Disclaimer: As we all know Fairy tail belongs to the wonder Mashima Hiro-Sensei

A/N: Warning mention and/or implication of miscarriage ahead. Also mention of Contraception.


I watched as my lovely wife drifted quickly into sleep, and from Lisanna had told me earlier on the phone, she most certainly needed it. I'd been surprised when I'd answered my mobile lacrima and heard her voice, we didn't normally converse over the phone, just the odd time she happened to visit us at our home or when I occasionally visited their guildhall. But surprise had soon given way to worry as she explained the state my dear Lucy was in, she hadn't looked well this morning when we'd both left to see our respective guilds but had told me not to worry and that she was probably just a little fatigued from the job she's just returned from. I'd thought that seemed reasonable as it had been a long one, and from what she'd told me it had taken a lot of her magic to complete, so let it go at that.

Then to hear that she was violently ill and asking for me, had made me feel like such a bad husband. I should have known something else was going on with her and convinced her to stay home and rest. Why hadn't I done that?

I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I headed down stairs to grab her a glass of water, seeing as she'd being so sick she would probably be extremely dehydrated when she woke up and be desperate for a glass. As I entered the kitchen and started pottering about I noticed how the dinner table had already been laid extremely fancily with our best cutlery and plates, there was a vase full of vibrant red roses sat between two intricately carved candle stick holders which had long white candles sat in them waiting to be used.

Now I understood why Lucy had been about to protest earlier in the fairy tail bathroom, she really had put a lot of thought and effort into planning her side of our anniversary plans. I chuckled gently remembering our first wedding anniversary and how we'd both secretly planned something to surprise the other and it had been a total disaster as the timing had coincided and it had been a big mess. So Lucy had declared that from then on, we'd both had a day each to plan a surprise for our big date and that way we couldn't both mess it up the same way ever again. It usually worked out that one of us got the actually date and the other got the day before, or after, this year it just so happened Lucy had the day before and I had the actually date of our anniversary. But it looked like we would be postponing both our plans for a short while at least.

bzzzzz bzzzzz

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my mobile, saw it was Eve, and answered right away.

"Hey Eve." I answered as quietly as I could, I didn't want to disturb poor Lucy from her slumber.

"How's Nee-san?" He asked in a rush he face etched with concern. He'd heard some of the conversation I'd had with Lisanna and had nearly rushed out of Blue Pegasus alongside me, until Master Bob had held him back. His concern for Lucy always warmed my heart, it was great they got on so well. It had taken a while for Lucy and Ren to become friends, but that was mainly due to scheduling conflicts not a lack of wanting to know each other. And Sherry had even become friendly with my dear celestial mage over the years too, which had surprised us all. It seemed for a while that she had some kind of rivalry with her over an old battle, but it was now ancient history and we had been on plenty of double dates over the years.

"Sleeping for now." I smiled at my teammate to show there was no need for panic.

"That's good." He breathed a sigh of relief. "To hear she was that ill really worried me."

"Yeah it shocked me too." I agreed and set the lacrima up on the table so I could continue setting a tray with everything Lucy would need when she awoke. "She rarely gets sick."

"That's true." Eve nodded taking a sip from what must have been his coffee cup, he rarely drank anything else these days. He must have gone home around when I left to get Lucy, as that was his favourite mug which he kept at his apartment."Last time I saw her sick at all was the first pregnancy, do you remember?"

"Oh I do." I smiled remembering how every morning, Lucy would wake up and spend hours in the bathroom utterly beside herself because the baby hated her already. Then all the memories of what had happened later washed over me and the smile fell from my face, if it meant never having kids or putting Lucy and myself through that hell again, I'd choose the previous option. I'd very nearly lost her again with the second miscarriage and I couldn't bare the idea of living without her, I'd done it once before and it was not an experience I wanted to repeat. Lucy was my everything!

"Sorry dude, I didn't mean too..."

