I do not own anything. Credits to Hiro Mashima and Laramie Briscoe.

Their Last Hope

32 (Epilogue...or not)

Irene

Almost Two Years Later

I glance down at my phone, shifting in my seat as I cross my legs, and take a deep breath. Acno should have been here twenty minutes ago, and would have been if I wasn't so damn forgetful. He'll never forgive himself if he misses this, and it will be completely my fault. There's ten more minutes before the lights go down and the rest of the recital starts.

Pursing my lips, I wonder if I should text him, but if he's driving, he won't answer the phone anyway. Not to mention for the past seven months, I've already been a hell of a distraction. People are milling about, and I happen to be looking at the auditorium doors when they open and in steps my husband. I lift my hand up so he can see where I'm sitting, waving him over.

"You made it," I smile over at him as he slides into the seat next to me, carrying the flowers I'd forgotten.

"I was worried I wouldn't, traffic is crazy out there with it being close to holidays and all. Did I miss her?" He reaches over, kissing me softly as he eases out of his jacket.

"No the eight to twelve year olds are up next. You got here just in time," I look at the time again. "I really didn't think it would take you that long to go back across the bridge to the apartment."

He reaches into the pocket of his jacket and produces me a small bottle of milk. "I figured you might need this. You sounded a little sick when I talked to you earlier, but right now," he does a once over of me, his eyes stopping at the slight baby bump I have in my tight black dress. "You look like a million bucks."

We hadn't necessarily been planning on getting pregnant, but we also hadn't been taking steps to prevent it either. None the less, we were both pleasantly surprised when we found out we're expecting, due in a little less than two months. I've had morning, noon, and midnight sickness with him, and Acno has been so sure that we'll be meeting our son in due time. I declined to know the baby's sex after the last checkup, scared that he'll be disappointed if it'll be a baby girl. He prepared boys' names, bought clothes and toys for baby boys, and I just find it heartbreaking to bring up the possibility of a baby girl. Well, there's a 50 percent chance it's a baby boy anyways. The only thing that puts my stomach at ease most days is milk. I grab the bottle he's produced, taking the top off, and chug it like it's dollar beer night at the bar.

"It's almost arousing, when I watch you go to town on a bottle of milk," he chuckles in my ear. "You drink it like it's the best thing you've ever tasted, and the way you smack your lips when you're done?" He leans closer to me. "Is the same thing you do when I've come in your mouth and you've drained me dry."

My face heats up, I shift in my seat, re-crossing my legs. "That mouth of yours is what got us into this situation to begin with."

He smiles, and I know he's thinking about the night we created the life that's resting in my stomach. He'd been talking dirty to me that chilly and windy night too, after we'd both had a couple of beers out by our fire pit in the back of our apartment. I'll never admit it to anyone, but our baby was created in that back yard. We hadn't even been able to make it up the stairs, and we were afraid of waking Erza up.

"I'll take the 'blame' for it any day," he kisses me on the cheek as he settles back in his seat. "You think she's going to like the flowers?"

"I hope so, she loved the ones I made for my Etsy store the other day. She kept asking me why I never gave her the good-smelling fabric flowers everyone else gets. I hope she realizes I made these in her favorite colors and spritzed them with her favorite perfume of mine."

My goal in life is to make Erza's as good as hers can be, and if she wants the flowers I give everyone else, then by God, she'll get the flowers I give everyone else. My stomach growls, causing me to reach in my purse, pulling out a package of strawberry jam crackers. When I'm hungry I have to eat. "We're going for dinner tonight, right?"

"You think I'd put on a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt just to head back home, woman? Hell no, we're going to some place nice. I drove the truck, so we can leave your car here while we go."

I grin over at him. He's such a good husband and father. I'm about to say something to him when we're interrupted by the Dreyars – Yuri and Anna. The Dreyars are our neighbors when Erza and I were still renting an apartment. Anna is also Erza's homeroom teacher, and we developed a lasting friendship since then. It has been a long time since we moved to Acno's apartment, but we still get to hangout with them.

Acno recognizes Yuri and stands up, shaking hands with him.

"How's it going, Dreyar?" he greets Yuri with a smile, and proceeded to have their man talk.

"Look at the baby mama" Anna greets me with kiss on the cheek. "You have names for the little one?"

"You mean only boys' names," I replied with a whisper-like sigh.

"Hold up, babe, you're glowing! It has to be a baby girl. I don't look like this when I had Laxus," Anna remarked. "I looked like an old hag."

I laughed half-heartedly. "Acno's just so worked up to have a son, that I don't have the courage to bring up that what if we're having a baby girl," I replied quietly.

"Darling, Acno loves you, Erza, and the baby. I am not sure how you enchanted that cold and brooding man to be that devoted as he is now. I mean, look at him!"

I love seeing Acno in his element, his shop has grown bigger than either of us ever imagined it would. He's had to hire on three guys. Surprise of all surprises, one of them is Zeref, well, Z as what he wants to be called. Under Acno's guidance, Zeref is becoming a good man, the kid fancies a girl named Mavis, and he said he wanted to be worthy of her. I have no doubt Acno will always steer him in the right direction. I listen as Acno and Yuri two talk shop as they walk back to us. I love to hear Acno excited about what he's working on.

"Did you get my message I sent you the other day?" Yuri asked.

"About the Indian? Hell yeah," Acno grins. "I knew I'd see you here tonight. When do you want me to come by and look at it?"

"Is tomorrow too soon?" Yuri asks, checking his phone. "Anna and I don't have any plans tomorrow," Yuri replied as he wraps his arm around Anna's waist.

"Well, except, when Laxus comes up with trouble again." Anna replied, and the couple laughed.

