Hey guys! Long time no update right? I'm sorry about that. I hope this chapter makes it better though and just know I am going to finish this story no matter how long it takes. Also, what would you guys think about me drawing a picture of Kade? If you have any questions for me about this story (or any story in general) feel free to review, send a DM or message me on tumblr! My tumblr is proudtobeaginger!
Shout out to my ultimate bro iconicallygay for betaing this chapter for me! Love ya Langston, don't know what I'd do without you!
Without further ado, please enjoy!
"What do you mean you're a firefighter?"
Lucy watched as Natsu tilted his head to the side, his eyes blinking in confusion. "What do you mean? I took classes to be one."
Lucy mumbled smartass under her breath making sure her son won't hear her. "Whenever you said you had a job besides the sports complex, I had no idea you meant this."
"What? Impressed that I can basically do anything?" Natsu replied with arrogance in his tone which Lucy rolled her eyes at.
"Someone's gotta big head, don't you think?" The young mother sarcastically replied.
"I actually think your head is a good size Lucy." Natsu responded. "Your chest however-"
"Not in front of my son!" Lucy shouted, half tempted to smack him upside the head if he wasn't holding her baby boy.
Natsu's chuckle made Lucy's nerves stand on end. "You're so easy to tease, Lucy."
Lucy gritted her teeth, face red from embarrassment. "Whatever. What are we doing here anyway?"
Lucy watched as Natsu hoisted her son up in his arms a bit more. "Well Lucy, I'm here to show Kade that being a firefighter is way cooler than being a policeman."
"But Gajeel told me being a policeman is the bestest thing in the world." Kade stated in an innocent voice, making Natsu chuckle.
"My cousin is mistaken there squirt. Being a fireman is so much better."
Kade tilted his head to the side. "How?"
"Let me show ya!" The older male said with excitement in his tone. He set Kade down on the ground, the little boy only reaching just above Natsu's knee. "I'm gonna take you on a special tour of the firehouse."
"Wow!" Kade looked around the room with joy. "It's so big! It's gonna take us a billion years to see it all!"
Natsu chuckled at his exaggeration. "Well lucky for you I happen to know this place like the back of my hand. I can show you the place and still have time left in the day for some ice cream."
"Yay ice cream!" Lucy saw her son rush over to her, tugging on her hand with all his might. "Lets go Mommy! Firehouse then ice cream!"
"Alright, alright." Lucy lightly laughed, letting her son tug her along until they were right beside Natsu. "So, oh great firefighter, where do we start?"
Natsu smirked at her sarcastic compliment. "Right over here."
Lucy walked around the firehouse, Kade's tiny hand in hers as Natsu showed them and explained everything that happened in the certain area of the firehouse. Lucy actually thought the place was interesting, way more complex than what she originally thought about what firefighters did when they weren't at the scene of a fire. She was actually enjoying the experience, the information Natsu was spewing would go great for the novel she was writing.
"A firefighter falling in love with the woman he saves from a fire..." Lucy thought to herself. "Super cliché, but also vague enough to add a unique spin on the situation. I can make it work."
Deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice when Natsu was talking to her until a giant tanned hand was waving in front of her face. "Earth to Lucy!"
"Sorry." She sheepishly replied.
"I was just gonna take Kade upstairs to our sleeping area, then to the firetrucks."
"Firetrucks!" Kade shouted, throwing his tiny arms up in the air. "I wanna go see the firetrucks!"
Natsu ruffled his hair. "We'll get there in a few minutes, little guy. Right now I'm gonna go show you where we sleep-"
"Oi, Natsu!"
"Oh great." Natsu grumbled. "What do ya want, Gray? Don't get enough of me at home?"
"Shut up-" Gray noticed Lucy's glare before retracting his words. "I mean yes I do, but I just wanted to see what you were doing."
"Well I decided to give Lucy and Kade a tour of the firehouse." Natsu stated. "Gotta problem with it?"
Gray scoffed. "You own this firehouse, not like I can tell you what to do."
Lucy's eyes shot to the pink haired male. "You own this firehouse...?"
Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah well, my Dad built this place from the ground up. He was fire chief here for awhile before-" Natsu stopped abruptly and Lucy couldn't help but notice a far off look in his eyes. It looked as if he was being haunted by a memory.
