A/N: A new story! I have nothing going on this summer so I figured, why not write another story? Not an AU for once, so we'll see how I do with the action scenes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Sometimes, Orihime wondered why Ichigo married her in the first place. Was he just doing what he felt he was expected to do? Was he just looking for a mother for Akihiro and she was conveniently there? She tried to shake herself out of that thought. No. He had loved her. But when did it all start to go wrong?

Looking back at it all now, she really had no one to blame for her current predicament besides herself. Ichigo had so many responsibilities, with his constant need to save the world and all. But she had thought that as his wife and the mother of his children, he would recognize that he had responsibilities to her too. But he didn't. Which is why he was never here, constantly spending all his time in Soul Society averting some crisis or another.

The married mother of three (soon to be four as she just found out she was two months pregnant) lowered her eyes in shame as she realized she had slipped into self-pity. But she didn't just feel sorry for herself, she felt sorry for the kids.

Based on how this relationship started, she should have known there was bound to be heartache and tragedy. You see, it all started when Ichigo's fiancée died tragically…

Flash back

Orihime adjusted the casserole she was holding as she hesitated to ring the doorbell. Was this weird? They weren't really friends anymore. With the lack of hollows and the completion of high school, the whole group had largely lost touch. Ichigo had gone to college in Tokyo, and Orihime stayed in Karakura and took a full ride to the local university. A few e-mails and Christmas cards were exchanged over the years, but no meaningful relationship.

Despite their lack of a relationship, that didn't stop her heart from breaking when she heard from Tatsuki that Ichigo was having a baby with his college sweetheart. Although she had dated here and there, as pathetic as it was Orihime was still waiting for Ichigo after all these years. She was madly in love with him, and she couldn't even fathom loving anyone else.

But he loved someone else. Her name was Otaka Mari. She was a chemistry major who was from Osaka. Orihime had gathered all this information through facebook stalking her. Of course, Orihime had noticed when Ichigo's relationship status changed from 'single' to 'in a relationship with Otaka Mari', but she had wanted to believe it wasn't serious. But as usual, her delusions did not come to fruition.

Orihime had met Mari once. Ichigo and Mari had gotten engaged once they found out about the pregnancy and he had brought her back to Karakura to meet his family and friends. Orihime didn't want to go to the engagement party, but Tatsuki had insisted.

"You need to realize this is actually happening Orihime. You can't live in denial. He has a life and soon he'll have a family. It's time for you to start looking for someone else."

Orihime knew Tatsuki was right, but that didn't make it any easier to drag herself to the Kurosaki household and meet the woman who was having Ichigo's child.

By the time Tatsuki and Orihime had made it to the party, (Orihime dragging her feet the whole way), the party was in full swing. It was almost like a high school reunion with some close friends from Soul Society thrown in. It was nice to have all her friends back in one place again. She even managed to enjoy herself for a moment. Until she saw them together.

"Inoue!" Ichigo called as he maneuvered through the crowd with his fiancée.

Orihime had been laughing at Keigo's and Mizuiro's antics but all mirth died on her lips as she saw Ichigo and Mari approaching hand in hand. She quickly forced a smile onto her face so they wouldn't notice that she was beginning to crumble.

"Kurosaki-kun! It is so good to see you!"

Orihime awkwardly went in for a hug, forgetting that Ichigo wasn't really a physical contact type of person. The two redheads hugged briefly. "And this is my fiancée Otaka Mari." Ichigo introduced.

"Nice to meet you Otaka-san. You're glowing!" Orihime greeted merrily as she looked at Mari's protruding stomach. She hoped she didn't seem disingenuous.

Mari smiled. She has a pretty smile, Orihime couldn't help but notice. She was a pretty girl. Mari was a little taller than Orihime, probably 5'4, slender build, black hair, and light brown eyes.

'She kind of looks like Rukia. So I guess he has a type. And its definitely not me.'

Ichigo, Mari, and Orihime talked briefly before the pair had to set off to greet more guests. Tatsuki had been watching the interaction and sidled up to her best friend once the engaged couple left. "So, what do you think of her?"

