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Safe in my Arms	By : ShadowedEcho Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 3066 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, no money is being made by me, this was written purely for entertainment purposes

Chapter List
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Grimmjow stared down at Ichigo, wrapped protectively around their three children, eyes closed contentedly, he looked not unlike a mother cat with her kittens. He didn't have any doubt with the look on Ichigo's face if he had been a feline type he would be purring. It had been amusing when upon returning to their babies, their whimpers had caused a reaction in Ichigo's body. He'd started leaking. He couldn't blame the teen for panicking when the fluid dripping from his chest wasn't white, but blackish red.
"It's all right Ichigo, that's supposed to happen," He told him, chuckling openly at his panic.
"What the hell is this?" Ichigo knew it was too dark to be blood, but didn't know what else it could be
"Hollow 'milk' for lack of a better term, it's made up of your condensed spirit pressure, hence the color. The babies are nothing but sponges soaking up power for the first couple months, they can get some of what they need just by being surrounded by strong spiritual pressure, but that fluid gives them a much heavier dose." Grimmjow explained patiently, getting a kick out of the whole situation now that the children were safely here. "I think they're hungry," He observed at their whines and whimpers.
Ichigo spread the outer layer of his black uniform over the sand to give him a comfortable spot to lay, his hakama tied loosely around his still sore middle, he picked up the bundled up babies and drew them close, but his forehead scrunched up at a problem, "How am I going to feed three babies?"
Grimmjow outright laughed at the predicament, "Hand me the largest baby, my power will keep him calm while you feed the smaller ones, he'll get his turn when they have their fill. You've got a lot of power, you can handle it."
Ichigo guided his daughter to his chest a bit awkwardly, agreeing with Grimmjow that the smallest should feed first. He winced as she latched on, but soon relaxed into the odd sensation, it wasn't quite pain but was definitely different from anything else he had felt. She fed contentedly for several minutes, Ichigo covering his first son with his power as Grimmjow was doing with the last keeping them content while waiting for their turn.
He alternated which side he fed the babies off of until the three of them were full and slowly falling back to sleep. That's when he curled around them and started drifting off to sleep himself, even with Shiro's regenerative power he was still exhausted, he had been in labor for more than twenty-four hours, and the shocks he'd taken during the delivery hadn't helped. "Sleep Ichigo, I will watch over you." Grimmjow told him quietly, despite itching to sonido back to Los Noches to fetch assistance.
He knew he didn't really have to go himself, the others would be looking for him soon since he hadn't come back from his walk at his normal time. There were so few Espada left they were all closely tied to each other, if one of them was missing or in trouble, there would be a search. Rivalries spawned by Aizen dropped to the background as the six powerful Arrancar learned how much better off they were working together rather than against each other. They were still the tough beasts they always had been, but the family loyalty they possessed had extended to each other through shared trauma.
Ichigo was able to get a few hours sleep before Grimmjow's prediction came true. Tia and Ulquiorra had found the cave, and as soon as the black haired Arrancar stepped inside Ichigo woke up with a violent hiss, eyes blazing amber as Shiro rose to protect them from the threat, "Ulquiorra, get back until I calm him down!" Grimmjow ordered sharply, stepping between the angry beta and the foreign alpha.
Ulquiorra took one look at Ichigo's angry face and followed Grimmjow's orders; the teen slowly lowered his hackles, Tia's beta pheromones not triggering the aggressive response. "So this is where you went, I thought this might happen." She said simply, Grimmjow able to see amusement in her eyes as she gazed at the Visored and their children.
"How did you know? I didn't even know for sure until I found him in labor." Grimmjow asked, seeing Ichigo nuzzling his babies to reassure himself of their safety.
Harribel's jacket covered her blush, "I saw the fight that led up to this, and I thought it was two Espada fighting. I didn't expect the fight to be a prelude to mating."
Grimmjow got a cocky grin on his face, "So you watched us huh? Did you enjoy yourself?" He teased the normally composed beta, "All I want to know is why you didn't let me know about it afterwards, you know I wouldn't have left a mate by themselves until I knew if there was going to be children?"
