A/N: School is starting up soon and I just realized that one of my classes runs 20 sum minutes into the next (sigh). I have to fix that ASAP but I'm not stressing over it.

So, I set up an AO3 account, but I can't find it in myself to post FT fics there. I don't know why... maybe I prefer formatting for FT? Maybe? Or I'm just a creature of habit? Probably that one. I had been getting into Miraculous Ladybug , though, and I have a few ideas for that (even though I have enough on my plate already. I never learn, do I?). I just have to get used to their personalities. I really don't want to do an injustice by making them totally OOC. Anyone who knows me knows that I want to be as close to canon characterization as I can.

But anywho, I hope you enjoy and, as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima

Overview: Rated T for the minor heat at the end (just some making out. Nothing too major), and some foul language. Modern!AU. They're around mid- to late-twenties. Un-Beta'd. I'll go back and thread through grammar stuff on a later date, but for now, enjoy the nitty, gritty, and the raw.

Summary: With all the kids his friends were popping out, he never really found the urge to have any of his own. That feeling, however, was long before knew how wrong it felt when his weirdo best friend approached him with a child (that looked a little too much like her, and both draped in baby blues) on her arm, and it wasn't his.

Pairing(s): Natsu/Lucy (main), Sting/Yukino, Natsu/Sting - Friendship, Sting/Lucy - Friendship.

Baby Blues

Natsu Dragneel wiped the sweat from his forehead, a bright grin on his lips.

Excited shrieks of children laughing around him, a few grabby hands tugging at the hems of his shirt. He tried to pacify their eager calling, one of his hand lifted in surrender as he dropped the ball he was holding in the other. The toddlers around him scooted to the side when he gently shooed them away. With a falsely anticipated voice, he slowly counted to three before he lightly kicked the ball and chuckled when three different children gave chase.

The salmon-haired man gave an exhausted sigh and walked over to break them apart when the kids started to tumble with each other, the soccer ball ways away from their small tussle. He noted to apologize to Makarov the next time he saw the old man, only now realizing how much grey hairs they must've given him when they were brats.

"Natsu Dragneel?" A voice called teasingly from the other end of the grassy clearing. "Breaking up a fight, and not being the cause of it? Now I'm sure I've seen everything."

The man in question looked up from where he was holding the collars of two different shirts, the children struggling in his grip to get at each other despite the obvious difference in their and their captor's strengths. Natsu had readied a glare and a sharp retort for the speaker, only to stop when a familiar mop of blonde hair and a playful smirk on the other man's face registered in his mind.

Sting Eucliffe, always the confident individual, swaggered over to where Natsu was, hands in his pockets and a sort of tired tint to his face. Natsu grinned as he let released the two kids and stood up to greet the blonde with a clasp of their hands and a brief bro-hug.

"What're you doin' here?" Natsu asked once they separated. "I thought you guys were on the first flight back to Crocus."

"We were stubbornly invited," Sting answered with a chuckle, glancing at the children who quickly forgot about the two adults and their previous squabbling and started chasing after the ball again. "Lucy insisted that we at least stay for Juvia's baby shower before we left. I figure she just wants us and Hugo to enjoy all the doting before we set off."

"Oh?" The pinkette's smile dropped, his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Yeah," the blonde man nodded, "but by how excited she looked, you guys must have some sort of surprise for us."

Natsu sighed, one of his hands slipping into his pockets while the other pulled his scarf away from his mouth. "Luce really doesn't know how to keep a secret."

"So I was right?" Sting looked a little shocked but then burst out into laughter. "Oh, man! It's a good thing Yuki is pretty oblivious to that kind of stuff. I guess also it helps that she still hasn't gotten used to taking care of Hugo on the go. That kid is an absolute monster at night, seriously."

"You and Yukino made Lucy happy though," Natsu chuckled. "She was really upset when she couldn't make it to Hugo's birth."

"Yuki too," Sting sighed. "That's why as soon as we got the green light from the doc, we got on the next flight here. I don't think I've seen my wife or our child the entire time we were here. It took six months, but my little family finally feels complete with Fairy Tail backing us up."

"You can count on us for anything," Natsu promised with an easy grin. "If it wasn't for your job back in the capital, Luce would've pestered you guys to move to Magnolia."

