A/N: So since we haven't been focusing on Orihime's baby, this chapter is all about her! ... Well, sorta. I think it's time we bonded with Orihime's unborn child.

~Also, sorry I didn't update last week. I am not on hiatus. There were some unfortunate technical difficulties with my laptop during Saturday-Monday and I decided that since I missed the deadline, I might as well update the next week. So here we are! Have fun kiddies!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, but this story belongs to me.

One week later.

Orihime tried to resist but she knew it when she felt it. The pain came back and with it more of a strike, like lightning zapping through her abdomen. "…Tamotsu! Come down here, please!"

"But mommy!" Tamotsu huffed at his mother's vexing persistence. "We have to reach the top!"

"Tamotsu…" she said breathlessly. She leaned against the side of the jungle gym, clinging to the bars with a prayer that she wouldn't fall in front of the whole playground. "Come down here, right now, young man!"

The child hoped that once he arrived at the top that he could go down the twisty slide. But Tamotsu didn't want to disobey his mother, it pained him. But he wanted to reach the top! All the other kids did. Besides, his mommy never let him doing anything.

The pregnant woman gritted her teeth. "Tamotsu, if I have to call you down one more time…"

He stomped his foot angrily and blew out hot air. Tamotsu unhurriedly scooted down the low-set stairs. When he reached the bottom, his mother yanked him up and pinched his arm.

Tamotsu squeezed his eyes shut. "Ow-oooowwww!" He tugged his arm away but his mother roughly grabbed his arm again. "Mommy!"

Orihime never wanted to be one of those women who had no control over her children. As she tugged Tamotsu away, she avoided all eye contact with any nearby, disapproving mothers. "Next time, you come when I call." She said shakily. "Do you understand me?"

Tamotsu's bottom lip wobbled and he nodded his head reluctantly.

The golden haired woman stopped for a moment and placed her hand on her hip. The pain was subsiding again.

While she caught her breath, the child began to try to wiggle his way out of her grip. He needed to reach the top…

"Stop that, Tamotsu!" Orihime snatched his arm again before he could get away. "We're going home."

Tamotsu shrieked. "Noo! No!"

Orihime tried to pull him along, but he started to purposely lag behind. "Tamotsu, what has gotten into you?!" He screamed again as his arms and legs flew into the air.

And then, Orihime did what she never had to do before. What she hoped she never ever had to do.

It was over as quickly as it started and Tamotsu had never been so embarrassed before. He had never gotten two whacks on the bottom before.

As the pair walked home in silence, aside from the child's muffled sobs and absolute chagrin, he uttered: "I hate you!"

Orihime's heart immediately cracked in half.

…

"Do you think that was too harsh…?" She sat down at the kitchen table next to her husband and wiped her wet hands off onto her cloth. The rice she boiled wasn't exactly coming out perfect.

Ichigo glanced up from his laptop. "No. You handled the situation the best you could." He eased it down but didn't close it all the way. "He was being disobedient and you disciplined him with a good pinch, a slap on the butt and a time out." Ichigo opened his laptop again. "The perfect punishment."

"Ichigo…" Orihime rubbed her stretching stomach and looked back at her husband. "He said he hated me…"

Ichigo shrugged. "So what? He'll never do it again."

"'So what?'" Orihime pushed her burnt-orange hair behind her ears. "Where did he even learn that phrase?" She leaned over in her chair and looked through the opened door in the backroom. Tamotsu was standing with his face to the wall, arms crossed tightly.

She nibbled on her bottom lip. "… I think I should go talk to him-"

Ichigo sighed. "I think you asserted your dominance as the parent. The adult. Why apologize when he was naughty?" He typed away on his laptop and said, "I don't want to go easy on our kids, Orihime. I'm not raising disrespectful children."

"Me neither… but… he's only four…" Orihime looked across the table at her husband, then back at her son in the other room.

"…Ichigo, I want to know why he's acting this way… I think it's because of the baby. I want him to know that I won't forget about him…"

Ichigo looked up from his computer. His eyebrows pinched together over amber eyes. He opened his mouth but Orihime spoke before he could.

