Hey everyone! This story is coming to an end soon! Thank you everyone who has been with me the whole way! Love you guys so much… And yes… I amd very sorry for what I put you guys through last chapter and I take responsibility for it… BUT! (hehe butt) at least I'm updating regularly… am I right? Enjoy!
Back at school, Gray and Natsu didn't even glance at each other once. Then Gray decided to confront Lucy over the matter, seeing something beyond Natsu's bitterness.
"Lucy!" Gray ran over to the girl's locker.
"Hey!"
"Lucy. Do you know how much you're hurting Natsu?" Her smiling expression hardened.
"Yes. Of course I do. I've been feeling guilty for years now."
"No you don't. He loves you too much. The pain he is enduring is exactly the same as death. Do you know where Sting got that ring?"
"No… I didn't ask."
"Natsu gave it to him."
Lucy's eyes widened. "But why?"
"The night Sting asked you to go out with him, was the night Natsu was going to ask you. He was going to ask you with that ring, not some cheesy pick up line."
Lucy could feel tears coming up to her eyes.
"But why would he give it to Sting?"
"He wants to forget about you. He doesn't want anything to do with you. Natsu has cut all ties now, except one… the child." Gray looked at her stomach which was still the same.
"How do you know about that?! And it's not even been confirmed yet!" Lucy shouted.
"But that doesn't matter."
"Actually, what does matter is the fact that I can't change what has happened already. I would love to changed many things in my life and don't we all, but I don't understand why you're telling me this! It's too late!"
"All I'm saying is: next time, follow what your hearts says. Definitely not some cheesy pick up line. I thought you were better than this." Gray shook his head and walked away.
What am I doing with my life…? It's so messed up… Lucy felt tears sting her eyes.
"Sting! Hey! Can I talk to you for a bit?" Lucy sat on the couch next to him.
"Yea sure, what's the matter?"
"I just wanted to know where you got this ring from." Lucy spread her fingers out to look at it.
"Oh! A good friend of ours gave it to me." Sting held her hand.
"A good friend?"
"Yea! Natsu of course."
"Oh…" So Gray wasn't lying… "What happened?"
"Well I asked Natsu to help me shop for your ring. He knows you best so of course I asked him to help. He gave me that ring and said you'd like it. I told him to keep it for his girl, but he said it was too late… Whatever that means… But yea, I seriously owe him a big one."
Lucy sighed. "So do I…"
"Hey Natsu! I can I ask you to do me a favour?" Sting put his hand on his shoulder.
"Yea sure. What do you need?"
"Can you and your band please play at me and Lucy's wedding?"
"Eh?! What?" Natsu furrowed his brows together.
"Please? It would mean a lot to Lucy. It's only for the first dance. There's free food."
"So… I guess that means I'm invited huh?"
"Yea! Of course! So that's a yes? You'll play?"
"You'll have to ask Jellal. But yes for now." Natsu smiled.
Sting hugged him. "Thanks bro! I owe you so much!"
"When's the wedding?"
"Um… around next year. We were thinking that our child should be born before the wedding. Just in case you know?" Sting laughed.
"Yea… I get what you mean. I've got to get going now. See you around!" Natsu ran off before Sting could say anything.
Over the months, Gray and Natsu became friends again and everything was back to normal. Or how they thought normal was. Lucy's stomach became extremely bigger and on the 3rd month of her pregnancy, she confronted Natsu.
"Oi! Baka! I need to tell you something!" Lucy ran to him.
"Lucy! Don't run! You're pregnant!" Natsu flailed his arms around.
"Don't worry… What I need to tell you is more important!" She puffed, really out of breath. She put her hand on her back, finding it a lot more difficult to do everyday things.
"So…? What is it?"
"The baby… I got the paternity test back last night. Natsu, you're the father."
Natsu fell back onto the lockers, feeling light headed.
"Have you told Sting?"
"No… I haven't… I told him about the night we spent together, but that's it. I wanted to tell you first. This is so messed up." She complained.
"Don't worry Luce. Everything will be alright. As long as you have Sting, that's all that matters." Natsu hugged her, stroking her hair.
"Thanks… I best be going now. I need to tell Sting some time."
"See ya."
"Sting! I need to tell you something!" Lucy came running to her husband.
"Darling! Don't run!"
"Sting. Just be quiet and don't interrupt. You can scold me and kill me after I finish, ok?"
"Ok bu-"
"Don't interrupt! Ok so you know that night I spent with Natsu? I got a paternity test and he's the father." Lucy quickly added, "But I just spoke with him and he says you should be the father!"
"Lucy… Why would I kill you? It's ok… these things happen and I totally understand. Where's Natsu? I would like to thank him." Sting asked.
"Wait. I have a question. What about the kid? Are we going to tell them about Natsu?"
"It's your choice."
"I… I think I'll tell them when their old enough. How does that sound?"
"Anything you say sounds perfect. How about names? If it's a girl, I name. A boy, you name." Sting smiled at his idea.
"Ok. What do you have in mind?"
"I was thinking Hikaru… It means light and radiance. I have a weird connection with light." Sting nodded his head.
"If it's a boy, I was thinking Ryuu." Lucy smiled.
"Why?"
"I'm not really sure. The name brings me joy and it's really nostalgic for some reason."
"If it makes you happy, then ok."
(A/N Ok… the reason why I made Lucy say Ryuu is because the name means dragon, ok! The son of Natsu has to be named Ryuu. Come on! Oh and they wanted the gender to be a surprise.)
