The Battered Teen Shelter: Online

I hope you don't mind me starting the RP.  I just need something to distract myself right now, and pretending to be other people seemed like a good place to start.

And since it's been so damn long, I need to do this for my own personal knowledge:

RECENTLY, ON KNOCKED-UP AND BISHIEFUL --
The twins turned one, while a few months down the road, Miku turned two.  Then it was May and it rained a few times I'm sure, and then Ichiru tied the knot with his baby daddy.  Then they commemorated their wedding night by having sex, but they had had sex lots of times before that so it was really just another night at the Kiryu house basically.  Then JUNE came and they went on their honeymoon, and for reasons only known to us that part of everyone's lives won't be shown until later.

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            "Oh my goodness." Rose's statement was immediately followed by a fit of insane giggling. The blonde Vizard gave a light sigh and smiled wearily as he walked back into the bathroom, long white sleeves rolled up past his elbows so they wouldn't become dampened by the bath water in the tub. He knelt down and watched the two boys currently sloshing about in the tub like it was an open-sea voyage. "Look at this place – it seems like the older you kids get, the messier my house becomes." Rose began running his hands through Ren's hair to make sure he had washed all of the shampoo out of it while Rei picked up a rubber octopus from the water's surface.

            "He's gonna get 'choo!"

            As the toy was thrust in Rose's face he feigned a scared gasp and held up a hand. "Oh no, don't let him get me!"

            "'S okay! I save you!" With that the eldest Kiryu son threw the toy down and gripped the side of the tub for balance before thrusting a pudgy fist in the air. "He gone!"

            "Oh thank you, I feel much better now." Smiling to himself, Rose reached for the purple towel lying on the rug. "Okay Ren, let's get you out first." He started to pull Ren's naked body from the tub, the boy looking quite unamused as he held a green rubber duck close to his chest. It had been a very rough weekend for the youngest of Zero and Ichiru's sons. While Rose had tried to be accommodating and understanding of the situation, there were many things Ren didn't want him doing that simply couldn't be ignored. He knew that Ren was unhappy about Rose and Love feeding him and his brother at mealtimes but he couldn't exactly let the boy starve, and he also knew that Ren hated Rose changing his clothes in the morning and at night but that was also something that needed to be done. As far as baths went, Rose had tried to put off the task as much as he could since the boys were already being thrown out of their usual schedule, but two days in a house with three kids under three wasn't exactly a haven of cleanliness. Miku's decision to shower the twins with sand from her sandbow this morning had finally put them all over the line of needing a bath. At least when Rose put Ren and Rei in the tub at the same time Ren seemed to cope a little better.

            Rose set Ren on the soft blue bathroom rug and began rubbing down his wet body. Ren's face was set in a permanent pout bordering sadness as he hugged the duck to his chest and stared strictly at anything but Rose. As Rose began to towel-dry the boy's head gently he smiled. "There we go – all clean again. Now let's get your brother out so we can dry off and get dressed."

            Ren wandered over to the open doorway that lead to Rose and Love's bedroom while Rose started hefting Rei out of the tub. Said boy erupted into a spew of incoherent toddler speak, most of which Rose merely replied to with nods. He thought he picked up on a few keywords like 'bats' and 'racecars' at some point, but other than that, who knew. Rose finished drying off Rei and was ushering the boys into his bedroom when two new figures approached from the second doorway in the bathroom – the one that connected Rose and Love's bathroom to their daughter's room.

            As Miku raced past her mother, tiny damp ponytail bouncing, Rose frowned softly. "Miku, I told you to stay in your room with daddy."

            "Daddy chase me!" the girl declared, grinning wildly up at said daddy before stopping short. Miku and Rei stared silently at each other for a good few seconds before Miku looked up at her mom with an expression that could only be described as amusement. "Mommy, they're nakey."

            "Yes, I know, that's why I told you to stay with daddy," Rose said, easing onto the floor with a sigh so he could start to tug a white t-shirt over Ren's head.

            Miku turned back to her oldest cousin and giggled as she clasped her tiny hands over her mouth. "Where's he's clothes, daddy?"

            "I dunno, babe," Love grunted, walking over and leaning down to scoop the blonde child up. He cradled Miku in his arms and began blowing on her belly as she screamed. "They're boys. Maybe they just wanna be wild an' free."

            "Me too!"

            "No, not you too," Rose spoke up as he finished pulling a diaper and some tan shorts up on Ren so he could move on to Rei. "We do not have naked parties in this house, Miku."

            "That's right, we keep those diapered-butts in their pants," Love said, kissing Miku's cheek a few times before easing her onto the ground. "Miku, go take Rei and Ren to your room and put your books back on their shelf."

            "'Kay." Miku took Ren's hand and began dragging the unwilling boy after her, Rei followed shortly after as Rose finished dressing him. Love went to follow the kids but was stopped as Rose grabbed his hand. The slimmer of the two smiled as he fiddled with the bold engagement band around Love's finger.

            "You look happy," Love murmured, leaning in to kiss Rose's neck as said man closed his eyes and gave a bright hum. "What's up?"

            "What, I can't be happy?" Rose challenged, his smile remaining strong. With a swift movement Rose had his waist pressed up against Love's as he draped his arms across the back of the black-haired Vizard's neck. Love grunted out a short laugh and kissed Rose on the lips a few times. "They'll be here in about an hour."

            "And then it's just the three of us again."

            Rose nodded and ran his fingers through Love's hair, traveling the lengths of the man's scalp before his right palm came to a rest on the side of Love's head. He leaned in and kissed the taller man lovingly. "Maybe tonight someone will be kind enough to take Miku for a few hours so we can spend some time together."

            "And by together, do you mean have sex?" Love asked, holding Rose's hips as the mother sighed and closed his eyes; oh, memories of romance. "Hey, time doesn't present itself anymore. I gotta know for sure. If we ended up on two different pages I would have been mighty disappointed."

            "Yes, I did mean sex," Rose said, staring indifferently at Love a few moments longer before the two separated. "But only if you're good and you four can keep out of trouble while I make lunch."

            "Now why would you have any doubt whatsoever?" Love asked, putting on a crestfallen expression as he watched Rose walk into the hallway. Rose dutifully ignored his best friend. Love grinned and started heading for Miku's room, inwardly pleased with the turn this day was taking.

 

 

 

 

            He had been anxious when they left the resort, and counting the clouds in the sky had been hard to stick to as they made their way down the sandy highway, but once the newly-minted Kiryu couple had made their way into familiar turf Ichiru found himself growing anxious. Once they were forty minutes from home his hands began clasping at his shorts. Thirty minutes and his lips began to twitch. Twenty, his stomach began to clench. By the time they were ten minutes from their home – and more importantly, their boys – Ichiru took a deep breath and tried to let it out as smoothly as possible. He folding his shaky arms around his sides. "We're back."

            "We sure are," Zero murmured, eyes skimming the quickly-approaching suburban homestead. There wasn't a whole lot about this place that he liked, to be honest. The only thing that this quaint little hometown had offered him was the peace of mind at knowing that his kids were in a stable environment, that Ichiru was happy, and that everyone was safe. He knew that he could never take such simple things for granted after living the life he and his brother had lived. Even with twin boys at home and the hectic lifestyle that came with them, there were times when Zero truly felt that he had been given the gift of a second chance at living. He wasn't going to screw it up this time around.

            "Do you think the boys did okay?" Ichiru asked, absently chewing on his bottom lip as he watched the houses that passed by. "You don't think they're going to be scarred by this, do you?"

            Zero blinked half-lidded eyes as he continued to stare dead ahead. "Scarred? By us being gone less than two days?"

            "They're only eighteen-months-old, you know," Ichiru said defensively. "It's not like they understand what's happening."

            "We left them in a place where they're surrounded by people they've known their whole lives. It's not like we dropped them off at the shelter and took off to roam the countryside." While Zero's vague humor was obvious it didn't keep Ichiru from glaring at his older counterpart. "Yes – the boys are fine. You called ten million times on Friday, and another million yesterday. It's only one in the afternoon today and they probably haven't even done much today, so unless something changed in the last three hours since you spoke to Rose, the boys are doing fine." Ichiru crossed his arms moodily and glared out his window.

            "Fine, but if they grow up and end up in therapy, I'm blaming you."

            Zero bit back a sigh as his hands tightened on the steering wheel; what else what new…?

 

 

 

 

            "Mama, car."