Ichigo looked up from his nuzzling at that, he was interested in the answer too, having someone beside him the whole time would have been a lot better for him. "I was under Aizen's control too, I wanted to tell you, but his power stopped me. After he died I didn't know you still didn't remember, I thought maybe you had checked on him and nothing had come from the mating." Harribel defended herself, ignoring the teasing questions about enjoying herself.
"Ichigo are you calm enough for Ulquiorra to come back inside? I know he is an alpha but he is an honorable one, he won't hurt the babies." Grimmjow asked, knowing the sharp-eared fourth Espada would have heard everything.
Ichigo curled tighter around the children, before giving a hesitant nod, "Yes, but don't let him get too close until I get used to him."
"I won't come any closer than you want me to," Ulquiorra's voice was as unemotional as it always was, but he spoke smoothly, looking Ichigo in the eye as he stepped back into the cave.
"Did Aizen really have that much control over the Espada?" Ichigo asked the question he wanted to when Grimmjow first arrived, but his son had decided he wanted out before Ichigo could ask.
"You didn't know?" Tia asked curiously, "Aizen's Bankai had the ability to control people's actions, right down to instinctual levels. That's how he orchestrated many of his escapes. We aren't gentle humans, but we are not the mindlessly aggressive monsters he wanted you to think we were."
"No, I didn't know," Ichigo admitted, pausing to shush the masked son as he whimpered a protest at the noise waking him up, "I was sent into exile when I was four months along, I didn't even know Aizen was dead until a few weeks ago. I overheard two low level Arrancar talking about it."
"Wait, you were alone since the fourth month?" Grimmjow's eyes were wide as he realized for just how long his mate had been wandering around alone and pregnant, "How did you manage to survive?"
Ichigo blushed slightly at Grimmjow's shock, "Shiro took over, I spent the majority of the time in my full hollow form, that body was better able to carry the weight while still managing to hunt us down food. I can eat like a Hollow when I'm in soul form as I found out. I had to give birth in my true form though, the babies were more humanoid than Hollow." Ichigo explained.
"Why were you exiled? Shinigami don't reproduce often, I would think they would be happy to see new life around, I know they are going to be the center of attention in Los Noches." Harribel asked quietly, surprised at hearing he wasn't in Heuco Mundo by choice.
Ichigo laughed darkly, no mirth at all in the action, "Oh they'd be plenty happy, as long as the babies weren't mine in the middle of a war, with an Arrancar for a sire. They barely accepted the Visoreds, and they only did that because they needed our power in the war, with my children being half-Hollow from both sides they saw them as a potential threat. Also, they took me out of the fight, I was going to be their trump card against Aizen, but I guess Gin beat me to it. I still hate the bastard but I owe him. Even Rukia the Soul Reaper responsible for dragging me into the world of death was begging me to give up my babies, I think it scared her that I was Hollow enough to conceive in the first place."
Grimmjow was growling deeply, "I wish I could say I can't believe it, but I can. The Shinigami have the gall to call us monsters, look at them, at least we take care of young ones, well most of us, but there are black sheep in every herd."
"If it wasn't for the Visored's fighting to have me exiled I would probably have been executed when I refused to allow them to take my babies. Kensei and Shinji tried to follow me through the Garganta but they couldn't fight through my escort in time. I don't blame them, three captains against two would be difficult to win, and they did almost make it." Ichigo wanted to defend the people that had defended him, without the Visoreds interference he feared what would have happened.
"Well it looks like things worked out all right, they look healthy, we can have Szayel check them over closer when we get you back to Los Noches." Harribel decided to stop the harsh topic, Ichigo was getting worked up and his powerful spiritual pressure was making it hard to breath, it was a good thing that only helped the babies stay strong.
"I can see a mini Grimmjow; I wander how much trouble that one is going to be." Ulquiorra's deadpan voice made so the tease took awhile to hit the Sexta Espada.
Instead of getting angry, another cocky grin came across his face, "Oh yes my son will be a hellion, he was the first born and was in a mighty hurry."
"That's what you think," Ichigo mumbled, remembering the hours of labor leading up to the birth, and Grimmjow didn't know that when he had come into the cave he scared Ichigo into holding back on pushing until his water broke.
