A/N: The idea for this came from my husband. I clearly married the right man.

On to the story!

The doors to Magnolia General Hospital's emergency department were torn from their hinges as one of Fairy Tail's strongest members came rushing inside. The nurse at the desk, along with everyone else present, nearly jumped out of her skin and stared with wide eyes as none other than Laxus Dreyar stalked over to the desk. "Mister Dreyar-"

"My sister's going into labor."

She smiled kindly at the flustered mage. "Are you sure, sir?" It was no secret that Lucy Heartfilia was pregnant, or that Laxus was overly protective - and easy to spook - concerning the child. He'd dragged the poor girl down to the ER several times in the last month alone because she complained about a weird cramp, and he'd thought it was labor.

"Her husband's bringing her in," Laxus growled. "If her waking up at two in the morning with labor pains isn't a fucking sign then-"

"It could just be cramping again," the nurse said patiently. Nevertheless, she was getting the paperwork ready. The doctors would want to see her, regardless of whether or not the hulking blond before her was losing his mind over nothing.

"Her water broke when she got out of the bed!" he roared. "She's going into…" He paused and turned sharply toward the open area that was once where the doors were, his eyes searching frantically for Bickslow flying Lucy in on his totems. He took a deep pull of the air, then whimpered. "Sh-She's bleeding. A lot…"

"Oh dear. I'll call the doctor right away."

Laxus nodded and grabbed the paperwork from the nurse's trembling hands while she went about getting the doctors and orderlies ready for Lucy's arrival. He didn't waste any time in filling out the paperwork, not even taking the time to sit down. When he'd gotten the call from a frantic Lucy, waking him up in the middle of the night, Laxus had instantly been on high alert. Add onto that, the tears in her eyes and hearing Bickslow rushing around in the background, and he knew something was really wrong.

"We're here," Bickslow said as he all but jumped off of his babies, his whimpering wife in his arms. "We're here, baby."

"B-Bix," Lucy cried, her arms held protectively around her belly as another contraction shot through her.

"I've gotcha, baby," he whispered into her hair as he walked over to Laxus and the orderlies that already had a gurney out and ready for the blonde. "I'm not leaving your side. I promise." He knew that he didn't have to say anything for Lucy to know that he was absolutely terrified. He was shaking as badly as she was. Once she was carefully laid down, he was right by her side, holding her hand and not caring that she was on the verge of breaking it. "Breathe, right? Just breathe."

Lucy nodded, biting her lips and trying to stave of the waves of tears that careened down her face. No matter what, she knew Bickslow would be by her side. Their baby would be fine, she would be fine. Everything was going to work out. Her eyes stayed locked onto his, and she saw the fear reflected back in their ruby depths. "Don't be scared, Bix."

"I'm not," he lied. She knew he was lying. He'd never been good at it, and without his visor it was even more obvious. He hadn't even thought to grab it when they'd bolted out of the house in only their pajamas. He gave her a trembling smile while they rushed through the hospital. "Okay, so I am. Just a little."

"It'll be okay," Lucy said quickly. "Tell me it'll be okay."

Bickslow looked around as Lucy was wheeled into a room, his eyes locking with the doctor who was already in scrubs and getting gloves on. "It'll be okay, beautiful," he whispered while looking down at Lucy. "A-okay." That time, he wasn't lying. He truly believed, no matter how utterly terrifying this was, things would work out. The fact that his tank top and light grey sleep pants were covered in her blood went unnoticed. He didn't care about anything aside from Lucy.

He placed his other hand over hers when Lucy whimpered and tightened her grip. "I-I'm scared," Lucy cried, looking up to Bickslow again and sniffling. "Bix…"

"It's okay." He looked to the doctor who was sitting down between Lucy's spread legs. Then over to the nurses as they rushed around, placing a clip on her finger to monitor her heart, an IV in her arm with saline already dripping down.

"We need to induce," the doctor said with a scowl. "You're not dilated enough, but the baby isn't getting enough oxygen."

"Wh-What about a c-section?" Lucy asked. Did she really want one? No. She didn't want to have a scar on her stomach, or to have someone cutting into her uterus to begin with. But her own preferences went by the wayside if it meant their baby would be okay.

"I don't believe it's severe enough for that," the doctor said. "We'll monitor you over the next hour and see. The bleeding has diminished, so we'll do an ultrasound and see what's what."