            Rose had been in the midst of picking up toys when a tiny slur came from his shoulder. As he dropped another ball into the toy box by the sliding glass doors Rose ran a hand down Miku's back, patting her bottom. "You hear a car?" She nodded and closed her eyes sleepily again as Rose hiked her higher up against his shoulder. He could faintly make out the approaching reiatsu signatures that he recognized as Ichiru and Zero; Love was right, Miku's senses were starting to grow attuned. Rose gave his daughter's head a tender kiss. "Love, they're here."

            Said man had been sitting on the couch when Rose spoke. With a grin he gave a stiff stretch, glancing to his left where a blanket had been spread out on the floor so Rei and Ren could lay down on it. The two boys were on the brink of sleep. Rei's hand was absently gripping his bangs, tiny fingers grasping at the short, silvery locks for comfort. His other hand probably would have been in his mouth if it hadn't been resting over Ren's face, the two boys facing each other with their legs curled up against their bodies. Both boys blinked sleepily and stared blearily over Love's shoulders as he hoisted them into his arms. "C'mon guys – let's go see who's here."

 

(( Okay, if you want to continue from here you can. If not just let me know and I'll keep going. DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR! D< ))

I drew this for CC, 'cause... you know... I love you and stuff. .///.  Yeah... I hope you like it.

The background is a photo manip since the ones I drew were kind of lame. This was the original drawing.

Ichiru had to go grocery shopping, so he took the boys with him (they're two... and a half.)  They both insisted on helping Ichiru carry the bags to the car, but the bags were bigger than them, which is why Ren can't even move the bag he has.  And... well, Ichiru had to take Rei's bag from him because all he did was pull out the box of cookies and started eating them.

(( And I know it looks like they're in a park... but I liked the trees. >> ))

It's Kyoshi's birthday. x3  I was in a huge rush to do this, but I hope it still came out okay?  I don't know. xD;
Happy birthday, baby boy. <3

Okay... first of all, I'm sorry that it took so long to get anything to you.  I had to change my mind four times before actually finishing any of the pieces I started for you. .///.  I feel really bad because I don't think this piece will be what you were looking for, but I did my best to make it cute if nothing else.  It also lacks plot... but it contains newborns AND pregnant bellies so... hopefully that makes up for it.  Y/N?

Sorry for the lack of Ichiru in the first part, you can actually skip to the second 'part' and not miss much.  Basically Rose and Love are keeping an eye on the kids while Zero brings Ichiru home from the hospital.

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            “When are they going to be here?”

            Rose shifted the boy in his arms so he could reach down and stroke Rei’s hair. “Your mom will be back soon, I promise! Only another hour at the most!”

            “But I want him to come home now,” Rei whined, slapping his balled fists against his thighs in frustration. As Rose sighed and shifted Kyoshi to his other side the door to the Kiryu’s kitchen opened and Love walked in. He frowned as Ren squealed, squirming in the tall Vizard’s arms.

            “Jesus, you’d think a bath was a death sentence with the way this kid fights you through the whole thing,” Love grunted, becoming a bit irritated with Ren’s squirming. “Okay, we’re done, calm down!”

            Frowning softly, Rose shook his head. “Love I told you, we didn’t need to bathe the twins, they would have been fine until tomorrow morning.”

            “I just wanted them to be nice and clean for when their mom and dad got here.”

            Sighing, Rose began to jut his hip out so Love would take Kyoshi from him. “All right, just set him in a chair. Go change Kyoshi for me and I’ll take care of Ren.”

            “All right – come on stinky, let’s get you cleaned.”

            Once the two were gone Rose knelt down and ran his fingers through Ren’s hair, smiling gently as the boy pulled away. “Ren, where are your glasses? You know your mom would want you to be wearing them.”

            The boy pulled as far back in the kitchen chair as he could, teary eyes watching Rose with distrust. “I want my mom… is he back yet?”

            “No, but he’s going to be here real soon,” Rose promised with a cheerful tone, smiling as comfortingly as he could at the five-year-old. From a chair at the end of the table Rei crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the floor. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t we go watch a movie until they get here?” The boys seemed to contemplate that for a moment when Rose felt his pocket vibrating. He pulled his phone out and glanced at it before giving a tiny smile. He glanced back at the boys. “Can you go turn the TV on for me and pick out a movie?”

            “… Fine,” Rei sniffed, clambering out of his chair and grabbing Ren’s hand so he could drag him along. “But I wanna talk to mom on the phone!”

            “Yes, that’s fine, we’ll call him up in ten minutes.” As the two left and the door shut Rose answered his phone. “Hey! Where are you guys? Your boys are going nuts over here.”

            On the other end of the line Ichiru smiled; he felt bad that the boys were getting anxious, yes, but how could anyone frown on a day like this? “I’m sorry, it took us awhile to get into the neighborhood because Zero insisted on driving at a whole ten miles per hour.” Said father frowned from the driver’s seat. “But we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

            “That’s great!” Rose said with a smile just as Love was entering the kitchen. The man frowned and mouthed silently, asking if it was Ichiru. When Rose nodded he grinned. “We’ll be ready for you!” Rose hung up and gave a tiny shake of a jump as he grinned, gripping Love’s arms. “They’re almost here!”

            “All right, calm down!” Love laughed, patting his boyfriend’s back as he beamed with excitement.

            “I’m sorry, I can’t help it,” Rose sighed with a wide smile. “I’m just so happy… we’re bringing another baby home, and all of the kids are big brothers and sisters now…” Love smirked and folded his arms over his chest as he watched Rose. The blonde mother rubbed his forehead as he started heading towards the door. “We have a new baby again!”

 

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

 

            Zero glanced in the rearview mirror. “How’s she doing? Is she still asleep? How does her skin look?”

            Ichiru smiled wearily and glanced at the back of Zero’s head. “She’s fine Zero – yes, she’s still sleeping.” At that he glanced back down at the newborn strapped into her carseat next to him. The girl was far too tiny for her seat despite being overdue. Her skin was normal for a newborn – puckered and flaky in a few places – but that didn’t keep Zero from panicking every time the girl started to whimper. Ichiru was worried about his newborn too but, being an experienced parent already, he did find Zero’s naivety rather endearing. (He just hoped the new father would get used to this baby thing a lot faster than Ichiru had.)

            Once they reached their house and pulled into the garage the door leading to the house opened a split second later. The silhouettes of many people flooded the dark room. “Okay Shizue,” Ichiru spoke gently as he began to unstrap the carseat, “let’s go and see your new home.”

            The minute the two new parents stepped inside their boys clambered around them. “Mommy! Mommy! You were gone forever!”

            As Rei beamed excitedly and Ren smiled, the remnants of tears glistening in his eyes, Ichiru knelt down to give them both hugs. “Oh, my boys! I missed you so much!”

            “Could we maybe move this to the livingroom?” Zero spoke up with a grunt; he hefted the covered carseat in his right arm, surprised somewhat at the weight it bore.

            “Actually,” Ichiru spoke up with a glance towards Rose, “it’s kind of late, and it’s been a really hard day…”

            Rose held a hand up with a smile. “No, no, I agree completely – you two need time to settle in!”

            Love frowned, defeated. “But I thought we were gonna play with the baby.”

            “I’m sure in due time we’ll get our chance, Love,” Rose assured the man with a pat to his arm. “But they need their rest while the baby is sleeping!” Rose leaned down and scooped Kyoshi up while Love clasped his hands over Miku’s shoulders. “I assume you’ll call if you do need help?”

            While Ichiru had a feeling that Rose would be the one calling to check up on him, he nodded nonetheless. “Yeah, definitely.” Rose gave a tiny smile and continued to gather up his family.

            Ichiru turned to Zero as he stood upright slowly, Rei and Ren wrapped around his legs in tight hugs. “Why don’t you take Shizue up and start getting her ready for bed? I’m going to put the boys to bed.”

            “Should I give her a bath? Though it’s pretty cold out, so maybe we shouldn’t – she’ll be too cold in the water, won’t she?”

            “She just needs to be put down Zero,” Ichiru said with a nervous smile. “Please, just get her into our room so she doesn’t wake up in such a bright place.” He remembered all too well how hard it had been for Rei and Ren to adjust to light when they were first born. Though he couldn’t carry his sons quite yet, Ichiru still gave their heads a secure squeeze before pushing their backs lightly towards the stairs. “Come on guys, we’re going to bed now.”

            “But mom, I wanted to play with you!”

            “But it’s been such a long day… how about we read a few books together while you tell me what you’ve been doing since I was gone?”