"Natsu?"
Lucy watched as his head snapped to her, eyes full of fear before he dropped the persona trading it in for his usual, carefree one. Chuckling he said, "Before he wanted to go full time over at the sports complex. Yeah,it was his and Grandeeny's dream to own a family oriented place instead."
Lucy could tell that wasn't the truth, but she wasn't going to push him to tell her. Judging by the look he had on his face, it wasn't a pleasant memory.
It just made Natsu more of a mystery to her, a mystery she wanted to solve.
Gray broke the tension in the room. "Hey man, I didn't mean to-"
"Gray." Natsu said seriously, surprising the adults in the room. "Not here, not now."
"Ah, right." Gray sounded nervous as he rubbed the back of his head. He quickly looked around, spotting a young boy behind Lucy's leg. "Is that your kid?"
Lucy smiled. "Yes this is Kade. Why don't you go say hi, honey?" Lucy felt Kade grip the skirt of her dress tighter. "He's a friend of Mommy's, Kade. He won't hurt you."
Kade still wasn't listening to her, which made her frown. She was about to say something else when she noticed Gray crouch down to Kade's level trying to coax the boy to him. "Hey Kade, your Mom's told me a lot about you. I was hoping to get the chance to meet you."
"Mommy told me not to talk to strangers." Kade said in a soft tone. "Especially shirtless ones."
"I'm not shirtless-" Gray looked down, seeing his black shirt disappeared. "What the hell! Where's my shirt?!"
Lucy was fuming. "Watch your language around my son!"
"Mommy?" Lucy looked down to her son. "What does hell mean?"
Lucy shot the deadliest glare to Gray, who froze in his place. She clenched her teeth, growling Gray's name.
"Oh hey would you look at the time." Gray looked to his invisible watch. "I gotta go be somewhere that's not here." The dark haired man looked at the small boy. "It was nice meeting you Kade. I'll come by and see you sometime, okay?" Kade nodded, watching the man walk away.
"Wow, that was amazing." Natsu was still amused by the situation. "Haven't seen anyone scare him like that besides Erza."
"Shouldn't have cursed in front of my son." She muttered loud enough for only Natsu to hear. She looked over at Natsu, noticing he wasn't as cheerful as he was before Gray showed up. "Are you okay?"
He tilted his head to the side. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
She shrugged. "Dunno, you kinda seem down after what Gray said." He tensed up a bit, making Lucy regret bringing it up again. "I'm sorry-"
"Nah, it's alright." He offered her a small smile. "Just some bad memories. We all got them, right?"
Lucy nodded, not knowing what to say.
"Let me show you the pole, Kade. From there we can go check out the firetrucks!" Natsu said breaking the awkward silence that fell on them. He ran over, scooped Kade up in his arms and ran up the stairs, causing the little boy to squeal in joy.
"H-Hey!" Lucy shouted running after them. "I didn't agree to let Kade slide down the fire pole!"
"Mommy, can I get extra sprinkles?" Kade asked innocently as Lucy buckled him into his car seat. "I've been really good today!"
"We'll see, Kade." She smiled at her boy before kissing his head. "And yes, you've been a very good boy today. Mommy is proud."
"I think I've been a great chauffeur and tour guide today, don't ya think, Lucy?" Lucy heard Natsu say as she closed Kade's door, eyeing the pink haired man walking up to his car. He at least had the audacity to look sorry. "Come on Lucy! He didn't get hurt!"
"That was a big pole, Natsu!" Lucy yelled at him. "He could've gotten hurt!"
"But he didn't!"
"But he could've!"
"Come on Lucy!" Natsu laughed. "Live a little! Kade had fun!"
Lucy growled at him, roughly opening up the car door. "When you have kids you'll understand."
"I'll be the cool Dad." Natsu boasted. "They'll love me. Their Mom will be the stick in the mud."
Lucy rolled her eyes but didn't respond, opting to look out the window and Natsu started his car and began to drive. "So where to now?"
"Ice cream!" Kade shouted from the backseat.
"What he said. I was thinking about the park?" Natsu suggested, his tone unsure.
