Title: Bun in the Bakery, Chapter Three - Week Twelve
Series: Bleach
Rating: R
Warnings: het (IchiHime), pregnancy
Disclaimer: These characters belong to a lot of Japanese people, namely people like Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. You'll notice how none of those are me. This will probably (never) be updated weekly, until I eventually drop it like every other project ever. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.

The probe was cold as it slid across Orihime's exposed skin, the gel the doctor had slathered on there dropping the temperature even further. The metal, combined with the gel and the cool air in the doctor's office and the early autumn chill outside almost had her chattering her teeth.

She would just have to grin and bear it, though. Today was a super-special day. Today was the day she would see her baby for the very first time.

As the doctor moved the probe over her skin, Orihime kept her eyes glued to the monitor it fed images to. Finally, a simple picture presented itself to them.

"Here's the umbilical cord," the doctor pointed out on the monitor, motioning to the most visible part of the picture. It was a solid line that Orihime recognized as the beginnings of the anchor that would connect her to her baby. And at the end of that, was a tiny figure, just barely visible, with an even harder-to-see semi-circle beside it and a thin line around it.

"And here's the baby," the doctor said mildly, pointing out the tiny, curled up figure, "And what's left of the yolk sac. This circle is the chorion. That's what's going to become the placenta." Orihime's eyes widened as she took it all in.

"It's so tiny!" she finally breathed in awe, watching the sonar picture flutter on the monitor, "Can I have a print out to show my husband?"

"Of course."

As Orihime left the doctor's office, sonogram prints in hand, she smiled to herself. The pictures were grainy and gray, and the baby was so tiny one might miss it if one didn't know what they were looking for, but it was still their baby's first picture. Ichigo was sure to see this and fall in love with the baby all over again!

At that thought, Orihime's smile faded just a bit. Ever since her birthday party last month, Ichigo had been less enthusiastic whenever the subject of the baby was brought up. If she was completely honest with herself, she might say he'd been distant in general, maybe even downright cold. As she waded her way through bouts of morning sickness and fatigue, she often felt like she was going it alone. She knew deep down that Ichigo hadn't stopped caring, but it was hard to remember sometimes when she couldn't even keep down soup.

She was sure this was just temporary, though. That's what the books and pregnancy blogs she'd read had told her. Sometimes new fathers just needed some time to adjust to things like morning sickness and lots of crying and the idea of a new baby in the house.

Still, it seemed funny to her. Ichigo had been so excited when she first told him the news - overjoyed, even! Up until six weeks ago, he'd done everything for the baby with her. But even on the way home from the party that night, he hadn't wanted to talk as much. Sure, he still tried to put on a smile for her, but even that stopped after a while.

Now, six weeks later, Orihime had undergone the difficult task of finding a doctor mostly by herself. True, most husbands didn't overly concern themselves with things like that, but she had expected Ichigo to at least have some input. Instead, after she'd spent three weeks of searching and deciding on her own, he finally begrudgingly suggested that she use Ishida's family's hospital. It was modern and well-furnished and Ichigo had noted that if anything happened to her or the baby, he could personally choke the director's son. Orihime suspected that last bit was the deciding factor for him.

So that was that, and now she was headed to Isshin's clinic to show him his grandchild's first pictures, as requested. However little enthusiasm Ichigo had shown over the past month and a half, Isshin was exactly the opposite. He insisted on weekly visits from Orihime, which she had become accustomed to anyway between Yuzu working for her and Isshin's usual jovial nature. Now, however, it seemed a bit more taxing. It wasn't that she didn't want to go over; on the contrary, she loved spending time with Isshin and Karin. But between the nausea and the general sleepiness, it had been hard for her to stay awake long enough to take the bus over there. One eventful day, she'd even fallen asleep and ended up on the other side of town by accident. Ichigo had nearly worried himself into a fit that day.

But she was feeling a bit better today - energized, even! She didn't even nod off once today on the ride to the hospital and she still felt full of energy. Maybe a little cold from the chilly October air, but that was to be expected.

"Come on, little fella," she murmured down to her stomach, placing a protective hand over the barely noticeable lump under her shirt, "Now that you're not stealing all my energy anymore, let's go see grandpa!"

"Ahhh, that's him, huh?"

Orihime pouted cutely at her father-in-law.

"We don't know if it's a boy yet," she corrected. Secretly, she was hoping for a cute little girl for their first child, although she knew Isshin's (and Ichigo's) opinions on the matter differed.

"Sorry, sorry!" Isshin apologized, waving the sonogram lightly, "But they look like they're developing just fine. I even think I can see that trademarked Kurosaki face!"