"Don't listen to those two Ichigo, alphas have no clue what happens to betas, if you listen too hard you may end up hurting them. I think you might regret that when it comes time to get a break from the young ones." Tia responded to Ichigo's mumble, guessing the origin of it.
"Now we need to get you to Los Noches, are you all right to flash step, or do you need one of us to carry you?" Grimmjow ignored Harribel's jab at alphas, it was a common occurrence, as he asked the curled up beta what he needed.
"I'm not sure," Ichigo answered, "Let me try to stand up again." As he said it he disentangled himself from the babies, they protested the loss of warmth loudly. Wanting to get up so he could cuddle them again he forced himself first to his knees and then up on his feet. The few hours of sleep didn't seem to be enough. "I can make it, but I don't think I can carry them while I do it, I'm still really shaky." Ichigo assessed. Leaning down he picked up the loudest child, his daughter, holding her close he rose back up. Grimmjow and Tia both picked up one of the boys, their crying protests dimming as they were held next to warm bodies.
Ichigo approached Ulquiorra slowly, on his part the alpha stayed still and let Ichigo close the distance between them. "If you do anything to hurt my daughter, I will kill you with my bare hands." Ichigo couldn't stop himself from warning the non-related alpha. His instinct was to only trust his alpha and fellow betas, even knowing this alpha wouldn't hurt him, he listened to the instincts that had kept him alive these past few months.
"I will protect her like she's mine." Ulquiorra assured Ichigo, as the orange haired Visored slowly handed him the little girl. "She has a tail?" He asked softly, feeling the appendage wrap around his arm as he held the newborn securely.
Ichigo gave a small smile, "Yeah, she has mine from my Hollow form, the first boy has Grimmjow's ears and tail from his released form, and the last boy has my Visored mask."
"You know Ichigo, they are going to need names," Grimmjow pointed out, holding his look-a-like closely.
"I know, but I was more concerned with just getting them born, we will have time to think up names now that they are safely here." Ichigo agreed.
Tia smiled down at the baby in her arms, gazing at the white and red mask snuggly fitting over his face. He was bigger then she had expected from a newborn, his weight a welcome addition to her empty arms. Even as a non-Arrancar Hollow Tia had never allowed herself to mate. She didn't like the violence usually accompanying the creation of children, preferring to satisfy her lust with other betas. She, like Grimmjow, had protected those few betas that ended up without an alpha through abandonment or, more likely, death. The lone pregnant betas were more likely to trust another beta than a strange alpha but they would do what they had to in order to protect their children.
"Ichigo before we leave there is something you need to prepare yourself for, Szayel, Starrk, and Nel are all betas, only Ulquiorra and me are alphas. You have lived in the human world and only know their rules, but in ours mating is not monogamous, if you see or hear anything you may want to look away," Grimmjow warned him quietly, feeling it was only fair to warn him.
"Grimmjow you're forgetting something," Ichigo told him with a teasing smirk, "I have Shiro, he warned me all about it. He also told me an alpha can't force a mating, the beta has to WANT to submit before the power exchange can happen. I don't mind if you play, but if you get all hypocritical if I deicide to play the game too we will find out who really is stronger." He tilted his head in a bit of confusion, "Wait, why wasn't she on your list?" He asked gesturing to Harribel.
"Because I'm unusual I don't play, as you put it, with Alphas. I only go with other betas." Tia informed him, wanting to make that clear.
"Are we going back to Los Noches or not?" Ulquiorra butted in, he knew Ichigo's Hollow would fill him in on the basics, they needed to get the babies and Ichigo back to be looked over and make sure nothing was wrong.
"Yeah, come on Ichigo follow us, it should only take a few minutes." Tia told him, tightening her hold on the baby in preparation to sonido.
Ichigo hurriedly pulled on his black uniform, and retrieved Zangetsu from its place near the entrance to the cave, securing the sword around him he replied to Tia. "I can do that, just don't hurt my babies, any of you," Ichigo added on before they all walked out of the cave and sped towards Los Noches, taking little time to get there as Ichigo's instincts had unconsciously pulled him within range of his alpha for the birth.
The pink haired Espada, and a bouncing Nel were there to greet them at the entrance to Aizen's former headquarters. "Well looky here, just what have you been up to Grimmjow?" Szayel said as he caught sight of the baby in his arms, his grip on the back of Nel's green shirt keeping her from tackling her Itsygo.
