Quiet Week

It was with a slight hum that Lucy lifted the tearful four month old from his crib, smiling down at him the whole while. Being in her arms did nothing to quell his cries, but then again, they weren't very loud to begin with. He just wasn't comfortable, she figured.

"What's wrong?" the celestial mage asked softly as not to wake the other child in the room. "Huh?"

Nothing discernable. She even checked his diaper, but it was dry. And, with a long sigh, she went to take a seat in the rocking chair in the corner and just hold him for a bit. He probably just wanted some attention.

Lucy knew that she just be thankful that it was something so simple. She'd be alone with the baby and his twin brother for a few days. At least. Just her and the boys. Every time that cries could be fixed so easily she should be thankful.

She thought about summoning Lyra to sing him back into his nap, but as it was, the day wasn't right. Besides, that might have backfired and awoken the other sleeping child which would just leave her in a bigger mess. No, it was better to just try and rock him back into slumber.

The next few days would be long. That was all Lucy could think about. And dull, more than likely. She'd probably have Mirajane or Erza stop by, once or twice, but that would be about it. It was originally planned that her older child, Navi, would stay with her as Natsu and Happy went off on their job, but didn't pan out like she thought it would.

"I really can't go?" Navi had complained that morning as Natsu and Happy were getting ready to head out. She was in her parents' bedroom, seated on the bed as Natsu stood in the adjoining bathroom, getting ready. Happy was in there with him, tying his little knapsack around his neck. "I never get to go out on jobs with you anymore."

"That's 'cause you gotta stay home with Lucy," Happy told her. The woman in question was in the room as well, sitting on the bed with Navi. Err, well, really she was sitting there with the twins as Navi just glared at her.

"I don't want to though."

"You and Luce'll have tons of fun," Natsu said, glancing into the room at them. "Right, Luce?"

"Huh?" She honestly hadn't been paying much attention and only frowned. "What?"

"Navi thinks that she won't have any fun staying here with you," he said. "But you guys'll do something, huh?"

"Sure." She smiled over at her glaring daughter then. "Without the two of them here to hog it, we'll order takeout and have tons of fun."

"We never have fun," she grumbled. "Now that the stupid babies are here."

"Hey." Natsu glared over at her then. "That's not true. And I never told you that you were coming in the first place. You've been staying home with Lucy."

"That's why I'm bored of it!"

"You know," Lucy said then, "I'm sure that Haven or Locke will have you over one of the nights they're gone."

"I don't want to play with stupid Haven or Locke."

"If you just want to stay in a bad mood, Navi, fine. Go to your room. You can't always get what you want."

That made her storm off which, really, was rather odd for the girl. For the most part. It was obvious though in the past few weeks that the adjustment to having two little brothers was not going great for the nine year old.

"Nice job, Natsu," Happy complained after she left.

"Me? What did I do?"

Lucy only sighed, turning her gaze back to the babies playing on the bed with her. One was on his back, trying his hardest to grab at his feet while the other laid on his tummy, gurgling softly.

"She just wanted to go with you guys," she told the guys as, finished in the bathroom, they came back into the bedroom. "I mean, it does kinda suck for her, I know, to get stuck at home all the time. It's not like I can take her out to do anything. When you two are gone, we mostly just hang around the apartment."

Picking up his scarf from where he'd set it on the bedside table, Natsu said, "Someone has to stay with you. It's no fair for you to get stuck all by yourself. And Navi can help you out with the babies, huh?"

With a shrug, Lucy said, "I'll probably just send her off to one of her friends. At least then she'll get to have fun."

"Lucy, weren't you listening?" Happy complained as he landed on the bed, staring down at the twins. "Her friends are no fun. Sheesh, I wouldn't wanna be left with someone like you either, you can't even listen."

Reaching out, she poked him in the stomach. "If only you knew how quiet it is without you around bothering me."

"Hey!"

"You got enough jewels on you, Luce?" Natsu was already on to the next issue. "This job might take awhile. We have to walk all the way there-"

"We're not walking, Natsu," Happy complained. "We're taking the train."

"I don't wanna take the train."

"That's your problem."

Lucy only rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine with what we have. Trust me."

Standing over the bed then, Natsu leaned down to gently tickle the one baby in the tummy and nuzzle the other's head.

"Bye, boys," he whispered before lifting his head and grinning at Lucy. Returning it, she gave him a kiss when he was close enough.

"Miss us, Lucy," Happy ordered as he jumped off the bed to head out.

"Totally."

"Come on, Hap." Natsu set out then. "We gotta go make sure Navi's okay and convince her that this was all Lucy's fault."

"I'm on board with that."

That only got another eye roll from the woman who, getting to her feet then, said, "Hold on, Natsu. Can you take one of them and put them in their crib, please? I have the other. It's about time for their nap."

"Of course, Luce."

She picked up one as he came to get the other. "I think I'm gonna put them down for a bit. Start on lunch."

"Lunch?" Happy couldn't help, but to look up at that. "Natsu-"

"No, Hap. We'll eat on the way."

