A/N: Yes, unfortunately we had another updating delay. :p I just got a new laptop (yeah!) but the internet was being stupid and I had to wait to put up a virus-blocking system. On the bright side, we won't have anymore updating problems. Two hip-hip hoorays for late Christmas gifts!
And since you all waited patiently, I placed a twist at the end of the chapter, just because I love you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own the original characters of Bleach. Hitomi and Tamotsu are mine!
One week later.
"No. Please… no…." She slid a heavy hand down her face. "Not. Again."
The mother knew she should leave the bed now before the newborn's cries woke everyone, but her body and mind were drained and oh, so tired.
Orihime swung her feet over the edge of the bed drowsily and, stumbling on her way, made it to Hitomi's bedroom.
Hitomi laid flat on her back and gave a long, drawn out whine, stopping to take a breath and then crying again. Her legs curled against her and her hand were squeezed in tiny fist.
"Good morning, Hitomi…" Orihime whispered over her newborn's crying.
The mother pulled her up out of her crib and placed her on the changing station.
"Good morning, mommy!" Orihime responded in a tiny, imitating voice, pulling down the tabs on her diaper.
Hitomi's screeches began to subside after she was dry, but that didn't make the dwindling wails any less irritating. Since three days ago, a day after she was released from the hospital, at the same time every night, around three o'clock, for two or three hours straight, Hitomi would cry her tiny heart out. Not to even mention the other times when she's hungry, tired or wet.
Orihime just hoped that Hitomi's crying didn't wake up Tamotsu. If was bad if one of her babies were awake, but two. Orihime winced at the thought.
Ichigo slouched in the doorway and gave the best smile he could muster considering the timely circumstances. "Good morning, my love."
"Hello!" Orihime said breathlessly as she tried to soothe the wriggling baby. She picked her up and rocked her as she circled around the room.
Ichigo rested his head against the doorway and sighed. "Three in the morning…. Great."
"She needed to be changed." The mother said matter-of-factly, still bouncing the infant in her arms.
"Yet she still cries."
"I haven't feed her yet." His wife retorted firmly. Was Ichigo implying something was wrong? If he was, Orihime dismissed it. Instead, she grabbed a towel off the dresser and sat down on the fluffy chair in the corner. "Could you grab me a bottle from the frig?"
Five minutes later, Ichigo was back with a warmed bottle of milk.
Hitomi drank greedily as Orihime fed her with the angled bottle.
Ichigo backed away and sat down on the uncomfortably small, padded chair by the dresser.
His body seemed to try to shrink to fit the chair. His shoulders hunched, his legs were bent high since he sat so low. He felt so out of place in a room of seashells and small toys. Like Gulliver, amidst the tiny Lilliputians.
Orihime stared at her husband amusingly. He was uneasy, just his body language and his fidgeting made that much evident. But why, she did not know.
Out of nowhere, Ichigo heard his wife ask: "Do you want to feed her?"
The father's face drained. He's fed Tamotsu plenty times when he was an infant. But this was different. It was just… Hitomi was smaller, more fragile. He could easily break her by accident.
Orihime stared, waiting for his answer while Hitomi steadily sucked away.
The man stood straighter. His eyes flashed with apprehension as he looked from the feeding baby to its mother. He swallowed nervously. "…Uh.… Sure, why not."
Beaten, he allowed Orihime transfer the infant into his arms. She placed the bottle in his hand the correct way and stood back to get the full view.
Ichigo felt like he was holding a Barbie doll. A living, breathing, warm Barbie doll. He let Hitomi's weight settle in on his arms, her body heat emanating from all sides.
Ichigo lifted the left side of his mouth giving it a lopsided grin. "Do I look funny?"
Orihime giggled at his foolish comment. She bent over to grab the towel off of the chair, a view which Ichigo didn't mind at all- in fact, in his eyes, her figure looked even better than before.
"Now you have to burp her. But not too rough, her back isn't as strong as Tamotsu's.… Also, she's much gassier." Orihime placed the towel over his shoulder and sat him down on the chair. Ichigo set Hitomi up against his chest and began patting her back.
Ichigo lifted a brow and continued rubbing the baby's back. "…like this?"
"Yes." Orihime nodded happily, then considered for a moment. She suddenly raked her hand through Ichigo's orange head to make it even wilder and disheveled than before. "There. Now you look like a real daddy."
Hitomi mewled over her father's shoulder and rested her head on the towel.
Ichigo smiled and grasped her wrist before Orihime could pull away.
He trailed his hand all the way up her arm to the back of her neck. He brought her down until their lips were inches apart. "Thank you," he whispered and leaned in to kiss her but Hitomi burped, and unfortunately, spit up too.
Well… baby throw-up isn't the best turn on.
…
"Mommy, mommy, mommy!" Tamotsu shouted as he ran into her legs and held on tight.