"We got anything planned tomorrow, babe?" Acno looks down at me, and caresses my baby bump.

"Nope, I'm working on orders tomorrow, with Erza's help. You can go do your guy stuff if you need to."

"Alright, let's say noon?"

We finish up our conversation as the house lights go down and the aikido instructor comes out on the stage.

Acnologia

If anyone had told me two years ago I would be where I am right now, I would've laughed, called them names, and probably punched them in the face. Now? I'm just thankful that I can call this woman who sits on my right my wife and the little girl who's going to come onstage very soon, my daughter. Giving my attention to the woman up front, I pay attention as he speaks.

"It's my privilege to introduce to you some of our students who have moved up an age bracket this year to the eight to twelve-year-old group. Many of them started with me when they were four, and I've been incredibly lucky to see them grow. They've become amazing athletes, every day I'm constantly amazed by what I learn from them, and what I witness them do. Up first for the eight to twelve-year-olds is Erza Belserion."

I'm not going to lie, every time I hear someone say her last name is Belserion, it gets me in the chest. Not long after we were married, the adoption went through and we officially became a family. In all honesty, I'd expected old Shouta to have an issue with me wanting to adopt his daughter, but he proved once and for all she wasn't what he cared about when he signed parental rights over. It's been the best decision we've ever made. Not even a last name separates us anymore.

"She looks so grown up," Irene whispers over to me, and I have to agree. She does look like she's aged five years in the last two. I'm almost scared for her teenage years. I'll definitely be fighting the boys off with a stern look and probably holding a baseball bat. Tonight her scarlet hair tied up in a ponytail. Red converse cover her feet, even though she wears a black dress, and the earrings I got her for her birthday this year.

"She looks beautiful like her mom, and she's gonna nail this performance. She's been working so hard on it."

Irene grabs my hand as we sit, watching our daughter on a stage in front of hundreds of people with the poise of someone much older. I've never been more proud of her than I am right now.

It's hard to sit through the rest of the recital because I want to see her, I want to congratulate her on a job well done, and give her the flowers her mom has worked so hard on. The next hour feels like torture, but as soon as the house lights come up, I'm out of my seat, grabbing Irene's hand. We hurry along, stopping to say hi to a few of the people we know, trying to get to the area Erza will be. I'm taller than Irene, so I gaze over heads, moving my head this way and that, trying to see her when she comes out. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her scarlet hair. "Sprite," I yell, because she's always going to be that little girl to me.

Erza glances up, seeing me, and runs right towards us. "Dad!"

It never fails to stop my heart when I hear her say that word. Back before I adopted her, I kept telling myself it was a title, it didn't mean shit. I already did everything a dad did. I lied. The title melts my heart and feels me with joy every damn day.

I catch her as she runs to us, taking her in a hug. She's too big to pick up and put on my hip now. "You did great!" I praise her before I let her go, passing her over to Irene.

"Cheesecake, you did awesome!" She holds her hand up for a high-five. "These are for you," she hands her the flowers while Erza hugs her mom around the waist.

"Thank you, Mommy, I was nervous," she admits. "But I think I did well."

"You did perfect from where we sat," I assure her.

She buries her head in the flowers before giving each of us a hug again.

"You hungry?" I ask her, knowing full well she was too nervous to eat earlier. She's gotta be starving by now.

"Can we get souffle?" It's her new favorite thing, and one of the only things Irene can eat right now.

"We have a reservation at Blue Pegasus." I tell her, mentioning the super pricey place that we only go to on special occasions. Her eyes light up, and I feel as if I've given her the world.

"What are we waiting on? Let's go!" She grabs both our hands, pulling us through the crowd.

Irene slows us down, because she just can't move that fast, and I see she's wedged her feet in heels tonight. She is one fucking hot mama; I can't wait to get her in nothing but the heels later on.

"You go on ahead of us," her breathing is slightly labored. "Baby's pressing up under my ribcage," she tells me, holding her side.

"Go on ahead and wait at the truck," I tell Erza, motioning for her to go in front of us.

She has energy for days and such an outgoing personality I can't believe she's the same girl I met at the Companion Program. It makes me wonder something I've never asked before. "What did you think of me when I walked into the Companion Program?"

I can tell I've startled her. That is definitely not the question she was expecting. As she tilts her head, I can see the gears spinning. Stopping for a minute, I wrap her in my arms as I hear Erza groan. She's totally used to us by now.

Irene giggles, grasping my shirt between her fingers. There's a naughtiness to her smile, a brightness to the look in her eyes. "When you told me your name, I had two thoughts. How in the hell is this guy so hot, and how in the world is my life going to be changed by some dude named 'Acky'?"

"Did I do good?" I ask, knowing I have.

"I think you know the answer, there's only one name I call in the middle of the night, whether it's in pleasure, in pain, or just because I want you to hang out with me."

"It's also the name our daughter calls me when she gets sick of waiting," I grin as I can see Erza tapping her foot on the pavement. It's almost as if she heard me when I hear the words coming out of her mouth.

"C'mon, Acky!"

Turning Irene so she's by my side, arm around her neck, I yell back. "Be right there, Sprite."

With the woman of my dreams by my side, daughter of my heart waiting on me, and a baby about to be born, I realize I have the dream. I have everything most people only dream of, and some never get.

All because I got into some trouble and was open to turning my life around.

Maybe in the end, I pulled the biggest plot twist of them all…

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Added a short epilogue for you to enjoy!

Someone left me a review for a Season 2.
Hi, Andromache! Thank you for your interest, I hope I could continue with one. I got hooked with this family dynamic.
Hoping that many will still be interested to read!

A guest also reviewed with an interest to write Acnorene stories.I encourage you to keep going.

That's it for now, see you in the future (hopefully).

Leave a review!