"It's okay." I must have let my face show some of my emotions, he shouldn't feel bad for bringing it up. Just because it had ended badly didn't mean we didn't still have some fond memories at the beginning of it. "You're right the last time she was this sick was, as you said, during her first pregnancy."

"You don't think she could be?" Eve began to ponder a loud.

"She can't be, we've been really careful..." I trailed off doing some mental math in my head. There was no way Lucy could be pregnant, was there? When had her last period been?... I couldn't remember and I normally was so good at keeping track of these types of things. We'd been so busy the last few months only having brief moments together, like an evening here or a day there, that I wouldn't know when my darling wife last had her cycle so I couldn't say one way or another if she might or might not be expecting.

"Hibiki?" Eve's voice pulled me out of my mental turmoil.

"Oh, yes sorry," I turned my attention back to him. I hadn't meant to space out so badly on the guy.

"You okay Hi-nii? You look like you've seen a ghost." His brow was once again creased with concern, it made him look older than his years.

"Just thinking about something was all." I plastered a smile onto my face to try and alleviate some of his worry.

"About Nee-san?"

"I may need to go out to the pharmacy before she wakes up." I sighed, realizing I couldn't rule out any possibilities for what could be making her so ill. And the only way to rule things out was with tests. She was also likely to need some medicine as we didn't usually keep any on hand due to her guild having a healer on tap most days. Paracetamol, re-hydrating solution and ant-acid were going to be a critical requirement when she got up.

"Want to send me a list and I can drop them over for you?" He looked so eager to help, I couldn't help but remember when we'd spend weeks looking after Lucy together so long ago.

"Not sure you're going to want to buy one of the items on that list." I chuckled at the snow mage. "But thanks for the offer, you can come keep an eye on Lucy while I do the shopping, if you want? Though I warn you it's bad and she'll probably protest you seeing her like this."

"Doesn't bother me." He beamed. "See you in a bit."

As he hung up the call, I grabbed the glass and accompanying jug of water I'd filled and headed back up stairs to check on my beloved again. She was in much the same position as I'd left her in, albeit weirdly half wrapped up and half uncovered. I chuckled softly to myself, as her feet twitched from where they were dangling off of the bed. She always did this when she got sick, being too hot made the sensation worse but she hated being cold, so this was her compromise.

"Ah sweetheart," I sighed and softly stroked her forehead after I'd put the items on the bedside locker. If she was pregnant for the third time, how would we handle it, if it resulted in another loss? Even just the thought of another lost baby, chilled me to my core and I wasn't sure how we could go through that type of pure agony again. I was sure Lucy's heart would get shattered all over again and my own would take a massive beating, but I would have to hold it together to help her manage the pain, help her recover.

"Please don't let it be true." I prayed to all the deities I knew about that she wouldn't be pregnant, prayed that they would spare us anymore heart ache and pain. Surely we had suffered enough?

Lucy started to shift and groan a little in her sleep, which pulled me away from my negative thought spiral. I also realized I hadn't brought her out the plastic bin from the bathroom. That was my bad, so I hurried to grab it thankful I'd only emptied it this morning and placed it beside the bed. Least this way if she woke and couldn't make it to the toilet in time there was a back up for her.

I settled in on the floor next to the bed and watching over my sleeping wife just to make sure she was okay, when I remembered something little Harumi had called out as I'd rushed passed her on the way to the guild earlier.

See you at the weekend Uncle Biki.

I'd replied with the usual 'of course' type thing so she wouldn't feel ignored by me as I rushed by, but now that I could actually think about the encounter it had me curious. Normally Lucy would run by any weekend sleepovers with me, not that I ever objected, having the small girl around always filled the place with lots of fun and laughter, but she always said it was just common courtesy to see if I'd had other plans. Maybe something had come up earlier before she got so bad and she'd meant to run it by me once she'd returned home...that seemed the most likely scenario.