Orihime stumbled, catching herself against the counter, almost spilling a bottle of uncapped breast milk in the process.
Tamotsu watched a few drops of the white, creamy liquid splatter on the tiled floor, earning a suppressed groan from his mother.
Orihime turned back to the kitchen counter and continued her work. "Tamotsu," she sighed irately. "Don't do that anymore."
Tamotsu rocked on his heels for a second, waiting out her anger before thrusting his macaroni-and-glue picture as high as he could reach. "Mommy, look at what I made at made at school! Look! Look!"
"Yes, beautiful."
Beautiful? Tamotsu glanced down at the macaroni glued monster. It had elbow macaroni teeth and fan shaped eyes. It wasn't beautiful, it was scary! …She didn't even look at him!
"Mommy, look at my picture!" Tamotsu hoped from foot to foot in excitement and lifted the picture to his face. "Rawr, rawr! See mommy?! Rawr!"
Orihime screwed the top back onto the bottle. "Tamotsu, I said it was great."
Great? She said beautiful before. Now she was really frustrating him.
"Rawr, rawr!" The boy screamed louder to catch her attention.
"Tamotsu, lower your-"
From the top rooms all the way down to the kitchen, Hitomi's cries started from being awoken.
Orihime huffed and took the bottle and other containers out of the kitchen with her.
Why wasn't she paying attention? Why wasn't she looking?
Tamotsu followed her, asking her once more when they reached the stairs. "Mommy… look…"
The phone began ringing and Orihime became conflicted over whether she should continue upstairs to the stirring infant or the caller.
Hitomi's cries were getting louder so she picked the former.
"Mommy…" Tamotsu reached out to tug on her skirt but she was moving so fast, he couldn't keep up. Why was she ignoring him?
The child didn't know how to put it all into the right words. He didn't know what to say to ask his mother to really look at him. Why was she being so cruel?
Instead of throwing a tantrum, or chucking his macaroni art across the room, or shouting and demanding attention, the toddler broke down in tears.
The phone rung, Hitomi shrieked bloody murder, and Tamotsu was crying.
"Tamotsu, please!" Orihime abruptly turned around and raised her voice at the toddler. "Give mommy a rest! You're too old to be crying!"
Tamotsu stared high up at his mother in shock, the boy's macaroni art slipped from his fingers as realization dawned on her. Orihime's core clenched in hatred for herself.
The phone gave its last ring.
"Tamotsu, Monkey, my sweet little honeybunch." Orihime picked up the picture from the steps and handed it back to the stunned child. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of that."
Tamotsu's ears still rung from her loud shouts, her voice repeated the same pitch over and over again. More tears inched down his round cheeks.
Hitomi still cried for her life, giving the most heart wrenching performance on Orihime's motherly instincts. "Mommy's really sorry. I just… I have to go get Hitomi, okay?"
Tamotsu sniffled and watched his mommy turned back around and run up the stairs to his little sister.
Tamotsu crept back down the steps, silently crying to not disturb the baby or its mother anymore than he already has.
…
Orihime kissed Hitomi's cheek, then her other and then the first again. She sat down besides Ichigo on the couch and snuggled up under his arm.
"What are you working on?" The woman asked, glancing at his laptop.
Having Hueco Mundo as a client wasn't an exact walk in the park. In fact, it was a nightmare. Yes, having a partnership paid amazing, and their company was doing great, but Aizen's men were rough, excessively demanding, and harassing. Ichigo had already gotten dozens of complaints from his employees stating that the HMs were unnecessarily rude or tormenting.
His partner, Ishida said that they are trying to wiggle out of their deal at the moment. Taking legal action would be sticky in their particular situation, so Ishida told Ichigo to focus elsewhere, on his wife and kids.
Yet, here he was, working again.
"I'm doing some research on a potential client."
Orihime lifted Hitomi in her arms to keep her from sliding down. "Oh, who?"
Ichigo grinned and closed his laptop. "I can't tell you. Don't want to jinx it."
The woman shrugged. "Understandable."
In her arms, Hitomi snuffled and pursed her tiny, pink lips. Orihime wiped off her pacifier and slipped it between her lips before a cry could escape.
"Do you think we should look into her crying problem?"
Ichigo leaned in and stoked Hitomi's fine, slender, light brown hairs on her head. "Her crying isn't a problem. That's what babies do."
"The same time, every night?" Orihime shook her head. "Tamotsu didn't do that."
Hitomi relished in her attention and cuddled against her mother's breast.
"There's the problem right there." Ichigo said, stilling caressing the babe. "You need to stop comparing our children. Every baby is different."
"I know…" Hitomi yawned, the pacifier slipping from her mouth before Orihime pushed it back in. "But you can't deny it's unusual."
