~I can't promise I'll be able to keep up with these updates but I'm going to try my damnedest for y'all!

It's officially baby season for Dragon Incidents!~


Chapter 49

Raiden Yuri Dreyar was born June 18th at 7:06 pm, exactly two minutes before his brother Rohan Kajiru Redfox. Both were birthed naturally and without problem save being a few weeks premature but Porlyusica reassured the Brood that the twins were far more resilient than most babies born before their due date due to their magic and would only have to stay in the infirmary for two more weeks to make sure they were healthy enough to go home.

Mira recorded the whole experience without anyone present knowing. She didn't yet know what she wanted to do with said video but she was sure it would come in handy on the twins 16th birthday or an anniversary or something. Either way, the movie of a video would stay in her clutches until she decided to release it to the world.

XxXxXxXxX

By the time Bickslow and Wendy returned to the guild hall from the overnight mission they had taken to check in with Mira and let her know all went well, they were greeted by the sight of most of their guildmates all strewn across the hall asleep in varying places people probably shouldn't sleep; under tables, on tables, on each other, on the bar. Wendy was pretty sure she saw Gray laying across the steps in what had to be the most uncomfortable looking position she'd ever seen. They were more than concerned at the lack of glasses or boozy smell that usually accompanied the sight before them until Wendy's eyes went wide at the new smells coming from the second floor.

Her voice was entirely too loud as she all but screeched at six in the morning, "THE TWINS! BICKSLOW, THE TWINS!"

Not catching on to her excitement, the Seith Mage looked down at the bouncing blunette with confusion in his voice since he knew the twins weren't due until next month. He knew because he was counting down the days until he got to meet the souls he checked on every single day. "What about the twins-"

Without letting him finish, Wendy grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the steps.

Bickslow let out a very unbecoming scream when Gray's ice-cold hand wrapped around his ankle, his eyes shining with an emotion the blunette didn't recognize from the calm mage. "They are so little. Like too little. Juvia tried to hand him to me and..." Though the Ice Make and Devil Slayer Mage trailed off, his eyes stayed shining with what the Seith now recognized as pure awe.

A smirk quirked his lips at his raven haired guildmate before Wendy's tugging became insistent and he had little choice but to follow the determined Slayer.

"You know Juvia is going to babysit a lot which means you'll have plenty of time to get used to babies!" By the time he finished, they were at the top of the steps and Gray sat forward, his elbows leaned on his knees contemplating his now official and live-in girlfriend. Whether he wanted to or not, they were on the fast track for children thanks to Lucy. His world shifted a little when the thought 'but you aren't even married' crossed his mind. Maybe beating Flame Brain to the altar would satisfy Juvia's baby craze temporarily.

While Gray tried to plan his future half-naked on the steps of the guild hall, Bickslow and Wendy were practically vibrating at the prospect of meeting the twins as Wendy opened the door to the infirmary. Both their eyes went wide and soft all at once at the sight they walked in on.

Lucy was fast asleep on one of the beds half tangled in the Fire Slayer as his hands ran through her hair, a peaceful smile on her face to match Natsu's. Sitting on chairs just on the other side of the couple were Laxus and Gajeel, each with a tiny bundle in their laughably bulked up arms all wrapped in soft blankets; one a faded yellow and the other a faded red.

Rohan had dark hair like his father, a quiet temperament and a stare that would surely have the same effect as Gajeel's save that fact that Rohan's eyes were a mismatched set of one pure, molten gold left eye and one deep, wine right eye to match Gajeel's. Bickslow was pretty sure his heart stopped when that gaze met his with open curiosity.

Just as the set of blunettes was about to descend, Raiden let out a blaring but short cry from Laxus' arms before cracking his left eye open to reveal a bright ocean blue eye. It take very long for the little blond to yawn, his lips smacking together a few times before his right eye followed suit in a lazy, uneven series of blinks. A small gasp left the Sky Maiden at the matching molten gold iris of his right eye to match Rohan's.

Bickslow knelt down in front of the chair that held his godchild, already completely in love as the tiniest Dragon Slayer's face twisted into a variety of hilarious expressions to let both mages watching know he held a lot of emotion behind his angelic face.

