Author's Note 1: I'm not a big believer in trigger warnings – ratings do that, IMO – but since a lot of reviewers are PM-ing me like this is a romance and forgetting the curse aspect of this story, I'll just say, this is the chapter where the curses come into play. (Also, like 99% of ratings on are about sexual themes and nothing else. The T here is more than just sensuality.) Like with other stories of mine (say Mastectomy) this is a story with deep personal meaning, as well as reaching for deeper meaning within the canon characters and plot themselves. I mentioned that in chapter 1, I'm mentioning it again, now, and will delve into it with greater detail in the Author's note at the end of the chapter, if you're interested.

On with the show.

Family

Chapter Seven

Bridge

She hated everything and everyone.

But no, seriously. She was really tired. Really nauseated. And really, really bored. At this specific moment, there wasn't much in the way of "things" or "ones". She was stuck in the house with naught but books she'd already read, movies she had already seen, and a husband who wasn't especially entertaining on his best days.

And since she'd just spent a good ten to twenty minutes yelling at him about how the only reason she was stuck in the house was that he was too pansyassed to take her out, he'd be with her after all, he could do that whole "protection" bullshit, like she needed it. Which she didn't. She just wanted to go to the goddamn any-freaking-where.

Yeah... this wasn't one of his best days. Turns out, Laxus didn't like being called pansyassed. Who knew?

Now, Lucy knew she was being unreasonable, but holy starlight, she was not made for house arrest. She'd broken out of her childhood home when she was barely 17 and set out alone into the world, wide-eyed and naive. Since then, she'd been able to grab a bag and go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

Heck, if she'd wanted to leave the country for a weekend, she could have done it! Anytime she wanted! A month ago, Lucy had been a free woman! Well, maybe not a month. But a year. A year ago!

Of course, she'd have been hard-pressed to afford such a trip, considering her finances at the time, but whatever. Not at all the point. The point was...

The point was she was bored out of her mind.

How in the world was she supposed to handle seven-and-a-half more months of this?

She wondered what it was like to be pregnant and be anyone else. To be pregnant and not cursed. To be pregnant and not Laxus' wife, because knowing him as she now did, she had a fairly good feeling that he'd be stupidly overprotective, curse or no curse.

It didn't help that her spirits were fully in her husband's corner. So much for that "master", "mistress", "princess" crap. She couldn't get a single one of them to sneak her out for anything. Stargazing? Nope. Just walking to the place she normally stretched out to study the night sky and all its wonder was apparently a risk of monumental proportions.

It was, in fact, a miracle she was allowed to leave the bed at all. Or to feed herself.

"Ugh," her husband groaned, looking – she supposed – at the undoubtedly unfriendly expression on her face. "Okay. Within reason, let's figure out something you can do that doesn't pose too much risk or strain, but will give you some intellectual and physical stimulation before you start murdering people. Namely me."

She grinned and tapped her chin in thought. Very satisfied thought. "Is there a combination spa/library anywhere in this country," she laughed. "That sounds pleasing."

"You know that hot sprin-"

"I didn't say hot springs, Laxus," she cut him off with a snort. "I said spa. Warm herb presses, massages, and so on. I've got quite a bit of joint pain starting. Would be pleasant to have a little bit of TLC without the oppression."

"And you can't get a masseuse to come visit you here?" he asked.

She smirked, "Without mentioning the baby? No. So. Where are we going, sweetie?"

She froze.

He froze.

She'd never … they'd never … terms of endearment weren't a thing they did. She considered having a mild panic attack, but instead she just swallowed and sort of ran right over it, babbling, as if she'd never said it. It was too awkward a thing.

"Obviously, Crocus is the easiest choice, but it's also the most busy. A resort town would be quieter, but more expensive and we need to not waste funds. Guild towns are risky, for the same reasons they were when we eloped."

Laxus nodded, also electing to overlook her slip. "I'm not sure if you've ever stopped there, but there's a town midway between the Capital and Magnolia, it's probably a little close to the Council Seat for Team Natsu's liking," he grinned, "called Pearl. As it services much of the Council's needs, when they're not hoofin' it to Crocus. It's gotta have some comforts and shit to do."

"Mm? Gem Town? I went there during our gap year, writing an article on the new Council. They've got a whole bath district. It's a pleasure town. Have you ever been there?"

He looked at her oddly, "I've never stayed over, but I've walked through. Are you trying to tell me it's a..."

"About nine years ago, yeah, it was a bit of a brothel town," she laughed. "I think Hades? Who was controlling Ultear who was controlling Jellal? That's how that was working, wasn't it? Anyway, I think whoever was subverting the Council at the time was encouraging debauchery, and it fed that behavior into the town. Gem Town, or Pearl is very tied to the Council Seat. When I visited for the article, you could still catch hints of the old guard, you know. It still has what is probably the most affluent pleasure district in the country, but it also has a few really solid hotels and great restaurants."

"You know a lot of things."

She shrugged, "I read; I worked at the magazine; I talk to people, ask them questions; I travel. You pick stuff up. Anyway, Pearl is pretty expensive, normally, but I've got a few friends there. Levy does, too." Lucy thought back to one of the few very pleasant memories of their gap year, when the two of them managed to meet up for a girls' week, just her and Levy, and spend basically a month's pay in the bath district. Luckily Lucy managed to have savings while she lived in Crocus. They'd made so many friends in Pearl while they were there.

"I could probably get us a nice room without much of a price tag, and I know of a really good local massage parlor that actually caters more to the working population than to the Council members or their employees, or tourists. It would work out pretty well, if you're up for it."

Lucy found she was being extra careful of her words. Guarding against another slip of the tongue.

Laxus studied her. "Yeah. I'm up for it. Let me tell Gramps, then I'll go hire a carriage."

"Thanks..." she twitched and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

She'd almost done it again.