            “Okay… but I get to pick the book!”

            “But I wanted to pick the book…” Ren muttered.

            “You can both pick a book, it’s fine.”

 

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

 

            Zero had taken almost five whole minutes just getting Shizue out of her carseat, but he wanted to make sure he didn’t squeeze her tiny arms when he slipped them out of the straps. It was amazing to hoist her up and feel virtually nothing in his arms; were all babies this small when they were born? By the time Zero had come into the family picture his own sons had already grown quite a bit; they were not as small and fragile as the form sleeping in his arms right now.

            The father of three eased slowly onto the bed, staring intently at his daughter’s sleeping face. The flutter of thick eyelashes accompanied her breaths every so often. Her little legs twitched with signs of life, hands only as big as his finger clenching and unclenching from within the baby’s blanket cocoon. Her skin, though still a bit flushed from the birth, was soft to the touch. Zero longed to see the iris eyes resting beneath those eyelids – he adored everything about this tiny person.

            How could someone you only just met have such a strong hold on your heart?

            When Ichiru finally got the boys to sleep he himself was near drop-dead exhaustion; he couldn’t ever remember being this tired with the twins’ birth. (Then again, he was so petrified of everything they did back then that he left little time for sleeping.) He crawled onto the bed and settled in next to Zero, their clothed legs just barely touching.  “Is she still sleeping?”

            Zero gave a small nod. “Yeah…” He watched with a knot in his chest as Ichiru ran two fingers down Shizue’s cheek, smiling with that glow that only a mother could carry. “Won’t that wake her?”

            “Oh, no – babies are such heavy sleepers. I mean, if she could sleep with all of the movement from walking when I was pregnant with her, a few strokes surely won’t do anything.” He leaned over to kiss the newborn, longing to hold her as the scent of her head filled his senses. “Besides, she needs this contact if she’s going to get stronger.”

            “Wow…” Zero didn’t mean to sound so amazed, and as soon as the word left his lips he felt himself flushing a bit, but he’d never realized before just how complicated this baby thing could be. He knew it wasn’t a walk in the park, but with the way Ichiru had an answer for everything it almost seemed like an alter-worldly force was at play here – like he was stuck somewhere he just didn’t belong. In an attempt to explain himself, Zero cleared his throat. “I mean… it’s just, how do you know?”

            Ichiru began to take Shizue from Zero’s arms, smiling lovingly down at her. “Know what?”

            “Know all of this –“ Zero motioned towards the sleeping girl with a nod of his head. “—about the baby, and what she needs. It’s just too weird. I don’t think I’m ever going to sleep again until she’s at least two, I’m too worried about her.”

            “I hate to tell you, but you’re probably not going to sleep until she’s two even if you weren’t worried,” Ichiru pointed out with an almost depressed undertone. He could almost feel the soreness from weeks of no sleep preparing within his body.

            “I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”

            “…” Sighing, Ichiru closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillows. He shifted his daughter in his arms carefully as the girl moved reflexively in her sleep. “She’s a lot stronger than you give her credit for, I think. Just because she’s so small doesn’t mean she’s helpless.”

            Zero looked completely unconvinced. “What exactly can she do?”

            “She can do plenty!” Ichiru retorted with a frown. “She knew how to eat the minute she was born, and she knew how to breath, and cry, and she even knew how to grip our fingers. She’s very smart, and very strong!” While those things didn’t sound that extraordinary, Zero assumed this was another one of those mother’s instinct ordeals. “She just needs a little love is all. Everything else is pretty basic.”

            “Well I’m glad you think so,” Zero muttered, “but I don’t see how she can be so strong when she can’t even hold her head up.”

            A sigh. “That will come later, Zero. Trust me.”

            “Yeah, yeah… I trust you…”

            It hadn’t been long before Zero fell into a light sleep, always ready to snap awake the minute the baby blinked. Ichiru himself was afraid of passing out by this point but he just wanted to hold his daughter a little longer; he just wanted to savor this moment.

            Life had been a bitch, for lack of a better term. He’d been through loss, through suffering, through torment and sadness and pain, and all of that had seemed to last throughout the years. There wasn’t a lot that Ichiru could do once Zero had died, once he found out he was pregnant – that was just his life. He had accepted that long ago. So how did a beaten soul like him find himself in a warm home, surrounded by healthy, happy kids and his best friend and fated lover? Things had been so hard on the young mother that he hadn’t even realized until just recently how wonderful things were becoming.

 

            “Was that another one?”

            From where he was seated on the sofa Ichiru sighed. As the pain in his abdomen spread to his chest he gave his stomach a good, sturdy rub, wishing that he could get his daughter to move so he didn’t feel such a pressure on his hips. “Yes Zero, it was. It was another contraction, just like the one I had five minutes ago, and yes I’m fine so could you please just get my bag in the car so we could get to the hospital?”

            As though he had just been reminded of some long-forgotten agenda, Zero sprang back into action and hurried down the hall to go find Ichiru’s overnight bag. “Bag, right! It’s… um…”

            “In the upstairs closet.”

            “Right!”

            Ichiru sighed and shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position on the couch while he waited for his husband to get everything together. Really, he understood that Zero was scared but he was the one going through agonizing pain every couple of minutes, knowing that each contraction was just a taste of what was to come. He needed the support right now, not Zero. At least when he had called the Academy to get a hold of Zero he got through to Love, who had promised to take care of the boys and their schooling while Zero helped him to the hospital.

            Another contraction started to form and Ichiru gave a pained whine. “God, again?” he panted to the ceiling. He gripped the couch cushions beneath him and groaned, eyes clenching in agony as a bead of sweat trickled down his face. Why the hell had he agreed to do this again?

            Ah, that was right – because of how the babies got there in the first place.

            Zero reentered the livingroom in a flurry, just a flash of black, white and silver. “Okay, the bag’s in the car – let’s go!”

            “Would you relax?” Ichiru grunted with a bit of venom in his voice. He pushed himself up slowly, leaning as far forward as he could when the contraction only intensified with his movement. “Ooh… j-just get in the car and shut up, okay? You’re making me nervous.”

            Zero reached a hand out, glad when Ichiru took it instead of smacking it away. “Your water hasn’t broken or anything, right? We have time?”

            “Well I don’t know about time, but I’m definitely not delivering right now if that’s what you’re nervous about,” Ichiru sighed with a grimace as he rubbed his aching back. His upcoming newborn gave a timid kick which he replied to with a rub of his stomach. “Ooh, I know I wanted you out but could you just stop kicking until I get some drugs?”

            “Won’t that hurt her?”

            “Not as much as I’m going to hurt you if you suggest I do this without an epidural,” Ichiru warned with a less-than-friendly scowl, rendering Zero silent for the time being. “Until you’ve tried to shove out a baby from your body you are not aloud to make any suggestions!”

            “Right… sorry.”

 

            Ichiru gave a twitch of a smile. He glanced at Zero’s back; he knew he wouldn’t apologize for everything he’d said to the father of his children during labor, but he also knew that Zero didn’t expect him to. Maybe that’s why he felt so light-headed and happy every time he relived the arrival of their daughter. It was so amazing to watch as her tiny body came into sight – though bloodied and discolored as it was – but even more amazing was how it felt to watch as her father took her in his arms and held her for her first minutes of life. If he hadn’t had gotten pregnant again Ichiru would have never gotten to see that rare glow in Zero’s eyes.

            When the mother looked down he was thoroughly surprised to find a pair of eyes staring blearily up at him. He gave a soft smile and kissed Shizue’s forehead. “Well hi there,” he whispered so as not to alert Zero. “And how are you doing? Hm? You slept all the way home, I didn’t even get to show you where you live now!” The infant girl gave a wide yawn, a scrawny arm coming up to flop against her head. Ichiru gently took that warm hand between his fingers and bounced it lovingly. “Oh, baby… you’re just too cute, you know that? How could I have ever not wanted another baby?” He smiled and pulled Shizue up to his shoulder so he could rub her tiny back.

            As the girl gave a few weak, raspy attempts at cooing Ichiru awed softly. “Now, let’s close our eyes and go back to sleep – I know for you it was always dark, but now that you’re here ‘dark’ means ‘time for sleep.’” A futile attempt, but who knows – maybe the girl would actually understand Ichiru’s hopeful words. “So close your eyes, and go to sleep… and mommy will go to sleep… and daddy will sleep, and big brothers will sleep… and then tomorrow, when everyone wakes up, we’ll spend most of the day fighting your aunts and uncles away.” Because, let’s face it, Ichiru knew from the moment he found out he was pregnant that that was going to be the outcome. He just hoped that Rose would be able to keep everyone at bay while he was too tired to do so himself.