Either way if she was actually sick, sick and nothing else the weekend plans would have to be delayed. Couldn't risk Harumi-chan catching it and taking it home to her new baby sister, though if they were around each other earlier today that was highly likely to have already happened. I'd have to call Gajeel after I'd ruled out the other possibility to warn him if it turned out to be the case.

bzzz bzzzz

I saw Eve was ringing me and also saw the time and realized he must be waiting to be let in downstairs. Quietly as I could I got up and exited the room doing my best not to wake sleeping beauty and quickly made my way to the door to let my friend in.

"Your Nurse has arrived." He sang cheerily and did a twirl as I opened the door to let him enter.

"What would I do without you." I mocked, rolling my eyes. Which caused him to mock shake his head in disapproval back at me, it was nice to have someone to joke about with given how dark my thoughts had been going in the past hour. Eve was always very perceptive when it came to being there for the people he loved and today I was extremely grateful for his sixth sense, as Lucy liked to call it.

I motioned for him to get his pretty boy behind in the house and shut the door quietly, not sure just how deeply asleep our patient up stair would still be at this point, she'd been out about an hour and a half so chances were she was still out for the count or any little nose would wake her up from now on. Either way I wanted to let her sleep as long as possible, she needed it.

"She still out?" Eve pointed up the stairs as we passed and headed toward the kitchen area. I could at least make him some tea before I had to head out.

"Yup but I'm not sure for how much longer." I replied, popping some water into two cups and using a simple heating spell to boil the water to avoid using the kettle.

"It's good she's resting." He nodded and accepted the tea I handed over to him. We then heading toward the comfy chairs and took a seat.

"Yeah." I sighed and took a sip from my cup. "I really should have made her stay home."

"Don't blame yourself." Eve replied with a sympathetic smile. "You know nee-san would have gone even if she was on deaths door and she would have smiled the entire time too."

"Yeah, she hates making people worry over her." I smiled fondly thinking of how kind hearted my blonde bombshell truly was. No matter what, she would always try to face life with a smile. It's why it had been so hard to see her broken and beside herself with grief, her beautiful warm smile had disappeared and it had taken so long for it to return I'd been afraid it never would. Lucy had in every sense of the word become a shell, a husk of the woman she normally was and even now you could see that a sadness stained her eyes whenever she smiled over someones news of being pregnant...it honestly made my stomach sink whenever I saw it. Hadn't the fates thrown so much at us already, why did they have to torture us with a childless future too. Lucy would make an incredible mother, I'd spent years watching her with the offspring of our friends and family and it made me incredibly sad that I couldn't grant that wish for her, but I was just so scared...

"Hey don't you need to head out?"

"Ah crap." I checked the time and it had gotten later than I'd anticipated. The pharmacy was going to close soon if I didn't hot foot it out of here soon. "I shouldn't be too long."

"No worries, if she wakes up I'll be nurse of the year." He giggled and made shuuing motions toward the door. I gave my friend a warm smile, chugged the rest of my tea, grabbed my wallet and headed toward the door.

"Thanks again," I whisper called over my shoulder before starting the mad dash towards the one place that could help me find out what was going on with my dearest Lucy.


*Sometime Later*

I opened the door as softly as I could, afraid to wake my sleeping princess, if at all possible, and looked around. I didn't see any sign of Eve where I'd left him so that could only mean one thing...Lucy had woken up while I'd been out. Kicking my shoes off in the hallway I hurried toward the stairs desperate to get upstairs and check on the current situation.

"Feel any better now?" I faintly heard Eve say, his voice was etched with concern. They must be in the bathroom, I hurried my pace and strode into the bedroom set my bags of goodies down on the bed and headed on into our en suite. As I entered I noticed a situation similar to how I'd found Lucy in earlier, her back pressed up against the wall with her head tilting backwards. She must have gotten sick again.

"You okay?" I asked voicing my own concern. She looked so pale it was scaring me.

"You're back, Hibiki." It was Eve that answered me, he was sat next to our celestial mage holding toilet paper in one hand and his other was gently rubbing Lucy's arm.