Lucy hummed. "Well, it is a nice day and Kade will need to run off the extra energy."
Natsu grinned, pulling out of the firehouse. "Sounds like a plan."
XxXxXxX
Lucy smiled from the park bench she was sitting on, watching as Natsu chased her hyperactive toddler around. It amused her that Natsu was running slow to keep a distance from Kade, even though she knew that with how long his legs were, he could catch up with him in a few strides. Seeing the bright smile on her son's face as he looked over his shoulder, thinking he was faster than Natsu, and Natsu going along with the little game made her heart feel full. She was happy that Natsu actually wanted to be around Kade, everyone needed a male influence in their life at some point.
Right now Lucy didn't think it could get any better than Natsu.
Lucy laughed lightly to herself as Natsu caught up to Kade, lifting the now squealing boy in the air and blowing a raspberry on his belly. She watched as Kade pointed to the playground where the other kids were and Natsu nod his head. While Kade ran off to play with others his age, she noticed Natsu walking towards her.
"Wow, your kid's a ball of energy, I'll tell ya that." Natsu laughed as he plopped down on the bench. "Maybe those extra sprinkles weren't a great idea."
"It's probably just your old age." Lucy joked. "Sure you can coach toddlers still?"
"And you call me the smartass." He retorted. "I wish we brought his soccer ball, we could've kicked it round a bit."
"Trust me, Kade practices enough in the house." Lucy remarked through gritted teeth. "He broke my lamp a few days ago."
"He's just eager is all!" Natsu backtracked when he saw Lucy's glare. "I meant he shouldn't practice in the house..."
Lucy didn't respond, opting to watch her son go down the slide with a boy he just met. Grimacing when they decided to walk across the balance beam. She felt like she was being a bit over the top, but she couldn't help it, she loved her baby and didn't want him to get hurt.
"You know, I kinda already feel like a Dad." Lucy looked to Natsu who had a thoughtful look on his face.
"Why's that?"
He shrugged. "After coaching soccer for a few years, I feel like some of the kids are my kids, you know? I watch them grow, I comfort them when something bad happens on the field, I can tell when they're having issues at home so I usually pull them over to the side and see what's going on. It's just like I'm a Dad without having my own kid, ya know?"
"I get what you mean." She mused. "I think you'll make an amazing father, Natsu."
Natsu beamed at her. "You really think?"
Lucy nodded. "Of course! Kade absolutely adores you. He talks about you nonstop."
"He's a good judge of character." He gloated.
"I did raise him after all." Lucy halfheartedly replied.
"I know, that's why he turned out so great."
Lucy's face flushed at his words. She never felt like the best mother to Kade, she couldn't give him everything he needed or wanted, but she did try damn hard. She loved her son - loved him more than anything else in Earthland. She knew it was enough for her son for now, but in the future, would it be enough?
Not wanting to dwell in self pity, she decided to ask Natsu something that had been on her mind since they left the firehouse.
"Natsu?" When he hummed in response she decided to go on. "About you being a firefighter..."
"What about it?"
"What made you decide to be one?"
Natsu was silent for a bit, worrying Lucy. She was about to tell him he didn't have to tell her but he beat her to it. "My Dad is one, so naturally you'd think I want to be one, right?"
Lucy thought that was all he was going to say about the subject until he gave a disdained chuckle. "But that's not the case."
"Then what-"
"Look, Lucy." Natsu said, serious tone surprising Lucy. "Just like you're not ready to talk about your past, I'm not ready to talk about mine."
Lucy looked at her lap, anxiety making her feel dread when Natsu said those words in that tone. She was used to that tone, she heard it all her life. Memories began to run through her head, causing her heartbeat to escalate. She had to keep reminding herself she wasn't there anymore.
Wasn't with him anymore.
Unable to face him nor make her voice loud she settled for mumbling out, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
She tensed slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see Natsu with a guilty expression. "Sorry Lucy, I..."
When Lucy saw that he didn't know what to say, she put her hand on top of his, the anxious feeling she had had subsided enough to give him a smile. "It's okay Natsu. Just some bad memories, we all got them right?"
She watched as his expression turned soft, she was unable to look away from his olive eyes as he replied with a soft 'right'.
