Okay, so I'm gonna try to sit down and write chapter three! :D I'm excited about this story but I hope all of you who are reading this are enjoying it too. :)

Anyway, here we go with chapter three! :3

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Mina's POV:

After sleeping for nearly nine and a half hours I woke to the sound of my mother's voice. I opened my eyes slowly and looked around my room, searching for any sign that Renji was still here or that him arriving hadn't just been a dream I had had. But there was nothing. Nothing in my room was moved as if he had been messing with anything, no bag detecting that he was staying, not even a single bandanna I usually found on the floor when he stayed at my apartment. Nothing that proved Renji had been in my presence at all.

My nerves got the better of me as I sat up slowly and carefully, standing from my bed and quickly walking down the hallway. My mother had been calling me from the small kitchen tucked away beside the living room. As I came to the end of the hallway I noticed Mom at the stove cooking pancakes. She smiled at me and asked me how many I wanted.

I began to panic, not really believing he would do something so horrible as run out on me while I slept! I mean, sure, I worried about it, but even that was mild. Now I was waking up and he was just gone. The thought brought tears to my eyes.

"Mina, why are you still wearing your dress from yesterday? Did you crash last night?" my mother asked, glancing up at me, now noticing my upset and surprised expression. "Mina, Sweety, what's wrong?"

"H-have...have you seen Renj-" I began, cutting myself off as I heard the bathroom door open behind me. Spinning on my heels I saw Renji walk out of the small room, relief flooding through me. He absently tossed a towel into the hamper, cocking an eyebrow at my expression I'm sure. He was clad in a different pair of jeans and a dark blue T-shirt, his wet hair laying lazily against his shoulders.

"Renji," I sighed, absentmindedly holding a hand up above my chest, resting it along my collar bone.

"What? You okay?" he asked, clearly concerned.

I shook my head, pushing his questions aside. "Nothing, I'm fine," I answered.

"Mina, how many pancakes do you want?" my mother asked impatiently, although when I returned my attention to her she was smiling back at me.

"Two, thanks," I said, heading back down the hall.

"What are you doing now? They're almost done!" she called after me.

"Changing," I answered, not bothering to turn around.

Right as I closed my door I heard Renji ask, "Hiromi, is she alright?", causing me to smile slightly.

I slipped off my cardigan and yellow sun dress before replacing them with another loose dress. Dresses were the most comfortable thing to wear as my stomach grew more and more everyday and with the fact that it was summer. The dress I had put on was simple, pink with a floral design. There was an elastic waist band pulling the dress tighter just above my jutting stomach, the bottom of it flowing down my legs, stopping right above the knee. I didn't bother putting on a sweater to cover my bare shoulders and quickly headed back into the living room.

I noticed right away that my mother was missing, causing me to cock an eyebrow. "Where's mom?" I asked Renji, finding him sitting at the small table resting against the wall next to the hallway entrance, eating breakfast.

"She went to check the mail," he said absently, finally looking up at me. His eyes seemed to linger on my stomach, causing me to smile again.

He noticed my expression and said, "It's really weird to see you...like that."

Nodding I answered, "Try waking up one day and having it there." I was joking but he didn't seem to think it was funny. I didn't wait for an answer before grabbing my plate from the kitchen counter and taking a seat next to him at the table. I ate deliberately, not rushing myself. We sat in silence as there seemed to be to be an uncomfortable air in the room. It was really awkward sitting next to him, the guy who knocked me up, after being pregnant for so long. Thankfully Mom came back before we had to start forcing conversation.

She came up the stairs, looking through the envelopes she had retrieved from the mailbox. Absently she placed a new issue of the pregnancy magazine she had subscribed to for me next to my plate I was eating off of. "Are they alright?" she asked Renji, referring to the late breakfast she had made him.

"Yeah, thanks Hiromi," he answered.

