Bickslow had called Lucy as soon as they'd all left the restaurant and headed straight for the hospital, as per Levy's shouted orders as the group tried their best to make Levy as comfortable as possible and calm Gajeel down, who, since finding out that Levy was going into labour, had been clutching Lily the entire time with a panicked look in his eyes. Honestly, no one could tell who was freaking out more between Gajeel and Levy.

But once arriving at the hospital, Levy was whisked away to the upstairs ward, her shouted insults aimed at Gajeel slowly getting quieter and quieter as she disappeared through a set of doors and down a hall. As much as Gajeel did want to go and be with Levy, the hospital wouldn't even let him in to the damn waiting room unless he put the cat down, but he wasn't doing that. Hell, even Lily was trying to claw his way out of his grip because he knew Gajeel should be with Levy, rather than hugging a cat for dear life outside the hospital.

Although, Levy didn't actually mind that he wouldn't be joining her all that much. Most of her insults were actually geared towards the other Gajeel – the one who actually got her knocked up with twins in the first place. Though, in her distressed and panicky state, she was really just yelling at Gajeel in general.

Bickslow being the good guy he was – he liked to think he was a good guy, at least sometimes – waited out the front of the hospital with Gajeel, watching as he frantically paced the covered entrance in the cool night. Lily's quiet meows were heard every now and then between Gajeel's rambling under his breath; complaints about the world swap, not knowing whether or not the twins were boys or girls (because apparently, the nursery was neutral and it was going to be a surprise, even for them), and cursing the hospital staff for not letting him in with a goddamn cat.

Bickslow sighed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket again to check the time.

8:23PM.

He'd called Lucy just before 8 p.m., and he felt bad for disturbing her because she really wasn't feeling well, and she was going to have to wake up Ingrid and bring her with her to the hospital. But alas, it had to be done. Because Levy wanted Lucy by her side for when the time came for her to actually give birth. Hell, Levy had made sure the hospital staff knew that there would be a blonde coming in at some point and she was going to be let into her room. The look on some of the nurse's faces made everyone pale, Levy was that goddamn terrifying and threatening.

But as everyone else sat in the crowded waiting room (being a Sunday night, there were plenty of idiots roaming with their even stupider ideas and injuries), Bickslow waited somewhat patiently for Lucy, and Gajeel just kept pacing and freaking out. But at a little past eight thirty, Lucy finally arrived. She'd had no choice but to drive herself, and at that point, she still hated it as much as she day they'd all had their first driving lessons. Though, she did have to admit that it could have been worse. Freed had reasoned it would be a good idea if they all learned how to drive in that world and abide by that world's rules, so they'd all had multiple driving lessons. Besides, the more they did it, the more it felt like they were just jogging their memories, because after all, in that world, they all held valid driver's licenses and it was really just their muscle memory kicking in.

Or something like that. That's just what Erza said.

But she still hated driving and she avoided it whenever she could, like everyone else.

As soon as Bickslow saw Lucy briskly walking towards the covered entrance, he turned to meet her in the middle, only glancing quickly towards Gajeel who kept pacing and stroking the black and white cat.

"Nice clothes," Bickslow mumbled once he got close enough for Lucy to hear, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a small smirk. Plain black three-quarter leggings and an oversized grey sweater was what she'd showed up in. Hell, he knew she was paranoid about people seeing the slight bump she had, but come on, the sweater that was like three sizes too big was probably a little too much.

"Shut up," she said, gently passing Ingrid over. "One, I was in bed reading so I didn't particularly feel like getting dressed all that much, and two, well… You already know that reason."

"And I'm telling you that no one is gonna know."

Lucy frowned. "It doesn't matter." Sighing, she slipped her handbag that was doubling as the bag to store all of Ingrid's necessities off her shoulder and passed it to Bickslow as he moved Ingrid to the one arm briefly. "She's not in a good mood right now, but her rabbit is in the bag… Or maybe it's in the car since she was holding it on the way over here… Oh, I don't know anymore."

"Wait, you drove here?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow, following after her as she headed towards the doors.

"Didn't really have a choice. Anyway, um, you should have everything to keep her happy in my bag, or in the car. Keys are in the bag."

