Something Not So New

Something Not So New

"Daddy! Daddy!" a boy screamed happily as he ran into the court yard of the Kuchiki manor from the deck he had been waiting on for this exact moment, incidentally.

Ichigo scooped up the little boy who was running in his direction. "Hiromichi! Hiromichi!" he replied with a laugh, half mocking his son.

"Look, daddy, I lost a tooth!" the boy pulled at the edges of his lips causing a large smiled to spread across his rosy cheeks, revealing a gap between two of his teeth where one should have been.

Ichigo beamed at his son. "Yes you did." He reassured him while ruffling a hand threw his dirty blond locks that reminded Ichigo of his younger sister's.

"Hiromichi, tell daddy how you lost your tooth." The boy's mother scowled from the door way with her hands on her hips and a sour look on her face. It was apparent that she was angry.

"And how was that?" Ichigo frowned to his son, walking over to the woman, his wife, and kissing her cheek placing a hand on her pregnant belly with a bight smile. She rolled her eyes and looked to her son, raising her eyebrow waiting for him to continue with the story that caused her some distress.

The boy frowned. "Mommy nothing happened."

Ichigo looked to his wife with a grin; yup, that was definitely his son telling her it was nothing when he did in fact get hurt. She rolled her eyes and pulled him back so that he leaned onto her shoulder, though mostly still held up but Ichigo himself. "You see this scab on his lip." she pointed while the boy frowned. "That's the place he landed on when he fell out of that tree in the garden." She scowled.

"Hiromichi." Ichigo frowned to his son, "Didn't we tell you to stop playing on that tree? I thought we agreed that it was too high and that you could get hurt."

Tears formed in the six year olds eyes. This little boy was definitely Rukia's son; able to play his father like a fiddle. "Yes, daddy. But I was board and I didn't have anything else to do."

Ichigo frowned slightly. "We'll just don't let it happen again ok?"

The boy's eyes brighten instantly as he hoped out of his mothers grip as she gasped in surprise and down from Ichigo's arms. "Thanks daddy!!" the boy smiled as he clung to Ichigo's leg then ran off.

Ichigo's gazed followed him with a smile. His son was so full of energy and playfulness, so care free, sometime Ichigo wondered if he slept. He looked back to his wife with a light smile; she however, was scowling and boarder line fuming.

"What?" he asked taken back. He had just gotten home, what could he have possibly have done?

"Why do you always make me the bad guy, Ichigo?" she screamed. "He is our son and we need to share the role of 'the strict parent.'" She frowned. "Every time I say no to something Hiromichi always goes to you and you say yes. He can't keep doing this, he'll get spoiled. Ichigo, we need to get on the same page."

"Rukia, sweetie, we are on the same page." Ichigo kissed her forehead.

Rukia scoffed. "We are not. When I was cleaning up his lip he asked if he was in trouble. You know what I said? I said yes. Ichigo I said yes!" she screamed her hands flying into the air. "I told him to wait until you go home and then we would punish him, together . Then when you finally get home, you let him off the hook." Ichigo ran a hand threw his orange locks with a sigh. "We can't keep doing this."

He saw what she was saying but he had to admit he thought she was over reacting. Hiromichi was a little boy, if he stayed in the house all the time and never got bruised up and bloody then he'd end up a sissy. Ichigo Kurosaki….Ichigo Kuchiki's son would not be a sissy. You could bet on that.

"Sweetie, don't you think you may be over reacting just a little bit?" Ichigo asked taking her hand in his. "If your all stressed out the baby with get fussy and come whenever it wants." He kissed her cheek putting his free hand on her swollen belly.

Rukia slapped his hand away and stepped back from him. "You can go get lunch from somewhere else, Ichigo Kurosaki because you are not getting it from me." She scowled. Ichigo knew she was mad just by what she had referred to him as. He was only called by his given last name when she was furious.

"Rukia." Ichigo frowned sadly and tried to pull her to him.

"Get away from me, Ichigo." She replied heatedly stepping back.

Ichigo frowned deeper and stepped towards her once again. "Rukia…." He spoke sadly.

Rukia turned on her heal and went into her home. "Get out of here, Ichigo. I don't want to talk to you right now." She screamed throwing a box at his head and slamming the door in his face. Pregnancy hormones.

Ichigo grimaced and looked down at the box in his hand. It was a bento box. He smiled lightly and made a note to thank her when she let him back into the house. With a heavy sigh Ichigo stepped off the porch and back into the court yard. He figured he'd go eat in his squad office.

"Hiromichi!" Ichigo called out.

His boy ran back to him, dirt decorating his cheeks lightly. "Yes, daddy?" he asked coming a slight halt a few feet away from his father.

"You do know you're in trouble don't you?" Ichigo asked looking down to his son with a stern looking, steeling himself for what ever his son had in store for him. He was ready for a pout or more tears, but that wasn't what happened.

Hiromichi frowned. "I know." He answered looking to the ground and away from his father's gaze. "But you are too daddy!" he boy beamed happily looking back up to face him. He was happy thinking his father and he had something more in common.

Ichigo's head dropped dramatically. "Yes, daddy's in trouble too." He grumbled and then looked his son seriously in the eyes. "But, we did tell you not to play on that tree, you did, and now there are consequences. We'll talk more about it when I get home tonight okay?" he rustled Hiromichi's blond spiky locks.

His son frowned and down turned his head nodding.