            It hadn’t taken long for Shizue to fall back asleep, completely content in her mother’s arms. The young mother rose slowly from the bed and paced towards the crib against the wall, rubbing the back of the tiny baby against his shoulder. He gave her a few more tender kisses before unwillingly swaddling her snugly again and easing her into her crib. Ichiru watched his youngest child sleep with a bright smile on his worn face. “I love you very much, sweetheart. I love all of you more than you could ever realize.”

            The tiny baby’s lips twitched, her little head nuzzling a soft purple blanket as she continued to sleep.

I'm stuck with this one, but since everyone's in it I figured I could post what I have so far.  I don't know if I'll even finish it anyway.  So... yeah. xD;

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                The opening and closing of the front door signaled someone’s return.

                Rose pushed the laundry basket aside and rose from his bed, giving his shirt a tug. He placed a hand lightly on his back as he started towards the stairs, a bit relieved to finally have someone home – he had been going out of his mind. Only one week had gone by since Rose had been placed on bed rest but it felt like an eternity. There was no way he was going to make it through another two months. Trying to push that to the back of his mind, the blonde mother ran his fingers through his hair before starting down the stairs.

                Miku ran forward to hug her mom before running down the hall with Shuu in tow, leaving Rose alone with Mashiro. Ever since Rose had been placed on bed rest Love had gone out of his way (or overboard, as Rose liked to call it) to make sure that he was available for dropping off and picking up Miku and her cousins at school. Rose had insisted that it wasn’t that strenuous to drive a car, but Love was having none of it. Today, however, their two-year-old son had had a doctor’s appointment so Mashiro had kindly offered to pick the kids up from school for them.

                Mashiro smiled brightly and leapt forward to hug Rose. “Hi Rosy – how are you feeling?”

                “I’m fine, just fine,” Rose murmured, smiling and tugging on his shirt as they separated. “Thank you so much for helping us out today. I really do appreciate it, you know.”

                “It’s no problem.” Suddenly, Mashiro’s smile began to change.

                Rose smiled calmly and cocked his eyebrow at the woman’s faltering smile. He laughed lightly with a rub of his sides. “Is something wrong? You look nervous.”

                “… Actually,” Mashiro started slowly. She glanced down the hall as if to check for any signs of the kids before facing Rose again. “We had a little situation at school today.”

                This made Rose’s smile fall from his face. “Oh no.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “What happened?”

                “It’s actually not what you’re thinking, Rosy.” Mashiro’s smile changed yet again, giving her an overall look of something akin to excitement. She folded her arms tightly over her chest and rocked on her heels. “There was an incident at recess, I guess, and Miku ended up damaging some of the play equipment.”

                Rose moaned. Oh, Miku. “What did she do?”

                “She fired a cero at a slide.”

                Wait, what?

                Rose’s eyes widened and he glanced down the hall. He could hear his daughter’s wild laughter coming from somewhere outside, so happy and carefree; so innocent. A small twinge of something unfamiliar – awe, perhaps – began building in Rose’s chest. The blonde Vizard held a hand against his mouth and shook his head slowly while turning back towards Mashiro. “You’re kidding me. How… I mean, are you sure that’s what it was? What did her teacher say?”

                “Well all they know is that there was this loud cracking noise, like firecrackers or something, and then that green slide by the main building was scorched. Kensei actually took a look at it and said that the energy left around the area sure feels like ours. That, and I asked Miku and the twins about what happened and they told me.” Mashiro smiled sweetly. “She actually fired a cero – she used her powers.”

                “I doubt she did it intentionally,” Rose said with a bright smile. Regardless, he still couldn’t deny that feeling of pride as it spread through his body warmly. Laughing softly into his hand, Rose closed his eyes. “Oh my God… I can’t believe this.”

                “ know, I couldn’t either! I mean, she’s only seven – isn’t she a little young, Rosy?”

                Shrugging, Rose dropped his hands to his sides. “Isshin-san did warn us about these things when I was still pregnant with her.   Know Love and I have reiatsu signatures that are higher than average, but I didn’t think something like this could happen so early. I guess I should have seen this coming what with how much stronger her own signature has become just in the last couple of years, but still.”

                “So… are we happy about this?”

                “Well… yes. Yeah, of course we are,” Rose said, stepping forward to hug Mashiro again. The two parents smiled as Rose took a deep breath, sighing. “We knew it had to happen, and now it is.”

                “So what happens now?”

                “I don’t know, to be honest. First I should probably talk to Love when he gets back with Kyoshi, I’m sure he’s going to love this. He’s been waiting for this since the first ultrasound.”

                As the two pulled apart Mashiro clasped her hands in front of her, her fingers wringing anxiously. “Love-chi is gonna be so happy! I’m so excited for you guys!”

                The two were interrupted by the patter of footsteps. Miku and Shuu approached their parents and Rose smiled, settling a hand on his daughter’s blonde head. The seven-year-old laid her chin against her mother’s stomach to look up at him with wide green eyes. “Mom, can we have a snack?”

                “Actually, honey, Shuu and I have to get going,” Mashiro said as she rubbed her four-year-old’s head. “Shuu is going to go out with his dad once they get changed.”

                “Aw…”

                “I’ll make you a snack sweetheart,” Rose said as he leaned down as best he could. He and Miku shared a kiss. “Why don’t you go bring your backpack upstairs and get washed up? Your dad will be back soon with your brother and we’ll have a little snack.”

                “Where did dad take Kyo?”

                “To the doctor. Come on, now, go get your stuff.” Miku sighed and took off down the hall to grab her backpack from the backyard. Rose smiled down at Shuu. “You should come and play with us sometime, okay?”

                “Okay.”

                “Do you need any help with anything before we go?” Mashiro offered, but Rose waved her off with an exasperated smile.

                “Oh, no – you’ve all been wonderful, you’ve done so much already.”

                “Well you call us if you need anything,” Mashiro said with a mock-serious tone, smiling as she leaned forward to peck Rose’s cheek. “Come on Shuu, let’s go before daddy gets crabby.”

                “Okay mommy,” the black-haired boy said, flashing Rose a shy smile before taking off out the front door that Mashiro just opened.

                “Will you call us later?”

                “Yeah, definitely. Thanks again for doing all of this, you really don’t know what it means to me.”

                “Mm-hm~ We’ll see you later Rosy.”

 

                It hadn’t taken long for Love to get home, and once he had he and Rose got to work making snacks for their kids. Once the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were finished Love had carried them to the living room coffee table and insisted that Rose go up and take a nap before dinner – Rose, however, had smiled and told Love to meet him upstairs so they could talk.

                Love had to be honest, he had a slight bounce in his step as he put a movie on for the kids and jogged up the stairs. Rose hadn’t been direct but it was obvious that he wanted some lovin’. After all, what else could that smile mean?

                The father of three knocked on his and Rose’s bedroom door before entering. He grinned as Rose smiled at him from bed, a hand settled over his stomach as he slowly bounced one foot against his crossed ankles. He patted the empty spot next to him. “Leave the door cracked please, so we can hear the kids.”

                “So what’s going on?” Love murmured, crawling onto the bed and leaning over to peck Rose’s cheek. Rose smiled knowingly and reached up to rub Love’s arm a few times before gently pushing him away. He chuckled as Love pouted.

                “Love, that’s not why we’re here – I really want to talk.”

                “Aw, for real?” Love sighed dejectedly and seated himself next to Rose as the blonde nodded. “Damn – get my hopes up and all that…”

                “Love, even if I wanted to you know we can’t have sex, right? I can’t have sex until I’m off of bed rest.” Before Love could erupt into histrionics at this news, Rose went right on to business. “We’re here because we need to talk about your daughter.”

                “Well if she’s my daughter then I’m guessing something happened?” Rose nodded.

                “Something happened at school today.”

                Love sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. “Damn it… what did she do, drag Rei and Ren into another mess? Do we have to pay for another chalkboard again? Look, we paid for the last one, so Ichiru and Zero should at least pay for half of this one –“

                “No, Love, this has nothing to do with Rei and Ren. It’s just Miku.”

                Love looked disappointed. “So we have to pay for the whole chalkboard?”

                “Wha --?  No, Love, we don’t have to pay for a chalkboard!” Rose snapped with a frown. “We have to pay for a slide, but do you want to know why?”