"The "trademarked Kurosaki face' looks like a shrimp larvae?" Karin asked, peering over Isshin's shoulder to look at the picture, "I can barely even see them, old man." Isshin looked a bit disgruntled at his black-haired daughter's assessment.

"My first grandchild does not look like a prawn!" he sniffed in indignation. Orihime giggled, her earlier pique forgotten.

"But it does!" Orihime said, pointing at the tiny figure in the picture, "A tiny, tiny shrimp! Or a grub worm! Or an alien larvae that's trying to take over its host!" Karin laughed and shook her head, content to go about her business of restocking cabinets in the office while Orihime and Isshin had one of their usual bizarre conversations.

"Hmm," Isshin said thoughtfully, "In that case, we might want to take it out before it takes you over completely, right?" He winked, pointing his fingers like a gun at Orihime's tummy.

"No!" she exclaimed, protecting her abdomen with her arms, "It'll come out on its own once it's big enough!" She wasn't born yesterday; she knew what the older man was up to.

"Looks like we'll just have to tickle it out!" Isshin happily exclaimed, diving for Orihime. She was a bit faster than him, though, and sprang up with a squeak. She escaped not a second too soon, too, as Karin had appeared behind her father to drop him with a solid fist to the back of the head.

"What have I told you about that?" she groused, sounding a lot like her older brother, "She's not five, old man! That's totally inappropriate! Damn!" At this, Isshin had taken to pouting.

"Do you see this, Orihime-chan?" he whined, nursing the growing lump on his head, "This is what parents have to look forward to!" Orihime just laughed, taking her seat again.

"I think it's cute!"

"It's true! I saw it on Kamen Rider! That's exactly what it feels like!"

The petite, black-haired woman stared quizzically at her wildly gesticulating, red-haired companion. Orihime hadn't seen Rukia in over a month, and already she could tell she had lost the shinigami.

"But... how do you know what having your reiatsu drained by aliens feels like?" she asked, arching one fine eyebrow as she took another sip of her coffee. It was a drink that Orihime herself had introduced her to several years ago, and they had made it a ritual to go out to a cafe at least once a month ever since.

"Not reiatsu!" Orihime corrected her, "Life force! It's totally different!" Orihime's serious tone of voice caused Rukia's slightly perplexed look to deepen into utter confusion.

"What's... the difference?" the smaller woman asked. Orihime looked thoughtful for a second.

"Well, I mean," she spoke her thoughts as they occurred to her, "You can still live without reiatsu, right? Life force is... It's... it's what keeps you alive! Like when I heal someone, their reiatsu doesn't come back right away, but they still have their life force!" Orihime imagined a small light bulb going off above Rukia's head as her face lit up with understanding.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "So it's like energy!" Orihime nodded vigorously.

"Uhn, that's it!" she cried happily, "It feels like it's being drained, like in the tokusatsu shows!" Rukia tilted her head to the side at this, deep in thought.

"Why don't you just drink coffee?" she asked, "It's a restorative, is it not?" Orihime looked sheepishly at the cappuccino in her cup.

"I'm not supposed to have too much caffeine," she murmured, "Tatsuki-chan gets upset and says it's bad for the baby and that I should be more careful of what I eat now." Rukia looked concerned.

"Is it?"

"Eh heh, not if I only have a little!" Orihime quickly explained, "All it really does is make me pee a lot!" Rukia blushed as her companion giggled nervously.

"Well, I don't think once a month should hurt," Rukia acknowledged slowly, taking a sip from her own cup.

"Exactly!" Orihime chirped in return, "Oh! I almost forgot! Do you want to see the pictures?" Rukia looked perplexed again.

"Of what?"

"Of the baby, silly!" Orihime said, gleefully pulling the sonograms out of their folder and sliding them across the table to Rukia. She picked them up curiously.

"How did you get pictures of it before it's been born?" she asked in wonder, "I don't think even Twelfth Division can do that!" She turned the picture this way and that, trying to figure out the proper way to look at it.

"Doctors can look inside your belly with sonar waves!" Orihime said in a hushed tone, as though imparting the secrets of the universe to her friend, "It's really cool! Although I wish it used more colors on the display! It would be nice if it looked like the pictures in the books I got!" Rukia looked skeptical.

"Why does it look like a... a magatama?" Orihime laughed.

"Karin-chan said it looked like a shrimp!" she said gleefully. Rukia's face lit up in recognition.

"Hooh!" she exclaimed, "It does look like a shrimp! But why doesn't it look like a baby?" Orihime smiled as she took the pictures back from Rukia.