0000

Pearl was beautiful. Maybe even more beautiful than it had been the last time she visited. It might have been the accommodations, though. Laxus insisted on spending a little more money than she had when she was with Levy.

He'd spent their first night there sleeping off motion sickness, and she'd spent it in the sitting area of their suite, having a private in-room herb-press massage. Lucy didn't know the masseuse personally, but a few names dropped here and there meant she was given good treatment, and not cheated on her two hours.

The next day were warm baths, long lunches, walks through the so-called breeze-blossom gardens, which was an arboretum filled with all-year blooming floral trees set up with a permanent light breeze that set loose petals floating around the space lightly. Making it a cool and relaxing place during warm months.

It was the best vacation she'd ever taken.

"I don't really want to tell anyone," she whispered to Laxus one night. She wasn't even 100% sure he was awake, it was so late, but this was a dark sort of secret. She felt like she needed to get it out of her. It was burning her up inside.

"Why?" he asked. Instantly. He didn't even sound tired. He hadn't been sleeping.

"It feels selfish. You know how happy they'll be." Lucy could picture the crazy reaction to the general announcement. "It feels even more like a lie than eloping did. They'll be so happy, and most days, Laxus, I'm just so scared."

"I think everyone's scared, ya' know, first kid. Don't think it's ever easy. We've just … got a bit extra..."

"A bit."

"You know what I mean."

"I do."

They were quiet for a long time. "You said you would've become a fuckin' walking plague if you didn't do this, which would have killed other people, then die. It's not selfish."

"Yes, it is." Blunt was their watchword. Since the beginning.

"Not totally selfish."

She sighed, "Yes, it is. I tell myself I don't want to harm others, but really, I just don't want to die. Pretty selfish."

"Most people just have kids cuz they want kids." He shrugged his massive shoulders, and he almost squished her in his armpit. She giggled. "Ya know, if it was on purpose, at all. That's pretty selfish, too. Like it or not. Maybe it's supposed to be..."

She stopped giggling. "Huh?"

"Well, it's the selfish desires that people give most of a shit about, right?"

She tried to meet his eyes in the dark, but it was difficult. "That is … alarmingly profound."

He snorted, "Between years of Freed and almost a year of you … couldn't completely stop being contaminated by you nerds."

She hit him, and he laughed.

And they slept.


0000

"Happy 20th birthday, Lucy!" the guild nearly knocked her off her feet with the collective cheer as Laxus held open the door for her.

He was grinning, and she gave the gathered mass a sweet smile in thanks.

She was about to blow hearts and minds.

The door sealed closed. Laxus' warm body filled the space behind her, shading her as he put a hand on her slightly-less-defined hip. Support. Support and protection.

In this place, with this news, she might very well need both.

Before any single one of them could leap forward and offer a more direct greeting (or grasp onto her in a way that would cause her husband to break things), Lucy raised a hand.

"Thank you so much, everyone! Despite a few … bumps..." there were some side-eyed glances and some throat clearing, "this last year now holds some of my most treasured memories." A bit of a stretch, but not completely a lie. She discreetly pressed her left hand over the one Laxus still rested on her hip. "I hope this year will be even better. Especially starting out this well." Her smile morphed into a grin. "Graceful speeches aside, guess what? I'm pregnant."

Lucy'd expected a moment of silence, so the quiet shock that rippled through the large room did not bother her. That Wendy was the first to break was a bit of a surprise, however.

"I knew it!" the teen yelled, leaping across the room in three large jumps, and lifting a hand. "May I?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded. Granting the girl the favor. Interested in what she would discover. Maybe a bit afraid, as well.

The healing dragon slayer's touch was warm. It rolled through her like a gentle sigh.

"You saw Porlyusica and not me," the girl pouted.

"It's tradition to not tell people until the 3rd month. I was concerned someone at the guild," she pointedly didn't look at Erza or Mira, "might pressure you..."

Wendy nodded, "And no one pressures Porlyusica."

Both Lucy and Laxus laughed, apparently breaking the spell that held the rest of the guild.

There was happiness that night, and lots of it. Enough for Lucy at least to forget why it was happening, and to just live in that moment where maybe fairy tales were real. Maybe happy endings were a thing.

But then in fairy tales, curses were also a thing. And the princess didn't always come out on top. If she were the princess at all. She put her hand over her stomach, and clenched her jaw. She was the one possibly cursing another. In this story, she was the wicked witch, wasn't she?

She shook her head and let herself get caught back up in the joy of her guild.

Levy, who was the first to reach her after Wendy – Mira was foiled by the bar, Erza was blushing too much, and Natsu was having Gray explain what pregnancy was (probably, Lucy wasn't sure what they were talking about, but she wouldn't be surprised). Levy was also the first to ask the questions Lucy would quickly get tired of answering.

"So...you're due in January?"

Lucy shrugged, "Just about the 1st, we think. Or Porlyusica thinks."

"Boy or girl?" her best friend asked.

"I was actually hoping Wendy could help with that. The little nut keeps curling up and turning around when I do scans," Lucy laughed. "We can't tell."

"Not a huge deal if she can't, though," Laxus put in. Not wanting, Lucy guessed, Wendy to feel bad if she couldn't. "We'll find out soon enough."

"True," Lucy agreed.

"Aside from getting a blood sample or manipulating it to move," Wendy told them, "I can't just tell. Not magically."

Gajeel, who had come to stand between Levy and Wendy, chuckled. "Sure you can, kid." He tapped his nose.

"But, it's in Lucy. All I can smell is Lucy."

"Well, yeah. But if ya got up reeeallly close-"

Laxus zapped him before Lucy understood what Gajeel was insinuating and why he was chuckling so wickedly while saying it. Levy caught on at about the same time. While Lucy blushed furiously, Levy turned around and kicked his boot. Probably, she would have slapped him, but his skin-and-hair bits were still sparking. His boots were safer.