"Don't push it pinky, these are my children, can you look them and Ichigo over to make sure they are all right?" He asked Szayel, enjoying picking on the slightly narcissistic Espada.
Szayel bristled at the pinky comment but nodded anyway, "I assume they will be in the room next to yours? I need to gather some things, Starrk can help me while Lilynette keeps an eye on Nel."
"Yeah, meet you there in a few minutes." Grimmjow replied, signaling the three behind to follow.
"Next to yours?" Ichigo commented quietly, taking his daughter back from Ulquiorra now that he wasn't flash stepping.
"Yeah, the alpha stays with the beta not the other way around, you will have your own rooms and privacy while you are here." Grimmjow informed him.
Ichigo knew where Grimmjow's room was when he saw the gothic six on the door, and Grimmjow opened the door right before they got to it. He walked inside slowly, not sure what he would find. The room itself was kind of barren, it was all white with a large bed and a closet, a small table with a few chairs, a comfortable looking couch, and another door that probably led to a bathroom. Too tired to explore, he laid down on the bed, pulling his daughter close, grateful when Grimmjow and Tia set his sons down next to her without being asked. His eyes slid closed again, curling around them as he had done in the cave.
He didn't have much time to rest because his oldest son woke up whimpering for food just as Szayel came into the room carrying a box of supplies, with a tired looking Starrk trailing behind carrying a basin with a few cloths and a bar of soap. "All right, Alphas out now." Szayel ordered, wanting Ichigo to be calm while he was checking him over.
Ulquiorra complied immediately, he only stayed to make sure everything was okay, but Grimmjow looked reluctant until Ichigo gave him a nod of permission. "Tia, can you take the basin from Starrk and get some warm water? Make sure it isn't too hot, I noticed the babies could use some cleaning." Szayel started snapping orders, setting his box on the table before approaching Ichigo and the babies slowly, even a beta could make a new mother nervous if they arrived too quickly.
"They look good, how about we do this in order of birth? Which is the oldest baby?" Szayel asked gently.
"This one," Ichigo said pointing to the baby he was feeding, the baby's hunger overriding his modesty.
"Okay, change of plans, which is the second baby?" Szayel wasn't about to pull the hungry child away from his meal.
"She is," Ichigo responded, using his free hand to stroke her orange hair.
"I'm going to pick her up now," Szayel informed him as Tia came back with the water. "Coyote get the scale out of the box, Tia set the basin on the table so Ichigo can see us get her cleaned off and weighed." He gave the orders before approaching the bed and Ichigo watched him like a hawk as he picked up the baby.
"I'm going to ask you some questions about the birth okay, just to see if there is anything I need to check them over for." Szayel was careful to tell Ichigo exactly what he was going to be doing, keeping him relaxed was the goal. Ichigo nodded his consent, so he started in on the questions while running a wet cloth over the baby to get her cleaned off. "When were they born? I can tell by the mess it was recent."
"A few hours ago, I was in labor for a long time before that though," Ichigo answered, as he felt his son detach from his chest, his tummy full.
"Did you have any trouble delivering them?" Szayel kept the questions to the point, now setting the baby on the scale Starrk had set out.
"Well for the first one, Grimmjow surprised me when he got there so I held back from pushing for a few contractions, I had maybe five that I wanted to but was successful in stopping myself until my water broke. For her she just came really fast, I had switched position so I was vertical she dropped so much quicker than the other two and it only took two pushes to get her out. The last one was the most complicated, he came backwards, but Grimmjow kept me calm and Shiro helped keep him safe." Ichigo summarized.
"You dealt with a breach? He is the next one I want to check over then, don't worry it's just to make sure. By the way, who's Shiro?" Szayel was quietly stunned by the fact he had managed a backwards delivery with only a slightly experienced helper.
"Shiro is my Hollow, technically he is a part of my soul, but when I see him in my world he is a copy of me only completely white with amber and black eyes, I call him Shiro because he helped me so much it didn't feel right to keep calling him Hollow all the time." Ichigo babbled to distract himself from worrying when he saw Szayel tense at hearing one of them was backwards.