"Got it."

She nodded once she'd reached the doors, pausing as the automatic doors slid open and the noise from the waiting room and reception wafted out. Glancing towards the still pacing Gajeel, she frowned again. "Alright, I need to go find Levy…"

"Good luck," Bickslow said, smirking again before he looked down to Ingrid and frowned. Is it possible for babies to glare? Bickslow didn't know, but hell, she definitely has the same glare as her mother. Already.

So as Lucy finally disappeared through the doors and to the reception, needing to know which direction to head to get to Levy, Bickslow finally turned back to Gajeel as he moved towards the doors himself. "Right, uh, sorry, Gajeel. I've gotta go back inside," he said.

A simple nod from the frantic man and a mew of distress from Pantherlily. "Goddamn motherfucking twins. Goddamn hospital. Fuck. Stupid rules. Fucking twins. Shit," Gajeel continued to mumble under his breath. His vocabulary was somewhat limited right then, as Bickslow had noticed.

Bickslow could only shake his head slightly as he finally walked through the door and made his way over to the rest of the anxiously awaiting team in amongst the busy waiting room. Slumping down in an empty seat next to Evergreen, he turned to look over everyone else. "Someone needs to go and babysit him," he said simply, and as everyone looked between themselves, as if having silent conversations between themselves, Bickslow looked back down to Ingrid. Yup, still in a bad mood.

With a groan of annoyance, Laxus stood up from just beside him and picked up his large fur-trimmed coat from where it was hanging over the armrest and onto the next chair, which just happened to be Mira's and he yanked it out from under her. "I'll do it," he sighed.

And as Bickslow stared down at Ingrid again, already seeing her bottom lip tremble, he rolled his eyes and reached down into the bag that was between his feet and rooted around in it until he felt something that was definitely Ingrid's and would possibly make her less upset. No bunnies in her bag, but, he did come across something else and he could only question why Lucy had decided to throw it in the bag before coming. He pulled out one of the totems that used to be part of his immortal troupe of dolls and handed it to Ingrid, letting her take the totem between her tiny hands.

He breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled the wing into her mouth again, like she usually did when she got her paws on it. To think that something so small and simple would keep her happy for the time being. Then, looking up as he slouched in the chair, making sure he was comfortable enough with his legs somewhat stretched out before him, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What?" he asked, seeing the raised eyebrows and questioning looks that everyone else was giving him.

"Isn't that one of your babies?" Gray asked.

"Which one are you referring to?" Cana added, leaning forward on her chair to look past Mira and towards Bickslow.

Bickslow couldn't help but shake his head, much like everyone else had begun to. Because really, Cana had a point. Hell, he had his human baby in his arms, and his human baby was holding one of his doll babies. So really, it could be referring to either one. It was honestly just too confusing.

Too many babies.

Shrugging, Bickslow looked towards Gray who sat on the row of chairs just opposite him. "Yeah, it is. But Ingrid likes them, and besides, it's keeping her from crying right now so you should probably not question it."

And that was the point. It was that it was keeping her from crying. For now, anyway. Because Bickslow knew that it was going to happen eventually, especially with the amount of noise in the waiting room. It was really only a matter of time, and Bickslow was not particularly looking forward to it.

It was going to be a long night. A very long night.

Lucy held back her own cry of pain as Levy's grip on her hand tightened with her own scream. For such a small woman, she had an incredibly strong grip and Lucy was beginning to think she was going to be leaving the ward with a few bruises on her hand, if not a few broken bones.

"Come on, Levy." Lucy's free hand went out to push the wet hair off Levy's sweaty face, pushing it back before grabbing the damp towel and dabbing it on her forehead. "You've got to focus on your breathing."

Levy nodded frantically, a loud sigh escaping her lips as her head tipped back to rest against the raised mattress of the hospital bed. "I know, I know," she said breathlessly. Closing her eyes, she thought back to the breathing techniques she'd been reading about all week. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax your breathing, she told herself. "Focus on my—" But her sentence was cut off as she cried out again, her eyes scrunching up in pain as she felt another contraction begin.

