Chapter 8: Baby Business

Dread. From his home to the guild, Natsu dreaded the journey there. The last time he was punished, Laxus made him clean the guild—twice over. It wasn't fun since the members kept breaking everything and he would re-do the cleaning. Maybe he did deserve that punishment because he did burn down the town hall, after all, and the docks, and the part of the market square. Guess he really did deserve it—but it could have been worse, Lucy said.

He sighed once he opened the large doors to the guild. He saw a bunch of bleach blond kids mixed in the crowd of adults. It was late and if those kids were still awake then that must mean both parents are present in the guild—twice the trouble. Natsu eyed the bar and saw the regular barmaid with her sweet yet devilish smile. She signalled for Natsu to come over and he did willingly.

As soon as he got there, one of the kids tackled him or at least tried to. He smiled as he picked up the boy and placed him on the shoulder like how Gildartz used to do with him. The child beamed.

"NATSU FIGHT ME! I want to be as strong as dad!" The boy yelled.

He chuckled; he remembered how he used to be—actually still is. There was this pride and ego that kept him going—kept him challenging Laxus, Erza, or Gildartz—just because he wanted to prove his strength. Some things just remain the same.

"C'mon Natsu, dad says I can challenge you anytime." The boy whined.

"Quit it Rory, we need to have an adult talk." Mirajane interrupted.

"Fine, mom." The boy hopped off Natsu's shoulder and scattered to find his friends.

"How are you, and how's Lucy?" She asked, this time with a serious tone.

"Everything's alright now. I guess. Laxus wants to see me right?" He took a seat.

"Well, we kind of have a request for you." She added.

He only nodded and eyed her suspiciously.

"The kids really take a liking to you. Laxus and I have to go to a Guild Master's meeting tomorrow night, we need someone to babysit the kids."

Natsu deadpanned. One child of theirs was tough enough but they had three children. Three Laxus plus Mirajane type of children. She must be insane.

"Okay, I know they're a hand full but hear me out. They like you a lot. When we asked them who they wanted to babysit them, they said you." She smiled that knowing smile. "Uncle Natsu they said, with their cheery voices." She giggled.

"Mira—" He whined. His feet were itching to start stomping but he realized how much of a child he still was so why put the lives of other children in his hands—even if it's only for one night.

"Don't worry, handle them the way you would handle your own children." She was really persistent. "Thanks Natsu. We'll drop them off tomorrow before we leave for the meeting. Say around 6:30 p.m."

He really didn't have a choice. Their three children were just as wild as they were when they were kids. The eldest daughter was just as rude as her mother as a child—bratty attitude. The middle child was somewhat kind and gentle like Elfman—complete opposite as her older sister. Then the youngest child reminded him of himself—he wasn't pleasant when he was a kid so he assumed that this kid was the same (the boy who was on his shoulder).

"I need a drink." He admitted. "Your kids are not easy to handle." He said honestly.

"Oh I know. I do know very well. You'll do well." She winked and handed him a beer. He knew just by the sound of her cheery voice that she was damn well thankful that her kids were off her hands for a couple of hours. Now he only had to let Lucy know of these plans. But she wasn't the type to initially reject the idea because she loves kids. Only problem was she never really dealt with problematic children, or overly snappy children, or overly hyper children. Dread—once again.

At the house, Gajeel was still munching on whatever he could get his hands on. Lucy only pouted when he reached their cabinets. She was already used to a fire mage rummaging through her stock but now a much bigger metal mage was plowing through her whole kitchen. Levy really did owe her.

"So why aren't you waiting for Levy?" Lucy managed to keep her iron pans away from him.

"She told me she would meet me at home." He shoved a metal spatula into his mouth.

"Why?" Her senses were tingling that he knew something she didn't.

"Why so many questions?" He spouted back.

"You're not telling me something." Her eyebrow quivered. She was getting closer to the matter at hand, her body started to shake in excitement as if the news she was going to hear was good. Because everyone knew that Lucy just had that kind of luck.

"Uh, I think she just wants t surprise me but I already know." He scratched his head. "I've known."

"Know what?" Lucy prompted.

"She's pregnant." He said casually.

"KYAAAAAAAAA!" Lucy was overjoyed at the news that she even hugged Gajeel. He froze at the touch, of course. But Lucy didn't care. Her best friend was pregnant and she was most likely going to be Godmother. After shouting congratulations a million times, Gajeel had to make her shut up because he wasn't supposed to know yet and Lucy shouldn't say a word until Levy was the one to tell her. Obviously, Lucy was too much into baby planning to take in what he was saying.

She realized she was babbling on when she didn't hear metal being chewed on anymore. Her head turned to her friend who sat on her counter with his worried face and crossed arms.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know the first thing about being a father. What if I'm a terrible father?" He squished his eyebrows together.

"I think everyone would feel the same way. But you can't run from the fact that it's going to happen sooner rather than later." She assured him. "I think there is no book or guide for becoming a parent, it just happens naturally. You'll make a good father, Levy will be an amazing mother. You have her to rely on and she has you to be there for her as well."

He smirked. "I guess you're right Bunny girl."

"Really, the same nickname over the last how many years." She scoffed and folded her arms. She bit her lip contemplating on whether or not she should ask him something. He realized though.

"What is it?" He glared. "You wanna know something, don't cha?"

"Dragon slayers can sense when their partner is pregnant?"

He nodded.

"Was I ever... I mean Natsu said we were trying before... but it never seemed to work out..."

"I think that's a question you should save for your husband." He deadpanned. No way was he going to get involved in their mess of a situation.

"I guess..." She sighed and pouted.

"Fine... since you helped me out. You had a miscarriage, that's all I'm going to say." He got off the counter and headed for the door. Pantherlily looked at Lucy as she stood in one place.

"Should you really have told her?" He asked.

"She asked, didn't she?"

Happy let them out and flew to her. She remained silent in a trance, rolling over thoughts.

"Lucy? Are you okay?" He placed his paw on her arm.

She stirred from her trance to see a worried exceed. She smiled softly and patted his head. "Yeah, I'm alright. It was a little shocking but... I don't think I'd want to live through that pain..." She admitted. "..again."

The door started to unlock and Lucy walked out of the kitchen to go greet the person she knew was coming home. He opened the door to reveal her, smiling sweetly at him. He looked at her questioningly, something was bothering her—he knew that look.

His feet hurried to where she was and he enveloped her in his arms. Her eyes started to water as she held onto him. She didn't know why, but there was this strange painful feeling—a loss of something dear.

"What happened?" He asked as he rubbed her back.

"I had a miscarriage huh... I feel sad... even though I don't really remember it. The pain still stings."

He held her close. He remembers the pain, he remembers how it broke her—them. But she didn't need to know yet.

"I asked Gajeel, don't get mad." She sobbed into his shirt.

"I'm not mad." He replied as he guided her to their room. He nodded to Happy and Happy flew to his room to sleep.

He tucked her into bed and he slid in next to her. She wrapped her arms around his torso and he cuddled with her until her breathing evened and fell asleep. His fingers drew circles on her back as he lay awake, thinking about that day. Now he had more things to dread about. Just peachy.

A/N: What what? Two chapters in one weekend. I'm on a roll baby lol jokes, this has been written for some time. I just decided to finally post it haha :p thanks for keeping up with this story. It's a nice feeling knowing that people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing. Teehee Much Much Much appreciated :D