"Sorry I was gone so long." I apologized, sliding my jacket off and dropping it onto the wash hamper before going to sit near the pair. In fairness I'd been gone less than an hour, I would have been back sooner but I stopped by the supermarket to pick up some easy to stomach foods as we didn't have much in, but still I felt guilty I hadn't gotten back before she'd woken up.

"Don't be." Eve reassured me. " Lu only woke up about 15 minutes ago. Think she chugged the water you left too fast as I only realized she was awake from the sound of retching."

"Urg, was...my...own...fault." came a quiet groan. "Should...have...sipped."

"It's fine you were thirsty, we've all done it." I reassured, reaching over to gently stroke the back of her beautiful hand. I never knew what to do when Lucy got sick as it was such a rare thing, so I usually settled with a small action that could bring a small measure of comfort for her. Her eyes didn't open but I noticed a small smile grace her face as she registered my stroking.

"Has the nausea settled down?" Eve asked quietly from his position next to her. His face mirrored the concern I had burning in my chest.

"I think so." Her voice sounded a little stronger this time. I felt the knot in my stomach loosen a little, maybe it was just a 24hr bug after all and she'd be back to normal in no time. The logical side of my brain kicked in then and I knew I couldn't just wait and see, we needed to know for sure.

"Hey Eve, can you pop down stairs and make some tea with honey?" It was Lucy's favourite and it would give us a little time to have the discussion I was dreading.

"Sure." He smiled as he pushed himself up off the floor and headed towards the door. He'd be back soon enough but it gave us a little privacy anyway, I wasn't sure he'd really want to be included in this that was for sure. As he closed the door behind him, I reached over and grasped both of my beautiful wife's hands gently. Here we go...

"Hey sweetheart, can I asked something?" I gulped, trying to stop the lump that was forming in my throat. Please let me be over reacting!

"What is it?" She opened her eyes and looked me directly in the eyes. Maybe she's heard some of the apprehension in my voice as her eyes had a slightly worried tinge to them.

"Well...urm.." Now was not the time to chicken out man, just do it! "When was your last period?"

"My last p..." Her soft voice trailed off and I saw her eyes suddenly flash with fear, she must have caught onto my train of thought. She was sharp as a whip my Lucy, which was funny as it was her weapon of choice, but it was also one of the many reasons I'd fallen in love with her. "Oh..."

"What?" I asked, feeling my own panic threatening to over whelm me.

"You think we could be..." Her hands fluttered to her stomach as she trailed off, her gorgeous face covered in a mixture of surprise and anxiety. "But we were always so...wait."

"What?" I felt like a broken record saying the same thing on repeat.

"Polyusica wasn't around for my batch of medicine, the one before last, as our schedules conflicted." Lucy muttered. "We'd been so busy that month and using the other things too, I didn't think one missed dose would matter too much seeing as we'd barely been intermate..."

I squeezed her hands a little tighter, she had mentioned something about that. We normally relied on special magical contraception that Polyusica brewed up as it was the most effect means of not having a baby, but we tried to use condoms too, as an extra precaution. I remembered the month in question, we'd both barely seen each other due to work and then when we did we were both so tired we were content to just cuddle up and actually sleep.

"It was..."I trailed off and let my eyes fall to the hands in her lap. The events of the evening were hazy but I could remember most of it, we'd met up on the way back from a job, we'd been in the same town just on different requests, had decided to stay the evening and let our team mates return with out us, so we could spend some time together. We'd gone out for dinner, had a wonderful evening, albeit with a bit too much wine and had stumbled back to our hotel room for a night of romantic passion. It hadn't even crossed my mind at that time, to use anything, I'd totally forgotten about her missed dose...Oh god this was all my fault!

"Hibiki." The gentleness of her voice managed to drag me out of my head, I turned my eyes back up to face her, I don't think I managed to kept the utter despair from my face though. "It's not the end of the world."

"It feels like it." I mumbled, feeling a little petulant as I did. She was right of course a baby was all we'd wanted for years, but the what if's and past losses were scaring the crap out of me right now, I had to admit. I couldn't bare the thought of another miscarriage, we really might not survive it this time. A knock at the door caused me to start. I'd forgotten Eve was still in the house.