Lucy glanced up to the clock above the door quickly. It was nearly three and by that point, Levy was nearly ready to start pushing, and honestly, Lucy was actually starting to freak out and she wasn't even the one who was in labour.

But, she would be at some point. She didn't know when, because she still didn't really know how far along she actually was, but she would be in labour. One day. And she was already freaking out about it because she couldn't help but think about the fact that technically, she'd already been in labour. She'd been in the same position Levy was currently and really, it hadn't been all that long ago since Ingrid was six months old.

Lucy had technically already had a baby six months earlier, and for the first time, Lucy was actually terrified. She'd had a goddamn baby. That same body had pushed out a creature the size of a goddamn watermelon. She had to hold back the shudder as she thought about it.

But she didn't have time to worry about herself and freak out about the fact that she'd had a baby, technically, and was going to be having another one. She was there for Levy, who, in the current moment, was having twins.

Goddamn twins.

"Alright, you're nearly there, Levy," the doctor said suddenly, her head popping up from behind the blanket draped over Levy's legs. "You're just about ready to start pushing."

"Oh, for the love of god, please hurry the fuck up," Levy groaned, panting as Lucy wiped over her head with another cool towel. She'd only had to deal with being pregnant for a month, but she was already over it. Completely over it. More than anything, she just wanted the goddamn babies out of her.

"Breathe, Levy," Lucy said soothingly, wincing from the blinding pain in her hand from Levy squeezing it so tight as she rode out the rest of the contraction. "Just think, it's almost over!"

Levy opened her eyes to glare at her best friend, breathing heavily with one hand still clutching her belly. "I still have to actually give birth, Lu!" she shouted. If it was any other time, she'd be apologising vehemently for raising her voice, but hell, not today.

Lucy was instantly regretting her words though. As soon as they'd left her mouth she'd wished she hadn't said anything, so when Levy did yell at her, she knew it was deserved. Because hell, she was right: the worst part hadn't actually happened.

So Lucy made a point of watching her words from that point forward and she made sure she only said things that would help Levy through everything. Everything Lucy had been worrying about all week and all weekend were the furthest things from her thoughts. At the time, her own issues were irrelevant because she had to be there for her best friend. Levy was more important.

Except when the doctor came back in a little while later to check on Levy's progress and announced that she was finally ready to start pushing, Lucy was back to freaking out about her own problems (while also freaking out for Levy). Of course, she was discreetly freaking out. To anyone in the room, she'd only look terrified because of Levy, but that wasn't entirely the case.

She was terrified because she was having a goddamn baby. Her own baby. One day, and sort of soon.

Bickslow smiled softly as a nurse handed him and Gajeel cups of coffee. By that point of the night, Gajeel had come to his senses, but for whatever reason, the staff weren't letting him go see Levy so he was stuck in the waiting room, which by that point, was considerably less busy being it was nearly four o'clock in the morning.

Everyone else had been sent home by Gajeel at midnight (which was about the time he let go of Lily and actually came into the hospital), given that it had been a Sunday night and they all had work to get to in the morning, leaving just Gajeel and Bickslow. And Ingrid.

Bickslow could only be glad that Ingrid had managed to fall asleep. With all the noise in the waiting room for the majority of the night, she'd been kept awake and she was definitely not in a good mood, and her screaming and crying clued in pretty much everyone. But of course, his friends had tried their best to keep the tiny human entertained, because they learnt that the more they kept her occupied, the less she cried. Which, under most circumstances, didn't really work. But for whatever reason, it had worked then and Bickslow didn't care.

But now, it was quiet (quieter, anyway), and she was happily asleep in his arm, cradling her in the one arm as he sipped away at his coffee slowly. He was so far past tired it wasn't even funny. He was so far past tired that he wasn't even all that tired anymore. But, he still had to go to work come morning, and he had to hire a new secretary. Honestly, Bickslow was probably just going to hire the first one he saw without even reading their resume. As long as they could fetch him coffee, he didn't particularly care.

Well, that, and they knew not to try and sleep with him. He wasn't going down that road again.

"Is it weird that I'm terrified right now?" Gajeel asked quietly, looking towards Ingrid as he slumped down in his chair beside Bickslow.

