A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update. This chapter fought me every step of the way and it kind of turned out fluffy. How I want from angsty to fluffy… Anyway I'm just relived its finally done and posted. Big thank you to everyone that commented/faved/alerted this story! Please enjoy ^^

Grimmjow's PoV:

I hadn't expected the onslaught of emotions that overwhelmed me when Ichigo asked me if I had thought about their names. It was a harmless question but it was a bit of a tender spot for me. I had forced myself not to think of names early on because Aizen was always so freaking unpredictable and I had no idea what he would do. I was scared to forge that connection, because the pain of them being taken away would have been exponentially greater. Truth be told I was still afraid of forging bonds and of the future, but now I was happy to be with my kittens.

As I was answering Ichigo's question all of my emotions and fears crashed over me like a tidal wave. As a result I found myself crying on Ichigo's shoulder again. The light pressure he applied with his fingers did more than just soothing the knots out of my muscles, the action somehow helped calm my nerves and made me feel content. Without all of the tension, my body gave in to sleep, knowing that I was safe with Ichigo.

I felt my mind slowly surface from the depths of unconsciousness and before I even opened my eyes I knew I was still in Ichigo's arms. I could tell from the warmth I felt along with the gentle caress of his fingers gliding through my hair. That plus his scent, he is the only one I know who smells warm like summer sunshine and spicy like cinnamon. I wish that time would freeze so that this calm would last forever.

The moment was not meant to last however, and the sound of the door sliding open made me reluctantly open my eyes to see old hat and clogs. He was carrying a tray with mugs of coffee in one hand and a few loose papers in the other.

I lifted my head off of Ichigo's shoulder and turned to stare at Urahara; he should have some results by now. He set the tray down and handed Ichigo and me each a steaming mug before sitting down in front of us, papers in hand. The silence was heavy and the air was tense as we waited for Urahara to tell us the results.

He looked at us then shifted his gaze to the paper and started talking. "First off I want you to know that all three of them are healthy. Their brain development seems to have kept up with their fast growth."

That caught my attention. "How the hell do you know that from a blood test?" Ichigo grabbed my arm to try and keep me calm.

"Ma ma, no need to bite my head off; all I did was a brain scan, I didn't even touch them. I just passed the scanner over their heads, and if it makes you feel any better Kurosaki san was watching me like a hawk the whole time." I looked at Ichigo and he just nodded. "Anyway, the scan showed that they are not actually in a coma. They are in a very deep sleep, probably drug induced but they should wake up when the drug is out of their system, however long that may take."

"What do you mean by 'however long it may take'?" Ichigo all but hissed.

"What I am saying is, I don't know how long this drug will take to metabolize. It's not like anything I've ever seen before and it's extremely complex. I think the fluid you found them in was the drug. It was an icy blue color wasn't it?"

How did he know that? We only told him we found then in a tank of fluid.

"I see I was right. The blood samples had tiny drops of that icy blue fluid suspended in it. I managed to separate some of it from the blood and I have my computer running a test on it now. The last test I ran was inconclusive. If I had to venture a guess I would say that the drug was interfering. I'll redo the test when it's out of their system."

The look on his face was serious. I guess it was an important test. I looked to Ichigo, his eyes were burning with intensity as he dissected Urahara's expression to see if he was telling the truth. After a few moments of tense silence, he seemed to be satisfied with whatever he saw and let out a sigh of relief.

Some of the heavy tension had been lifted. We were all able to relax a little and drink the coffee, which had gone cold. We were sitting in a relatively peaceful silence, Urahara said he had some work to attend to and left Ichigo and me to watch over the sleeping triplets.

I observed Ichigo as he played with my daughter's long blue hair. A smile curved onto his lips and his eyes shone with affection. It made for such a prefect picture and I found myself wanting the moment to last. He turned to face me and his eyes were shining with that same warmth. That one look made it feel like butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach.

It was a new and strange sensation but I kind of liked it. What is this sensation? What does it mean? Why do I feel so attached to him? It's almost like I want him to be my mate!

The instant I thought that, it clicked in my mind that Ichigo would be a perfect mate and father. I could feel my face getting warm; I can't believe how fast my mind jumped at the thought of being bound to Ichigo. I wonder how he would react if I mentioned it to him now. He'd probably freak out or get pissed off.

At that thought I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my chest. I want Ichigo to be close, I felt safe with him near by, even if he isn't going to be my mate. That tightness was starting to become painful and I was so focused on my thoughts I didn't notice Ichigo's worried expression as he looked at me.

"Grimm is something wrong?" My eyes snapped up to meet with his.

"N-no, it's nothing. Why?" He took a moment before responding.

"You just looked like you were in pain for a moment." My face got hot when he said that. How does he always seem to witness my weakest moments?

"It's nothing. Just over thinking some things." The look on his face said he didn't quite believe me but he let the topic drop, much to my relief.