                “… Do I?”

                Smiling suddenly, Rose pulled himself up against his pillows a bit more and nodded. “I think you do.” Rose motioned Love over; as he scooted closer to Rose the blonde mom leaned forward as best he could, planting a kiss on Love’s lips before smiling brightly. He crossed his legs under him so he could sit next to Love, his hands settled over his knees. “Miku had a little power flux today. It wasn’t intentional or controlled, but it was still rather big.”

                The words ‘power flux’ caught Love’s ear and he smiled. “Oh yeah?”

                “Yes – she fired a cero at a slide.”

                Love couldn’t help it. He laughed and held a hand against his forehead as Rose sighed, rolling his eyes but smiling nonetheless. The black-haired Vizard folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against his own pillows. Once his laughter had died down somewhat Love sighed happily. “Ah, that’s great...”

                “I’m glad you’re so happy about this Love, but what are we going to do about this? She can’t be having these problems at school, today’s incident has them flustered enough.”

                “What are we gonna do? What do you mean, Rose? We’re gonna train her, of course.”

                “Yes, but how? She’s only seven, she barely weighs fifty pounds – it’s not like we can spar with her.”

                Love furrowed his brow and rested his head in his hand. He hadn’t thought about that. “Well we can’t do nothing.”

                “No, you’re right, we can’t,” Rose said. “That’s why I think we should try and find a day where we can get her in to see Unohana-taicho. She can give her an exam so we can make sure that her body is still functioning properly under the strain of her power. Then after that it might be plausible to call Urahara-san because he would definitely be able to show us some exercise and training techniques for someone as small as she is.”

                Everything sounded good so far, so after Rose had finished Love allowed himself to grin again. He turned his head and shared his smile with Rose. He reached over and settled a hand on Rose’s stomach, giving it slow rubs as Rose settled his hand above his belly. “I can’t believe how big they’re getting.”

                “It really is incredible,” Rose said softly. He watched as Love sat up and leaned forward to kiss their unborn child before scooting towards the edge of their bed and rising. As he held a hand out Rose accepted it. “We need to talk to her about all of this later, I don’t think she fully understands what’s happening.”

                “That’s fine, we can take care of it this week,” Love said. He hefted Rose to his feet and grinned as he kissed him, patting his back. “Well! Those spots on Kyo’s arms are all gone and Unohana-taicho says he’s fine, but I promised him I would make some pasta for dinner because that was the only way I could get him to let her take his temperature.”

                “That’s fine, I could go for some pasta,” Rose said with a smile. “Need any help?” Love gave him a pointed stare and Rose rolled his eyes, laughing.

                “Yeah, you can lay on the couch and not go into early labor.”

                “Love…”

 

                Ding-dong.

                Ichiru had been changing Rei’s shirt when the doorbell rang. He managed to slide a blue t-shirt over the silver-headed boy’s head before he took off towards the stairs with a shout of joy. “They’re here!”

                “Rei!” Ichiru hollered after his eldest son. Sighing, he followed his boy down the stairs, watching as the front door was already opening. Miku walked in and up to her cousin, a sucker dangling from her mouth as she stared at Rei blankly. Love walked through and stared after his daughter with a frown.

                “Miku, don’t just let yourself in,” he muttered, though to be honest no one really had the energy to force that rule anymore. Miku wiggled her sucker stick for a few moments before pulling it out.

                “Okay dad.”

                “Hi Miku, hi Love,” Ichiru said with a smile. He reached the bottom landing just as a tiny form clothed in a soft lilac onesie stumbled down the hall. Love grinned and gave a small gasp as he knelt down and held his hands out. Ichiru watched with a crooked smile as his daughter took wobbly steps towards Love so he could scoop her up.

                “Hey baby!” Love said brightly as he stood up with the tot. Shizue watched Love’s shining sunglasses with wide eyes, her expression never-changing as she reached up to feel the tall man’s scratchy stubble. Love grinned and positioned the girl in one arm as he turned to Ichiru. “She’s getting big, kid. Soon she’ll be talking, and running, and then going to school, and dating, and getting married…”

                “… Love, you know I don’t like it when you make my baby grow up in a matter of seconds,” Ichiru stated wearily; just the thought of his precious daughter getting married made him want to start sobbing. He hoped that was still a far-off time. “Besides, Miku will probably do all of that before Shizue does.”

                “Hey now,” Love said with a half-serious frown, shaking a finger pointedly at Ichiru as he smiled. Love sighed and leaned down so he could set Shizue carefully on her feet again, watching her take off down the hall at her unsteady pace. “Ah… thanks for watching Miku while I take Rose to the doctor. Normally I’d let her come with us but she’s been stuck in school all day, and the last place she would want to end up is stuck at the doctor’s office. Mashiro took Kyo for us since I wouldn’t make you guys look after five kids, especially my two hellions.”

                “Well we’re not doing anything too exciting, I’m afraid,” Ichiru admitted as he glanced down the hall. He could make out the faint sound of Rei shouting something from the backyard, already deep in play with his cousin and perhaps his brother if the younger Kiryu twin had finished the book he had been reading on the couch. Hopefully Zero was still watching Shizue. “Speaking of which, how is Rose doing?”

                “Mm,” Love gave a deep rumble of thought in the back of his throat. He gave a light shrug. “He’s all right, I guess. He’s making me a wreck, though, because if he doesn’t stick to his bed rest we’re gonna have this baby a lot sooner than we thought.” That really was a problem. “But we’re almost done, you know? Only a couple more months.” Love took a deep breath and sighed airily. “You sure you don’t want us to take the kids some time this week? You and the others have been doing a lot for us lately, it seems. We wouldn’t mind returning the favor.”

                “No, really, it’s not that big of a deal!” Ichiru tried to assure, sweating slightly as he held his hands up.  “I’m just glad I could help. I mean, I know things have been… well…” The sentence was left unfinished as Love merely nodded in understanding.

                “I know. Maybe some day in the near future, then?”

                Giving a smile, Ichiru nodded. “Definitely.”

                Love gave a curt nod and grunt. “Right… I’m gonna take off then. We should be back in two hours, if not a little after. Maybe we could have dinner together if you guys aren’t busy.”

                “Sure, sounds great.” Ichiru walked Love back towards the door as the burly man gripped the door handle. “Thanks again for the help.”

                “We’ll see you in a little while.”

 

                Miku was busily hurrying around the backyard.    She picked up a pot on the grassy floor before crawling under the slide to an enclosed playhouse, banging a wooden spoon against the wooden support beams of the play structure. “C’mon guys!” she called out. “Dinner is ready!”

                From where they had been sitting in the sandbox, Ren stood up and Rei hopped up with a gasp. “Yay, dinner!” The silver-headed lads made their way to the playhouse, Rei making a mad dash before stopping dead in his tracks. He turned and hurried over to the Playskool table where Shizue was drawing on the seat with a green crayon. “Come on, Shizue, it’s time for dinner!” The little girl grunted as she was hefted up, dangling mere inches from the ground as Rei waddled as fast as he could towards the slide with his little sister held against his stomach. Once he reached the shade he dropped Shizue on her bottom and pulled her over to the little table by the play structure’s steps.

                Ren was holding a play cup up to his lips while Miku dealt out the invisible mashed potatoes. Rei picked up his plate with a hint of disappointment. “You know, mom would make us some sandwiches to serve if we asked him.”

                “What?” Miku frowned. “You don’t like my potatoes?”

                “I do like them, but I’d like them more if I could actually eat them.”

                “Mom said we would be eating lunch in thirty minutes,” Ren pointed out. “It’s almost been twenty – we can wait until the pizza is ready.”

                “D’aa, da, mama, mama.” Shizue calmly patted the tabletop to end whatever point she was trying to make. Miku smiled and rubbed the girl’s silver hair a bit roughly.

                “That’s right – oh, what a good girl!” the blonde girl squealed in a babying voice. As Shizue got up and began toddling back towards the coloring table, Miku started following her with Rei and Ren in tow.

                “Shizue, you colored on the table again,” Ren said with something akin to sorrow in his eyes. The girl picked up her crayon again. “Dad’s going to be mad.”

                “She’s just expressing her creativity!” Miku said with a nod. However, there was only so much watching of a one-year-old a child could do before she grew bored. Especially if that child was Miku. She glanced around the backyard a few times before spotting the slide. She reached over and poked Rei’s arm. “Hey, let’s play mountain climbers.”

