Chapter 11
It'd been a very odd morning, Natsu had never imagined the day after his first sexual experience to be so turbulent. He pictured him and Lucy snuggling up in bed together taking it easy, not her running off and threatening to beat the ever loving crap out of one of their friends, regardless of whether they deserved it or not.
He'd not long made it to the guild when all hell had broke loose. He'd arrived just in time to watch Lucy tackle Cana to the floor, which, thankfully, hadn't ended with either seriously hurt. Lord knows how he'd gathered the courage to separate the two beasts, in the end he'd needed the assistance of not only Gray but Gajeel as well. The bedlam that had ensued was enough to put frighteners on even the great Titania, who luckily hadn't shown her face until after. Natsu cringed at the very thought of her getting involved, that would not have ended well for anyone.
It had been one hell of a clash between the two friends, all that could be heard echoing through the great hall was Cana's maniacal laughter and Lucy's hysterical shrieking. Natsu had to admit, even though he'd been the one to stop her, watching Lucy be a total badass as she elegantly switched between star dresses and the way she held her own was a sure fire way to get his blood pumping. Screw sexy lingerie and skimpy outfits, he'd take watching Lucy fight any day! Maybe he could even get her to use her star dresses in the bedroom? Now there was food for thought and it was making him drool.
Aside from Natsu's kinky thoughts, once he'd managed to pull her off of the card wielder, kicking and screaming he might add, he'd dragged her over to a secluded bench and sat her down, giving her time to take a few deep breaths. Master Makarov had appeared in the main hall not long after, probably to see what all the commotion was about. Sighing in relief to see the building still intact, he'd caught sight of the two mages he'd wanted to see and gestured for them to go with him, not wanting anyone else to follow.
And now here they were, sitting across from the Master who was currently speaking complete gibberish to the baby he'd insisted on holding. Natsu still didn't understand why people did that, it made them look insane! Aside from Lucy that is, she looked adorable when she did it. Haru, seated in the Master's lap, had taken a liking to the poor man's facial hair, tangling his chubby hands into it and tugging, making the old man wince from his strong grip. Even though it was obviously hurting, he couldn't bring himself to stop the chuckling baby, not when the little guy was finding it ever so funny.
"You two are doing a great job at looking after this little man, he's come a long way since the beginning and he's much bigger now too." Makarov told them, but didn't spare either a single glance as he spoke, too preoccupied with entertaining the infant.
"Thanks Master, that means a lot to us." Lucy said, smiling as the youngster continued to giggle at the older man.
"How're you both finding it all? A blue birdy told me you're now living together?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Yes, we did a few months ago, Natsu extended his house for us all." Lucy said, looking over to Natsu who grinned at her. "And I think we're getting along just fine. It was a little stressful at first but now I couldn't imagine my life without him." Lucy answered, but she wasn't convinced that the Master had pulled them into the back room just to ask how they were. He could have done that in the main hall.
"Lucy's right, it's awesome! Haru is a great kid and I'm proud to call him my son." Natsu beamed, fisting the air in his enthusiasm.
"That's what I like to hear! You both made a very tough decision with barely any time to really think it through, but you've made the most of it and I know everyone in the guild is really happy for you." The old man uttered.
"Thanks Gramps! Was there something else you wanted us for?" Natsu asked, turning to Lucy to see if she was thinking the same. Was this really all the Master wanted to say to them?
Makarov finally looked up to the two mages who were staring at him curiously and sighed. "I guess it's time to tell you the real reason why I asked you in here. I apologise for the unexpected meeting but I have something of great importance that came for you both and it couldn't wait." He said, sporting a serious expression all of a sudden.
"What is it, Master? You mean like a letter?" Lucy asked, the way his face turned stoic had put her on edge in an instant.
"Yes, I ha-" He stopped, hearing whispering coming from outside the room, "Can you hear that?"
"It's Gray, Erza and Happy standing outside the door." Natsu shrugged like it wasn't news to him, "They've been there the whole time."
The Master rolled his eyes, of course there were eavesdroppers, he should've known. "Well, it's up to you two whether you want them in here or not?"
