Breaking The News
By: juvia0613 (aka FayeValentine00)
"Oh wow," Lucy said aloud to the empty room. Her eyes focused on the pregnancy test in her hands. The obvious '+' symbol confirmed her suspicions. For the last week, Lucy had been feeling a little off. Just the other day, when she and the other members of Team Natsu had been out on a job, Lucy had summoned Scorpio and it had nearly exhausted all of her magical power. Lately, Lucy had been feeling constantly fatigued and her body ached all over. It took every bit of willpower she possessed to act like everything was fine when all she'd really wanted to do is whine to Natsu and get some sympathy. But, Lucy had been determined not to make Natsu worry until she had answers, because the Celestial Spirit wizard knew that her husband would worry.
The couple had only been married six months and although Natsu and Lucy hadn't been trying for a baby, they hadn't been preventing it either. In very Natsu-like fashion, they were just letting the cards fall where they would. Now those cards had fallen and, although it thrilled her, Lucy couldn't help also feeling nervous. What did she know about being a parent? Her own father had been a terrible example and Natsu's dad was a dragon. Any way she looked at it, this child would have an interesting upbringing but the one absolute she could rely on was that, regardless of anything else, they would love this child beyond measure.
Lucy was thinking about how she would break the news to Natsu when she heard the front door open. Immediately she could hear her Dragon Slayer and Happy talking enthusiastically. In a moment of panic, she threw the test and the box in the bathroom drawer and slammed it shut. She rushed out of the room so quickly that the Celestial Spirit wizard didn't notice that the drawer had shut but then popped back open from the force.
"Lucy, where are you?" Natsu called from the front room.
When she rounded the corner, she saw that they'd been busy. Natsu was carrying two bags of fish. The bigger one contained cooked fish, obviously for them and the second smaller bag held raw fish which must be for happy.
"Welcome home," she grinned.
"Hungry?" The Dragon Slayer held out the fish to her with his big smile.
With a nod Lucy took the bags from Natsu, heading to the kitchen to get things prepped. She was just putting the raw fish in the refrigerator when she left a strong arm wrap around her waist. At first she thought Natsu would kiss her neck, but he didn't. He sniffed her. First once, then twice and then several more times. She was equal parts embarrassed and nervous. Could he smell it on her?! Lucy wouldn't put that past the Dragon Slayer but she still tried to play it off.
"W-What are you doing?" Damn her voice for shaking!
"Hmmm," he pondered, sniffing her again. "I don't know. You smell a little different."
Lucy tried to squirm out of his embrace but the Dragon Slayer he held her tight. "Natsu, stop. I probably just need a shower or something."
Natsu clucked his tongue at her disapprovingly and when she peeked up at her husband, he rolled his eyes at her. "I didn't say you smelled bad. I said you smell different." When Lucy avoided his eyes, Natsu knew something was up… And she knew he knew something was up.
"We don't have time for this right now. I need to make dinner!" The Celestial Spirit wizard was grasping at straws now, struggling to get free but all she could manage was turning around in his arms. The next thing Lucy knew, she was chest to chest with Natsu and pinned up against the fridge with no escape.
"You're acting weird," he said bluntly. Lucy could tell Natsu wasn't mad, but he also wasn't going to accept silence for an answer. "How about you tell me what's going on?"
Lucy opened her mouth to explain but her nerves got the better of her and she dropped her eyes to the floor. "C-Can we talk about this later? After dinner?"
She could feel her husband's eyes on her, trying to gauge the situation. Lucy heard his slow intake of breath and just before he spoke, Happy entered to the room talking loudly.
"Natsu! Look what I found!" Lucy glanced up before Natsu could turn around and saw the test and the box in the Exceeds hands.
"Happy, no!" In an absolute panic, Lucy grabbed Natsu's head and buried his face in her chest. It was an attempt to block his view while she tried to figure out how to stop what was about to happen. This was the last possible way she would have chosen to tell Natsu that he was going to be a father.
What she hadn't considered was that she was suffocating Natsu and that he far out-powered her. While she was busy trying to chase Happy off silently, Natsu was about to pass out. When he couldn't take it any longer, he broke free. As Natsu spun around, Lucy leapt onto his back and covered his eyes, while begging the cat emphatically.