"Good," she said, lightly patting him on the shoulder before continuing toward the couch, not looking up from the mail as she walked a memorized path. Plopping herself onto the couch she threw the mail onto the coffee table and looked at the clock. My mother didn't know about Renji or the Soul Society, but she knew there was something...different about him. We had talked about it before, carefully of course, so she knew Renji wasn't necessarily a high school student. Surprisingly enough, she didn't question me and allowed our relationship to continue. Her open-ness to our relationship had turned out be a great idea on her part; not that I was blaming her for our mistake.

"When did you get home, Renji?" Mom asked, resting her feet on the coffee table, knocking some of the envelopes onto the floor carelessly.

"Around three," he answered, standing and taking his empty plate to the sink. As he returned from the kitchen he headed toward the couch, sitting on the opposite side as my mom, laying his feet on the coffee table also. His actions made it seem like he was avoiding me. I know that sounds stupid, but it just felt like he was trying to get away from me.

Before I had much time to think about it I heard the door open.

"Hey, Mina, why haven't you been answering your cell phone?" I heard Rukia's voice gain volume as she and Ichigo ascended the stairs. She was looking right at me, not noticing Renji's presences until Ichigo elbowed her lightly. As she glanced at him she spotted her friend on the couch, her eyebrows raising in surprise. "Renji, you...when did you get here?" she questioned.

"Around three this morning," my mother answered for him absently, not seeming to notice Rukia's serious tone.

"Uh, Mom?" I said, silently asking her to give us some space. She understood right away and stood.

"I'll go take a shower," she said absently, going down the hallway and heading for the bathroom connected to her room.

"So," Rukia started, leaving Ichigo's side to take a seat next to him. "You know." Her voice was collected and calm as she made her statement.

"Yes," he answered just as calmly.

Ichigo was watching them intently, a stern look on his face. He looked...angry. And I mean a lot angrier than he usually did. I didn't understand. After the two on the couch seemed to be done with their conversation, Ichigo took a step closer to the table and sat across from me.

"Hey, Mina, how are you today?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm good, thank you," I answered, smiling at him.

"You sure? You seemed pretty upset last night," he continued, concerned. The way Ichigo seemed to look after me was overwhelming. He always seemed to be looking after me, right from the beginning. But now that I was pregnant he was just acting like I was his responsibility, like he really was the father. And then I saw Renji's reaction to all of this and I just felt nervous. How horrible was that? I was felt so safe with Ichigo's watchful eye on me and the thought of Renji taking care of me and our baby scared the hell out of me!

"Mina?" Ichigo's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," I said, smiling up at him. "I'm positive, just tired. Thank you, Ichigo."

He nodded but didn't look very convinced. "Alright," he answered, giving me a skeptical look before glaring off.

Suddenly Rukia stood from her seat, cradling her elbows in opposite palms, while turning to face Renji. "What are you going to do about this, Renji?" she asked.

Renji looked up at her, his eyebrows twitching as he tried to hold back a glare. "What are you talking about?"

"About Soul Society. What are you going to do? You're a captain, you can't just stay on Earth for the next six months," she stated, her hip cocking to side as she continued to interrogate him.

Sighing quietly, he said, "I really don't know. I'll just...have to talk to Yamamoto," he answered.

How reassuring, I thought, unable to keep the bitterness out of my internal tone. I had to stop this, it wasn't Renji's fault I didn't tell him about this sooner. He wasn't prepared, he found out the day before. Hell, even I wasn't prepared and I had known for a month and a half already. I had no right to be angry at him.

Sighing quietly, I pushed the thought away for now. Rukia looked over at me and smiled. "I brought you some clothes I bought yesterday," she said randomly. "Just hold on a second, they're in Ichigo's truck," she stated, walking across the room and descending the stairs speedily. As she left the apartment, I dismissed myself to the bathroom in the hallway, leaving Ichigo and Renji alone.

After a few minutes I started drying off my hands and heard Ichigo's voice. It was quiet, but stern. After pressing my ear to the door and listening intently, I finally understood what he was saying. "You better just take care of her," he stated bluntly, anger in his tone.