Natsu looked to Lucy and nodded, if they were that desperate to listen in then they might as well join them. The slayer walked over to the locked door and opened it, revealing the surprised group who stumbled into the room and fell at Natsu's feet. He raised an eyebrow at them as they slowly all made eye contact with him, sheepish grins on all of their faces.
"Oh look, the nosey brigade have arrived!" Natsu said sarcastically, crossing his arms as they all ungracefully stood up, treading on each others feet and clashing heads in the narrow door way. "If you were trying to be quiet, you failed! I could hear you all coming a mile off!"
"Yeah, well, not everyone's a freak like you." Gray spat back, clutching at his head after smacking it against the door handle.
"You're just pissed 'cause you got caught snooping!" Natsu taunted, a smirk splitting his features.
"It was Happy's idea, Flame brain! He was the one complaining that you two had gone off and left him again, so blame him!" The ice mage exclaimed, knocking heads with the fire mage and filling the air with testosterone.
"Hey! Don't blame me, you and Erza were sneaking around after them! This was your idea!" The exceed defended, it wasn't his fault that people kept forgetting about him.
They all continued to squabble for a little longer, trying to pass the blame between Gray and Happy as to why they had followed Natsu and Lucy, stopping only when the Master cleared his throat.
"Um, pardon the intrusion Master, we were just, er… Coming to lend our moral support to Natsu and Lucy." Erza stuttered, unable to come up with a good enough excuse for their eavesdropping.
"Whatever you say, just sit down and keep quiet." Makarov gave an exasperated sigh, these kids were going to be the death of him, along with the rest of the damn guild. They filtered in and quickly sat down where they could around Natsu and Lucy. "Right, now that that's sorted… back to what I called you two in here for." He pulled an envelope out from his stacks of paperwork and slid it across the table. They both looked at the paper curiously and saw clearly written in black ink, 'Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia' with the word 'PRIVATE' in large, stamped letters underneath.
"What's this Gramps? It looks kinda important… Is it from the council?!" Natsu began to sweat profusely, thinking back on any times recently where he'd destroyed something, but nothing came to mind. He hadn't been on a mission in months so that couldn't be it. "Have you been destroying things again, Lucy?" He crossed his arms and raised his brow at her, quirking his lips up at her offended, but totally adorable pout.
"I'm not you, Natsu!" She raised her voice at him, then looked down at the envelope again, inspecting it closely. "I don't think this is about our missions is it?" She asked, directing the question more towards the Master, who simply shook his head. He may not have read it himself but like Lucy, he'd caught on pretty quickly. "If that's the case then I don't think I want to open it…" There was only one reason that Lucy could think of for being sent such a letter.
"What's wrong, Lucy? Do you know what it's about?" Happy chipped in, flying over and landing on her lap. Gray and Erza looked just as lost as Natsu did in that moment.
"Surely it can't be that bad? Why don't you wanna open it?" Natsu asked, still very much confused about the whole thing.
Lucy didn't say anything, she cast her gaze away from the envelope to look at the sweet baby gurgling away in the Master's arms. She felt her tears well up in her eyes and all she could think was if this was bad news, she didn't know what she was going to do.
Natsu took note of the growing despair in Lucy's eyes and followed her line of vision, landing on the infant. He furrowed his brows for a moment trying to work out what could've upset her so suddenly. "Is this letter about Haru?" He asked, realisation hitting him.
Now he remembered! When they'd first brought Haru home, much to the slayer's chagrin, they'd spent hours and hours filling out stupid amounts of paperwork to send off so that they could officially adopt him. They knew at the time that the adoption process would take a while and that they would have to wait for an answer. After that, he'd put it to the back of his mind and it didn't take long for him to forget about it altogether.
He looked back to Lucy who hadn't said a word since she'd realised what it was herself. Natsu didn't bother waiting for her to answer and went to pick up the letter, wanting to know what was so awful about it.
"Wait!" He felt Lucy's hand grab the wrist that he'd reached out towards the table and halted his movements, peering back over to her and tilting his head in confusion. "W-What… What if it's bad news?"
"Why would it be bad news, Luce?" He asked, not fully understanding the problem yet. If it was just to say they could keep him, then that was good wasn't it?