Ichigo shook his head. "I don't think so," he whispered. "She's perfect."
Tamotsu looked at his parents' faces gazing down at the baby.
That was Tamotsu's seat, right there in between his parents.
Instead it was Hitomi, yawning and sleeping all of the time. Crying and getting everything she wants.
Tamotsu wanted to be mad at the Hitomi. But she was only a baby… it wasn't her fault she couldn't help herself.
The boy climbed up the staircase, oblivious to the pair of gray eyes trailing him.
Orihime looked back at her husband. "Ichigo?"
Ichigo finished caress the infant and looked back at his wife. "Hmm?"
Before Orihime could contain herself, it all came spilling out.
"I yelled at Monkey today. I didn't mean to, I was just so frustrated because Hitomi was cooperating earlier. It took me so long to get her to sleep. And he was just- you know how he can get when he's excited. He becomes so happy and so loud and he squeals. And it's a lovely squeal, it really is, but he was so… in-my-face, I couldn't think straight, and… he started crying and I ended up telling him that he was too old to be crying.
"It was like that time I spanked him. I don't want to be that type of parent who doesn't have her children under control. I want to be calm and collected, not pulling my hair out. And when Hitomi started crying- I really didn't mean to say those things to him, it's just, he's still a baby himself and this whole process is harder than I thought."
The mother took a deep breath and waited for the orange haired man to respond.
"Orihime, just relax. He'll get over it."
Orihime jumped, catching Hitomi in her arms before she rolled away. "Ichigo! How can you say that?!"
"Orihime, its okay to be stressed. It's the most appropriate response in your case." Ichigo ticked at each of his fingers to make a point. "With this visitation coming up, and Hitomi, and the fact that you have to stay away from BabyCakes so long after the reopening, things are going to pile on at once."
Ichigo was right. She was stressed. Because Orihime had her baby, the court changed Aizen's unsupervised visitation rights to supervised visitation rights. They believed that Tamotsu needed a familiar figure to help transition him into a new, different life.
And in three days, three days Tamotsu would meet his biological father all over again. The whole situation was weighing heavy on Orihime. And the fact that she just screamed at him made it all hurt even more.
"But I never wanted to be a mother who takes out all her anger on her children. I don't like yelling at Monkey." Orihime looked up at the ceiling, as if she could see her son through the floor, on his carpet playing with his toys. "You should have seen the look on his face…"
Hitomi waved her arms in the air in frustration, begging to be notice. Her pacifier fell out of her mouth, but she didn't care. She just needed all eyes on her.
"How about I have a chat with Tamotsu, just to see how he's doing with the new baby and stuff?"
"You'll really do that?" Orihime asked happily. Hitomi's waves were becoming forceful, violent, almost. Orihime glided her finger in the infant's grasp and Hitomi held on tight, bringing the finger to her mouth occasionally to soak the digit with saliva.
"Yeah," Ichigo shrugged and smiled, amused at his daughter's fascination with sucking fingers. "….how about the two of us have a father-son day, before the visitation."
After some thought, Orihime nodded in agreement. "That sounds good… I like that idea."
The mother found the pacifier and placed it back where it belonged, much to Hitomi's dismay. But the infant still held tight to her mother's finger, refusing to surrender any potential attention.
Ichigo leaned over, again, and kissed his daughter on her forehead, earning a muffled squeal of gratitude. "Yeah, I knew you would."
Later that night.
"Hitomi!" Orihime hissed as loudly as she could.
The woman gently lifted the child out of her crib, or at least as gentle as one could with a shrieking baby in their hands.
Orihime placed her on the changing station and pleaded with the baby. "Please! Please, mommy's here now."
Orihime slid a new diaper under the child, avoiding her strong kicks. She peeled back the tabs on the dirty diaper and pulled down the top half to reveal- nothing!
Orihime blinked a few times, unsure what to do. She sniffed her to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, and checked under the infant to inspect her back side.
Hitomi was completely clean… why the hell then was she crying?!
The mother fastened a new diaper on anyway, just in case.
After Orihime cleaned the station, she set Hitomi on the floor and sat opposite of her, cross-legged.
Hitomi was still creating that staccato weep she does.
Orihime wasn't cut out for this. Tamotsu didn't cry, Tamotsu never cried. He watched and stared and was a quiet as a mouse…. When he was hungry he made a kind of scuffling sound with his lips, like he was sucking the air. He only did cry when he felt extremely uncomfortable or if Orihime was away for a long time, like an hour or so.
Hitomi, on the other hand, just screamed and screamed and screamed.
It was unnerving, of course, to see her daughter act like this. Orihime sighed and picked the mewling baby up. Hitomi's cries became jerky and choppy, like she was running out of ammo.
Orihime used it to her advantage and hugged the squirming child. Hitomi's kicks died down but only a little bit. The mother lifted her shirt and slid Hitomi under. She laid back on the carpeted floor, Hitomi's head peeking out from under the thin fabric.