"Happy, please! Not now!" But the Exceed looked right at her with an evil grin. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was having fun. Lucy could tell in an instant that he wasn't going to drop it. "Fine!"
With a huff, Lucy finally slid off of Natsu's back but didn't uncover his eyes. Instead, she moved around until she stood in front of him once more. Then, taking his face in her hands, she moved him until they were staring straight into each other's eyes. She hoped fiercely that he hadn't seen what Happy was holding.
"Fine! Natsu, there is something I need to tell you," Lucy began, her husband's eyes a mixture of amusement and apprehension. When he waited patiently and to his credit, did not look to Happy, she continued. "I'm pregnant."
The Dragon Slayer didn't immediately react. He just looked at her. Slowly, his face shifted from blank to shock and ultimately settled on awe. "Are you serious?"
Feeling like someone had lifted a weight from her shoulders, Lucy allowed herself to laugh easily despite the tears of joy that had started to leak from her eyes. "Why would I lie about this?"
Natsu reached out and took her face in his hands. Using his thumbs, he gently wiped away her tears despite the fact some of his own had fallen as well. "I'm really gonna be a dad?" he murmured, dropping his forehead to hers and closing his eyes.
"Yes." Lucy's voice cracked, thick with emotion. "I love you, Natsu."
"I love you too." Natsu's voice was barely audible but she could feel his meaning more than anything.
"He loooooooooves you," Happy teased, rolling his words obnoxiously, but his voice was closer than it had been. Lucy wanted to be mad at him but she couldn't. Happy was part of the family too. Simultaneously, both Natsu and Lucy reached out and pulled the Exceed into a three-way hug, full of smiles and happy tears.
After some time and more than a few kisses between the parents-to-be, Natsu finally let her go. Stepping back, he held his hand out to Happy and was instantly handed the test with an enormous grin. Lucy felt her cheeks get hot. She wasn't sure why but it was super embarrassing to see Natsu holding the test. He stared at the '+' sign for a long while.
When Lucy couldn't stand it anymore, the Celestial Spirit wizard wrapped her arms around him from behind and held him tightly. "Are you happy?"
"Obviously." Natsu answered, an expression of sheer joy spreading across is face, while he reached back and pulled Lucy around and into his arms again. The smile on his face reminded her of the day he'd asked her if she wanted to join Fairy Tail. It lit up the entire apartment. Leaning over, the Dragon Slayer sniffed her again. "At least now I know why you smell different."
"Stop!" Lucy groaned with a laugh. "I only found out about 5 minutes before you got home. I wasn't trying to hide it or anything."
"I know," Natsu promised. Then, as if a lightbulb had turned on, there was suddenly excitement dancing in his eyes. "Can we go tell everyone?"
"Right now?!" She glanced over at the bag of cooked fish that had dropped to the floor during the chaos. "What about dinner?"
"Who cares! We can eat at the guild!" He grabbed her by the hand and tugged her towards the door. Even if she had wanted to keep it a secret, she wouldn't have been able to deny the expression on his face. Natsu was on Cloud 9 and she could tell that he was determined to tell the good news to anybody who would listen.
"Happy! Put the fish away!" Lucy called as they rushed out the door, hand in hand. She couldn't help but acknowledge that the way the Dragon Slayer pulled her protectively close. That was one of the million things that she loved about him. When Natsu was with her, he'd do anything to keep Lucy safe, and he'd never once failed.
"Who should we tell first?" Natsu kicked open the door in the usual obnoxious way he did when he had something to say. And, as per usual, every head in the guild turned towards Natsu. "Yo, Everyone!"
Only then did Lucy realize that Natsu wasn't planning to tell individuals; he was simply going to make a declaration to everybody at once. "Natsu…" she warned softly, as people glared at the Dragon Slayer, waiting for him to get to the point. "Maybe we should—"
But it was too late, Natsu scooped her up like a princess and vaulted onto the nearest table, knocking over Gray's drink in the process. The Ice Make wizard jumped up, ready for his usual fight but stopped when Natsu blurted out the news without fanfare. "Lucy's pregnant! I'm gonna be a dad!"
The rest of the night was a celebration Lucy would never forget.