"That's my son." Ichigo smiled ruffling his hair some more with a grin. "If mommy asks, though I doubt she will," Ichigo mumbled the second part. "Tell her I went to my office." His boy smiled brightly with a nod.

~ ~ ~

A piercing scream ran threw the Kuchiki manor. All maids and servants a like scrambled to get to the source of the scream. The constant blood curdling screams sent pure fright shivering down every individual's spine.

Rukia Kuchiki, lady of the house, wife of Ichigo Kuchiki the man of the house since Byakuya's relocation, was sitting in a pool of blood clutching her stomach. She shrieked in pain as the sliding door flew open and a few maids came to her aid.

"Get Ichigo!" she screamed in pain clenching her eyes and tightening her grip on her stomach.

One of the maids tried to calmer. But Rukia just kept screaming in pain. Shots of the most intense pain constantly radiated in her abdomen, feeling nothing like her first pregnancy. She keened again as the feeling intensified. These shrill pleads for help attracted her sons attention and rushed him into the house from playing.

At the moment his eyes laid sight on his mother and the blood that surrounded her he felt sick to his stomach but also frightened. She screamed out again causing him to cover his ears and tears to begin to stream from his eyes.

"Young master!" a young maid called noticing him standing there. "You should go." She shooed him away. But not before Rukia called out for Ichigo again.

Determined Hiromichi started in a sprint out of the manor. He was running as fast as his little legs could carry to his fathers squad barracks. He thought that if he got to his father and told him what he saw, that Ichigo could fix it. Surly he could. This was his father. The same father that protected him from everything, scared away the monsters, and loved him no matter what.

Hiromichi let out a cry of pain as his foot skidded on the dirt road and he collided with the ground. Tears began to stream more rapidly down his face at the pain in his ankle. He couldn't get up; he was in to much pain.

"Daddy!" Hiromichi screamed out in a pained voice, tears in his eyes and his voice. "Daddy!"  He screamed again trying to get to his feet.

"Hiromichi?" a voice questioned as it drew near him. "What are you doing here?" Strong hands picked the boy up.

"Renji!" the boy screamed clinging to his parent's dear friend for dear life. "We need to find daddy!" the boy cried wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Mommy's in trouble and she wants daddy, but no one would get him."

Renji pulled the small boy back from his shoulder and looked at his with concern. "What's wrong with Rukia?" he questioned his brow creasing

"She's in trouble!" Hiromichi repeated not sure how to explain it. "She started screaming and there was red stuff everywhere. I need to get daddy!" he called again trying to get down from the man that held him.

"The baby." Renji realized in a whisper. "Hiromichi you'll get there quicker if I take you." He said with urgency, pulling the boy to his chest, and flash stepping as fast he could to Ichigo.

With in moments Renji burst threw the doors of Ichigo's office. Said man looked up to the two slightly shocked, not expecting anything to be wrong.

"Daddy, mommy's in trouble!" Hiromichi screamed. At this Ichigo was on his feet a scared look also on his father.

"From what Hiromichi said, I think something happened to the baby." Renji added.

Without another word Ichigo was gone. Please let her be ok . Ichigo thought as he raced threw the streets back to his home. Please he begged whatever being was in control of things.

He burst into the house panting and looking around franticly for her. That's when he heard it. The blood curdling sound that his son had, Rukia screaming out in agonizing pain.

"Rukia!" he screamed out with fear and began to run to the sound of the screaming.

When he got there, everything was covered in blood. Ichigo could hardly breathe at the sight of her like that; screaming in pain, her blood everywhere, her hair clinging to her forehead because or sweat. Rukia was never supposed to feel pain, not as long as Ichigo was around to do something. But he couldn't, there was nothing he could do.

The rest was a blur. He remembers running to her side and kissing her, telling her that he was there, telling her that everything was going to be alright. He remembers her deafening screams of agony. And the blood, the blood that covered everything. He remembered seeing the baby for the first time and hearing the reassuring scream of life. But worst of all, he remembered looking back at Rukia and finding her eyes closed.

Captain Unohana was called and Ichigo was removed from the room, but he sat out side of it, with his new child. Ichigo was too distracted to know it if was a girl or boy he was just worried about Rukia. She was all he could think about as he sat there, his perfectly healthy child in his arms.

The door opened slowly, revealing the female captain. Ichigo looked to her with concern in his eyes, to emotionally drained to jump to his feet. Captain Unohana nodded reassuringly and Ichigo was allowed into the room.

"Rukia." He cried going to her side and taking her hand in one of his. She smiled tiredly. "Are you okay?" he asked tears streaming from his eyes. She nodded once. "Rukia, I…"

"Mommy!" Hiromichi screamed running into the room to his mother. "Mommy I'm sorry I climbed the tree when you told me not to, I'm sorry I got hurt, I'm sorry you and daddy had a fight, it was my fault." He cried tears rolling from his puffy red eyes.

"Baby…it's…okay." Rukia strained to get out weakly.

"It wasn't your fault, Hiromichi." Ichigo spoke up. "When mommy and daddy fight, it's never your fault ok?" he added firmly. The boy nodded sadly and looked down at his mother who was looking at the baby in Ichigo's arms.

"Is…it…okay?" she moaned in pain.

Ichigo looked down at the small baby in his arm and tightened his grip on her hand with a nod. "Their fine." He answered vaguely, not knowing the sex of the baby. She frowned, obviously she wanted to know.

"He's fine." The nurse said moving Hiromichi out of the way to give Rukia a shot.

Rukia smiled and looked to Ichigo weakly. "He." She repeated happily.