A/N For Valentine's Day. I hate this holiday. So I decided to make it a little sweeter~
Lucy had always disliked Valentine's Day, even as a little girl. And you'd think she'd be the kind of person who loved it, but no. In truth, Lucy didn't even understand the point. It was just an excuse for companies to market red and pink heart-shaped product; for couples to be outwardly obnoxious while inwardly cringing at how much money they spent on their significant other, and right after the holiday season; and for single people to lament their very existence.
But, now that she was a mother of two, she supposed she could be a little more lenient and bake those cookies Natsu had been begging for.
She wandered home from the store, bags laden with supplies in both hands. Lucy had only been gone from home for maybe an hour, but she already felt the tugging in her gut that meant she'd been away from her family for too long.
They'd just recently moved out of Lucy's little apartment on Strawberry Street, and she still had to remind herself which way to go, else she'd end up back outside the old house that didn't belong to her anymore. Part of her missed it, but the part of her that twisted Natsu's arm to get that townhouse on Mulberry Avenue spoke louder.
Hopping up the steps, she nudged open the front door with her hip. A little annoyed that Natsu had left it unlocked, she kicked off her shoes and climbed the stairs that led from the small entrance hall to the second-floor kitchen and living room.
"Natsu?" She called hesitantly. "Hey, you know the door's open, right?"
Rounding the corner, she was met with a sight that simultaneously angered and amused her. Sprawled on the kitchen floor, all across the tiles, surrounded by a veritable mess of food, was her family. "Natsu!"
The little girl beside him looked up first. Her lips stretched into a wide, toothy grin, and she tumbled to her feet. "Mama! You home!"
At that, Natsu looked up from where he was concentrating on making macaroni-art. "Lucy!" He cried. "You were gone for so long, we thought you finally fell in the river!"
She rolled her eyes, setting the bags down as her daughter came to hug her leg. Bending over, she scooped her up into a tight hug. "You thought I fell in the river, Ellie?" She asked, pushing the five-year-old's pink hair off her forehead. "Have more faith in your mama, baby."
"I din't think so," Ellie pouted. "Daddy did, though. He was worried about you."
"Was he?" Lucy asked in amusement, eyes finding Natsu. He was focused on his project, not meeting her eyes, slight blush spreading across his face. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek. He was too cute sometimes.
"He liiiiikes her," Happy trilled from his spot on the floor. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Kind of redundant when we're married, Happy," she sighed.
Happy pouted. "Yeah, I know, but I have nobody to say it for anymore." The baby boy sitting on the floor beside him reached forward and pulled his tail. "Ow! Tyson, why'd you do that?"
"That's my boy," Natsu grinned. Tyson was not old enough to walk without aid of a chair yet, but he was old enough to sit there and torture the poor Exceed charged with watching him. Lucy watched fondly as Natsu leaned over and ruffled the kid's strawberry blond mop. Tyson needed a haircut soon. If only he would sit still... the little guy was so wiggly, he would end up getting impaled by the scissors.
Lucy set Ellie back down so she could waddle back over to her dad. Now arms free, Lucy set to making the cookies. Flour, sugar, vanilla, food colouring. She mixed the ingredients in a bowl, whisking them together to create a batter that was so sweet she almost had trouble tasting it. Pulling out a tray, she set about plopping the batter onto the sheet and forming them into heart shapes.
"What are you guys doing, anyway?" she asked, not looking up from her work.
"Food art," Ellie answered. Her brow was scrunched in concentration. "Elfie taught us."
Natsu puffed out his cheeks and started rolling around, laughing. "Elfie! That's brilliant! I am telling him that as soon as I get the chance-"
"Ignore him," Lucy said mildly. "Don't call Elfman 'Elfie', okay sweetie? It doesn't have 'man' in it."
Natsu continued snickering, occasionally mumbling "Elfie" under his breath. Lucy sighed; she would bet her bottom dollar there would be another fight at the guild tomorrow.
All the cookies were shaped on the tray, and she was almost ready to put them in the oven when Ellie said something that made her heart stop beating and her stomach disappear.
"Look, Daddy! I made a rice ball with your face on it!"
"I made a rice ball with your face on it... hey, did you know, today was my birthday?"
Her hands gripped the edge of the counter, and she leaned over it, breathing heavily, flashbacks spreading through her brain. Flashbacks of her father, the man who turned his back after her mother died. The man who tossed her precious rice ball, the one she worked so hard to create, on the floor. The man who died when she was seventeen and left her with nothing but a gaping, regretful hole in her heart.
Tears filled her eyes, and for a moment she was scared she was going to start sobbing right there in her kitchen.
"Whoah! That's amazing, it looks exactly like me! Lucy, come see this!"
Natsu's voice jerked her out of her reverie. He was on his back, Ellie sitting on his chest and proudly holding a rice ball with a yelling seaweed face. She'd acquired the special, spicy orange jerky they kept in the top cupboard and used it to make fire spewing out of rice ball-Natsu's mouth.
"I don't know," he said, taking it from his daughter's small hands. "This is so good, I don't even know if I can eat it!"
"Daddy!" Ellie yells. "You have to! It's your Valentine!"
Natsu considered it carefully, staring in extra concentration at the rice ball. In fact, he concentrated so hard he started going cross-eyed, and Ellie started to giggle. The he snapped out of it. "Ah, who am I kidding! I eat everything!" And he picked up the rice ball and took a giant bite out of the side.
Lucy smiled, wiping back the tears. Of course. Her shoulders started to shake as silent laughter bubbled over, an immense and unspeakable amount of joy filling up her chest.
"I love you, Daddy," Ellie said, grinning down. Natsu stopped chewing, staring at her for a moment before breaking out his trademark toothy smile and ruffling her hair. "I love you too, baby girl," he grinned, and then she tackled him, chubby arms wrapping around his neck.
"Wah! Let go, Ells, you're killing me!"
The two rolled around on the floor for a bit until Natsu got an arm free. "Oy, Mama!" he waved to Lucy. "Come on and join us!"
"Yeah, Mama, come help me hug Daddy!"
"Ack!"
Lucy pushed the tray of cookie dough in the oven, shutting the doors. "All right, here I come!" she yelled, jumping down and wrapping her arms around both of them. Happy let out a yell and joined them, burrowing into the mess. Tyson crawled over, and Natsu slid his arms out to pull him in.
Then they knocked over Natsu' pile of macaroni art, and created and even bigger mess than before, and as the oven dinged Lucy thought that maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad, after all.
NALU IS LIKE THE CONSISTENCY OF MARSHMALLOWS. IT'S SO FLUFFY IT MIGHT KILL ME.
Fun fact: Lucy never told Natsu about her father and the rice ball. That was Natsu's genuine reaction to being given a rice ball with his face on it.
-Ellie's full name is Eleanor. That's a double reference! Heart-shaped cookies for everyone who gets them both!
-Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!