I have to give xfang-girlx a big thank you for this one. She not only helped me beta this chapter but also get my thoughts straight and organized to get it written. She also assisted me with picking out the names for the babies. THANKS! :D
The last three months of her pregnancy were tenuous and stressful for everyone. Nami went into premature labor several times which coincided with her transforming into the cat-like creature that shared her DNA. Unfortunately, this required keeping her heavily sedated to prevent her from hurting herself or the children much less anyone else that came near her. A fetal monitor stayed hooked to her to constantly report the vitals of the children within her who seemed to be suffering no ill effects from either the drugs or her highly out of whack body. The two men of science, Kisuke and Isshin, still had not yet found a way separate the DNA from hers or learned why it had fused itself into her strands. The two expectant fathers were beside themselves with worry and had miraculously managed to form a friendship to withstand the stress. No one had even thought about the future or what it held for them. They would deal with that once the pregnancy was complete and the mother and babies were safe.
The day Nami went into labor was fraught with disaster. It began with a horrendous thunderstorm including a tornado that touched down on the base. Not only did it take out the power, but it destroyed several homes including that of Grimmjow and Nami. Before there was anytime to fret over the destroyed dwelling, Nami immediately ran into complications with the birth. Despite going into premature labor several times, now her body was being sluggish and the contractions were erratic and unhelpful in making her body dilate to usher the babies into this world. While performing the c-section, the back up generator sputtered causing all of the lights to go out. Kisuke unintentionally nicked an artery with the scalpel. Although it was tied off and sutured quickly, she lost copious amounts of blood that required a transfusion. Seeking an immediate donor after each man in the room gave their blood type, Ichigo was chosen since his was O negative, the universal donor. Resorting to archaic methods since there was no real time for anything else, they inserted a needle in his arm that was attached to a pump that would send his blood straight into Nami's body through the needle embedded in her jugular vein.
After several tense minutes, the first child made his entrance into the world. Kisuke was thankful the mother could not see as he carefully unwrapped the cord from the baby boy's neck. He handed the child to the nurse in the room so he could grab the other child.
Grimmjow watched as Ichigo's father assisted the nurse with cleaning off the child and testing his reactions to stimuli to check his condition. He pressed his lips together to hide his concern while wondering why the baby was not crying. Seeing the shock of fuzzy orange hair on the baby's head, he knew without a doubt who that one belonged to. An ear-splitting shriek like a cat caught in a blender drew his attention to the second child, his child, who was making his presence known to everyone. He smiled as Kisuke handed the baby to Nami along with a blanket to clean off the goopy white stuff clinging to the baby along with the blood and other fluid he did not care to think much about. However, he wanted to see his son.
Nami looked down at the baby seeing an unmistakable light coating of sky blue hair covering the baby's head. Looking up at the proud father, she accepted his kiss without thinking about the man sitting beside her giving her his blood to keep her alive. Craning her neck to see around her husband, she searched for her other child.
"Where's my other baby?" she asked, worry plaguing her when she received no answer and the room became disturbingly quiet. "Grimmy...where is he?"
About that time a sharp cry pierced the air and everyone in the room issued a collective sigh of relief. The baby instantly stopped crying when he was put in his mother's arms. Nami looked back and forth between the replicas in miniature of the two most important men in her life. Glancing at Ichigo, she watched as he was unhooked from the needle before too much blood was drained from his body. After the nurse told him she would be back with something for him, he stood up to go to Nami. He had to see his baby boy.
"They're wonderful aren't they. Perfect and so handsome," Nami murmured, kissing each one on the forehead before allowing the fathers to hold their sons. "What are we going to name them?"
The dumbfounded fathers glanced at each other over the tired mother in the bed between them. They had not even thought about names. They had all been too worried about just getting them here safely.
"I've been thinking about this," Kisuke offered helpfully. "Isshin and I have been talking about names since the subject never came up between you three. You had, uh...um, shall we say, other issues to solve."