"I can't have him hate me… I just can't."

Ichigo sighed again, but in defeat. "…Alright. But this doesn't make him any less guilty."

Orihime nodded and heaved herself out of the kitchen chair. She opened the backroom's door wider and peeked inside. "…Tamotsu?"

His body posture tightened.

"Tamotsu?" Orihime stepped inside completely and crossed the room to other corner beside the dryer. "Are you still mad at me?" She leaned over to look at his face but he shifted sharply away from her.

He was still mad.

Orihime placed her hand on his back and ignored his attempts to shrug it away. "Now, don't be like that… You were acting up… and when I call you have to come. That's how it works."

"Humph!"

Orihime stifled a giggle. Even when he was upset he managed to look adorable. "I know… I'm just getting the hang of this parent thing too… But you know I'm trying my best."

Tamotsu slowly uncrossed his arms but to only wipe away the tears that came down suddenly.

"Aw, don't cry, Monkey." The woman took the child and tried her best to wrap him in her arms. "I'm not mad at you."

"Wa-why ca-ca-couldn't I re-ach the top?" He asked as he dug his face into her shirt.

Orihime rubbed large circles into his back and patted his shaggy hair. "Monkey, tell me why you wanted to reach the top so badly?"

"I-I wa-wanted to sta-stay up there… I da-didn't wa-want to-o-o come home…" His body shook and convulsed from the strength of his sobs.

"Why don't you like home?" Orihime lifted his chin so she could see into his brown eyes. "All your toys are here, and mommy and daddy are here."

He shook his head. "I da-don't want ta-to la-live in two houses. I want to live in wa-one. My own…"

Two houses… what is he talking about? "What are you talking about? What two houses…?"

"Miss-Miss Har-har-i-guchi sa-said that I will live in-in two hous-es… wha-wha-when you and daddy ga-ga-get the da-divorce…"

Orihime gritted her teeth. She was at her wit's end with that woman, but she kept her composure as she continued to rub her son's back. "…Divorce?" It was clear that he knew enough to know that a divorce was a bad thing.

"Sh-she sa-said you an-and da-dee didn't la-love each other an-any ma-more…"

Orihime put on her stern-mommy voice. "Tamotsu, that's not true. I love your father. He loves me, very much."

Tamotsu blinked a few times and let a couple more tears slide down his pink cheeks. "So… you aren't getting the divorce…?"

Orihime tapped his round nose. "No, you silly goose… Are you still mad at me, Monkey?"

Tamotsu shook his shaggy head.

"Can I have a hug?"

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her neck. Then he turned his head and planted a tiny kiss on her cheek. "I love you, mommy."

Orihime squeezed him with all her strength. "I love you too…" She pulled back from him. "But if you act up again, you'll get a time out."

Tamotsu nodded with much force, heeding his mother's warning.

He would never disobey her again.

…

"He's already falling asleep." Ichigo answered before she could open her mouth.

Orihime shook her head. "I don't want to take him back there… she's crossed the line."

Ichigo scratched his orange head. "Orihime, he needs an education."

Orihime looked down at her belly through the sheets. She was awake; she was always awake when the sun went down. She was her own personal party girl.

"…I don't think that preschool is even required, in fact he hardly learns anything there. Everything he knows he's picked up himself or I've read him books, I've made flash cards…"

Ichigo finished texting on his phone and lay back on the bed. "She overstepped her boundaries, but we're not pulling him from preschool." He twisted over to look at his wife. "There's my job, the custody battle. You already have the bakery to worry about, the new stoves need to be installed in a few weeks, and I don't want Tamotsu to be there at the construction." He heard Orihime huff. "I know you don't want to hear it, but we simply don't have the time to give up whole days to look after Tamotsu."

Orihime slid down further into the blankets and watch Ichigo answer another phone message. "I just can't believe that woman… how dare she say such a thing to my son?"

"People have no filter." He responded distractedly, shrugging his shoulders.

