Edited for typos: 5/28

I.

"I hate him." Ichigo stated as he collapsed onto the hotel bed.

Orihime glanced at her husband as she removed her high heels before joining him on the bed, cuddling up to his side.

"He'll grow on you. You didn't like Jinta-kun at first either." Orihime reminded Ichigo.

"I still don't like Jinta."

"Ichigo-" Her husband quickly interrupted whatever she was going to say.

"He's not good enough for her."

Orihime wrapped an arm around her husband, hoping to relieve some of his tension. "There isn't a man on Earth who you will think is good enough for your sister."

"That's not true." Orihime gave him a look. "What? I mean, sure I have high expectations…"

"Impossible expectations." His wife rephrased for him.

"But Hitsugaya is not the right guy for her. He's so uptight. And he's unfriendly. And he's short. And what is with that white hair? It's abnormal. He's 30, not 75."

Orihime poked his side teasingly. "Are you really one to talk about strange hair colors?"

Ichigo glared at her, but his look held no real malice. "This is serious. Karin is making a big mistake."

"You said the same thing about Yuzu-chan. And Jinta-kun and her have been happily married for three years and have a beautiful baby boy."

Ichigo rolled over so he could face his wife. "They haven't been together long enough to get married."

"They've been together for two years."

"Two years is nothing. Why can't she wait? Did you see the way he was acting at the wedding rehearsal? He didn't look excited at all. I honestly don't think he wants to marry her."

"Ichigo, you are being ridiculous. Toshiro-kun is obviously just nervous. He's getting married tomorrow!"

"I don't support this. I'm not going to the rehearsal dinner tonight. And I'm not going to the wedding tomorrow. I'm going to call Karin, I'm going to tell her exactly what I think of her fiancée, and then you, me, and the kids are going back to Karakura." Ichigo insisted.

Orihime smiled at Ichigo before leaning in for a sweet kiss. Before Ichigo could deepen the kiss, she pulled away. "We're going to the wedding. And 2 hours from now we will both be eating dinner with your family celebrating Karin's upcoming marriage." Orihime insisted.

"No we won't."

"Yes we will."

"Want to bet?"

II.

"Daddy, why do you look so mad?"

Ichigo glanced over at his 3 year old daughter who was sitting beside him at the table, Misaki. Misaki and her identical twin, Natsuki, names inspired respectively by Ichigo's late mother Masaki and Orihime's best friend Tatsuki, looked just like their mother. The big grey doe eyes, the fair skin, and the constant smiles had all been inherited from Orihime. The only feature he had passed on to his daughters was his shockingly orange hair, which had mixed with Orihime's auburn to create strawberry blonde in their daughters.

His son's baby coos turned Ichigo's attention from his daughters to his 11 month old son, Sora, who was currently being held by Isshin. As soon as Orihime had found out she was having a boy, she had wanted to name him after her late brother. Ichigo, of course, had agreed.

Sora had black hair, like his aunt Karin and grandfather Isshin, and Ichigo's brown eyes.

Ichigo finally turned back to Misaki. "I'm not mad honey. Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Yuzu asked as she adjusted her own two year old son, Jun, who was the spitting image of his father Jinta, on her lap.

"Thinking about why Karin and Hitsugaya are late. We all came all the way out to Tokyo for their wedding, just because his family lives out here, and they can't even show up on time for dinner? I had better things to do today. There was a groundbreaking surgery at the hospital today, but was I there? No, I was at a wedding rehearsal that lasted from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon." Ichigo griped.

Isshin laughed loudly and bounced Sora on his knee. "Since when are you so serious about work, boy? You think we all don't know how often you come to work late, leave early, and some times don't show up at all? Now, with a wife as beautiful as Orihime-chan, I understand that sometimes it must be a real chore to leave the bedroom and-" Isshin shut up when a bread roll was thrown expertly at his head from across the table.

"Shut up!" Ichigo tried to fight down his blush. After five years of marriage, his father could still embarrass him and Orihime the same way he could when they were just dating.

Luckily before a fight could break out, Karin and Toshiro arrived with Toshiro's family and the wedding party could finally order dinner.

III.

"Mommy!" Natsuki whined, pulling on the sleeve of her mother's dress.

Orihime, who had been having a conversation with Toshiro's cousin, looked at her daughter. "What sweetie?"

"I have to pee!" The little girl exclaimed, squirming uncomfortably as she tried to hold it in.

Misaki, who had been listening in, suddenly chirped in. "I have to go too Mommy!"

Orihime excused herself from the table and with a daughter's hand in each of her own she led the girls to the bathroom.

Since this was a very upscale Tokyo restaurant, Orihime was not surprised to see that the bathroom was also very upscale. The restroom was carpeted, lit by chandelier, was equipped with speakers playing classical music, and even had a bathroom attendant.

