KTKG Says: I do NOT own Fairy Tail. On with the show!

Thanks Happy

"I wish Lucy was my mom."

The sentence was so random that Natsu almost dropped his fishing pole into the water below him. The words had been uttered so nonchalantly by the blue feline beside him that he could have sworn they had been talking about the weather.

Covering up his surprise, Natsu schooled his face into a bored expression and glanced sideways at his companion. "Where'd that come from?" Apparently he couldn't hide the surprise in his voice, because really that wasn't what he had meant to say. "I mean, what makes you say that?" The Exceed didn't even glance in his direction as he shrugged in response. "I dunno, I was just thinking about some of the stuff Lucy does for me and well, she just feels like my mom." He suddenly looked in Natsu's direction, eyebrows turned down in worry. "Does that make me… weird?"

Instead of answering him (because, honestly, he didn't know what to say at the moment) Natsu asked, "What about your real mom? Don't you like her?" Happy turned back to look out at the horizon, looking as if he were contemplating his answer. Somewhere, way in the back of his mind, Natsu realized that he was about to have a serious conversation for the first time ever with Happy.

Whoa. They were growing up.

"I like her and my dad too, but… I really love you and Lucy. Maybe it's different because I've known you guys longer?" As Happy turned to look at him in confusion he realized that his eyes must have been the size of dinner plates at the moment. Him and Lucy?!

"Yeah, you guys feel more like my parents!"

Damn, he must have said that last thought out loud. Happy was looking at him like he was expecting him to say something. Honestly, what was there to say? Especially in response to something like that?

Silence settled in between them and Natsu felt some of his shock, not to mention nervousness, die away slowly. Maybe the conversation was over? Good. He didn't think he'd survive explaining to his friend, and apparently his adoptive son, that he and Lucy would have to be a couple to be his 'parents.' He sighed as he resumed his look down to where his fishing line disappeared into the water below. First serious conversation: averted.

"Ne, Natsu?"

He gave a noncommittal grunt to show he was listening.

"Can you and Lucy give me a little brother or sister soon?"

*SPLASH*

Shit, there goes his fishing pole.

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"Natsu, why are you staring at me like that?"

"'Cause you're a weirdo."

Lucy just glared at him in response as she rose from her seat across from him, mumbling under her breath as she made her way to the bar in the guild. His sharp hearing caught her retort and her snorted, leaning back as he folded his hands behind his head. The sad thing was, he was agreed with her little comment. He wasthe oneacting like a weirdo, and it was all a certain blue hairball's fault.

Shifting his gaze to the left he found said flying animal hovering around the blonde as she waited for whatever it was that she had ordered. She was chatting away merrily with Levy, something about a book, and seemingly ignoring their little partner. Getting tired of just hovering, Happy plopped himself down on the counter with a slight pout on his face. Then, without taking her eyes off of the bluenette, Lucy reached out a hand and scratched the space between Happy's ears. He didn't even need his enhanced hearing to hear the purr that erupted from him from where he sat.

A few seconds later Mirajane returned to the bar with a pair of mugs, one of them on fire, and a plate with a fish which Happy excitedly snatched up. He hovered back into the air for a minute, stopping to nuzzle Lucy's shoulder in thanks, and then flew off. Giggling, the blonde turned and made her way back towards him.

His cheeks felt like they were suddenly on fire when her brown eyes met his and he had to resist the urge to make sure they actually weren't.

Lucy must have noticed his fidgeting because she suddenly raised an eyebrow in question as she set down the fiery mug in front of him. Ah, fire whiskey, just what he needed at the moment. Hopefully it would help to calm him some. "Thanks Luce." Her eyebrow remained arched as he took his first gulp. "You sure you're okay? You've been awfully quite, and not just today by the way. You've been like this for the last couple of days actually."

He nodded in response, not daring to say anything because in truth, he wasn't really okay. He was still a bit messed up from Happy's little request last week and it was affecting him in ways he wasn't really ready to deal with.

Like how it made him start to notice… things.