Kisuke shifted uncomfortably when Nami rose up to a sitting position to eye him suspiciously. He would never tell her about the fist fights that had occurred among the two men, almost on a daily basis. She had been too drugged out of her gourd to notice their injuries when they visited her. Clearing his throat, he finished suturing her incision before he continued. "What about Yusei for Ichigo's son and Hisoka for Grimmjow's son? They say there's a lot to a name. Hisoka means reserved which we can only hope to God he is considering who his father is."
"Hmph," Grimmjow snorted indignantly, happy with the name but not the reasoning behind it.
"Yusei means to save or help. For the problems his little brother might have, he will have to be a big helper and possibly save him...a lot," Kisuke explained, ignoring the glower directed at him from Ichigo.
"I picked that one out, son," Isshin chipped in hoping it would change his son's mind. "Even though he could have stated it less offensively, Kisuke is right. We don't know what either one of these boys are in for."
Both fathers nodded in agreement to the names and what both of the other men had said. They were too enamored with the warm little bundles in their arms to argue about anything at the moment.
Soon the room was filled with dozens of people and a flurry of activity. Rocking chairs were brought in for the fathers and bassinettes were brought in for the babies. Food for everyone in the room arrived along with presents, flowers, and balloons. The room looked as if a baby store and floral shop had exploded inside of it. After thirty minutes the gifts were still coming.
Nami was horrified to have so many visitors since she was in such a terrible state of disarray. The proud papas were more than happy to show off their newborn progeny to any and every person who stepped through the door. Finally, Kisuke and Isshin had to cut the chaos and order everyone out of the room. The babies were hungry and the mother was exhausted. After their first breastfeeding session which, if the moment had not been so tender between mother and sons, it would have been quite comical since she managed to latch a hungry child to each breast.
"Good thing she's double-barreled," Grimmjow joked, taking his son away when he fell asleep with a full belly.
"Shut up you moron," Ichigo grumbled although he was unable to fully keep the smile from lifting the corners of his mouth. He was not quite so lucky with Yusei who howled like a champion exercising his lungs and his father's patience.
"Give him here," Isshin ordered, taking the inconsolable baby from his son. Putting the baby over his shoulder with the child's belly pressed against the broadest part at the top, he patted the baby's back until he burped loudly then quieted down. He smiled at the squirming newborn who grunted and mewled impatiently as if he were still not quite satisfied.
"What's wrong with him, Dad?" Ichigo asked, stealing a glimpse at Grimmjow rocking his son. He felt envious as the man stared down at the baby who made an occasional loud sighing sound like he was announcing his contentment to the room.
"Nothing. He's just showing his personality," he chuckled, bouncing the baby gently as the child chewed on his fist as if trying to eat it. He handed the baby back to Ichigo whose face twisted into a mask of horror as if he had just been handed a live rattlesnake. "It's only a baby, son. It won't hurt you."
Ichigo ignored the snorts and giggles from the other men in the room. He glanced toward Nami who seemed to sense he needed saving from the cruel taunts of the others and beckoned him to come over and sit beside her. A smirk tilted his lips when Grimmjow's blue eyes narrowed with anger and more than a little jealousy. 'Maybe being helpless and a little clueless was not a bad thing,' he thought to himself as her arms went around him after he made himself comfortable beside her.
"Just relax. He can sense your apprehension," she murmured to him, her lips grazing his neck. She felt his body stiffen and the baby let out a squawk in immediate reaction to his father's stress. Too bad she did not know she had caused his recent tension.
Nami rubbed his neck and shoulders to help work out some of the kinks in his muscles. She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling when he sighed and his body began to relax. Looking down at the infant in his arms, she saw he had stopped chewing his fist and was drifting off to sleep. She did not realize the father was doing the same thing right in her arms as she swayed slightly from side to side to rock them both. When she felt his body go completely limp against hers, she carefully lay him down in the bed with his baby boy clutched tightly to his chest. Both were sound asleep.