~ Around 5-6 months later ~
"LUSHEEE! It's my turn now!" Natsu whined. Even though they were now adults, everybody is a child at heart.
"What do you want?! Now push faster!" She laughed.
At that moment in time, they were at the shopping centre and Natsu was pushing Lucy around in a trolley since she didn't feel like walking around with a watermelon sized thing on her belly.
"What if you crash and die?!"
"Exaggeration much…"
Suddenly, Lucy let out a loud scream.
"Lucy! What's the matter?! Lucy!" Natsu stopped the trolley and looked her up and down, checking if she was hurt anywhere.
"Natsu… I… I think my water broke… AHHHHHHHHH!"
"What should I do?!"
"Call… the… AHHHHHH! Call the fucking ambulance! Or at least drive me to the hospital! Oh my gawd… It's a week early!" Lucy began doing weird breathing patterns.
Natsu carried her to his car and quickly sped off. He grabbed his phone and punched in Sting's number.
"Hello?"
"STING!"
"Natsu? What's the matter?"
"LUCY! SHE'S GOING INTO LABOUR AS WE SPEAK! I'M DRIVING HER TO THE HOPSITAL NOW! MEET US THERE!" Natsu shouted as loud as he could, wincing as Lucy was shouting louder in the back seat.
"What?! I'm basically on the other side of Fiore! It'll take me a while to get there but see you there!"
In record time, Natsu made it to the hospital and carried her through the automatic doors.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! MY FRIEND'S GOING THROUGH LABOUR!" Natsu shouted.
The nurses grabbed a stretcher and took Lucy away, leaving Natsu standing there, out of breath.
"Please wait here sir. Or would you like to go inside the room with your wife?" The nurse asked.
"Oh! She's not my wife. And I wouldn't really be much help if I were to be in there anyway."
"That's ok. Please follow me to the waiting room then."
A couple hours later, the nurse gave him a plastic cup filled with water.
"You've been here for a while. Are you sure you don't want to go home?"
"No… I should just wait." Natsu's phone then rang. "Oh! Please give me a sec. Hello?"
"Natsu! How's Lucy?"
"Sting! Where are you?!"
"I'm literally 5 minutes away. I was stuck in traffic! I was in the fricken other side of Fiore. Arghhhh! I can't even be there for my first child. Godammit! I knew I shouldn't have gone on that business trip…"
"Don't worry Sting. Lucy will understand."
"Yea… Can you please be there for her?"
"Me? Are you sure?"
"Yea… She needs someone right now. She's going through pain worse than death, just be there."
"Ok."
"Thanks man. Oh shit! Police car just drove past. See you later."
Before Natsu could say bye, Sting already hung up.
"So? Would you like to go in there?" The nurse asked again.
"Uh… yea… Her husband can't make it. He asked me to fill in."
"That's wonderful. Now come this way. I would just like to warn you that your hand may not live through this." She laughed.
"Oh… ok…"
Natsu took deep breaths in and out and hesitantly pushed the door open. His ears nearly died. Rushing to her side, he held her hand.
"Luce! Don't worry! I'm here – OWWWWW!"
Lucy squeezed his hand… well to put it into perspective, she broke his hand.
"Natsu! I've been in here for 2 hours and you come now?!" Lucy felt faint.
"Luce. Luce. Luce. Luce. I'm going to die!" Natsu bit his lip.
"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE?! I'M GOING TO DIE!" Lucy cried.
Natsu began crying with her.
"It's good that you're here sir. Just one more push. Lucy screamed and arched her back.
Suddenly, there was another cry and Lucy stopped her screaming but her grip was still hard as steal.
"Congratulations! It's a boy." The doctor handed Lucy a bundle of blankets. Correction, a crying bundle of blankets.
"Ne Natsu… It's a boy…"
"Ne Lucy… CAN YOU LET GO OF MY HAND?!"
"Oh… sorry…" Lucy let out a sigh and quickly fell asleep.
Natsu took the baby from her arms and cradled it.
"Shhh… it's ok… don't wake up Mummy…" Natsu cooed. The baby soon stopped crying.
"LUCY!" Sting burst through the doors.
"SHHH! She's sleeping!" Natsu scolded.
"Oh. Sorr- Is that? Is that?" Tears filled his eyes.
"Yea… It is. Here." Natsu placed the baby into Sting's arms.
"She's… she's so kawaii…" He caressed the child's cheek.
"It's a he… it's a boy mate."
"Oh… right… Heh. I couldn't see the, you know, so I couldn't tell."
They laughed.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I need to take the newborn. He needs to be washed and placed with the other babies in the nursery. What's his name?" The nurse asked.
"Um… I'm not sure." Natsu took the baby from Sting.
"His name's Ryuu. Lucy decided." Sting smiled.
"That's a wonderful name." Natsu gave her the baby. "Thanks. You'll be able to see Ryuu anytime you want. Both mother and son will stay in the hospital for 2 more days." The nurse bowed and then walked out.
Ryuu means dragon… Is that why Luce decided on that name?
"Dang… That was tough." Natsu slouched into a chair.
"Thanks a lot… I couldn't have done anything without you."
~ Blurghhhh… Next time:
"I don't know… I was bored. Oh! And isn't your wedding in like 3 months? You gotten ready yet?"
The dreaded wedding is coming up… Sting and Lucy's wedding… :( And… sadness…