A small smile tugged at Bickslow's lips. "Not at all."

"I'm not ready to be a dad," Gajeel mumbled. "Hell, I don't even like kids and now I have to look after two of the damned things?"

"I hate kids," Bickslow admitted. When Gajeel raised an eyebrow as he looked up to Bickslow, he chuckled quietly. "But this kid, I love."

Gajeel scoffed. "Good for you."

"No, I mean, even if you don't like kids, your own ones are different."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"As soon as you hold those twins, you're gonna fall in love with them. I guarantee it."

"Doubt it."

"You will," Bickslow insisted. "You'll probably still hate every other kid on the planet, but your own kids, you'll love."

Gajeel rolled his eyes as he took a sip from his own coffee, slouching even further on the uncomfortable vinyl chair. "Whatever you say, soul boy."

Another chuckle from Bickslow as he glanced back down to Ingrid, adjusting the white blanket she was wrapped in to make sure it wasn't too tight or too loose. Then, without looking up, he mumbled, "You do realise our kids are gonna grow up together, right? Lucy and Levy will make sure of that."

"Don't tell me I'm gonna be stuck with seeing your ugly face for the rest of my life." Gajeel groaned.

"Ingrid's only six months old, which means if the twins are girls, then they're probably going to be best friends with each other if they grow up together," he chuckled. "So yes, you're going to be stuck with me. And Cosplayer. And Ingrid. For the rest of your life."

"You're forgetting someone, aren't you?" Gajeel asked, turning his head slightly with a sly grin.

Bickslow's grin disappeared instantly and looked back down to Ingrid. Oh… Right… There's going to be another one of those. But it wasn't like he'd forgotten about it. Oh no, it was impossible to forget about that. Hell, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it, but Lucy had pretty much avoided the conversation they both knew they needed to have like the plague. She'd only really mentioned something about making a prenatal appointment, but she said she wanted to wait. What for, Bickslow did not know, but he wasn't going to push it if she didn't want to talk about it, which she obviously did not. If anything, she'd been sort of acting like everything was normal (or trying to), and it was beginning to irritate Bickslow. She was pretending nothing was wrong – like she wasn't still hating Bickslow and that she wasn't actually in pain anymore, and like she wasn't having a baby, either.

Like they weren't having a baby.

"Yeah…well…" Bickslow eventually mumbled. "We're not talking about that at the moment, apparently."

"Doesn't seem like the kind of thing you can ignore for very long," Gajeel said softly and it made Bickslow look up suddenly in confusion. It wasn't a tone Gajeel used very often, if at all. It was weird.

But he was right.

"I know."

"Can I ask another question?"

Bickslow smirked. "You just did."

"Oh, shut up," Gajeel mumbled, taking another sip of his coffee before he rolled his eyes. "Was Freed right though? In the restaurant?"

Fuck.

That was also another thing he couldn't stop thinking about, and when he'd been sitting in a hospital waiting room for nearly seven hours, he'd had plenty of time to think about things, just because he didn't really have anything else to do. Slowly, he'd been able to come around to believing that it wasn't just a possibility, because hell, it made sense.

Bickslow knew there was a part of him that actually wanted her, but he'd never been entirely sure whether it was actually him or his well… heart. You know, the heart of the guy that cheated on his wife and actually felt guilty about it. It made sense for his reaction to everything to be caused by his own feelings for Lucy, and he really didn't know how to feel about that. Hell, he'd been pushing to see just how close he could actually get to her and he really, really wanted to kiss her.

But he'd wanted to do that for weeks, so that wasn't really that new.

It was only in the last three days where they'd had to get closer – for Lucy – that he'd begun to see the possibility of actually having his own feelings. But hell, he lived with her. He spent every day of the goddamn week with her; every morning, every night, she was the first and last person he saw every day.

But it was almost inappropriate for Bickslow to actually like her, or so he thought because that's just how he saw things. The timing for him to realise his feelings was incredibly bad, especially since Lucy still found it painful to be around him just because of the other Bickslow.