Ichigo's PoV:

When Urahara was telling us the results of his tests a flood of emotions washed over me. I was happy that they were happy, pissed off that Aizen drugged them, protective of them and Grimmjow, and something like confusion for the rapid growth of the triplets. I honestly didn't know how to feel. The emotions for that one fact are so jumbled that I didn't even know where to begin sorting through them.

I was wary of the vague results Urahara was rattling off. When he said one of the tests was inconclusive, I suspected he only wanted another sample. However, almost uncharacteristically, he wasn't half hidden behind his fan so I could actually see the seriousness in his face. I lea out a sigh when I was sure he wasn't going to go to far.

The tension passed and the coffee had gone cold but we drank it anyway. It was strong, just what we needed to keep us awake. Urahara left after we finished the coffee saying he had some work to do. Looking at the sleeping triplets I couldn't help playing with their hair. It was something I picked up from my mom. She would always play with my hair and the habit rubbed off on me. I was always playing with Karin and Yuzu's hair.

I twirled a strand of the girl's unbelievably soft blue hair through my fingers. It was softer and finer than silk and the same beautiful shade of sky blue as Grimmjow. They are beautiful and look so peaceful sleeping that I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips. I turned and saw Grimmjow watching me. He didn't seem upset that I was playing with her hair in fact he looked happy.

He also looked lost in thought because even though he was looking towards me is eyes weren't focused and his expression kept changing. It started at content and moved to surprised along with a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. Next he looked sad then pained and a little disappointed. That was when I started to get concerned.

"Grimm, is something wrong?" He must have been surprised because his answer had a slight stutter.

"N-no, it's nothing. Why?"

I don't know why I paused before answering. "You just looked like you were in pain for a moment." I wasn't expecting him to flush red. Was he embarrassed?

"It's nothing. Just over thinking some things."

I wasn't totally buying hiss reason, not with a blush like that. Now I was beyond curious what he was thinking about. I decided to drop it, for now. I could always just ask him later. We just sank back into a comfortable silence, watching over the three little angels sleeping in front of us.

TWO WEEKS LATER…

I slowly woke up with a now familiar weight and warmth on my chest. Grimmjow was snuggling into my side with his hand on my chest directly over my heart. He had told me he liked to feel my heart beat. He didn't elaborate he just smiled. A lot of things had happened over the past two weeks.

First off Inoue went back to her house saying she didn't want to impose. I decided to stay at Urahara's place for the time being along with Grimm. He had gotten a bracelet from Urahara who had explained that it would hide Grimmjow's reiatsu. Hat and clogs went on to explain that the technology was similar to what the Soul Society uses on prisoners, except it didn't completely bind the wearers reiatsu and it could be removed by the person wearing it. Grimm reluctantly wore the bracelet with quite a bit of convincing on my part; after all he didn't want to be found by Soul Society or Aizen. He was antsy after he put it on. Apparently he had trouble sensing other people's reiatsu so he felt nervous.

At first we were given our own separate rooms, Grimm's was next to his children and mine was directly across the hall. That arrangement only lasted for three days since Grimmjow kept sneaking into my room to watch me sleep all night. He would then take naps throughout the day. It wasn't healthy and I could already see the dark circles forming under his eyes from lack of sleep.

As a result I found myself sharing a room with him in the hopes that he would actually get some proper sleep. Thankfully my being there did help and he got the rest that his body needed.

During the time that Grimm was catching up on hi sleep he stayed in his bed, it was after that when he started sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night. Imagine my surprise waking up to see him curled up and snuggling into my side like a content cat.

At first I didn't know what to do, I was frozen in place. All I could do was stare at his peaceful sleeping face until he woke up. Sleepy cerulean eyes fluttered open a few minutes later. When I asked him why he was sleeping with me, his only answer was a lopsided grin and a light blush. For some reason I didn't press for more of an answer. We just got up and got ready for another day of waiting.

It was also around that time that he asked me to help him come up with names for the triplets. After about a week of deliberation and discussion we decided the girl's name would be Kasumi, the elder boy would be Haruki and the younger boy would be Hikaru. When I asked him how he knew whom the eldest was his reply was "I just know." He told me that Haruki was the first one I pulled out of the tank and the youngest was Kasumi. He didn't elaborate any further so I just chocked it up to his maternal instinct, and who was I to question it.

My thoughts were pulled back to the present as I felt Grimmjow shift in his sleep. During the past week or so I found that I liked waking up with his warmth next to me. I watched as a blue eye, still hazy with sleep, peaked open then snapped shut to block out the morning light.

He turned his head to burry his face in my shoulder as he tried to pretend it wasn't morning. I had to stifle a small chuckle at his behavior that was so cat-like.

I had learned that Grimm was not a morning person and he was absolutely adorable as he was waking up. His eyes still hazy with sleep and his bead-head hair almost make him seem like a different person, especially when there's a light blush dusted across his cheeks. This was definitely something I could get used to.

Grimmjow's PoV:

There were three things I noticed as I woke up, a gentle warmth, a slow rhythmic heart beat against the palm of my hand and the muted thrum of reiatsu flowing around the room like a lazy wave, all three of which I knew belonged to Ichigo. I had to admit that it was a nice way to wake up, that is until I cracked open an eye only to be blinded by the morning sun streaming in through the open window.

