Notes: This is the chapter I've been planning in my head for months. Enjoy.

Ichigo ran down the hallway to the bathroom, awakened early the next morning by a sudden and frustrating case of nausea. Unable to go back to sleep he wandered downstairs to see about breakfast. Komamura was still flopped on the floor by the hearth, and this time there were the remains of a hearth fire. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra had gone to sleep in their room.

Komamura snorted, kicked the air, and then his eyes cracked open. "Oh, Kurosaki-san, you're awake."

"Morning sickness."

"Ah, you know, one time when I had a stomach flu I had oatmeal for breakfast and I could keep it down quite well. Perhaps that will not upset your stomach?"

"not a bad idea. My mother used to make it in the winter. But she craved it when she was pregnant with Karin and Yuzu." Ichigo headed for the kitchen.

He had a pot of oatmeal bubbling on the stove when the crackle of sonido made him turn around. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow had woken up, and Ichigo was slightly taken aback to find them in their released forms. Furthermore Grimmjow's hole had moved up his stomach into his chest taking his baby heavy body into account as the 'kits' grew.

"What happened?"

"We're stuck in our released forms until we give birth." Ulquiorra was in his second form, something Ichigo was extremely uncomfortable around. He held out his arm delicately, showing a bracelet around it. "And our bodies have been altered to eat human food, which i'm hoping will become a permanent arrangement. Though I was told we would need twice as much protein as a human would."

Grimmjow was sniffing the pot of oatmeal, eager to try his first 'human' meal. "It looks awefully plain!"

"Oatmeal is plain at first but you're supposed to put things in it." Ichigo explained, rummaging through the cupboards. He found honey, maple syrup, raisins, almonds, dried cranberries, brown sugar. "Oooooh, they have Quinoa, i'll make that for lunch."

"Quinoa?"

"its a grain with a large amount of nutrients, you prepare it in a similar manner to oatmeal, but its really bitter in flavor. You need to sweeten it."

"I see." Ulquiorra was poking around the kitchen. "Forgive me, I've never cooked before." Ichigo was struggling to reach a jar of almonds in a cabinet above his head, but Ulquiorra grabbed the jar with his tail and set it delicately down on the counter. "If you cannot reach something, simply ask. I am very early on in my gestation, and so, I am still nimble."

"Sure." With Ulquiorra's help fetching things, the oatmeal soon smelled tempting when Byakuya entered. Ulquiorra meanwhile, looped his tail around Grimmjow's waist in a possessive posture.

Ichigo walked over to Byakuya and gave him a kiss. "oatmeal?" Byakuya asked.

"I got sick this morning." He replied. "When I came downstairs looking green around the gills, Komamura said when he got a stomach flu that thats what he had for breakfast. This is my mother's old recipe."

"I see." Byakuya responded to the kiss with an, almost smile. But Ichigo felt the warmth in his reiatsu and in his hands that gave the gesture much more love.

In a few minutes, the oatmeal was done and the group gathered around the couch while Grimmjow and Ulquiorra had their first meal of human food. Ichigo had to laugh. Ulquiorra used his tail to hold the spoon while he kept his arms around Grimmjow. (1) Ichigo thought that was cute.

There was a knock on the door, and Soifon entered. "Grimmjow, I was wondering if you wanted some exercise? You too Ulquiorra?"

"What did you have in mind."

"I was thinking going running, nothing major, my flash step, your sonido. Yamamoto said that I'm to make sure you get out in public for a little bit every day."

"i'm game." Grimmjow had been lapping his oatmeal like a cat.

"me too." Ulquirorra regarded soi fon. "I am quite speedy, though in this form flying is easier than sonido."

"I can't get over that tail." Ichigo chuckled. "Soi fon taichou, come have some oatmeal, its my mother's old recipe."

"don't mind if I do. oh, Ulquiorra? Orihime was asking after you. Whatever you did, she seemed to grow attached to you."

"I was in charge of her welfare at Los Noches." Ulquiorra replied. "however, I was... comforted by her presence, when I thought I was going to die. And she was the first human who wasn't terrified of me. Even you shinigami hated and reviled me by my very nature. She, however, wasn't afraid at all."

Soi Fon was about to say something when a blur of long orange hair streaked past her. "Ulquiorra-kun!" Ulquiorra was taken aback when the orange haired girl's hugging him. "I heard, congratulations!" Grimmjow and Ichigo got hugged next, Orihime trying to hug all three of them at once. "Zephly's attack on the park caused them to cancel school, so I'm here to see how you are!" Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were nearly finished with their meal. They'd eaten neatly, but very fast. Ichigo wasn't even half done with his breakfast.

