Natsu couldn't believe how fast time went by. Ever since Layla had been born, everything just seemed to come and go so much faster than before. That was both good and bad. His missions would feel long and hard, and then his time with Layla between jobs seemed way too short. Although, he was definitely not the most nervous in the guild.
With the birth of his own child being less than a month away, Gray seemed to be very frantic. At this point he had decided not to go on any more missions until after the baby was born, and to be honest Natsu thanked him for a way to stay home with Layla while using the excuse that he had no one to go on jobs with. Of course every time he was bored however, he found himself remembering dragging Lucy out on jobs whenever he didn't have anything else to do. Secretly he knew it was all just a ploy to spend more time alone with her, but he would never say that out loud.
Now he didn't have the free time to plot anything whether Lucy was here or not. He and Loke had set up a bit of a tag team agreement. Whenever Natsu had something urgent to do (usually meaning he had to go to the bathroom) Loke would come out and play with Layla. He would always end up being dragged into some sort of game that would last near an hour, so during that time Natsu was able to sit at the bar for a while and have a drink or two. Like right now.
"We're getting very close now." Mirajane said as she leaned over the bar counter. She smiled brightly at a very round Juvia.
"Yes." Juvia replied with a smile just as large if not larger. She sat carefully on one of the barstools, Gray close beside her. She rested her hands on her belly.
"I can't wait!" Mira squealed as she cleaned a glass. "I love having children in the guild. And I'm sure Layla will enjoy the play mate. Don't you think so Natsu?"
The fire mage turned around when he heard the question. He had been watching Layla play with Wendy and some dolls off on the other side of the guild. "Yeah. But it'll be a while before they could really play around. I mean she is 3 years older."
"That's true." Juvia nodded in agreement. "But Juvia hopes that the two will be good friends in the future."
"I just hope they don't fight like their fathers." Erza added in as she walked pass the group.
Natsu and Gray were both about to open their mouths and complain, but Natsu stopped when he felt a tugging on his pant leg, leaving Gray to complain on his own. When he looked down, he saw Layla looking up at him with wondering eyes.
"What's up sweetheart?" Natsu asked his little girl. He leaned down and picked her up, placing her in his lap. "Something wrong?"
Layla gave her father a large hug before answering the question. "I heawrd my name. So I came over." She said with a shy grin.
"You heard your name?" Natsu repeated, gaining a rather adorable nod in reply. Natsu looked at his daughter, then over to where she had been playing, then back at Layla. "You must have some really good ears." He joked.
"Don't you think that's one thing she would have gotten from you Natsu?" Gray said almost sarcastically. "Well that's definitely better than motion sickness."
"Daddy's sick?" Layla had a worried expression on her face as she leaned forward to touch Natsu's face, just as he had done to her when he was checking for a cold. Natsu knew she had no idea what she was doing, but the fact that she remembered how to check on him made him happy enough.
"No, no. I'm just fine Layla." He said as he patted the blonde girls head.
"Aaaaw." Juvia interrupted. "Juvia can't wait to be able to do that with my own child."
"Auntie Juvia ish having a child?" Layla asked.
"Yes." Juvia nodded and leaned over towards Layla as much as she could. "She's in here." Juvia patted her enlarged stomach.
Layla looked at Juvia's belly. Then looked up at Juvia. "Did you eat her?"
Natsu and Gray couldn't help but burst out laughing at the completely innocent question. This only made Layla even more confused.
"No. Juvia didn't eat her. She's just inside of Juvia." The water mage tried to explain.
"How did she get in there if you didn't eat her?" At this question Layla found her ears getting covered by Natsu's hands. She tried to move her head away, but since her father's hands were just about as big as her own head, she found it hard to escape. She looked up at much as she could, and saw Natsu saying something to Juvia, but even with her good ears she couldn't make out what was being said. Then, at last, Natsu removed his hands. "What was that for daddy?!" She complained, lightly tapping her small fists against Natsu's chest.
"Don't worry about it baby girl." Natsu shot a grin at Layla. "Just some grown up talk that little ears shouldn't listen too." Before Layla could finish thinking over what Natsu meant by that, Juvia interrupted her train of thought.