Misaki and Natsuki released their mother's hands and ran off in search of a bathroom stall. Orihime walked over to the sink to freshen up. The former beauty queen gently tousled her hair, reapplied her lipstick, and was applying a fresh coat of blush when a hauntingly familiar voice interrupted her beauty ritual.

"For someone no longer involved in beauty pageants, you sure seem to care a lot about your appearance."

Orihime turned to face the bathroom attendant. "Mom?" She asked weakly.

Ayako smirked maliciously. "Long time no see daughter dear." She sized Orihime up from head to toe and frowned. "I see you're doing well." Ayako stated, clearly disappointed Orihime had made a life for herself.

Orihime briefly looked at herself in the mirror. She and Ichigo were doing well, and her appearance was a testament to this fact. Ichigo was quickly becoming a well known and respected surgeon in Karakura. And Orihime had recently quit her job as a production assistant at Good Morning Karakura and was now pursuing her dream of writing. Kurosaki Orihime currently wrote a column for a popular Japanese parenting magazine.

Because of their success, Ichigo enjoyed showering his wife with gifts and shopping was one of Orihime's favorite pastimes. At the moment, she was wearing diamond earrings, a 1st anniversary gift, an expensive ruby red dress she had fallen in love with while vacationing with Rukia in Singapore, and she was currently carrying her favorite designer purse.

Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably as her estranged mother scrutinized her lifestyle. "You must be getting a real kick out of this. Here you are, married, wealthy, successful. And me, a goddamn bathroom attendant." Ayako commented angrily, staring with hate at her unflattering red and black bathroom attendant uniform.

Orihime had no idea what she should say in response so she remained silent. This conversation was so awful. Admittedly, Orihime sometimes did think of her mother. After becoming a mother herself, she would spend hours staring at the sweet innocent faces of Misaki and Natsuki. Orihime had determined that was impossible for a mother to not love her own child. Which is why her lack of a relationship with her own mother was so confusing to her.

Sometimes, she wondered if her mother had changed. Maybe completely losing her daughter had made Ayako reflect on the way she treated her. Maybe her mom was sorry, and maybe if they were reunited they could finally have a decent relationship. Her children could have a relationship with their grandmother….

But looking at her mother now, she realized nothing had changed. Ayako had changed physically. Now in her early sixties, her auburn hair had started to fade to grey and she was starting to get wrinkles. She looked feeble, and for once Orihime did not fear any physical attacks. But she was still extremely terrified of the kind of mental abuse she was sure her mother could inflict.

Natsuki tugged at her mother's dress to get her attention. "Mommy, I can't reach the sink."

Orihime knelt and wraped her arms around Natsuki's waist before lifting her daughter to the sink. She awkwardly tried to turn on the faucet while holding Natsuki.

"Oh, allow me ma'am. It is my job, after all." Ayako said in a fake sweet tone before pulling out a stepladder for Natsuki.

"She's beautiful." Ayako said as she admired her granddaughter.

Orihime immediately stepped protectively in front of her daughter. "Yes, she is. And more importantly, she's happy." Orihime informed her mother, hoping to end the conversation.

"Natsuki! Your hands are clean, it's my turn to use the stool!"

When Natsuki ignored her twin, Misaki angrily stomped her foot. "Mommy! It's my turn!" The 3 year old was about to throw a temper tantrum.

Ayako's eyes lit up. "Twins?" She questioned her daughter.

Orihime eyed Ayako wearily. 'What is she up to now?'

Natsuki and Misaki looked at the stranger in confusion. There was obvious tension between the stranger and their mother and the toddlers had no idea why.

"Twins would be huge on the pageant circuit." Ayako seemed to be talking more to herself than to her long lost relatives.

"No." Orihime immediately responded.

"They would compete in the same age group, competition between twins would obviously encourage both to compete at their absolute best since they would be looking for approval. Pit them against each other." Ayako said thoughfully.

"I said no." Orihime insisted, more force in her voice this time.

"Best of all, they could trade off titles. One could win one year, and the next year the other twin could compete and take the title from her twin. Its genius." Ayako suddenly knelt so she was eye level to the girls.

"How would you two like to win prizes like toys and puppies?" Ayako asked the girls in an excited tone. Both girls looked wide-eyed at each other before nodding vigorously. "Well, you girls should compete in a beauty pageant! I could be your pageant coach, and all you girls have to do is dress up in pretty dresses and …"

"Ayako, shut up!" Orihime interrupted, angry tears welling up in her eyes. "If you love pageants so much compete yourself! There must be a senior circuit…"

Ayako scoffed. "Are you kidding? The senior circuit is a joke."

"I don't care! My daughters are never going to be involved in beauty pageants and more importantly you'll never be involved in their lives! " With that said, Orihime firmly grabbed both her daughters' hands and hurried from the bathroom.

