Well this is it, guys; the final chapter :'(

OH JUST TO CLARIFY; I know in some countries the undergraduate degree is usually four years but in Australia its only three years and then you can do an extra year called 'honours' before moving into postgrad stuff, so that's they system I've used.

…

Epilogue 3/3: Reunion

"Hey there, Handsome," a husky voice whispered over Toshiro's shoulder from his seat at the bar, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Toshiro supressed the smirk and the shudder, lifting his glass of wine to his lips, "I'm a married man, and I don't think my husband would approve."

A pair of hot, wet lips pressed against Toshiro's neck as he swallowed the cool liquid, the difference in temperatures an exciting contrast.

"What he doesn't know doesn't hurt him," the lips moved to Toshiro's ear and this time the white-haired genius could not stop the shiver that racked his body nor his eyes from fluttering shut.

"Ichigo," Toshiro breathed, gripping the man's arm and pulling him onto the stool beside him, "Stop that."

"Why?" Ichigo grinned, placing one of his hands conspicuously on the inside of Toshiro's thigh, "Are you getting turned on, Babe?"

Toshiro glared, swatting the hand away, "You know perfectly well that I can't resist you in a suit."

The strawberry threw his head back and laughed loudly at the bar, causing a few people to glance over. Toshiro scowled; was it his fault the man looked so damn good in a tight black suit? No, it was not. Ichigo was to blame here. The prodigy could not control how well the black of the jacket and white of the shirt contrasted against the bright orange of Ichigo's hair, nor the way the material only just managed to stretch over his well-built thighs and biceps. Not to mention the damn tie, which Toshiro recognised from a number of their more adventurous bedroom shenanigans, sitting innocently around the long, slender, kissable neck he knew was underneath it.

No, it was definitely not Toshiro's fault he got turned on at the sight of his husband dressed up.

"I know," the orange-haired idiot chuckled, "You spent twenty minutes just staring at me as I got ready…"

"I was glaring, thank you," Toshiro crossed his arms over his chest, "You were taking too long and we were going to be late."

Ichigo hummed like he wasn't at all convinced, picking up the second glass of wine and taking his first sip, while Toshiro hid the blush in his cheeks by looking around the room. They were at the ten year reunion for Ichigo's Bachelor of Medical Science graduating class. It was hard to believe it had already been a decade since Ichigo had finished his undergraduate course – surprising many as he finished top of his class – and a whole thirteen years since the two of them had first met, and seventeen years since Toshiro had begun college himself. Time had gone by so quickly, it was amazing to think of how much he and Ichigo had achieved, both as a couple and individually.

These days, following his Doctor of Medicine degree, as well as his internship and residency years at Karakura Town Hospital, and later specialist training, Ichigo was an obstetrician working in Karakura's maternity ward. He seemed to really love it there, because more often than not, there was a happy ending, and there was nothing he loved more than handing a mother her healthy newborn. Of course, there were dark days in the ward too – there always would be – but the good days were what Ichigo lived for and Toshiro adored the way his eyes would light up when he'd talk about his job.

Toshiro himself had stayed on his path of science, completing his PhD and becoming a research scientist at KTU. He'd since taken over as Head of the Physics Department, and also became a senior professor, teaching both astronomy and physics to the next generation. Three years ago, he'd become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics, for proving that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

Together, the two of them had achieved one very big personal goal; they had gotten engaged while they were still studying and then married shortly after finishing their final courses. It had been a fairly low key event; just close friends and family attended the small ceremony that was held at the same little chapel where Ichigo's parents had married. Rangiku had played the part of Toshiro's best man – 'best person' as she put it – while Chad and Renji were co-best men for Ichigo. Isshin had decided right there on the day to walk both grooms down the aisle, and give them both away, as Toshiro had become as much his son as Ichigo. It was also a big part of the reason why Toshiro had taken on the Kurosaki name; he'd been a part of that family since he was seventeen.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Ichigo began to push his father towards the row of seats in front of the wedding alter, "The ceremony is about to start!"

"No, Ichigo," Isshin grabbed his son's arm and pulled him to the back of the chapel where Toshiro stood watching them in amusement, "This is my kids' wedding, I don't care if you're both males, I'll be walking you down the aisle. Both of you."

Ichigo stared at his father, completely lost for words.

"Isshin, you don't have to do that," Toshiro murmured, "I'm not even your s-"

"Toshiro," Isshin waved his finger disapprovingly, "How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Dad!"

Toshiro scoffed and rolled his eyes; he was never going to call him that.

"Now, come on boys," Isshin called as he grabbed Ichigo and Toshiro's arms and pulled them either side of him, "Let's make this official."