Bickslow scowled at the doctor, then looked down at Lucy's belly. Twenty-three weeks. She was more and more beautiful every day he looked at her, watching her growing and nurturing the little life they'd tried for two years to make a reality. He placed a hand over where their daughter was, his eyes glowing as he searched intently for her beautiful little white soul. What he saw though had his heart dropping right into his stomach.

It flickered.

Not once had he seen their daughter's soul flicker. It had been strong and brilliant right from the very beginning. Just like her mother's.

But now? It didn't just flicker once or twice. But four times in the span of a minute.

"Bix?"

"B-Baby…"

Lucy looked up into Bickslow's glowing eyes as they locked onto hers. The sight of tears finally welling in them and starting to leak down onto his cheeks told her what she needed to know. The torment etched into his strong features. The helplessness. Anguish. "No…"

Bickslow sniffled and nodded, then looked over to the doctor. "Please… You've gotta do something now. The baby's dying. Her soul… It's…"

Lucy threw a hand over her mouth as a sob bubbled up, closing her eyes to combat the sudden dizziness that washed over her. Her shoulders quivered with each loud cry that escaped her lips, and her grip on Bickslow's hand loosened until she could only feel the skin of her belly stretched protectively around their little girl.

Lucy's cries cut off in an instant, and Bickslow looked at his wife's face with wide, terrified eyes to find her unconscious. "No… What's happening?"

He never got an answer. He was simply pushed back into a corner while the hospital staff rushed to stabilize her. "What's going on?!"

"Sir, please," one nurse said while placing her hands gently on his arms. "Just let us do what we need to."

"B-But, my w-wife…"

"Please, sir."

He looked over to Lucy as a tube was forced down her throat, barely catching a glimpse of her hand still lying on her stomach as the nurses moved. "Pepe… G-Get Laxus."

"What does he need to do?"

"Just…" Bickslow backed himself into a corner, slowly sliding down the wall. "J-Just get L-Laxus…" As the little soul rushed out of the room and down the halls, Bickslow buried his head in his hands and cried.

Lucy woke nearly fifteen hours later, her mind foggy and her mouth dry. She could hear hushed voices around her, and the slow, steady beeping of a heart monitor off to her side. Her eyes refused to open the first few times she tried, but a slow smile stretched across her face when they finally did open and she was greeted with the sight of her husband smiling down at her.

"Good morning, beautiful," Bickslow whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Bixy," Lucy rasped sleepily, nuzzling her cheek in his hand. "How's… How's Bree?"

"She's good, baby," Bickslow said. "But I wanna talk to you." He gently grabbed her hand before she could reach down to rub it over her belly.

She frowned and looked up at him again, blinking to make her vision a little less fuzzy. Once he was fully in focus, she took in the red rims around his eyes and just how puffy they were. The dried tracks of tears on his cheeks and how his nose was red as though he'd been rubbing it with a tissue for hours. "Bixy, what's wrong?"

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, letting out a shaky breath and closing his eyes. "I-It's Bree. You… You kinda passed out and, um…" Another breath, deeper this time. "They had to put a breathing tube in, and…"

"How's Bree?" Lucy asked again.

"Th-The doctor induced labor," Bickslow continued. "She was born at seven thirty-eight this morning."

"She's okay?" Lucy asked breathlessly. "Can I see her?"

He nodded and rested his forehead against hers. "You… Baby, you almost died." And just like that, the tears returned. He'd been crying nonstop since the night before, and just when he thought he'd be able to keep it under control, just long enough to tell Lucy what happened, all of his hard work went down the drain. "C-Cardiac arrest, and… I was so fucking scared."

"What?"

He nodded again, finally pressing her hand to the smaller bump of her stomach now that their daughter was no longer taking residence within her.

"But, you said… She's okay."

"Yeah," he sniffled. "Bree's good. Happy little thing, too."

Lucy looked around the room, hoping to find their daughter in a little bassinet near the bed. Or even in one of those incubators her obstetrician had told her were used for premature babies. She didn't see one though. Maybe their daughter was in the intensive care unit, though. She was a little over three months from her due date, after all. "Where is she?"

"Sh-She's here, baby."

Lucy frowned and looked up at Bickslow. "Here? But…" Her words trailed off as a small pink teddy bear floated into the air and settled itself on her breast. Her free hand shook as it lifted from the bed and gently brushed over the soft fur. "B-Bix?"

"W-We can go and get something different, if you want," Bickslow whispered. "L-Laxus said it was really all they had in the gift shop."

"What…"

"I-I had to choose. They said…"

Lucy looked up when she heard his voice wavering. His eyes were locked onto the little bear, the tears shining in them along with an astounding amount of sheer love and adoration. "Said what?"

