All Rights to Hiro Mashima

Back by popular demand, I give you the last instalment of Lightbulb. Thank you to everyone that had followed and favourited and gave me so LaLu love over this fic. :3

BEWARE THE LIGHTNING SPIRIT BABIES!

~ Lightbulb ~

Epilogue: The Start

In which life goes on but everything eventually works out. More or less.

"Alright, listen up."

Laxus awoke to the sounds of his mate speaking quietly in the bathroom. It was sometime in the middle of the night, he could still see some of the stars that Lucy loved so much from the open bedroom window.

He took a cautionary sniff to figure out who exactly was in his house at – he rolled to pick up the glowing lacrima on his bedside table – four eighteen in the morning, but couldn't find any unusual scents that meant they had an intruder or a guest. Or Gods forbid her team had shown up out of the blue like they were prone to do every other day. The Thunder Legion only materialized every three days, but it was consistent enough that when he walked into the kitchen in the mornings and witnessed Freed – complete with a frilly purple apron that Lucy liked to wear with nothing underneath when she was feeling particularly mischievous and wanted him to bend her over the counter and do her from behind – while making everyone breakfast, he didn't have a damn heart attack.

It was like everyone in his guild was physically trying their hardest to give him a damn coronary by the time he was thirty-five, and the worst offender just happened to be his little mate's best fucking friend.

Waking up to see a damn Demon hovering over you while you're naked and still have your cock shoved inside the perfect cunt of the woman you love was…terrifying.

One scare like that was enough for him, thank you very much. Laxus never knew that he could get that limp that fast while still inside Lucy, but there was a first for everything. He still had to shock Natsu more than once to get him out of his bed and away from his mate so that he could sleep. It would be concerning and he would be more territorial if Lucy wasn't already mated to him, or the fact that Natsu didn't seem to be attracted to anyone female. Apparently, Lucy was kin for every Slayer and he had woken up to Natsu spooning her on one side while Wendy snuggled in between her own chest and his more than once a week. Thank the Gods Cobra had some damn sense (also he everyone was mostly sure that Crime Sorciere was somewhere in Seven at the moment) and Gajeel was mated as well…and not stupid enough to climb into his bed (the guy was almost made entirely out of iron, it just was a bad idea all around.)

Apparently, Droy and Jet were still pining, but they also had enough sense to not sleep beside Levy. Laxus liked to think that Gajeel was a bit less understanding than him, but the truth was Laxus had reserves and fucking pools of self-restraint built up from over the time he couldn't just give Lucy one look and then suddenly he was deep between her sexy thighs in his office or the back storage room in the guild.

He had that shit in fucking spades and only zapped Natsu (and Gray, never Wendy though cause she was a damn treasure and adorable and tried to get Erza but she a weird uncanny ability to re-quip into her Lightning Empress Armour even while asleep) when the little dumbasses were getting all comfy on Lucy's breasts – which was more often than one would think – to sleep on.

That was his favourite spot dammit.

He got used to it after a while, but that didn't mean he didn't pound Natsu's face in a little when he had a chance. The joys of morning sex were null and void at that point seeing as they didn't exactly know when Natsu would pop up out of nowhere.

Freed was going to place runes around the outside of his house just as soon as he figured out how to keep the Demon END from running amok. Conventional rules seemed to bend to the bastard's will, and he was getting annoyed at the fact that he was more likely to wake up to the visage of the snoring Fire Dragon than he own mate.

"I'm only gonna say this once. Momma loves you, but I swear on everything that is Holy…if you don't let me sleep through the night without having to pee twenty fucking times, my speech at your weddings will be full of embarrassing photos of you naked as children and then a detailed description of the night you came into existence. Let me tell you, I will remember it for the rest of my life cause your Papa gave it to me so hard I couldn't actually walk for three days." She gave a sharp laugh then a growl of pain. "Don't make me come in there! And stop kicking each other!"

Laxus huffs a quiet laugh. He has no doubt that Lucy would go through with her threats. She was a Celestial Mage after all, and her word was something that everyone took seriously.

