Nervous was an understatement for how Lucy felt in this moment. Her fingers twitched anxiously at her sides as she weaved through the busy streets of Magnolia. The sun was beginning to set so the street lights twinkled above to illuminate a path for people to walk along. A little hope had surged in her chest when Natsu agreed to meet with her, bringing about a boost of confidence as she made her way to their meeting spot. Sabertooth wasn't too far from her house so the walk only took her ten minutes. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for pink hair but after seeing none, she got a table for the two of them.
Lucy's fingers drummed against the table top while sipping her water that a waitress had placed in front of her as she waited for Natsu. During her wait she envisioned all the different ways that their conversation could go. Some were nice, others were not so pleasant, and they seemed to get worse by the minute as fear overtook her thoughts. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man sitting across from her.
"Lucy?" he called, startling her back to reality. Her big brown eyes met his worried expression. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," the blonde breathed out, forcing her muscles to relax. "I was just thinking."
"So have I since our phone call," Natsu admitted and opened his mouth to speak again but a waitress swung by their table for their drink orders instead.
"I'll have a pink lemonade," Lucy told the worker who scribbled it down on a notepad.
"A coke for me," Natsu replied before the waitress could ask, waving her off afterwards.
"So…" Lucy started, unsure if she should just dive into the conversation.
"So you're pregnant," Natsu finished for her, staring her down with a slightly intense, guarded look.
"I am," she nodded, leaning forward slightly in her chair.
Natsu regarded her another moment before speaking again. "Are you sure it's mine?"
Lucy gaped at him. "Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know who you are or what kind of person you are," Natsu told her truthfully. "If you slept with me after just meeting me at the bar who's to say I'm not the first guy you've done that with?"
As much as it hurt he did have a point. "I promise you, this baby is yours. If you need proof I will get a paternity test but I'd rather avoid those costs," Lucy lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap. "I'd get why you think that about me but I'm not that kind of girl. I was hurting, I drank more than I could handle and you were there. I…I-I never meant to take advantage of you or to trap you into having a child with me." By now tears were brimming in her chocolate brown eyes but it seemed harder than before to force them back. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I'm so sorry." Tears began falling down her cheeks for about the third time that day. She specifically told herself not to cry in front of Natsu only to wind up doing so in the first five minutes.
"D-don't cry!" Natsu's panicked voice exclaimed upon seeing her tears. Hastily he did the first thing he thought of and began wiping her tears with his fingers. "Aw man, I didn't mean to make you cry!"
Seeing how concerned he was over a little bit of tears, Lucy let out a choked up laugh and strained to rein in her emotions. "S-S-Sorry I d-didn't mean to s-start cr-crying," she stuttered. "I'm just a b-bit emotional that's all."
"Is that one of those weird pregnancy things?" Natsu asked, once she calmed down enough to be able to speak. When she nodded he continued. "My friend's wife, when she was pregnant she was always crying."
"Really?" Lucy's expression fell. "Does that mean I'm going to cry now all the time?"
"I don't know!" Natsu threw up his arms defensively, afraid to set off the waterworks again. "I really don't know much about this stuff."
"That makes two of us," Lucy sighed, perking up slightly when their drinks were put in front of her. When she caught Natsu staring at her drink she asked him what was wrong.
"It's just…why did you order pink lemonade?"
Lucy blinked, her eyes traveling down to her colorful drink. "I like the color pink so if it can be pink why not?"
Natsu let out a soft chuckle. It was the first laugh she heard out of him today. "You are so weird," he snorted.
"Am not!" she huffed, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Yeah, you are but that's ok. I like weird. Normal is too boring for me," Natsu took a large gulp of his pop, losing his playful manner as he turned serious again. "Anyways, we should really talk about…you know."
"We should," Lucy agreed, looking up to meet his eyes. Finding that too difficult to do she settled for staring at his cheek. "No matter your stance on the baby, I'm going to keep it. This baby didn't do anything wrong." Her lips trembled despite her voice remaining even. "I understand if you don't want to be a father to this baby but if you do you need to tell me."
The pink haired man stared at her for a long moment, taking in her words. "I want to be a father to my child," he told her firmly. "I couldn't imagine life without my dad and I don't want to do the same to my kid," his eyes seemed to soften when he spoke of his father. "If my dad hadn't of adopted me I don't know where I would be today."
"You're adopted?" Lucy questioned, swirling the straw in her drink, the ice cubes clinking against the glass softly.
The waitress came once again for their food orders so the two quickly chose what they wanted from the menu then picked their conversation back up. "Igneel adopted me and my brother together when we were both pretty young. I don't remember our real parents but my brother does. He's a few years older than me."
"What happened to your parents?" Lucy quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God I'm really sorry I shouldn't have asked such a personal question."
"We already got as personal as two people can get, physically at least," Natsu pointed out with a slightly smirk. He watched as her face down to her neck turned from creamy white to tomato red.