"You have to understand how diligent they are! They could take a disliking to one silly little thing and it can turn the tables against us." She could feel the dread come up from her stomach into her chest, what would they do? "Don't you understand? Bad news means they'll take him from us and give him to someone else and we'll never see him again."
"Never see him again? Over my dead body! How can you be sure it's bad? It might not-"
"But what if it is? What do we do then?" The tears finally fell, coming down like torrents and that's when it dawned on Natsu that Lucy's fear was a very real possibility.
He looked back at the little one and watched him happily inspect his fingers, another thing he'd discovered recently. A life without Haru was something Natsu had never considered, why would he want to think of that? His heart picked up speed a little and a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Haru was their son, no one had a right to take him from them, not even that birth father of his. It was the whole point of going through this ridiculous adoption process in the first place, to keep him safe and with them, forever.
That being said, Natsu also wasn't one for conforming to the rules, if they'd decided that him and Lucy weren't suitable enough, then he would fight with every last slither of determination to keep Haru with them, no matter the cost.
"Can they really do that, Gramps? After everything Natsu and Lucy have done for Haru, they can just take him?" Gray asked, if that were the case then that was absolute bullshit and so unfair!
"I'm afraid so, it can be a ruthless system." Makarov explained, shifting the baby in his lap so that he was now facing his parents, smiling happily when he caught sight of them.
"In the end, the one that suffers the most is the innocent child stuck in the middle of it all." Erza expanded, feeling nothing but sympathy as she gazed at Lucy, who looked totally distraught by the idea of losing little Haru.
"I'm not gonna let that happen!" Everyone heard and turned swiftly to the dragon slayer, his sight was fixed on the baby, determination in his voice. He looked at everyone in turn, gauging their shocked expressions before landing on Lucy, who still had tears flowing down her cheeks. He reached his hand out and interlaced his fingers with hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "No matter what that letter says, Haru's ours, Lucy, he'll always be ours." His voice sounded firm and assured, but a shadow was cast over his eyes, making it hard for Lucy to read his face. She could tell the very idea of this all going sideways was affecting him way more than he was letting on.
He sighed loudly, hoping that all this worry was for nothing. He looked over to Lucy to make sure she was okay and then over to Haru, unable to contain his smile as he watched the little one suck on his tiny fists.
"Are you ready, Lucy?" He asked, picking the envelope up and opening it.
"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied, worry thickly coating her voice.
"Dear Mr Dragneel and Miss Heartfilia,
This letter has been formally written to you to update you on the adoption application you made to us for the infant known as Haru.
It is to our understanding that he is currently living with you both at your permanent residence in the city of Magnolia, Fiore and has done so since early Spring of this year. From the information given to us by yourselves and the current Master of the mages guild, Fairy Tail, in which you are both long serving members, this is what we have concluded:"
"Wow, I've never heard Natsu sound so official before, you should speak like that more often, makes it sound like you gotta brain." Gray butted in and sniggered, trying to lighten the mood a little, gaining nothing but a clip around the head from Erza.
"Shut it, Frosty! It's not my fault it's worded so weirdly!" Natsu spat back, scowling at the Ice mage. "If you're so smart, why don't you read it!"
"Be quiet! This is an important matter and I don't want either of you to start fighting at a time like this." Erza demanded, voice stern and intimidating, shutting both boys up.
"Give it here…" Lucy huffed and snatched the letter from Natsu's hand, deciding it best if she were to carry on in his place. She cleared her throat and began where Natsu had finished.
"As you are aware, the law states that a child may be re homed permanently in very exceptional circumstances which are listed below for your reference;
1. The birth parents choose and/or grant permission to give up their child for reasons they believe would benefit the child.
2. The safety and/or well-being of the child have been greatly compromised because of abuse and/or neglect inflicted upon them by their birth parents.
3. Both birth parents perish and the child has no other close friends or relatives that can willingly take responsibility for them.
In this circumstance, we decided category one only applied. We recently made contact with the child's only living relative, his birth father, to attain information regarding his relationship with his biological child. After much discussion, it was clear that he did not want to be a part of the child's life, believing himself to be incapable of meeting the child's needs at this difficult time."
