As always, gotta give a shout out to my beta, xfang-girlx, who helps to keep me from publishing terrible errors!
Nami and Ichigo were sitting in a strained silence at the kitchen table during lunch. The twins played happily in their high chairs, flinging their food at each other rather than eating it. They were nine months old today. They chattered to each other in their own baby language that they understood while the adults ate without exchanging a word.
Ichigo had started spending more time around the house during the day though he did not talk to her much. He was still withdrawn and reticent, hardly speaking to her. Most of his time at home was spent with the boys or in his room. He only came out for meals and was gone at night, almost every night, and some times all night. It was like living with a rebellious teenager.
Nami was sure he had found a girlfriend which was a good thing. She wondered who it could be and what she was like. Standing up to take her plate to the sink, weariness settled over with such heaviness she felt like she needed a nap. Light-headedness made her reel from dizziness, and she leaned forward onto the counter to hold herself up.
"Are you all right?" he asked her from the table, sounding as if he really did not care.
"I'm fine," she responded, rinsing off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. "I'm going to lie down for a while. Can you take care of the boys?"
"Of course. I am the nanny, or as they call them now, manny, around here aren't I?" he questioned her bitterly.
"No, you're not. You're Yusei's father," she said, growing more tired by the moment. She did not feel like arguing with him at this time.
"Why do I feel like the hired help?" he shot back with a nasty tone in voice.
"I don't know Ichigo, why? We've never treated you that way. We didn't even ask you to stay here," she retorted, closing her eyes and wishing she could take back her words.
"You're right. You didn't," he said, getting up to move to her. He combed his fingers through her hair, relishing the sensation of the silky strands against his skin.
"Don't," she murmured, when he stepped closer to her. She closed her eyes and leaned forward to press her forehead against his lips.
"I'm just confused. I don't know what to do. I know I need to move on, to let you go, it's just...difficult," he murmured, grasping handfuls of her hair. He kissed the tip of her nose and pulled her head against his chest to just hold her.
Nami wondered what to do. She loved both men but in different ways. The way she felt about them had changed in the last few months. She was still dearly devoted to Grimmjow and loved him to the deepest part of her being. But then there were her feelings for Ichigo which were more familial but just as strong. She was only hurting him and herself by allowing him to stay here. But what about the children?
"Daddy!" Hisoka screeched raising his arms to him.
"Then there's that. It seems like I'm not the only one confused here," he said, turning to pick up the blue haired child calling for him.
"I don't know. I keep hoping the answers will just come to us. That the solution to all of this will present itself," she mumbled, watching him wipe off the sticky child who was wearing more food than he had eaten.
Yusei began to fuss and whine in an attempt to wriggle out of his high chair so she took another cloth and began to wipe off the remnants of his lunch on his face and hands.
"I met a girl," Ichigo blurted suddenly.
"Oh?" Nami pulled off Yusei's hopelessly soiled shirt and took him out of the high chair.
"I would like for you to meet her," he said, following her up the stairs to the nursery.
"Bring her to dinner then. Tomorrow night. Tell me about her," she suggested, pulling a clean t-shirt out of the drawer to wrestle it onto the orange haired child who preferred to be without it.
Ichigo proceeded to tell her about the woman he had met in a bookstore a few weeks ago. He described her as not very talkative and somewhat aloof. He went on to say that she prefers books to people and spends most of her free time in the bookstore. She was also an avid student of martial arts and was training to be an assistant instructor at her dojo where she trains.
"What does she do for a living?" Nami inquired, putting Yusei into the playpen with his brother.
"She works for the county coroner as a crime scene investigator," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously.
"Oh, how very interesting," she murmured, smiling down at Hisoka whose prominent incisor's pressed against his lower lip. Kisuke kept telling her that it was nothing to worry about; it was just an anomaly left over from the feral DNA. She did not believe him when he told her the child's permanent teeth would be perfectly normal. Somehow she did not think he would be 'normal' at all and she was fine with that.
'A date between the two of them must be a real hoot,' Nami thought to herself as he continued to talk about the bookstore girl's obsession with all things supernatural like vampires and werewolves and the like.
Regret pricked at her conscience. Maybe it was not a good idea to have a woman like this over considering their little secret.
~\..'../~
Nami and Grimmjow both stared at the odd, little woman. Nami was shocked and Grimmjow was plainly amused. The woman was barely five feet tall. Her black hair was cut in a way that made her head look like a black mushroom. She had lovely eyes that were the most unusual shade of violet and seemed to make up for half of her facial structure. She was indeed quiet and did not speak much despite Grimmjow playing twenty questions with her and asking her all kinds of idiotic questions about her favorite subject of supernatural creatures.
"So if a werewolf bit a vampire would it become a werewolf or a half-breed or what?" he inquired.
"Grimmjow, stop it," Nami hissed, trying to hide the fact she was kind of entertained by the line of questioning and how seriously the woman took it.
"It wouldn't be become anything except for dead," Rukia replied stoically.
"But why?" Grimmjow persisted, ignoring the furious glare from Ichigo.
Nami was becoming worried about Ichigo as his face grew more red with each inquiry. She was afraid he was going to snap and either have a heart attack or come across the table at the overly curious blue haired man.
"Because they're a completely different species from each other. They can turn humans because they were human once. They cannot change each other because it would be like interspecies mingling which cannot happen. Like say, a human cannot get pregnant by a dog...or a cat," she said, unintentionally hitting a nerve.