Both twins looked at their mother with concern as the frazzled former beauty queen hurried back to their table.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Misaki asked softly.

Orihime forced a smile on her face. "I'm fine, everything is fine."

"Mommy, who was that?" Natsuki asked.

"It doesn't matter baby. Hopefully we won't be hearing from her ever again.

IV.

"So Ichigo, Karin says you're a soccer player." Toshiro's friend Kenpachi said as he sipped on his wine.

Ichigo stopped rocking his chair back and forth and glanced disinterestedly at Kenpachi. "Yeah, lately I've been busy with work but I play on a recreational league when I can." Ichigo replied.

"Are you any good?" Kenpachi pressed.

Ichigo scowled. "I would like to think so."

"I play soccer too. Maybe we could play one-on-one some time. It could be a fun little battle." Kenpachi challenged.

"Yeah, maybe." Ichigo replied, although he had no intention of following through with this challenge.

Ichigo immediately stood from the table, ignoring the startled reactions from those sitting next to him, and hurried over to Orihime when he saw her turn the corner and approach the table.

After so many years together, he could almost feel when she was upset without even seeing her. But with her red eyes and a rare frown on her beautiful face, he immediately knew she was upset.

"What happened?" He questioned immediately upon reaching her.

"There was a lady in the bathroom who made Mommy cry." Natsuki answered while squeezing her mother's hand comfortingly.

"Girls, why don't you go eat your dinner." Orihime suggested and both girls nodded before returning to the table.

Ichigo watched the girls return to the table and as soon as they were out of earshot, Ichigo turned back to his wife. "What happened?" He repeated.

Orihime sighed and wrung her hands nervously, knowing what she was about to tell Ichigo was just going to upset him. As if he wasn't upset enough already about his little sister getting married. "My mother works here. I ran into her in the bathroom." Orihime said, looking at her husband worriedly.

His eyes quickly darkened with rage. "Ayako's here?"

Orihime nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Ichigo grabbed his wife's hand and headed for the bathroom.

"Ichigo, don't. I've already handled it so now we can just put it behind us…." Orihime started to plead but Ichigo interrupted her.

"I have a lot of choice words for your mother." He grumbled.

Ichigo barged into the women's restroom with no consideration for the fact that he really shouldn't be in there and stormed over to Ayako, who remained at her place at the sink.

Ayako rolled her eyes when she saw Ichigo coming. Although she had noticed Orihime's ring earlier, she know realized the orange haired pair wore matching wedding rings. "You actually married him? Who saw that one coming?"

"Maybe if you paid attention to any aspect of Orihime's life besides pageants you would have seen it coming." Ichigo retorted.

"Wow Orihime. After all these years you still can't fight your own battles? Need your husband to come in here and protect you? Pathetic." Ayako criticized, enjoying watching Orihime deflate with each biting word.

"Don't talk to her like that." Ichigo ordered, glaring at Ayako with hate that had built up over the years.

"Can't she speak for herself?" Ayako sneered.

"Yeah, she can. But first, I have something to say to you." Ichigo took a moment to collect himself and wrapped an arm around Orihime's waist before continuing. "You are a sorry excuse for a mother. No mother should ever think of herself before her child. But that was all you ever did. You're incredibly selfish. You want to know why Orihime was so much more successful in beauty pageants than you were? It's because your inner ugliness comes through. You have no idea how much I hate you for what you put Orihime through."

Orihime tried to choke back her sob at all the old emotions that were being brought back by Ichigo's speech. Her husband rubbed her back comfortingly before continuing, this time facing his wife instead of Ayako

"But despite having you as a mother, Orihime is amazing. She's beautiful inside and out. She's an incredible mother, a wonderful wife, and she lights up any room she enters. She's nothing like you Ayako, which you should consider your greatest accomplishment."

Orihime's eyes welled up with tears at her husband's praise. He smiled and reached up to gently brush away a tear.

Ayako scoffed loudly. "So did you just come in here to tell me how horrible you think I am?"

Orihime turned toward Ayako. "No. We also came in here to tell you to stay away from our family. I'm actually glad I got to see you again. Before, I felt like I didn't have any closure. Everything happened so suddenly I found myself wondering if we couldn't have worked it out. But now, I know you're not going to change and I'm better off without you. You're not going to have a relationship with your grandchildren because you wouldn't be a good grandmother, just like you weren't a good mother."

"And you think you're a good daughter? Here you are, doing well, but you never thought to check in on how your mom was doing. Things have been rough for me these past 15 years, but I don't see you offering to help me." Ayako complained, glaring at the happy couple.

"You're not a mom Ayako. Anyone can be a biological mother, but a mom wants the best for their child and is willing to sacrifice everything in order to ensure their child's happiness. You always wanted me to sacrifice to make you happy, and I'm not sacrificing anything else for you." Orihime explained.

