"Miss Juvia, the doctor is ready to see you."
Her mind froze as she realized where she was now. She was meeting the obstetrician with Laxus for ultrasound, for the very first time, after 11 weeks of denial.
She dithered. She was, still, in denial. She wasn't sure if she wanted the baby. She wasn't sure if she's ready to be a mom, either. But what she's scared the most of was if Gray would reject both of them.
"Come on, Juvia," Laxus murmured, cupping his hand under her elbow. Feeling her face heat, she let herself being led. She dragged her sight back to him. She thought of what Lucy said. Why couldn't she love Laxus? He was firm, yet his heart was gentle, and he was supportive, too.
And he's willing to give them a chance to be a family, when he knew that he didn't have to.
She heard the door click behind her and sat in the chair with Laxus sitting next to her.
"My name is Dr. Polyusca. Nice to meet you Ms. Lockser, tell me how many weeks?"
"Eleven weeks."
"I will palpate your uterus, then measure your fundal height and we'll do ultrasound afterwards."
"No," Juvia said, which made Laxus look at her strangely. "Juvia— Juvia doesn't want ultrasound."
She didn't want to look at the baby. Not yet. Today she was making a huge leap by seeing an obstetrician, eventually.
"Juvia, it's been 11 weeks. Do something about it," he said sternly, his tone daring her to object.
"Juvia cannot. Ju-Juvia is not ready to be a mom. Juvia is not ready losing Gray-sama."
She had been thinking of termination since she talked to Lucy. She just couldn't afford to lose Gray; not when she eventually could meet him again in a week. Termination had been an option, but deep down she knew, she couldn't lose her flesh, either.
Hearing her blunt answer broke his heart, for he knew how much he loved their child, yet Juvia still chose the man that she'd been obsessed with over their child.
"Juvia, this is my child, too. Our child," he said, surprising her with the ferocity of his tone. Yet, she could also feel the pain coloring his tone, too.
Juvia felt her defense rise. "Juvia is still trying to process this whole pregnancy thing—"
"It's not the place to argue," Dr. Polyusca said in cold tone. Before Juvia could murmur 'sorry,' Dr. Polyusca immediately added, "How about we listen to the heartbeat as first step?"
Juvia nodded and laid back. The second she heard the steady sound of a tiny beating heart, her eyes filled with tears. "This is Juvia's baby." She then turned to see him. When her eyes found his, she held his left hand with her right hand. She then added, her eyes welling with joyful tears, "This is our baby."
He knew their one night stand was a mistake, but the moment he learnt about her pregnancy, he knew he had no regrets. He had been falling in love with their child even before he met him, or her. He may have chosen to keep his thought to himself, but his feelings were clear. He smiled at her, and his eyes were soft with tenderness. "Yes, Juvia this is our baby."
##
One week has passed since their first ultrasound, and they both learnt that their baby was a girl. She began to enjoy her pregnancy; she collected her ultrasound photographs to her pregnancy scrapbook. She couldn't wait to meet her baby. She wasn't afraid because she knew she's not alone with the whole pregnancy thing— She had Laxus, and she knew he would always be there for both of them. When everything seemed to be perfect, she knew the unfair thing about the whole situation was that she still missed Gray, every day.
As she laid down in her room and thought about Gray, her phone eventually rang. It was an unknown number, but she picked it up anyway. "Hello, Juvia." She recognized very well that voice. It was Gray, the man that she'd been waiting for her whole life.
Her eyes welling with tears, "Gray-sama."
"Juvia, I'm sorry I haven't replied to any of your message for the past three months—"
"That's alright, Gray-sama. Juvia is happy that Gray-sama is all safe," she said, trying to wipe away her tears.
"I always keep my promise—"
"Juvia knows. Juvia always trusts Gray-sama."
Her soft tone was filled with tenderness that he melted with it. "Juvia, I'm on train right now. I'll be in Crocus in an hour," his voice filled with longing.
"Juvia will be there. Juvia is really missing Gray-sama."
"It's ten and it's too late. We can meet tomorrow. I know your address," he now hated himself for suggesting something that he didn't really want to. He also wanted to see her, like right now.
Her eyes widened at hearing his answer. She had moved to another place, and now she lived with another man. Not just another man— a father of her baby.
"No, Juvia doesn't mind. Juvia is still doing groceries now and she's nearby the train station. Juvia will be there in an hour," she insisted as she fought the raising panic. She's didn't want him to know that she's pregnant with her boss. Not now.
"What are you doing this late? You need to go home now," he yelled as the more he thought about Juvia was still outside in the dark, the more uneasy he became. Mainly because he knew it was Crocus, the largest city in Fiore with much higher crime rate compared to their hometown, Magnolia, in a small city where everyone knew everyone.
"Gray-sama thinks of Juvia's safety makes Juvia happy," she said with a chuckle.
Gray's face reddened. He hesitated, but eventually he cleared his throat before he continued, "Because you're a very important person to me."
"Gray-sama is also a very important person to Juvia," she smiled.
Gray knew it was not the first time she confessed her feeling. She confessed whenever they met. Yet amazingly, it never failed to make his heart beat faster, but his emotion prevented him from uttering a word.
"I'm serious. Just go home," he said sternly.
"Fine, Juvia will," she lied as she put on her best coat. She didn't care, she was still going to meet him. Tonight.
##
A/N: Recently I've lost interest in writing. Hence, this story and all of my other fics will be on hiatus until I find my passion to write again or unless anyone is willing to adopt any of my story. Thank you so much reviewing: animelover1257, Star197, and iamalphagirl. Your reviews are the reason why I update this chapter, despite my laziness to write lol.