He couldn't actually do anything with how he felt about Lucy. Not with the affair and the baby. The timing was horrible and then there was the issue of her most likely not reciprocating those feelings. She was only willing to be around him in those three days because for whatever reason, his presence was helping her. He didn't understand how, but he would help her.

He had to help her.

But he wouldn't let her know just how he felt. He couldn't.

Shrugging, Bickslow just looked down to Ingrid, asleep in his arms. "I guess so," he mumbled.

And surprisingly (still, to Bickslow), Gajeel wasn't smirking. He was actually being serious for once in his life. No quips or snarky remarks, he was just… being a friend, almost. "Still don't want talk about it, I take it?"

"Nope."

"Well, in that case…" Gajeel got up and moved to throw his empty coffee cup in a bin and then to the doors of the emergency department, only to come back a moment later with Pantherlily back in his arms as he stroked his tail. Then, nodding towards Ingrid as he sat back down, he said, "How hard is it?"

Bickslow's brow twisted in both amusement and confusion. "How hard is what?"

"You know what I mean," Gajeel snarled – quietly, since after all, Ingrid was asleep and he knew better than to wake the baby. Levy was still giving him hell for making Ingrid cry on the first day of being in that world.

"Oh, you mean Iike the whole being a parent thing?" When Gajeel nodded, his gaze briefly shifting in his apparent embarrassment, Bickslow chuckled, smiling as he looked back down to Ingrid. "It's hard," he admitted, and at the sound of Gajeel's groan, probably half of annoyance and half from misery, he paused, just long enough to make Gajeel feel worse than he already was about becoming a father at all. But hey, Bickslow had to have fun somehow, since after all, he knew that Gajeel would change his opinion on it all as soon as he met his kids. Hell, it had happened to Bickslow so he was talking from experience. "But it's also easy."

"That just makes no sense at all."

Bickslow felt a tug on his heartstrings when Ingrid began to smile softly in her sleep again. They'd come to realise she did it a lot, actually, and every time Bickslow got the pleasure of seeing her already so bright smile considering she was so young, he couldn't stop his own smile from forming.

"Okay, look," Bickslow said, finally pulling his gaze away from Ingrid sleeping peacefully and up to Gajeel who was staring at him in disgust, almost. "It's hard. It really is. And it's scary, especially when you have no idea what you're doing, which, I do not. I have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to Ingrid."

"That's helpful…" Gajeel mumbled.

"But, it's also kinda easy at the same time. And honestly, it's great. Their entire world revolves around you, and you get to see them experience things for the first time and it's so, so rewarding to watch them explore and develop."

Gajeel groaned as he rolled his eyes, sitting back in his chair. "Ugh, you're goin' all weird and gross on me, man."

Bickslow chuckled quietly. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, remember what I said about you falling in love with those kids as soon as you hold them?" When Gajeel nodded slowly, Bickslow smiled softly. "I meant it. They're gonna become the centre of your world instantly." And Bickslow really did mean every word he'd said so far. Ingrid was the centre of his world and he wasn't even ashamed to admit that. In such a relatively short amount of time, his entire world had been turned upside down and his views and opinions on everything had changed so much.

But Bickslow wouldn't change any of it. If he had the chance to go back to his old life, he wouldn't take it. Sure, he missed his magic and he missed the babies, but if he had the option of returning to his old life, he'd walk away from that option without a single regret. The life he'd been thrown into was so much better than he'd ever expected it to be, and for the first time, Bickslow felt like he actually had a purpose. In the old world, all he did was joke around and sleep around. There was no meaning to his life, and he didn't realise just how unhappy he was with that until he'd begun to see just how great the life he'd been thrown into was. His life had been empty before. Bickslow could see that now.

He was happier than he'd ever been, and sure, his life was practically a mess right now, but he was still happy. He had a reason to get up and smile every morning – two reasons, actually – and he was still happy.

And that was really all because of Ingrid. And Lucy, sort of. As cliché as it was, Bickslow felt like becoming a parent had made his life fulfilled.

He wouldn't change any of it for the world. Even with all of the pain and confusion and stress in his and Lucy's lives at the moment, he still loved his new life, and that was because the joy he got from it outweighed everything that was bad. In Bickslow's life, the good most definitely outweighed all that was bad, and that good was Ingrid.