His poor children, not even out of the womb and their mother was already making threats. He loved her more for it though; it was just so…Lucy for her to do something like that. He remembers that night vividly as well, it was on a rare occasion that they had the house to themselves, no team members lurking about and they hadn't had each other for what felt like months (in actuality it was only mere days, but who was really paying attention?) and there was just something in the air, or the way she looked at him or how she smelled…that made him fucking snap.

It was the second time he had gone into Dragon Force while loving his woman and he had absolutely no control over it. Lucy had loved it, her keening as he bottomed out still rang out in his more racy dreams of her, and she had gouged his back to hell with her nails.

Laxus and his Dragon had both loved the fact that it was like a claim on him. He especially liked the choked exclamations that the men had given him when he had stripped in the bathhouse the next day. Some had asked how his Lucy was in bed, but he only gave them a wicked grin and turned to give them a glimpse of the clear bite mark on his naked hip and said 'vicious."

Locker room talk was something that the guys did and he didn't mind if some of them were fantasising about Lucy because they would never know the real thing. She came home to him every single night and she was all his.

He strained to hear her whisper through the cracked open bathroom door. "Okay little sparks, let's make a deal. You give momma like…three hours of peaceful sleep, and when you get the fuck out of my body, I'll spoil you within an inch of your lives. How does that sound?"

The Thunder God smiled softly at the nickname. She had started to call them that right after they had found out she was pregnant, seven months and eight days ago because they seemed to make her more electrically charged than normal. He had noticed something off in her smell, it was a little more like ozone than her normal vanilla and the mix was wrong, so he had sneakily sent Wendy to check her out, just to make sure she wasn't sick with something. He had a bit of an inkling about what was going on…but he wanted confirmation.

Turns out, she was sick, but it was morning sickness and she had been hiding it pretty well for almost two weeks thinking it was a flu bug she couldn't shake. When asked why she hadn't gone to Wendy for healing Lucy told her that she didn't want to bother the little Slayer with a stomach ailment.

The petulant glare and rolling eyes from Wendy was enough to make Lucy blush at her idiocy. It didn't for a second cross her mind that she could be pregnant and that made Laxus laugh until he was wheezing. Over the six months of being mated, he had done everything in his considerable power to get her pregnant and she knew that.

They didn't use protection because they both wanted a family, a big one. They still argued about the numbers though. Laxus was hovering around thirty while Lucy had put her foot down at four, saying that if he wanted to give birth instead of her, he was welcome to do it. Then she had kicked him in the face and called him an idiot.

He loved her so much it wasn't even funny.

Laxus remembered her surprise, then the happiness when they realized that their family was growing so fast. Lucy was a little apprehensive as she got weak a lot quicker than normal, but was reassured by Porlyusica that it was normal for women who had powerfully magical offspring.

She was healthy, the baby was healthy and everything was great. The guild rejoiced and then in a triple whammy of unexpected news, Natsu had come forward and everyone that he had known who his mate was even as a child – which came as a shock to the guild, seeing as most thought he was an oblivious asshole – and then swooped down and kissed Gray of all people, full on the mouth, who then punched the Firebug in the eye, then kissed him back. And then Levy had come forward in a tearful display and told everyone that she was also pregnant.

They partied for four days straight. Cana drank all the booze and someone had somehow smashed the bar into tiny pieces (he had a sneaking suspicion that it was Gildarts), but it was the price he had to pay for the ridiculous happiness of his family. Although, he had to keep slapping Lucy's hands away from the wine because she would forget that she was pregnant.

It didn't hit her fully until a week and a half later when she had tried to pull her favourite jeans over her stomach and found out that she couldn't because in her words she had 'grown to the size of a whale' and instead of crying like a normal person, she took out all her messed up emotions on him.

Which he was all for because apparently a pissed off Lucy liked to tie him up and make him beg for release because it was all his fault and he should be punished.

Obviously.

Again, he was totally fine with it. It turned out that over the course of her pregnancy, Lucy didn't exactly have mood swings even though her hormones were way crazy, she swung between insatiable need to have him fuck her raw or, even stranger, hangry, which really wasn't a true mood, but it was the best way to explain the irrational anger when she was starving. The hungry anger he could deal with, easily, but it was the horniness that was giving him trouble.