Soifon sighed. "Orihime, why don't you stay here with Ichigo for now? I was going to take the arrancars for a run. Yamamoto said they have to have the chance to go out at least an hour a day. They can refuse if they wish but..."

"No problem." Grimmjow chuckled. "Climb on Orihime."

"Are you sure? You're pregnant!"

"Sure! Thats part of the reason why we were put into our released forms while we're in this state, so that we'd be stronger and better able to defend ourselves if Zephly came to take his research back."

Ichigo was surprised, for some reason Grimmjow was able to lift Orihime, effortlessly despite his baby heavy belly.

"How can I explain..." Ulquiorra hmmmed. "Spending long periods of time in ressurecion form is comparable to your bankai being permanently activated. That bankai compresses your spirit energy into a highly concentrated form in your body. Doing so raises your speed and reaction times as well as your strength." He paused. "however, Grimmjow, please allow me to carry Orihime-chan, I do not wish you to strain yourself." Ulquiorra hoisted the girl onto his back, resting her between his wings. "Besides, I could probably give her a more thrilling ride."

As they followed Soifon outside and she leaped to the rooftops, and Grimmjow followed her, Ulquiorra took a few running steps and lifted off into the air. Orihime squealed in delight, her shun shun rikka following in their wake. "hang on tightly." Ulquiorra told her. "And enjoy the view." He circled a hundred feet up, waiting for Grimmjow and Soi Fon to get moving. After a few moments, the two below were running over the rooftops. Ulquiorra swooped in low, Orihime hanging on tightly, hovering beside the two.

Grimmjow looked over, and found that his cold koibito had a huge grin on his face, first time he'd ever seen such a look.

Soifon had been instructed to try and tire Grimmjow and Ulquiorra out with the exercise, but she rapidly found out that that was easier said than done. By the time Grimmjow finally tired out, they'd made it to Sokyouku hill. The four of them finally flopped down at the base of the ruined gallows and Grimmjow was only panting with a thin sheen of sweat, Ulquiorra was breathing hard, and Soi Fon was soaked in sweat from head to toe.

"Wow. I can't believe your endurance."

Grimmjow laughed. "its due to us being in our released states." Ulquiorra replied. "It would be the equivalent of spending months with one's bankai activated. Only instead of your blade transforming its your body."

"I see." Soifon did tend to exhibit heightened senses and reaction times when she released her bankai.

"You did a good job though, you're fast. And not many people can keep up with an Espada for that long." Grimmjow was on all fours, shaking himself out and yawning in a very cat like form.

"We'd better return, Ichigo will wonder what has happened to us."

"Kyouraku will be taking over when we get back." Added Soi Fon. "I have things I have to do back at the division. Once you've had the baby Grimmjow, I'd like a chance to see what you can do. In a regulated bout of course." Soi Fon was starting to like Grimmjow. Yoruichi was her only love and would always be, but perhaps the arrancar could be useful on the battlefield, and as a training partner.

They returned to find a small trail of garments leading from the entryway to the couch, where Ichigo and Byakuya were asleep in each other's arms, curled up as cute as can be. Soifon's face turned purple, and she disappeared with a call of "Yoruiiichiiii saaaamaaaa! Where are youuuuuuuuu?" Heading in the opposite direction.

Ichigo jumped a mile, Byakuya had been only half awake, supporting Ichigo against him. Then orihime saw them and squealed, turning around and covering her eyes. "K...K...K... Kurosaki kun!" She blushed.

"er... Orihime... uuuuhhhh..." The sudden intrusion left him somewhat dazed as Byakuya pulled the blankets over them tighter.

Ichigo grunted, sitting up. Grimmjow simply dropped, flopping on the ground next to the couch and stretching out like only a cat can. Orihime plunked down right next to him. "you know, you didn't hold still long enough for me to..."

"To what?" Grimmjow asked.

"Um..." Orihime blushed, looking down at Grimmjow's baby belly.

Grimmjow blinked, allowing Orihime to stroke his belly. "What is it with people not being able to resist stroking a baby belly?"

"Its just... so cute..." Orihime mumbled, turning red. "It will be even cuter on Kurosaki-kun and Ulquiorra-chan."

"you refer to me in the female?" Ulquiorra asked.

"You're more feminine than Grimmjow is."

"I'm surprised you can be attached to the both of them Orihime." Ichigo commented.

"Grimmjow saved me from Loly and Menoly, and I fixed his arm." Orihime blushed. "Its only when he's trying to kill you that I don't like him. And Ulquiorra I... I kind of felt sorry for him. I'm glad he's away from Aizen. I think working for him was stunting his spiritual growth."