But… Everything that was bad was just temporary. Bickslow knew that. Hell, he had to believe that. He had to believe that eventually, everything would get better and there would be nothing bad left in their lives. Eventually, they'd all be happy again and they wouldn't have anything weighing down their thoughts. He had to believe that.

He was going to make sure of that, too. Bickslow was going to make sure that the small, somewhat dysfunctional and weird family that they'd become in just a month was going to go back to normal.

He needed it to.

Sighing, Bickslow looked back up to Gajeel. "Look, you're gonna love those kids more than you've loved anything in your entire life. It's not going to be easy, but you'll love every second of it. You'll fall into a routine that works. You'll never want to let them go as soon as you get your hands on them. You're going to want to protect them. Forever. Even from day one. It's not going to feel like a chore, even though there's parts of being a parent that are absolutely fucking dreadful, because you'll still love every second of it and that just makes everything worth." Then, when Gajeel was back to staring at him in astonishment, he paused, just for a short moment as he made to pull Ingrid in tighter against him without disturbing her too much and waking her. Quietly, while looking down to Ingrid with a small smile, he added, "You're going to love being a dad."

And Gajeel knew that Bickslow was being entirely serious, even if it was for the first time in his life (as far as Gajeel knew, anyway). He wasn't joking, he wasn't messing with anyone, and he wasn't lying. Every single word he'd said had been the truth.

Even though Gajeel hadn't expected quite that answer, he was glad for it. Because somehow, it had reassured him; it had calmed his nerves just a little bit and he wasn't as nervous about actually becoming a dad. Sure, he was still terrified, but if Bickslow and Lucy could be parents (well, Lucy, Gajeel could see as being a good parent. Bickslow, not so much, but hey, it seemed to work), then himself and Levy could be.

And as he sat there in silence, thinking over everything as Bickslow's head tipped back against the top of the chairs and he closed his eyes, Gajeel found himself just a little bit more excited to meet the two new bundles of joy that would take over his life and world, and it seemed to come at the right moment because finally, when it was nearly half-past four in the morning, Lucy came out through the metal doors separating the nearly empty waiting room and the rest of the hospital.

She walked towards them slowly, rubbing her aching hand as Gajeel shot up and met her half way and in the middle of the room.

"So?" he said anxiously, suddenly tightening his grip on Lily. "Is she…? Did she have them yet?"

Lucy nodded as she looked up to Gajeel with a smile. "She delivered about fifteen minutes ago. Levy's fine – exhausted, but fine. And the twins are fine too."

A wide grin split Gajeel's face when a wave of relief washed over him and he exhaled, suddenly realising he'd been holding his breath. Honestly, he didn't know what he'd have done if any of them weren't actually okay, and hell, two of them had apparently only been in the world for fifteen minutes. He was already worried and attached to them without even meeting them. Maybe Bickslow was onto something. He didn't even know how that had happened. It was almost as if knowing they were actually here was enough for him to feel like a parent.

"Boys or girls?" he asked quickly.

"One of each, actually," Lucy said, giggling slightly at the unusually excited raven-haired man before her. "What are you still standing here for? Go be with Levy and your kids!"

"Shit, true," Gajeel mumbled as he started running towards the door, a look of realisation and shock crossing him again, and leaving the quietly laughing blonde behind. Then suddenly, he turned back around and went back towards Lucy and thrust Lily into her arms unexpectedly. "Hold my cat."

Lucy had to scrambled to catch Lily, not wanting him to fall to the ground even though they were supposed to land on their feet. Slowly, she made her way through the rows of mostly empty chairs and towards Bickslow and Ingrid, getting Lily comfortable in her arms as his tail swished by the side of her face, somewhat annoyingly.

Smiling, Bickslow looked up from Ingrid as Lucy sat down beside him with a sigh, the exhaustion clear on her face. "Do you need to stick around?" he asked quietly.

"No, we can go home," she replied. "I just really needed to sit down."