"All right Ichigo, she is healthy, all seven pounds six ounces of her," Szayel informed, bringing her back over, wrapped up in a blanket from the box he had brought. "And don't worry, being upright has a tendency to speed up births, it doesn't usually hurt the baby but can be a bit of a shock, especially if you have already had one come slowly."
Szayel traded the cleaned and wrapped bundle for the masked child, Ichigo immediately cuddling his daughter to him, even a few minutes apart was too much this soon after their birth.
Szayel took a bit more time looking over this baby, "Ichigo can you tell me what your Hollow did to help him?"
"Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked immediately tensing, which caused his daughter to whine as she had been happily feeding until his shock had momentarily stopped the flow of milk to her.
"No, there isn't anything wrong, that's why I'm asking. He is big, this big of a baby coming backwards could cause a few problems, but he is fine and I want to know how your Hollow helped him stay so completely safe." Szayel was quick to reassure.
"Do you want to talk to him?" Ichigo asked after a short conference with his alter ego.
Szayel looked intrigued, "How can I?" He watched surprised as Ichigo's body went limp for a split second, his eyes closing, still holding his daughter securely, but when he opened his eyes again they were gold on black.
"You have a question for me?" Shiro's voice was echoing and mocking, even when he wasn't trying to tease anyone. The Hollow didn't seem to mind the child suckling from him, only peering down and pulling her closer.
"What did you do to help bring the last child safely into the world?" Szayel asked curiously, still checking over the baby.
Shiro grinned happily, glad he had helped his King when he needed it, "I surrounded his cord with my spiritual pressure, keeping it from being compressed for too long, and I told Grimm to keep Ichigo calm so the strain didn't make the baby take a breath before he was out. When King is calm and determined he gets things done quicker, in that state of mind he pushed the baby out relatively easily, though Grimm did have to help him a bit."
"Oh how did Grimmjow help, he has only seen a few births that I know of?" Szayel asked curiously, eyes widening at the sight of the number on the scale, even Starrk and Tia winced at the weight.
"King's water didn't break with the last one, Grimm had to do it. King couldn't get his breath to push through the pain after going through so much already." Shiro informed, setting his daughter aside once she was full, yes, all of Ichigo's babies were his too. If it weren't for Shiro, the babies wouldn't be there in the first place.
"Sometimes the water doesn't break, occasionally the beta can push through the pain of it and the baby is born inside the water bag, but most of the time it is broken manually." Szayel informed him, not wanting the Hollow to think Ichigo was weak for needing Grimmjow to break his water for him. Ichigo was lucky Grimmjow was able to do it, some Betas had to figure out how to break it themselves, and it didn't always end well.
"I am proud of King, he has done well, though he did faint when I told him why he was feeling sick. I don't blame him, he did start out human," Shiro chuckled.
"I can only imagine what was running through his head," Szayel agreed with the chuckle, knowing human males didn't get pregnant or Shinigami for that matter. "Can he hear what we are saying? The baby is healthy, and he may just faint again when he hears how big this one is." Szayel warned.
"He can hear this time, the only time he cant is when Zangetsu is trying to calm him down or motivate him." Shiro was curious now, just how big was the baby.
"All right, the baby is ten pounds three ounces." Szayel responded, bringing the second wrapped bundle over, "Only about an ounce and half of that is the mask." He informed, as Shiro's eyes widened and he felt his King almost collapse, Zangetsu catching him as the Zanpakuto had been listening in to hear the verdict on his wielder's children. A ten-pound baby was big for a female, for a male with narrow hips it was like adding another two or three pounds to any child even with the pregnancy hormones stretching the pelvic ligaments to their maximum.
"Now for the baby I was going to look over first," Szayel said, picking up the firstborn while the Visored on the bed gathered his wits. Ichigo had gained a lot of respect in his eyes during this check up, it was a mark of an amazing beta to carry and nurture three children, and birth them even under duress.
He quickly cleaned him off with the now cooling water, this one weighed in at not much smaller than the last one. Starrk spoke his first words since entering the room, "That had to hurt."
Tia wacked him over the back of the head for the comment, "Be nice Starrk, or your little secret will be out."