                “I don’t wanna, the slide’s all hot from the sun.”

                “Aw, c’mon, it’ll be fun! Let’s race!”

                Rei thought about this for a moment before racing towards the slide, Miku following shortly after while Rei took a seat at the play table. “Okay, but I’m gonna win!”

                “Oh yeah?”

                “Yeah!”

                This wasn’t good. At this rate Rei really was going to win and that didn’t sit well with Miku. Thinking fast, the seven-year-old – in her panicked state of mind – did the only thing she could think of to stop her cousin from beating her to the slide. She extended her hand, took a deep breath, picked up as much speed as she could, and made a mad, flying grasp at the back of Rei’s shirt. “Gotcha!”

                CRASH!

                “Oh God!” Ren had flung himself from his seat and dived under the table mere milliseconds after the explosion. He realized seconds later that he probably should have grabbed Shizue too but paralysis had prevented him from doing so. Said girl was fine, however; eyes wide, hair wisped back, she stared in the direction of the now-smoldering table that had once been under the slide, laying in a few pieces here and there around the yard. Ren gave a squeaky breath, willing his innards to unclench. “Wha…?”

                “Whoa.” Rei had been forced back by the mere force of the small, crackling explosion of purple light but now stood in awe before the wreckage, a small scratch on his arm the only sign that he had been involved in the catastrophe. A blackened chunk of seat fell off of what was left of the table’s frame. “Cool.”

                “Wha – what did you do?!” Ren pulled himself shakily from the table, grabbing Shizue’s arms to keep her from heading towards the mess.

                Miku blinked wide eyes at Ren before shaking her head to erase it. “I dunno. I was just trying to grab Rei.”

                “It’s so… cool.”

                “Shut up Rei! You almost died!” Ren cried, knowing that his words wouldn’t have any effect anyway. Before much else could be said, however, the doors leading inside were thrust open and a frazzled Ichiru came darting into the yard, Zero following close behind.

                “What happened?!” Then the young mother noticed the table. “Oh my God! Rei, what did you do?!”

                “It wasn’t me!” Rei said defensively. “It was her!” As Rei pointed at Miku Ichiru glanced wildly in her direction; although a bit taken aback by the sheer terror in Ichiru’s eyes, Miku still managed to appear unaffected by the destruction by her hands. She reached up and scratched the side of her head, messy ponytail bobbing with each jerk.

                “Sorry.”

                Ichiru wasn’t sure what to say, let alone think. One moment he’s preparing lunch and the next he’s hurrying to check on his kids after an explosion interrupted everything. He’d had his fair share of odd moments with his growing family but nothing of this magnitude. He tried to catch his breath. Okay… breathe.

                Ichiru walked over and took Shizue from Ren. The girl laid her head on her mom’s shoulder indifferently and watched as he began herding the children in a tense fashion. “Okay, come on – everyone inside. Just go sit on the couch, and don’t move.” The kids sighed and hurried past Ichiru; great, now they were in trouble. As Ren was the last of the three to leave Ichiru held Shizue’s head and kissed it with a weary sigh, wondering when his heart would stop pounding so hard. He rocked his baby in halting bounces while Zero stood over what was left of the table. “What is it?”

               
                “How should I know?”

                “Well… you’re the one in training here!” Shaking his head, Ichiru hiked Shizue higher up in his arms. “Just… get this cleaned, okay? I don’t want anyone playing outside for the rest of the day.”

                “Fine,” Zero sighed, knocking a piece of table with his toe as the smoking piece burned the grass beneath it. Ichiru sighed and walked inside before closing the doors behind him.

                Once Shizue was in her playpen Ichiru stood in front of the couch. Three pairs of eyes bore into him with uncertainty. Rubbing his forehead, the young mother tried to figure out where to start.

                “Mom, can I have a band-aid?”

                “Why, are you hurt?” Worry began to fill Ichiru’s mind, but once he saw the scratch on Rei’s arm he calmed himself. “We’ll get you a band-aid in a minute. I don’t want anyone playing outside anymore.”

                “Aw, why?” Rei whined, completely oblivious to the stares he was receiving from his brother. Ichiru dutifully ignored the question.

                Love had been lying on the floor in the living room. He smiled and gasped as the boy in his hands squealed delightfully, waving his arms as he floated in the air above his father’s head. The blonde one-year-old reached towards Love, who lowered the boy again so he could kiss him. “Kyo’s flying! Fly, Kyo, fly!” Kyoshi cried out in joy.

                The doorbell rang from the front just as Love was lowering Kyoshi to his chest. “Love,” Rose’s voice called form somewhere upstairs, “get the door.”

                Love grinned and kissed Kyoshi’s face playfully a few times before setting the boy on the floor. “Okay buddy, sit still – I’ll be right back.” With that Love began jogging down the hall, hoping to help whoever was at the door before his son managed to run down the hall after him. The tall Vizard ran a hand through his hair and pulled the front door open.

                “Zero is a huge jerk.”

                Love watched the people standing at his doorstep blankly before turning towards the stairs. “Rose, it’s for you.”

                “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom,” Rei spoke up as he pushed past his mother and the stroller, his hands clasped in front of his crotch as though to prove his point. Love grinned and rubbed the boy’s head before pointing down the hall.

                “All right, well go on then!”

                Rei took off down the hall and Ichiru began pushing the stroller inside, Ren following with a book clasped tightly against his chest. As Love shut the door Miku began descending the stairs <s>but not in a dress since she would hate that</s>, Rose following her shortly after. Miku immediately took Ren’s hand and started dragging him down the hall while Rose looked Ichiru over with a soft frown.

                “Ichiru… what’s going on?” Having heard the commotion from where he was helping Miku clean up from a day at the park, Rose was curious as to what was happening. “Here, come on, come in – it’s a bit cold here, let’s go sit in the livingroom.”

                Ichiru obeyed and began following his old mentor down the hall, having scooped Shizue out of her stroller. He cradled his daughter with a sad, disconcerted frown. Once they were in the living room Rose offered one of Kyoshi’s old massage bouncers to Ichiru so he could set Shizue down. As he sat rubbing the sleepy newborn’s foot Rose eased onto the couch, watching mother and child through a calm guise.

                “You all must have been in a hurry to get over here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take your kids out in March without jackets.”

                Ignoring Rose’s light joke, Ichiru shook his head. “I just had to get out of the house.”

                “Isn’t Zero home? I’m sure he would have been more than willing to watch the kids, or at least the boys…” Rose’s voice died out quickly; he sweated as Ichiru’s face grew more and more solemn, near the point of a deadpan expression by the time Rose was finished speaking. The blonde mother rubbed his cheek with absent eyes.

                “Zero… hmph.”

                “I sense a little drama,” Rose sighed. “Oh my. What happened?”

                “Nothing happened, and that’s what’s really sad. It’s just Zero.”

                “Ah,” Love said in a drawn-out voice, as though realizing some revelation. “Afterbirth blues finally gettin’ to ya? Don’t sweat it, kid, Rose has been there too. He said all kinds of things about me when Kyoshi was born, remember?”

                Giving a slight snort (or as best a snort someone as graceful as Rose could give,) Rose glanced at his burly lover with a pointed stare. “Not all of it was because I was tired.” Love smiled mockingly, mimicking Rose’s voice playfully. “But really, Ichiru, are you sure it’s not just the stress of having the baby in the house?”

                “Of course it is! I’m – I’m so tired I can barely think without getting a headache! But it doesn’t help when Zero can’t even handle the smallest of tasks! This morning he couldn’t get Shizue to settle down and sleep, so I asked him to watch the boys – just watch them – while I put her down, and in ten minutes the whole kitchen looked like it had seen war.”

                “To be fair, kid, we’ve all seen how the kids eat. Food never stays just on their plates.”

                “But this was different – I swear, I don’t think I can do this.” As his hormones started acting up Ichiru rubbed his eyes, willing them not to water over. “It’s just… I’m so tired. And I can’t always spend time with the boys anymore… and I can’t sleep, and the boys… they just… and I just…”

                Rose closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He turned to Love and smiled as the larger man watched Ichiru uncertainly. “Why don’t you go check on the kids and make sure Kyoshi’s staying out of the cabinets?” he suggested softly.

                “Sure.” Love stood up and jogged down the hall while Rose eased onto the floor next to Ichiru. He wrapped an arm around the young mother’s shoulders and patted his arm as he sniffled.

                “Ichiru.”

                “No.” The silver-headed mother shook his head. “You’re not going to defend Zero because we both know he’s a jerk.”