I quickly snapped my eye shut again and turned my head into Ichigo in a futile attempt to ignore the light assaulting my eyes. I felt Ichigo move slightly but I didn't want him to get up just yet either, so I shifted the hand that was on his chest until my arm was draped over him and I snuggled closer. I wanted to savor the feeling of his warmth and reiatsu.

Ever since I put on that damn bracelet to stay under the radar I've been having trouble sensing other people's reiatsu. At first I could hardly feel any trace of Ichigo when he was just across the hall from me. Then I figured out that I could sense him better at a closer proximity. So I found myself going to his room where his reiatsu felt stronger.

That little compulsion of mine started to affect my sleep patterns and thus my health so Ichigo moved into my room. The first night I snuck into his bed was on a bit of an impulse; I wanted to feel his warmth again. To my surprise and delight he didn't freak out when he woke up, nor did he pry to find out a deeper meaning behind my actions.

Other than that and Ichigo helping me name the triplets; the past two weeks were relatively uneventful. We would spend most of out time watching the triplets sleep peacefully. I'm not sure if he is aware of this or not, but Ichigo would often hum soothing melodies while playing with their hair. I didn't recognize any of the tunes but his voice would always leave me breathless.

I felt him shift again before gentle fingers were combing through the hair at the back o my neck. In my semi-conscious state I couldn't stop the appreciative purr that bubbled up in my throat.

"It's time to wake up Grimm." I could hear the smile in the melodic baritone of his voice.

I peaked an eye open again, happy that the light was no longer directly assaulting me, and looked up to see Ichigo's gentle smile. A lazy lopsided grin was tugging at my lips as I took in Ichigo's 'just woke up' look. All of his features seemed a bit softer, his usual scowl is nowhere to be seen replaced with a serenely peaceful smile and his hair sat in an even greater disarray of messy spikes.

I reluctantly move my arm from his chest so he can sit up, and right when he does move I shift onto the warm spot where he was. I could hear him chuckle lightly as I nuzzled into the residual warmth. When I heard the door slide open and had trouble feeling Ichigo's reiatsu, I knew he had gone to take his morning shower.

I sat up slowly and stretched, feeling satisfied when I felt my spine pop back into alignment. I pulled myself out of bed to change from my sleep clothes to more day appropriate attire. As I finished putting on my last article of clothing Ichigo walked back in, fully dressed in his black shinigami robes while he ran a towel over his hair to dry it.

We made our way to the room that Haruki, Hikaru and Kasumi shared. When we opened the door I could smell freshly brewed coffee and I noticed there were two steaming mugs next to where Ichigo and I usually sit. I guess that mustached guy decided to bring our coffee in here rather than calling us over for breakfast only to have us walk out with a mug of coffee to come back to this room.

I grabbed one of the cups and took a nice big gulp of the aromatic liquid. I glanced up to see why Ichigo hadn't taken his coffee yet. He was starring at Haruki with a puzzled look on his face. Then his gaze moved over to Hikaru then to Kasumi. His attention kept going between Haruki and Hikaru then he looked at me, his eyes swimming with confusion.

He mumbled something about their hair and walked out of the room only to return a moment later, dragging hat and clogs in by the collar of his robes. "What's going on with their hair?" Ichigo's tone was full of suspicion and laced with annoyance as he released the blonde shopkeeper.

"What on earth are you talking about Kurosaki san? I hope you didn't interrupt breakfast to ask me about fashionable haircuts for them." The blonde chirped in his sarcastic singsong voice.

Ichigo seemed quite agitated as he responded in a clipped tone. "Of course not! I want to know why Haruki's and Hikaru's blue hair suddenly started growing orange!" That made Urahara a bit more serious as he turned to examine the boys.

I peeked over his shoulder and sure enough the roots of their hair, about a quarter inch, was a bright sunny orange. "What the hell is going on?" My voice was breathy and shook from the shock.

"Do you remember how I said one of the tests I ran was inconclusive?" I just nodded numbly and Ichigo kept him pinned under a hard stare. "Well I think we should re-run the test, it could give us some answers."

Ichigo and I watched him carefully draw one vial of blood from each of them again before he took the samples into that back room of his for analysis. The waiting this time around was excruciating. It was impossible for us to sit still so we were both pacing around the room like caged tigers, ready to strike at anyone or anything that came in here.

When hat and clogs finally came back with the results it looked like he was fighting a grin. "Well?" I all but snapped. He let a mischievous grin curl onto his lips as he pulled out his fan.

"I suppose congratulations are in order!" He chimed vaguely as he started to fan himself.

"What are you going on about now?" Ichigo was getting irritated and fast.

"Kurosaki san, congratulations on becoming a father!" The blonde chirped happily.

"WHAT?" Ichigo and I yelled simultaneously.

A/N: SURPRISE! HAHAHA… What do you think of that little twist? And a bit of a cliffhanger. Am I evil or what… and no worries, everything will be explained in due time.