Ichigo might have finished telling the story of how he met his son's mother, but it does have him thinking how different his life could have been if he did something different. While he was thinking that, he was astounded as he met with Emily for the first time in years. Not wanting to be rude, he walked right over to her.

"Hey, stranger." Ichigo said.

"As I live and breathe... Ichigo Kurosaki..." Emily said as she was feeling nostalgic upon seeing him. She gave him a quick hug as she was happy to see him again. "It's been so long. How you've been?"

"Pretty good." Ichigo said. He looked down and noticed the little girl hiding behind Emily. "Who is this?"

"Ichigo, this is Lily. She's my daughter." Emily said with Ichigo surprised she actually had a daughter. "Honey, this is Ichigo Kurosaki. He's an old friend of mine."

"Hi, Lily." Ichigo said as he dropped down to her level, but she just hid behind her mother. Her acting all shy was quite adorable.

"It's okay, Lily. Go on and play. Just make sure you stay where I can see you." Emily said as she let her daughter go off to play while the two sat on a bench.

"You have a daughter? When did that happen?" Ichigo asked.

"About five years ago." Emily answered. "As much as I love being a mother, it is not easy when you have to raise a kid all by yourself."

"Yourself? Where's her father?" Ichigo asked.

"Damned if I know." Emily said with annoyance. This was clearly a sore subject for her. "We dated for a while and I thought he was a nice guy, but he took off the moment he found out I was pregnant with Lily."

"Ouch." Ichigo said.

"Lily is really the only good thing I got out of that relationship. She and I are inseparable." Emily said as Ichigo liked hearing that. "What about you? You and Orihime still together?"

"Yeah. We even have a son named Kazui." Ichigo said. "In fact, something interesting has recently happened. Kazui's fifth grade class actually learned about sex."

"What?!" Emily said with astonishment. "What kind of idiot teaches sex in fifth grade?!"

"I don't know, but that's what happened." Ichigo said. "Anyway, it caused Kazui to want the hear the real story about how his mother and I met. That means that I have told him about you."

"I hope it was all good." Emily said.

"I had to tell him the truth." Ichigo said. Meeting up with Emily is great, but it does have Ichigo wondering things even more. "Emily, let me ask you something. Are you satisfied with your life? Is there something you could have changed or done differently?"

"What kind of question is that?" Emily asked. When she thought of a reason, it made a little anxious for him. "Ichigo, are you not happy with your marriage?"

"No." Ichigo said as he laughed it off. "That's not what I'm saying. I told Kazui about you, that includes how you cheated on me and how we almost got back together. Sharing the story just has me thinking how different my life could have been if something if I did something different. I'm just asking hypothetically."

"Oh... I get it." Emily said and it did have her do some thinking. "Ichigo, cheating on you one was one of the biggest regrets of my life. If I'm being honest, you were one of the best guys I went out with. It was all going great until I messed it all up. After we broke up I felt horrible. Then, after we met nearly a year later, we had another night together. I still had feelings for you and I thought for sure we were going to get back together."

"But I ended up choosing Orihime." Ichigo said.

"Yeah... That hurt, but I saw how happy you were with her." Emily said. "I'm over what happened and I think you made the right choice. If you would have chose me, we might have gotten married, but I have a feeling Orihime would still have been in the picture. Things could have gotten complicated if that happened. Now look at us. You have a wife and a kid, and I bet they're both great. I've got Lily and she's really the best thing that has happened to me. I personally think everything worked out for the best."

"You think so? You ended up getting pregnant by a bastard who would rather continue a bachelor life over his own daughter." Ichigo said.

"Maybe, but without him, I wouldn't have Lily. Plus, I've actually been getting acquainted with this guy who is a single father. His kid goes to the same school as Lily. Being a parent is the toughest job, but it's certainly the most rewarding. When it happens to you and you want to be a parent, it doesn't matter how you got your kid. You have your own child and they become your pride and joy." Emily said. She might be a single mother, but she's quite happy with where things are in her life. Ichigo was glad to hear she was doing well. "Ichigo, I like to talk more, but Lily and I need to get going. Let's meet up again some time."

"Sure." Ichigo said as Emily got up and took Lily with her. Hearing how happy Emily is with her life has made Ichigo a little more appreciative of his. If Emily hadn't cheated on her or if he did get back with her, they wouldn't have had different kids, but they wouldn't be Kazui and Lily. Plus, if Orihime did stick around while they were together, it actually would have gotten complicated.