Ichigo snickered. "oh really?"

Orihime blushed. "I just... thought there would be more to him than you and the others gave him credit for. Certainly more than Aizen tried to make us think there would be. Besides, Grimmjow-kun is pregnant with Kurosaki-kun and Abarai-kun's babies, why shouldn't I be interested?" She put her ear to Grimmjow's baby belly.

"I suppose you're right." Grimmjow blushed.

Orihime grinned. "you have that pregnant glow too. Thats so cute!" Ichigo watched as Grimmjow allowed Orihime to fuss over his belly, the former Espada was blushing hugely, tail twitching like a cats, telegraphing a happy mood with its slow side to side motions and the appendage being held up straight.

"They started kicking last night." Grimmjow was grinning stupidly. "Maybe they'll do it for you."

Orihime squealed a few moments later. "They did! They did! Kurosaki-kun, get a robe on and see!" Ichigo reached for his kimono and wrapped it around himself, placing a hand on grimmjow's stomach and smiling when he felt the response.

Byakuya was somewhat jealous, but at least with Orihime around, Grimmjow might be worried about making an overtly sexual gesture to his Ichigo. He still couldn't help being a little green eyed when it came to people Ichigo had been with.

Ichigo had his ear to Grimmjow's stomach, blushing furiously when he felt the babies kicking.

Then what Ichigo did next stunned Byakuya and almost gave him a hard on in front of their feminine visitor. Ichigo pulled away from Grimmjow and sashayed sexily up to Byakuya. He looped his arms around Byakuya's neck, pressing his body up against him and kissed him, long and slow.

Then once a now gasping Byakuya pulled back for air, Ichigo pushed him gently back onto an easy chair and sat in his lap, guiding the Kuchiki's hands to his stomach and flattening them against his abdomen. He reached up and whispered in Byakuya's ear. "When I'm gravid, will you touch my belly too?"

Byakuya's response was a huge blush, and Ichigo felt his erection hardening beneath his buttocks. Orihime pulled a camera out of her purse and took a picture. "that one is for Rukia-chan! Kurosaki-kun what did you tell him?"

Byakuya's mind was still reeling. As he realized by that statement that Ichigo didn't /want/ to try and avoid getting pregnant. He was taking that it would happen as a matter of certainty. And he was open, even submissive to the idea of having children.

He hadn't been sexually interested in Grimmjow, despite wanting to bond with the child he'd sired with the former Espada, he was trying to use Grimmjow's condition as a way to mentally process what was going to happen to him.

And now Byakuya's grip on his lover tightened, and he leaned down to nuzzle Ichigo tenderly. He whispered in his ear. "Are you that certain it will happen?" He asked, kissing his koi's neck and sucking on the skin hard enough to leave a hicky.

"If this Zephly is as clever with his virus as Yamamoto says he is, I have no doubt it will happen." he whispered. "the question is, who's is it? Yours, or..."

Byakuya shivered, burying his face in Ichigo's hair. He of course had been briefed about the rule about multiple partners. He'd been told to keep that quiet until Unohana could medically support it in Ichigo.

Over the next week, Hitsugaya and Yumichika came out of hiding with their mates alongside them, and when Ichigo watched the two couples return he saw a marked difference. Yumichika was squealing and clinging to Ikkaku and generally acting like a newlywed.

Hitsugaya simply walked, hand in hand with Shinji, a faint, healthy flush to his normally pale cheeks and every so often he'd lean gently on Shinji for a few moments. For once in his life, the ice ball was exuding warmth.

Ichigo and Renji helped Byakuya in the office. From what Ichigo heard Uryu's cooking was delicious, he was happy that he was not being called freeloader at meal times, and his gigai had never been dressed so well when they went to see a movie. Uryu was coming down to the soul society in a couple of days when the school had a long weekend.

Karin's kido lessons went swimmingly, and Yoruichi even had her flash stepping and playing shunpo tag. She seemed to enjoy showing them off for Hitsugaya and Shinji. Ichigo even got his cero lessons and was soon firing small ceros without the use of his hollow form.

The day Uryu, Orihime and Sado were to be visiting them was also the day Ichigo was to see Unohana for his exam, and he was glad that his friends would be coming to the soul society to support him. That day when Ichigo woke up he found a pregnancy test outside his and Byakuya's door, with a bow tied on it. Ichigo groaned, the bow was pale green, and Ichigo supposed that Ulquiorra had found an extra and tied a ribbon on it and left it for him.