Starrk seemed to pale before getting an angelic look on his face, "I don't know what you're talking about, that was made out of sympathy from one beta to another." He said trying to placate her.
"So how big is he?" Ichigo was back in control, and his youngest was finally getting a turn at supper. "Oh and Starrk, I heard that, and yes it did hurt. A lot."
"That's no surprise, this one is nine pounds even," Szayel replied in the process of wrapping him up, being careful he didn't squash the tail same as he had done with the girl.
"I didn't do any damage by not pushing did I?" Ichigo asked, worried he might have hurt the baby over nothing.
"No, as long as you physically didn't stop him, for an example by crossing your legs or forcing him back with your hands, you didn't hurt him. Even if you consciously didn't push, I'm sure you felt your body doing it on its own, technically the baby can be born without a beta pushing at all, but usually the urge is too strong for that to happen. Not pushing is not the same as stopping him from coming, you didn't do anything wrong, and I can understand why you held back if Grimmjow surprised you." Szayel explained.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ichigo asked hesitantly as the pink haired beta brought the baby back to him.
"You just did, but yes you may ask another." Szayel agreed.
Ichigo paused to search for the correct wording, "How do you know all of this? I'm mostly human, and I know you haven't been an Arrancar for that long. You know a lot more about humanoid births than I was expecting."
Szayel's whole body tensed, "Are you sure you want to know?"
Ichigo looked down at his three healthy children, and looked back up at the Espada that seemed to have a pained look on his face, "You don't have to tell me, but if you need to talk go ahead."
Ichigo had a calming affect on people, and when he was in his protect everyone around him mode, he was easy to talk to, Szayel found himself caving even though there was no pressure, "I am the reason Aizen messed with us so we didn't mate. My mate was Nnoitra, and it was successful, but when Aizen found out a good number of his Espada were betas and therefore could be taken out of the fight at any time due to pregnancy he lost his temper. He, well there is no kind way of saying it, he made me lose the babies. After his death I mated a few times, but it hasn't been successful since the lost batch. When I found out I was pregnant I did some research on human birthing so I could deal with it when my time came."
"I am so sorry for your loss Szayel," Ichigo told him, without pity, only deep compassion, and Szayel was thankful for that.
"I know why you two broke through the rules." Szayel said quietly.
"How?" Ichigo knew Szayel needed to focus the conversation somewhere other than himself for a few minutes.
"Because of you, I'm guessing you fought Grimmjow before you mated correct?" At Ichigo's blushing nod Szayel continued. "Your beta pheromone is strong as it is, but compounded with your blood and an alpha like Grimmjow in full release mode is going to be completely running on instinct, Aizen's Bankai couldn't interfere with something that doesn't even require a single thought on the alphas part. It is the beta that must chose, the alphas simply has to do. That's why Grimmjow couldn't remember even after Aizen's death, chances were good even without that bastard's influence Grimmjow's memory would still be hazy. I know he truly didn't remember everything or nothing would have stopped him from tracking you down. That was Aizen's weakness, he had complete control over betas mating, but not the alphas, unfortunately I couldn't confirm that until just now when you came here with those babies as proof."
While Szayel and Ichigo were talking, Tia and Starrk were also holding a whispered conversation, Tia filling the male beta in on the discovery of Ichigo, and what the Soul Reapers had done to the Visored. "Starrk, I think one of us should go see the other Visoreds, it sounds like they would want to know Ichigo is safe and so are the babies, do you want to do it?"
Starrk got a pained look on his face, "I can't, no I won't risk it. They might attack before I get a chance to explain, I don't want one of them to land a lucky blow." Starrk seemed serious about not going, not his usual lazy refusal, but an honest desire to stay at Los Noches.
Tia understood, more so than the others would, "All right, thought I would offer, it would be your last chance before the others stop you from leaving. I'll do it."
"Be careful," Starrk told her as she left.
When Szayel finished up in the room, checking over Ichigo and giving him a few things to help his body recover from the pregnancy, especially a little potion to help the stretched skin go back to normal, he finally allowed a worried Grimmjow to come back inside.
The scene that unfolded would cause him to burst into random laughter for days to come.
Ichigo took one look at the blue haired Espada, and growled out at him, "Why the Hell do you make such big babies!"
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Safe in my Arms