Lucy startled him out of his thoughts as she took a sip from her mug, some chocolate concoction from the smell of it, and eyed him wearily. She was about to say something but was cut off by Levy who wanted to finish their earlier conversation. She gave him an apologetic smile before getting up and making her way back to her fellow bookworm. He shot her a cheeky grin and waved her off, waiting until she turned around before letting his cheeks settle back in their resting place.

Damn that flying cat.

Because of him, he was starting to notice things, like really notice things. Yeah, it was true, Lucy had always been good to Happy. From the first day that she had ran into them, she was always looking out for the little feline, giving him attention in ways that honestly were too girly for him. He had after all stopped hugging and cuddling the little fur ball when he turned thirteen thanks to Gray's endless teasing. Really though, he was thankful that Happy did have someone since Lisanna left to give him the kind of affection he craved sometimes. He was only six when he thought about it.

His eyes shifted over to the bar where the youngest of the Strauss siblings worked with her sister. Technically, she should be Happy's 'mother', right? She was there when he hatched after all. He had asked Happy about it and his only reply had been that she felt more like an older sister. Sighing to himself, Natsu was secretly frustrated. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Well, now that he thought about it, she had been there while they were growing up, but they would only really see her when they went to the guild or if they decided to hang out. With Lucy, it seemed like they were together all the time; either they were at the guild, on a mission together, or well, at her place. He'd actually never been over to the Strauss household before. Maybe that's the difference?

One thing that he had noticed was that not only did Lucy take care of Happy; she also took care of him. It was in little ways that not many would notice, not even him, but since that fateful conversation not too long ago he's been able to see it. It was in the little ways that just seemed like every day behavior. When she would go grocery shopping she would grab a couple of fish for Happy, or always make sure there was a box of matches handy in her apartment in case he wanted a snack. It was there when she wouldn't kick them out after a particularly exhausting mission, or when she cooked him something spicy even though she complained about the smell. Hell, the woman kept a supply of first aid materials that could easily rival the guild's infirmary for him!

He sighed again in irritation. He was starting to notice more and more, too, how comfortable she was getting around them. She very rarely exploded on them anymore about their habit of breaking into her place. Instead, some days, she chose to change into some sweatpants and lounge around with them. It was in these instances where she would sometimes throw her legs over his as they sat on the couch talking, or let Happy to curl up in her lap as she read and he pretended to do the same. It was also during these instances that he had to restrain himself from throwing his arm around her and pull her against him while he kissed her silly.

He groaned audibly as he thought about all the times he had to fight to keep his hands and lips to himself around the blonde. It had been a struggle before but as of late it was like he was raging a war with himself around the celestial mage. He already had feelings for the woman, he knew that obviously, but all this thinking about them being Happy's parents was doing nothing but making him realize that he wanted the blonde as his mate. That way they could be real parents, and not just to Happy.

Suddenly he was choking on his drink, his eyes wide with realization.

Dear Mavis, He did NOT just think that! He did not just think about having BABIES with her!

The action of him spitting his whiskey out all over the table caught the attention of the two women at the bar. Attempting to act like nothing was wrong, like he hadn't been thinking about possibly impregnating his teammate, Natsu gave them a similar grin to the one he wore earlier and waved them off. Levy's eyebrows met in confusion while Lucy's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Not giving her time to question him he rose from his spot and headed quickly out the door, give some excuse along the lines of having to change.

Man, he needed to get out of there and clear his head. Maybe he needed to lay off the fire whiskey for a while, especially if it made him have thoughts like that.

Damn that blue flying cat of his!

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Natsu groaned as he sunk into the overly plush couch, his eyes closing as he felt his body relax. The mission they had just returned from had been one of epic proportions. Who would have thought that a simple request of protection would have turned into them fighting a whole dark guild?

Opening his eyes, he looked over to his left and watched as Lucy slowly lowered Happy down onto a make-shift bed of pillows and blankets on the love-seat. He felt his heart tighten at the sight of his unconscious 'son' as well as the tender care Lucy was giving him. Happy had taken a pretty hard hit during the battle and had been out ever since. Hopefully he would wake up soon, but Natsu knew that he needed his rest, especially since he had used up a lot of energy helping out.