"Why don't you shut the hell up and mind your own business?" Renji snapped back, obviously pissed at Ichigo's silent accusation.

"Mina's my friend, I'm just looking out for her. The last thing she needs you to do is back out because you don't want a kid," Ichigo answered.

"I'm not going to 'back out'!"

"Whatever, Renji."

"What the hell makes you think I'm going to leave her anyway?" said man demanded.

"I just do. And I'm not the only one, Rukia's worried about it too. Besides, Mina's not the only one who needs you, your kid does too."

"Rukia thinks I'm going to leave Mina?" Renji questioned, disbelief in his tone.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered.

"Well neither of you have any reason to worry. This is my mistake and I'm taking responsibility." Renji's angry answer caused my heart to clench. I know what he meant, getting me pregnant was the mistake, not being more careful, that. But his choice of words just made me want to cover up the baby's ears. If it's developed it's ears..., I thought. I still had plenty to learn about pregnancy.

"Fine," Ichigo answered, still sounding pissed as well. They grew silent so I decided to get back to them.

Rukia returned after I stepped back into the living room, breaking the silence the two boys and I had been surrounded in. "They were on sale, so don't think much of it. But they were so cute, I saw them and thought of you," she continued, approaching me with bags in hand. "Try them on!" she demanded, handing me the bags.

"Alright," I answered, heading back toward the bathroom. Most of it was dresses, but there were a few pair of jeans from a maternity brand, which fit great and comfortably. After trying on all the pieces Rukia had bought for me and changing back into my pink, floral dress, I exited the bathroom and sat the bag in my room. Then I headed back to the living room, crossing the room and sitting on the couch next to Renji.

"Thanks, Rukia, they're all really cute," I said, smiling up at her.

"No problem, I'm glad you like them," she answered. She now stood next to Ichigo, who was still at the table. Leaning against Ichigo, she lightly rested her hand on his head, her fingers running through his hair absently. Ichigo reacted by leaning closer to her as well, resting his head on her shoulder.

"We should go," he said to her, reluctantly sitting up again.

"Already?" I asked, clearly disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be helping Dad at the clinic today," he answered, standing and grabbing Rukia's hand.

"Okay, well, be careful on your way home," I said, smiling up at them as they slipped their shoes on.

"Yep. You be careful, too," Rukia started, turning back to me. "You know how clumsy you can be, don't trip and hurt yourself. Or the baby." She smile widely as she teased me.

Returning the gesture, I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be careful."

"See ya, Mina," Ichigo began, turning toward the stairs. "If you need anything, let us know." With that, they left.

Leaning back on the couch, I scooted closer to Renji, resting my head against his shoulder. He instinctively grabbed my hand, our fingers intertwining as I heard my mother's bedroom door opening. She walked down the hallway, smiling at us as she pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail.

"Mina, don't forget. You have an appointment with your OB GYN tomorrow. Another sonogram," she said, going to the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"Oh, yeah. What time?" I asked absently, not looking forward to it. Those appointments bored me, other than the sonograms, so I guess it wouldn't be too bad.

"It's noon, I think. Renji, you gonna come with us?" my mother asked, causing me to look up at him.

His eyebrows rose slightly before he answered. "Uh...sure..."

"Alright," she said absently, heading back to her room.

Suddenly I felt more nervous. I felt bad, like my mother was forcing Renji to be involved, but I knew that wasn't the case. I just worried over how things were going to be between us if we continued to be awkward around each other. Are things going to get easier with him around? I questioned myself, nervously biting my lip while pulling closer to Renji.

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Okay, so there's chapter three. Sorry if things are moving sort of slowly. I know the last chapter I apologized for rushing things last chapter, but now I feel like I'm...boring you. Am I? I'm honestly boring myself, that's why I'm sort of struggling with this, ah ha. :) Sorry all. But yeah, please review and let me know what you think! :D Next chapter more should happen, I'm starting to think ahead again! :D Thanks for reading!