"No fair."

"That's definitely fair."

In the boys' room, Natsu dropped the baby in his arms in the crib before brushing a kiss to his head. "I'll see you when I get back, huh?"

When Lucy set the other one in his crib, he went to do the same thing before heading out of the room. She knew that really he wanted to hurry up and make up with Navi. The two rarely disagreed on something and there was no way he was leaving it that way.

"Navi," he called as he headed across the hall to the room she usually shared with Happy. "Hey, we're leavin'."

She was laying on her bed, face buried in a pillow, and didn't even raise up to look at him. Didn't even speak. No way that was going to be okay with the slayer.

"Hey." He went to go pat her on the head. "I said we're leaving."

"So?"

"Navi-"

"See what you've done, Natsu?" Happy came in there as well. "You can't do anything right, can you?"

"Hap, you're not helping."

"Something tells me he's not meaning to." Lucy came to stand in the doorway and staring in at them. "Hey, Navi, what if Natsu and Happy walk you down to the guild before they go? Huh? I bet there's something more fun to do there. And you can come home tonight."

That made her lift her head some. "Really?"

"Sure. It saves me from having to make lunch, anyhow."

"Hurry up and get ready," Natsu sighed as she scrambled out of bed. Lucy smiled then, at the sight of her daughter so excited, and left them to it. She was in the living room, trying to clean up a bit (with Natsu and Happy gone, the place had a chance to stay that way for awhile) when the three of them returned. A couple minutes had passed and, from the look on Natsu's face, she knew something was up.

"Hey, Luce?" He came over to her. "Navi and I were talking."

"Why does that not sound like a good thing?"

"If you're gonna let me go to the guild anyways," Navi began, "can I just go with Dad and Happy and then-"

"No."

"Huh?"

Frowning, Lucy stared at her husband instead of their daughter. "What happened to not giving into everything she wanted?"

"We don't have to give into everything," he said. "Like how she wanted to go to the park yesterday, but we didn't. Remember?"

"Natsu-"

"Please?" Navi was staring up at her. "How am I supposed to get any better if I don't ever get to go anywhere?"

"You do get to go places," Lucy insisted. "All the time. You-"

"Yeah, but Luce, think of it like this," Natsu kept up. "Now you won't have three kids to take care of. You'll just have two!"

"No."

Natsu stared at her for a second before letting his grin fall. Glancing down at his daughter, he said, "Sorry, Nav. You gotta-"

"That's not fair!"

"That's definitely fair," Happy assured her, just as Natsu had him earlier. "Besides, you're lucky. You get to stay and bother Lucy all week."

The celestial mage only gave the Exceed a glare. "Shut up, cat."

"Fine," Navi complained. "Go then."

Reaching out, Natsu ruffled her pink hair and told her to behave before heading for the door.

"See you when we get back, Luce."

Happy waved, too, at both of them, before chasing after him. The second the front door closed behind then, Lucy turned her attention to her daughter.

"You can stop glaring," she said. "You can't always go with them."

"I don't ever get to go with them anymore."

"Navi-"

"Why can't I go? Just because you can't?"

"No. That's not-"

"Locke gets everywhere with his dad," she pointed out. "And Erza takes Ravan out with her if he asked and she's S-Class! It's not fair. You're trying to make worse off than all my friends. Just because you don't like jobs-"

"We're not arguing over this."

Jutting out her lip, Navi said, "You just want me to be as miserable as you. It's not fair. I didn't want the stupid babies."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the girl and, just like that, realized she didn't want her there. She really didn't. Navi had been horrible two weeks ago when Natsu was off on a job and, honestly, with the twins to deal with she just didn't want to put up with her. It had been a progressive change, Lucy was sure, but slowly, it had gotten to the point where she and Navi hardly spent any time with one another. Especially without Natsu or Happy around. The little time they did was usually wasted on Navi griping about not getting to be with her father. Lucy just didn't feel up to dealing with that for another week.

"Go."

"Huh"

"Go. If you don't want to be here with me, fine." Lucy shook her head. "Just go. Hurry."

"R-Really?"

Nodding slightly, Lucy said, "If you hate being here with me, fine. I'm not going to force you to-"

"I don't hate it."

"It's pretty clear that you do."

Her gaze fell a little and wasn't as dark then. "I just like going out on jobs."

"Then go, Navi."

"But-"

"I'll see you when you get back."

She only stood there though for a moment, staring at her mother, before slowly going over to her. Holding out her arms, she waited for Lucy to wrap hers around her before speaking.

"I just wanna go on jobs," she mumbled as she buried her head into her chest as Lucy leaned down. "It's not fun to be here all the time."

"I know," Lucy sighed, holding her tightly. "I'm not as much fun as Natsu, am I?"

"I didn't say that," she complained. "Mom-"

"If you wanna go, you better hurry." She tried to release Navi then, but the girl wouldn't let go. "Navi-"

"I love you."

