Nami had just taken Hisoka from Grimmjow to lay him down in the bassinette when the young soldier with wide blue eyes came running into the room. She smiled at him when he ripped off his hat to reveal a head full of black hair before saluting his superior and bowed to her respectfully. He appeared to be all of fourteen and scared out of his wits but she knew he had to be at least eighteen but the fear looked sincere enough. She seemed to remember his first name being something feminine or at least sounding like a girl's name.
"S-s-sir!" the boy stuttered nervously, saluting again as Grimmjow glared at him.
"What is it, Yamada? Good god, boy, spit it out! I don't have all damn day!" he yelled unnecessarily at the kid but it was part of his job. He had his work cut out for him toughening up this kid.
"There's something going on at your house, uh, where your house used to be. Um, sir, could you follow me?" he asked, turning his big dark blue eyes to Nami and offering her his arm. "You should come too ma'am."
Nami slid her arm through the young recruit's. Stopping at the door when Yusei began to fuss, she glanced back at Ichigo who was patting the baby on the back as he gently rocked him.
"Go ahead. I'll be fine," he told her, giving her a small smile.
Nami noticed how tired - and sad - he looked. She had been so caught up in the care of the babies she had not noticed how it was taking its toll on the new fathers. There was something else bothering him, something that caused that sadness he could not keep from seeping into his eyes.
"Ichi - "
"Go!" he ordered her, smiling at the irony that he had completed his own name and told her to leave at the same time.
Nami nodded, allowing the nervous young man to lead her from the room and then the research facility to the car waiting outside. She slid into the back seat and put her arm through her husband's who patted her on the hand that lay on his muscled forearm to comfort her. Or was it himself? It was debatable as to which as he stared out of the window, his blue eyebrows pinched together with concern. What could be wrong now? His hair had grown back out quite a bit and now flopped forward over his forehead that was wrinkled with worry. She reached up to pat down the hair that had begun to form into small curls at the nape of his neck.
"You're getting shaggy," she teased him, smoothing down the hair and petting him at the same time. A picture of the past, of him in his cat form, flashed through her mind briefly. Feeling as if she had been punched in the gut from the sudden emotional pain the memory brought, she gasped and lay her head on his shoulder. He was so vulnerable, so sweet when she had first fallen in love with him. He was still those things but...
"What is it? Are you okay? Are you in pain?" he asked her, seizing her by the arms and looking her over carefully. Noticing the young soldier who was driving looking at them in the rear view mirror, he glowered at him and commanded, "Eyes forward soldier."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she assured her husband who did not need another reason to worry. Smoothing her fingers over his forehead as if to brush away the worry wrinkles, she kissed him briefly on the lips. She would be glad when every deep sigh or awkward move she made no longer sent them into hysterics.
It seemed like all of the overwrought men would all calm down since the many blood tests Kisuke had ran since the birth showed the feral DNA had been almost completely eradicated from her system. Kisuke and Isshin had ran and re-ran extensive tests, and she had wondered if she would require another blood transfusion because they collected so many vials of blood from her for those tests. They determined the blood transfusion was responsible for eliminating the DNA by replacing it with Ichigo's. She could not help but smile with the thought that he would truly be a part of her all of her life and not just in the form of their child.
"What are you smiling about?" her husband asked, startling her.
"Oh, uh, um, ah, nothing," she answered, blushing hotly. Glancing out of the window, she tried to see further down the road. "Just wondering what's going on."
"We'll find out soon. We're almost there," he told her, craning his neck to see where their house once stood. Expecting to see an empty lot free of debris, he was momentarily shocked to see a roof then the rest of a house coming into view. "Yamada, what the hell - "
"It's a surprise, sir," he replied less than mysteriously with a goofy grin on his face.
Pulling up to the newly built house that was twice the size of their other one, they were further shocked to see soldiers in full dress uniform standing at attention along the cement path that led to the front door. It was the best surprise they had ever had. Grimmjow pulled his wife from the back seat of the car so they could follow their escort up to the front door where the base commander stood with the keys in his hands.
"Welcome home, Major," the commander announced, handing him the keys.
"Major," he repeated in awe. He had received a promotion in addition to a new house. He now outranked Kisuke Urahara and had finally earned the other part of the favorite nickname for him among the recruits, Major Hardass.
"Open it, honey!" Nami squealed, pulling on his arm so hard it jingled the keys in his hand.
