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The soul society wasn't much of a place for holidays. With time passing the way it did, it never seemed like something important to celebrate, but Rangiku still took pleasure in drinking for the new year either way.
The first time Toshiro came to the world of the living as part of the Kurosaki family, he was already pregnant, and very unhappy with the summer heat.
"You're an asshole." He sighed to Ichigo as Yuzu fawned over his belly, the fellow omega a little too happy, as if she was already prepared for children of her own regardless of having no mate and still being young.
It took a lot of planning, begging and bribing to get Toshiro pulled away from his work, even after they were bonded and expecting, it was something that had become routine to him and felt unusual not to do.
For being nearly done with his second trimester, Toshiro was still tiny. He always had been, ever since they met he had the form of an omega, but the will and strength unlike any other. Ichigo almost missed being able to touch his hands together around his waist, but the bit of added weight was good for him. He looked older now, more mature, ever since he started laying his hair down normally and his body wasn't made of entirely skin and bones.
Karin, the other alpha of the family, didn't seem too bothered by the fact that Toshiro was pregnant. She wasn't one to pry too much, merely offering Ichigo her hand for a fist bump before they were off to their destination.
Every year on Masaki's birthday, the Kurosaki family visited her grave. It wasn't something Toshiro could say no to.
He never knew the woman. He had no idea just how her smile lit up a room or how much her son took after her, or how thrilled she would have been to call Toshiro her son. Maybe, as another omega, she could have put some of his unspoken fears to rest.
Toshiro didn't speak even when they arrived and Yuzu took it upon herself to build a small nest for them to picnic in. They spoke as if Masaki had never gone, Isshin talking about his new patients and how he felt about soon being a grandfather, Yuzu chattering on about a boy she was interested in and Karin butting in any opportunity there was for a joke.
"I'm going to get some shade." The captains words barely cut through the conversation, earning only a small wave from his nicest sister-in-law and felt the warmth of Ichigo's hand leave his, drifting gently over his belly before giving him his space.
It wasn't a poor excuse; he never did well in the heat. Whether it be his souls affiliation with ice that always left him feeling horribly tired and burning when left under the sun too long or just his bodies stubbornness, not too many people bothered him about it.
"Don't start, I'm fine." Toshiro commented with a roll of his eyes as he kicked at his partners leg before he even had the chance to finish shifting, wanting to offer him help in standing up. Toshiro managed surprisingly well during his pregnancy, and it may have been his hardheaded attitude that made him never make a complaint, and he distantly heard the howling laughter from his father in law.
"Your mom used to treat me the same way. Never let me do a damn thing, was always so mad if I tried to tell her she couldn't do something- not even when she had twins."
The cheerful chatter and back and forth banter between father and son faded from his ears as he moved to one of the biggest trees he could find, relief washing over him as the drop in temperature comforted his irritable skin.
It was only him there, the soft rumbling of Hyorinmaru in the back of his mind, like a content purr as he gently pet the swell of his abdomen. The gentle nudge against his hand pulled him from his mind, but his zanpakuto didn't seem to mind, caring only for the pup in that moment.
It felt unreal. To be part of a family.
People had always looked at him in fear. A male omega was one of the rarer finds among soul society and the world of the living, and maybe that was part of why he was always avoided.
There's something wrong with him, they always said, and no one ever liked the way his hair shone in the light like freshly fallen snow or how his piercing eyes mirrored the sea. He's cursed.
You're beautiful, Ichigo had told him, and he never felt the same way again.
The captain wasn't one for naps, even while carrying, always one to stay up late and somehow function perfectly fine on little to no sleep, but was still slightly startled when a hand touching his forehead brought him back to reality.
Time seemed to have passed quickly, the sun dipping down behind the trees and the air much cooler, and here was the Kurosaki boy, a grin on his face as he pinched his partners cheeks and earned a rumbling growl in response.
"Thought you wouldn't wake up tonight. Dad took Yuzu and Karin home." A flick to his forehead earned the ginger a deep growl from his mate, sharp teeth peeking out from behind his lips, before a gentle kiss in apology had him stop vibrating as if he were to tear him apart.
"Come on. There's someone I want you to meet."
The hand that wrapped around his arm and helped lift him up was placed around his shoulders as they walked, giving the smaller a body to lean on. You're still tiny, Ichigo had teased him, even when Toshiro had grown to be at his collarbone, and received a smack over the head in response.
Masaki's grave had been cleaned up in the time he had been gone. The grass was still matted from the places they had sat, all dirt and leaves brushed away from the headstone and fresh flowers placed by where her name was engraved.
"Hey, mom." Ichigo's voice cut through the silence, his hand drifting from his shoulders down to the other's small, cold hands. He didn't protest or even say a word as their fingers intertwined.
"I want you to meet Toshiro."
It had become tradition to visit Masaki every year on her birthday, but the next year, it was decided that they were going to see her on another day- mother's day.
It was a reasonably warm day, the two quiet as they approached the grave with a new bouquet of flowers, and a wiggling baby in Toshiro's arms. Vibrant orange hair he inherited from his father and a bit from his grandmother, with soft brown eyes that were all his.
"Good to see you again, mom." Ichigo spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice, standing from the grave and reaching his hands out to take Kazui into his arms when he fussed too loudly. Almost too much like his father, Kazui could only sleep in his arms with his little nose buried in his neck, his squirming calming until he fell into a deep sleep.
Toshiro knelt down in front of the headstone, a small object in his palms that he placed down. A rose, made entirely of ice that shone like glass, was placed alongside the flowers and a gentle touch to her name.
A soft rumble escaped his chest when Toshiro stood back up, receiving the gentle pet to his cheek with a soft purr in response.
"Happy mothers day."