Orihime shrugged. "She seems nice. And I'm glad Kurosaki-kun is happy."

"Now it's time for you to be happy too. Next time someone asks you out, I don't want you to make up some excuse for why you can't go. It's time to find someone else,"

Orihime watched as Ichigo placed both hands on Mari's stomach and smiled at her. She couldn't think of a time the substitute shinigami had ever smiled like that at her. She lowered her eyes. "I'll try Tatsuki-chan"

Orihime shook herself out of her thoughts and readjusted the casserole once again. Poor Mari. She was so young. But at least the baby had survived. Orihime liked to think that the baby's survival gave Mari some peace.

Orihime finally rang the bell. For several moments, she waited. Just as she was about to ring the bell again, the door opened to reveal a very disheveled Kurosaki Ichigo.

He looked like he hadn't slept in the week since Akihiro had been born. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and his hair was all over the place. The baby was in his arms and crying loudly.

"Inoue." He greeted. Even his voice sounded tired.

"Kurosaki-kun." She greeted in return. "I….I made you some casserole."

"Anything weird in it?" He asked with a small smirk, yawning as he leaned against the doorway and tried to pacify Akihiro.

"No. Just cheese, spinach, and chicken. I wanted to make sure it was something you would eat." She replied.

"Alright. I'd take it from you but my hands are kind of full. Can you put it in the fridge with the rest of the food?"

She nodded and headed toward the kitchen. Ichigo followed behind her, patting his still crying son's back.

"How are you holding up?" Orihime asked after a prolonged moment of awkward silence.

Ichigo shrugged. "As well as could be expected. You know, with my fiancée dying giving birth to my abnormally spiritually powerful son and all." He finished bitterly.

Orihime bit her lip. That was a stupid question. She tried to think of something else to say. Suddenly, the phone rang. Ichigo walked over and checked the caller ID. "Shit. It's my boss. Can you take him for a second? I really need to take this call."

He didn't really wait for a response from her before shoving the crying baby into her arms and hurrying off into the next room to take the call.

Orihime looked down at the fussy infant in her arms. "Hi." She greeted the child. He has Ichigo's eyes. And black hair that was either inherited from his mother or possibly his grandfather.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your mommy. You know, I can't remember my biological mother either. But I had my brother. And you have Kurosaki-kun and your grandfather and your aunts Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan…"

The baby continued to cry, possibly wailing even louder than before.

"Shhh…..It's okay." She started to rock the baby. When this failed to placate him, she started to hum a tune Sora used to use as a lullaby for her. The baby started to quiet.

She readjusted the baby so his head rested against her bountiful chest and continued to sway to and from. She added words to the lullaby and sang softly as the baby's cries finally subsided.

"I think this is the first time he's stopped crying." Ichigo commented.

Orihime was surprised that Ichigo had re-entered the kitchen without her noticing. She was embarrassed that he had caught her singing and she quieted immediately.

When the baby started to whimper, Orihime quickly restarted her song. Akihiro gurgled happily.

Ichigo approached the two. "I think he likes you."

Orihime went back to humming but stopped momentarily to respond. "You think so?"

He nodded. "Do you think…could you keep coming by? I'm having a really hard time. Dad is so busy with the clinic and Yuzu and Karin have college. And I'm still trying to come to terms with what I did to Mari…"

Orihime interrupted him. "You didn't do anything to Mari Kurosaki-kun. It's not your fault what happened. There was no way you could have known how reiatsu affects childbirth. Don't blame yourself."

He scoffed. "Easier said than done."

Orihime gazed at Akihiro. "I'll try to stop by as much as possible. I'm interviewing and looking for a real job on top of working at the bakery so sometimes I'm really busy-"

"Would you be interested in being Akihiro's nanny? You got your major in childhood education right? Being a nanny would look great on your resume." Ichigo interrupted.

Orihime took Ichigo up on his offer and became Akihiro's live-in nanny. She became very close to Akihiro, treating him like she would treat her own child. Spending so much time with the Kurosakis eventually led to Orihime and Ichigo becoming a couple. By the time Akihiro turned two, they were married and Orihime legally adopted Akihiro.