The two sat there, gazing in each others eyes. It was as if time stopped. Before Lucy knew it she saw Natsu's face get closer to hers, and she didn't fight it as her face got closer to his as well.
Tilting her head slightly to the right she felt Natsu's hot breath on her lips. They were so close. A few more centimeters and their lips would be touching-
"MOMMY!"
The two were instantly brought back to reality by Kade's scream. Lucy stood up, head snapping towards her son to see that he was hanging upside down on the jungle gym.
"Kade! Get down from there right now!"
As Lucy ran to her son, she didn't miss the sound of Natsu's chuckle. Thinking back to what just happened she couldn't help but feel her face heat up.
She also couldn't deny that she wanted it to happen.
After the park, the trio drove back to Lucy's apartment. Lucy got Kade out of his car seat and sat him on the ground before unlatching the seat from Natsu's car. When she turned around, car seat in hand, she felt Natsu take it out of her hands.
"I'll carry it inside for you."
With reddened cheeks Lucy nodded. Since their almost kiss her mind has been going a mile a minute. The car ride was silent between the two, Kade talking about what he did at the park, and Natsu laughing with her child while Lucy looked outside the window with a smile on her lips. When she was finding her keys to unlock the front door she saw Kade do his 'potty dance'. Lucy smiled at her son while opening the door to her small apartment.
Once inside, Kade immediately ran to the bathroom. She laughed lightly, placing the keys in the bowl on the side table before turning to Natsu. "Thank you for today, Natsu, I don't know how to repay you."
"Don't mention it, Lucy." Natsu waved her off. "I, uh, would love to do it again though."
"Sure! I know Kade would love that." She smiled back at him.
"No I mean-"
"Natsu, Natsu!" Kade called, running back into the living room. "Will you come look at my room before we go?"
Previous conversation forgotten, Lucy noticed Natsu look towards her for permission, "If it's okay with your Mom." Lucy nodded at his request. "Then sure, sport, let's go see your room."
Lucy's son beamed at this, running through the living room into the hallway to show Natsu his room. Kade had been talking about showing Natsu his dragon themed room ever since Natsu told him he liked dragons.
Natsu and Lucy shared a glance and a shrug before following the hyperactive toddler. Lucy watched as Natsu eyed everything, and Lucy never felt more thankful that she always kept a tidy house even though it was a struggle to do.
As they arrived into Kade's - clean thanks to Lucy - room they saw the toddler jump onto his freshly made bed which earned a glare from his mother. Lucy was happy that the look alone was enough to make Kade stop jumping on his bed immediately and run over to his toy chest to pull something out. Once the object was in his hands, he ran over to the adults with his hands outstretched towards Natsu.
"What's this, kiddo?" Natsu asked even though he knew what it was - it was a red toy dragon. It had fake flames shooting from it's open mouth, detailed red scales that went from it's head to its tail and had a pair of smooth wings in between. Natsu wasn't going to lie, he was jealous of this toy.
"This is my very first dragon toy!" Kade exclaimed, unable to keep his voice level down. "I want you to have it."
Natsu and Lucy were both shocked by his words.
"Me?" Natsu said, shock still on his face. "Why do you want me to have it?"
"Because Mommy taught me when someone does something nice for you, you give back." Kade thrusted his toy to Natsu again. "And this is how I'm giving back!"
Lucy felt her eyes fill up with tears at her son's words. She looked over at Natsu, same shocked expression etched on his face. Without warning, Lucy watched as Natsu rushed to Kade, dropping to his knees and pulling the three year old tightly to his chest.
"Thank you Kade. I'll keep it safe."
Lucy watched as Kade dropped the toy, his little arms wrapping around Natsu, returning his hug.
Lucy couldn't help but softly smile at the scene in front of her. She rested her head on the side of Kade's door frame, sighing in contentment.
Never in a million years would she have believed someone like Natsu would come into her life.
Haha, what kind of past does Natsu have? I wonder why he became a firefighter... I told you guys I got a direction to go with this story and it wouldn't be me if there wasn't a bit of angst along the way. Hope you guys enjoy the ride I'm about to put you through! I would love to hear your guy's feedback! I love interacting with all of you! Feel free to ask any questions. Thank you so much for reading!