"Don't just go and say that!" Lucy sputtered, sweat building on her palms the more she got flustered. Unfortunately for her it seemed that Natsu enjoyed making her squirm.
"Say things like what?" Natsu leaned forward, resting his elbows against the table. "That we had sex?" he said, not bothering to whisper despite being in public.
"Yes! Exactly things like that!" Lucy tried to glare at him but she had to wipe her hands on her skirt since the precipitation on them was getting distracting. "Besides we have more important things to be talking about right now."
Natsu laughed, then sat back in his chair. "Fine, fine. Now what do we talk about first?"
Lucy let out a breath of relief. He actually listened to her. "I guess how we are going to take care of the baby. Will we switch every week with who takes care of the baby? Do you only want some visitation?"
"Whoa whoa there blondie," Natsu held up a hand. He noticed the way her teeth clenched at the nickname but he chose to ignore it. "I want to be with my kid everyday so I can teach him cool stuff!"
"Do you know how to take care of a baby?" Lucy asked, not liking the idea of just giving the baby to Natsu the majority of the time.
Natsu's face well, a low whine coming from the back of his throat. "Not exactly…"
"And neither do I," she sighed. "You said earlier that you just got off of work so what would you do when you had to go to work? I don't know about you but I can't afford a nanny."
"I can't either." At this rate they seemed to be making almost no progress. Lucy was almost ready to just call it quits so she could curl up in bed and eat ice cream while watching stupid movies when Natsu's idea startled her.
"What if we raise the baby together?" he asked, seeming excited by the idea. "When I'm at work you can watch the baby and I can when you are at work. Also, we can put together money to buy things for the baby instead of having to buy two of everything, one for each house."
"Natsu," Lucy started, wondering if his train of thought was going the same way that her's was. "What exactly are you getting at?"
"Let's move in together so we can both raise the baby full time!" Natsu looked so pleased with himself you would have thought he slayed a dragon or something.
"What?! Are you serious?" Lucy gasped, having not expected that at all. She thought he was just going to tell her to keep the baby and that he would visit occasionally.
"Course I am!" Natsu looked at her like she was crazy for even questioning him. "It makes the most sense."
Lucy picked at her nails, not looking as confident. "But we hardly know each other."
"Then looks like we have t'a change that," Natsu stuck out his hand. "My name is Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet ya!" Lucy stared at his outstretched hand, noticing how much larger and tanner they were than her's. "Are ya gonna shake it or not?"
Lucy smiled a little, taking his hand. "I'm Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia," she reintroduced herself. "So we just start hanging out and get to know each other? Do we have to move in right away?"
"Nah, I wouldn't say right away," Natsu thought, his brow furrowing slightly. "But definitely before the baby comes. You'll probably need more help once you get bigger."
"Is that a fat joke?" Natsu shrunk away from her harsh glare before he realized that she was messing with him.
"Damn, you can be as scary as Erza," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck to get rid of the goosebumps.
Lucy blinked at him. "Who is Erza?"
"Huh?" Natsu, hummed, having gotten distracted by their food being brought before them. His mouth salivated at the sight of his juicy burger covered in jalapeño peppers. To make it even spicier he took a bottle of hot sauce from his jacket and doused the burger in that too.
"I asked you who Erza was," Lucy repeated her question as she took a bit of her own plain burger. She was going to order salad but Natsu told her to live a little and to try something else.
"Ohhh," Natsu swallowed such a large mouthful that Lucy was amazed he didn't choke. "Erza is one of my best friends," he explained between bites, hot sauce dripping down the sides of his burger and coating his fingers with the red liquid.
Lucy nodded, drinking her lemonade. "Does she know about….me? Or really us?"
"Not yet." The color drained from Natsu's face, his food freezing in hand. "She's going to kill me…"
Lucy scrunched up her nose at his odd behavior. "Why is she going to kill you?"
Natsu gulped and she really hoped he wasn't going to throw up everywhere. "When she finds out I got you pregnant and we aren't even dating….she's going to beat me to my death with her fists. Maybe she'll end me quicker with one of her swords if I'm lucky."
'Swords? What kind of friends does he even have?!" Lucy's thoughts screamed at her but for Natsu's sake she settled for a nervous smile. "Wow, I hope I don't have to meet her."
Natsu blinked hearing her words and reverted back to normal. "Don't get the wrong idea! Erza's a little crazy but I think she'll like you. I think all my friends will."
"You want to introduce me to your friends?" the blonde asked in surprise, arching a blonde eyebrow at him.
Natsu nodded, digging back into his burger. "Yep! If you are going to be in my life you have to," he smiled. There was something in that smile that caused her heart to beat a little faster.
"I don't have many friends for you to meet," Lucy admitted, wincing at how pathetic that sounded. Her father controlled the majority of her life so she never had kid friends growing up besides Brandish and the house staff. Sadly, Brandish didn't visit all that much and stopped once her mom passed and the staff were doing their jobs.