Orihime wanted more children desperately, but Ichigo was afraid. She didn't blame him after what happened to Mari. But she constantly reminded him that she had reiatsu of her own, that her life was in no danger. She even consulted Urahara who confirmed that everything should be fine.

When Akihiro was two and a half, after lots of tense discussions and tears on her part, Ichigo finally relented. Their son Tsuyoshi was born with no complications. Tsuyoshi was Ichigo's miniature with Orihime's grey eyes. He smiled a lot more than his father, but when he scowled the resemblance was uncanny. Two years after Tsuyoshi, their daughter Kaya was born. Kaya had inherited green eyes from somewhere in one of their lines and Orihime's auburn hair and big doe eyes.

The pair had three healthy, happy children. Orihime had finally launched her career and was now working as a pre-school teacher. In the human world, Ichigo worked for his father, helping run the clinic from a business side. But his real career was in Soul Society, where he was now captain of the thirteenth division since Ukitake had stepped down. He was the first human to ever become a captain in Soul Society.

Orihime was proud of her husband and all his accomplishments, but she couldn't help but lament on how little he was around. He was in Soul Society for months at a time, which was actually a lot longer when one takes into account the difference in time between the two worlds. And in many cases, the wars Ichigo was so committed to fighting in could have been resolved without him.

When he was around, he was a wonderful father. But his time in the human world was becoming more and more rare. Orihime sniffled as she thought of how this was going to affect their children.

'I'm not going to cry. I've already wasted way too many tears over him.'

She wiped at her eyes and forced a smile on her face as she heard the small pitter-patter of feet coming down the stairs.

Kaya jumped off the last step and immediately hugged Orihime. The 5 year old was very attached to her mother. "Morning mommy!" She chimed sweetly.

Orihime kissed her daughter's forehead. "Good morning baby."

The house shook as her two boisterous sons stomped down the stairs, shoving and fighting as usual.

"Owww! You stepped on my foot Tsuyoshi!" Akihiro yelled, the 10 year old glaring at his little brother.

"Well, you shouldn't have pushed me!" Her 7 year-old son scowled angrily, reminding her painfully of his look-a-like father.

"I only pushed you because you clearly saw I was on my way downstairs but you ran to get in front of me!"

"Who cares? You would have gotten here 2 seconds earlier. Big deal."

"If it wasn't a big deal than why did you do it?"

The two continued to argue and Orihime sighed. The competitiveness between the two was starting to get completely out of control. She wondered whether some of the tension between the two had anything to do with the fact that they did not often have a father figure around.

Akihiro had a very short fuse, another feature inherited from his father, and he threw a punch at his younger brother.

Before Orihime could intervene, Tsuyoshi took things into his own hands. "Barra, Yuko, Kotoe, Ai, Shiten Kōshun!"

As Akihiro's fist collided with the shield the force dispelled from the shield instantly knocked him back.

Akihiro growled as he rose from the floor.

"Kurosaki Tsuyoshi!"

Tsuyoshi winced. That tone coming from his mother meant he was in big trouble. "He started it!" He tried a last ditch effort to defend himself.

"You both need to apologize. Right now!" Orihime demanded.

"Gomen" both boys mumbled without making eye contact.

Orihime looked at Tsuyoshi, obviously disappointed in her son, before checking Akihiro's hand. She summoned her healing shield silently and Akihiro's hand was as good as new in no time. She kissed Akihiro's forehead before backing away from her oldest child.

"What did I say about using your powers on your siblings?" Orihime asked.

Tsuyoshi shuffled his feet guiltily and refused to meet his mother's eyes. "You said not to use them at all unless it's an emergency." Tsuyoshi answered. He guiltily rubbed his snowflake shaped birthmark on his wrist.

Kaya had a birthmark shaped like Orhime's hairpins as well, but her's was on the back of her neck. Both Kaya and Tsuyoshi had some amount of control over their Shun Shun Rikka. They still had to call out their powers name by name, but it seemed that their powers got stronger daily. They could both heal small injuries, like a scrapped knee, and Orihime had recently started teaching Tsuyoshi some offensive techniques so he could defend himself if the need ever arose.