"It still has to grow!" she said gently, "It'll look more like a baby in a few more months. And then we'll even find out if it's a boy or a girl!" This was also foreign to Rukia.

"They can tell that?" she asked, amazed, "With the... with the pictures?" Orihime took a small sip of her cappuccino and grinned.

"Yep!" she chirped, "They'll even be able to see it move and everything!" Rukia looked utterly fascinated.

"It's so rare for anyone to have a child in Soul Society," she observed, "I have never even heard of these things! I thought you just waited to see what it was until it was born!"

"They used to do it that way!" Orihime said with a nod, "But now we have better technology!" Rukia nodded in fascination.

"And Ichigo?" she asked, "Has he seen the picture yet?" At this, Orihime looked sheepishly off to the side.

"Not... not yet," she admitted with a nervous smile, "He umm... doesn't seem that interested anymore." She winced as soon as she said it. It hurt to hear, and sounded just awful when she said it like that. The look on Rukia's face reflected her sympathy.

"Not that interested?" she parroted back, "Ichigo? I'd have thought he would be smothering you by now." To be honest, Orihime had, too.

"No," she said regretfully, "He's been kind of quiet and distant since my birthday... Oh, Rukia-chan, you don't think... You don't think he doesn't want the baby, do you?" Rukia looked stunned, to say the least, as though she hadn't quite reached that point in her logic yet.

"Let us not be hasty," she said, patting her frightened friend's hand, "This is Ichigo we're talking about here. He probably just has something on his mind." Orihime looked at Rukia, wide-eyed, taking in her words.

"O-Oh..." she said quietly, "I guess you're right... M-Maybe I'm worried over nothing..."

"Perhaps you should talk to him about it," Rukia suggested gently, "At the least, it couldn't hurt." Orihime nodded her understanding. Ichigo did have a tendency to hide what was bothering him, so the only way she was likely to find out just why he was being so quiet was to ask him.

"Thanks, Rukia-chan," she finally said with a smile, "I'll do that."

"Thanks, Dad."

Ichigo sighed as he hung up the phone. His father had called him to let him know how his visit with Orihime had gone. She'd been to see him once a week for the past six weeks, and every time she visited, Isshin would call to let his son know how it had gone.

This week was the same as any other. Her reiatsu was similar to what his mother's had been at this stage in both her pregnancies. Since she was all Isshin had to compare Orihime to, that was the baseline they'd had to use. Ichigo was loathe to bring it up, but it aggravated his already raw nerves.

Isshin had looked over the notes she'd brought over from her new obstetrician. Physically, everything was perking along just fine, too. Outside of the morning sickness, which had been waning in the past week or so, she appeared to be perfectly alright. She'd even dodged Isshin's tickle attack.

So why didn't it stop Ichigo from worrying about her?

He figured a little bit of worry was normal. Even before his conversation with Urahara, he'd been as concerned as he thought any expectant father should be. But now, with the idea that the baby could be some kind of monster firmly entrenched in his mind, Ichigo's protective instincts had kicked into overdrive.

He leaned against his desk, cradling his head in his hands as his tired eyes drifted shut. He'd been sleeping poorly lately, in no small part because of his worries. His days at the editor's office weren't really doing much to get his mind off of things, either. There, he was mostly on autopilot, surviving on his gratuitous intake of coffee alone. His co-workers chalked his new-found inability to concentrate up to new dad jitters, so at least they didn't seem too worried.

Orihime, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely.

He could see how worried he was making her as each day passed. She'd been casting him longing, concerned looks for at least a couple of weeks now. A few times, he even thought he'd caught her crying. He knew withdrawing from her wasn't fair and that she was dealing with a lot of things on her own right now, and that made him feel even worse about it. But the fact remained that he didn't have the first idea of how to approach this topic with her.

To make matters worse, his hollow was restless again. He'd been calm and content for several years now, only piping up when he felt it absolutely necessary. Ichigo was sure this was in part due to Orihime's influence in his life. Being married and being in direct contact with her boundless optimism and sunny attitude for so long had mellowed him from a sulky, scowling teenager to a decently well-adjusted, if somewhat serious man.

But this latest stress had caused his old alter ego to start rearing his head again. So far, he'd limited his restlessness to prowling at the corners of Ichigo's mind, offering a stray comment here or there. After so many years of peace and quiet, it was disconcerting to start hearing that distorted, watery voice so often again. And while Ichigo wasn't afraid in the least that his hollow could overpower him and worm his way out, he knew well enough that whenever that thing got restless, it was never good news.