Closing his eyes again, he let his head fall on the back of the couch, his sensitive ears picking up the sound of Lucy limping into the bathroom more than likely for supplies. Man, they were all beat up. Gray and Erza included. He as proud though, they had all managed to hold their own, especially Happy and Lucy. Speaking of which…

"Oi, Natsu, wake up."

He cracked his eyes open to find Lucy standing in front of him with her first aid kit in her hands. From the looks of it she had already taken care of her wounds as well as Happy's. How long had he been out? "Come on. You need to get bandaged up and we both need some rest."

Slowly he sat himself up and reached out his right hand for her to start. They worked in silence, Lucy wrapping his appendages and being as careful as possible while he obeyed her commands of different sitting positions. Natsu felt himself losing in his battle to stay awake but shot to victory when Lucy decided to break the silence.

"So, are you going to finally tell me what's been going on with you?"

His eyes shot over in her direction but her head was down as she was still wrapping his ankle. Should he tell her? She obviously knew something was wrong with him as even he could admit he's never been this deep in thought for this long. He sat in silence as he weighed the pros and cons for a couple of second before deciding that she should know how Happy sees her.

"Happy considers us his parents."

She froze for a second before raising her brown eyes to his. Dammit, there was his heart doing that skip a beat thing again.

"Really? What about his real parents?"

He shrugged in response and winced at the action. Setting his foot down slowly on the ground she leaned back into the couch, a dazed look on her face. Instantly Natsu started to panic for some reason. How was she going to take this? After a few minutes of her contemplating the information and him sweating it out, she looked at the sleeping feline with a smile on her face. "I guess I kind of consider him my son too."

He released a sigh of relief as silently as possible, but quickly took it back in at her next words. "What about you? You okay with me being Happy's 'mom'?" He couldn't help the blush that spread across his cheeks as he was bombarded with images from all the fantasies he's had for the past couple of days. Not daring to look at her he asked, "what about you? Are you okay with the idea of us being parents in a sense?"

"Well, the thought has crossed my mind before."

His head whipped in her direction to find her looking down at her fidgeting hands blushing. BLUSHING! Instantly he felt his own heated cheeks increase their temperature drastically. Did that mean what he thought it meant? His thoughts were interrupted as Lucy suddenly stood, pulling him up off of the couch with her. "W-What are you doing?" Damn, he was stuttering now.

"C'mon." She didn't spare him a look as she pulled him in the direction of her bed. Lightly pushing him down on it, she motioned for him to make room before climbing in herself. "L-Lucy…" Since she wasn't looking he actually checked to make sure his face wasn't on fire thanks to her actions. He literally felt like his head was going to explode when he turned towards him, scooting a little closer as she did so.

"Since the baby is already asleep, it's time for mom and dad to do so too ne?" She leaned in and placed a soft kiss to his shocked lips before settling back down beside him, a content sigh leaving her lips. "Good night." Wait, wait, wait, did she just say 'mom and dad'? Who the hell was this person? This couldn't be his Lucy! The real Lucy would have yelled at him for even suggesting they could be parents and-

"Natsu, I swear to Mavis if you don't stop squirming I will knock you out."

Immediately he stilled his body and closed his eyes. Okay, so maybe this was Lucy. But then that meant that what she had said earlier was indeed true. So, that means she maybe had fantasies of the possible family they could have in the future like he did? The light snore that escaped her told him that he would have to wait until the morning to ask her. Oh well. If she didn't mind the idea of them being parents, then that had to mean she didn't mind the idea of them being a couple. He smiled at the thought and finally allowed himself to relax, his free arm wrapping around the small body next to him before drifting off to sleep.

He couldn't wait to tell Happy in the morning that he officially had two sets of parents now.

Hopefully, if Lucy's actions meant anything, he'd be able to get started on Happy's request too.

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KTKG Says: Okay, so that turned out longer than I had originally planned. I hope you liked it!