Toshiro glanced across at Ichigo who smiled back apologetically, before mouthing the words 'I love you.'

…

"What are you grinning about?" Ichigo asked, leaning back against the bar as he observed Toshiro.

"I was just thinking about all the achievements we've made in ten years," Toshiro murmured in response, although he hadn't been aware he was letting it show on his face, "Professional and personal."

It was Ichigo's turn to grin as he leant over and pressed a kiss on the now twenty-seven year old's cheek.

"I was actually hoping to talk to you about that," Ichigo said, taking Toshiro's hand in his, "I was wondering if-"

"Dr Kurosaki!" Renji's loud voice boomed across the room, as he and Rukia walked towards the bar.

Rukia had done the same undergraduate course as Ichigo, but had decided not to transfer into medicine; instead, she earnt her Masters Degree and went on to work in medical research, working to prevent, cure and treat a range of serious illnesses and diseases. She'd married Renji – who had got his dream job working for Kuchiki industries, directly under his brother-in-law – and they now had a three year old daughter, Ichika.

"What do you want, Pineapple?" Ichigo smirked as the other couple reached them, "I'm surprised they even let you in here."

"I wasn't talking to you, Strawberry," Renji scoffed, using his arm to push Ichigo out of the way before extending his arm out to Toshiro, "I was talking to the other Dr Kurosaki."

Toshiro chuckled, shaking the outstretched hand; it had become a running joke amongst most of their friends now, since Toshiro had taken his husband's name after they married, and both of them had earnt the 'Doctor' title.

"It's actually Professor Kurosaki for me now," Toshiro hummed.

"Upgrading, hey?" Renji smirked, nudging Ichigo's side, "Watch out, Strawberry, you're the next thing he upgrades from."

Ichigo wasted no time in throwing an arm around Renji's neck and pulling him into a headlock, and rubbing his knuckles hard into the tattooed man's red hair.

"Oh stop it, you two!" Rukia chided, "Honestly, we are in public."

"And I'm not upgrading," Toshiro added with a light chuckle, "I'm just sick of us both turning around when people call out 'Dr Kurosaki', or even worse, when we're with Isshin and all three of us turn around for it."

It was true; every time all three of them were together and someone had called out 'Dr Kurosaki', all three of them would turn around expecting it to be them that were needed. It was often worse for Ichigo and Isshin as Ichigo often still helped out at the clinic on his days off, confusing both patients and Yuzu who ran reception, as most of the paperwork would state 'Dr Kurosaki', or worse – 'Dr I. Kurosaki' – as the doctor who treated the patient. Now they just went as 'Senior' and 'Junior' to avoid confusion.

The reunion MC called for everyone to take their seats, and both couples wandered over to table six. As they listened to the opening remarks, Toshiro felt his hand be engulfed in warmness as Ichigo held on to it, gently rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. It was hard to believe they'd been together for thirteen years now, and married for five. Toshiro could hardly comprehend how much the orange-haired fool had changed his life in that time. They had spent a lot of the last thirteen years focusing on their studies and careers, as well as professional goals, but they always managed to find time for each other, which was probably why their marriage had stayed so strong. They didn't have serious fights, although they bickered a lot over stupid things – like whether ice cream is an appropriate breakfast meal, or who was hotter: Liam or Chris Hemsworth? – They were seriously like an old married couple.

Well, married they were, but not old just yet.

Ichigo was thirty three now, but he looked as handsome as ever, and Toshiro knew he'd be quite the silver fox in another two decades or so. The prodigy himself had sprouted up, thankfully, and now was only about three inches shorter than his husband. He'd lost a lot of the chubbiness around his cheeks, and his jawline had become much more prominent and defined. Before he had changed his name, some of his friends – namely Rangiku – had coined the name 'HOTsugaya', much to his chagrin.

Speaking of that blonde devil, Rangiku had – to everyone's surprise – ended up marrying Chad. The large Mexican had achieved his dream job of working with children who, for whatever reason, couldn't go home to their parents. He'd also done a law degree part time while he worked and was hoping to get into family law, in order to protect children from ending up in bad homes. Rangiku herself had ended up opening her salon, running it for a few years before selling the business in favour of becoming a stay-at-home mother. She and Chad now had three children – two girls and a boy, aged nine, seven and four respectively – and we're looking to adopt another soon. All of their children had been adopted after Rangiku found out she couldn't have children; she had said it was a good thing because she could keep her 'hot bod' and become a 'milf' through adoption, and Chad wanted to give children good homes so why not theirs? Toshiro suspected she was a little sad about it though.