'Just talk to her, Ichigo,' his distorted voice echoed through Ichigo's head, as if on cue, 'I'm sick of this crappy weather, and I'm sick of us not getting any. We should be getting laid more now that she's pregnant, not less.'

Ichigo's mouth pulled into a thin line at this brilliant observation. Leave it to his hollow to only focus on the important things. Still, his latest nugget of wisdom underlined something else that bothered Ichigo. The hollow had always been territorial about Orihime, for lack of a better word; sometimes violently and destructively so. But adding a baby to the mix had already made it worse. The hollow was very clear on the point that he already regarded whatever was growing inside of Orihime as their young. If worse came to worse and things turned out badly, Ichigo was already doubtful he could entirely restrain him from fighting off anyone that tried to touch the baby.

Hell, who knew? He wouldn't even be surprised if the hollow wanted the baby to be just like him. Ichigo stopped that train of thought short, though; that would say some pretty fucked up things about him, if that was the case.

'Your opinion is duly noted,' he finally thought back dryly. He heard the hollow snort once before laying back down again.

In the past few weeks, Ichigo had seriously considered getting help. But who could he go to? Urahara, Shinji, and Hiyori had all already made their opinions on the matter known. It was easy for them to be hard-asses over it, Ichigo had bitterly realized. It wasn't their wife and baby's well-being on the line. He'd briefly considered talking to some of the other Vizards, but he wasn't that close with Hachi, Love, or Rose personally, Mashiro didn't seem like she'd be much help at all, and he was sure Lisa and Kensei would share Shinji and Hiyori's sentiments anyhow. If they all didn't already, anyway.

Everywhere he looked, he was surrounded by bad propositions. At least he knew he could count on his dad, but if push came to shove, would he be enough?

"Ichigo-kun...?"

Ichigo's head shot up. When had Orihime gotten back? He'd been so wrapped up with his morose thoughts that he hadn't even heard her come in. She was still by the front door, from the sounds of her voice, but he knew she'd sniff him out soon enough.

"I'm at my desk," he responded gruffly. As soon as the words left him, he knew he'd sounded harsher than he'd intended. He swore inwardly; she probably thought he was angry with her.

"O-Oh."

Scratch that; she definitely thought he was mad at her.

"Hime," he called firmly, "Come here."

He heard soft, stockinged footsteps pad across the floor to the spare room they'd converted into an office. Finally, Orihime appeared in the door frame looking abashed and holding a manila folder. She looked shyly at him from beneath her long bangs, still held back by her blue fairy hairpins. Even after all these years, she refused to part with them.

"It's... kind of dark in here, sweety," she said softly. Nervously, too, Ichigo realized with a pang of guilt.

"I had a little headache," he reassured her. He was forcing a bit of warmth into his voice, even though he was sure it wouldn't fool her in the least. She could always tell when he did that; it made lying to her damn well near impossible, Ichigo noted with a wry smirk. After ten years together, it was a wonder he could hide anything from her anymore.

Before he could continue, she was bent over him, fussing with his forehead. Having her so close, enveloping him in her warm scent was comforting, even against Ichigo's better, more worrisome instincts. He felt the hollow stir inside him again; he liked the way she smelled now, apparently. It was maternal, fertile. Ichigo didn't want to know how he knew that.

"Do you need a cold compress?" she asked gently, "Or some aspirin? Or I could use Shun'o and Ayame?" Ichigo had gotten so distracted by her that he barely registered what she was saying. Instead, he pulled her into his lap, making her squeak. He then folded her against his chest into a hug.

"I'm fine," he muttered into her hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"Ichigo-kun?"

He recognized that tone. It was searching, confused. She probably didn't understand why he'd been so distant for the past month or so, or why he was suddenly clinging to her for dear life. But it was times like these that reminded Ichigo of just how much he needed his wife.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, tangling his fingers in her long hair. Orihime tilted her head up to give him a quizzical look.

"What for?" she asked, obviously taken aback by the random heartfelt apology. Ichigo could see the genuine confusion shining in her eyes. He gave her a small kiss on the forehead before continuing.

"I've been a jackass to you for the past few weeks," he said, drawing her back into a hug, "I've just been so worried about this baby that I don't know what to do." Orihime rested her head against his chest, listening for his heartbeat.

"Worried about what?" she replied softly, "Everything's going fine." Ichigo's fingers twitched against her back.

"What if it's... What if it's like me? The baby, I mean." His voice was almost cracking and he was holding Orihime tighter than ever. Just voicing the thought aloud almost seemed like a curse.

But Orihime, gentle, sweet Orihime, simply put her hands on either cheek and turned his face so that she was looking him in the eye. But why would she smile about something like that? Didn't she understand just how bad that could be?