Reaching out one of his tanned hands, he ran the back of his knuckles over a chubby cheek, voice soft and full of affection to match the look in his eyes as his other hand took off his visor, "They're perfect."

Neither of the new papa Dragon Slayers looked up from their reverent gazing but both their lips split into wide toothy grins before Laxus half-whispered, "Yeah, they are. We'll have to stay at the guild for a few weeks until the Witch gives us the go ahead to come home. They came a little too soon."

While the Laxus and Bickslow spoke in hushed tones about what needed to get done at the Nest in the next two weeks in order for them to move in without once taking their eyes of Raiden who was loving the attention from the two males, Gajeel handed Rohan over to Wendy, the little schmooze smiling widely up at her.

"He's such a charmin' little shit. Ya shoulda seen him with Bunny and Bitch Witch. I saw her smile and it fucked me up at first."

Sending the Iron Slayer a scolding glare while giving Rohan her finger to suck on, the younger admonished his rough language, "No swearing in front of hatchlings, Gajeel-kun."

Rolling his eyes, he shot a crooked grin at the young slayer while standing to stretch his back from sitting in the uncomfortable infirmary chairs for hours. "Gimme a break, Squirt, I'm new at this."

Shaking her head in a light, playful manner that sent her short hair fanning around her head, the deep blue caught Rohan's attention as his little face scrunched and he reached out to grab it in handsy motions.

He was surprisingly gentle as he palmed the soft hair before sneezing and releasing his grip. This action pulled involuntary 'awww's from both Bickslow and Wendy.

Laxus let out light chuckles before warning, "Don't let Raiden get ahold of your hair. I thought Porly was going drop him when he took a hand full and wouldn't let go. I've never seen her look so pissed and happy at the same time. Kind of scary actually."

The Seith couldn't help but laugh at the visual that accompanied that particular warning, stirring Lucy just enough to let out a low hum of sleepy contentment.

Both babies instantly let out quiet purrs in response to their mom before Natsu's rich voice filled the room, his hands continuing their wandering, "Good morning, Princess. How'd your first night as a mom feel?"

Groggy and sore, her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton each but the prospect of seeing the twins was motivation enough to pry them open from her warm sanctuary. "I feel tired. And hungry. But mostly fantastic." Turning her attention to Bickslow and Wendy, a warm smile split her lips before asking earnestly, "How did the job go? It was the monster quest in Oshibana, right?"

Deciding to mess with the Celestial Mage a little, Bickslow went on a long drawn out explanation of their mundane monster quest that turned out to be a particularly petty ex-farmhand with Turncoat Magic that he used to amass an army of small forest critters who were eating most of his ex-employer's crops. By the time he had finished, he was lounged next to Lucy and Natsu with his hands behind his head as he mused, "Anything fun happen while we were away?"

Knowing full well what he was trying to get at, Lucy tapped a finger to her chin from where she was sandwiched between the two men, she matched his musing tone, "Koa and I found some really cute onesies for the twins and I got him to try on a pair of jeans."

His eyes filled with false surprise as he met hers, sarcasm heavy in his voice, "Really now? That is a feat. You know how much Boom-boom likes his shorts and only shorts."

Suddenly, Lucy's heart dropped as she sat forward too quickly and a wave of pain washed over but it didn't stall her worried scanning over the bodies still strewn about the extra beds around her. The words fell from her mouth in a panicked rush, "Where's Koa? He was right behind us. Why wouldn't he be here? He was here, right?"

As if sensing their mom's rapid change in mood, both twins began to fuss before Raiden started wailing and kicking and Rohan refused to settle despite both Laxus and Wendy's best effort to ease their mood.

Raising her arms as if to say 'I'll take them', Lucy continued, "Get Cobra and find him, Bickslow. I have a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and he can't use his magic with those cuffs. He wouldn't miss the twins birth. I know he wouldn't." She turned her head to talk to her pink-haired mate as Wendy laid Rohan in her open arms, immediately soothed at being close to Lucy again. "Will you go with them please? He never- We didn't really talk about his past but there has to be a reason he was without parents in the jungle. I don't want anything to happen to him since he has the cuffs on still-"

Just as Laxus was standing to hand Raiden over, his comm went off stilling everyone in the room before Gajeel reached into his pocket and answered for the Lightning Slayer.