"Please. You wouldn't have to pester us," the blonde man admitted with a laugh. "If I know my wife, the she wouldn't let Lucy question before jumping at the offer. Yukino knows how important taking over the guild is for me though, and it would be a difficult move with Hugo so young."

"Congrats, by the way," Natsu told him with a chuckle of his own, "for the job and for the baby. Yukino must be relieved that he's not as ugly as you."

Sting punched his arm. "Screw off, man. I'm beautiful."

The pinkette laughed and opened his mouth to say more but an exclamation of surprise stole his focus and his head whipped to attention. "Oi, Simon Louis Fernandez! Put that down!" Natsu shouted across the clearing to the scarlet-haired toddler. "Your mother is going to have my head if she finds out I let you eat dirt again!"

The child, Simon, froze from where his dirt covered hand was poised halfway to his mouth and stared at him rounded eyes. Natsu sternly folded his arms across his chest when the child refused to budge and gave him the well-practiced 'eye' that Lucy always gave him when they first met. Mere moments later, Simon relented with a sag of his shoulders and dropped the fist full of earth back to the ground.

"Jeez," Natsu sighed when the child started after the other children again. "These brats stir up trouble the second you take your eyes off of them."

"That's why Uncle Natsu is here," Sting drawled in the most patronizing tone he could muster and snickered when the pinkette shoved him. "Kids are exhausting, man, but so worth it," the blonde man yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "So?" He asked, "when are we going to see little Natsu spawns running around and causing havoc?"

Natsu snorted. "These spawns are enough," he admitted, gesturing to the group of three children in front of him. "Erza and Mira synced their pregnancies with Simon and Elysia, so it's not like havoc is really a shortage in Fairy Tail. Thankfully they behave... sorta, with Asuka around." Natsu scratched the back of his neck, "I don't know how Jellal and Laxus can put up with this all day."

"Guess it's just something you won't really understand until it happens," Sting shrugged.

"Probably," Natsu agreed, "but don't count on it."

Elysia's gleeful shriek cut Sting's response as the four-year old broke away from the small crowd of children. "An' Usy!"

There was a quieter, but equally gleeful response and Natsu looked for the light-haired child's sudden interest. He knew, of course, that 'An' Usy' meant 'Aunt Lucy' in the child's warbled speech. He knew that Lucy wouldn't cause any harm to the kids, but constant cautious experience for the little humans developed a habit to always check what had gotten the kids so excited. Just for safe keeping.

What he wasn't expecting, though, was the sudden glow surrounding her as she held a lightly bundled child in her arms, beaming brightly at the children that ran up to her. She knelt in front of the kids, moved her body so she could cast a shadow over the bundle, and shifted the baby in her arms so the other kids' curious eyes could peek inside. Natsu couldn't hear what was said, but the excitement radiating off of the children had been enough to guess.

"There's the light of my life!" Sting exclaimed when Lucy stood back up to make her way over, a trail of duckling-children following closely behind her.

The blonde woman laughed, shooting the man a teasing look. "I'm flattered, Sting, I really am. But I don't go for married men."

"Oh, har har, Lucy. You're hilarious," Sting mocked in amusement.

"The talent oozes," Lucy shot back haughtily as she stopped in front of them, her chocolate-brown eyes glowing happily. "Hey, Natsu?" She grinned, bringing the baby up to her face and pressing their cheeks together, "doesn't he look like me? If I were twenty-three and a half or so years younger, we could be twins."

Natsu raised his eyebrow at her, but couldn't help but agree. The baby inherited Sting's blonde hair, just a shade paler than Lucy's, and Yukino's dark brown eyes. It wasn't the first time he was struck by Hugo's eerily likeness to the blonde woman; however, it was the first time they were close enough to compare. If he was a stranger looking in, he could have mistaken Hugo for Lucy's son.

And that really didn't sit well with him.

The grin on the woman's face slid off her lips, a frown of concern replacing it. "Natsu?" Lucy asked warily, cradling Hugo back into her arms. "Are you alright?"

Natsu blinked at her, his eyes focusing onto her own. "Huh? Wha– yeah. Of course I am, you weirdo. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You had a strange look on your face," Lucy replied, years of knowing him tuned out the weirdo comment. "I can take over watching the kids if you need a break."

"Nah," Natsu replied, an easy grin slipping onto his face as he shoved both of his hands into his pockets. "It's almost time for lunch anyway, right?" Lucy nodded, still hesitant. "See? I got them, Luce. Don't worry about it."

