Bad language, like usual! These Redfox boys sure do have foul mouths.
"Hey Pops? How did you and Emeline meet?" Levy's hands were in the pockets of her shorts, her pale skin almost reflective under the evening sun, blue locks blowing slightly in the gentle breeze as she walked beside him. She hadn't meant to ask anything quite so invasive, had been enjoying the comfortable silence during the nightly walk that seemed to have become their routine while Metalicana was staying with them.
"The brat never tell ya? Tch, useless." Metalicana lifted his sunglasses to rest on his head so he could look down at the woman who was to be his daughter in law.
"No, he never talks about her. He told me once, back in school, that his mum had died and he missed her, but that's kind of all he ever said".
"Boy's useless. We met in France, if ya can believe it. Was there on some mission or another, musta needed fixin' up at some point 'cause there she was, lookin' like a angel in her nurse getup. Was love at first sight, least it was fer me. Don't think she much liked me ta start, prob'ly 'cause I pinched her butt on me way out, but she still went out wi' me tha' night. An' 'fore I knew it, we was gettin' hitched. Thought it was so she could come home with me when I got stuck on desk duty, bu' turned out she grew up not four towns over from me. Jus' me luck, havin' ta go halfway 'round the world ta find the girl o' me dreams when she'd been an hour away practically me whole life."
"I don't know, most people would probably call it romantic." Levy giggled at the scowl forming on his face at the word. "What was she like? I don't even think I've ever seen a picture of her".
"She was the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on. Had this thick dark hair, pale skin, the greenest eyes ya ever saw. There's lots o' her in Gajeel, I see it in his face. More'n that, she was a beautiful soul. She hadda way o' lightin' up a room jus' by bein' in it. Em was a nurse, through an' through. She cared 'bout everyone, made ya feel welcome with jus' a smile, like nothin' ya could ever tell her or ask fer was too much. Ya remind me of her, little one. She was never scared to speak her mind, had a feisty streak jus' like yers. An' read, good lord did the woman love a book!"
"I would have liked to meet her" Levy said quietly, falling in step beside the older man as the house came into view.
"She woulda loved ya, little one. Prob'ly even more'n I do". Metalicana smiled, squeezing the tiny bluenette in a one armed hug.
Their two week check came and, apart from watching Dr Green yell at Levy's previous OBGYN, went without incident, Levy had been given a clean bill of health and cleared to resume full activities. There were no answers as to what happened, but Levy had resigned herself to the fact that sometimes, things just happen, and no one can tell you why. So for the last few days, she had been flitting around the house in surprisingly good spirits, despite the fact that Metalicana had gone home and Gajeel was still walking around the house with a frown permanently etched on his face. No matter, Levy had a plan to help him process everything, and today was the day she was going to put it into action.
"Hey, Gaj? Can you come help me in here?" She called, trying to fight off the giggles as her fiancé entered the room.
"Ya alright, Lev'? What'd ya need?"
"I think there's some boxes on the top shelf up there, can you get them down for me?" She smiled sweetly, edging towards the door the second his back was turned.
As soon as he heard the door shut and the lock click, Gajeel knew he'd been had. There were no boxes in this room. "Lev'? Levy, what're ya doin'? Open the door."
"Nope! Not until you talk to me about what you're feeling?"
Her voice was muffled through the door, but he could still hear the laughter in her voice, and it made him smile just a little to know she was happy, even if it was at his own expense. "Nothin' ta talk 'bout, Kitten. I'm fine, yer fine, now wouldya lemme out already? It's hot in here".
"You're not fine, Gajeel. No one expects you to be, I definitely don't expect you to be!"
"Maybe I don't wanna talk 'bout it, Lev'. Didya think 'bout that?"
"Yup! Which is why all your gear is in there so you can write, use it as therapy. I know you use your music to deal with things, why would this be any different?"
"Lev', jus' lemme out already!" Gajeel banged on the door, but it was useless - the door refused to open, and he no longer got any response. So, reluctantly, he threw himself onto the spare bed, a frame having magically appeared when his father had moved in for those two weeks, and opened his notepad. Once he got passed the initial awkwardness he always felt over writing his feelings down, Gajeel found the words coming thick and fast, and he was reaching for his guitar before he even realised it.
Having realised it was had been quiet for a little while, Levy set her book down on the coffee table and picked Lily up from his place on her lap, setting him on the back of the armchair as she stood and headed to unlock the door to the spare room.
"Gajeel?" She called softly, pushing the door open and stepping into the room, squeaking in surprise when a large chest collided with her, muscled arms wrapping tightly around her.
"I love you, Levy."
"I love too, Gaj. Want to talk about it?" She felt him nod, arms loosening as he allowed her to pull him along to the couch where she sat curled up against his side, both their focus on his hand which was currently fiddling with her engagement ring.
"Sorry I've been such a fuckin' grump kitten. I know I shoulda talked to ya about how I was feelin', jus' didn't wanna put that on ya when yer rightly been processing everythin' yerself."
"Thank you for trying to be considerate. But I'm okay now, mostly. I think I'll probably always have moments where I'll get sad about it, but I've made my peace with it."
"How can ya be so calm? When I think about it, half the time I wanna cry an' scream, an' the other half I just wanna hit somethin'." Gajeel admitted, sighing a little. He never wanted to admit it, but Levy was right - music was how he'd always processed things, but having written it out, and into a damn good song too, had helped get his thoughts in order so he could finally have this conversation.
"I still want to cry, basically all the time, but I know I can't live that way. It's not who I am to just sink into the sadness and stay there forever. I just let myself be sad for a while, and then I focus on something else. Like how cute Lily's ears are when they twitch in his sleep, or the way the light makes your hair shine like silk." Levy wriggled closer, resting a hand on his thigh.
"It just, it really fucking sucks. I hated seeing ya goin' through that, I woulda changed places with ya in a heartbeat if I could. An' then I feel guilty, 'cause I think maybe it's a good thing? I ain't exactly ready to be a father yet, not a good one anyway. But then I think about what would our kid've looked like, an' I get sad all over again." Gajeel leant over to rest his cheek against her soft blue hair, breathing in the scent of oranges from the shampoo she had used that morning.
"I think it's really normal to feel like that, all of it. I just want you to know you can talk to me about it all, whenever you need. Or your Dad, or Gray... I don't mind, just promise me you'll keep talking, yeah?"
"Promise, kitten."
"Good. So, did you write anything good?"
"Kitten, everythin' I write is good."
HUGE THANK YOU'S to everyone who's been reviewing, I can't tell you how much it means to me!
Rao SuperGuest - I'm so thrilled to know you're loving Papa Metalicanan! It's quite fun to flesh him out into a (hopefully) more rounded character.
My pair of Dragonflies - thank you both for your really sweet reviews, you guys give me the warm fuzzies!
I know it's only a short one this time, but it just feels like a national stopping point. I'm not sure how to move forward in a way that doesn't feel forced. So, I guess just be prepared for some short, probably not-very-good, chapters for a little while?