"Pfft… Incapable of meeting his needs, you can say that again…" Natsu scoffed, gaining everyone's attention.
"Natsu!" Lucy yelled, getting irritated by his need to interrupt her.
"Sorry, it just made me laugh that's all!" He shrugged, backing down when Lucy glared at him.
"After advising him that it was in the child's best interest to remain with his current living situation with yourselves, he subsequently agreed to relinquish all parental responsibility and henceforth, no longer has any lawful right to the child.
As a result, we would like to congratulate you on the successful adoption of your son, Haru Dragneel and will post his new birth records to you in due course. We wish you both the very best with your new family."
Once she'd finished reading she placed the paper down and the room fell silent for a moment, allowing the news to sink in. She gaped at her partner, noticing the huge grin forming in his cheeks. But before he could say anything, she leapt out of her seat and flung herself at him, accidentally shoving him off of the chair and down to the ground, both landing in a heap of tangled limbs.
"He's ours! Oh my god Natsu, he's officially ours!" She squealed, unable to contain her excitement and relief.
Before anyone could react, the sound of Haru's infectious laughter filled the air, brightening the room. Watching his Mommy fall on top of his Daddy like that had tickled his funny bone. Natsu and Lucy grinned like idiots, bringing their foreheads together and revelling in the sweet sound of their baby's amusement. The others watched on at the tender moment, grins all plastered on their faces as they stood to congratulate the ecstatic couple.
"I guess now you really have officially beaten me, Natsu. You know you choosing to be a father to a child that isn't yours takes guts, I respect that, but now it's on to see who can have the most kids." Gray sniggered as he darted out of the room, probably to go and find Juvia…
Natsu, unable to fire back at Gray before he left, looked up at Lucy and smirked, "Don't even think about it!" She stared him down, "I am not spending the rest of my youth popping out children for you to win some stupid bet against Gray!"
"Dang it! But Lucy, he's gonna win! Juvia's not gonna say no!" He whined, of course with mirth, trying to wind her up as always, which was clearly working.
"What a joyous day this is! I'm so happy for you both!" Erza's face lit up like she was planning something as she walked out of the door.
"So kids, I'm glad we got a happy ending because that could've turned out much worse and I don't think the guild hall would've stood a chance against Natsu's fiery temper. I'm going for a drink before my heart gives out and this little guy is coming with me." Makarov said as he too left the room with Haru still happily playing in his arms.
Happy flew over, the last one left in the room, hoping he wouldn't catch a glimpse of the pair being all gross with each other. "So I guess I am officially his big brother now, which means I have an exclusive right to teach him how to wind Lucy up, in fact, I think I better go start now. Wait for me, Master!" He giggled at Lucy's unimpressed face and flew out of the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving just the two of them, alone.
Natsu reached his hand up to her cheek to bring her attention back to him and caressed it softly with his thumb, taking in her beautiful features whilst feeling a sense of calm. Everything had fallen into place and he was overjoyed by the good news. No more worrying, (not that he did much anyway) Haru was all theirs and they could now look to the little ones future, to their future as a family.
"I love you so much, Lucy." His voice was soft and sweet, a total opposite to his usual destructive personality. Lucy leaned her face towards his, her heart pounding in her chest and filling with warmth from his words. She could barely contain her grin as they locked eyes with one another, her lips brushing up against his.
"I love you too, Natsu. I'm so happy!" She met his lips with a sweet but smouldering kiss. Lucy felt her skin heat up at his very touch, and her body tremored from the excess adrenaline pumping through it.
They continued their make out session for a little while longer, completely lost in each other. They were both overwhelmed with pure elation by the outcome of that letter, even though in reality, nothing would actually change. Their lives would carry on as it was, but now at least they had that security of Haru remaining with them indefinitely.
Their kiss slowly burned into something more heated, reminiscent of the previous night, especially when Lucy's hips rubbed against Natsu's groin, causing him to growl into her mouth. It was like something had awoken within them and all the pent up emotions were leaking out in more frenzied movements, turning lustful the more they touched each other.