Lucy dared to look up at her husband. He grunted.

"Maybe."

Her face burned.

She was engulfed in a large hug from both sides. Mira and Lisanna. "I'm so happy for you," the older woman said. "Congratulations."

"Yes!" Lisanna agreed. "Congrats! And if you need anything, Mira and me, we'll do what we can. You know that, right?"

"Of course," Lucy told them both. "I never doubted it."

Person by person, the guild came to her. Greeted her. Congratulated her. Joked with Laxus. Not even a year, eh? Some of the men in their guild were pigs, seriously. But, all in all, it was a really joyous night.

And then Natsu came.

Laxus had been very good, their whole marriage, with letting Lucy take the lead in any Natsu-related situation. He was good at respecting their friendship. So when Natsu came up to her with a cloudy expression, Laxus stepped back

"Are you okay?" he asked her. And the concern on his face wasn't confusion. It was concern.

"Um, yes. I am. Well, I get a little sick in the mornings, but it's nowhere near as bad as some morning sicknesses I've heard of, and it's not as bad as your motion sickness, so I can't really complain too much. My joints hurt... but I mean, okay? Yeah."

"I just … I just don't understand."

"What don't you understand, Natsu?"

"Why so many things are changing."

Ah, she thought. So that's the problem.

"Life changes. I'm not 17 anymore. I grew up a little. We discussed this before, I think. How when people spend time apart, sometimes that changes them. It didn't you; it did me. Or maybe it didn't change me so much as make me more open about who I am and what I want. Right now, who I am is Lucy Dreyar, and what I want is this baby. I'm still Lucy of Fairy Tail, and I still want the guild and all that comes with it, but I've grown into more than what I was at 17. It's fine if you haven't changed so much. You don't have to be who I am. But time does march on, Natsu. Change is what happens."

He looked very unhappy, and Lucy felt a little bad for him. When she first met him, it had been wonderfully refreshing how he saw the world, especially when compared to her father. She thought her father had a very limited and narrow view of life. But the older she got, the more she was beginning to wonder of Natsu's wide-eyed wonder wasn't also narrow and limited, optimistic as it was. Natsu saw only Natsu's world.

It seemed rather tragic, really.

"Think of it like this," she told him. "It took change for you and me to meet. To become friends. To become a team. Change isn't always good, but while it moves us forward, it can bring us to wonderful places, and introduce us to wonderful experiences. Time moves forward, and we're changing, all of us," she reached out to grab his hand, "and that's okay."

"I just don't want us to end," he admitted to her. "We don't see you as much anymore."

She swallowed. "We're not ending," she hoped so much that she wasn't lying to him. "We're not ending. We're just moving a little bit forward in time. And maybe getting a little larger as a family. And that's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah," he said. And she could see the cogs and gears turning in his head. "Yeah. You're right, Lucy. Congratulations, then!" He looked up to his senior guild member, "And you, too, I guess, Laxus."

"You guess?" Laxus muttered.

But Natsu had already bounded off, happy to have come to whatever conclusion he had come to.

"Your partner's a moron," her husband told her.

"He's better than he used to be," she shrugged. "At least he's calmed down a bit. And now, when Happy calls me fat, it'll actually be about more than just my boobs," she laughed.

The expression on Laxus' face was decidedly unamused, and Lucy just shrugged. Being as he'd spent quite a few years as an asshole, too, probably no one was fit to judge anyone. They all existed in glass houses. Lucy was carrying around a baby and a curse, still. She had decided to be as forgiving as possible, for the time being.

Recklessly abusive teammates, who don't really understand you? They mean well, we'll forgive them for now. That was the decision she'd made.

She smiled again at her adopted family, and barely felt the passing of time. The beginning of change.


0000

"You need to take your rings off, soon," Laxus told her, following her into the bathroom.

"I what?" She was shocked.

"Your rings. You need to take them off." He took her left hand and lifted it, turning it slightly. "You haven't gained much weight, yet. But you'll probably gain more. And your hands'll swell. You don't take them off, they'll get stuck and maybe we'll have to cut off your finger," he laughed. "Or maybe just the rings. But you never know. You might lose the whole finger. So you should probably take the rings off."

"Where in the world..." She blinked, "You've been reading my books, haven't you? When? While I'm sleeping? My, my, Laxus! I'm impressed!"

"That I can read?" he smirked.

She pulled back her hand and smacked him lightly on the cheek. He snatched her hand again before she could move away. "That you're bothering to read maternity books."

"Hey, I'm going through this shit, too. Just not... as," he looked down at her not-quite-as-narrow waist, "... actively."

"Right." She looked at her hand in his hand. At the ring. Rings. Glittering there under the golden bathroom light.

"I'll buy you a chain," he said, "and you can wear them around your neck until the swelling goes down and they fit again." He bent at the waist so he could kiss her, quickly, but firmly. "Freed's supposed to be over in a bit to up the rune protections on the place. I'm going to go downstairs and wait for him. Yell if you need me for something, or send one of your spirits."

She nodded as he turned and exited the room. She almost felt like crying. He'd known. She'd barely looked, barely moved, and he'd known how distressed she was by the idea of taking away her rings. She hadn't given him any hints, either. At least, she was pretty sure she hadn't.

Almost, almost a year together. She hadn't wasted it. Neither had he. When Makarov asked if they could be happy as they were, even if it wasn't done for the right reasons … when she'd told Loke, back in Crocus … maybe she'd been right.

Maybe she was right.

She drew her bath.

She bathed.

She didn't cry.

Maybe she cried a little. But not much. And not because she was sad.

Not at all sad.


0000

"Should we go to Crocus or the mountains?" she asked Laxus, who had already told her twice he didn't want to go anywhere. Had been very serious about not wanting to go anywhere. But it was their first anniversary, and she wasn't going to spend it under house arrest.

He glared at her. She laughed.