The baby quieted and listened her mother's heart. She snuggled in between skin and breast. It was warm here, and soft. Hitomi yawned sleepily; wanting to burrow into her mother's skin and sleep next to her mother's beating heart.
Orihime yawned too. It was comforting feeling Hitomi's weight on her chest. She felt the infant rolled herself into a ball.
Before no time, the two girls were sleeping. Both twisted into their own cocoon, both whistling a light combination of snoring and humming.
When Ichigo felt his wife's presence absent from their bed, he immediately glanced at his clock. It read 3: 18. Surely, Hitomi must have gone on her crying-fit again.
The orange haired man walked down the hall and entered his previous office.
Orihime and Hitomi lay peacefully in the middle of the floor. Hitomi was barely visible for Ichigo could not see her brown hair in the dark light of the lamp. But she slept atop Orihime's chest, under her oversized bed shirt. It was the cutest scene ever.
Ichigo crossed the room and pulled the colorful afghan from off the side of the crib and laid it across his two ladies.
He switched off the lamp and went back to bed.
…
Tamotsu raked his heels along the wooden chips scattered across the grass.
He lightly swung back and forth on the swing set, bringing his feet down occasionally to keep from rocking too hard.
"You can't touch the baby?" His friend Hiro reaffirmed.
Tamotsu nodded and looked up at the blue sky. It was recess time and he decided to confide in his good friend, Hiroyuki Tanaka. Aside from Misoka, who wasn't there that day, Hiro was a great friend and even better wrestler.
"But… the baby is your sister!" Hiro shouted, stating the obvious.
The boy swung higher than Tamotsu. It was his constant goal to hop off of the moving swing and land further on the grass then he did yesterday.
Tamotsu wasn't fond of elevating oneself just to decline. Besides, if one landed the wrong way, one could get hurt.
"I know, but my mommy said that I can't touch the baby. She said she loves me and the baby the same way, but right now, the baby needs more attention."
Hiro hopped off the swing, screeching as he went. His body was flung into the air, like a pellet from a sling shot, and landed with an "Oof" on the dry ground.
Tamotsu waited for his friend to get back up and shake the dirt off of him and wag his short blond head. Hiro returned to the swings, a goofy grin on his otherwise smug visage.
"I got seven feet today." Hiro boasted proudly. "That's two more from yesterday!"
Tamotsu observed his friend try to pushed off and rock his body to a perfect rhythm.
Tamotsu then realized, as Hiroyuki was trying to push and pull the chains on his seat to get a better pace that Hiro wouldn't understand. Hiro was the youngest child out of three. He would never know the load of protecting a sibling that he wasn't allowed to touch. He would never know such a burden.
…
Hitomi wrapped her tiny hand around Ichigo's finger. She brought the appendage to her mouth; her tiny pink tongue darted out, examining the tip. Hitomi pulled a face when she realized that this tip wasn't the normal, swollen tip she was used to.
Nevertheless, Hitomi resume her exploration.
Ichigo wagged his finger, giving Hitomi a challenge. She didn't give up trying to suck his finger down to nothing.
Ichigo bent his neck and kissed her belly. She was growing, still. Her small frame increasing each day. Though Tamotsu was way bigger and fuller at two and a half weeks, Ichigo didn't mind. After feeding her and spending time with her when Orihime took a quick nap, he was less scared of breaking the babe.
Hitomi's eyes flashed up to her father from her gnawing, amber encountered its equivalent for a spilt second before the infant went back to her licking endeavor.
"You are the most important person in the world to me."
"Hey!"
Ichigo twisted on his side, catching his wife exiting their bathroom tying her robe. She was finally able to remove the days' activities off her body. Steam trailed out of the bathroom close behind her as she moved over to the bed.
Orihime crawled next to him and kissed him on the cheek. "What about me?"
"You are the loveliest, most beautiful woman in the world." Ichigo said without missing a beat.
Orihime rubbed the chubby belly of the suckling baby. "And Tamotsu?"
"The most special, wonderful son any man could have."
Orihime turned on her side to kiss him on the mouth. "And you're the most amazing man and father."
Hitomi kicked the air for the attention. Her amber eyes began searching for someone else's. Ichigo slipped his finger out of her grasp to tangle his hand through his wife's wet, burnt-orange hair. Feeling her father's warm finger taken from her, the infant released a single, lengthy whimper into the air.
Immediately, Ichigo swooped her up and offered his finger again. Hitomi clutched it gratefully, not letting it go.
Orihime sighed and scooted off the bed and made her way over to her vanity. She picked up her favorite brush and tackled her wet hair. "Two more days…." she accidentally sighed out loud.