Once inside, Nami was like a little girl lost in a toy store. She ran from room to room, touching everything and 'oohing' and 'aahing' constantly. The men chuckled as she shrieked with glee at each new discovery. It never occurred to her to be embarrassed by her actions, and she was too happy to stop. Running upstairs, she discovered all of the bedrooms. There were two Master bedrooms that opened into a huge room in the middle that had been set up as a nursery with two of everything in it. There was also two other bedrooms that would be the boy's when they grew older and no longer needed the nursery.
"It's so wonderful," she gasped, jumping into her husband's arms as they stood in the middle of the nursery that was full of clothes, toys, and myriads of other baby stuff. Someone had a stroke of genius by decorating it using a day and night theme, blue and orange. Or maybe they had just taken a cue from the fathers' hair colors and personalities. Whatever the motivation, it had magnificent results.
"Why are their two master bedrooms?" Grimmjow inquired, wondering why everyone seemed to grow so uncomfortable all of a sudden. Even the unflappable commander seemed beside himself as he pulled at his collar and turned red.
"Well, sir," Yamada began boldly, the only one brave enough to offer an explanation. "We all assumed the other father would be staying to help raise his son."
"You did, did you?" he muttered, a small flame of anger flickering to life behind his bright blue eyes.
"Grimmjow, don't," she whispered, poking him in the arm. Finally remembering the young man's name, she spoke to him. "Thank you, Hana. It's a lovely thought, but we're not sure - "
"Why not?" Ichigo asked, walking into the room with Kisuke and Isshin behind him.
"What we're going to do," she said, finishing her sentence.
But apparently, some people were sure already as to how this thing was going to go. Grimmjow sighed with resignation and Nami swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. When did their lives get so out of control? Probably from the moment he landed on her doorstep years ago.
~\..'../~
"Why won't they stop crying?" Grimmjow yelled over the noise of the twins screaming at the top of their little lungs.
None of them had gotten much sleep since moving into the house. A week had passed with little to no sleep and tempers were wearing thin. Patience was just absolutely gone.
"I don't know! And why don't you stop yelling!" Ichigo hollered back.
Even the big boys were acting like whiny children. Nami stood up from the rocking chair having reached her wit's end with all of the males in the house. She took Hisoka from Ichigo and Yusei from Grimmjow. For some reason, the boys seemed to prefer the opposite father which had given them a little sleep but tonight there was no consoling them. She put the babies down in one of the beds together and headed for the door to her bedroom.
"What are you doing? That's so mean," Grimmjow chided her, reaching into the crib to retrieve the howling Yusei.
"Don't you dare! Step back from the crib!" she shouted while glaring at them lethally. "We have got to get some sleep. Maybe they will cry it out or learn to comfort themselves or something. But they cry whether or not they are being held so please just leave them alone."
Once the adults stopped yelling, something remarkable happened. Silence except for the intermittent sigh or hiccup from a baby encompassed the room. The three adults gathered at the side of the crib to look down at a miraculous sight.
"Well, I'll be damned," Grimmjow muttered looking at the babies.
The infants had huddled together, hugging each other. Hisoka's little head was nestled under the almost nonexistent chin of Yusei whose arm was draped over him protectively.
"They only wanted each other," Ichigo marveled, reaching down to stroke the orange fuzz covered head of his son.
"Well, they did spend nine months that way," Nami muttered, too tired and aggravated to fully appreciate the syrupy sweet quality of the moment. "I'm going to bed."
"Aren't you going with her?" Ichigo inquired, patting Hisoka's back when he stirred and whimpered.
"Can I sleep with you?" Grimmjow asked, his eyebrows drawing together in annoyance when Ichigo laughed loudly. He was completely serious. He did not want to go into the room with the bear of a woman.
"Oh, dude, seriously?" Ichigo shot back recoiling with a look of disgust on his face.
"Not like that, you idiot!" he exclaimed to be shushed loudly. "I want to let her get some sleep and there will be hell to pay if I wake her up in..." He paused to look at his watch. Scrubbing his hand over his face in exhaustion, he added, "In three hours when I have to get up. Oh, my god, I'm dying."
"Okay, here's an idea, why don't you go sleep in my bed and I'll stay in here with the babies," his friend suggested. "The both of you get some sleep and I can sleep when the babies do during the day."
"It's simply fantastic having two wives," Grimmjow joked with him, slapping him on the back.
"Go to bed or I'll kill you," the blushing orange haired man threatened him.
"Yes, dear," he returned, receiving a bottle to the back of the head before he closed the door behind him. "Ow!"