"Do you want to feel the baby kick Layla?" Juvia asked.
"Whataya mean?" Layla asked quickly. Her words mixing together mixing together. Layla watched carefully as Juvia took hold of her hand and brought it on top of her round belly. Everyone watched in delight as Layla's eyes widened. "There's something inside!"
"That's that baby." Juvia explained.
"Really! So there really is a baby in your tummy?"
"Yup."
*Later that night*
"Daddy." Layla whispered, creeping the door to Natsu's room open. The small voice woke Natsu up. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw Layla standing in the doorway.
"Layla. What's wrong?" He asked, concern clearly in his voice. Layla ran across the room and launched herself onto Natsu's bed, specifically onto him. She wrapped her arms as much as she could around his waist, pulling herself into him. Natsu could hear tiny little sobs coming from her. He wrapped his own arms around her and pulled her closer. "There, there. It's ok love." He said calmly, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "Did you have a bad dream?" Layla nodded. She buried her face into Natsu's shoulder. "It's ok baby girl. I'll fight off anything that tries and hurts you. So there's no need to worry. Ok?"
"O-okay." Layla sniffed. Even if she said ok, Natsu could tell how scared she still was by the way she clung onto him so tightly.
"Do you wanna sleep with me tonight?" Natsu asked. Layla nodded. "Ok then. Come on. Let's go to bed." Natsu carefully rested Layla down on his mattress, then lay down next to her. He made sure to cover them both, but most Layla, in the blankets and sheets. He knew he probably didn't have to worry about keeping her warm due to the fact that his body heat alone would keep her nice and toasty. But, he still worried about her catching a chill in the middle of the night. "Nighty night Layla." He whispered, kissing her forehead.
"Daddy."
"What is it?" Natsu asked with a smile.
"Is something gonna happen to Auntie Juvia?" She asked.
"That's a funny question." Natsu chuckled. "What would happen to her?"
"Well," Layla thought about her question for a moment. "Ish she gonna disappear like mommy did?"
The question shocked Natsu. He pulled Layla as close as he could to himself. Holding onto her in a huge hug. "Juvia will be fine. Nothing will happen to her." He said in a low voice.
Soon after Layla had fallen asleep, Natsu drifted off as well.
*One week later*
"Shana Kelly Fullbuster." Gray said proudly. He looked down at the small little bundle in his arms. It was near mid-afternoon and Juvia had given birth to the small baby early that very morning. Gray sat in a chair next to the hospital bed Juvia was resting in. The couple both had smiles on their faces as they introduced their daughter to the guild members that came by. Now, Natsu, with Layla, along with Erza and Wendy, and or course, Happy and Charle.
"She's pretty." Wendy said happily.
"She's squishy looking." Layla commented, earning a couple of laughs from the group.
"You were just like that too when you were a baby." Natsu told his daughter.
"Really?" Layla's eyes widened as is she had found a whole new type of respect for the new born baby.
"I'm glad you decided on a name." Erza stated. "It's a very lovely one at that."
"Thank you." Juvia smiled as she leaned into Gray's shoulder, looking at child. Gray took this to mean that she wanted to hold Shana, so he very gently handed her back to her mother.
Layla squeezed her way past her father and went over to Juvia's bedside. She did her best to try and climb onto the bed on her own, but Natsu ended up helping her up. Since she was still small, Layla had no trouble at all fitting on the bed next to the new mother and daughter pair.
"Can someone go get Reedus so that Juvia can get a picture of this moment?" Juvia asked.
"Give me a minute. I'll go find him." Erza left the room to find the painter. She came back moments later with the artist mage.
Natsu had to try and convince Layla to stay still as Reedus painted her along with Juvia, Gray, and the new baby Shana. Juvia had insisted that Layla be in the family portrait, so that she would be able to remember how little Layla had been at the time too. Also, anyone could see how much Juvia had grown to care to Layla, just as everyone else in the guild had. It turned out to be a very pretty picture. Juvia sat in the bed, holding the baby, with Gray on her right, and Layla sitting happily on her left. Reedus promised to make a separate copy to give to Natsu later.