Not bad trouble, just…inconvenience really. It didn't matter where they were…at all. If she got even a little randy, she was suddenly begging him with quiet moans and stifled panting. The lewdest shit fell from her mouth, the dirtiest things whispered in his ears. And he couldn't fucking resist her like that and had to take her every way possible every single time it happened. In an alleyway, the grocery store, the storage room of the guild, his office had been christened so many times he lost count. Every room in their house – she had moved in a week after they were officially mates, she would no longer have to worry about her nosy team mates or rent every again (until they followed her trail and then seemed to camp out in their living room like fucking squatters with no lives) – and the training field.

Everywhere.

It got to the point where even he couldn't keep up with her and that was saying something. But, nothing would slow her down. If he was too tired – which hit him right in his man pride, it only happened a couple of times – she would take it into her own hands to give him a reprieve. But…it would have him raring to take her as soon as possible. She loved showing him just how she wanted him to touch her, and he absolutely did not mind watching as her lithe little fingers went to work on her slick slit and whimpered as she delved two fingers into her core.

Honestly, it was one of his favourite past times, until he had heard the fluttering of heart beats – not just one, but multiple – and suddenly laying his head down for quality tummy time with his growing hatchlings shot up to the number one slot (sex with his pregnant mate was a very close second).

That had been the shock of the century for him (pun entirely intended) and he had never been more proud or happier about that turn of events.

Twins.

Two fucking kids on the first try.

It was everything that he had hoped for. Double the trouble and anxiety and tiredness for them of course, but that was fine with them. He had once joked about how it was like a 'buy-one-get-one-free' situation and Lucy had been so appalled with him that he had to sleep on the couch for three days.

He came back to himself and watched his mate waddle out of their master bathroom with a hand on her back and a small smile on her face. Even though there were a million and one weird things going on with her body, she was looking forward to seeing those little sparks that liked to kick the shit out of her bladder constantly. Laxus had asked her what she wanted the genders to be and she had confessed one of each, and he thought that that would be perfect, even if they were currently rolling around on her spleen.

But, it meant that they were strong and active and that was more than they could have ever asked for, even if he was getting antsy to meet his little ones and Lucy was complaining daily that she was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

Her due date had come and gone eight days ago, and everyone was on pins and needles for her to go into labour.

He lifted himself half upright on one elbow and held his hand out. "Come here, babe."

She sighed as he helped her get comfortable on a mound of pillows and tucked her in before curling around her with his head on her breasts as close as possible to her stomach. He watched her wince slightly and cringe as one of his little sparks jabbed her insides. He didn't envy her at all. Pregnancy was weird as shit and incredibly hard, even if the rewards were worth the pain.

"Thanks, Sparky."

He gave her right breast a quick kiss and she giggled a little, squirming, but didn't rise to the bait this time. She was apparently too tired to get horny. They had been both getting absolute shit sleeps lately, the anticipation was killing them.

He rubbed his hand down her bare stomach after lifting her night shirt up, marvelling once again at the lives they had made, her stomach was round and distended, stretch marks crisscrossing over her pale skin. She thought they looked weird, he thought they were amazing. He loved looking at her pregnant (it probably had something to do with the fact that it was his offspring in her and he loved that more than anything even if his mate had hit him upside the head for calling them that), and had absolutely no shame in telling her that he thought she was more beautiful like this than ever. Lucy fucking glowed and stuttered out red faced for him to shut up.

Laxus loved it when she was bashful because it didn't happen very often and it meant that he either caught her off guard or believed what he was saying wholeheartedly.

He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he was going to be a father. He had already vowed – more than once, loudly and very drunkenly to everyone gathered at the guild for the celebration of Lucy's pregnancy – that he would be better than the shit that raised him before his grandfather. Laxus knew it would be hard and his kids would undoubtedly turn his hair grey long before it was supposed to (or bald…just look at his Gramps…), but he would do his absolute best to make sure they were cared for and happy and healthy as long as he was able to.

