Oh! A baby! (Ichirukia)

Chapter 5

"What was it that you wanted to tell us?" Orihime asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

It was lunch at school, and the usual gang was sitting under a tree. Chad sat, stoic and Chad-like, Uryu was sewing some sort of pattern, and Orihime was stuffing her face.

Rukia told them the whole story, sort of surprised that Chad hadn't told the rest of them. Then again, Chad wasn't very talkative. "So now we have a son," she concluded, the words sounding foreign even to her.

Orihime's jaw dropped open in shock, causing her the sandwich she was chewing to fall out of her mouth and onto the grass. Uryu picked it up with a napkin in an attempt to save her dignity, but Orhime didn't even realize she had dropped her food. "Really?" she almost shouted, still spitting food.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered, scratching the back of his head. "He's with my dad right now. Dad was ecstatic to be babysitting his 'first grandchild.'" He sighed. If only Isshin knew how right he was.

"Wow," Uryu stated, genuinely surprised. "I didn't think that Ichigo had it in him."

Ichigo turned bright red. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he yelled, standing up.

Ishida looked bored, finishing his hemming. "It means that you can hardly talk to girls as it is. I'm surprised that you managed to put the moves on Kuchiki-san."

Ichigo was almost purple at this point. "He says while sewing a dress," he roared. "Stand up so I can kick your fucking ass."

"For your information, it's a cape," Uryu retorted, standing up and meeting Ichigo's glare, "and I'd like to see you try."

Rukia rolled her eyes and Chad stood between the Shinigami and the Quincy to make sure nothing physical would actually happen.

"Congratulations," Orihime whispered, forcing herself to smile. If anyone had been paying attention to her, they could have literally heard her heart breaking.

Tatsuki appeared with her lunch and sat next to Orihime. "They are always fighting," she commented, watching the scene in front of them.

"You're manly, okay?" Rukia was telling Ichigo sarcastically. "Now will you sit the hell down?"

"Shut up," Ichigo spat at her, "this is between me and this pansy."

"Pansy. Clever." Uryu sat down, once again bored, and continued sewing his...cape.

"What did you just say to me?!" Rukia punched him in the stomach, and Ichigo keeled over in pain.

"It seems that Team Ishida has switched players," Tatsuki commented. "My money's on Kuchiki."

Orihime wasn't paying any attention to her. "Are you okay, Orihime?" Tatsuki asked. "You haven't even finished your first sandwich. Usually you're on the third one by now."

Orihime looked at Ichigo and Rukia, a sad smile on her face, and Tatsuki followed her gaze. Rukia was holding Ichigo's arm behind his back at an extremely awkward angle, and Ichigo was screaming obscenities.

"They really love each other, don't they?" Orihime finally said, and Tatsuki understood.

Isshin wasn't stupid. He knew that the little boy he held in his lap was his own flesh and blood. Hell, Ichiro called him Poppy. This was without a doubt his grandchild.

He was confused about why he was holding his grandchild. Ichigo still hadn't admitted that he had feelings for Rukia, not even to himself, and Rukia was so small that it would have been obvious if she had been pregnant.

Isshin sighed. He had known when Rukia first began living in Ichigo's closet. He had known when she was taken away to Soul Society-Ichigo's emotions just made it more obvious. He knew when the two of them went off to fight Hollows.

To them, he was the insane, oblivious dad. Even though Isshin knew more than people gave him credit for, he would continue to play that part. For now, he would just enjoy spending time with his grandson.

When they got home that evening (after fighting a couple of Hollows), Ichigo and Rukia found Isshin reading a book to Ichiro.

Rukia smiled, the sight warming her heart. "What are you reading to him?" she asked Isshin.

"Modern Medicine," Isshin answered seriously.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you read something more kid-friendly? I'm sure we have some nursery rhymes or something around here."

Isshin laughed. "I didn't pick this, he did. Pointed right at it." He patted Ichiro on the head. "He's going to be a smart kid."

Rukia held her arms out. "Thank you, Kurosaki-san. We can take him off of your hands now."

Isshin sighed. "Oh, Rukia-chan, I told you to call me 'daddy'," he complained, making Ichigo roll his eyes again. "It's okay, I have him. We've been having fun. You guys go eat dinner."

Ichigo shrugged and then walked towards the kitchen. Rukia trailed him.

"I feel like I'm such a bad mother," Rukia said softly enough that only Ichigo could hear her.

He stopped and turned around to look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, your dad has been taking care of him all day. I feel like one of those irresponsible teen mothers that just drops her kid off somewhere and then does what she wants."

Ichigo snorted. "You're not a teenager," he reminded her, "and you're not a bad mother. Besides, my dad wants to spend time with him." He continued walking to the kitchen, thus ending the discussion.

Karin was already at the table and Yuzu was setting places for them. "Welcome home, Nii-chan, Rukia-chan!" Yuzu beamed, hurriedly filling their bowls with soup.

"Yo," he grunted, sitting down next to Karin.

After greeting Karin and Yuzu, Rukia sat down across from Ichigo. "We should take him somewhere," she pondered, still thinking about the previous conversation. "The park! After dinner."

"You have a history paper due tomorrow," Ichigo said around his food. "You should have started on it when I told you. I'm already done."

Rukia glared at him, kicking him underneath the table. "I want to take Ichiro to the park," she said through her teeth.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm not helping you this time. You're not going to keep me up all night again."

"You take him then, Ichi-nii," Karin interrupted. "At least that way he'll still get to go."

Ichigo nodded. It was better than watching Rukia do her homework