"Have you guys heard from Ikkaku lately?" Renji asked, with a mouth full of risotto which had been served as the entrée, "Or Yumi?"

"They're still in America, I think," Ichigo answered, shovelling in his own entrée, while Rukia and Toshiro just rolled their eyes; why were their husbands such grubs?

"Yumichika is still designing," Rukia took a sip of her wine, "He works for Ralph Lauren now. There was a big article about him in the style section of Shuuhei's newspaper."

"And Ikkaku is fighting again," Toshiro added, "He's trying to get into professional wrestling over there."

Renji choked on his food, "Professional wrestling? He's going to die."

There was a round of resigned nodding.

Ikkaku and Yumichika were rarely heard from these days. They had gone to the U.S. after Yumichika had been head hunted by a fashion company looking to expand into the Japanese market. Toshiro only knew what was going on with them through Facebook, since they never called.

They weren't the only people Toshiro and Ichigo had lost track of after college. They still saw Renji and Rukia often, as well as Chad and Rangiku, but Shuuhei had moved to the city to write for the big newspapers and had worked up to the editor of the Tokyo Times. He did come back to Karakura every now and again for the odd catch up, and like in school, he still went from woman to woman. These days he was dating a girl that Ichigo and Toshiro only knew as 'Hot Redhead'.

"I heard from Izuru the other day," Renji murmured, leaning over the table to reach the butter for his bread roll, "He wanted to see if I could get him a job at Kuchiki Industries."

"Seriously?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

Izuru was another person they'd rarely heard from. He had married Momo straight after finishing their undergraduate degrees, and then they separated six months later. Momo had moved to London to teach, while Izuru had just sort of dropped off the radar.

"Yeah," Renji hummed bitterly, "Haven't heard from him in almost a decade and now he needs my help; what a surprise…"

Toshiro grimaced; Izuru certainly learnt that trait from his ex-wife. Momo didn't speak to Toshiro for almost a whole year after learning he was gay, and then randomly out-of-the-blue, she turned up at his dorm, crying because she was had failed an assignment and needed help re-doing it. She said she 'didn't know where else to go'. Toshiro had helped her, of course; he couldn't deny her much, but Ichigo had been furious at both of them; Toshiro for letting her treat him like that and Momo for thinking she can come to him for help without so much as an apology. These days, Momo only called on Christmas day, and she hung up straight away if Ichigo answered the phone first. She hadn't come to their wedding either, which meant that Toshiro didn't have a single person from his side of the family at the event, although he liked to think Granny was there in spirit.

As if knowing what he was thinking about, Ichigo threw a comforting arm around Toshiro's shoulders as he leant back into his seat. The waiters cleared the entrée plates and soon the main meals were in front of them. Speeches continued from notable graduates, lecturers and representatives from the KTU board members.

After speeches and main meals were finished, it seemed they had a bit of time before dessert, and Ichigo pulled Toshiro out of his chair and onto the dancefloor. The band began to play a slow romantic ballad just moments before, so there were plenty of couples swaying closely together.

"We danced to this song out our wedding," Ichigo murmured, pulling Toshiro flush against his body as they began to move against the soft beat.

"Hmmm," Toshiro hummed, smiling at the memory, "And on our anniversary when you proposed…"

"That's right," Ichigo chuckled, "I got down on one knee right afterwards… I was aiming for the middle of the song so we could keep dancing afterwards, but I was so nervous that I missed it."

Toshiro laughed against his husband's chest, "If I recall correctly, dancing was the last thing on our mind after I said 'yes'…"

It had been straight to the bedroom for them.

Ichigo's arms tightened around him, and Toshiro returned the gesture as lips were pressed against his forehead.

"There has actually been something I've been meaning to ask you for some time now, Babe," Ichigo mumbled in Toshiro's ear, sounding somewhat nervous.

"This takes me back," Toshiro frowned, leaning back to look questioning at his husband, "You're not going to propose again, are you?"

"No," Ichigo chuckled, his mouth tugging into a small smile, "Well, I'm not proposing marriage this time, anyway…"

"Oh?" Toshiro murmured, searching chocolate eyes.

He waited patiently for Ichigo to answer him, the strawberry himself taking deep, calming breaths; he certainly looked like he had just be for he asked Toshiro to marry him all those years ago.

"Whatwouldyouthinkaboutadoptingababy?" Ichigo blurted out quickly, causing Toshiro to furrow his brow in attempt to decipher it.

He replayed in slow motion in his head, and froze.

"Did you say you want to adopt a baby?" Toshiro repeated dumbstruck, "Like a real human baby?"

Ichigo nodded, taking another deep breath, "We've talked about it, and we agreed to wait until we'd set up our careers first and we've done that now; you've got a Nobel Prize, for god's sake."