Lucy detached her lips from Natsu's mouth and slowly made her way down to his neck, grazing over his scar there and sending shivers through his body. She snaked her hands down to his pants and began to rub the awakening dragon through his clothes, feeling him twitch excitedly under her hand. His eyes rolled back into his head and he let out a harsh breath, relishing in the firmness of her strokes. But before all sense of sanity travelled south, he grabbed at her wrist, halting her movements and gauging her shocked expression.
"I don't think now is a good time, Luce. Anyone could walk in, which they will if we don't show our faces soon." He said, trying to compose himself, but man, did her hand feel good on him! It wasn't him that had the problem with being caught, he just knew Lucy wouldn't like that. He could picture her mortified face clearly, she'd be so utterly horrified, she'd probably never want to touch him again and he couldn't have that!
"You're right, I guess." She sat up, disappointment clear in her voice, feeling a little saddened that Natsu had declined her advances. She looked to the door when something caught her eye. "That door has a lock on it…" She looked at him with the biggest shit eating grin and went to stand, pulling Natsu up with her.
"That desperate, huh?" He teased, leaning against the desk with his leg crossed over the other and his arms folded over his chest, looking smug. "You know a locked door won't stop them, right?"
"Dammit! Fine, let's go and join them then…" She sighed deflated, turning to walk out of the door but stopped when Natsu pulled her back to him, caging her against the desk he was previously leaning on.
"And where do you think you're running off to?" He growled against her ear, sucking her lobe and making her quiver. He could see the slight confusion in her face as he carried out his ministrations.
"B-But, I-I thought you said…" She stammered.
"Don't think I don't want to, Lucy. I'd love nothing more than to bend you over this table right now and fuck you until you scream my name." She gasped at the brashness of his words, feeling her legs turn to jelly at the mere thought of Natsu doing that. He touched his lips down to her jaw, leaving sensual open mouthed kisses all the way down to her mouth, then stopped and smirked whilst eyeing her plump lips, waiting for her to speak.
She said nothing, she could barely breathe from the intense glare that Natsu was giving her and the way he was speaking… it made her shudder! She could feel herself moisten down below from the sheer sexiness of his demeanour. Where did he learn to act like this? Lucy was sure if he kept it up, she'd be a blonde puddle on the floor.
The boy grabbed both of her cheeks and pulled her to him, pressing their lips together and enjoying the smoothness of her tongue as it danced with his. He pulled away all too soon causing Lucy to whimper at the loss of contact. "Come on Luce, let's go join the others. We'll continue this later." He winked at her blushing face, taking her hand and leading them out of the door.
As soon as they entered the main hall, a stream of cheers and clinking of glasses filled the room. Obviously someone had opened their mouths and told them all about the good news, probably Happy… or Erza? Lucy should have guessed they'd use any excuse for a party. They walked on over to the bar where Haru was laying calmly beside Makarov, babbling away and sucking on his fists again.
"Congrats guys! I'm so happy for you both!" Levy said from the side, she beamed at them. "Happy told us all about your letter, in fact I think he told everyone."
Lucy rolled her eyes, she really did have to have words with that damn cat, he needed to learn to keep his mouth shut every once in a while. "Thanks Levy, it's such a relief!" Lucy sat herself down, about to reach over to Haru when Natsu got there first.
"It's my turn, Luce. You changed him last time." He said, picking up the little one and scrunching up his nose at the horrific smell lingering around the baby. Holding his breath, he proceeded to change the baby on a nearby bench, burning the soiled diaper to get rid of the stench. Natsu dressed him in fresh clothes and wrapped his scaly scarf around him to keep him warm. He picked Haru up, cuddling him close to his chest and smiled, "Does that feel better little guy? You know for such a small person, you make one hell of a smell!" Haru simply smiled at his father, knowing full well that after a diaper change he was always rewarded with milk time and boy, did he look forward to that!
"I think someone's hungry!" Natsu chuckled at the little boy, who was now sucking the life out of the scarf and making cute little noises. He walked back over to Lucy and sat down beside her. She passed a fresh bottle for the slayer to warm in his hand, placing it into the infants mouth who accepted it greedily. Both Natsu and Lucy smiled fondly at the little one, lost in their own little baby bubble as they watched him guzzle down his bottle. The soft voice of one of their friends breaking them out of their daze.