Ulquiorra had proven to have rather poor social skills, but well meaning manners. Ichigo had been simply teaching the arrancar how to live. Ulquiorra seemed to have developed a talent for cooking. And a simple, courteous breakfast, including oatmeal for Ichigo's upset stomach, was always waiting when he woke up.

Byakuya rolled over in bed, looking up at the ceiling for a few moments before he sniffed. "Smells like Ulquiorra's cooking again."

"Yeah. I think he left a pregnancy test outside the door too." Ichigo frowned. "Wake up, I'm going to go use this thing."

Byakuya was always a grouch in the morning, Hisana would always lure him out of bed with a cup of tea and a bowl of rice sprinkled with cinnamon, but until he had his first cup of tea in the morning Byakuya was always grumpy, and more often than not he and Ichigo curled up together in the morning.

Ichigo entered the bathroom, test in hand, it didn't take long to figure out how to do it. And so he set the test on the sink to develop and took a shower. The hot water was soothing to his nerves.

When Ichigo came out, the test had developed. It took some fumbling with the directions to find that it was, indeed, positive. Ichigo's eyes widened, he stared for a few moments, then he ran out of the bathroom, dry, but naked, and leapt onto the bed. "BYAKUYA!" He exclaimed in excitement, handing Byakuya the positive test and throwing his arms around him.

"Congratulations." Byakuya's cheeks flushed slightly, looping his arms around Ichigo's waist. "time to eat and head down to Unohana's. I'll send a hell butterfly ahead saying you took the test already."

Ulquiorra had oatmeal waiting for Ichigo. "Did the test work?"

"yes it did, and its positive, thank you."

"I had little doubt about Zephly's capability." Ulquiorra replies. "He knew what Microbes were before humans even had a microscope. Whatever his faults and even with everything he's done he's considered a hero among the arrancars. A bit on the cranky side but..."

"Cranky?"

"Yes, he doesn't like to be disturbed when he's thinking, or working. He doesn't just do medical things, he does research too. His library has almost any subject you can find, I experienced it once when I was just out of my cocoon. I've never seen more books in my life, and miles and miles of shelves with scrolls and books."

"you've been in his library?"

"Yes. He's done quite a bit of work on turning animals into hollows."

"What does he do with them?"

"Well what do humans raise animals for?" Ulquiorra asks. "The stronger ones he has aid him in battle, the others he uses for pack and draft animals and for food."

"I see."

"my point is that there is always more to us arrancar than you see on the surface. Zephly's skills are awesome and terrifying, but not everything he makes is evil. All you shinigami see are the evil that we do and so you think we are unable to do anything else. The fact is many arrancar sought to become what they are not out of a desire for power but a desire to escape the hunger. When you confront Zephly, please do not do it with malice in your heart? He's old, and a bit crochety, but he's sweet when you get to know him."

"I... I'll try." Ichigo was eating his breakfast while they talked. Interacting with Ulquiorra was always pleasant. Much more so than when they were fighting each other.

It didn't take long for Ichigo and Byakuya to head to Unohana's office hand in hand. When they arrived Orihime, Uryu, Renji and Sado greeted them. Orihime threw her arms around Ichigo, and Renji had his hand on Uryu's buttocks rather than his waist, with the quincy trying very hard not to blush and everyone else ignoring the gesture.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime squealed. "Today's the big day!"

"I know." Ichigo chuckled.

"Nervous?"

"Petrified." Ichigo replied. "Thank you all for coming."

Unohana chuckled. "Ichigo, here's a hospital robe, go get changed. You're going to like this, I'm sure your father performed ultra sound scans when he had a pregnant patient?"

"He also uses them to check the heart but I have seen him use it."

"Well the machine we use is quite different. It has a clearer picture, we can even use it to determine species and parentage. Vizard is only passed on to the children fifty percent of the time for a coupling of two vizards, twenty five percent if its a vizard and a shinigami. So there is the chance that one of the children has an inner hollow from birth, there's also the chance that it could be triggered later in life under the right stresses so we have to find out now. However, the final indicator will be birth. Some vizard children who have their hollows from birth are born with their masks on, which then fall off and shatter when they are born. Unfortunately, children born with their inner hollows may have difficulty with their milestones, and if so would need special therepy and counciling as they grow to make sure their milestones are hit."

Ichigo nodded. His title was substitute shinigami, his loyalty was to the shinigami, that meant he was socially considered one of them. But anatomically Ichigo knew he was a vizard. Medically he had to be treated like one.