"So, we just go and get ourselves a baby now?" Toshiro asked in disbelief, still unable to comprehend the magnitude of the request.

Ichigo pulled him back into his chest, and Toshiro gripped the front of his jacket, trying desperately not to panic.

"I want to start a family of our own," Ichigo murmured, rubbing Toshiro's back, "I want to be a dad."

Toshiro closed his eyes and tuned out the sound of the band and people around them, focusing entirely on the warm body wrapped around him.

A family with Ichigo.

Both them becoming fathers.

Now that he thought about it, there was nothing he wanted more.

"Yes."

"Hmm?"

"Yes," Toshiro repeated himself a little louder, taking his head out of Ichigo's chest.

"Yes?" Ichigo repeated dumbly, "Yes what- OH!"

The doctor's face lit up in recognition at just what Toshiro was agreeing to. A breathtaking smile erupted on his face and a hand came up to clamp over his mouth in total surprise.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked, unable to quell neither the grin nor the happy tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

"Very sure," Toshiro nodded; it was almost worth just saying yes to see that amazing reaction from the strawberry, but it was true nonetheless, he did want to start a family with his husband.

Ichigo tipped his head down and connected their lips immediately. Toshiro could feel wetness on his cheeks as the tears fell and couldn't help but feel his own eyes beginning to water. It was a very emotion moment for the both of them as they continued to embrace and kiss in the middle of dancefloor, completely ignoring the people around them. They were in their own world of pure joy and bliss, the prospect of raising a child was on the horizon and they were sailing towards it. Toshiro wrapped his arms around Ichigo's neck as his husband's own came down to his waist, and they swayed to a beat they couldn't hear anymore.

…

"Oh are you two done making out on the dancefloor now?" Renji quipped sarcastically when the Kurosakis' returned to their table after dessert had been served, "It seems some things never change."

Ichigo let out a shaky laugh and sniffed, wiping his nose with his very expensive jacket sleeve. Toshiro frowned; he'd be the one who'd have to wash that.

"Ichigo, have you been crying?" Rukia whispered urgently across the table as she observed the husbands, "What's happened?"

Even Renji looked taken aback, leaning closer to get a better look. Toshiro held Ichigo's hand under the table and squeezed it as the obstetrician nodded.

"We're going to adopt a baby," Ichigo announced, laughing a little more and grinning stupidly.

Toshiro used his napkin to wipe the tear stains off Ichigo's cheeks as the Abarais' stared at them in surprise.

"We're going to be dads," Ichigo added, pulling Toshiro so close the younger male might as well have been in his lap.

Rukia gasped before breaking into a smile, "That's amazing, I'm so happy for you both!"

The raven haired woman got out of her seat and hugged them both, while Renji leant across the table to shake both of their hands. He ordered a bottle of champagne from a passing waiter, and was soon pouring out four glasses as Rukia continued to gush about how incredible being a parent was. A few other people at the table overheard and were congratulating them as well, while the parents amongst them began sharing tips and advice across the table, as well as the odd humorous anecdote.

Toshiro didn't notice dessert being cleared; at some point Ichigo had actually pulled him into his lap and now it was the end of the night, and they were one of the last few people at the function. Renji had slid into Rukia's seat after she had gone back to the bar for a third bottle of champagne and upon her return, the former Kuchiki had decided just to sit on her husband, instead of his old seat beside them. The scientist rested his head against his now very drunk husband's broad shoulder and could feel the prickle of Ichigo's stubble against his forehead, the strawberry scent around the man's neck doing more to intoxicate Toshiro than the sparkling wine. He could sit like this forever.

Soon though, he'd have a baby in his lap while sitting in Ichigo's and that thought made his smile stupidly against the older Kurosaki's collar.

"Chad and Rangiku will be a big help too," Rukia continued on, "They've been through the adoption process many times now."

"Ah shit," Toshiro cursed quietly, sitting up and pulling his phone from his pocket, "I've got to call Ran and let her know; she'll actually kill me if I don't tell her straight away."

As he tried to stand, Ichigo tightened his arms around the scientist's body and pulled him back. The prodigy glared at his husband.

"You can call her in the taxi," Ichigo pressed a sloppy kiss to the younger man's lips, "I'm not done cuddling you."

Renji and Rukia giggled at what was obviously the effect of champagne on their friend, and Toshiro rolled his eyes at his husband's notorious drunk affection.

"Fine," he grumbled, before turning on the couple beside them, "But if Rangiku asks, she was the first person to find out, okay?"

The Abarai's shared mischievous looks and Toshiro groaned internally; these two were a team, and they were definitely up to something.