"But to a child?" Orihime shook her head disbelievingly. "The nerve. She knew exactly what she was doing… she knows that his brain will hang on to any and every little thing. She knows he's smarter than the rest of them. That he would put two and two together…"

Ichigo powered down his phone completely and placed it back on the nightstand. "He still doesn't understand completely. He just knows that it wouldn't be right, it wouldn't be the same if a divorce happened."

Orihime turned the lamp off by the bed and curled up under the cover. "Ichigo…Why do so many people want to see us crumble?" she whispered.

Ichigo propped his elbow on his pillow and rested his head in his hand. "They just can't wrap their heads around the fact that a man and a woman can work things out together without forfeiting and jumping to legal paperwork."

His other hand slid underneath the covers and found her thin, cool fingers, curling them around his own. "It's unheard of to them."

Orihime huddle over to his warm body and placed a few kisses on his lips.

"Thank you," Ichigo hummed as he pulled is wife close and chafed her cold arms, "for being so smart and calming and accepting. Even when things went sour, you never left me."

"And I never will." His hand left her arm and moved their way down to her protruding belly. He grinned. "Besides, I have way too much baggage."

Orihime shifted under him and Ichigo twisted until he hovered atop of her, kissing her laggardly.

She let him proceed, grazing his lips against her neck. "…Actually… That reminds me… um, Ichigo?"

His lips came back up and kissed her on the mouth. "Yes?" His neck dipped back down and continued the spicy trail.

Orihime placed a hand on his chest to stop him. "I've, um… I've been feeling these pains around my stomach and lower… I don't know what they are but they come sometimes and then they leave…"

"Why didn't you tell me before?" He sat up with disappointment evident in his tone.

She lifted her elbows and rested on them. "I was so wrapped up with everything else it just didn't cross my mind…." She lowered her eyes. "I apologize for taking so long to tell you…"

"Hun, that's not an excuse."

"And I know that…" She scooted over as he rolled off of her, careful not to hit her belly. "It wouldn't have matter anyway."

"But I want to hear about stuff like that!" He shouted then remembered to quiet down for if he was too loud, Tamotsu would wake. "…I need to hear about stuff like that. It… it brings a sense of normality in our crazy world." He rubbed his closed eyes. "Haven't I showed you that I care about this family more than anything else?"

Orihime nodded guiltily. "…yes…"

"Then why do you insist on telling me the bare minimum of what's going on in your life?"

"For a moment…" Orihime took a deep breath. "…For a moment I didn't think you cared…"

Orihime looked up at him after three long minutes of silence.

She shook her head. "Ichigo, you know-"

"…Well that's not true. I care about you more than anything else." He licked his lips. "I set up an appointment with Yoruichi tomorrow at twelve. Are you feeling up to it?"

Orihime nodded silently. She knew she hurt his feelings, but that was how they got in trouble in the first place. They would never express their feelings to each other.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and blew out a long hot breath. "Then we'll figure this all out tomorrow… right?"

She smiled faintly though he wasn't looking. "…Right."

…

Yoruichi wiped the ultrasound gel off of Orihime's rounded belly.

Orihime's cheeks were beginning to hurt from how hard she was smiling.

"Did you see her little face?" Ichigo asked. He ran a hand through his spiky hair and looked at his wife pulling her shirt back down.

Orihime nodded happily, on the verge of tears. "Mmhm! She was beautiful."

There was a knock at the door and a young woman, Orihime remembered to be Soi Fon, handed Yoruichi crisp white papers. "Meet me in my office." Yoruichi stated after rifling through those papers. She got up and left the room without another word.

Orihime sat up. "Ichigo, what's wrong?"

He furrowed his brow. "I don't know…" He looked back down at his wife and helped her stand. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad." He kissed her forehead to soothe her. "Everything's going to be alright."

…

"Let me shoot it straight. Stress causes many complications. In your case, it causes the cramping in your abdominal."

Stress. That's all Orihime's life had been throughout the whole pregnancy.

Like Orihime predicted, there was something wrong. Sitting in the office, when Orihime told the doctor about the pains she as feeling, Yoruichi wasn't happy at all.

Orihime nodded. "Okay…"

"When did these cramps start?" Yoruichi lifted a slender, purple brow.