"You know, seeing you like this Natsu, reminds me of when we first found Happy's egg and played house all the time as kids." Lisanna said from the other side of the bar, she'd been watching Natsu with the baby and it had brought fond memories back to her of their childhood together. "I always thought you'd make a good Daddy one day!"
"Oh, um, thanks!" Natsu replied, blushing a little at the unexpected compliment. He looked up at the girl who was leaning over the bar, propping her head up with both arms, smiling fondly at the fire mage.
"It still amazes me that you've managed to keep him alive for so long. You could barely take care of yourself until Lucy came along." Gray sniggered as he waltzed on over to the bar. "And I bet she's still constantly cleaning up after you!"
"That's rich coming from an idiot not wearing any underwear." Natsu eyed the ice mage, watching him jump when he looked down at himself and realised he was completely naked. "Go find your pants man! I don't want Haru learning your freaky stripping habits."
"And I don't want him picking up on either of your stupid fighting habits!" Lucy butted in before another fight broke out, silencing the two males immediately. "Haru is a sweet boy, I'd like to keep him that way!" She smiled and reached out a hand to stroke the baby's head.
"He's definitely got an appetite like Natsu's." Wendy giggled, smitten with the little one. "But he still might end up like you, Lucy."
"One can only hope!" Lucy chuckled at Natsu's pretend hurt expression. "What? Let me have something, I am the only girl in the house, it's only fair!" She giggled, laying her head on Natsu's shoulder, both watching their little one finish his milk.
"Ugh, you guys are so pure, it hurts me!" Cana exclaimed, smacking her drink down on the bar top, making every mage present jump. She was obviously very drunk at this point, allowing her mouth to run away with her even more than usual. "Come on, let's get this party started!"
"Actually, Natsu and I are gonna head out, Haru's run out of milk and he gets hungry pretty quickly." She chuckled, not sparing the drunk girl a single glance, too enraptured by the cute baby.
"Don't make excuses! You guys are just eager to get home and use your new presents! Don't want any accidents now do we?" Cana grinned evilly at Lucy, who'd gone wide eyed and quiet at the brunette's words. Natsu stiffened and chanced a glance over at the two girls. He didn't want to have to deal with this again, not after this morning!
"Presents? What presents? Was it your birthday or something, Lucy?" Levy asked, not taking notice of the sudden tense atmosphere. She was sure Lucy's birthday wasn't for a few months yet?
"On that note, I think we should head out! Come on, Luce, off we go!" Natsu stood abruptly, grabbing hold of the blonde who looked just about ready to blow. If looks could kill… "Bye everyone, see you tomorrow!" He shouted through Cana's howling, fleeing out of the door with Haru in one hand and Lucy in the other.
He ran as fast as he could away from the guild hall, surprised by the lack of resistance from his partner but didn't want to let go just in case. Once they reached their house, Natsu flung the door open and pulled Lucy inside, locking it behind him before she could run back and give Cana a piece of her mind. Taking a long, deep breath, he watched her walk over and slump down onto the couch and let out her own sigh.
Natsu walked over and placed a very sleepy Haru in the basket next to the couch, tucking his scaly scarf over the little one to keep him warm. Turning his attention back to Lucy, he perched himself next to her, wondering what could have dampened her mood so unexpectedly.
"You okay, Luce? You're being very quiet… Did Cana get to you that much?" His voice laced with concern for her change in behaviour, hoping that bringing up the card wielder wouldn't set her off again.
"Oh, er, no, she's harmless really…" She trailed off, looking down at her lap and fiddling with the hem of her shirt, feeling those nervous bubbles take residence in her belly again.
"Are you sure? You can tell me if something's bothering you." He said, placing his hand on her thigh and began to softly stroke it. He could see that she was hesitant about branching any further into what was on her mind. He took her hands in his and moved to face her directly, staring deep into her averted eyes, catching the uncertainty in them. "Luce, I can't help if you don't tell me."