"If you're sure," she mused, eyeing him for a moment before turning back to Hugo with a affectionate smile on her lips. "Alright, Hue, you wanna go back to daddy?" Lucy's smile grew when the baby's arms slid out from the blanket and wiggled his fingers in the air. "What about daddy, huh? You think daddy's ready to take you back?"

In reply, Sting held his hands out and wiggled his fingers, mimicking Hugo's actions. Lucy snickered before she carefully passed the baby to his father and gave a final farewell coo before removing her hands entirely. The blond man loosed the blankets around his son, letting the baby's hands curiously explore his face as he playfully nuzzled their noses together.

"Hey there, little light," the blonde man cooed to his son, a finger lifted to move the blanket away from the baby's face. "Did you miss daddy? Mommy must have been desperate if she gave you to Aunt Lucy of all people."

The golden-haired woman rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "Yukino wants you to change Hugo's diaper," she informed, a smirk on her lips when Sting's quickly dropped. "I couldn't really smell it through the blankets, but if your son is anything like you, it's a stinker."

The children that were waiting faithfully behind Lucy finally drew her attention with their giggles and she missed the scowl Sting sent her at the jab. Natsu, however, chuckled at the expression the other man was currently wearing and could only smile in amusement when the (grown) man started to complain to the bundled baby. The pinkette turned back to his best friend just in time to see the children trying to drag her to where they caught an earthworm nearly an hour before.

Knowing Lucy really wouldn't take as smoothly to the wiggling worm as he had, Natsu quickly jumped forward and caught the blonde's wrist in his hand. "Hey, guys?" He addressed the children, ignoring the curious look Lucy sent him, "I really don't think Aunt Lucy wants to see the worm you three caught earlier."

"Aw! Uncle Natsu!" Asuka complained, a pout in his direction. "You ruined the surprise!"

Lucy's eyes rounded, her mouth popping open slightly. "A-Ah, well. U-Uncle Natsu has a p-point. "

"But is really big!" Simon tried to reason, his eyes widening up at Lucy. "Really, really big!"

Natsu's eyes shot towards Lucy's face, knowing the blonde was the biggest sucker for their wide-eyed attacks. As he expected, the blonde's chocolate-brown orbs melted under the stare. It also didn't help that Elysia, the more reserved one of the three, had started to tug at her other hand and gave Lucy the pout that Mirajane had most likely taught her to use on Laxus.

He could feel Lucy's hand weaken under his fingers as she quickly turned and shot him a panicked look. Natsu, who surprisingly doesn't fare much better against the visual assault when it's directed towards him, just shrugged back helplessly. He had to hide his amused smile at the comical look of betrayal that shot across her face.

Taking pity on his best friend, Natsu sighed and tugged her under his arm, giving the children a wary look. "Maybe later, yeah?" He asked with a grin. "It's almost lunch time, so why don't we get all cleaned up before your moms skin me alive?"

"Natsu!" Lucy hissed under her breath, elbowing him in the side. "That is not something you tell children!"

Natsu snorted, keeping a close eye on the children as they jumped and squealed over each other to get to the campground first. "Please, Luce. They each saw me get my ass kicked at least twice this week."

Lucy set harsh eyes on him. "Don't encourage them then, you dolt!"

"It got them movin', didn't it?" He asked with a noncommittal shrug. "And 'sides, it wasn't like I was lyin'."

"Oh, whatever," the blonde woman huffed, ducking under his arm to address the quiet father behind them. "Yukino's expecting you," she told Sting with a defeated sigh. "Are you guys sure you can't move here? I'm going to miss this little guy."

Sting laughed at this. "We have responsibilities back home, Lucy, but the wife would definitely take you up on that offer."

"Yeah, I know," she huffed again, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "That's why I didn't ask Yukino."

"Doesn't mean you can't visit us up in Crocus, though," Sting offered and then continued with a wink, cuddling his son closer. "Who knows? Maybe you might have started your own little spawn buy then."

"Right," Lucy snickered, leaning back to press herself against Natsu. The latter glaring at Sting before the words even fell from the man's lips. "I have enough of my hands full with this big baby," the blonde woman cooed, reaching up and playfully tapping the pinkette's cheek with her hand. "Isn't that right, Natsu?"

