I was surprised by an early morning drop off of Rogue this morning, and I'm pretty sure Rogue wasn't too happy to be here early either. When Gajeel brought him, he was still asleep, refusing to be waken up before he was ready.
Gajeel and I did our usual business of getting the date when he was coming back to get him and money exchange for me watching him. But this time was different, Gajeel seemed more reluctant to leave Rogue and even lingered in the room where he laid him down, to finish resting.
"You ok, Gajeel?" I asked standing behind him, as he watched Rogue snore softly.
"Yea, sometimes it's harder than most days to leave him. I guess today is one of those days. Thanks, for looking after'em, I'll be back in a few days to come and get'em." he said turning around, looking down at me.
"No problem, I love it when he comes over."
"Seeya in a few days." he responded with a small smirk before walking towards the door.
I waved bye to him as he started his truck and drove into almost complete sunrise. He is earlier than usual, maybe he has to leave earlier for work this time. If so, I hope he stays safe, it's rough on those boats.
Once Rogue finally woke up, we decided to have breakfast on the porch, then play all day.
"Ms. Levy, can Sting and Nashi come over to play with us?" Rogue asked after he finished his breakfast.
"I don't see why not, why don't I ask their mom and we see what she says."
"YAAAY! Call her, call her!" he said jumping up and down.
"Alright, I'll call her right now," I giggled pulling my cell phone out of my pocket. I dialed Lucy number and was glad to hear her voice.
"Hey Levy!"
"Morning, Lu-chan! I have a question for you."
"Ok, shoot."
"Rogue and I was wondering if you and the kids can come over to play today."
"I don't see why not. I just finished feeding them, let me get them dressed and we'll be on our way."
"Alright! See you when you get here."
"Bye!" she said before hanging up.
I knew Rogue was listening the entire time, so I wasn't surprised when he jumped up and down in glee, at the thought of his friends coming over.
"Calm down. Before they come over, we have to clean up the kitchen, so are you going to help me?" I asked looking down at him nodding his head rapidly.
"Ok, then let's get to work."
After the kitchen was cleaned, we went to get dressed for the day, and by the time I was done, I heard my door open and the sound of little feet running around.
"Aunt Levy!" Sting and Nashi screamed out as they ran towards me.
"Hey guys." I said opening my arms wide to welcome them into a big hug. They collided into me with an 'oof' sound escaping my lips.
"Sting!"
"Rogue!" Sting squealed scrambling from my hug to greet his new friend. They hugged each other and did this weird hand shake that I'm pretty sure they made up the last time they were together.
Picking up Nashi, I smiled as my best friend walked into my house with a big smile and a diaper bag hanging from her shoulder.
"You ready for a fun filled day?" I asked.
"Yep, what's the plan?"
"Not sure, I was just going to let them run around the yard until they got tired."
"Sounds like a plan to me." she giggled, ruffling Nashi's salmon hair.
It didn't take long for the boys to run outside and play cops and robbers, while Nashi just sat with us and enjoyed her juice and cookies. I keep a stash of outfits in the room Rogue sleeps in, so whenever the kids want to dress up they can.
Rogue wore a bandit like mask and a little bag with dollar sign on it, while Sting had a sheriffs badge and they both had little toy guns.
"Pew! Pew! You'll never catch me copper!"
"Oh, yes I will! Pew! Pew!" Sting said pretending to shoot his toy gun.
"They get a long really well." Lucy said taking a sip of sweet tea from her cup.
"Yea, it's like they're brothers or long lost friends."
"Anyway, how's the bookstore? I know I haven't been by lately."
"Pfft, It's fine and don't sweat it. I see you all the time anyway. Plus you have two kids and Natsu to worry about."
"The kids are no trouble it's just Natsu." She laughed.
"I'll get there one day. Have a husband to worry about more than kids."
"How about Gajeel." She said causing me to spit my tea out. I nearly sprayed Nashi, if I wouldn't have been paying attention, turning my head to spray the tea out, the poor little girl would've been soaked.
"Lu-chan! What made you say that?!" I asked wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, but she was too busy hunched over in laughter to respond.
"I-I'm just messing with you. I just wanted to see how you would react." She continued to laugh.
"Your mommy is mean," I pouted talking to Nashi, but she just giggled, leaning against me.
Lucy continued to torture me with thoughts and I had to fight back, telling her I'll get Nashi to beat her up, but we just ended up breaking out into a fit of laughter. For the rest of the day, we played knights with the boys, and ultimately Nashi talked them into having tea party, which I don't know how she did it.
They were reluctant at first, but soon made it into their own little game, saying that the tea party was community service for the robber and the sheriff had to make sure he wasn't going to run away from his duties.
"Thanks for inviting us Levy, we had a good time."
"No problem, Lu-chan. Drive safely and tell Natsu I said hey!"
"Will do!" she yelled out as she walked a sleepy Sting and carried an equally tired Nashi back to her car. I watched as she backed out of my driveway and drive towards the city.
It's times like this, when I wished I lived in the city, so I can be even closer to my friends, but I knew being out her was the best place for me. The crime rate is a great percentage lower out here than in the city.
"Alright, let's get you washed up and ready for bed." I said grabbing Rogue's tiny hand, pulling the sleepy child to the bathroom.
It barely took an hour for both of us to be clean and sleeping soundly in bed. I let out a content sigh, "today was good day, and I could live like this forever." I muttered into my pillow, rolling over on my side.
My dreams were filled with delightful spring days, warm breezes, good books and good company. Friends and family, and…
"Levy! Levy! Wake up!" a rough voiced said shaking me awake.
"Huh, what?" I rasped, trying to open my eyes, but my groggy body refused to wake up fully. I guess who ever was trying to wake me up, figure this out too because I felt the covers rip away from me, causing me to jolt up in alarm.
"Hey! What are-Gajeel? What are you doing here? And...Oh crap! Are you bleeding?!" I screamed making him clasp a dirty hand over my mouth.
His shirt was dirty and torn, and there was a big blood stain covering the side of his shirt, along with blood running from his scalp onto the side of his face. I felt something cold and hard, press against my stomach, causing my eyes to go wide with horror at knowing what it was.
"We're going to make a deal ok? You don't scream, you don't call for help, and I don't shoot. You help me and everything will be ok." He said harshly with a cold tone, twisting the fabric of the oversized shirt I wore with his gun. "We gotta deal?"
Unable to talk, I just nodded my head, cursing my body for shaking with fear.