Ichigo's eyes didn't leave Hitomi. "When do you want to explain things to Tamotsu?"
Orihime set her brush down. "I don't know…"
The whole situation had her completely frazzled. The thought of having to explain to Tamotsu that "Mister" was in fact real made her stomach churn. Tamotsu could handle it, she knew this. But could she?
"I know you're very…. passive, but you can't let this drag on. He needs to know some time soon."
Orihime wrapped her hair into a loose bun atop her head and turned to face him from her cushioned seat. "I think I want to tell him the day of. So there's no confusion…"
"Confusion." Ichigo repeated, levity dripping from his voice. He lifted Hitomi up to his face and nuzzled her miniature form. "It's not all bad. Think about it from his perspective. The man you told him that wasn't real is actually his biological father."
Orihime placed her hands on her hips indignantly. "I don't know how you can make a mockery out of this situation, Ichigo."
Ichigo just smiled. "Hitomi thinks it's funny."
Orihime gazed at the yawning babe, her arms falling to her side at the sight of Hitomi's naïve and immature face. Orihime's own anger dissolved. "Using her adorableness against me now?"
Ichigo sighed and transferred Hitomi to her mother. "You just make such beautiful babies."
The woman blushed and rocked Hitomi's drowsy form. "We should get her to bed. She'll be up in a few hours anyway." It was about ten o'clock. No doubt Hitomi would be crying at the top of her lungs in five hours.
The father leaned back on his pillows and shut his eyes. "Sounds like a plan."
The next day.
"Okay, here's the plan." Ichigo crouched and said to his son. "You run down there, I throw the ball and you catch it, okay?"
Tamotsu nodded, his eyes sparkling.
"Horses shake their heads!"
Tamotsu shouted on the top of his lungs in excitement. "Yes, sir!"
Ichigo waited for his son to reach the edge of the field before sending the football spiraling in a straight toss.
Tamotsu hoped in the air and caught it with ease before buckling from the impact of the throw and falling into the dried leaves behind him.
Ichigo jogged over to his son, lifting him up. "You okay champ?"
Tamotsu shook his whole body off then flexed his arms and growled. "Yes daddy!"
Ichigo and Tamotsu sat down on the dusty ground. They stared around the tired park, one or two people roaming here or there.
"You hungry?" Ichigo asked suddenly.
Tamotsu thought for a moment and nodded.
Ichigo ruffled his son's dark brown hair. "Horses shake their heads!"
Tamotsu jumped up and threw the football against the ground. "Yes, sir!"
Across the street, Ichigo lead Tamotsu to an old deli. There, Ichigo ordered himself a hoagie and a mini and fries for the child.
"Good?"
Tamotsu munched on a fry and smiled. "Mmhmm!"
Ichigo drunk his Coke and watched his son chop at the fried potato crisps. He placed his cup back down. "Are you still upset at your mother?"
Tamotsu shook head, and then remembered that only horses do that. "No daddy."
Still watching him, Ichigo noticed that Tamotsu's eating slowed. "…Champ," Ichigo started. "I want you to remember that your mother loves you."
Tamotsu ceased his chopping and began poking his fries in the ketchup "Mmhmm."
It was obviously still a touchy subject. Ichigo assumed he would get over it, in time.
"That was a nice catch out there." The father said, cheering him up.
The boy grinned his wide, goofy grin and squealed at his father's rare praise.
In two days, Tamotsu would meet his biological father. But no matter what, Ichigo would always be his true father. No one would be able to take that title from him.
The next night.
Orihime stood over the crib, examining her daughter's every movement, every flicker and expression.
"Orihime, come back to bed, please." Ichigo begged from the doorway for the hundredth time. His wife had been up since two just to standing over Hitomi while she slept. Unnerved, Ichigo stayed up too. He didn't have the right word for it, but he didn't want Orihime to become too paranoid. So now they were in the baby's room, watching her until she woke again in her crying-fit.
"She's fine." Ichigo reassured her yet again.
Ichigo also knew that Hitomi's actions were a little odd. But if he admitted to it, it would only make Orihime even more fearful.
Orihime glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 2:53. Hitomi would be awake soon. "There's something wrong… I know there is."
A full hour of trying to persuade his wife to go back to bed… She was like a persistent child, stubborn when she wanted to be. And ever so firm in her decision.
Well…. If you can't beat 'em, join them.
"Show me." Ichigo said and stood next to Orihime by the crib.
Orihime pointed at the scowl she made with her lips. God she looked like Ichigo. "She's making that face again." Orihime looked at Ichigo with wide, scared eyes. "Do you think she's in pain? She looks like she's in pain…"
Ichigo gazed at the stirring baby. "I'll try to burp her again-"
"No!" Orihime hissed and slapped his reaching hands away. "She'll cry again!"
Hitomi yawned, and with it, a mounting cry escaped.