Nami choked on her soda and suddenly wished she had a shot of whiskey to add to it after that last statement. Ichigo looked more embarrassed than angry at the moment and Grimmjow laughed riotously. She had been completely wrong about this girl being a stick in the mud. Rukia could cause quite a stir without even meaning to.
"I'm going to the kitchen to get the cheesecake for dessert," Nami announced to give her an escape from the table. Her throat and chest burned from inhaling the fizzy drink in her startled surprise earlier. Plus she couldn't take another stupid question from her husband directed at the dark queen who had an answer for everything from fairies to unicorns.
"Are you all right?" Ichigo asked her, rubbing his hand across her back.
Nami inadvertently shivered from the touch, goose bumps rising on every inch of her skin over her entire body. As if she had not been sufficiently freaked out by their guest, she was officially offended at this time.
"She didn't mean anything by it. She doesn't know," he told her as if reading her mind.
"She better not," Nami growled at him, going to the refrigerator to move away from him.
"What do you think of her?" He watched her every move as she bent to pull the strawberry covered confection from the refrigerator.
"She's weird," she bluntly responded, elbowing him out of the way to get to the drawer containing the knives.
"Weird? She's weird? I find that ironic coming from a woman who had a talking cat that was really a man," he snapped, arching an orange eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, well I didn't know that then...but we're not talking about me. We're talking about her," she stated impatiently to draw him back to the subject at hand. "I don't like her."
"Well, I do. I want to see where things will go with her," he said, taking the small dessert plates from her to carry them into the dining room.
"Transylvania, perhaps," she suggested, winking at him jokingly when she turned her back to the swinging kitchen door that led to the formal dining room to push it open.
Ichigo could not offer a snarky reply since they had walked into the room where the other two people were arguing about elves. Were they short creatures with pointed ears who lived in trees or were they tall, noble, beautiful beings who were great archers?
This night could not end soon enough for all of them.
~...~
"I kinda liked her. She was a little strange but she was fun to talk to. I'm kinda surprised that Ichigo would go after the type with the body of a twelve year old boy. Especially after...well, you know," Grimmjow said, reaching over to caress her breast as they lay in bed. "Having someone like you."
"There in lies the problem, genius. He doesn't have someone like me. You do," she snorted, turning off her bedside lamp and throwing the magazine onto her nightstand. She had not been able to comprehend a single word she was reading.
"Sucks to be him," he responded coldly, sliding his hand into her nightgown to tease the aroused nipple further with skin to skin contact.
"You're so damn mean," she admonished him, slapping at his hand. She grunted when he pinched her nipple and pressed his body against hers to show how excited he was. "How did you get this way?"
"What way?" he queried distractedly, pushing her nightgown up around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her belly, smiling when she writhed beneath him.
"Would you stop that and talk to me?" She pulled his hair as his tongue licked around her belly button before he began to place kisses along the border of the top of her lacy panties.
"No. You can keep talking if you want." He pulled down her underwear and placed a kiss to her inner thigh that made her quiver.
"I can't think when you do that," she protested, shifting uncomfortably beneath the kisses that covered her inner thigh.
"Yes, I know." He snaked his tongue between her lower lips and knew he had her when she moaned his name. He did not want to talk about Ichigo or his strange girlfriend. He only wanted her.
~\..'../~
"Can I bring someone to dinner?" Ichigo asked at breakfast two weeks later.
"Rukia?" Nami queried, putting down her coffee cup.
"No. Rangiku," he answered. The new female name gained the interest of the otherwise disinterested Grimmjow. He felt like he was talking with his parents instead of friends.
"What happened to Rukia?" she asked.
"Uh, things just weren't working out," he stated vaguely.
"Kind of disturbing when you got the clothes off?" Grimmjow inquired, allowing the instant blush on Ichigo's face to be his affirmation. "Where did you meet this one?"
"The club just off base. She's an older woman and has the biggest - " He stopped in mid sentence, holding his hands out in front of his chest as if cupping a set of huge breasts.
"Oh, my god," she grumbled, picking up her coffee cup to leave.
She no longer wanted to be a part of this conversation. Leaving them alone, she decided this was better left a male bonding moment so she took her leave and moved to the living room with the babies. Picking up Hisoka, she settled him on her hip and nuzzled his nose with hers.
"At least you're still sweet and not a pervert," she murmured, kissing his cheek.
"Mama," he responded, patting her on the breast.
"I stand corrected," she chuckled, tickling his ribs to make him giggle.
"MA-MA!" Yusei bellowed to get her attention.
"Oh, for Pete's sake! So jealous," she muttered, lifting him out of the play pen as well. She heard a loud burst of male laughter from the kitchen and could only imagine what they were discussing.
~\..'../~
It was shameful. Nami could not be more disgusted by the aging beauty queen who was desperately trying to hang onto her youth. The woman was gorgeous for her age there was no doubt about it with her long honey colored locks and sparkling light blue eyes. However her disturbingly low-cut dress with the too short skirt just made her look sad and pathetic.
Nami was unsure if her constant giggling and excessive bubbleheadedness was a nervous reaction or if the woman was really that stupid. Either way it was really annoying and off-putting - to her at least. Ichigo seemed proud to be her new boy toy and Grimmjow was thoroughly impressed - with her breasts at least anyway. He was too busy staring and drooling to ask her any questions.
Half way through dinner, Nami developed a pounding headache that forced her to excuse herself and call it an evening early. She was not sure how much more of the bimbo parade she could withstand.