"Um…" Orihime thought about when she entered the company car after being bombarded by those horrid paparazzi… No, it was much sooner than that. "I think around when I was about two… two and a half months…?" Orihime knew that when she was ten or eleven weeks when Ichigo was assaulted.

Yoruichi "I can recommend you some stress relieving activities, but… I think some damage has been done."

Ichigo's phone vibrated in his pocket but he didn't pick it up. He knew it was Ishida and Ichigo knew he was straining over the importance of the Kidō Corporation's banquet coming up in a few more days.

Orihime opened her eyes gray eyes wide. "Is there a point in pregnancy where I can cause the most damage?"

Yoruichi shook her head. "Anytime during the pregnancy can cause severe damage. There's no single moment where the mother can trigger the most harm."

Ichigo glanced at his wife who was chewing on the inside of her cheek, a sure sign of her nervousness. He spoke to the doctor though his eyes didn't leave his wife. "Yoruichi… you said the damage is done, but what does that mean, exactly?"

Yoruichi sighed and then straightened up. "Since I'm being honest, this pregnancy should have been a failure. You should have miscarried considering your history."

"Yoruichi…" Ichigo growled.

Yoruichi placed her pencil down on her desk. "Ichigo, do you want me to lollygag, to beat around the bush? Or do you want the truth?"

"Please, continue," Orihime urged.

Yoruichi nodded. "But, miracles can happen. And in your case, this stress, which was a lot I presume, can impact the newborn's health, your health, the fetus' development and the child's growth could possibly be restricted. Most of all, you'll have a higher risk for preterm labor and birth."

Orihime soaked all of the information.

She was at high risk of premature labor…

That was the last thing Orihime wanted. What if her baby came out sick, or malformed, even worse… dead?

Orihime bit her wobbling lip. Ichigo rubbed her back in large circles, hoping to sooth her.

Yoruichi sighed. "Now, now, Orihime. My job isn't to make you cry, but to inform you." She smiled and her bright eyes twinkled. "I wish nothing but the best for you and the baby. The last thing you need to do now is stress even more about the complications of birth. That's what I'm here for."

Orihime nodded through stinging, dry eyes.

Yoruichi wagged her finger at the duo. "Now I want you back in here soon. I hope I didn't scare you off."

Ichigo helped Orihime up and out of her chair. They walked to the car in silence.

"You know it's her job to tell us every worst case scenario." Ichigo tugged on his seat belt.

Orihime nodded. "Mmhm..."

Ichigo started the car. "Actually, she's supposed to con us into buying extreme care baby products and in-case-of-extreme-emergency junk."

Orihime sighed heavily. "Ichigo… That doesn't make me feel better…"

He drove out of the parking lot and into the moving traffic. "This baby is healthy. You're healthy." Though he didn't look at her, he grinned. "I can't put it any plainer than that."

She brought her hand up and squeezed his thigh gently. "Thank you."

…

"Tamotsu!" A girl with long dark hair came running behind the young boy. "Tamotsu!"

Tamotsu turned around. He watched the girl stop in front of him and catch her breath. "Hana?"

She stood up straight. Her finger immediately went up to twirl on a strand of long dark hair. "Um… We're going to build tomorrow… Want to work with me?" She blushed a light pink over her nose and cheeks.

Tamotsu raised a brow. "I was going to work with Misoka…"

Hana's smile died completely. "Oh…"

Tamotsu's eyes lit up when he saw his friend walk out the building. "Misoka!"

Hana scowled at the name.

Misoka hopped down the few steps happily. "Hi Tamotsu."

Hana observed the duo smiling at each other and then her name was called. "…My parents are here…" she said. "See you tomorrow…" Hana sulked away.

Misoka and Tamotsu watched her walk up to a grown up and leave in a car.

Misoka didn't like Hana. Though Misoka was new to the classroom; she knew Hana wasn't a good person. She tricked the other boys into giving their candy to her at snack time.

"My daddy is picking me up." Tamostu said.

Misoka nodded and sat down on the building's small stairs. Tamotsu did the same.

They waited. But it didn't take long for Ichigo to pull up to the preschool.