He growled a little, as low as he could so not to wake Lucy – she had finally slipped into a nice light sleep – and he felt his children stop their incessant little flutters and settle down inside her. It was a trick he had found worked well to calm them for a while at least. He had a theory that they had some Slayer mixed in with them somewhere along the line and they were reacting to the sound of his own Dragon trying to speak to them. It was weird, but he liked the fact that they connected with him on a primal level.

His own Dragon was a smug bastard about it and preened whenever they reacted to him, but it only really reflected his own feelings on the matter.

The Thunder God traced small patterns on his mate's stomach, breathing in her scent and drifted off. Hopefully, they would be able to meet his children soon because the wait was absolute torture.

-ooo-

Lucy sighed forlornly as she watched Cana guzzle her customary pre-lunch barrel. She missed alcohol a little bit, and coffee. And a bunch of other shit that she enjoyed but couldn't have at the moment.

She rubbed her stomach as the flutters inside her grew more insistent until she felt one of her little sparks kick out and winced. Damn those babies were gonna come out strong, just like their dad, that was for sure.

A strange dichotomy of heat and cold engulfed her from behind as she felt a cool hand clamp down on her shoulder and a burning face press into her neck.

She knew this feeling instantly and didn't jolt or start or jump. They were her best friends after all.

"Luuuuceeee."

"Yes, Natsu?"

"Hurry up. I wanna meet my niece and nephew."

She laughed tiredly then stroked her hand through Natsu's thick pink hair for a minute before pushing his face off of her. He was just so warm and with the hot flashes she had that came out of nowhere, he was a bit much. "I can't control something like that Natsu, it's up to the babies really." She sighed out when Gray's cool hands massaged down her neck, easing the tension that had been gathering there over the last week and a half.

The mated pair sat on either side of her on the bench and chatted with her for a little while, taking Lucy's mind off the babies and pregnancy and everything that was about to change in her life. She was a little sad to stay back from missions with her team, but Juvia and Lisanna had been added as tentative members together, and that was working out well for the most part.

It had been…strained in the beginning. Lucy could see the pain in both girls' eyes as they watched the men the loved…in love with each other.

That had been a wild (if not wet) confrontation.

Natsu had never, not once since the moment Lucy had met him, mentioned mates or the fact that he knew exactly who his was. She had to go out and figure it out for herself when he had turned up in her house every damn winter to hibernate with some of her softest blankets. So imagine her (and everyone else's, mind you) surprise that ten minutes after she announces she's pregnant with Laxus' Lightning Spirit baby, her best fucking friend pulls this shit and claims Gray in front of everyone (the kiss was super-hot, so it was all forgiven, especially after Gray had gotten the upper hand and decked the Demon-Dragon in the face and then shoved his own tongue down Natsu's throat.)

Unfortunately, no one had really thought about what would happen if a certain distraught and now livid water mage had witnessed said kiss.

To be frank, it poured for a week and the floor boards in the guild probably have more than their fair share of mould underneath them now.

It wasn't until a very subdued Lisanna (Lucy had seen the way she had looked at Natsu for years, and felt terrible that the take-over mage wasn't the one that was meant for her best friend) had dragged Juvia out for a two month mission so that they could clear their heads a little that everyone had dared to speak the name Gray in the guild hall again.

(She was a very…passionate and weepy person whenever her beloved was mentioned.)

They had returned and Juvia had more self-confidence and Lisanna had that sparkle in her eyes back again. But what both failed to see that they truly glowed and shined around each other. Lucy wasn't going to say anything, but Mira caught her watching the two giggle over an ice-cream sundae once and only winked slyly.

She wasn't the only one who saw how good they were together. Most likely they would take things slow, but perhaps they could mend each other's hearts and realise that they deserved one another.

Lucy could only hope that they found a love like she did. Like Natsu and Gray did, like Levy and Gajeel had.

Lucy sighed again and shifted uncomfortably. For the past two weeks, she had been feeling out of sorts, like her skin didn't quite fit her. Wendy had assured her that it was normal at the end of pregnancies, but Lucy just wanted it to be over, she wanted these gigantic babies out of her dammit.

