Rangiku was sick to death of the constant contractions. She'd been on bed rest because of them for five long weeks, and she had another damned three weeks until this baby was due. It was like the hours of labor had been stretched out over weeks, so it was slower and less agonizing, but still miserable and god-awful boring.

It was the middle of the day, but she was sitting in the tub. Baths did wonders for the aches and pains of laying around and being harassed by contractions all day. Sometimes the bath would even make them stop for awhile, and she could get some real rest, but not today. Today they were just getting worse, and worse, and worse. If they didn't give it a rest soon she was going to have someone from the Fourth come and check her out. Maybe it was early labor; wouldn't that be nice?

After an hour in the lovely heated tub with jacuzzi jets-bless Kurotsuchi's black heart for bringing such a wonder to Seireitei-she was pretty sure it was early labor. It was much less unpleasant than she remembered it being. She'd read a book that said humans had started having water births, but she'd never really considered it herself until that moment.

Now she just didn't want to get out. She sighed and leaned back against the padded headrest; Kurotsuchi really had outdone himself trying to get back in the good graces of the Shinigami Women's Association. It had to be the most comfortable tub she'd ever been in. Maybe she could close her eyes and get a little rest before she had to call Unohana.

After awhile, she really wasn't sure how long, the contractions were starting to get seriously uncomfortable, and Rangiku realized that she really was going to have to do something about it.

A few minutes later she was relieved to hear the front door open. Maybe she wouldn't have to do anything after all. Then she heard GIn's voice calling out, "Oi, Ran, where have you gotten to?"

"I'm in the-" she broke off there as a particularly insistent contraction took over her attention.

"What are you doing in the bath?" Gin asked as he slid open the bathroom door.

"It's comfortable," Rangiku answered as soon as she was able to catch her breath.

"Did you know Kin-chan was on the roof? Because he was; someone noticed him from an upstairs window; he was having a picnic on the roof."

"That's nice," Rangiku answered, shifting in the tub because, really, labor wasn't comfortable even in a nice warm bath.

"I made him get down and he's agreed to wait for you for any future roof picnics-really, though, Ran, it's two in the afternoon; why are you taking a bath?"

"It's not a bath; it's a water birth," she informed him.

It was not often she managed to shock Gin into silence, but this time she had succeeded brilliantly. He stood in the doorway staring at her for a solid minute and might well have continued to do so, but Kinta stuck his head in and said, "Mommy, can I use the paints?"

"Could you take them outside, baby?" Rangiku answered. "You don't want to get paint on the floor."

"Ok, Mommy," Kinta answered, happily, and vanished.

"I'm sorry, Ran," Gin said, "I think I must have misheard you a minute ago. What did you say you were doing in the bath?"

"I said it's not a bath." She paused for a moment to take a few slow, deep breaths and reminded herself she'd done this twice before. She had a feeling she was getting to the panic stage of labor, but it really was just stupid. She could do this; she knew she could. In a few hours she'd have a new baby, and it'd all be worth it. "It's a water birth."

"What's a water-Ran, are you-you can't have the baby yet! It's not due for three more weeks!"

"And when did our kids wait for that?" she asked.

"This time," he answered quickly. "This time the baby's going to wait. I'm sure you're just having more of those pre-labor contractions, and the bath's just making it seem worse. Look, I'll give you a hand; you need to get out of the bath."

"What's wrong with you?" Rangiku demanded when Gin came up to the tub and tried to take her by the arm. He had yet to be good about her having a baby, but this was ridiculous. "I'm not getting out. I need you to contact Unohana and tell her the baby's coming, and then I need you to get ahold of Miyako so she can come take Kin-chan-" Her breath caught and she forced herself to draw in one long slow breath before releasing it.

"I'll get Unohana to stop it like she did before," Gin said, quickly. "It'll be fine. It-"

He broke off when Rangiku's hand caught hold of his wrist, squeezing so tight it was actually painful. His eyes went to her face, and the drawn, focused expression that slowly shifted to outright pained.

Rangiku groaned softly as that one passed. She hadn't meant to. Gin was really bad at seeing her in pain, and it'd been years since she'd let him see her hurt. A single curse when she stubbed her toe or banged her head was absolutely all she allowed herself.

She needed him to leave, right now, she needed him to leave and get Unohana so she could have this baby without worrying about her husband panicking. Only she was feeling a little panicked herself. The contractions were escalating way too fast. She couldn't have a baby by herself in the bath.

"I've changed my mind," she announced abruptly. "I need you to get me out of the water."

"What?" Gin demanded. "Ran, what's wrong."

"I need-" Another contraction cut her off and it was a minute before she could tell him. "Help me out of the bath, now. Gin, please-" She clenched her teeth to keep from moaning again.

"Rangiku!" He thrust his arms into the water and lifted her easily, not even noticing that he drenched himself in the tub's water. She twisted in his arms as a contraction tore through her, and all he could do was hold on to her.

"Put me down, put me down!" she ordered frantically. "Just on the ground! Put me down!"

As he knelt, setting her as gently as he could onto the wet stone floor, Kinta reappeared in the doorway.

"I got paint in my nose," the boy announced. "It smells funny."

Gin, half-holding Rangiku against his chest, looked up at the boy, who was unsurprisingly covered head to toe in paint, and shouted, "Go tell Kira the baby is coming, and we need help!"

Kinta's eyes were suddenly the size of saucers. "The baby's coming? I want to see!"

"No!" his parents shouted in tandem.

He looked very disappointed, but he did vanish from the doorway.

Gin stared after him for a second. "Maybe I'd better call them," he said, but when he tried to let Rangiku go, she grabbed hold of him.

"Don't you dare leave me!"

"I won't. I just need a second to send-"

"Don't leave me!" Rangiku repeated, clutching as tight as she could to his arms. "Please, please, Gin!"

"I won't! I promise, Ran. I promise I will stay right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Lieutenant Kotetsu arrived five minutes later, trailed by a young division member who was very excited to attend her first birth, but when they entered the house they found it almost silent. They followed the sound of soft voices to the bathroom.

There on the wet stone floor Rangiku lay, leaning back against her husband's chest, his arms around her as she snuggled a small, towel wrapped bundle against her chest. A cotton kimono had been slung over her, but it was damp and stuck to her wet skin, and Gin was also thoroughly soaked, but they both looked perfectly content, staring down at the infant on Rangiku's chest.

Gin raised his head and smiled at the two women from the Fourth. "You're late," he said softly. "Our daughter came just fine without you."

The lieutenant smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, sir." She stepped into the small space beside the tub and knelt down beside them.

"May I see her for a moment, Rangiku-san?" The lieutenant asked as she carefully lifted the newborn from her mother's arms.

She was smaller and thinner than her brothers had been, three weeks early made a difference, but she stared up at Kotetsu with a cautious look very reminiscent of her oldest brother as the healer made a quick examination. She was as pale as Toshiro with the same feathery white hair. "She's beautiful," Kotetsu told Rangiku as she surrendered her to her mother. "Have you got a name for her yet?"

"Yukiko," Gin answered. "Nice and simple and to the point, don't you think?"

"And perfect," Rangiku added. "Absolutely perfect."