"Come on, Laxus. Don't be awful. Please agree that this is a big thing. I know I bullied you into marrying me-"

"You did fucking not."

"But it hasn't been impossibly bad, right? We can celebrate it a little..."

He grumbled.

"Laxus..."

"It hasn't been impossibly bad, no. But it's been horrifying, and you are pregnant. Traveling halfway across the country isn't the best idea right now."

She rolled her eyes, "You read the books, too. Third trimester is when you need to be concerned about travel, and I'm not in my third trimester. So travel is still okay!" She flashed him her most winning smile, not that she expected it to work on him. Laxus was pretty much immune to her fluffier charms. It was very annoying.

"That's what the books say, sure, but the books don't take special cases into account, do they?"

"What a hilariously – and by hilariously I mean the opposite of that – pleasant innuendo for our situation," Lucy scoffed.

He shrugged those massive shoulders of his, which she had grown very fond of, and she sighed. "I don't think we should, Lucy."

And she folded. She folded because he said we and not you. Because he obviously felt tied to the so-called special case in more than just the creation, but also in the outcome. Because he hadn't just knocked her up and parted ways, like she'd originally intended...

Which was why this anniversary was so important to her.

And he saw that. She knew he saw that, because she saw regret and apology in him.

"We should do something," Lucy had some level of begging in her tone, but there was also some level of begging in her heart. Not-so-deep-down Lucy knew there was a possibility that this might be their only anniversary. That she had nothing more than this one year and the few months that followed it.

And that year had not been impossibly bad, at all. Much of it had been okay. Parts she would even classify as good. And more than a few moments were, she would admit, wonderful.

She needed an acknowledgment of their marriage.

"Any of your spirits not hate me?" Laxus had a somewhat bitter smirk on his face. It was a joke, but it wasn't necessarily an untrue joke. Loke, they both knew, was still not fully on their side. Or, rather, on Laxus' side.

"Yeah. Virgo and Capricorn like you well enough. Plue is fond of you. Aries and Gemini, but Aries is shy, and Gemini needs more direction, if you need help with something. Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Cancer are ambivalent. As are most of my silver keys, except maybe Crux, who is interested and concerned. Taurus is a bit jealous, I think. Not quite the way Loke is, but that's because he doesn't actually know you. It's just a physical thing with Taurus."

"Huh," Laxus cocked his head to the side. "Didn't think they thought of me that much."

"You're taking part in my life. Of course they think of you. What exactly are you wanting?"

"Well... could you lend me... mmm..." he tapped his fingers on the table, "Virgo and Aries? I'll be nice, promise. Your little ram doesn't have to be scared of me."

"Aries isn't scared, she's just shy and modest. So you're not going to be able to keep her from that behavior. They're set in their ways, it's part of their creation. Of their selves. But...I trust you. Will you tell me why?"

He laughed, "No. You trust me. So a surprise is no big deal, right?"

"Right," she drawled.

His attitude had perked up significantly, so she decided to give him what he asked for. Especially since he was asking in such a pleasant way. All smiles and niceties. She pulled out the needed keys and called for her friends.

"Princess," Virgo bowed. Aries muttered something and hid behind the maid.

"Hi, you two," Lucy gave both a gentle smile. "I wanted to ask if you'd to us a favor."

Both nodded.

"Laxus wants to surprise me with something, and he wants to ask you for help with the surprise. Unless he's trying to surprise me with murder or some other type of crime," she tossed a grin at him over her shoulder, "I'm willing to let him."

Virgo turned her eyes to the large dragon slayer. "What is it you wish to do?"

"Well, that would be telling the surprise. But if you think it's something Lucy'd have a problem with, feel free to let me know, stop me, stop period, and/or tell Lucy."

"I...I...Is this because of the anniversary?" Aries mumbled through Virgo's hair. "...I'm sorry..."

"Yeah. She wanted to go on a trip across the damn country, but I don't want her taking that risk," he glared, and Lucy was annoyed that both of her spirits nodded in solidarity with her husband. "So I had an idea to celebrate here, but I'd need some help. Help that understands Lucy and won't fucking overstep and butt in like if I asked the guild for help."

Her spirits, who had been with her for years, understood Laxus' point completely. They agreed to his plan, and allowed Lucy to temporarily hand over her keys to her husband. He couldn't form the contracts, but a small adjustment to Lucy's contract let him power their magic for the two days leading up to their anniversary.

The three of them spent all of their time out-of-doors while Lucy continued to be trapped inside. Secrets sucked when they continued this whole house arrest torment she'd been fighting against for months.

Finally, the two days were up, and Laxus came back into their house and gave her back her keys.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, when she slid them back in the pouch.

"For what? I don't know what we're doing." She pulled at the loose dress she was wearing, which was nice, but not overly nice, and nothing special.

"You're fine. I'm saying: Do you need to piss?"

She scrunched up her nose, but then sighed. It was a valid question. "No. I'm fine."

"Alright, then." He lifted her from her chair and carried her out of the house. Just by walking, she knew he was taking her somewhere close by.

"Eyes closed," he commanded, and she obeyed. She was fairly pleased that she was getting something out of this personal holiday.

The weaving movement of their trip through the trees relaxed her muscles. With her eyes closed and wrapped in the comforting warmth of Laxus' arms, she almost slid into sleep. But before she could, he stopped and shook her gently.

"Here we are," he said. "You can open your eyes."

She, again, did as ordered. And smiled. Grinned. Reached up, happy she was already in Laxus' grip so that she didn't have to reach far, to hug him and kiss him in thanks.

They had made a modest re-creation of the second place she and Laxus had stayed after they were married. They hadn't rebuilt the whole cottage by the lake, but they'd put down a wood-slat flooring near the forest pond, and covered it in multiple layers of Aries' softest wool. A second, slightly smaller deck had a small table and two chairs, and a small lacrima food storage container set to the side.