Both parents groaned.
Completely dry, Hitomi still cried inconsolably. Even when Orihime tried to feed her, Hitomi didn't want anything. She just wanted to cry. Orihime even tried to hold her, to hug her. It only worked for a time before the infant became restless all over again.
Ichigo glanced at the clock again. It was 4:48. The father sighed wearily. "Let's take her back to the hospital."
"So they can stick her in a warm box and poke needles in her again? No thank you." Orihime transferred the sniveling infant from one arm to the other.
"I just wish she would stop crying. I mean, I already changed her; she's been feed and burped…." Orihime looked down at Hitomi, her cries dwindling. "…You don't think she has any problem problems, do you?"
Ichigo opened an eye. "Problems?"
"Like…" Orihime bit her lip, afraid to say it out loud. "…like special problems?"
Ichigo glanced at Hitomi. The infant's face was red from all of the energy she put in to the cries, her body cringed and tightened, like an expanding balloon.
He knew she didn't have any special problems, but problems nonetheless.
"That's it." Ichigo stood from his place on the carpet. "I'm setting a doctor's appointment."
Orihime stood too, placing Hitomi back in her crib, her body becoming more relaxed. "So you do think something's wrong?"
Ichigo raked a hand through his bright hair. "No. But… something's off." He squeezed his dry eyes shut for a moment. "We have to find out."
Orihime looked back at the crib. In a way, it was like seeing her daughter in that encased incubator all over again…
The woman shook her head, hopefully shaking out all her fears with it. "Fine… fine."
…
Tamotsu munched on his buttery toast and stared out the window.
It was calm that morning at breakfast.
His daddy sat across from him drinking that warm black stuff from his mug. And his mommy slouched in her chair, her eyes closed and orangey hair fanning over both her shoulders.
Next to the boy, his baby sister, Hitomi, slept quietly in her highchair. She was entirely inactive save her occasion lid fluttering and her jittery little stretches and kicks. Tamotsu would have poked her, to make sure she was still there, but he knew better than to touch her.
Tamotsu began to wonder when Hitomi was ever not sleeping.
The child pierced his sausage with his fork and chomped on the end. He nose wrinkled when he tasted his pancake syrup on the link of meat.
"Monkey, are you done?" His mommy asked and took his empty glass.
Tamotsu nodded and lowered his sausage bound fork back onto the half empty plate.
His mommy returned to the sink and he heard the faucet go on. "Go up stairs and get dressed, we have somewhere to go today."
"Okay mommy." Tamotsu climbed off the chair and traveled upstairs. Tamotsu used the stool in the bathroom to brush his teeth. He still hadn't mastered the art of keeping the toothpaste from smearing all over his cheeks and counter top.
…
"Where are we going?" Tamotsu asked when mommy started the car.
"We are visiting someone today." Orihime stated dryly as she started the car.
The boy hoisted his bag onto his lap. He unzipped the main compartment and pulled out his best friend, Kon.
Tamotsu glanced over at Hitomi, who now, awake, gazed all around the car, taking it as much as she could with her blurry vision.
"Who are we visiting?" Tamotsu asked, still looking at his baby sister.
Tamotsu didn't hear his mother's answer so he looked back over at her. His mother's body seemed to become tense over the stirring wheel.
Tamotsu raised his brows in question. "Mommy?"
"A friend." She finally said.
Tamotsu was satisfied with that.
The trio rode silently for an half an hour, where they were going, Tamotsu knew not. That was fine with him. He brought Kon along and they goofed around in the backseat, pretending to be space ranges to save planet Earth from an alien evil.
They entered a building that day. A man, cheesing a wide as he could, opened the doors for them. Tamotsu held his mommy's hand while she carried Hitomi in a portable car seat.
The child didn't know what to make of it… He couldn't explain it, but… he's been here before.
His mommy moved towards the main desk, he tamely followed after.
"Good afternoon! Welcome to the Hollow Night…." Momo looked up and frowned in recognition.
"…Palace. How may I help you?"
Tamotsu was going to explode! He knew it. It was on the tip of his tongue…
Orihime sucked in a sharp breath. It was the same receptionist from her last visit to this place. But now, her hair wasn't in the tied bonnet but cut in a short bob, hovering over her shoulders with a watermelon clip high on the left side.
Orihime's shoulders squared. Their last encounter wasn't the warmest, but none of that mattered now.
"We're here to see Sousuke."
Tamotsu's head snapped up to his mommy. He's heard that name before. Where, he did not know.
Momo smacked a sweet, professional smile on her otherwise child-like face. "He isn't in." Momo watched the mother's face crumble in confusion, so she clarified. "He left this yesterday evening, said he had a previous engagement at his headquarters."