"I think we're done here." Orihime said to her husband. Ichigo nodded and led Orihime out of the bathroom, neither of them glancing back at Ayako.

V.

Ichigo sighed happily as he relaxed in the hot tub. He had paid extra for a room with a hot tub and he was going to be damned if he left Tokyo without using it once. He poured himself a glass of champagne, the bottle conveniently located in a cooler beside the hot tub, as he waited for Orihime to join him. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation of the hot tub's water jets hitting his back.

He reopened his eyes when he heard Orihime getting into the hot tub. He admired his wife's incredible body in her red bikini as she gingerly lowered herself into the hot water. She did not look like she had been through two pregnancies, it was amazing how quickly her body bounced back after childbirth.

He smirked when he realized she was also checking him out, admiring his lean muscles and six-pack. The pair drank champagne and lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few moments.

Orihime had been sitting on the other side of the hot tub facing her husband, but now she moved so she was sitting beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"The wedding was absolutely beautiful." Orihime commented.

"Yeah, it was. Karin was a beautiful bride. Although it was weird to see her in a dress."

"Do you remember our wedding Ichigo-kun?"

He looked at her incredulously. "It was only five years ago. And it was our wedding. Of course I remember."

Ichigo and Orihime had gotten married in the same Karakura temple where Isshin and Masaki had married. Neither of them were particularly religious, but they had had a traditional Buddhist ceremony. The temple was filled with all their family and friends, excluding Ayako, and Orihime was the most beautiful bride Ichigo had ever seen.

Ichigo smirked as he glanced down at his wife. "Do you remember our wedding night?" He asked in a sultry tone.

Orihime blushed fiercely and Ichigo couldn't stifle his laughter.

He gently repositioned Orihime so she was straddling his lap, facing him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She rested her hands, which were beginning to prune from the water, on his chest.

"Have you ever had sex in a hot tub?" He whispered in her ear before kissing a trail down her neck.

Orihime's blush intensified, she was now red from head to toe, but she did manage to answer Ichigo's question with a shake of her head.

He untied her bikini top and allowed it to float away before kissing her deeply.

VI.

Ichigo yawned sleepily as he continued the three hour drive from Tokyo to Karakura. He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that both Natsuki and Misaki were sleeping peacefully in their booster seats. Beside him in the passenger seat, Orihime was also napping. But it was understandable that she was tired. They had both been up very late last night.

He smiled at her sleeping form, memories of last night flooding his mind.

"Well buddy, I guess it's just you and me." Ichigo directed at Sora, sitting beside his sister Natsuki in a baby car seat.

Sora smiled happily and kicked his feet merrily in response. Ichigo smiled at his only son before refocusing on the road.

Finally, the family made it home to Karakura. Ichigo gently shook his wife awake so she could help him get the sleepy kids to their rooms. Ichigo lifted Misaki with his right arm and Natsuki with his left, leaving Orihime to carry the only child awake, Sora.

Orihime kissed Sora's forehead and adjusted him in her arms as she headed up the stairs. "You are getting so big! One day, you'll be tall and strong like your father!"

Sora clapped his hands happily at his mother's excited tone, causing Orihime to laugh gleefully.

It seemed like the long car ride had tired him out, because as soon as Orihime placed Sora in his crib, he immediately fell asleep. Orihime leaned against the crib bars and smiled at her sleeping son, gently brushing some of his dark hair away from his face.

She was startled when a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind, but she quickly relaxed and leaned back into Ichigo's embrace.

"Can you believe how big he is getting? I can't believe Sora is almost one!"

Ichigo kissed the top of her head. "You're not going to start crying about your baby being all grown up, are you?" He teased.

"But he is all grown up! He'll be walking any day now and then he won't even need me anymore."

Ichigo laughed. "You are ridiculous."

Orihime managed to turn around in Ichigo's arms although he didn't loosen his grip. She wrapped her arms around his neck before staring deep into her husband's eyes. "I want another baby."

"Did Dad put you up to this? He seriously would not shut up about his plan for a dozen grandchildren during the reception."

Orihime smiled. "I'm sure he'll be happy about it, but this is what I want."

Ichigo smirked. "I think you just want to have sex with me."

Orihime blushed and Ichigo couldn't help but grin at the fact that after all this time she was still so shy.

"I'm serious Ichigo."

He contemplated her for a few moments. "We should wait until Sora is 2."

"How about 15 months?" Orihime negotiated.

"20 months" Ichigo renegotiated.

"17."

Ichigo smiled and kissed his wife. "Deal."

_THE END_

I had all these big plans to keep this epilogue short, but I didn't want to stop writing! I'm so sad this story is over! Thank you guys for all the hits, favorites, and reviews!