A New Family

Chapter 21

Luna and her Guardians

Being a parent and having to take care of a child is such a hard job. However, Natsu and Lucy always managed to have help along the way. With the help of her friends and her spirits, their lives were so much easier.

As expected, Aquarius was the one who Luna spent most of her time with. She acted as her caretaker when Natsu and Lucy just wanted some time away. It didn't happen often, but Aquarius was more than willing to watch over her. She was also responsible for taking care of Luna's hygiene. Aquarius' water was special in nature so whenever Luna came out of the bathroom, she came out like an entirely new baby.

Crux and Lyra were responsible for her free time activities. Crux always read her stories of great courage and triumph. Although she didn't know what he was saying, it showed on her face that she was enjoying it. Most of his stories were about Natsu and Lucy and how they've conquered so many feats that seemed nearly impossible. Crux had a fondness of Natsu and how he's impressed him around every turn. Whenever he finished a story, a tear fell from his face and smiled emerged out of nowhere. He was like another star in the sky. Lyra gave Luna beautiful songs to calm her down, put her to sleep, and every other reason she could to sing to her.

Aries provided Luna with everything they could possibly think of. Along with the bed, she also made some stuffed animals for her to play with. Gemini spent some time alone to be the perfect play mate. She managed to copy Asuka and acted as a play mate for her. Luna wasn't too intelligent when it came to playing, but not being alone was better than nothing. Capricorn managed her hair. Her light pink hair wasn't too difficult since she was still young. He made sure that her head was filled with hair, but not flowing any longer than that.

Lucy had so many other spirits and they all managed to be a big part of her life. Erza came over all of the time and it was starting to feel like she was becoming a bigger part of their family. Although all of this seemed well and good, not everything worked as they hoped.

With every baby comes with the changing of diapers. This was something that no one wanted to do. Whenever they asked one of Lucy's spirits, they kindly refused and returned to the spirit world. Whenever they asked Erza, she immediately stormed out of their house. Wendy simply said no. Happy and Carla were never around for them to ask so that left Natsu and Lucy.

As bad as it was, Lucy took the initiative and did it herself. Also, it only happened when Natsu wasn't around and Lucy couldn't wait for him to show up just to change her diapers. It was messy as always and Lucy could barely stand it. There were a few things in this world that could make someone die of disgust and the things people find in baby's diapers is definitely one of them.

Along with the "poopie" in her diapers, there was a lot of crying. Luna wasn't a perfect baby in no way so crying was an everyday thing. It happened in the middle of the day and late at night when everyone was sleeping. Because she was the mother, Lucy knew when Luna was crying so she was the one to console her whenever it happened. Unfortunately, when she looked at her bed, she saw Natsu sleeping like a log. She couldn't let this depress her though. He was still here with her so that meant the world for her.

The days seemed to drag on with no end in sight. Every so often, there was a good day where nothing insane happened, but after that, the hectic days returned with a vengeance. The two of them quickly started to realize that caring for a baby was a job that no one was ready for. They did their best to make sure Luna was comfortable with everything around her, but she was simply a drama queen in a baby's body.

One day, the two of them finally managed to put Luna to sleep for the day. She slept peacefully in her bed while Natsu and Lucy plopped on the couch in the living room. They hit the couch and sighed out loud.

"Gosh, we're just living the life."

"Uuuhhh! Yep."

"I don't mean to put you down or anything, but you haven't been doing a lot."

"What? Are you serious?"

"I am. Nearly everything I've done. I've changed her, I've cared for her, everything. What have you done?!" Natsu was about to answer her, but then a thought came across his mind. She was telling the truth.

"Lucy, I…" Lucy suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him back towards their room. She shoved him inside and closed the door.

"I'm sleeping outside. If you leave that room… Don't leave that room." Natsu reached for the doorknob, but quickly pulled away. Lucy was being serious so he had to go according to her plans. He walked over to her crib and saw that she was still sleeping peacefully. He then walked over to his bed where he sat down and fell onto his back.

"I kind of feel bad now." The clock in the room tick-tocked non-stop. He didn't know how much time passed, bit he did start to feel tired. His eyelids grew heavy as he was struggling to stay awake. Right as he was about to fall asleep, he felt something in his chest which made him spring up from the bed. At that moment, Luna started to cry. He ran over to her crib and picked her out of it. He cradled her in his arms and gently bobbed his body. "Sshhh. It's alright. I'm here Luna. Sshhh." He warmed his hand and rubbed her back to see if that would do anything. Surprisingly, it worked. She immediately stopped crying. He kept at it for a few more seconds before putting her back in her crib.

When he did, though, she immediately started to cry again. That's when he knew that this was going to go on all night. He grabbed her out once again and walked her over to his bed. He climbed onto the bed and fell onto his back. With Luna in his arms, he placed her on his chest and quickly fell asleep. For the rest of the night, she made no sound. She was as silent as could be.

Meanwhile, near the middle of the night, Lucy peeped her head into the room to see Natsu and Luna sleeping together. She also felt a very soothing aura coming from inside. She was a little surprised to see that things were going so smoothly for him, but she couldn't complain. That night was the best night she's had in a long time and she had no intention of interfering with what was going on inside that room. She walked back into the living room and turned in for the night.

End of Chapter 21