Ichigo smiled but avoided laughing since the babies were drifting off to sleep. Could he dare to hope they would sleep for the next few hours? They were clean and fed so if they stayed content maybe he could get in a straight four hours of sleep. Scanning the room, he spied the padded window seat and decided that and a few baby blankets would make a suitable bed - for tonight anyway. Tomorrow night, with any luck, they could all get some sleep and Grimmjow would be back in his own bed.
~...~
Nami woke up with a start. The sun was shining into her bedroom with a blinding intensity. What time was it? Grabbing the clock, she pulled it to her face until the numbers came into focus. 8:30! The babies! It had been six and a half hours since they had received their bottles. She contemplated if the whole bottle feeding thing to supplement the breastfeeding was one of the reasons they were not sleeping well. Throwing back the covers and hitting the floor in a dead run, she rushed into the nursery next door. She skidded to a halt across the carpet when she saw Ichigo sitting in one of the rocking chairs with both babies laying on his chest and snuggled under his chin. All three of them were sound asleep. The empty bottles had fallen to the floor and were long forgotten in their peaceful slumber.
Nami dropped to her knees by the chair, stroking the unusual ears of Hisoka: they seemed to be growing more pointed and were covered with soft white hair. She leaned forward and kissed the baby's silky round cheek before doing the same to his brother. Her eyes lingered on them as their little hands moved across Ichigo's chest as if they were searching for something. Yusei's fingers brushed his brother's and he instantly reached to cover his brother's hand. The bond between the two of them was simply amazing. Sitting back on her feet, she watched the children sleeping before her eyes moved to the face of the man holding them. Leaning forward again, she ran her fingers through his hair. A smile tilted her lips when he groaned and shifted in the chair while keeping a protective grip on the boys. Her heart fluttered then thumped hard in her chest when he opened his eyes and slowly focused on her.
"Good morning," he groggily murmured giving her a sleepy smile.
"Good morning, Daddy," she returned with a low chuckle. Standing to her feet, she dared to peel Yusei from his chest who jumped and began shaking, his little hands flying out in an infant reflex from being moved and experiencing the sensation of falling.
Ichigo hurried to move with his brother when he began to make a soft mewling sound as if calling out for him to which Hisoka responded by grunting and rooting around as if searching for him. He carefully laid the baby down beside his brother, close enough they were touching. He and Nami watched as they settled down and continued sleeping.
"It's strange isn't it?" she asked, walking out of the room to the carpeted staircase.
"What?" he questioned her, rubbing his burning, sleep-deprived eyes as he followed her down the stairs to the kitchen.
"How the boys are with each other."
"Well, you said it yourself that they lived together for nine months already. And they are twins," he yawned, stopping to stretch his sore arms and legs as they walked into the kitchen that reminded him of 50's diner the way it had been decorated. Sometimes he pondered what crackpot decorated this house by some of the odd little peculiarities it had.
Nami was busy preparing the much needed coffee while yawning herself to some semblance of conciousness. Not waiting for the brew cycle to finish, she was thankful for modern technology that stopped the flow long enough for her to pour them two cups.
"Is it okay for you to drink caffeine since you're still breastfeeding?" he asked, staring at her cup of coffee.
"Yes. Besides, caffeine won't harm them. Premature babies are treated with caffeine to stimulate their nervous systems. Besides, it's not like we can get any less sleep than we already are," she remarked, taking the first sip and murmuring her approval of the scalding hot liquid.
"That's really good," he groaned after a big swallow of the coffee. Leaning his head against the wall, he closed his eyes. He could never remember being this exhausted before in his life.
Nami observed him closely, gingerly sipping at her coffee in silence. She finished off her cup and moved to pour herself another. On her way back to the table, she could hear him snoring softly. Putting her cup down, she leaned down to kiss his forehead.
"Go to bed. I'll take care of the twins," she told him, patting his cheek. Receiving a drowsy smile in response, she moved back so he could stand up. Her breath caught in her throat and she could not move when his lips pressed to hers for a quick kiss.
"Good night, sweetie," he mumbled, stumbling out of the kitchen.
"Y-yeah, g-good n-night," she stuttered, touching her lips. Her brain seemed to catch up with the feelings rushing through her body and was not sure what to make of it. "I mean good morning. I...I don't know what the hell I mean. Good god what have I gotten myself into."
Thanks, as always, to my beta xfang-girlx for looking out for me and helping me with corrections.