Hanging in surrounding trees were soft-glowing lacrima lamps. As the sun set, the lamps grew brighter, but only to a point. Lucy also noticed that they weren't in any one color. They were a variegated, shifting rainbow of loveliness that blanketed the entire area in a dream-like atmosphere.

"This is so much better than Crocus," she told him when he lowered her onto the woolen bed.

"Glad you approve. Cuz Crocus isn't happening. Ever."

She laughed, "You mean, Crocus isn't happening until after you give birth, correct?"

He hesitated long enough for her to stop laughing.

"Correct...?" she repeated.

And he snorted, "Yeah, Lucy. Correct. Hard enough keeping you tied up when you're tired and puking. When you feel better again, I know you'll be right out the door..."

"What? What does that mean?" Again, he was silent for just a moment too long, and it frightened her. "I'll travel again, of course. Go on jobs, eventually. After the baby's weaned. But... I'm not leaving, Laxus." She reached up to tug at him. Grabbing his shirt and pulling at him to join her on the bed he'd had made for them. Her magic; his gift. "I bound myself to you, Laxus. I don't do things like that without consideration. Or thinking that it might be a temporary thing. When you asked me, when you suggested that we marry, I didn't say yes assuming we'd divorce. Or that we'd separate. Ever. My plan was to stay. As long as possible. As long as life allows me, my plan is to stay. That was true a year ago, and it is true today. My itchy feet don't take away my deep, deep longing and appreciation for home. And the one we have made together, Laxus, rushed and unplanned and desperate as it might be, has been a better home than any I've had since Mama died."

He pulled her to him, and continued to be speechless, but this quiet didn't frighten her. He trembled against her as he held her. The skin of his face was hot where it pressed, hiding, tucked under her hair, against her throat.

Laxus had been afraid. Still, very afraid.

"Porlyusica said the curse might change to the wife leaving," he mumbled, finally. "And you talk about leaving, a lot."

"I never talk about leaving you," she told him. "Just about traveling together. About wandering this Earthland and seeing it, together. There's a difference. So if I ever do talk about leaving you, Laxus, that's probably not me. That's the curse, and we'll know it. So we can fight it."

"You won't wanna fight it, then, Lucy," he told her. Pulling back, looking at her directly.

"As long as I'm not dead, Laxus, assume I want to be here. In this place. I'm happy with the decision we made last year."

He put his face back against her throat, "Wonder if it ever would've happened..."

"Mmm," she shivered. The feel of his voice, his breath. The chill of the breeze. Her skin was over-sensitive recently, and she felt all of these things keenly. "I saw you. But I don't know. I can't say. I was always considering the curse."

"I saw you," he agreed, shifting on the bed. Moving his hand to slip under her dress and rest on her bare hipbone. "But I don't tangle with girls in the guild. Too messy."

"Possible, then. Possible, but very unlikely," she answered his idle thought. Reaching up to run her fingers through his hair, while admiring the scenery around them. "If this all works out, I think I'll end up being grateful."

"When this all works out," he said, "I'll end up being lucky as all hell."

She laughed, and he pushed himself up to devour her humor. To devour her gratitude. To devour her. And, in return, feed her pleasure.

And joy.


0000

"If this child kicks its way out of me, I'm blaming you," Lucy told her husband at the breakfast table. "I swear, it's going to be born knowing more martial arts than anyone in the whole of this country. Kid practices day and night. Kick, kick, kick. Damn, I've gotta pee." She started to stand up, and then sighed. Sat back down.

Laxus laughed. "At least you started wearing liners, right?"

"Bullshit. Absolute bullshit that I'm in diapers before this kid is. I'm sure this is your fault, somehow. No way do normal kids kick this hard." She rubbed her face in her hands. "Alright. Off to take a shower, I guess."

"Bath. Don't want you to fall."

"Yes, bath. That's what I meant."

"Need help up the stairs?"

"If you touch me, I'll kill you," she attempted to growl. It didn't seem to have much of an effect.

"Umhum. And how will you do that? What's that thing you do... wait, I remember... kicking, right? I'm pretty sure I remember you kicking a few people – friends, foes – unconscious. Odd that you're blaming me for all this."

She grumbled and climbed the stairs, trying very hard to ignore his laughter. She was not successful.


0000

They walked through the forest, quiet, and calm. Laxus held her hand, not her arm. She was very serious about walking on her own. Otherwise he might have picked her up and carried her. But at about month five, she had managed to push him to leaving her alone.

At least, she thought she had. She'd been forced to shut him down at month seven, too. And now, rolling into the start of month eight, she could tell he was having problems letting her do as she wished. But he was holding her hand. And they were walking. Walking through the forest to meet Porlyusica for her weekly checkup.

Lucy was very careful. She knew if she so much as tripped over a twig, Laxus would have her off her feet. So each step was calculated. Which they were at home, too. Maneuvering with her vastly different body shape.

Well, not vastly different. Someone had joked last month about it being hard to see her feet, and she had replied that it had already been difficult. Luckily her breasts hadn't grown any during her pregnancy, as was common for many women. Her body had seemingly found what was already there to be more than enough.

Not exactly surprising.

Another reason she made sure to walk was to work out her limbs. Months five and six had seen a drastic worsening of her joint pain. It had since lessened, but lingered. Sometimes spiking, but not every day. She was dealing with it, of course, but not happily. A lot of warm towels and well-wrapped hot water bottles. As much exercise as Laxus and her spirits could be persuaded to allow. It helped. But it didn't cure.

She hurt, constantly.

But she endured.

There. There was Porlyusica's tree.

"Come in, come in," the old woman grouched. In a worse mood than usual, by the sound of it. "You know the drill by now. Don't just stand in my doorway."

Lucy and Laxus complied. He held the door open for her, and they both proceeded to wash their hands and generally clean themselves up before Lucy stepped behind the curtain to change into a medical gown.