He changed into the white medical robe and when he came back Unohana gestured for him to lie down on the medical bed. She had Orihime and Sado sit further back in the room than Uryu and Renji and allowed Byakuya to sit next to Ichigo and hold his hand. Ichigo blushed, pulling aside the opening of his kimono for Unohana to run the scan.

The machine Unohana used was a large, basketball sized crystal cluster with the familiar ultrasound wand attached to it by a cord. "This will be a little cold." Ichigo blushed even deeper as the wand made contact.

After a few moments a hologram sprung up from the crystal. "This is why I love this machine." Unohana chuckled, the image was Ichigo's lower body (though his more private parts, such as the penis were not shown on the hologram. "You can interact with the hologram, I just poke the part I want to look at." Unohana indicated the reproductive system. "You can see quite clearly now the way Zephly's system works. All the reproductive organs are there, uterus, one ovary to take better advantage of space, there's even the beginnings of a birth canal right here. And then at the back there's an entry that makes insemination possible, even easier from behind. That passage then closes and knits together, making entry impossible even for the smallest of microbes.

"At the same time, the cervix attached to the forming birth canal is also sealed quite tightly to protect the womb and the fetus inside. There's some impressive defenses in place here." Unohana was quite pleased with what she was seeing. "You can't quite see it, but there's a lining of reiatsu surrounding the womb. Its forming a slightly more fluid version of souryoku to prevent wounding both the organ and the baby inside."

Ichigo's face wouldn't stop flushing a brighter and brighter red. Then Unohana gently poked the holographic representation of Ichigo's womb, and what Ichigo saw next took his breath away.

Three tiny curled forms shone on the hologram. Orihime's squeal drowned Ichigo's delighted gasp. Ichigo spied a pink blush on Sado's cheeks as the giant stood and peered over at the holographic readout for a better look. "Now here's where it gets fun." Unohana flipped a switch on the wand, and the three forms on the monitor turned different colors. Two of them turned red. The third a pale blue, quincy blue. "Two shinigami and a quincy. Congratulations."

Unohana immediately noticed something wrong, though certainly not with the children. Even as Ichigo's friends started cheering and offering their own congratulations. Uryu was completely silent, and his face was turning from white, to red, to a nice, humiliated, angry, frustrated shade of purple. Then he immediately turned away, refusing to look at Ichigo or the holographic readout or at Unohana.

"Alright, now for the fun part. Parentage. Its obvious that the quincy child is Uryu's, now its time to determine the parantage of the other two. Renji you're closest, you go first, place your hand on mine." Unohana indicated the hand holding on to the ultrasound wand.

When Renji's hand covered hers, Unohana pushed a button. And one of the two shinigami fetuses glowed white in response. "So that one is Renji's, thank you Renji, you can remove your hand now. Byakuya?" As Ichigo watched, when Byakuya's hand reached out to touch the ultrasound wand, the other shinigami fetus glowed white. "And that one is Byakuya's." Ichigo cried out in delight, sitting up and throwing his arms around Byakuya. Unohana chuckled and withdrew, turning off the machine.

"So, Uryu, looks like we're going to have a family huh?" Renji asked. "If of course Ichigo doesn't want to keep custody."

"Do you really think I'd want to cut them off from their other parents? If you want them then I'm not going to keep you from them." Ichigo said with a chuckle.

"Thats assuming I'm interested in being corralled into fatherhood the way Renji and Byakuya are." Uryu said coldly, looking at Ichigo sidelong. "Maybe they're interested in being fathers, but they're both older than I am. I'm not going to ruin my schooling being a parent, and neither, Kurosaki, should you. Have fun with fatherhood the three of you. But I'm not going to be guilted into caring for a child I don't want." He turned on a heal and left.

Total and complete silence engulfed the once happy atmosphere in the hotel room. Orihime's face turned red with fury. Sado turned white under his tan. Byakuya was so enraged that his hand immediately went to senbonzakura and he took a step forwards as if fighting the urge to flash step after Uryu and kill him. Renji just gawked, completely shocked at the behavior of the mate he thought he knew as being polite, kind hearted and sensitive.

And Ichigo started to cry. Just cry and wail. And his mate's distress was what stopped Byakuya's near murderous rage at Uryu cold. He swept Ichigo up in his arms, trying to comfort his mate.

But Ichigo would not be comforted. He couldn't stop crying and even though some rational part of his brain said "its his father, he's scared of his father" all Ichigo could think at the moment was "why why why whywhywhywhywhy? How could Uryu be so cruel?"

1. God I love that prehensile tail. Shweeeeee... :D Its so cute! And the things you could do with it!