...

Ichigo

Ichigo still continued to ponder about his own life. Emily seems satisfied with how things turned out. He's satisfied with his life as well, but he just couldn't stop thinking about how it all worked. He had other thoughts and ideas for his life than what reality gave him and he wasn't there.

"Is it just you, sir?" A waiter asked as Ichigo ate outside a small restaurant.

"Yeah." Ichigo said. The waiter handed him a menu and gave him a moment. While Ichigo thought things over, he couldn't believe what he saw once again. Sitting at another table was his other ex-girlfriend: Teresa. Another thing about life is that has unexpected surprises and throws curveballs. He stood up and went over to see her. "Teresa?" She looked up and she was just surprised.

"Ichigo? Oh my gosh!" Teresa said as she stood up and hugged him. "It's been too long."

"I'll say. You look great. You haven't really changed." Ichigo said.

"I wouldn't say that. I have had some changes in my life." Teresa said as she gestured down and showed her expanded belly. Ichigo could tell what that was and he was amazed.

"No way! You? Pregnant?" Ichigo said.

"Yep. I can barely believe it myself." Teresa said as the two of them sat down and were getting acquainted with each other.

"But when we were dating, you told me you weren't interested in having kids." Ichigo said as he tried getting a better understanding.

"I wasn't." Teresa said. "This was a result of having too much fun and being too dumb. I wasn't looking forward to having a kid, but there was no way I was going to go through with an abortion. I thought about putting it up for adoption, but when I looked at the sonograms, my mind just kept thinking about me being a mother."

"So, you decided to go through with it? That's incredible." Ichigo said. "You always seemed like the type that put her career first. That's why we broke up."

"Yeah... That was also the detrimental factor to most of my relationships." Teresa said. "Anyway, what about you? I heard that you ended up getting married."

"Still am. You remember Orihime, don't you? We have a son." Ichigo said. "Let me ask you something, Teresa. I'm happy in my marriage, but have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you did something different. Take when we broke up for example. What do you think would have happened if you didn't publish that story?"

"I don't know." Teresa said. "I'm not sure if I still would have wanted children, but there were other great moments in our relationship."

"We certainly did have a lot of fun." Ichigo said.

"Fun? May I remind you about that special outfit I had?" Teresa said.

"Easy, lady. I am married here." Ichigo said. "I'm just thinking, that's all. I mean, if you hadn't published that story, we would have still been together."

"Maybe, but that company you worked for at the time would still be running. That wouldn't have been a good thing." Teresa said. "You couldn't have gotten in so much trouble." When she mentioned that, Ichigo realized he also wouldn't have fallen into a moment of depression and realized he loved Orihime. "Plus, I'm not sure where I would have stand on having children."

"But you're having one now." Ichigo pointed out.

"Yeah..." Teresa said with her feeling sentimental as she held her own stomach. "Before, I couldn't imagine my life with one of them. Now, I can't imagine my life without this little one."

"But what about you being a reporter? It will be hard to raise a kid if you don't have the father helping out." Ichigo said.

"I'll make it work." Teresa said. "I've got to say that you've got it easy compare to me, Ichigo." Hearing from both of his old girlfriends had Ichigo really think about his life. He's starting to see how lucky he does have it.

...

Ichigo's Apartment

Ichigo has been out and about all day thinking about his life. Speaking with both of his old girlfriends has given him new insight in his life. Seeing how those two turned out made Ichigo feel lucky. They all did have children, but the girls are raising kids on their own and are still happy. Ichigo does feel lucky since he is happily married, has a kid, and feels like he's right where he should be. He went straight home when it got dark and saw Orihime was there.

"There you are. Where have you been all day?" Orihime asked.

"Just roaming around." Ichigo said. "Where's Kazui?"

"We actually ran into a friend of his and he invited Kazui to a sleepover." Orihime said. "I was fine with it as long as they don't talk about what they learned in class. That means its just us tonight." She said as she went over and gave him a kiss. With how Ichigo's been feeling, he pulled Orihime closer and kissed her again. With it just being the two of them, Ichigo held nothing back. One intimate moment later, the two of them found themselves in bed and tried catching their breath.

"Woo! Still got it." Ichigo said.

"What was that all about?" Orihime asked.

"Let's just say I'm glad where I am in life." Ichigo said as he pulled his wife closer to him and began to make out with her again. Ichigo might not be where he wanted to be in his life. Sometimes you don't always get the things you want in life, sometimes you get something better.