Grinning then, finally, Lucy whispered, "I know. I love you too."

After she let her go then, Navi stared up at her. "Can I really go then?"

"Yeah," she gave in. "I guess you can. Be careful though, huh? Take care of Happy and your father."

As she ran off, Lucy only sighed before going back to cleaning. She was certain Natsu and Happy were just waiting outside the door. She always gave in. Always.

Still, not having to make lunch was nice. And, if she was going to be truthful, things would be even more peaceful without Navi around. She was never too boisterous, especially considering who her father and resident Exceed were, but still was known to accidentally awaken the twins on more than one occasion.

Not that she felt too great about being home alone. Navi wasn't too much help with the twins, but she was good at keeping one entertained as she changed the other's diaper or something. The thought of just having someone there was nice, really, but she'd been without it before. It wasn't completely horrible.

It was while she was still snuggling and cooing to the pink haired child in her arms that, suddenly, something landed on the windowsill outside the nursery window. Lucy jerked her head up as the already cracked window was pushed open further and a very excited Happy entered.

"What are you doing?" she asked in shock, though she didn't rise form her chair. "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah," he said as he only flew right over to where she was seated. "You."

"Happy-"

"It's not fair," he told her as he landed on the woman's head. "That you gotta stay behind all alone."

"I'm not alone," she told him. "I have the twins."

"That's pretty much alone," he insisted.

"So you just let Natsu and Navi go alone?" she asked in shock. "What if they need you?"

"They'll be fine," he told her. "I mean, what if you needed me?"

Grinning, if only slightly, Lucy settled even more into the rocking chair. "So you're gonna stay with me while they're gone?"

"Yep."

"Awe."

"Don't be weird," he told her. "You weirdo."

"Happy."

Snuggling up atop her head, he said, "Me and you have never spent a week with just ourselves."

"It'll be nice," she agreed.

"Will we have fish every night?"

"I don't know about every night," she told him with a roll of her eyes, "but most, I guess. If that's what you want."

"It is," he assured her. "Natsu and Navi will be so jealous."

"I bet."

"And won't he be shocked when he realizes just how much he needs me?" The cat chuckled. "They'll hardly be able to do anything without me, I bet."

"Me too," she agreed softly. The child in her arms had finally calmed some, settling out in her arms. When she glanced down at him and found that he was asleep, she smiled before getting to her feet. Going over to his brother's crib, she gently laid him in there with the other sleeping boy. There were times when the two of them wanted to be far away from one another and needed their own cribs, but for the most part, they seemed to find much more solace in being close. "There you go."

"Which one do you like better?" Happy asked her as they stared down into the crib. The pink haired baby that she'd just laid down snuggled right up to his bald headed twin. "Lucy?"

"I don't like either one better."

"Mmm…I like Lucky better," he told her. "'cause of Happy and Lucky. Get it?"

"I think I got it, Hap."

"But Iggy's nice too," he went on. "I guess. When he's not crying."

"He does cry a bit more, doesn't he?"

"A lot," Happy agreed. "But he's okay, I guess."

"You guess," she teased as she walked away then, him still riding atop her head. "That's how you felt about Navi. And now look. You even trust her to take care of Natsu for you while you stay home."

"Yeah, it's a hard job to take," he told her, "but I think she's up for the challenge."

Lucy had her doubts, but at the same time, Happy wasn't much of a comfort if he'd been there either. She liked him much better at home with her.

She liked them all at home with her, really.

"When the last time you washed your hair, Lucy?"

For the most part.

"Shut it, cat," she complained as she took him to the living room. When she sat down on the couch, he jumped right off her head and into her lap, snuggling up into her chest. "We have to get along for the next few days, remember. If we don't, I'll ship you out."

"To Wendy's, please." He deviously rubbed his hands together. "This feels like the year."

"The year for what?"

"Me and Carla," he insisted. "That's what."

"You say that every year," she pointed out. "And we're in the middle of a year right now. So I don't-"

"I'm telling you, Lucy, I feel it."

Giggling, she leaned down to nuzzle her head against him, something the Exceed resisted.

"Lucy-"

"You're so silly, you know that?"

"You're such a weirdo." Still though, when she sat back up, he snuggled right back against her. It took a moment or two, but eventually he said, "I'm sorry that Navi didn't want to stay with you."

"It's okay." Smiling down at him, she said, "I can't be too mad. I like being with Natsu too."

"Me too," he told her with a nod. Then, pausing, he added, "But I like being with you too."

"Yeah, Hap." Settling out on the couch to rest, she mumbled, "Same."

He let her just get comfortable before saying, "Uh, Lucy?"

"Hmmm?"

"My lunch?"

Holding down an eye roll, the woman could only grin and shake her head as she got to her feet. So much for her quiet week at home.

"Of course."

Not many Natsu and Lucy moments in this, but I kinda prefer Lucy and Happy bonding as far as the Remember Me series goes. More Jellal and Erza stuff coming up in this series. And of course, Laxus and Mirajane too.