"Give me the rundown," Porlyusica said, at the foot of the bed and between her knees. A position the three of them had become very used to the last seven months.

"I'm getting more tired, but it's getting harder to sleep at night. I'm restless. But exhausted. It might be the pain that makes me tired and also hard to sleep, but it hasn't seemed to change no matter the level of pain."

"Nausea?"

"No. I'm sticking to small meals, and I've been fine."

"Has the kicking settled."

"Yes. Kid's still moving, but I don't think it's trying to actively kick its way out anymore."

"That's fine, then. Energy's stabilized. Readying for labor. To be expected." Porlyusica pulled the scanner around. "What have your spirits said of the curse?"

"That it's tiding, like always. In my uterus, still. Drawing further into, and then flowing slightly out of, the baby."

"Their thoughts?"

"They think it might have something to do with the contrasting points of the curses. They can't lock onto the baby because it's not what either of them specifically want. Crux feels like if the curse was going to hold, it would have already attached. But it hasn't."

"So the fear is that it will remain in you."

"Correct," Lucy nodded.

Porlyusica paused a moment before looking up at her. "Would a hysterectomy remove the curse, if the curse is located in your uterus?"

Lucy blinked. "You mean if I deliver, and the curse is still there, remove my uterus...It might work." She bit her lip and considered. Doing her best to ignore her husband, who was vibrating concern. "Yeah. It might work."

"Think about it. Talk to the cross when you get back under wards where you can refresh your power better. Until then: Lay back." She turned on the lacrima scanner. "Let's see what we've got this week."


0000

Lucy had wondered how their physical relationship might change once she became pregnant, but their trip to Pearl – and every day, every week, every month since – put her mind at ease.

At ease.

She didn't want him to let go of her. Didn't want what they had started as a necessity to stay only that.

And apparently it wasn't.

He touched her still. And still she trembled. She called him still. And still he responded. Once she drove away that initial fear, he seemed to find contact needful.

She didn't deny him. When his hand rested on her hip a comfort washed over her, a feeling of home so deep that nothing, no memory in her life could match it.

It was a sort of love, she realized. Not necessarily romantic, but a comfortable passion.

As time moved forward and her pregnancy stretched her body into an awkward shape, she slept with her back to his chest. Cradled within the curve of his large form. When need touched them – his hand on her hip, her lips on his hand – they stayed curled, but for her leg pulled out to wrap around his calf and her arm to pull his face closer. Closer.

Closer.

Each month passed. Each month made the farce a truth...

They were a couple. A union. A family.

Cursed.

Still cursed. At least she was. Deep inside. That tide pulling in and out of her womb. Maybe it was what made him so desperate to touch her. She knew it was what drove her to call out to him.

His curse had emptied from him, as it was meant to do. Her curse had not … as it was meant to do.

They were both terrified they'd failed. But at least, Lucy told herself, she had lasted beyond 20. At least she hadn't become a walking plague. She'd have time. They'd have time. To prepare. To grieve. Together.

To be happy. She could ensure that. Her mother had. Even knowing. Even with a clock counting down in her mind, awaiting the day she would die... Her mother had given her and her father happiness. Light.

Lucy could do the same.


0000

"Ugh. It is such a pain in the ass, walking like this," Lucy told Levy as they made slow circles around the house.

Levy laughed. "Bisca says she was bigger at eight months and that you should be grateful your ankles aren't as swollen."

"Who could tell if they were?" Lucy muttered, looking down. Completely unable to see her feet.

"Ha! Like that's new. When have you ever been able to check the state of your feet from that angle?" Her best friend lifted an eyebrow and pointed a finger at her chest.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Everyone says that, Levy. It is not an original joke."

"Who's joking?" Lucy wobbled, and Levy stabilized her. "I'm surprised Laxus went out – Master's orders or no – and let me take care of you. Even this far. I've never seen a man so overprotective in my life."

"Yes, well," Lucy shrugged. She went with the semi-truth they'd used since the start, "Neither of our mothers fared well from pregnancy."

"Meaning he's going to get worse after," Levy put her arm through Lucy's and started leading her inside. It was cold. Probably going to snow soon.

"Mmm. Maybe. But hopefully not. I can fight him more when I'm not hauling this around," she made a circle with her finger around the reason her balance sucked, "and I'm a little more agile. Besides, our kid can't stay trapped in the house forever!"

"I can't believe you still don't know what it is."

"Right?!" Lucy poked her belly. "A kid of mine and Laxus' being so shy. Who could'a thought?"

The two women laughed at the irony of a Dreyar and Heartfilia kid shying away from attention.

Lucy fell into her chair, and Levy settled into the kitchen, preparing a brothy soup for the two of them. Lucy was having more and more trouble keeping food down this last month, and Levy had stopped by Porlyusica's place for some vitamins and protein replacements, which would hopefully stay down better.

At the very least, Lucy gave a bitter grin, it would come up easier.

"God, I need to pee again," she grumbled to the world at large. She had almost been asleep. Her chair was so comfortable. So comfortable that she couldn't get out of the damn thing.

Which set off the whole combo of back and joint pain that had been plaguing her the last seven months.

"Levy. Can you help me out here?"

Together they managed to roll her out of the cushion cocoon that was her favorite spot, which made her miss her stupidly strong husband, who could lift her up out of it like she was weightless. Levy's struggle made her feel a bit like a cow.

Lucy wobbled and stumbled her way to the first-floor bathroom, using the walls as support. Sitting on the toilet was a relief, and she did so with a long sigh.

She peed and peed and peed. And peed some more.

"Kid, you need to get off my bladder," she told her belly.

Wiping was awkward, like everything else, but something she could still do by her lonesome. Spotting early on had her checking the toilet water and paper every time before flushing, which was a little gross. But lots of stuff about being pregnant was gross. The vomiting and diarrhea were way grosser.

