Ukitake leaned back on the palm of his hands and let the breeze from the pond blow over him. His eyes were closed until he heard the sound of two small feet coming his way. He watched as a small figure knelt partially out of sight and he found a smile spreading across his face. "I know you're there Shiro-chan. Come in. There is no reason for introductions."

The small taicho then scooted in so he remained on his knees and slowly brought a package with him before settling down onto a pillow. "I came to see you. You're birthday is the day after mine, or should I say that my birthday is the day before yours since you're older then me."

The man let out a soft chuckle. "I see that you are more accepting of the idea of celebrating your birthday? I thought you'd want to spend it with Ran and Gin-chan."

"They needed to talk about some things. I'm supposed to be getting myself to bed so that I don't get sick again, but Matsumoto said it was all right if I came to see you first." Toshiro opened up the bag and removed a couple of books that were sitting on top of a box and then removed the box. "I wanted to share some of my birthday cake with you."

"You are in a really good mood." Ukitake watched as the boy removed the slice of cake from the box.

"You'll need to return the plate and fork to the forth division. Matsumoto only brought enough plates for Ichimaru, herself and me." The boy placed the piece of cake in front of the man. "Particularly since I think she would prefer I get to bed as soon as possible."

The man carefully took the cake. "How are you feeling about finding out that Gin and Ran are your parents. You seem to be taking orders from her in regards to your health."

"Matsumoto's just saying what she needs to say more often and being firm about it when it comes to my health now that she knows she knows she can get away with it without getting slapped with a reprimand for ordering around her superior officer." Toshiro frowned. "At least I think that's what is going on. Though I have to say that I like the idea of not having to reprimand her for things like this, though division issues are still fair game."

"Have you actually thought about the fact you are ordering your mother around?" Ukitake rose an eyebrow.

The boy frowned. "I honestly haven't thought about it much. At this point I'm going to go with this being the way it has already been."

"So, are the books from Gin?"

Toshiro's face brightened up. "No... Ise helped Matsumoto pick them out. It's Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath."

"I see your not yet calling Rangiku your mother."

The boy frowned again. "I have to get used to that just like she has to get used to calling me by my first name. What do you think about all of this?"

"Ahh... so we come to the alternative reason for you coming to see me." Ukitake found himself chuckling again.

"I don't see how that is an alternative reason for me coming to see you." Toshiro's scowl deepened. "Though an alternative reason for coming to see you is to thank you for being such a big help in all of this."

"Ahh... yes." The man shook his head in amusement before wiping the smirk for a more serious look. "To tell you the truth, I was rather worried about how this would turn out. It's turning out better then I thought it would."

"It still could turn out badly."

"Yes, it could." Ukitake continued to find the whole thing amusing. "I'm talking about how you seem to be handling the situation. You could have handled it much worse."

Toshiro frowned. "I can't hold anything against Matsumoto as she obviously doesn't remember. Ichimaru I think had his reasons for keeping us separate. I don't have the energy to be mad at him, nor do I want to stress out about it. I'm stressing out about Hinamori enough as it is."

"I guess the better question for me to ask is where you want your relationship and your parents relationship to go."

The boy frowned. "I want them to get married. Do you think they could get married by Christmas?"

The man's eyes suddenly widened. "Umm." He then let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, but an engagement is more likely then that and I also think that is going to be a hard push. Ran-chan and Gin-kun have a lot of things that they need to talk about not to mention figuring out what is best for you."

"I may be a child, but I'm also a captain of the Gotei Thirteen. I can deal with them arguing and I can deal with a lot of other things. What I can't handle is them acting like children about the matter."

"The thing is, your father and mother may not have feelings for each other that they want to be tied down to each other for the rest of their lives."

"Isn't it a bit late for that? They've got me don't they?"

Ukitake took a deep breath. "Yes, but that doesn't mean they would make for a good husband and wife for each other. You may end up with a second mother second father in the long run."

"I don't want that. I just found out that I have parents."

"How about you sleep on this and I'll stop by you division tomorrow to talk to you more about this. You look tired."