"A few close friends is better than a lot of friends," Natsu pointed his drink at her. He had already completely demolished his plate of food before she even finished the first half of her sandwich! "Anyways, now that we are going to be a thing you'll have lots more friends!"
Lucy processed what he said, having a delayed reaction. "W-what do you mean a thing?" she flushed.
Natsu cocked his head at her like an adorable yet confused puppy. "I dunno, like a thing as in we're having a baby together." Lucy couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped between her lips. "What you thought we were just going to start dating?" Her blush and no reply gave him his answer. "You're such a weirdo," he laughed, breaking her out of her embarrassment.
"Am not! If anyone is the weirdo here it's you!" Lucy pointed her finger at him accusingly, not unlike a detective pointing out his suspect.
"As if!" Natsu yelled back without a trace of anger in his voice. The two continued 'fighting' for a while longer until both grew tired of it, or really Lucy grew tired while Natsu became distracted by the idea of dessert. "Yosh! Let's get everything!"
Lucy had to force her mouth to close. "How are you still hungry?!"
"Easy, I'm always hungry," he laughed, rubbing his bulging stomach. She remembered how toned his stomach was and wondered how he kept his figure with everything he ate.
"I don't understand your logic…" Lucy muttered, doing nothing but listening as Natsu ordered half of the dessert menu.
"I'll walk you out," Natsu offered, surprising the young woman. He really seemed to be making an effort to be nice to her. Maybe they actually could beat the odds and raise this baby together as a family.
All of these thoughts swirled around in Lucy's head but the only response she gave him was a simple thank you. The pair stepped out of the restaurant, the cool air forming goosebumps on her arms.
"Where's your car at?" the man beside her asked, his green eyes scanning the parking lot.
"Oh uh…funny thing is…I actually don't have a car. I walked here," she admitted, embarrassed by the fact. She had been saving up for a car for so long but rent was expensive and so was paying off her student loans so those two fees swallowed up most of her paycheck. At least her work was close enough to walk to and if the weather was ever bad she could get a ride from her friend, Levy. Hearing this, Natsu's lips pulled down into a frown. He did not enjoy the image of the pretty blonde walking home in the dark by herself.
"Let me give you a ride home, it's getting late." Lucy blushed faintly, tucking her long bangs behind her ear which was also touched with red.
"Thank you, that is very kind of you." The response she received was a cheesy grin from the pink haired man.
"No worries, it's the least I can do to help you out." Natsu reached out, taking her hand in his. "Come on, my car is this way," he tugged her along, weaving between cars until they reached his which was a bright red car accompanied with orange flames painted on the sides. Lucy decided on not making a comment on his choice of car decal seeing that he was giving her a ride home. "Climb right in!" he raced around to the passenger side door so that he could open it before she did. Uttering another thank you, Lucy slid right in. Once she was settled, Natsu closed the door and ran over to the other side of the car and hopping in.
"Take a right out of the parking lot. I live in one of the apartment buildings along the river," she explained the directions, watching as he took out a medicine bottle from the glove box and popped two white pills into his mouth. "I swear to god if you are taking drugs right now-"
"It's medicine," Natsu scoffed in an offended tone, tossing the pill bottle over to her. "I have really bad motion sickness so I haf'ta take these so I can drive without barfing all over the place." His pupils flickered up to the review mirror before he pulled out of the parking space. "I would never put you or our baby in danger like that," he continued in a softer yet more serious voice.
"Natsu…" Lucy breathed out, her brown eyes widening at his confession. They barely knew each other but he seemed to want to protect her like no one ever has before. She did not want to simply thank him, she seemed to have done that at least ten times over one dinner. Instead she reached over, her hand reaching over to the wheel to gently squeeze his right hand. The man seemed to stiffen at the touch before relaxing and taking is hand off the wheel so that he could properly hold onto her.
"I'm gonna take care of you Lucy. Both you and the baby, that I can promise you," he vowed, sparing a glance at her. "No matter what happens I will always stay by your side."
Lucy remained quiet for so long after this that she could feel the tension in the air between them. "I'll stay by your side too, Natsu," she finally replied, looking over at him with a soft smile that spoke more than a hundred words could ever. Things weren't going to be easy, they weren't stupid. The road ahead was filled with bumps and cracks, but as long as they stuck together they could give their child a loving family, which is all the expecting parents wanted.
AN: Thanks for all the positive feedback on the first chapter! I'm really not sure how much longer I'm going to make this. My guess is a few more chapter depending on how many more ideas I have for it and since I'm working on LIABF still. Speaking of LIABF it was added to a community on here which is awesome since it was one with fanfic authors that I admire! Is there anything you all would like to see in this story? Next chapter get ready for Lucy to meet Erza and Gray. How will they react to the news? Leave a review to let me know your thoughts. Thanks again friends! ~CelestialSpiritQueen