"Tired?" Gray let her lean her head onto his blessedly cool (and suddenly naked, where was his shirt?) shoulder while Natsu watched over them pouting that he was too warm to help Lucy like his mate could.

"Yeah. I love being pregnant, don't get me wrong, but damn do I wish it was over. I've been waiting for them to come and I am getting so impatient."

"Isn't there anything you can do to…I don't know…help them along?"

Lucy raised her eyebrow at Natsu's question and gave a small huff. "Of course! We've tried everything. Long walks, this special herbal tea, castor oil, massages, fucking acupressure, Erza took me on a drive with her in a magic mobile cause she heard that a bumpy ride would work…and it did nothing except terrifying me. Oh, and sex, lots of it, but zip. Nothing."

"Ugh. No. I didn't need to hear that, but anything else?"

"Uhm, spicy foods? But that didn't do anything either."

Natsu perked up at that. "What did you have?"

"Mira's fire chicken."

He hummed and hawed for a while, thinking. "I guess, but I have something better, something way spicier."

Lucy cocked her head to the side and waited for an explanation. Only recently (as in the last three months or so) Natsu had shown her a little patch of land a five-minute walk away from his home that he grew food on.

Which was so ridiculous Lucy didn't even know what to think, but it was so…Natsu, that she just went with it. The irony wasn't lost on her either. The fact that Natsu, the man-Demon-Dragon who fought constantly with his mate and destroyed literally everything in his path even if most of the damage was unintentional could nurture and grow anything was a little hilarious. But the small garden filled with vegetables and berries had begged to differ and when asked, he said it was mostly for speciality items that he couldn't find in great quantities.

Green thumb Natsu was a weird concept, but it grew on her.

Those items had turned out to be hot peppers. But not the ones that normally grew in Fiore, or common elsewhere. These ones apparently were a special breed that Natsu had actually created. It flabbergasted her to no end, but it also made her happy to watch as her best friend was calm and gentle with his plants, and it gave her hope that it would spill over into the rest of his life a little and the guild wouldn't always be known as a walking disaster zone. It helped that while he worked and weeded that little plot of land, she would either write or read by his side alone or with Happy. It gave her something to fill her more lonely afternoons when Laxus was called away for official guild duties.

"You mean the ones from your garden?"

He grinned at her all teeth and flashing canines while Gray groaned. "I don't think—"

Lucy talked over her lovely friend who she was using as an ice pack, eager to try anything and everything. "Are they spicy?"

"Hell yeah."

"What are they called?"

His smile only got wider as he and Lucy only ignored the mutterings of Gray at their side.

"Demon chillies."

Of course.

-ooo-

"Shit!"

"Luce…you didn't even fucking eat one."

"Dammit Lava Crotch! I told you they were too spicy! I can't believe just the smell of it set her off!"

"Well it worked didn't it?"

"A little too well if you ask me! Her water fucking broke and you know Laxus is gonna kill both of us for this!"

"SHUT UP YOU PERVY POPSICLE!"

"WHY YOU—"

"OI! BOTH OF YOU FUCKING IDIOTS NEED TO SHUT THE HELL UP AND GET ME TO THE GODDAMN GUILD OR I'M GUNNA LET SPARKY FRY THE SHIT OUTA YOU AFTER I RIP OFF YOUR STUPID HEADS!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

-ooo-

The first thing Laxus heard that tipped him off that something was going down in the beer hall was all the yelling.

But not the usual kind of petty insults that made everyone male lose their minds and fall into the inevitable brawl that was brewing, but the kind that made his skin crawl with trepidation.

So.

Either someone broke all of Mira's pristine clean beer mugs again and Sitri had shown her face (that dickhead still owed him money from poker night three weeks ago) or Scary Lucy had popped up out of nowhere.

Which was saying something because they hadn't seen Scary Pregnant Lucy at all – praise Mavis – and most thought it was inevitable for it to happen sometime.

Apparently, that day was today, but he didn't know why. All he could hear was someone yelling about spicy peppers and idiot Slayers who knock up their mates without telling them first.