When Kekoa's dirt and blood covered face filled the screen, the Iron Slayer's body tensed as all focus was on his rushed voice, his eyes darted around what looked like the basement of Laxus' house, "I need help! There was- there was a girl in the woods and...she looked like she'd been through hell but when I went to help her, she freaked out and started running through the woods again. I tried to tell her, Gajeel, I wasn't going to hurt her but she just kept running. Then she just- she just stopped. And collapsed. I don't where she came from but she's freaky looking and unconscious. I just got back to the house and I didn't know where to put her so I, uh, kind of took my cuffs...off...and put them on her. She hit her head on a gnarly rock when she went down and I don't know what to do."

"Kid-"

"What if she wakes up? I have no idea what to do with a haole like this."

"Kekoa, calm down." The use of his full name shut him up. "Natsu, Bix and Cobra will be there soon. For now, I'm gonna ignore the part where ya took your cuffs off. Is she breathin' still?"

The even baritone of Gajeel's voice cut through the teen aged rambling and calmed him enough to be able to listen and nod before Gajeel's visual on the Encan tilted and he caught a flash of the strange woman's face. She looked much older than what he made her seem. Her features were sharp, almost birdlike. She was deathly pale, nearly stark white to contrast the dried blood and dirt caked across her skin.

"She's still breathing but I don't know how long she'll keep breathing. Her breathing is really shallow."

Wendy grabbed the lacrima from Gajeel's hand before once again grabbing Bickslow's wrist. While they all watched in slight shock at the blunettes manhandling, the Sky Maiden started walking Koa through basic first aid and telling him what he needed to gather for her to help their mystery patient before her voice faded to nothing as they walked down the hall and away from the infirmary towards Laxus' house.

Gajeel was left staring at his now empty palm while Laxus watched the way his son found his brother's hand and held tight before falling asleep with an open-mouthed smile. The switch in mood so sudden, Laxus almost found himself worried at how that would develop.

"Since Wendy is goin' to help Koa, can I stay here? I'm not very helpful when it comes to putting things back together. Especially people." Natsu's voice was distracted as he played with the poof of black hair on Rohan's head earning little noises of approval as his eyes lit up at Natsu's playing.

Drawling boredly from where he sat on the edge of the bed beside Laxus, Gajeel couldn't help but think if the little dragon didn't look like him, he'd thought he had the wrong child with his easy-going nature and ease with people so far, "I think the three of 'em got ya covered, Pinky."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It took both Bickslow and Wendy hours to get patient zero stable enough they could move her from the basement up to the living room where Kekoa had brought down a cot. She was now fast asleep with one of Lucy's t-shirts and a pair of loose soft sleep shorts with the help of Wendy and Cobra. Whoever she was, now that she was cleaned up and bandaged, she looked at peace. Her skin was like porcelain, flawless are pure white in such stark contrast with the inky black of her dreadlocked hair down just passed her shoulders. Though they were dreads, she must have kept up rigorously with the upkeep because they were all even and clean as blood red threading criss-crossed over the columns of hair.

Aside from all the fresh damage of her sprint through the pines, her arms and legs were littered with scars that Cobra unfortunately recognized as slashes from being whipped. Something that didn't seem to match the soft, timid sound of her soul. She was far from tiny, probably landing somewhere around six foot with a willowy build only made worse by her malnutrition and borderline starvation. Both Bickslow and Cobra were more than a little curious as to what her magic actually was because neither of them had ever come in contact with anything like it before.

Kekoa was exhausted as he flopped down on the floor behind the couch to lean on the leather mass to keep upright after being awake for over thirty hours straight. He hoped Lucy and the boys were okay and healthy. He really hoped he could muster the energy to make the trip to the guild to see them but when he tried to push himself up, a dainty hand covered in soft skin pushed his chest back down.

Wendy's voice was adamant but not unkind as her hands started to glow to help heal the cuts patient zero managed to deal with her rough, uncut nails, "You need to rest, Koa. You've been through a lot today."

Reluctant and shocked at the contact, he met her shining eyes and asked earnestly, "Is Lucy alright? And the boys?"

