one of Orihime's hands. "I don't mind, really. After the hollows around midnight, I came back and felt some energy. So I don't mind staying up. Plus I really don't want you to have to be alone just because you are the one who can't go to sleep."

"Ichigo, you have school in a few hours," Orihime continued on, still feeling bad for him being awake.

"Well it'll just be an interesting day for me I guess," Ichigo replied, grabbing his cup of water he had on the table, as he wasn't planning on backing down. He wanted to stay up for Orihime, and he was going to do it no matter what. "I've pulled all nighters before, and I must say I'm rather humorous when I've been without sleep."

Smiling despite feeling uncomfortable, Orihime sipped at her tea again. Feeling a braxton hicks contraction had her taking a sharp breath as she set her tea down. Both hands going to her baby bump. "These aren't getting any easier."

"Do you think they are starting to become real contractions?" Ichigo asked, his eyes on her with concern filling them up.

Orihime shook her head. "I don't think so. They aren't coming in a time frame. They are just starting to kinda hurt…" Trailing off, she picked up her tea again, and sighed. "It's no big deal really. I just want to be able to go to sleep again. Like a normal human being." She told him, leaving them in silence, as she sipped at her tea. That would be wonderful. To just lay down and go to sleep without any problems. I feel like I haven't done that in a couple weeks. Is this how it's going to be the rest of this pregnancy?


A/N: So this chapter has been showing off how Orihime's been feeling at the start of her 40th week of her pregnancy. So far it hasn't been all that pleasant. My favorite scene was probably the one between Karin and Orihime bonding. What was your favorite scene? How do you think the rest of Orihime's pregnancy will go?

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