Oh.

Part of Laxus wanted to hide from the obviously terrifying whirlwind of a mate in his office, safe behind the mountains of paper work, and part knew that if he acted like a fucking coward that she would kick his ass then probably allow Erza to cut up his prized jacket.

Nope. Today was not going to be the day of his jacket's death.

The biggest question now was what had set Lucy off? He knew she was tired and uncomfortable and horny and hungry all the time, but she had held up like a fucking champ until right this second.

Just as he was about to venture outside and peek his head over the railing of the second floor to assess the situation and come up with a valid plan of attack complete with multiple escape routes, the door to his office was flung open by a growling Wendy (when the hell had she come back from her advanced healing lessons with Porlyusica?) in fucking Dragon Force.

"Fucking hell Squirt! Don't give me a heart attack!"

She pointed a finger in the middle of his chest and narrowed her eyes dangerously as if he had personally offended her. He was frozen in place and absolutely scared out of his wits, but he would never, ever say those words.

"You're needed in the infirmary. It's time."

His higher brain functions chose that moment to fizzle out into white noise and he asked the dumbest question that had ever come out of his mouth. Ever. "Time for what?"

And then his mate – who he knew had a set of lungs on her from all the times she had screamed his name as she came around his dick – cried out in obvious pain.

He was out of that doorway breezing passed Wendy and halfway to Lucy before anyone could even think the words holyshit. (Why he didn't think about just…teleporting there with his lightning was a mystery to himself even to this day.)

-ooo-

"So. First of all. I want to apologize for all those names I called you."

"Uh huh."

"And the broken hand."

"Okay."

"Oh! I promise I love your voice too. I didn't mean that I thought it sounded like a dying duck. It's actually soothing and sexy and all growly."

"Sure."

"Are you even listening Sparky?"

In truth, he was not. Even though he recognized somewhere deep within his hind brain that he should be paying attention to the light of his life, but in his defence, he had his hands filled with two bright-eyed little girls.

Two blonde-haired little angels that cooed and whined and screamed like banshees. He couldn't fucking believe it.

He was a dad. He was their papa now and he had two little baby Dragons.

And shit he was already crying, but that was fine because he had his baby girls in his arms and his mate was health and amazing. It was all coming up Laxus.

"Babe?"

"Uh…yeah."

"You alright?"

"Goddamn, you make me so happy. Look at them, Princess. They are so fucking perfect. Thank you, baby. Dammit. Fuck I love you."

He watched as Lucy teared up and reached for them all and suddenly they were all on the same bed happy as can fucking be, crying and sniffling and sappy.

Porlyusica gave them a slightly subdued glare – for her that was like she was practically beaming at them – and pushed some paperwork around while Wendy stood beaming at her side trying to sneak peaks at the new babies.

"Names?"

Laxus baulked. Every name they had come up with flew out of his mind and he floundered. The two perfect names they had picked out just felt wrong now.

Lucy was looking at their girls, nibbling her lower lip between her teeth. "I don't…Laxus? I don't like the ones we picked out…"

Well, at least he wasn't the only one.

The one on the right blinked open her eyes for the first time and Laxus inhaled sharply. He knew that babies always had blue eyes when they were born, but hers looked so dark they were almost indigo.

"Violet."

The second slept peacefully and Lucy smiled down at her. "Grace."

Well, fuck him. After all that planning and time spent on names and arguing, all they had needed was to see their kids and they just knew.

Wendy smiled and jotted down the names, making it official. "Ready to let the masses in? You know Natsu's been pacing since you came up here almost four hours ago."

The Thunder God looked down on his kickass mate and quirked a single brow in question. "Well? What do you think? Should we let the crazies in? Ready to take on the next adventure?"

Her eyes twinkled as she shifted Grace closer to her chest and smiled the same smile that made him fall head over fucking tea kettle for her all those years ago. Violet gurgled a little and that made him smile back. "You betcha Sparky, let's do this thing."

FIN

That's it my precious cupcakes,

Thanks for reading Lightbulb and hope you check out some of my other fics as well…

Stay Crazy,

LoadedEel