Cry Baby

By: Crim

Disclaimer: This is a One Shot written for Rukia's Birthday Drabble Challenge at fuckyeahichiruki on Tumblr. The prompt was "I don't think you're supposed to lick that." Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Hisaki is an Original Character that belongs to me.

...

Peace and quiet- two words he hasn't heard in a very long time. They were underrated and now he had reason to appreciate it more. This moment had to be savored in the comfort of his spacious bed and the warmth of his blanket. The way his bed hugged his body lifted the stress pressed down on him. His body was relaxed and the mind was cleared, allowing his chestnut colored eyes to close in preparation for the epic nap that was about to take place. Before he could let out a sigh of relief, an all too familiar screech rang through his sensitive ears. The beast has awakened.

"Why... why now?" Ichigo begrudgingly lifted himself off his haven of comfort in order to sooth his wailing offspring. "Hisaki! You were doing such a good job being quiet for Daddy." It takes so much time and effort to put babies to sleep, yet it doesn't take long for them to wake up again. It has been a year since he got a full eight hour sleep. Fatherhood is at the top of the list for being the hardest challenge the hero has ever faced.

"Yosh! All fresh and clean!" Changing diapers was a breeze at this point. Although he was weary, Ichigo never failed to smile at his bundle of joy. As he fed him a warm bottle of formula, Ichigo marveled at how Hisaki was truly a reflection of them- strikingly natural orange hair, a small round face, fair complexion, piercing violet eyes, and one hell of an attitude at such an early age. This chubby baby practically downed his formula in less than a minute and even started munching on the rubber nipple too, but started to cry again once he found it was not edible.

"Jeez, Hisaki. Slow down! Daddy will get you more." Ichigo fervently made another batch for his kid with a huge appetite. But this time, Hisaki continued to munch on the bottle's nipple again instead of drinking the milk inside of it. The pudgy baby extended his arms out and kept pointing to the floor by flashing his hands. Ichigo sensed his desire to play and released him. "You're a little too hyper today..."

Hisaki was a baby on a mission. He crawled around the perimeter of the room looking for anything he could get his tiny hands on. "Gah! I don't think you're supposed to lick that!" Ichigo rushed over to intercept his curious child from putting foreign objects in his mouth. He managed to pry the object out of his freakishly strong hands. Upon further inspection and looking past the thick saliva, Ichigo's face turned sour. It was none other than Rukia's Limited Edition "Chappy in Wonderland" DVD, torn open and covered in drool. "Let's just... hope Mommy doesn't notice..." Ichigo hid the soggy DVD case behind the shelf and hoped for the best.

Once the new found toy was out of sight, Hisaki slowly formed tears then burst out the waterworks. Ichigo scooped him up and cradled the unrelenting child. The crying softened once Hisaki became distracted by the string on his father's hoodie. His shiny purple eyes were drawn in and immediately stuffed it in his mouth.

"You're not hungry... yet you put everything else in your mouth. I really hope your mom gets home soon." Hisaki was initially in a daze, but then stared blankly at his daddy and gave him the most mischievous smile as if he has done nothing wrong.

On perfect cue, Rukia entered the room with delight when she spotted her baby. "There's my cutie~!" Rukia practically glided toward her adorable son and whisked him away from Ichigo's arms.

"Finally! It's my turn to tag out. He keeps crying unless something is in his mouth." Ichigo collapsed onto his bed once again.

Rukia looked closely at Hisaki for any outward signs. She gently opened his mouth and found the cause. "He's in the process of teething. Hisaki-pyon just wants to bite on things to relieve the pain of the tooth coming in. We'll just have to buy you teething toys next time. Isn't that right, pyon-pyon?" Being in the presence of her exceedingly adorable son made her smile uncontrollably. She nuzzled his flat little nose at the sight of him in his Chappy footed pajamas. "Oh, Ichigo. Where'd my Chappy DVD go? I wanted to watch it with Hisaki-pyon."

"Uh... About that." Ichigo was afraid to break the news to his wife. But she was a doting mother, so he figured she wouldn't mind it too much.

After seeing her Limited Edition "Chappy in Wonderland" DVD in complete ruin, Rukia paused for a few minutes with a complete lack of expression on her face.

"Hey, he's teething right? It was the first thing that caught his attention so he must've-"

Ichigo was interrupted by Rukia's sudden weeping. "Noooo! My Chappy! Why?" Her sobbing triggered baby Hisaki to copy his mom. Eventually, Ichigo was surrounded by a unison of shrill cries.

The utterly exhausted husband and father released a deep sigh from knowing he was absolutely outnumbered. "Oh God. Sometimes it's like I have to raise two kids around here..."

End.

Author's Notes: Yes, Hisaki is my IchiRuki LoveChild. His name comes from Hisana and Masaki. A sketch of his teenage form is on my DeviantArt. I will work on his baby and childhood designs in the future. Also, "pyon" is the Japanese rendition of a rabbit sound. It is also used to make sentences sound cuter.