Granting him a blinding smile, she answered easily, "Mom and hatchlings are all happy and healthy. The twins were born a little early so they will stay at the guild with regular check ins with Porlyusica, but yeah. I've never seen cuter babies in my whole life. They each have one golden eye, Raiden's right and Rohan's left while the other matches their papa's. It's the only touch of Lucy that either has. I have a feeling they are going to grow up to be amazing mages."

When she finished with the Combustion Mage's injuries, the little Slayer sat beside the Encan nearly nine months her junior in a graceful motion.

Both Bickslow and Cobra watched the two closely without being obvious or overbearing as Wendy's eyes grew heavy at the loss of magic from all the healing. Her head slumped to the side to land on Koa's very comfortable shoulder, freezing the Combustion Mage in place with a deer in the headlights look as he stared straight forward, pleading for one of the older mages to help him.

Trying desperately to get the attention of either of the other males present and failing, he turned to look down at her face. Her cheek was squished against the dirty material of his shirt and her mouth was just barely open, making her breathes come out in airy puffs. He had been told multiple times by every single member of the guild that the Sky Dragon Slayer was off limits and though they were guildmates and he was a guildmate, Wendy was never alone when he came around and despite being part of the only three kids in their age range, he seemed to always find himself being whisked away before he could actually hang out with her. He and Romeo got along great though. The Fire Mage was inventive and fun to spar with.

Sure, he was given plenty of opportunity to meet other teens his age between Bickslow's lackadaisical attitude and the amount of travel Lucy had to do at the beginning of the summer but Wendy was this untouchable, off-limits, out of his league, epitome of 'danger: do not touch' that he craved in recent months. Not so much her as a person because he didn't know anything about her save what was in her profile at the guild but because she was this untouchable thing he wasn't allowed to have. He loved that risk, the satisfaction of finally touching something so out of reach. He craved the idea of Wendy. Or at least that's what he was telling himself as he leaned his head back against the couch and thought to himself, She leaned on me and it would be more rude to push her off so I'll just...stay here until she wakes up. Bickslow and Cobra are staying to make sure creepy woods lady doesn't do anything and they witnessed her fall over on me.

Satisfied that there was nothing happening and completely ignoring the bit of warmth in his chest, Koa shut his eyes and tried to get some sleep himself.

"How much money you wanna bet those two get together?" Bickslow's words were teasing as he moved behind Laxus' massive chair to push it next to their unconscious houseguest's cot so he would be comfortable while he waited for her to wake up.

Cobra was having difficulties understanding why he was necessary for this particular incident so in his usual snide tone, he countered, "I thought you liked her with the kid with the foul flames?"

Rolling his eyes as he adjusted the chair, the Seith responded without looking at the Poison Slayer leaned against the wall on the other side of the cot, "You know his name's Romeo, Cobra. You've been in the guild with him for years."

With a uncaring shrug, Cobra closed his eye and listened to the girl's soul again, trying to discern any helpful information he could but she was so deeply out of touch it was like her soul was on repeat. Stunted almost.

Much to his annoyance, Bickslow continued the conversation with or without his contribution.

"I did like them together but now they kind of remind me of me and my youngest sister and it weirds me out. Plus, Koa's a good guy. Powerful magic, powerful personality with the patience and humility to learn and he's one hell of a lucky guy if Lucy hand-picked him for Fairy Tail. He could have been a dog to the Council if she hadn't been the one to take that job and find him."

"Are you going to talk about this for awhile?" The acerbic tone did nothing to deter Bickslow.

"I don't have anything else to talk about." Pausing before flopping back in the chair unceremoniously, he continued with a shit-eating grin, "Unless you wanna talk about babies. Just met two of the cutest I've ever seen exist."

A roll of an amethyst eye later, Cobra scoffed out, "Tch, wait til there's more to pick from. I'm sure you'll be swimming in them soon enough."

Deciding he was hungry, the Seith got up to make his way to the kitchen. His voice was easy as he called back, "And the best part is that none of them are mine and I get to give them all back. I'm the real winner here. You want anything to eat?"

"This isn't your home, scavenger."

"Sure it is. Lucy loves me enough to let me do whatever I want and she keeps this placen plenty stocked with the good stuff."