"Grimmy, I - " She stopped talking when she turned to see her husband was also asleep with the baby tucked under his chin and one large hand holding the baby securely to his chest. "Oh, my," she murmured to herself, smiling at the both of the them. She had never seen such a beautiful thing in all of her life.
"Nami?" Isshin called, moving to stand next to her.
"Yes?" She blinked at the big man as he stood in front of her, staring down at her in the way a father looks at a child who has misbehaved.
"What do you plan to do now?" he inquired, his dark eyes boring into hers.
"What do you mean?" she asked, anxiety from his intense scrutiny making her chest tighten.
"My son. Don't lead him on and don't break his heart. How do you plan to allow him to see his child? You've gotten yourself into quite a damn situation here, Missy, and I'd like to know how you plan to solve this problem," he demanded, his voice low with a slightly menacing quality to it.
Nami averted her eyes wondering if Ichigo would be such a vigilant father. She was sure he would be. Taking in a deep breath before she spoke, she gathered every bit of courage within her to answer him.
"I don't know, sir," she replied honestly, allowing her irritation to show. How dare he hit her with these hard questions at a time like this? "I would never break his heart. I - " She stopped before saying 'love him,' taking a moment to glance at her sleeping husband. "I care a lot about him. I never imagined things would work out this way. I have no intention of keeping his child from him. Or your grandchild from you. We're all adults here. We will work something out."
Nami could feel her body beginning to tremble, and she was holding her breath. She gasped and flinched away from him when he raised his hand.
"Don't worry," he said, pressing his hand to her cheek and kissing her on the forehead. "That's the kind of answer I was wanting to hear. However, it is quite a predicament you have created for yourself. If you ever need to talk, I will listen. I only want the best for all of you."
Nami exhaled loudly, leaning forward to hug the imposing man who had scared the hell out of her. She was glad he was not angry with her like she had thought at first.
"You need to get some sleep," he told her, noticing her expression tighten with concern as she looked at the man sleeping in her bed. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the room next door that held a real, queen size bed.
The whole room had been made up to look like a bedroom in a home. It was filled with the overflow of presents for the special newborns. She noticed that two cots had been placed in the room as well along with the bassinettes for the babies. There were several presents on the bed.
"Those are yours. You might want to open those now and go take a shower. Kisuke and I will tend to all four babies next door," he stated with a broad smile on his face.
"Okay," she giggled, watching him as he walked out of the room. Sitting down on the bed, the weariness threatened to overwhelm her but the idea of a shower spurred her on to go through the packages on the bed. She found a matching nightgown and robe set along with some fantastic smelling shampoo and body wash. Tears filled her eyes as she looked around at all of the gifts from so many thoughtful people. Gathering all of the items in her arms, she hurried to the bathroom to turn on the shower. Never before had such a simple thing as a shower been such an incredible experience. After showering, she quickly dried off and dressed before attempting to dry her hair that hung all the way down to her behind.
"Honey," Grimmjow called to her, apologizing when he startled her. "I put Hisoka down. I'm going to check out the damage at the house."
"Just stay," Nami pleaded with him, walking toward him. "It's gone anyway. There's nothing you can do."
Grimmjow pulled her into his arms, burying his face against her neck. He allowed the tears to slip from his eyes as he held her close inhaling the flowery scent of her freshly cleaned hair and body. The stress of the day had gotten to him. Nearly losing his wife and one of his children, his home being wiped out, watching her with Ichigo and contemplating how in the hell they would live out their lives - it was almost too much to handle.
"What do we do?" he mumbled against her neck.
"I don't know. We'll figure it out," she assured him, hoping that the solution to this whole situation would somehow instantly come to them. Feeling the warm wet tears on her neck, she turned her face to his seeking his lips. The kiss was gentle and comforting, giving them both the solace they needed. They still had the most important things in their life: each other and their children. There was also a second father to be considered. They were going to be one weird little family but somehow they would have to find a way to make it work - for all of them.