The man in question gave her a mocking smile. "I wonder who's takin' care of who, Luce," he returned, wrapping his arm around her again. "Wasn't it just last week when you was complaining that you were just too sick to move?"

Sting cut in through Lucy's sudden silence, a grin on his face. "I'm still expecting some happy news the next time we see each other."

"Don't hold your breath," the blonde woman grumbled. She then shook Natsu's arm away and separated herself from the group. "I'm going to go check on the kids. Only the stars know what kind of trouble they'll get into at the sinks."

"Check Simon, yeah?" Natsu asked her, catching her hand in his and tangling their fingers together. When Lucy turned to look back at him with curious eyes, he winced. "Kid tried to eat dirt. Again."

Lucy huffed out a knowing laugh, turning on her toes and lifting herself up to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek. "I'll make sure there's no evidence," she giggled, dropping back on her heels. "You get cleaned up too, okay? Juvia wants to keep her baby blue tablecloths spotless and I really don't want to spend the night by my boyfriend's hospital bed."

"If she can catch me," Natsu snickered. Lucy just fondly rolled her eyes in reply before untangling their hands and bounded off to where the children disappeared.

"I don't know why you two are so against having a kid," Sting commented when Natsu turned back to him. "Having Hugo changed my entire life– and don't say it's because you're both too busy to have a kid, because I just inherited the guild and Yukino had her new internship at the office. I think Yuki and I know a thing or two about being 'too busy.'"

"It's not that," Natsu sighed, reaching back to fluff the hair above his neck.

Sting shifted Hugo in his arms, smiling down at his son when the child let out a happy giggle. "Did you ask her?" He questioned without looking, letting tiny fingers reach out towards his own.

Natsu blinked. "What?"

"Did you ask her?" Sting repeated, looking up this time. "Did you ask Lucy if she even wanted to have kids?"

"Well... no," Natsu admitted. "But– c'mon, man. You heard her earlier. She told you not to hold your breath."

"Geez, Natsu," the blonde man sighed. "Think about it. You've been together for what? Four years? Your friends are popping up babies left and right. There's no way that she hadn't considered having a kid with you. Women talk, man. One of the only women left in your group who hasn't had a kid yet is Levy, and it's not like it's for the lack of trying."

"Just talk it out, yeah?" Sting asked, clapping a hand on Natsu's shoulder when the other man stayed quiet. "We should get going. I still gotta change Hue's diaper and you gotta get cleaned up. I really don't want you to send us off in a hospital bed."

Natsu landed face-first in exhaustion, the crisp, soft sheets under him giving his aching muscles some reprieve from the harsh day. A laugh sounded from behind him him shortly before he was nudged aside and was joined in a similar fashion. Not caring that hot and humid the day was still clinging to their skins, he rolled enough to pull the equally exhausted blonde into his arms. He nuzzled his way to the side of her face and pressed a kiss to her temple. She giggled affectionately and curled closer.

"Hey, Luce?"

"Hm?"

Natsu lazily dug his fingers between her shoulders, easing the knots out of her back. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" Lucy asked with a satisfied sigh, tension easing from her shoulders.

"When you told Sting not to hold his breath?" The blonde woman froze at his words, her body tensing appropriately. Natsu only continued his fingers' dance on her back until she was somewhat relaxed again. "Well, did you?" He prodded, the smug bastard's words willing him to continue.

Lucy blew out a breath, the air hot on his chest despite his shirt covering it. "Well... I can't say that I haven't thought about it," she admitted, her hand drifting up to rest on the area above his heart. "But, between our guild jobs, your work at the firehouse, and mine with Sorcerer's, I guess there really wasn't much time to really think about it. I mean, that's no excuse. Jason wasn't exactly being subtle when he said we could get maternity leave..."

"So... why don't we?" Natsu asked casually, his fingers falling on the bed when Lucy lifted herself up to look incredulously at him.

"This isn't the weather we're talking about, Natsu," she scowled at him, "this is a life we're talking about here! A baby is a lot of responsibility! Don't ask that so casually!"

He snorted. "As if asking if Hugo had any resemblance to you was such a complicated hint." The blonde went red, spluttering protests that only had the pinkette smiling. He reached up to pull her back onto his chest, quieting her protests but not the flame on her cheeks. "I'm not gonna lie. He does look like you and that doesn't sit well with me. If you have some secret kid, Luce, you better tell me about it."