While the blunette acrobat left to rummage through the kitchen, Cobra called Gajeel with Laxus' stolen comm and when the Iron Slayer's face appeared, he couldn't help but snicker. He must have pissed Spark Plug off enough to get a few volts sent his way by the way his hair was standing in awkward peaks and his brows were still arcing with electricity. He couldn't help but poke the wound at the Iron Slayer's expense. "What'd you do to piss Sparkles off this time? Did you take his toys again?"

"...it wasn't Sparkles…"

The grumpy tone of his voice and annoyed body language, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he avoided actually looking at anyone in particular, actually sent a wave of sheer amusement through the Poison Slayer and he actually let out unbidden laughter at the implication of that. The sound of it so foreign that Lucy's head poked in the frame with a look of almost concern for him.

She poked Gajeel's face, careful of a still fussy Raiden in her arms, as she spoke in a flat tone. "Great, now you broke him."

"He's not broken. I don't think he's broken anyway…"

"He's laughing, Gaj. Have you ever seen Erik laugh like that because I sure haven't."

Shaking the humor from his head, Cobra spoke through a few last remaining chuckles with a toothy smile on his face, "You mean to tell me the lightning bug did that to you? He was literally just born yesterday and he's already kicking your ass. Fuck, that's too good."

Already an impulse for Lucy, she spat out, "Language," before realizing what she just did and decided to ignore it completely. "He's electrocuted everyone except me and Natsu so far. Laxus zapped him back when he tried it on him and he started squealing with laughter so that's a thing now. How is everyone over there? Is Koa okay?"

"It was looking grim there for awhile but she's stable. We are just waiting for her to wake up and Boom-boom's just fine. He and the little dragon are asleep right now." The Poison Slayer held no objection to the pair of teens getting to know each other so he kept his wording vague to keep Lucy from going full blown mama dragon. As if Wendy being her little sister wasn't enough, the blunette was also kipa of their brood and whether their dievinu was doing it on purpose, she was waiting to see who would earn the right to be around her kipa and younger sister by actively keeping most everyone away from her.

Lucy nodded her head as she looked down at her blond son's face, his tongue sticking out as he blew spit bubbles to pull an easy smile from the blonde beauty. Her voice was full of obvious relief at hearing good news from the Poison Slayer. "Thank Mavis. I can't believe poor Koa had to go through that. Is Bix near? I want to know if he thinks I should get another set of cuffs from Loke."

Cobra gave a shake of his head before answering for the Seith, "He doesn't need them. If he knew how to take them off this whole time and kept them on anyway, he's earned his freedom from them. He didn't use his magic at all, he just didn't want mystery girl to wake up and destroy something."

She didn't have to put much thought in her response. "He's got a head on his shoulders that's for sure." Which was true. The teen had an amazing memory. He would look over a page of the expense report and be able to recite it back to her without any effort or even glancing at the sheet again. When she pointed that out to him he just gave her a nonchalant shrug and continued with the paperwork.

Bickslow had found himself leftover noodles in the fridge and was munching away as he threw and arm over Cobra's shoulder, much to the maroon-headed man's offense. His face was open and cheery while he waved at the couple in the comm, fork in hand still. "Hey mama. Nice hair, dude."

This earned another glare from the Iron Slayer before he handed the comm to Lucy and proceeded to completely leave the view of the lacrima. A round of quiet chuckles sounded throughout the infirmary before Lucy's golden-brown gaze turned back to the comm, voice still filled with mirth, "Hey there Bixy. There are snickerdoodles in the jar on the island if you wanted something sweet."

Clutching his hand over his heart, his voice filled with a kind of subtle awe that had Laxus rolling his eyes at his best friends antics, "Sweet woman, you've spoiled me rotten."

"Tch, ain't that the truth," was the only thing the Lightning Slayer managed to get out before Raiden started another round of death screams. Cobra was positive his ears were bleeding and without a goodbye or another word spoken, he cut the magic from his end and relished in the silence of Laxus' house with his hand pressed across his forehead.

"You're about to have one of those you know," was all Bickslow said before making his way back to kitchen on a hunt for snickerdoodle cookies that melted in your mouth and gave you happy thoughts like all of the Celestial Mage's baking did.