Tamotsu felt crazy! The room had a gentle quiet but it was all so noise all at once. Against the walls, the white pillars commanded the large room, as if the were dormant watchdogs, ready to strike at any moment's notice. And the towering walls made him seem so small, smaller than usual as compared to the average adult. All of this, as intimidating as it was, gave him a boost of self-esteem, like the child felt the need to grow bigger and better than those pillars and walls. He wanted to knock them down for being in his way. Under his foot, they would collapse and be grinded to white dust.
All of the hard, glossy, marble seeped into him like a night's chill. It was cold here. Tamotsu didn't like it. He wanted to go home. He was scared.
This fear…
Was it from the familiarity of it all? Or from the unknown?
Tamotsu pressed against his mother's warm leg. "Mommy…"
Hinamori stopped dead in her sentence and leaned over the desk. She first saw wads of bistre colored hair. The owner of that hair looked up at the young lady. Large, frightened, russet eyes collided with coy raw umber.
Hitomi blinked at the brightness of the lobby. She turned her head from side to side looking for her mother.
Momo sat back down, her heart beating in her chest. The girl waited in her chair for a few seconds before her training kicked in. "Do… do you want to leave a message?"
Orihime touched Tamotsu's head and he looked up at her. The mother looked back at the receptionist. "No." Orihime shook her head. "No. Just, just contact me when he comes back. Here's my number…"
…
Tamotsu smiled when they left the horrid building. His mommy tugged on his hand, indicating that he needs to move a bit faster. Tamotsu sped up, craning his neck to see her wet face. She had silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Mommy… why are you crying?" He asked, walking ahead to watch her expression.
Orihime let go of his small hand to wipe her face. Tamotsu then watched her pull out the car keys from her back pocket and heard that chirp chirp noise from the nearby parking lot. "No reason baby."
Orihime packed her children into the car, hooking Hitomi's car seat securely in the back seat beside Tamotsu.
"Mommy…" The boy timidly said as she finished strapping his baby sister down.
Orihime removed the remaining tears from her chin and ears. "Tamotsu, remember that friend I was talking about?" Tamotsu nodded. "Well… he's your…" Tamotsu watched his mommy dug the heel of her hand against her tired, damp eyes. "…he's…"
Orihime was exhausted. This was not as it was to be planned. They were going to meet at his penthouse condominium and spend their allotted time. Just her, him, Tamotsu and Hitomi. Why didn't he come? Why was he planning these games with her head? With her family?
"Mommy?" She heard Tamotsu say again.
Orihime pushed her long, wavy hair up and out of her face. A few strands managed to slip back into place amongst the golden oranges and reds.
"He's no one."
Three days later.
The doctor walked into the waiting room and spotted and nice-looking couple, both fiery in hair but much different in personality. "Mr. and Mrs. Ichigo Kurosaki?" He asked, walking towards them.
The couple stood and shook hands with the doctor. "Hi. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Dr. Koruba."
Gorou smiled and withdrew his hand. "It's my pleasure. This way to my office."
They took Orihime and Hitomi to an examination room while her husband and son waited in the ranks. Hitomi was fairly cooperative, wriggling when she felt uncomfortable but none of her excessive crying emerged.
Orihime secretly hoped it would, for if it did, Dr. Koruba would have gotten a real look and Hitomi's condition.
Dr. Kuroba entered his office with a few files in his hands. "When I read the report, I immediately thought it was colic."
Orihime blinked, confused that she's heard the word- maybe on the baby and mother forums- but never actually knew what it meant.
"Colic?" she repeated.
Dr. Koruba folded his hands on his desk. Between and cup or pencils and pens and a plant, there stood a golden name plate inscribed Dr. Gorou Koruba. MD.
"It's when an infant cries inconsolably without any real reason."
Ichigo nodded. "That sounds like her."
It was much brighter in Dr. Koruba's office than in any office Orihime's been in. Hitomi was falling asleep in her car seat, she looked absolutely adorable in her purple polka dotted jumper, and Tamotsu sat quietly in his armchair, by his father. Tough the boy couldn't keep up with the conversation, he knew perfectly well that he needed to be obedient and on his best behavior. This was no place for play.
Dr. Koruba continued. "But when we took those tests, I noticed that when she feeds, she gulps down a lot of air. This leads me to believe that Hitomi has severe trapped wind."
Gorou paused and waited for the couple to catch up on what he was saying.
"Because Hitomi has such an immature digestive system, especially from being a preemie and 34 gestation, I would assume she has air bubbles trapped in her stomach after feedings. How long after feedings does she cry?"
Orihime thought for a moment. "…She normally gets put to bed around twelve, but only because she sleeps for most of the day. She's feed… and then two or three hours later she wakes up in this cry-fit."