"Well, I really need to stand up," he chuckled quietly as Lucy smiled, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes for just a minute with another quiet sigh. Then, when she got up slowly and moved over to the chair on the other side of Bickslow to pick up her bag and swing it over her shoulder, Bickslow also got up slowly. He could feel the muscles in his legs and back almost cry out from joy, if it were possible. It felt so good to finally stand up and take just a single step, even if it hurt just a tiny bit from the lack of movement for so long.

"Was Ingrid a hassle?" Lucy asked, reaching to pick up his jacket from where it was draped over the back of a chair before they slowly started to walk towards the exit.

He shrugged. "Not really. She didn't really like the noise and being kept awake, but once it quieted down she was okay. But on the bright side, she had constant entertainment until about midnight."

"Oh?" Lucy said questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"Gajeel sent everyone home around then, and she didn't fall asleep until everyone had left," Bickslow said as they walked through the automatic doors and out into the crisp early morning air, and instinctively he made sure the blanket was wrapped around Ingrid enough to keep her warm. "Natsu and Gray arguing actually made her laugh, somehow, and everyone else just really liked keeping her happy." Because hell, no one liked to hear a crying baby, but there were some times they couldn't stop her from crying and that was just because she was tired.

Lucy nodded. "Ah, well… I'm glad she was manageable, at least. I'm sorry you had to stay for so long," she mumbled. She really did feel bad for making Bickslow stay up all that time. She thought she should have had someone tell him to go home and put Ingrid to bed, but she just couldn't find the time to do so. "Is Laxus making you go into work?"

A smirk pulled at his lips. "Yeah, he is," he said. Hell, Laxus was probably going to find it amusing if Bickslow fell asleep at his desk or in a meeting. But coffee… Coffee was going to be his friend. Then, as they slowly walked towards the entrance to the underground car park and towards the car (Bickslow following Lucy, of course), he asked quietly, "So, how was it?" Because hell, he was a little curious. He'd heard some horror stories about birth.

"You mean the delivery and such?" she looked up in time to see Bickslow nod slowly and she sighed, folding her arms across her chest. "Honestly, it was simultaneously the most horrific and beautiful thing I've ever seen." And those were really the only two words she could use to describe it. It is literally bringing a human into the world; a human that is half of you and half of someone else. It was a beautiful thing.

But it was also bloody (in Levy's case, at least) and just plain horrific. Lucy couldn't help but panic when she thought about the fact she was supposed to be going through that same thing. One day.

One day, she was going to be bringing another human into the world that was half herself and half Bickslow and it was both terrifying and beautiful, and there was a tiny part of her that was actually excited and happy about it.

"Well, that sounds like a charming experience," Bickslow said sarcastically. At least she didn't go into detail, he thought.

A breathless and quiet laugh escaped Lucy's lips as she fished around in her bag for the keys. "Yeah, very," she agreed. As she pulled the keys out of her bag, coming to a stop next to the car, she pressed the correct button on the remote and opened one of the back doors for Bickslow, letting him strap Ingrid into the car-seat that was in the back. Then, looking down to Lily who she had tucked under one arm, she said, "Looks like you'll be coming home with us, Lily."

As the cat meowed quietly, Bickslow held his breath as he slowly backed away from the side of the car and closed the door as gently as possible. Then, after waiting until he was sure he was going to collapse from lack of oxygen, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, Ingrid hadn't woken up when he'd moved her into the seat and Bickslow had learned the hard way that it was never particularly a good idea to move her if she'd fallen asleep in his arms. It mostly ended badly. But for whatever reason, she was still asleep and Bickslow wasn't going to question that reason.

So as he climbed into the car, gently shutting his door behind him as Lucy did the same with hers before letting Lily curl up on the back seat next to Ingrid's seat, Bickslow turned to Lucy as she held the keys out to him. "Time to go home and sleep?" he asked, turning the key in the ignition and silently thanking every single god that existed that the car was quiet enough that it wouldn't wake Ingrid (something else they'd learnt).

"Time to go home and sleep," Lucy echoed, already resting her head against the seatbelt and closing her eyes.

Hell, that was if they managed to even fall asleep before Ingrid actually woke up for the morning before her nap, or before Bickslow had to get ready for work.

It was going to be a long and tiring day either way.