It should have been a happy occasion, she shakes the negative thought from her mind, no it was a happy occasion, plastering on a smile for the crowd surrounding her. They had all been so supportive, thrilled at the new edition coming soon to their growing Fairytail family. Lucy looks around the hall at all the decorations Mira and the girls had set up for the baby shower and it was true, how could anyone not be in a great mood… except lately the spirit wielder couldn't stop thinking about her own mother.

Only Natsu knew of her nightmares, thank Mavis he was there to hold her in the night, to wake her when the pain became too great. But why now during her third trimester had they come at all? Lucy couldn't help but only sigh at the chattering continuing around her, oblivious to her lackadaisical mood. Maybe it was just the hormonal changes affecting her psyche, causing her to doubt whether she really will be a good mother and not a more ominous foretelling.

Because her own mother had died when she was so young.

She knew why it happened, and she couldn't fault her mother for doing what she had done because in the end it was to save Earthland but to a small child those reasons meant nothing more than, well mother is gone and never coming back. It was like an ever-present shadow lingering over Lucy's heart, making her worry, what if she became her mother? What if she had to do something that could leave her own children motherless?

That fear was the crux of the nightmares plaguing her almost every night for the past two weeks and why? Because in their line of work, it wasn't as far fetched as she wanted to tell herself. It would only be a lie to assume that she'd never die because of some difficult mission. Or what if like her mother she had to make a decision that would affect everyone around her, but at the cost of her own life? Could she make such a sacrifice?

Lucy rubs her swollen belly as a comforting reminder that the child growing within would at least start off with two loving parents. He or she will have such a wide network of 'family' that would step in if something did happen, unlike the life she once had to live. It won't be a lonely life.

But that still didn't make Lucy feel any better…

Natsu looks over at his wife and can easily tell the smile she sports is an undeniable fake. He frowns too. For almost two weeks, night after night watching her squirm and whimper, sweat soaking the sheets as he'd cradle her, wake her, soothe away the anguish her dreams were bringing as best he could. He had hoped the party would lighten her spirit, show her, and remind her of the wealth of love that surrounded her, but he guessed wrong.

He wanted to make everything better, he wished he could make her see that her fears were just that, fears and she shouldn't let them consume her. But how could he do that when he knew the truth? Like Lucy, he had lost his real family, lost his adoptive father, and even after gaining a new family in Fairytail, the shadow of those long gone will never be forgotten. Even he felt the anxiety, the what if what happened to them could befall their own children.

That's when he looks around the room at the other mothers and fathers, was this a fear that they had experienced too? Surely any good parent would worry, right? But it was hard to tell when all their faces seemed so relaxed, so without concern of any forceable difficulties in their future, and with their history, it was a high possibility. So how do they cope with it?

It was all so maddening.

Almost from the moment they had met, Lucy was always at the forefront of his thoughts. Her safety, her happiness were the values he fought to maintain, sometimes damn the consequences, and anyone that dared to make her cry would suffer his wrath. But what do you do with an invisible enemy? He couldn't fight his way through this like he was used to doing, showing up fists-a-flaming to protect his special girl.

Natsu pulls Lucy onto his lap and the look in her eyes tell all. So, he does the only thing he could do, the one thing that he always did when she was sad… And maybe, just maybe it would be enough to carry them through.