                “Now Ichiru,” Rose chided softly, “you know that’s not true.”

                “Oh, so I’m just crazy then? Thanks, I feel much better.”

                “I didn’t say that either. I know you’re tired, and I also know that that’s part of why you’re frustrated, but I don’t doubt that Zero is causing some stress as well.”

                “Because he’s useless.”

                “No, not at all. It’s because he’s a father, and this is all new territory for him,” Rose pointed out with a tiny smile. “Zero may have fathered the twins but he wasn’t there for those first few months; he has no way of knowing what’s going on with you or with your family life. Having a baby changes everything.” Despite the corny afterschool-special quote, Ichiru couldn’t help but agree as he watched Shizue sleep. Every child that entered one’s life changed it drastically, no matter how many kids you had. “It’s just going to take him some time. But you know that we’re here for you, too.” Ichiru sniffled and sighed, leaning back as Rose slid his arm away. He blinked blearily up at the ceiling while the sound of Love re-entering the living room met his ears. “You look awfully tired.”

                “He’s right,” Love chided in as he bounced a blonde one-year-old in his arms. “You look beat. You act like you just had a baby or something.”

                Dutifully ignoring Love, Ichiru brushed his messy bangs out of his face. “No, really, I’m okay… I still have some laundry to do because the boys need clean shirts for tomorrow. Plus I need to sanitize Shizue’s changing table. Oh, I should probably make some more pre-dinners too so I won’t have to later.”

                Rose sighed. “Just because you have things to do doesn’t mean you’re not tired.”

                “Mommy!”

                Rose hummed in thought and reached up to take Kyoshi from Love’s arms. As his son hugged him lovingly he patted his back slowly. “… Hey, I know what we’ll do!”

                “What?”

                “We’ll go out tomorrow, just the two of us!”

                “What?”

                “Hey, what about me?” Love asked with a pitiful frown.

                “You and Zero will watch the kids tomorrow,” Rose said with a flip of his hair and a smile. Love fell into the couch with a sulky scowl. “Tomorrow is officially a ‘mommies-only day.’”

                “Rose, this all sounds fascinating but it’s not like I can just up and leave three kids with a man who can’t even supervise breakfast,” Ichiru pointed out tiredly.

                “You’ll be leaving them with your father, Ichiru,” Rose said. “And you’ll be leaving them with Love as well. You said yourself that you don’t think you can keep doing this, so let Zero learn! He really should be helping more with the kids anyway.”

                Although he still felt sore about being left out Love kicked his feet up with a shrug. “Yeah, I could keep him in line, so long as you promise to do the same with Rose.” Rose smirked challengingly at Love while kissing Kyoshi’s head.

                “What do you say, Ichiru?”

                Maybe he was tired from another rough night with the baby, but something about this wasn’t sitting right with Ichiru. He watched his precious newborn with anxiety building in his stomach… but this sounded so nice. “I don’t know.”

                “No buts!” Ichiru blinked wide eyes as Rose held a hand in his face, beaming ear-to-ear. He hiked Kyoshi higher-up in one arm. “We both need a break. Tomorrow, we’re going out while the fathers stay here and watch the kids!”

                Love sighed lightly and rubbed his son’s golden hair. “I can hardly wait.”

I want to get the RP rolling again, I really do, but I am truthfully and whole-heartedly at a loss when it comes to the honeymoon.  I have no clue what to write.  It's getting to a point where we might want to consider skipping it for now and coming back to the honeymoon later, as a separate piece...

But I did want to write something.  You don't have to contribute to this if you don't want to, I just thought it would be a fun little mini-RP.  Plus I had some cute plot development ideas when I was thinking about this.  I'm actually pretty upset so I hope it doesn't show in my writing...

<3

__ __ __ __ __

"Mommy, I'm hungry."

"Mommy, I'm thirsty."

"Mommy, my shirt's dirty!"

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!"

It.  Never.  Stopped.

Rei dragged himself across the kitchen floor with a groan and a moan.  Once he reached his mom he thunked his head against the tall man's side.  "I want more juice."

Ichiru sighed and shook his head, still not looking up from the tomatoes he had been dicing.  Really, had they needed this many tomatoes?  What did Zero think they were going to do with all of these vegetables when he bought them?  The kids certainly weren't going to eat them more than a few days straight.  It just further proved that Ichiru could trust no one to run the house as well as he did.  "I told you Ren, I poured you some juice.  It's on the table."

"I want more."

"What?  What happened to all of it?!"

"I drank it!"

"Mom, I dropped my pancake on the floor," Ren said with an uncertain glance over his shoulder.  As Ichiru turned towards his youngest son Ren's eyes began to water.  "Sorry, mommy."

"Mom, I want juice!"

"I didn't mean to..."

"Juuuice, mommy!"

"Mommy..."

"Mommy!"

"Ichiru?"

"What?!"  Ichiru spun around so fast his bangs swept across his forehead; the irate mother bore viciously into the newcomer with pure anger, not even finding humor in the way Zero's eyes widened.  The newly-arrived father took a cautious step back while still holding a bundle of blankets against his shoulder.

"What're you doing?"

What was he doing?  He was sunbathing on a beach in Mexico -- what the hell kind of a question was that?  "I'm pre-dicing some tomatoes so we can use them later on in the week."  Ichiru turned and gave Rei's hand a light smack as the boy reached for the knife left abandoned on the counter.

"Oh."  A tiny gurgle made Ichiru's eyes shift instinctively to the blankets in Zero's arms.  Zero switched them to his other shoulder, his eyes studying the soft purple cloth as though he were contemplating something.  "... She won't stop crying."

Rolling his eyes, Ichiru turned back to the cutting board with a tired murmur.  "She's a baby, Zero.  She does that sometimes."

"I need you to make her stop."

Leaning against the counter, Ichiru said, "Why is it always me, Zero?  Hm?  Why is it whenever she's crying you need me to make her stop?"

"I... I don't know!  I guess she just likes you better."  Although he told Zero otherwise whenever their new daughter wouldn't stop crying, Ichiru couldn't help but think that maybe that was the case.  Maybe Shizue didn't like Zero.  She sure did an awful lot of crying when he was around.  "C'mon, 'Ru... please?"

Despite the rage building inside of him, Ichiru pushed the cutting board back and wiped his hands off.  "Fine."  He approached Zero and took Shizue from his arms, smiling sweetly as the girl's flushed face was revealed beneath a thicket of blanket.  The one-week-old sniffled and Ichiru awed softly, patting her bottom gently as he pulled her into a cradle.  "What's wrong, baby?  Were you stuck with mean ol' daddy?"  Zero scowled and scratched sleepily at the side of his head.

As Rei whined and Ren sniffled Ichiru started walking down the hall.  "I'm taking Shizue upstairs.  You need to help the twins."

"With what?"

"Rei needs juice, and Ren spilled his breakfast."

Zero glanced at the sticky mess on the floor, to the sticky mess on the table, to the sticky mess all over his sons' faces.  A sudden sinking began to fill the pit of his stomach and he resisted the urge to groan as Rei clung to his leg with a whine.  Why me...?

_ _ _ _ _

"Sweetheart, I don't know what to do with you..."  Ichiru was sitting on the soft bathroom rug, the sound of running water in the sink creating a soothing atmosphere.  Sure enough, the minute Ichiru reached the top landing of their house Shizue had been all but quiet, content to simply stare up at her mother's sunken face.  Her tiny fingers clenched around Ichiru's slim one.  "Daddy's not that bad.  He really isn't.  I know he's kind of scary sometimes, but you've gotta believe me, he's harmless!"  Shizue blinked her lilac eyes with a coo.  The silver-headed mom sighed and leaned down, kissing his newborn's belly before moaning.

This just wasn't working.  Ichiru knew, he honestly knew when he found out he was pregnant again that this wasn't going to be a stroll through the meadow.  He had twin sons -- he had other responsibilities that he couldn't shirk, whether a new baby was being thrown into the mix or not.  He had to admit that all the help he'd received (whether he had wanted it or not) from his adoptive family got him and Zero through more than one rough patch, but a few weeks before Shizue was born Ichiru was starting to see that this couldn't be simple.  There was just no way.

It had only been a week since Shizue's birth and Ichiru was tired.  He was tired in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night, when he was feeding, when he was cooking, when he was watching the kids, when he was entertaining the kids, when he was sitting and doing nothing at all... there just wasn't enough time in a day to catch up on how much rest he needed.  It certainly didn't help that every time he asked Zero to hold Shizue she ended up whining and he couldn't freaking figure out how to console a baby.  Honestly, how hard was that?