XxXxXx

It was another two days before Ji'ku woke up disoriented and confused. Her head felt light and her stomach wasn't gnawing at her but as she took in the room she was in, her blood red eyes went wide with panic before realizing she couldn't use her magic at all.

A bubbly voice sounded from beside her, one she recognized from her time looking through Lucy's eyes, "Good morning! You've had quite that last few days but you'll be fine with some easy rehab and proper nutrition. My name's Wendy." The teen was trying to not be alarmed by this woman's eyes as they met hers. They were one solid pool of swirling blood red, no whites, no irises, just...deeply saturated red but the fear that burned in them softened her own defenses.

She opened her mouth to introduce herself and explain, but nothing came out. Her throat was dry and unused to speaking after months of silence.

The Sky Maiden held out a mug of steaming broth having already prepared it when Cobra let her know she was finally waking, her voice reflecting the warmth in her brown eyes, "It's just chicken broth but sip at it slowly. When you feel up to it, you can introduce yourself but do you mind if I ask you some simple yes or no questions?"

While the young blunette was far from naive thanks to the lessons her life has taught her, both Bickslow and Cobra reassured her from what they could gather from her slow waking conscious and soul, there wasn't much of a threat coming from the woman.

The Combustion Mage was sitting on the couch facing the lacrima screen watching some hilariously un-scary scary movies and kept one ear peeled to the pair of females behind his back. Throwing one tanned arm over the back of the couch, he turned his head to look at his mystery girl only to meet the malevolent gaze and exclaim a brusque and startling string of expletives in his native Encan tongue.

This only succeeded in making Wendy jump while Ji'ku's unwavering gaze stayed locked on him.

Koa was clutching his chest and panting when Bickslow ran down from the bathroom, hair dripping and a towel wrapped loosely around his hips, with his babies in tow. "What's going on? Why is he yelling and why didn't you tell me Sleeping Beauty woke up?"

Ji'ku's burning gaze met Bickslow's concentric red eyes before she took in the sight of the mostly naked man. She had never seen a naked man before. Before her mother learned to lock her in, the males of the guild would 'visit' but the lights were always off and it was easier if she didn't move. This man, Bickslow, was her favorite to watch with Lucy. He was always smiling and making other people smile, something she wasn't used to but very much would like to get used to. A blush spread over her cheeks at just how much more attractive he was wrapped in only a small towel, all the deeply tanned, tattooed skin pulled taut over the swimmers build of lean muscle covering his tall frame. Tall enough to be taller than her even without her slumping over to seem smaller, less noticeable.

Her mouth opened to answer for herself before her throat closed up and sent her into a coughing fit.

Wendy's gentle hands were rubbing back to ease the fit before encouraging her to take a sip of the warm broth again. Her words were light and caring, "Don't worry about Bixy-chan and don't try to speak until the mug is empty."

Turning her attention back to Bickslow, she took note of the just barely visible blush that spread across the Seith's own cheeks before openly scolding him, her brows furrowed in a face that reminding Bickslow way too much of Angry-Lucy, "Go put some clothes on, baka. You're going to give her a heart attack with all this yelling and nudity."

Pulling the towel around his hips a little tighter in his grip, his other hand was rubbing the back of his head as he laughed, "Right. I'll be doing just that after one of you tells me where Belladonna went."

Koa, fully recovered from the fright that was strange girl's eyeballs, let Bickslow know what Cobra was doing. "He went outside to talk to Kina an hour ago so he should be back soon. She's trying to convince him to move closer to the guild and so far, he's been pretty whipped about it."

"False," the Poison Slayer's distinct voice sounded from the foyer before he walked into the living room to shoot Koa a venomous glare, "My mate wants to move closer to Lucy, not the guild. I happen to tolerate Lambchop more than most so I'm in agreement." Having taken care of the 'whipped' dig by a teenager, his attention turned to Bickslow, a slow curling smirk taking over his face as he spoke slyly, "I knew you were ballsy, Playboy, but don't you think this is going to leave lasting psychological scars on the girl?" Nodding his head to the Seith's attire, Cobra could have guessed the blunette would make light of it.

His tongue lolled from his mouth before wiggling his eyebrows and countering mirthfully as he made his way back up the steps, "What are you talking about? I'd rather wake up and see me than your murderous face."