"They s-said you weren't going to make it if they didn't use those paddle things. But, it'd… Bree probably wouldn't make it, so… I-I told them…"

"You said to save me," she breathed.

He nodded. "And… I watched her the whole time. I-I never left the room. I… B-Baby, I didn't know what else to do…"

She lifted her hand and brushed it through his hair, a soft smile pulling at her lips. "Lay with me, handsome. You look like you need it."

"God, yes," he whimpered. He pushed her blanket down and helped Lucy move to the side, then carefully settled himself in the bed next to her. Once their heads were resting on the pillow, with the small teddy bear nestled between them and his babies settling themselves here and there along the bed, he brought his lips to hers. "I'm sorry."

Lucy shook her head as she kissed him again. "Don't be," she sighed shakily. The way the small stuffed animal shifted slightly drew her attention, and once she looked at the little face again, she felt her lips quivering. "This… This is Bree…?"

"Mommy?"

A sharp sob left the blonde and she pulled the bear closer while burying herself in her husband's chest. She had been prepared to wait as patiently as possible to hear their daughter finally call her 'Mommy', and had dreamt about it for the past few months. The night before, with the scare she and Bickslow had gotten when she woke up, her first thought was that she would never get to hear it. And now… Now she had. "I'm h-here, sweetie," she sobbed.

Bickslow's arm wound around his wife and he kissed her hair tenderly. "I know it's not the same," he said. "But, I didn't want to lose either of you."

Lucy turned glistening eyes up to her husband. "Y-You saved our little girl," she whispered with a smile. "B-Bixy…"

He shook his head and opened his mouth to tell her just how wrong she was, then paused as the door to the room opened.

"Rise and shine, sis," Laxus whispered gently, a small smile tugging at his lips when he saw the little family lying on the bed. He took slow steps over to the bed, then took a seat on Lucy's side.

"Hey, Sparky," Lucy sniffled. "No kisses?"

Laxus rolled his eyes and stood. As he bent down to kiss her on the cheek, he grinned and shifted so he pressed a kiss to the plush that was housing Bree's soul. The way Lucy's and Bickslow's breath caught at the sight of his smile while looking at the bear had him blinking back his own tears before he turned to look at them. "Sorry, Little Bit. Bree's the favorite now."

Lucy let out a watery laugh as Laxus kissed her on the cheek. "I think I can live with that."

"Mommy?"

The three mages froze and looked down at the little bear as it moved higher to nestle in the crook of Lucy's neck.

"Yes, Bree?"

"Will you sing me the sleeping song?"

"Sleeping song?" Bickslow asked curiously.

Lucy's eyes softened. "The song I sing every night before bed."

Laxus sat back down and watched in silence as the teary blonde started singing 'Twinkle Twinkle' to her daughter. While it wasn't exactly the way they had imagined it, Bickslow and Lucy had their daughter. Bree was born dead at seven thirty-eight. Her soul was transferred into the little teddy bear just a few minutes after Lucy's heart was restarted around four in the morning. Her body didn't have any hair, and no one checked to see what her eye color was. Now, it didn't matter anyway.

Laxus pulled a lacrima from his pocket and started recording the quiet happiness that surrounded his best friend and sister's family. The five wooden totems wriggled until they were pressing against the other mages. Bickslow's arm tightened around Lucy as he gently massaged her back. Lucy's smile - while it always set others at ease - had instantly become the loving and caring smile of a mother as she continued singing. He couldn't have been happier for them. They had tried for so long just for this moment, and even though it wasn't the way they'd anticipated, the way others went through it...

Bickslow and Lucy had their daughter. Bree was here, and she could laugh and enjoy life with her parents. That was the only thing that mattered.

.The End.

So, yeah. That happened.

Honestly, my husband and I were lying in bed one night, three in the morning, and he looked at me and said,
"What if you wrote a story about Bickslow and Lucy having a baby? But, the baby dies and he takes its soul and puts it in a doll-thing? Then they can have their kid with them, even though its body is dead."

I seriously love that little shit. It was totally random, but I just couldn't stop myself from writing this.

It's still got a happy ending of sorts. Bittersweet, but happy.

I hope you guys liked this though. I don't know if it's as emotional as I could have made it, but I didn't want to go overboard. And I don't think I'm really in the right headspace to write something that heavy. So, here's the lite version.

So, Review, Follow, Favorite! I love you, guys!

~~GemNika