"What's it worth to ya?" Renji grinned.

"Come on, guys," Toshiro groaned, "Ran will castrate me!"

Rukia nodded with a sly smirk; of course they knew how mad Rangiku would be if she, Toshiro's 'greatest and bestest friend 4 evs', was not the first to find out about the expansion of his family.

"What are you prepared to offer us in exchange for our silence?" Rukia asked seriously, taking another sip of her champagne.

Toshiro sighed, "What do you want?"

She and her husband exchanged another cunning glance, and seemed to read each other's minds as they nodded at the same time in obvious conclusion.

"We want to be god parents," they said in unison.

"God parents?" Toshiro repeated, raising an eyebrow.

The Abarais' nodded once more, "God parents."

Toshiro frowned, taking a sip of his champagne and another before hastily finishing off the glass. He thought about the request; technically, he and Ichigo kind of owed it to them as they were both named Ichika's god fathers, and the Abarai's were not only close, long-time friends but also amazing parents. On the other hand, if Rangiku wasn't named as god mother, she'd surely flip out worse than she would about not finding out first.

"What about Rangiku?" Toshiro voiced his thoughts, "She'll want to be a god parent too, and Chad, of course…"

"They can be the god parents of your second kid," Renji suggested.

Toshiro's eyes bulged, "Second kid? We haven't even got a first one yet!"

The redhead shrugged, "That's not our problem."

Toshiro glanced over his shoulder at Ichigo, who had now fallen asleep in his chair, head tilted uncomfortably sideways and drool dripping slowly from the corner of his mouth. Hot.

The prodigy looked back at their friends to see them still waiting for his answer with cheeky yet hopeful expressions. He sighed to himself; Rangiku would just have to deal with it until he and Ichigo were ready to brave a second child.

"Fine," Toshiro muttered, "You two can be god parents."

The Abarais' cheered and high fived each other loudly, causing Ichigo to stir in his seat and sit up groggily.

"Waz goin' on?" the doctor slurred, rubbing his eyes and glancing bleary around the almost empty venue.

"Renji and Rukia are going to be god parents," Toshiro announced.

The news took an extra second to tick over in Ichigo's head before the man gasped in pleasant surprise.

"Oh my god," He grinned, shaking their hands enthusiastically, "Congratulations! You'll be so good at it!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at Ichigo's antics. They decided it was time to leave now, and Rukia walked off to order two taxis as Renji helped Toshiro get Ichigo to his feet and down the stairs to the front lobby and main entrance. It was only a few minutes later when the first taxi arrived and Rukia and Renji departed; they offered to stay and help Toshiro with Ichigo, but the prodigy insisted they'd be fine.

"You smell good," Ichigo murmured lazily, his nose buried in Toshiro's hair, "I love you, Baby, do you know that?"

"I do," Toshiro smirked as the second taxi for them rolled up, "I love you too, Ichigo, but we need to get into the taxi."

"Why?" Ichigo whined, as Toshiro let go of him briefly to open the back seat door of the car.

"So we can get home," Toshiro answered, pushing the doctor inside and across to the far seat before buckling him in.

"Can I cuddle you when we get home?" Ichigo asked, eyes opening wide into those annoyingly adorable puppy eyes Toshiro could never refuse.

"Of course you can."

Ichigo seemed pleased with his response, and settled back against the head rest while grinning to himself. He took Toshiro's hand in his own and played idly with it as Toshiro pulled out his phone with his free hand to call Rangiku and tell her the good news.

There had been a lot of squealing from the other end of the line, and Toshiro was positive she would have woken up her kids carrying on like that. Rangiku was ecstatic with the news, and the best friends organised to get together tomorrow afternoon for coffee to discuss it. The strawberry blonde promised to bring around some adoption information books she had for them to read and pledged to help the Kurosakis' through this major event. Upon hanging up, Toshiro glanced over to find Ichigo grinning to himself once more.

"We're going to be fathers," He chuckled, and Toshiro smiled back.

"Yes, we are."

Toshiro still couldn't believe he'd ended up marrying his idiot roommate from college.

…

And that's it.

No seriously, I loved writing this story so much and I'm now officially confirming there will be a sequel! I have a few other stories I want to write before that, so the writing for the sequel should commence early next year (really not that far away now XD). Follow me for update notifications and then you'll know instantly when I post it :)

Also if anyone is interested, I have a HitsuYuki (Tosh x Yukio) multi-chapter coming out Christmas Eve for my galpal Mosco, and a Gin+Ran=Toshiro family story sometime soon as well!

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed; you guys are the bomb diggity ;)