"If the baby is just like you, I'd be the happiest mother in the world," she murmured, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen in shock, "But I think you're talking about your hollow, right?" Ichigo nodded numbly, wondering how she could be so calm about this.

"It's alright," she assured him, her eyelids lowering, "If that was going to happen, I'd feel it, right? In my tummy..."

"I don't know," he whispered doubtfully, "Do you... Do you feel it right now?" That was the first time he'd heard anything like that. Orihime simply smiled.

"I think so," she said quietly, "It's almost so tiny I could miss it, though, so maybe it's my imagination. But everything's like I read it should be so far." Ichigo visibly deflated as he exhaled.

"You know I can't help worrying about you," he murmured, "Damn, I'm... being stupid, aren't I?" This earned him a kiss on the cheek in reproach.

"No, you're not," Orihime corrected him, "But I'm a big girl, too, so you should let me worry a little instead of doing all the worrying yourself next time." The corners of Ichigo's mouth tugged up a little in response.

"Alright, I get it," he said, a hint of amusement teasing his tired voice before taking on a concerned note, "In that case, you should know... I've been hearing him again." Orihime's little mouth turned down in a small frown.

"Your hollow?" she asked quietly, "He's not giving you trouble, is he? Do you want to go see Hirako-kun?" Now it was Ichigo's turn to frown.

"No," he said quickly and firmly, "He's just being overprotective. He thinks he's on Carnivore Kingdom and has cubs in the den or something." Orihime's frown melted into confusion for a moment before quickly turning into a smile.

"He's territorial!" she finally said happily before leveling a serious look straight at Ichigo's chest, "Stop giving Ichigo-kun trouble, Hollow-san. He can protect his mate and his cub just fine!" Ichigo heard a playful growl in the back of his head. Taking the cue, he leaned over to give Orihime a light nibble on the side of the neck. She squealed with delight in response.

"Who's gonna save you from me, though?" he asked, feigning seriousness. He couldn't maintain any kind of seriousness with his wife squirming in his lap like that, though. "You keep wiggling like that and I'll give you something to be afraid of."

"Oh!" Orihime gasped suddenly, pushing away from him, "Not yet! I wanted to show you the pictures first!" Ichigo blinked, his intentions momentarily put on hold.

"The ultrasound?" he asked, watching as Orihime placed the folder she'd been holding on his desk and turned the lamp on. She flipped it open and pulled out a grainy, black and gray print-out.

"Uhn!" she responded with a nod, "Here they are! Aren't they cute?" Ichigo squinted at the picture.

"It... looks like a shrimp," he said doubtfully, "Are you sure you didn't just eat too much seafood?" Orihime giggled at his goofy question. Ichigo just wondered how much longer he had until he turned into his dad entirely.

Still, he couldn't stop staring at the little unblinking creature in the picture. Up until now, the baby had been some vague little thing for him, existing only so far as the general direction of Orihime's still-flat stomach. He hadn't had to deal with the fatigue or nausea or the constant questions and conversations about the baby like Orihime had. But now, here it was - a tiny, curled up thing with discernible hands and feet, right in front of him in a photograph. It was real, and even though it still didn't look entirely human, it was his. His baby.

That knowledge made Ichigo feel like his heart was melting. Even though right now he couldn't see any distinguishing features, he knew that slowly, this baby would grow to take on the characteristics of its parents. It would look like them, sound like them. The child's future stretched out before his imagination, bright and cheerful, a little kid with orange hair just like his waving back at him.

It was official; he was in love with this baby. And he'd do anything to make sure they stayed safe.

As Ichigo wandered in thought, Orihime took his large, warm hand and gave him a gentle smile. He looked up with a start when she began sliding it under her shirt.

"Orihime?" he asked, "What are you up to?" He knew he'd been neglecting her lately, but she usually wasn't so forward right off the bat.

"Feel," she instructed him, moving the palm of his hand along the small swell just beneath the hemline of her skirt, "The doctor showed me at my visit today. You can feel it! It's like a little grapefruit already!"

Ichigo blinked in surprise. He pressed against her soft stomach until he could feel the hard swelling of her womb beneath. Up until now, he hadn't noticed what little bit of weight she'd gained, but here it was, right beneath his hand. It was the first physical sign he'd felt that there was a baby in there somewhere.

"So you ate a grapefruit that had a shrimp in it," he said, a wry grin tugging at the side of his mouth, "Why does that not surprise me?" Orihime gave him one of her adorable pouts.

"Ichigo-kun," she mock-scolded, "You know I only eat lemon on my shrimp!"