Ichigo saw that Tamotsu and a little girl were sitting on the front steps, waiting, while other children walked by them.

"And just who might this young lady be?" Ichigo asked as he walked up to his son.

Tamotsu gave his father a strange look.

Misoka smiled shyly. "I-I'm Misoka. I'm Tamotsu's friend."

Ichigo took his son's hand. "Do you want us to wait for your parents with you?"

Misoka frowned as she watched an older woman take her time walking over. "No… My granny is right there."

Ichigo grinned down at his son. "Let's go Tamotsu."

They walked away, hand in hand while Tamotsu waved at his friend. "Bye Misoka!"

Ichigo strapped him into his booster seat and went back to the front. He started the engine and looked at his wife's face.

It was blank.

"You alright, hun?" he asked worriedly.

"I…" After a minute, Orihime closed her jaw when she couldn't get the right words out.

They drove on.

Tamotsu talked about his day at school and Ichigo interacted.

"Miss Haruguchi said we will make a giant painting tomorrow and everyone has to have a partner and I choose Misoka!"

It would be the perfect scene for a wife and a mother… But it didn't feel so.

They came to a red light.

"Ichigo… I want to go to the beach."

Ichigo smiled and relaxed his left shoulder on the door. "Huh. That would be nice wouldn't it?"

She looked at him. "I want to go to the beach right now."

He lifted a brow. "It's fall. It's freezing out there right now."

Orihime shook her head, her burnt-orange locks shaking. "I don't care."

"Are you… are you serious?" Ichigo looked at the road, to his wife and back at the road again.

Orihime nodded, a smile growing on her face. "Yes… yes! I am!"

Ichigo shook his head then looked at his wife once more. "I can't believe this… But…" He sighed. "Fine."

Tamotsu looked up from his copy book. "Are we going to the beach, mommy?"

…

Ichigo wanted to drive back home to get the proper attire but Orihime said they didn't need it.

He wanted to stop by to pick up some snacks but she didn't want it.

She only yearned to see the ocean.

When they got there it was only them.

It wasn't sunny and warm and bright but dark and a little dingy looking.

Orihime didn't mind.

Tamotsu didn't care either. As long as he could run around in the water and roll in the sand it was all alright with him.

And Ichigo…Ichigo didn't fret.

Just seeing the smile on his wife's face was enough for him.

"Ahh! Daddy, higher!" Tamotsu shouted from the air. Ichigo placed him back down in the water. Tamotsu bubbled inside with anticipation as he saw another wave rolling in. "Higher!" he shouted as Ichigo threw him up into the air as the waves came slamming in.

Tamotsu's wonderful laugh rung through Orihime's ears. "Higher, daddy, higher!"

Orihime crossed her ankles and leaned back on the sand. She breathed deeply.

"How do you feel?" Ichigo hiked his way through the cool sand and sat down next to his wife. His pants were rolled up to his knees to keep them dry from the rushing waves. His breathing was beginning to regulate after lifting Tamotsu up from the ferocious waters.

Orihime watched Tamotsu stack a pile of watery sand over another. "It smells good here."

Ichigo sniffed the air. "It does, like… salt and petroleum."

Orihime hummed and rubbed her belly. "And magic."

Ichigo lifted a brow at his wife's absurd reasoning. "Magic?"

Tamotsu patted the wet sand until he manipulated the soggy mixture into something he was proud of. He took a step back and smiled at his handiwork.

"Can't you feel it? In the breeze?" Orihime took a deep breath. "It feels right… like everything belongs. Every living creature knows is purpose here…"

The baby likes it here too, Orihime thought. She could feel her stretching and getting into a comfortable position. She liked the sound of the water and the squawking of the seagulls.

Ichigo nudged her with his shoulder. "Want to take a walk?"

Orihime blushed and shook her head.

"Come on. Take a walk with me." Ichigo pulled her hand into his. "Please?"

Without her answer, he helped her stand up and remove the sand from her pants and back.

"Mommy! Mommy, daddy!" Tamotsu ran to them, hoped up and down in front of the duo, and pointed to his sculpture. "Look, mommy! Come with me!"