Closing his eye to gather himself before crossing the room to lean back against the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, Cobra motioned for Wendy to continue with whatever she needed to do with a simple nod of his head.

Turning her full attention back to the girl diligently sipping at her mug, Wendy repeated her last question, "Do you think you're up for a few simple yes or no questions?"

Ji'ku took some extra time to look over the Poison Slayer's slim frame before nodding her head in a slow motion to earn a bright smile from the young blunette sitting beside her.

She tucked her short blue hair behind her ear before asking her first of many questions, "Are you lost?"

Ji'ku's brows furrowed in thought before a serious look replaced it and her grip on the mug grew tighter. She gave a firm shake of her head.

"Not lost then. Do you live nearby?"

Again, she gave a shake of her head to say no.

Wendy took a moment before she tilted her head to the side to take the woman in. It was a few uncomfortable seconds for Ji'ku before the teen changed tactics completely.

"Are you in any pain?"

She gave an easy shake of her head as she took in another mouthful of the broth given to her. She liked the way Wendy's eyes crinkled when she smiled and wondered if her eyes would crinkle if she smiled.

"That's good. You were in really rough shape when I got here, much longer and you'd have died from the strain you were putting on a malnourished body. It's a good thing Kekoa found you when he did," her eyes turned soft as she looked into hazel-blue eyes framed in thick lashes, "he saved your life bringing you here."

Koa shifted under the combined gaze of both ladies, stretching his shoulders awkwardly before turning his attention back to the movie. He wasn't used to direct praise from anyone other than Lucy and Bickslow and for some reason, the look in Wendy's eyes sent a wave of panic to his stomach enough that he thought he was going to throw up.

Crediting his behavior to being a teenage boy, Wendy went back to her gentle probing where she learned that her patient was looking for someone, she didn't have anything else with her, she didn't know where she was and she had to be about the most compliant human ever to be taken in by a group of strangers before Bickslow came back downstairs dressed in a pair of a loose shorts and a tank top that said 'abs are great but have you tried Boscan chocolate?'.

He was chatting with his babies as he turned to head into the kitchen, yelling back over his shoulder before he disappeared fully through the arch, "I'm making lunch so if anyone has any requests, speak now or I'm making waffles."

Koa felt way more comfortable in the kitchen with Bickslow than in the living room with the randomly homicidal Poison Slayer, his creepy bloody damsel from the woods and Wendy. There wasn't anything wrong with Wendy he just couldn't think about anything except not thinking about her and it was driving him up a wall.

Answering the Seith as he turned off the movie and made his way to the kitchen, the Combustion Mage let relief wash over him, "What are you talking about dude? Mama bear got stuff for tacos and I've been wanting tacos for days. Save the waffles for dinner."

Cobra rolled his eye before scoffing under his breath, "And she thinks it's gonna be a good idea to let those two live together." Thankfully, if Koa went with Bickslow it meant that everyone else in the guild was in the clear including himself because Kinana had offered to let him move in with them at one of their mommy meetings. Cobra did not want explosion boy within three miles of his home.

His train of thought was interrupted when the barest croak of a whisper sounded from their mystery girl.

It was foreign at first, the sensation of using her vocal cords but thanks to the broth and some time, she felt well enough to at least tell them her name. "...Ji'ku...my name is...Ji'ku."

The Sky Dragon Slayer repeated with a bubbly exuberance that made the dreadlocked woman tighten her grip on the empty mug only because she wasn't used to the positivity.

"Ji'ku, that's a pretty name. Can you tell me the name of the person you're looking for? Fairy Tail is a pretty big guild, someone is bound to be able to help you."

Swallowing thickly, the raven-haired mage whispered softly with her head ducked down, ashamed to even say her name knowing what was coming for her, "Lucy Heartfilia…"


~So this one wasn't baby-centric but I promise you when I say baby season is upon us, I mean it. I have been waiting 49 chappies to be able to create the LaxLu/GaLu/NaLu joint family dynamic.

But the drama needs resolved before they can be a happy family. XD

PLEASE, let me know what you think! I love hearing from you and y'all have some killer ideas in those pretty heads of yours. Thank you a million times more for reading!~