Taking a deep breath, she attempted to explain to him the problem, "I-It's what Cana said when we left the guild. We, um, forgot something when we, you know… last night and, well…" She faltered, struggling to hold any sort of gaze on his curious face. "And now I-I might, well, we might be, um…"
"Having another baby?" He came straight out with it, gauging her shocked expression.
He'd had a suspicion that it was something along those lines because of how Lucy had gone strangely quiet on the way home after Cana had teased her about using the condoms. Ever the immature idiot, Natsu was more perceptive than people gave him credit for, especially when it came to Lucy, he could read her like an open book.
Lucy snapped her head to his, eyes wide open and her mouth agape like she'd just seen a ghost. She could feel the panic rise up the more she played out what he'd just said over and over in her mind. Only thinking it in her head up until that point, but hearing it said out loud was a whole different ball game.
"And you were worried about what I might think, if you told me?" His expression remained neutral but firm. He knew he'd guessed right because of the way she'd reacted when he'd said it. The fire breather was sure he could hear the rapid beat of her heart hammering against her chest and the fact her cheeks had turned the darkest shade of red with beads of sweat forming on her brow, gave her away before she'd even said anything.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Natsu, I've ruined everything! I don't know how I forgot, and now I don't know what to do, it only takes one time for it to happen! Was it nerves? Or maybe I-" She tried to keep her voice down for Haru's sake, but she was struggling to stop the words from flooding out of her mouth.
Natsu pressed his lips to hers to stop her from rambling, taking her by surprise. He felt a few stray tears touch his face, making his heart clench in sympathy for her. Waiting for her to calm down, he pulled away after a few moments, placing his forehead on hers. His eyes were closed for now and his breath was slow and even. Lucy waited nervously for him to say something, anything… yet he remained calm and quiet. She hadn't expected him to be this relaxed about it, but then this was Natsu after all, he always looked on the brighter side of things.
"Shh, it's alright Lucy. Accidents happen, so you don't have to be sorry. I take half the blame because it takes two remember?" He opened his eyes, his voice was soothingly gentle, allowing her to calm herself down a little and think more clearly. "Would it be so bad if we were to have another little one?" He waited a moment to see if she would answer. Her eyes flickered between his as she digested his question, would it be that bad?
"It's just, I-I don't… I-I'm not sure if I'm-" She stuttered, barely managing to get the words out as he stared so intently at her, gauging the fear still present in her expression.
"I get that the idea is scary, Luce, I'm not gonna pretend otherwise, but we managed it with Haru, right? And he's doing just fine!" He smiled, not one to dwell on the past but feeling it necessary for her to know his true feelings on the matter. "I didn't know the first thing about babies when we took Haru in and neither did you, but we learnt and now look at where we are. Sure, I worried about doing right by him, especially in those first weeks, but it was worth the struggle for his happiness. To see his smile and to hear him laugh is reward enough." He looked down and sighed, "Because I realised that none of those worries even comes close to how scared I was today, when I realised that my little boy could be taken from me. The fear of having him was nothing compared to the fear of losing him."
"I had no idea you felt that way, Natsu, you always seem so optimistic. Why didn't you say? I could've helped you through it." Lucy said, shocked by just how open he was being with her, it was a rare occurrence to hear him speak so freely about his feelings.
"You helped me by being there, Lucy. Which is exactly what I'm trying to tell ya! If there were a tiny chance of a baby making itself at home in there, then that would be okay with me, because they'd be ours, just like Haru." He said pressing his hand to her stomach, filling her with warmth and comfort as he smiled lovingly at her. "I'll always be there for you, no matter what happens because we're always gonna be together."
He pulled Lucy closer and wrapped her in his arms, breathing in her sweet scent. He looked down at her flat stomach and allowed himself to imagine for a single moment that one day a new life, that they'd created together, would be growing just below where his hand lay, one he would welcome wholeheartedly. He quickly shook the image from his mind, leaning his head on her shoulder and taking another deep breath, relaxing himself. Feeling just that little bit lighter for getting all that off of his chest.
"Thank you, Natsu. I can always count on you." Lucy smiled, looking over at the infant snoring away with the scarf still resting near his mouth. The slayer was right, it didn't matter because they were always going to be together.