Akihiro seemed to resent that at the moment all he could do was see ghosts and hollows, not fight them. Whenever the siblings were attacked and Tsuyoshi or Kaya had to protect him, he was embarrassed. He wanted to be able to defend himself and protect his siblings. He was the oldest; he should be the most powerful. Although he thought of Orihime as his mom, he knew she wasn't his biological mother. His parents had never tried to hide this from him; Ichigo had even given him photos of his biological mother Mari.

Ichigo had taken him to Soul Society from time to time so he knew about shinigami and hollows. Orihime thought he was too young to activate his shinigami powers, but Ichigo disagreed. It was a major source of contention between his parents.

Orihime was about to lecture Tsuyoshi some more, but the screen linking her home to soul society beeping interrupted her.

"Daddy is calling!" Kaya exclaimed excitedly, hurrying to sit in front of the screen. Tsuyoshi and Akihiro hurried behind her, fighting over who would get the coveted middle spot.

Orihime answered the call and the static transformed into an image of Ichigo. He was in his office and he was wearing his captain's haori.

"Daddy!" Kaya waved excitedly at the screen.

"Hey Kaya. Have you gotten bigger since last week?" Ichigo asked.

The conversation continued, with Ichigo asking about how they were doing in school, lecturing Akihiro when Tsuyoshi excitedly revealed that Akihiro had failed his math test, praising Tsuyoshi since he had recently used Shiten Kōshen for the first time, than promptly lecturing him when Akihiro complained that Tsuyoshi had used it on him, and other such mundane topics. Orihime remained silent throughout the conversation, feeling she had nothing to add.

Orihime checked her watch. "Kids, its almost time for school. I left breakfast on the table. You need to go eat."

The kids stood and after exchanging goodbyes with their fathers went into the kitchen to eat. Orihime leaned against the couch and regarded Ichigo on the screen.

"You seem mad." Her husband observed, resting his chin in his hand warily.

"I'm more frustrated than mad."

"I'm frustrated too Orihime. It's not like I'm enjoying being here for so long dealing with Soul Society's new enemy. But they're dangerous and we need to contain then now. Yesterday, I fought against once of their lieutenants, he had a really interesting technique…"

Orihime zoned out as Ichigo excitedly detailed the fight. For someone 'not enjoying being in Soul Society for so long', he sounded pretty enthused at the moment.

When Orihime zoned back in, Ichigo was still talking about the battle. "I finally managed to finish him off with a Tetsuga Genshou, but then more came in and-"

"I'm pregnant." Orihime interrupted.

He paused as he absorbed the news. "So you're…" He mentally thought back to when he had last been home "two months pregnant?" He asked.

She nodded.

"And you're sure?"

"I went to the clinic and your father confirmed it. He is very excited."

"Okay."

He didn't sound very enthused. But then again, neither was she. Money was tight. It's not like Ichigo was making money in Soul Society that had any value in the material world. And on top of their financial situation, their relationship was obviously very rocky at the moment.

"I….don't think this is…working." She had been thinking it for months, but she was surprised it had slipped out of her mouth.

He frowned. "What's not working?"

"We're not working. This relationship. This family." She elaborated sadly.

There was absolute silence from his side of the line. It was so quiet she could hear Akihiro's, Tsuyoshi's, and Kaya's conversation from the kitchen.

"We're not going to have this conversation over a screen." He finally responded.

Orihime didn't respond. She looked at him as he shifted uncomfortably in his office chair.

"I have some loose ends to tie up here, but I'm going to come home today. We're going to talk about this."

Orihime rolled her eyes. He had said he was coming home so many times all ready and something always came up at the last moment.

He caught the eye roll. His eyes narrowed and he leaned closer to the screen. "I'm serious Orihime."

"I have to get the kids to school."

She cut the connection.

A/N: Well there is the end of Chapter 1. This is already more depressing than I intended. But it does seem realistic knowing Ichigo's character. Orihime might have more patience than she does here, but who knows?

Please review and tell me what you thought! I'll try to update again soon!