"Hey, I'll make Scrambled eggs and toast too, so just head down when you feel up to it 'kay." He called cheerily through the closed door. I smiled a half smile, he was staying out of the way while being helpful. I think he knew what was going on, and was doing his best to support us through it. Mean he was the one that had brought up the pregnancy angle after all. Even if he didn't realise it.

"Thank you." Lucy called back and gave my hands a squeeze of her own. Then she reached up and placed her palm on my cheek, I lent into the feeling of her slightly chilly hand on my cheek, it was so soothing. "Hey, we could be wrong."

"Only one way to know." I sighed and gently stood up leaving poor Lucy looking a little puzzled. It felt like a death march as I went to retrieve the pharmacy bag I'd left on the bed, dramatic I know but it's how I felt.

"You planned ahead I see." She giggled quietly, as she saw me re-enter the bathroom holding the plastic carrier.

"Hey I also got medicine." I play huffed, as I stuck my hand in and routed around for the box I needed. I may have bought quite a few items in the pharmacy so it was a little bit of a search.

"What would I do without you." She smiled setting her brilliant love filled eyes on my face, which caused me to pause for a moment. Lucy seemed totally calm even though I was going to pieces over this whole situation.

"Aren't you scared?" I blurted the words out with out meaning too. Crap I should not have said that!

"Yes and No," She replied sheepishly. Was that a small blush I saw creep onto her pale face?

"Huh?" Why was it that even after all these years together she could still manage to make me so inarticulate. Sometimes it was adorable but right now it was beyond frustrating.

"Well, yes I'm scared because of all the past experiences and the what if's, if I am once again expecting," She started to tell me. "But also no because this time could be different and we could finally have the baby we always dreamed of."

"I see," I pondered on her words for a moment. She really did see things in a positive way didn't she? Truly after everything we'd been through I was merely terrified of the idea of my angel being pregnant again, yet she was doing her best to see the bright side to the situation and not let fear rule over all the other possibilities. For an instance, the flicker of an old dream crossed my mind, Lucy and Myself walking in a park pushing a pram with another child holding our hands...If my darling was pregnant and everything went well maybe, just, maybe that old dream could come true.

"It could also just be food poisoning or a stomach bug you know." Lucy smiled. She must have taken my long silence as a negative instead of a thoughtful repose.

"Like I said before," I returned her smile with one of my own. "There's only one way to find out."

With that I handed over the pink box I'm managed to retrieve from my bag of goodies and handed it over then started to head to the door. I didn't exactly need to be witness to this bit of the test. I closed the door to give her some privacy and stood next to it, waiting for her to call me back inside. We'd wait together to see the result after all.

"You can come back in." Lucy called out to me. So I re-entered the bathroom and went and sat down right next to her, my hand instantly homing in to hold hers.

"Now we wait." I said looking at the timer Lucy had set on the counter top. Her head was suddenly resting against my shoulder and my own went to rest against her head. This was going to be a horribly long couple of minutes. Neither one of us spoke we just sat their in our own little bubble lent against each other, it was extremely comforting to know that no matter what, I had this amazing woman by my side threw thick and thin.

"I'm too nervous to look at it." She whispered, when the timer sounded to let us know the time was neigh to find out our fate, so to speak.

"Me too." I confided in her and laced my fingers through her own slender ones, trying to show her that we were in this together, no matter what.

"Do it together?" She pleaded with her big chocolate brown eyes. I spent a moment allowing myself to just get lost in their warm depth and took a steadying breath, I knew as long as we were together we could and would handle anything that was thrown our way, as we always did.

"Always." I nodded and pulled the white stick off the top of the toilet to join us in our sitting position on the floor. "Okay here goes.

We both looked down at the stick to see if Lucy was pregnant or if she just had a stomach bug. It took a second for me to process what greeted my eyes as I looked down. "It's...it's..."

'It's positive."