note: this was a prompt from underworldwrites on tumblr. Today's baby is Sting. I rather like him as Natsu's cub. This guest stars Lucy.

no rest for the weary

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.

Natsu rocked back and forth in a motion he hoped would soothe Sting. He'd been trying to prepare for this for months and now that it was game time, he felt totally incompetent. Even after two years of careful vetting from the agency, all the books about parenting, seminars, educational videos, there wasn't anything quite like having the baby in his arms and seeing him wail for no reason. Natsu felt anxiety bubble up in him, threatening to shatter the thin veneer of calm he'd been putting up since he came home with Sting in a carrier. Now, nineteen hours later, running on no sleep and having exhausted every soothing method known to infant literature, Natsu felt like he was about to join his new son in the crying party.

A knock sounded on his door, making Natsu curse. With Sting pressed against his chest, he jogged lightly to answer it before the bozo could make any more noise. In the peephole, he saw it was just Lucy, the funny girl who lived next door, who had sitcom-like shticks with Natsu's cat, Happy. Natsu unlocked the door with one hand and ushered Lucy inside quickly.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't want to disturb you but I was wondering if you needed any help?" Lucy said as she followed him inside the second bedroom acting as a nursery.

Natsu grimaced. "I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to put my son to bed but he's not having any of it." He watched Sting's small face, scrunched up and red, and he worried. It was not a very nice complexion on a child.

Lucy bounced on the heels of her feet and peered at the baby. She had no idea Natsu had been expecting a son. She knew he wasn't seeing anyone, at least. "Hey, don't worry about it. I can help with anything, if you want. What do you need?"

Natsu looked like he struggled internally before relenting. "Can you hold him for a bit? I actually need to pee. Sorry."

Lucy laughed, if only to lighten the mood, and was glad when it urged a tired smile from Natsu. He moved to place Sting into the cradle of Lucy's arms and adjusted her hold when he was free.

"I'll be right back." He said, before dashing out of the room.

Lucy rocked same as Natsu did, but it did little to pacify the upset baby. "I'm sorry, little man. Daddy will be right back," Lucy cooed softly. She had practice in holding babies, as her cousin's wife liked to pop one out every couple of years, but admittedly, she had little clue as to why they cried aside from the basic reasons. "Are you gassy? Or wet?" Her palm felt for the diaper and deemed it fresh.

Sting turned his face into her chest and made suckling noises. Lucy turned red before she laughed again, and it was in that moment that Natsu chose to rejoin her.

"Tell your son that my milk is still powdered," She said in jest. "Do you have a bottle ready?"

"I've been trying to feed him but he didn't want any." His voice almost sounded like a whine. Natsu took one from the heater and gave Lucy an uncapped bottle.

Lucy held the nipple up to Sting's lips and he took it. Natsu's mouth hung open and Lucy aimed a smug smile at him.

"Well, traitor, you could have just said you wanted a pretty girl to hold you," Natsu pretended to gripe as he watched his son eat. "Shit, Lucy, I don't even feel that bad for waking you up at this time. I really needed a break. Thanks for being here."

"No problem. If I knew you were gonna be bringing him home today, I would have come to help out earlier." Lucy swayed, feeling relief pour out of Natsu now that the crying had stopped.

"I didn't tell a lot of people. I didn't want to jinx it." Natsu's boyish grin flashed, even as he stretched out on the rocking chair, sore all over now that the adrenaline was leaving his system and he was crashing fast. "I've been trying to adopt for years. It got canceled last minute once before, and it sucked. So I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up again." He yawned hugely, feeling his jaw creak and his eyes water. "My dad and stepmom are gonna arrive in two days. They're gonna stay for a while to help me get settled in. Little man was born a little earlier than everyone expected so I had to rush over this morning and take him home."

Lucy shifted her hold on Sting and the bottle. "I'm home for work most of the time so I can pop in to help, if you like. I really don't mind."

Natsu thought about declining even just to be polite, but decided against it. He was already too damn spent. "I'd like that. I'm really out of my league here. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You wanted to be a dad. It doesn't mean you need to have it all figured out. I don't think any parents do. Especially new ones."

Natsu opened his mouth, but closed it again when nothing contrary was forthcoming. Lucy's pep talk effectively crushed hours of accumulating guilt. "Thanks, Luce. I've been kicking my ass about this all night."

"The next time self-doubt piles up, call me and I'll bring baked goods."

Lucy stopped rocking when the bottle was empty and seamlessly shifted to burp Sting. At Natsu's impressed look, she explained, "I lived with my cousin and his wife when they popped out newborns every other year. I can do this in my sleep."

"Lucky me then."

Lucy put the drowsy baby into the bassinet and tried not to make a sound as she backed away.

"I think he'll be good if he gets used to not seeing someone hover as he falls asleep." She dropped down on the deep wingback chair beside Natsu.

"I swear I'm gonna be bugging you whenever Sting wants a pretty girl to hold him." Natsu assured her with a yawn. Belly down, he burrowed his face into the crook of his crossed arms.

"I don't mind. I like any excuse to get out of the house." Lucy said with her own yawn.

It was past midnight, and they fell asleep just like that, sprawled uncomfortably, a more than a few hair out of place. Natsu came to a few hours later when the sharp wail of his son broke the night, but he felt Lucy's hand on his shoulder pushing him down, heard her sleepy voice say, "I'll get him."

And if those words wasn't what Cupid's arrow felt like, then he didn't know what could be.

note: I'm just all about people who don't let not having a partner get in the way of having the family they want. That's really brave and badass.

This might be really inaccurate so as always, take it with a shit load of salt. Taking the adopted baby home is fairly straightforward in my country so that's what I sorta based it off.