Gorou nodded. His platinum blonde hair twinkled in the spilling sun light from the window. "Is she burped after she's fed every time?" Gorou asked
"Yes, but she doesn't burp every time." Orihime caught a glimpse at Ichigo, almost wanting to giggle. "And when she does, sometimes she might spit-up. Sometimes."
Gorou scrawled down some notes on the file. "Do you feed her when she wakes up in the night, crying?"
"Yes. I feed her, change her, hold her… I do everything until she calms down. But the crying lasts for about three hours straight."
"Being laid flat on your back after being fed, with air trapped in the stomach is very painful for infants." Dr. Koruba folded his hands again, which Orihime noticed were very small for a man his size. "I believe that the colic is what wakes her up initially. But, when you try to feed her, and she's been crying, the air is going to get caught in her belly right after she ate. This is causing her more pain which leads to the excessive crying until she passes gas or burps."
Ichigo lifted his orange brows in worry. "Is this dangerous in any way? Do we have anything to really worry about?"
"Colic is not harmful in any way. It has no long-term effects and Hitomi will outgrow it in several months." Gorou closed the file, stood, and placed it in a drawer with other cream colored folders.
"The wind, on the other hand, is up to the parents. Hitomi needs to be burped every time, after a feeding."
They both nodded, completely understanding.
Gorou opened the doors for them and walked the family to the front room. "I would love to see Hitomi again. I'll fax you a few techniques on how to burp her properly, so wind won't be a problem anymore."
Orihime smiled gratefully. "We would love that!"
At home, Ichigo placed Hitomi into her crib, her back flat against the soft cushion.
He traveled downstairs and into the kitchen where his wife was packing up bottles of breast milk into the refrigerator. "Are ready for tonight?"
Orihime turned around, closing the thick, white door. "I think we're pretty prepared."
Tamotsu went to bed without being told to do so. He was quiet all day since the visitation. Of course Orihime didn't like that, but she didn't want to stir up any bad memories for the both of them.
The couple sat quietly on their couch. It felt like ages since they just sat on that sofa, just relaxing, no words.
When Orihime came home from that horrid day, she cried on Ichigo's chest for hours. She even slept through Hitomi's crying!
Now, being snuggled under his toned arm was the best feeling. Orihime wrapped her arms around his torso and moved closed against him. His hand came down and squeezed her shoulder.
She liked days like these. She was exhausted, yes. But happy nevertheless.
Then something happened the next day. Something she couldn't have saw coming. Something no one could have saw coming.
"Ichigo?" whispered a voice.
Ichigo rubbed his sandy eyes.
"Ichigo?" The voice whispered again.
The man opened one eye, then the next. His wife was leaning over him, literally sitting on top of him on their bed. "Yeah?"
She shoved a paper in his face. "Here."
Ichigo sat up, making her scoot of his body a little. "What is it?"
Orihime just shook her head.
Ichigo took one glimpse at the paper and growled. At the bottom of the page was Aizen's signature scrawled at the bottom beside the print.
Ichigo scowled deeply, his whole being becoming angry. "Don't tell me he's taking us back to court." The man just didn't give up, damn it.
"No." Orihime pushed the paper forward. "Read it."
Ichigo looked down and skimmed the fancy paper. Demanding profession… priorities… termination… visitation… renouncing…
Ichigo shook his own head, unbelieving. "He's… renouncing his visitation rights. Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. But isn't it wonderful?!"
Before Ichigo could finish his "Yeah" Orihime grabbed his cheeks and kissed him deeply. It was very rare for Orihime to ever take the initiative and kiss him first. So, Ichigo relished in it, brought her down and kissed her back.
The man's hands traveled down to the curve between his wife's thigh and bottom, cupping the soft skin there. Orihime climbed back on top of him, pushing him back down against the pillows.
Tamotsu rubbed his heavy eyelids, barefoot and tired; he yawned in front of his parent's door and gently pushed it open.
"Mommy… I'm hungry."
Orihime gasped and scrabbled off of Ichigo. Flushed and red in the face, Orihime pushed all her hair out of her eyes and smiled at her son on the other side of the room.
"Of course! Pancakes anyone?"
Orihime whisked Tamotsu off quickly downstairs before he could put two and two together.
Ichigo, on the other hand, took his time that morning, going over what that letter meant.
Ichigo remembered that man's face.
He remembered what he said to him that day.
This was his second chance. It just took the risk of losing his life, his house, his job, his wife, his son, his family to realize it.
The man joined his family downstairs for breakfast. He kissed his wife, ruffled his son's hair and tickled his little girl in the belly.
Yes, he definitely wasn't going to fuck it up this time.
This is not the end; there are still a few key components that need to be resolved.
I hoped you liked this chapter, I know I did. And give me your feedback! I love to hear from you guys! If it's a review, pm, or email, it doesn't matter. Your opinions and thoughts are very much appreciated and very important to me.
See you all next week! I'll try to update on time!
Rocka.