So she looked. She looked and saw yellowed gunk. Mucus.

Almost. Almost she puked.

"Well, baby," she told her belly, "that's one way to get off my bladder, I guess."

Another shot of pain hit her back, and Lucy realized what it was. Not the usual pain, but the start of contractions.

If she'd lost her mucus plug, and she was cramping in her back, this thing was happening.

"Okay," she told the bathroom. "This is okay. I'm fully planned for this. Sure. We expected Laxus would be here since he has barely left my side in months. And you're a few weeks early. But you're big enough, and I'm healthy enough. We're fine."

Lucy pulled up her underwear, down her dress, and made her careful way back to Levy and the kitchen.

"So," she drawled at her bestest girlfriend in all of Earthland, "feel like joining me for a trip to Porlyusica's and watching me pop this kid out?"

Levy blinked. "Wha...what?"

"I'm starting the whole labor thing. Let's get to the healer's."

"Oh hell, no!" Levy screamed, waving her hands in front of her. "You aren't going anywhere. Porlyusica can come to you! Holy crap. Holy crap... Holy crap! Where is your communicator? Need to call … Laxus. He can pick her up. Bring her here... oh crap. Oh crap!"

"Dating Gajeel and crap is as good as I can get from you?" Lucy laughed. She was kind of enjoying Levy's freakout.

She listened as Levy frantically explained the situation to Laxus. Lucy heard the clap of thunder instead of words in response.

"This will probably take a bit," Lucy tried comforting her friend. "I haven't even started full contractions, yet." Though there was a certain cramping in her gut and legs that might work into a contraction if it came shorter and quicker. "And who knows if I'm dilated..."

"Which is exactly why you need Porlyusica! Oh my god, why are you still standing up? Sit down!"

For all that Levy claimed to be concerned, Lucy mused, she sure did shove pretty hard.

She was lounging on the couch with Levy fretting behind her when a loud crack of thunder brought her husband and her midwife (she'd never call Porlyusica that to her face) through the door.

"What took you so long?" she asked with a smile.

"Porlyusica needed to get some shit. How are you?" He stood beside her, hand lifted to touch her cheek, but he didn't move the final inch. Cautious. Too cautious. She leaned forward, into him.

"Fine. Fine-ish," she corrected, wincing.

"Ish?"

"The cramping isn't exactly pleasant," she explained.

He grunted.

"Stop with makin' eyes at each other and get her into a bed. Girl," Porlyusica spat at Levy, "until Wendy gets here, you're going to be my assistant. Wash your hands, tie back your hair, and make sure there's some hot water boiling. Then come up and check with me. Might need you to do something else."

Levy nodded, Lucy noticed absently as she was swung around in a gentle arc, being lifted and turned to go up the stairs into their room.

"Should we change the sheets?" Lucy asked Porlyusica. "Is it a problem that they're not clean? From a hygienic point of view?"

"No. Sheets are fine. You've got the chair?"

"Yeah," Laxus confirmed, nodding to the angled birthing bed/chair contraption the healer had suggested they get early on into the pregnancy.

"You'll be on that when the important stuff happens. That's what needs to be really clean. Bed's just so that you're comfortable."

"'K." Lucy grunted as an actual, for real, contraction hit her.

"How do you truly feel, girl?" Porlyusica asked her, eyebrows raised. Now that Levy was not with them, Lucy knew what the question really wanted answered.

"I've never done this before, so I can't..." she hissed, "I can't compare it to anything. But from reading, it feels right."

"Anything at all unusual?"

Lucy took a moment to think. She licked her lips. "My mouth. My mouth tastes a little metallic."

"Did you eat?"

"No. No, Levy was making lunch, but we didn't get to it," she explained.

Porlyusica nodded and began a round of questioning and prodding. She then went downstairs to intercept Levy while instructing Laxus to change her out of the dress she was wearing into something a little shorter and easier to manipulate. And without undergarments.

Lucy grunted only once or twice with cramps and frustration.

Levy and Porlyusica were back in the room a few minutes after she was changed. Hauling in water and excitingly horrifying instruments. The old woman snapped on gloves and instructed her husband and friend to do the same – just in case – and, like it was nothing at all, slipped two fingers inside her with a second hand resting on top of her belly.

"Well, you're opening, but not fully dilated, yet." Porlyusica removed her hands and tossed the left-hand glove aside, replacing it with a fresh one. "Can't tell now what rate you're going at, but it feels like you're at about a third of the way there."

Lucy swallowed and nodded. Levy looked like she was about to pass out. Laxus had his arms crossed and his face was flat and emotionless. Lucy figured he was also about to pass out.

"Alright, girl. Let's begin."

Lucy shuddered as another contraction squeezed her insides. The taste of metal filled her. She looked at her husband. Her husband looked at her. She reached for him, and he took her hand.

He comforted her with his presence and his warmth.

But she was scared.

She was scared.

Time passed as she and the chair were properly cleaned. Wendy arrived. Her cervix was checked again for dilation. Almost there. Almost there.

She grunted.

God, it was not comfortable. Not at all. She felt full. Full of something. Full of everything. Stuffed. Overstuffed. There was too much inside her, and god, oh god, it hurt so much.

She began to cry.

"Girl, what's wrong?"

"Hurts," she said. "Hurts."

But did it hurt? It wasn't exactly pain. But she didn't have another word to properly describe the feeling.

"Can I push? Can I push, yet? I think it wants to come out...It wants me to push..." she was sweating. Frantic. Could hardly breathe.

The world around her was blurry. She could barely see Laxus, and he was closest to her, still. The other two, Porlyusica and Wendy, were splotches of color between her knees.

Her heart began to race.

"Oh god. Oh god, it hurts!"

There were sounds, she thought. Other people speaking. Maybe. Echos of her own words, trapped in the empty void of her anguish. Or maybe there were no sounds, and she was just delirious. Maybe even she was silent.