"Shut up!" Lucy groaned at his chuckling, burying her heated face into his chest.

"But seriously," Natsu smiled, letting his hand drift to her hip. "I've thought about having a kid with you before. I didn't want to push it, though. I didn't want you to scare you off by bringing up a kid so soon. You know you mean the world to me, Luce, but you can do so much better."

"That's a lie and you know it," Lucy scoffed and shifted so she could press a loving kiss to the underside of his jaw. "No one can love me the way you can," she whispered quietly when she pulled back to lay her head back down. "You couldn't scare me off even if you wanted to."

"Unfortunately," Natsu admitted and laughed when she playfully hit his chest.

He shifted their positions, his elbows resting on either side of her as he hovered a breath above. Even in the dark, Lucy's dark-brown eyes gleamed mirthfully into his. He always loved the blissfully happy look on her face, so no one could blame him when he dipped his head to press a full kiss on his girlfriend's lips. She responded in kind, as she always did, submitting every inch of her body and soul to him.

He loves her in the only way he could; with every bend and twist and bit of strength that he could to keep her tethered so greedily to him. Each time their skin meets, he tries to leave a mark on her; a mark so bright and blinding that she would be reminded of him every time she remembered, but only as an act of retaliation because she so effortlessly leaves one on him without even trying. She had called him a greedy, hoarding dragon a few times before, mostly in the heat of a kiss when he robs her of her very breath. It makes him laugh and love her that much more.

Lucy reached places in him that no one dared to touch before, breaking down every carefully built wall he placed. Even through soft, pliant kisses, he monopolized all she had to offer while leaving himself bare for only her to see. For only her to feel. No one could love him the way she could.

Because she could be pretty greedy too.

"I want every piece of you."

It was a confession, soft but demanding in the limited air between them, and Natsu wasn't sure which one of them said it. Judging by the hot, mildly surprised breath that caressed his lips after the phrase was said, then it must have been him.

"You already own every bit."

The breathy reply made a small growling groan push past his lips.

Natsu drifted his hands up her arms, pushing them over her head and lacing their fingers tightly. He parted Lucy's lips with his own and delved deeper. He lost himself to the harsh breaths from her nose as she stubbornly refused to move back for air, and fell with each wanton whimper and desperate tug on his hair every time his sharp teeth scraped against her lip. Sometimes on accident, most times on purpose.

Phrases like before always stuck with him. They were promises. Vows. Guarantees for more without it becoming too obsessive. First came an admission, and then the reply. Like confessing what they already knew, but just making sure that they were still on the same page.

An admission: "I need you."

The reply: "I'm not going anywhere."

She tasted like spit and a bit like the s'mores they roasted over the campfire earlier, but he could swear that he never tasted anything more addicting. His heated hands detached themselves from hers and trailed a languid path down her arms, past the dip of her waist, and then clutched her hips where they stayed for a long moment. One dipped under her body to pull her closer, the other gripped the rising leg at his side and helped its path around his hips.

He liked surprising her in these kind of situations. Where she could easily be caught of guard, and where her reactions is always true. He liked bearing his soul in soft whispers despite being a man for action. That's why he confesses in this sort of way. So he takes leaps, and jumps without reserve. To honor that thought, the next admission came.

Well... sort of admission.

"Have a baby with me."

Lucy pulled back abruptly, breaking their kiss as a loud, surprised laugh erupted from her throat. Natsu chuckled at her mirth, his hand never ceasing their small patterns on her thigh.

"Is that a no?" He couldn't help but cheek, a grin on his face.

Lucy raised an amused eyebrow in his direction, her laughter slowly dying. "You didn't even ask a question, Natsu. Oh my god..."

Natsu blinked. "So that's a no on the no?"

The blonde shook in silent laughter and pulled him back down for another kiss, this one a bit more elated and, somehow, loving.

Later that night, when she was asleep in his arms, content and relaxed, he realizes that he never got his answer. He softly ran his hand down her bare back, slick with a layer of sweat, but he didn't mind in the slightest. At least it didn't feel like a no, he admitted quietly in his head. Natsu chuckled at the thought as he cuddled his loved girlfriend against his chest and dropped an affectionate kiss on the top of her head, following her quickly in slumber.

It definitely didn't feel like a no.