"So... does that mean I still have a chance at winning that bet against Gray then?" He grinned mischievously, waiting for her inevitable reaction.
"Natsu!" Her face tinting pink again at what he was implying. "Absolutely not!"
"I'm kidding, Lucy! I know you're not ready for that just yet." He smiled, hoping that would bring her much needed comfort. She grinned back at him, feeling relief take over her entire form. "And now thanks to Cana and all of those condoms on our bed, we can get in a load of practice." He said, leaning forwards and attacking the sensitive skin on her neck, hearing her heart rate increase and a sharp breath pass her lips.
"Hmm, I do believe we have some unfinished business to attend to?" She smirked, tugging at his hair while he sucked and nipped at her already swollen lips.
Feeling a fire in his belly, he was quick to drag her up the stairs, placing the little one in his own room while they occupied their bedroom. Their movements became erratic, unable to get enough of the other. Pure lust filled the air as they ravaged each other's bodies, making them yearn for more contact, more pleasure. Natsu released himself from the confines of his pants and slid his shaft up and down Lucy's soaking wet entrance, eliciting soft moans from the sweet torture he was giving her. With one fluid movement he sheathed himself within her, groaning from the intense pressure created.
"Mm, it feels so good, Natsu!" She breathed harshly, furrowing her brows as she got use to having him inside her once again.
"I haven't even started yet, Lucy, I hope you're ready for a long night!" He teased, pulling himself out then thrusting back in, making himself grunt and Lucy cry out in ecstasy.
He leaned down and mashed their lips together, his tongue massaging hers while he pulsed deeply into her, making her moan loudly into him. Sweat was pouring off of his face as he increased in speed, wanting to elicit as much noise from her beautiful mouth as he could, bringing her and himself closer to the edge. They were completely lost in each other, totally forgetting that they weren't the only one's that lived there.
It was only later that evening, that Happy decided he'd had enough of being at the guild and was ready to go home and sleep. Nearing the little house he'd long called home, he heard something strange coming from the bedroom window. Curiosity getting the better of him, he flew up and peered inside. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head, Natsu and Lucy were wrestling?! No, that didn't seem right, they looked to be enjoying it and were… naked?! Realisation struck him straight in the gut at just what he was playing audience to and let out a horrified shriek, legging it away from the house and back to the guild to tell someone of the horrors that he'd seen.
"My eyes! My eyes!" Lucy heard coming from the distance, she pulled away from Natsu's mouth and stared up at his eyes, looking just as oblivious as always.
"Can you hear something?" She asked, not really sure if it was just her ears playing tricks on her or not.
"I can't really hear anything over your moaning." He sniggered, reattaching himself to her jaw instead.
"I'm being serious! I'm sure I heard someone say something from outside!" She pushed his head away from her so that she could listen clearly without being distracted, but heard nothing.
"Luce, I hear a lot of things, it's probably some animal or whatever, we do live next to woodland." He sighed, trying to calm her nerves so he could get back to the task at hand.
"Hmm… If you're sure?" She wasn't entirely convinced that Natsu hadn't heard it, not with his sensitive hearing and all, but it seemed to have stopped for now.
Beginning where he left off, he leaned back down to kiss her swollen lips, slowly pushing himself back into her and revelling in the beautiful noises she made. He hammered into her until her body quaked as she came undone, yelling Natsu's name to the whole of Magnolia. Hearing her cum so hard, was what finally gave him his own release, groaning through gritted teeth until finally collapsing onto the bed next to her. Peace and exhaustion washing over them both, he smiled at her drowsy, flushed face watching as her eyes closed shut, his own lids following suit as they cuddled up to one another.
Although struggling to think of anything but the gorgeous girl beside him, he did manage to make a mental note to apologise to Happy for what he may or may not have seen from the window. Hoping they hadn't traumatised the cat too much, Natsu definitely had some explaining to do!
Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I do apologise for it taking over a month to come out. Juggling work, a toddler and life in general makes it hard to find time to sit down and write and it doesn't help when I write something and then decide to delete it and then write it all over again... Anyway, thanks for supporting this story, I'll try to get chapter 12 to you as quick as I can!
