Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter Fifteen

Nine months later…
Kurosaki House

Ichigo walked into the home, worn out from another day at work with Ikumi. Now that he no longer had school to cut into his time, Ikumi would start to work Ichigo from sunup to sundown. Though it was exhausting, Ikumi would give him time off to go out on dates with Rukia, giving the new couple some time to be together.

"I'm home!" he called out.

Walking into the living room, Ichigo sat down and heard a noise come from the kitchen. "Oh, Ichigo?" came his stepmother's voice. "How was work?"

Ichigo looked into the kitchen and saw his friend/stepmother cooking. "Uh, Orihime? You sure you should be cooking?" he asked out of concern.

Orihime Kurosaki walked out of the kitchen, taking off her apron. "Oh, don't worry, Ichigo. I've just been so restless I couldn't help but start baking."

Ichigo chuckled, knowing that Orihime's profession of baking was becoming her hobby now. His eyes turned down to her swollen stomach. It'd taken a while for him to get used to the idea of Orihime as his stepmother but he was still trying to come to terms to the fact that she was carrying a little brother and sister inside of her. "How are you?" he asked. "Are you sure you should be up?"

"I'm fine, Ichigo!" Orihime said, rubbing her pregnant stomach. "I just felt the need to do something. I get so restless that I felt the need to bake."

As Orihime returned to the kitchen Ichigo recalled the past few months as his new stepmother went through her pregnancy. Like every woman going through her first pregnancy, Orihime was nervous but was blessed with the support of her new family and her friends. At first everything was all right but then the Kurosakis had to suddenly deal with Orihime's mood swings and food cravings.

Though she never got full-on angry, at times Orihime could become so irritated that she seemed like a powder keg about to go off. At other times she'd suddenly become severely depressed, her fears of becoming a mother driving her to tears. It took Isshin's soft comfort to help her through those tense times, knowing full well a pregnant woman's mood swings.

Her food cravings, however, kept everyone on their toes. Orihime already had a penchant for strange food but whenever she was in the mood for food her choice of food combos got downright weird. Ichigo and the others would come in for dinner to find that Orihime had made a chocolate and ketchup filled lasagna or some other strange mix. After the third time it'd happened Yuzu and Karin made sure to keep the pizzeria's number on speed-dial.

The door closed and Isshin came in. "Hey, Ichigo. You're home early," the father noted.

"Ikumi let me off early so that I could go on my date with Rukia."

Isshin gave his son a knowing smile. "Oh? And this date wouldn't happen to take place at a certain hotel in town, would it?"

Ichigo's face turned bright red in embarrassment. "Dad! How did you know?"

"Orihime found the receipt in your pocket while she was doing laundry. Tell me," the father said with a sly grin, "Does Byakuya know you're taking his sister to love hotels?"

"Dad!"

The discussion was cut short, however, when they heard a loud clang from the kitchen. Both men became alarmed and Isshin dashed into the kitchen. "Orihime, what was that?" The husband's eyes widened in alarm when he saw Orihime hunched over. "Orihime! What's wrong?"

"My stomach…I just felt a wave of pain!" Orihime groaned, her hands going to her belly. She'd felt the baby kick before but it was nothing like what she'd felt now. "It hurts…"

Isshin examined his wife and in an instant he knew what was happening. "Ichigo, go and get the spare room in the clinic ready. Orihime's going into labor!"

Ichigo looked at his father wearily as he lifted his wife up. "She's having the baby here? You sure that's the right thing? Shouldn't we take her to a hospital instead?" he asked. He knew that the clinic was prepared for childbirths but with Yuzu and Karin out shopping there'd be nobody to help his father deliver the baby. As much as Ichigo would like to help he didn't really know that much about medicine. "You're going to deliver the baby all by yourself?"

Carrying a pained Orihime past him, Isshin looked at his son. "Why not? I delivered you and your sisters after all. Why break tradition now?"

"Actually, Isshin," came a voice from behind them, "If you recall, you didn't deliver Ichigo alone."

The others turned to see Kisuke Urahara standing in the doorway. To Ichigo's surprise he was already dressed for the occasion, wearing hospital scrubs. "Kisuke, where'd you get those clothes? And how did you know that Orihime was going into labor?"

"Please, Ichigo, I'm a professional. I always come prepared," Kisuke said with his usual smile. "And I came as soon as I sensed Orihime's spiritual pressure fluctuate."

Orihime let out a groan of pain and Isshin realized that they didn't have time to dawdle. "Alright then, c'mon, Kisuke!"

As Isshin and Kisuke pushed past Ichigo and headed for the clinic. "What should I do?" Ichigo called out to his father.

"Go call your sisters! Then go over to the corner and assume the fetal position!" Isshin instructed.

Ichigo sighed as he pulled out his cellphone. "And once again, I'm useless…"

Later…

The three Kurosaki siblings waited outside the room that their stepmother was in. They all cringed as Orihime shrieked in pain. Yuzu put her hands over her ears and grimaced as she listened. Karin as well looked concerned for Orihime. "Wow, this makes me not want to have kids," she noted.

Ichigo as well was concerned as he listened to the sounds inside. He knew that both his father and Captain Unohana had given Orihime a clean bill of health and said there'd be no complications but even still he was worried. Every cry of pain that came from the room did its best to whittle away at Ichigo's confidence in his father and Kisuke's ability to see her through this. Yuzu chanced a peek into the room and saw her stepmother in the bed, her head thrown back as she wailed in pain while her father told her to push while Kisuke held her hand. The sight made her face go white and she quickly closed the door.

Just when the sounds inside started to become unbearable, Orihime's screams finally stopped. Ichigo and the girls feared the worst but the uncomfortable silence was quickly dispelled by the sound of a baby crying.

Inside the room, Isshin held his newborn child as Kisuke fetched a blanket. Wrapping it up in the blue silk, Isshin walked carried the baby over to its mother. "Here, Orihime," he said as Kisuke gave her a painkiller, "It's a boy."

"A boy," Orihime repeated, her face drenched in sweat as she struggled for breath. She thought having her side punctured full of holes courtesy of Quincy arrows was painful but this was the most pain she'd ever endured. She looked down at her firstborn son and smiled happily as his hazel eyes looked up at his mother. "He's beautiful," she whispered, tears running down her face.

"What do you want to name him?" Isshin asked. While they were setting up a room for the baby they'd decided that Orihime would be the one to decide the name.

"Sora," Orihime chose, naming her son after the brother she'd loved so dearly. "Sora Kurosaki."

Isshin kissed his wife's forehead. "That's a beautiful name."

Kisuke took his fan out of his pocket and flipped it open to hide his smile. "Aww! What a touching scene. This is so nostalgic," Kisuke noted, remembering how Isshin and Masaki looked when Ichigo was born.

The father glared at the shopkeeper. "We're having a moment. Don't push it."

"Hah! You said the exact same thing last time. Two for two!"

The shopkeeper let the three siblings in. Yuzu squealed with delight at the sight of her baby brother. "He's so adorable!" she squealed joyfully.

"You okay, Mom?" Karin asked as she approached Orihime.

"I'm fine. Tired, but fine," Orihime said with a weak smile.

Ichigo was happy to see that his friend and stepmother was okay, to say nothing of the joy he was feeling seeing his new baby brother. "Looks like baby makes six," he chuckled.

Orihime hugged her baby. "He does. Welcome to the family, Sora."

The four Kurosakis stayed with Orihime while Kisuke left, leaving the family to continue adoring their new arrival…

To be continued