#lol i would not kill ohno off in the tags of a drabble about a baby

[recurring-polynya]

can you please do a Renji birthday Drabble where Ichika learns to say “daddy” (or whatever, I’m not so knowledgeable about babies lol) in front of him

“I am not sure,” Byakuya said firmly, “about the use of kidou to create artificial barriers during the combat simulation.”

“It’s the same as the cones Vice-Captain always uses, except people won’t jump over them! Sir!”

“Abarai, tell Yuki to use the cones.”

Renji, who had been edging toward the door, sighed. “The kidou are a great idea, sir. And 3rd Seat Yuki did a great job designing the whole course. You’ll have a great time. Ow.”

A stuffed anthropomorphic seaweed had smacked him in the face.

“Waaaaah!”

“Shh, Daddy is talking to Uncle Byakuya,” Renji murmured, jogging his one-year old daughter in his arms, hoping the bouncing would pacify her.

It was Rukia’s first day back at work. It was Rukia’s first half-day back at work. She had been practically gleeful when she arrived at the Squad Six offices to pass off Ichika. Her hair, which was down to her shoulders now, was wrapped up in a tidy little bun, and her eyes were edged with sharp, black liner. Renji did not remember his wife bothering with eyeliner before she had a baby, but he refused to rib her about being excited to be back. Rukia loved her baby, but staying at home didn’t suit her. Renji was honestly looking forward to her getting back to what she loved almost as much as she was.

Renji had a suspicion, which he had voiced to exactly no one, that he was going to enjoy going to part time, which was supposed to have started fifteen minutes ago. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his job. He loved his job. He also loved his daughter and he was really looking forward to spending more time with her. That is, if he could ever manage to get out of his division office.

The office door slid open, and 4th Seat Kuchiki Choei’s head popped in. “Hey Captain-- oh, is Vice-Captain still here? Hey, Vice-Captain! Do we still have that Hollow dummy? The one that looks like a giant spider?”

“It’s in the attic storage of Barracks #2,” Rikichi announced.

“Oh, great, thanks!”

“Wait, what do you want it for?” Renji yelped, as Ichika tugged his bandana down over his eyes.

“Hey, Yuki, am I leading the Red Team or the Blue Team in the combat sim this afternoon?” Choei asked conversationally.

“You’ve got the Blue Team.”

“I thought I was leading the Blue Team,” Byakuya frowned.

“Aah! Aah! Aaaaaaaah!” Ichika sang.

“Which one of us gets the mess hall in our initial territory?”

“The mess hall is neutral, after what happened last time!”

“I think you guys have this under control, I’m just gonna--” Renji attempted to extricate himself.

“Abarai, which team is Yuki usually on?” Byakuya stopped him in his tracks. “I feel like I should get an additional officer to make up for his absence.”

“He’s sitting right there, you could ask him,” Renji pointed out. “Look, it’s one-fifteen, and Ich--”

“I rearranged all the teams,” Rikichi announced. “It’ll be fun.”

“Oooh, who did I get?” Choei asked, striding into the office. “Hey, Ichika!”

Ichika stopped trying to wrench herself out of Renji’s arms for a brief moment in order to wave one chubby hand at Choei, who cheesed back at her.

“How could you rearrange the teams?” Byakuya protested. “Abarai, did you look at his teams? Are they fairly balanced?”

“I didn’t,” Renji admitted. “But what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Da,” Ichika said, patting his face. “Da.”

Eighth Seat Shirogane’s head suddenly popped into the office. “There’s an inspector here from the First? Does anyone know where Vice-Captain left the blueprints for the new barracks? Oh, Vice-Captain, you’re still here!”

“I have them!” Rikichi called. “The inspector was supposed to come at two!”

“The First always calls early,” Byakuya noted, his eyes narrowed. “They hope to catch us unawares.”

“Hey, Captain, I’ll trade you Extra Large Gotou for Taniguchi!”

Renji cringed. He regretted ever telling Choei about Squad 11 nicknames.

“I’m not unawares! I have those blueprints right here!”

“DA-DEE!”

The entire office went dead silent, and five pairs of eyes swiveled over to where Ichika sat tall in her father’s arms, looking very proud of herself. “Daddy!” she announced again, and then jabbed one tiny finger at the doorway, scowling for punctuation.

“Awwww!” Mihane gasped.

“That was so cute,” Choei added.

“Was that…” Byakuya started slowly. “Has she…”

“That was the first time,” Renji managed, his voice going a bit wobbly.

“Good job, Ichika!” Rikichi cheered.

Ichika beamed.

“What are you doing, Lieutenant?” Byakuya barked, suddenly. “You were supposed to be off at one! Begone! Do you think we cannot handle ourselves without your benighted presence?”

“Just gettin’ outta here!” Renji agreed, slinging Ichika’s diaper bag over his shoulder, to a chorus of “See you tomorrow, Vice-Captain!” and “Bye-bye, Ichika!”

“Good job, kid,” Renji congratulated as they stepped out into the mid-day sunshine. “So, what are we gonna do today?”

Ichika regarded him for a moment and declared “Daddy!”

Renji nodded firmly. “You’re in luck. A whole afternoon with Daddy it is.”