Until she wasn't.

She couldn't be.

It was too much.

Too much.

She screamed. She had expected some level of discomfort, but this wasn't pressure and stretching. She was being ripped in half.

She screamed as light left the world and oily darkness slid from her. Over her. Was her.

She screamed, and was consumed.

She screamed, and was hollowed.

She screamed, and her screams were the only sounds that existed in all of time. The world was silent save for her pain and her grief.

Her guilt and her curse.

And the darkness that brought complete silence.


+++0000+++


Laxus' life went mad in a matter of minutes. They had thought it was fine. Everything had been fine. All of her scans and all of her blood work. Every month. And the last hour, she had breathed and they had watched her, and she had been fine.

Then Lucy's hand had turned to ice inside his own, and he heard the gasp that portended a shriek. He grabbed at her. Yelled for Porlyusica, who had turned for water only seconds before the worst noise he had ever heard was torn from Lucy's throat. Torn. Ripped. Shredded. He could smell the blood on her breath.

And shadow began to wisp out from between her legs. Then pour. It sank and then covered the floor like fog as Lucy lashed out. She seized, violently. Limbs thrashing, and muscles twitching. Her breathing had caught, and she was making odd choking sounds.

Porlyusica couldn't stop her, so she turned to Wendy.

Wendy couldn't heal her, so she called for Chelia.

And he had to leave. He had to leave because he was the only one who could get the sky god-slayer in time. Fear, a fear he had never felt before – and he'd felt so much fear for Lucy in the last year and a half – ripped at his flesh.

It was minutes between leaving and returning. Minutes. Minutes. But would she be there when he returned?

Would she be there?

Would she be there?

Would she be there?

He grabbed the girl. Grabbed Chelia. Grabbed the healer. He grabbed the girl. Minutes. Only minutes.

Was she still there?

Was she still there?

Was she still there?

She was on the bed. Not the chair. Her limbs were still. Laxus' heart stuttered, faltered. Then her chest moved, but barely.

Chelia joined Wendy. Joined Porlyusica.

The shadows, which lingered still in the room, darkened and rose. Still flowing from his wife. His unconscious wife.

Lucy's lips were red-flecked blue.

Mira, who was a warrior in shadows, was called.

Levy, who had a vast knowledge beyond what any others in the room could imagine, was called.

Freed, who could create protective barriers more advanced than almost any other in the world, was called.

And when the room was full of wizards and darkness, their baby came. Came, but was not born. Emerged, but not into life.

The shadows had killed it.

The curse had killed it.

He had killed it.


0000X0000

Author's Note 2:

Now we get into the heart of why I wrote this story. Outside of the fandom constantly having Mira shouting for babies while the guild is (seemingly) filled with orphans … My mom had two stillborn children before having me and my younger sib. I've known since I was very little (five or six) that those two HAD to die for my family to be what it is. My parents planned on having two children. Had they lived, I wouldn't be. Had one of them lived, my younger sib wouldn't be. It's a tragedy, but one necessary for the life of me and my sibling. It's something I think about all the time.

In November 2015, (the shit I mentioned in the AN in chapter 1) a friend I grew up with and have known all my life had her second child. About a month later, her two-year-old daughter died in an accident. It was an accident, totally and completely. But one my friend could have – if I'm completely callous – prevented. You know it's going to eat her up for the rest of her life. Her newborn was the only thing keeping her going. Is. Is the only thing keeping her going.

When I told my mom what had happened to my friend, my mom told me something to the effect of, "god that's awful... I know I feel guilty about my babies, but that's just … that's awful..."

And christ if that didn't nearly end me then and there. Not that I expect my mom to be OVER it or anything... but it's been decades since. Decades. Multiples of decades. And they didn't die because of something she actively did wrong. Her body just didn't want to carry babies a full 9 months or something. My sib and I got taken early, and we made it. We were tiny, but we made it. It wasn't her fault, she didn't drink or smoke or do anything wrong, but she feels guilty. I think of them a lot, and there's guilt in me that I'm grateful. Mom, apparently, is just all guilt. And she shouldn't be. She shouldn't be. And it ruins me that she is...

I had the thought about Laxus and his single gender family, about Lucy's mom and her slow death and passing on the keys, and formed the idea behind the story at first... but it didn't really click until I thought of Mom. Because my mom was cursed... It wasn't shadow and magic, but goodness knows, that must have been what it felt like.

This... this story isn't going to make that better or anything. But that feeling I got from my mom at that time is what drove me into writing this story, especially this part of this story. So... yeah.

Allow me to preach for a second, please: Baby making is hard as fuck. Don't assume everyone can do it. Don't assume everyone wants to do it. I know people who would love to have children, who can't have children. Women who want to be pregnant, to have that experience, but have had physical problems (cancer or general infertility) stopping them. Adoption is an option, but it's not a perfect one. You have to qualify, and that can be very difficult, the process is long, and it can be very expensive. Pregnancy is expensive, too, but depending on the market, adoption can get extremely pricey. And that's before you even get to the raising of the kid part. Also, there are plenty of people who don't want children at all, and if they're responsible about it (you know, birth control and all that) more power to them. Unless you want to go care for the children you're totally sure they'll want and then oops, no, they were right about themselves, they didn't, keep your opinions to yourself.

...point I'm making here is... please don't judge. Everyone has their own demons. It's not always a wedding and babies at the end.

Also, don't simply flame me because I didn't give these two a perfect picket-fence ending with this pregnancy. This is fanfiction. Every avenue of plot possibility is open to us. We can do anything. "Happily ever after", fairy tale wedding and two-plus kids is a cliché you can find in lots of places. It's not one you typically find with me. I'm sorry if this is your first story with me and you weren't aware of that fact.

See you in chapter 8, if you decide to stay with me. I'll understand if you don't.