"Daddy just doesn't know, does he?" Ichiru whispered to his daughter.  He ran his fingers down her slim leg, reveling at the tender skin.  "Daddy wasn't here for this part, was he?  Mm... but this is the best part, I think."  Ichiru scooped Shizue up and stood up slowly, mindful of the baby's head as she fell lax in his arms.  He kept her rolled in as secure a ball as possible while switching off the water.  "Let's see what your brothers are up to."

_ _ _ _ _


And just like that, disaster struck.

"Oh.  My God."

Those simple words said so much, yet much more was left unanswered in Zero's mind -- like what was Ichiru going to do to him now that he'd finally made it downstairs?

The first thing the father of three did was try and throw a towel over the rapidly-growing syrup lake under the kitchen table.  It didn't cover all of it, but at least it was spreading slowly.  That hadn't kept Rei from stepping in it, though.  It also hadn't kept Rei from walking to the refrigerator, around the entire kitchen floor, and THEN into the carpeted livingroom where he had plopped himself down on the couch, syrup-laden clothes and all.  Ren was presumably just as sticky, for he kept 'resisting' the urge to touch his hair as he whined miserably from where he was standing by the sink.  There was an empty glass of orange juice lying sideways in a not-so-empty chair.

Ren's pancake was still on the floor.

"Zero."  Ichiru wasn't even sure where to begin.  He gaped with wordless gasps at the disaster of a kitchen before settling for glaring furiously at his blank-faced lover.  Seething rage began to build once again.  "I... I left you down here for ten minutes.  I left an adult alone with his children and asked him to pick up a pancake from the floor.  That's all I asked of you."

"See... what happened was --"

"I don't care!  I don't care what happened!  My God, I've been running myself ragged this last week trying to keep up with the house, trying to keep up with the baby, trying to keep up with the kids, and you can't even manage breakfast for half an hour?!"  Without waiting for Zero to reply -- or even react in any way -- the flustered mother set Shizue in a nearby stroller, strapping her in before storming over to the couch.  As he grapped up his sons' hands they let their mother drag them towards the hall, one with confusion, one with fear.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to get cleaned up," Ichiru explained as he let go of the twins and gripped the stroller's handlebar tightly.  He didn't spare Zero another glance.  "And then we're going to your cousins' house.  Now go upstairs and wait for me."  As the twins ran off Ichiru started pushing Shizue's stroller down the hall, parking it safely by the front door.  He clenched his hands in frustration.  "Zero.  Clean this up."

"You don't need to take the kids."

"Apparently I do."  No, Ichiru wasn't always like this... but he was so damn tired.  If he couldn't depend on Zero to be a more attentive parent right now, he couldn't leave the kids with him, no matter how much he needed the break.  "I'll be back later.  I'll come back with the kids, and when I do, I want to find things clean.  Okay?  Can you handle that?"  Ichiru knew, oh he knew that he had pissed Zero off, but his frustration and lack of sleep kept him from caring.  He gathered Shizue's diaper bag from the bottom landing of the stairs, and once Rei and Ren had come out of the bathroom significantly less-sticky he ushered them out the door and left without another word.

If there was ever a time when Ichiru needed to complain about Zero to someone, it was now.  And he knew exactly who would understand.

(( Sorry if this was random... or if Ichiru overreacted.  It kind of felt that way.  But come on, the guy just had a baby -- there's no way he's all right in the head right now.  That Zero!daddy would probably be driving him batshit crazy no matter what he did. ))

So, obviously, this stuff is under construction.  *Had to look through RP posts to find Ichiru's/Zero's birthdate*  I'm sorry, I can NEVER remember their exact birthdate =_=  *Headdesk*

So I'll start working on the Bleachverse bios, and you can work on the VKverse bios whenever you like. ^^  I think it would be nice if we could somehow find a way to tie more VK characters into this RP-thing.




 

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God, I should be working on so much crap... namely the RP.  Where is inspiration hiding?  Actually I know what would inspire me, but I'd feel too ashamed to state it aloud. XP

Anyway, I did this for Father's Day... it's short and has absolutely no point to anyone living outside my head.  But it's writing, is it not?

I should at least try to work on my RP post.
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Since it's painfully clear that this is going to take some time, I've decided to post profiles as they get finished (or near-finished.)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

MOST INFO IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE – NOT ALL INFORMATION IS COMPLETE.

 

Ichiru Kiryu

Birthdate: June 7th

Hair: Silver

Eyes: Purple

Relationships: Zero Kiryu (brother, lover, father of Ichiru's four kids); Rei Kiryu (first son); Ren Kiryu (second son); Shizue Kiryu (first daughter); Akane Kiryu (second daughter)

Occupation: Tabloid writer

Summary: Ichiru was born to two of the courts' best field workers – he is the younger brother to twin Zero Kiryu. The boys grew up in a suburban neighborhood with the best of both worlds. With a peaceful little town and loving parents, there was never any reason to despair, save for the occasional worrying that the boys held for their parents. Ichiru struggled somewhat with gaining friends due to an overwhelming shyness, but he was always the good guy in most scenes.

When both elder Kiryus were pronounced dead due to an unfortunate job-related incident, the courts intervened to find a new home for the thirteen-year-old boys. However, Ichiru was presumed dead as well thanks to a kidnapping and a house fire provided by one Shizuka Hio.

 

Zero Kiryu

Birthdate: June 7th

Hair: Silver

Eyes: Purple

Relationships: Ichiru Kiryu (brother, lover, mother of Zero's four kids); Rei Kiryu (first son); Ren Kiryu (second son); Shizue Kiryu (first daughter); Akane Kiryu (second daughter)

Occupation: N/A

Summary: Zero was born to two of the courts' best field workers – he is the older brother to twin Ichiru Kiryu. The boys grew up in a suburban neighborhood with the best of both worlds. With a peaceful little town and loving parents, there was never any reason to despair, save for the occasional worrying that the boys held for their parents. Zero never cared to branch out and make connections with those around him, but no one could deny that he held a sense of responsibility to do the right thing when it came to living his life – even as a young child.

When both elder Kiryus were pronounced dead due to an unfortunate job-related incident, the courts intervened to find a new home for the thirteen-year-old boys. His younger brother Ichiru was declared dead after a house fire, however, and Zero alone was moved to a boarding academy to finish out the remainder of his schooling until he was old enough to care for himself. The owner and founder of Cross Academy – Kaien Cross – took Zero in with no hesitation.

Zero's personality took a plunge after that and his struggles with relationships only worsened. By the time he was fifteen almost everyone at school knew not to go near him and the ones who didn't learned quickly. Fellow student council leader Yuki Cross was on better terms with Zero than he would have liked, and with good reason, for it wasn't long before Yuki's brother Kaname Kuran was trying to gain Zero's allegiance in helping him keep his sister safe. Zero flat-out refused any involvement in the Kuran's less-than-wholesome biddings, but somehow still found himself defending the hapless girl on more than one occasion. In a desperate attempt to distance himself from the politics he quickened his academic pace and graduated midway through his Junior year. He began saving money for an apartment of his own by doing odd jobs around the city, mainly delivery of goods.

Zero was shocked to learn that his brother was still alive, and looking for him. The two met shortly after his graduation and everything was like the old days again – except for the fact that they were now in a rather incestuous relationship, neither of which minded. The two spent countless nights together, enjoying finally having something real back in their lives – right up to the point where Ichiru became pregnant. Zero was fearful for his brother (and as time went on, his children) because of his still-teetering ties to the Kurans, but after realizing how hard this must have been for Ichiru to be going through he decided to do what needed to be done. The two got a small apartment together and Zero started looking for full-time work.

In July Zero was introduced to Rose, a man who had apparently once been Ichiru's mediator but was now helping him in preparing for their upcoming twins. Rose introduced them to his own mate, Love Aikawa. It was through his connection that Zero was offered a position with the courts as a field worker. Despite his long-term struggles with the corrupted courts, Zero couldn't deny that the pay would be good and he accepted the job.

In September Ichiru's paranoia and pregnancy hormones drove him to forcing a location move. The papers to rent an apartment or house would take awhile to fill out though, so the two moved in with Rose and Love temporarily. Their twin sons Rei and Ren were born the following December, and two months later Ichiru and Zero moved into a house of their own not too far from their parent-mentors.