Tamotsu took her other hand and guided her to his creation.

"Oh, Tamotsu!" Orihime smiled. "It's lovely!"

The child had made a replica of a conch shell. Orihime could make out the curve of the opening and the how he made the flattened side fan out and twist up into its ever spiraling top.

Tamotsu held something up for her to see. It was the actual model, the real conch shell.

Orihime smiled.

It was hard and stiff yet it was smooth and light. It was elegant and beautiful.

The woman looked down at her giddy son. "Can have this, Tamotsu?"

He nodded. It made him happy to make mommy happy.

Ichigo tugged at her hand and lead her down the shore. Tamotsu followed along.

…

Ichigo finished turning in the screw and stood up.

Orihime wanted to simply repaint Tamotsu's old crib but Ichigo wouldn't have any of that. So he brought a new one much to Orihime's dismay.

"Ichigo! I need your help! Hurry!"

The man ran upstairs and back into the room. "What's wrong?! Is it the baby?"

Orihime turned around and smiled. Her ponytail bounced behind her and she had a smear of paint under her bottom lip which curved to the side of her chin. "No, of course not!" She rubbed her baby bump. "I'm not tall enough to reach that corner right there!"

Ichigo exhaled and smirked, completely relieved. He walked over and finished swiping the paintbrush back and forth. "Better?"

"Much." Orihime stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. She looked around the empty room. "I think that's it for the clouds…" Orihime saw his worried face. "Ichigo, I'll be fine. I don't think a little paint will kill me."

"I'm allowed to be worried. My little princess is in there." Ichigo rubbed his hand against her belly.

"Your princess isn't going to have a place to stay if we don't get this done." Orihime handed him a paint brush. "Here."

They continued painting silently. But the silence was okay, it was peaceful and relaxing. There was simply nothing to be said. Their smiles did the talking.

It was nice to get her mind off of… everything. The custody battle most of all. It was too painful for her to think that she had to share her son with someone else… That evil man was the last person on earth she wanted her son to be related to.

A tiny hand tugged on her pants. "Mommy, can I help?" Tamotsu looked up at her with giant brown eyes.

Orihime got down to his level and placed the brush in his hand. Together, they moved the brush up and down against the wall.

After a while, Orihime stood up. She looked at the walls and became giddy with happiness.

It was the ocean. There were clouds and the sun was just peeking out from them, like it was just waking up. And the waves looked gentle and curling, soft like a blue blanket.

They kept the pale blue color on the walls though she was having a girl. Orihime didn't want Ichigo's efforts to go to waste.

"Do you like it?" Ichigo asked.

"I love it!" She clapped her hands softly.

"Mommy! Look at the sea!" Tamotsu cheered. "It's the sea!" The child was about to run to the wet wall and touch it but Orihime caught his arm.

"Yes, it is! And you know what else?" She squeezed his arm lightly.

He stared up at his captor and shook his head.

"It's lunch time!"

The trio moved their way down the steps. "I'll make the sandwiches." Ichigo offered.

Orihime pulled off her gloves. "And I'll set the table."

"I'll… um…" Tamotsu scratched his head, wondering with task he'll assign himself. "I'll…I'll eat!"

…

The next day, when Ichigo moved all of the furniture into the baby room, Orihime sat in the cushioned chair in the corner of the room.

It was just like the sea. All they needed now was the baby… Orihime tapped her belly. She was sleeping in there. Always sleeping.

The baby… and one more thing…

Orihime twisted the conch in her hands slowly, observing the dark to light lines that traced up and down the shell.

She lifted her hand and placed the conch against her ear. She knew that the rushing sound was the blood flowing through her ear, echoing into the shell, but it was nice to believe.

She stretched her right arm to the dresser next to her and set the conch on the surface.

Just like the shell, her baby has been through some rocking waves and terrible storms. But the end result was…

"Mmm…" she sighed happily. "Perfect."

We'll jump back more to the story line with the next chapter. This one was more about the baby and family bonding.

And thanks for waiting guys! It was killing me inside that I couldn't update, but my computer is working again- I really need to get a new one.

Rocka.