Hello again! I have a new chapter for you all! Thank you for all the feedback and reviews on the story. I love reading all the responses and I'm so glad you all are enjoying this story.

Please enjoy!


Sting opened the door and announced their arrival as the others in his caravan filtered in behind him. Lector ran clean through the room and out the back door to look for Igneel; Yukino took the sleeping infant to the back room out of the noisy murmurs and discussions. Sting, Natsu and Lucy all made their way into the kitchen area where Grandine, Levy, Gajeel and Jude were waiting.

"Well, look who is here," Gajeel commented.

"You're all here earlier than I thought you would be," Grandine stated as she stood in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the lunch.

"We've been up for a while because of the kids," Sting answered.

"And Sting thought it would be a good idea to pick us up on the way," Natsu added.

"Without notice," Lucy grumbled.

"That just means we have more time together as a family," Grandine beamed. I'd rather be doing something else, Lucy thought. Unconsciously her eyes drifted over to Natsu, who was sitting on the other side of the kitchen island than her. His cheek rested on his fist, slightly obscuring his face, but Lucy could see the sly expression he wore as he looked at her; based on that, she figured he was thinking the same thing she was. Lucy quickly turned her face away from him to look down at the counter, so no one could see her blush. It quickly faded when she yawned; that's right, I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

Lucy stood up and walked around the island into the kitchen to the coffee tree where the many Kcup types were laid out. Grandine got the others in the room to grab some of the lunch items and bring them outside, leaving Lucy alone in the kitchen. She glanced over all the types of coffee flavors available before she settled on a light roast to get as much caffeine as she could. She pulled the lid up on the machine, placed the cup into the machine and shut the lid. Just as she raised her finger to hit the button selecting the amount of coffee she wanted, she remembered she didn't grab a mug yet.

That would have been bad, she reasoned as she opened the cabinet next to her where she knew the mugs to be held. Lucy furrowed her brows when she saw the usually stocked cabinet was almost bare of mugs. Her eyes scanned the shelves starting from the bottom towards the top and unfortunately, she saw the only mugs were on the very top shelf. With a huff, Lucy stood on her toes and reached up as high as she could in hopes of reaching a mug.

She was so close! Just millimeters away from touching the handle of the mug but she was too short. She closed her eyes, put her head down and leaned as far up as she could, hoping this extra effort would be enough to reach the mug. Her eyes widened when she felt a warmth press onto her back. She looked up to see a long arm reaching up for the mug and successfully grabbing it. Her eyes remained on the mug as it worked its way down to the counter near her hand.

Lucy turned to her right slightly to look at who grabbed the mug and saw Natsu standing next to her. Well, not quite next to her. She realized he was standing right up against her and had her trapped between his arms which were now resting on the countertop. Her mind began flashing images of last night: Natsu trapped between her arms, their faces close to one another, his hand on her thigh… She snapped out of it when she felt a pinch on her nose.

She took a step back and rubbed her nose but Natsu remained in his spot chuckling. "You're such a weirdo, Luce." He turned towards the counter, placed the mug underneath the spot of the coffee machine and pressed the button allowing the coffee to brew. While the coffee brewed and poured, Natsu casually leaned against the counter and stared happily at her.

"Why did you do that?" she whined, still rubbing her nose.

"Cuz you were staring off into space. I had to get your attention somehow."

"Well there are better ways of doing it other than pinching my nose!"

"How would you want me to get your attention?" he stated in a sultry tone. Lucy's eyes went wide as a blush grew from her cheeks before covering her entire face. Her lips squeezed shut and her body went stiff as a board. Lucy was stunned as her mind began flashing images of all the different responses she could give, some more appropriate than the others.

She was so focused on what was going on inside her mind, she forgot about the boy standing in front of her… that was until he started laughing at her. Lucy snapped out of it to see the pink haired man in front of her doubled over laughing hysterically. "What's with that face, Luce?!" he questioned when he was able to breathe.

The blonde snapped out of it; she shook her head and stared angrily at him, "W-what?!"

"I can only imagine the things going through your head, weirdo." He straightened up but continued laughing. Insulted, Lucy lightly slapped Natsu's arm, causing him to flinch but not stop laughing. "I'm not a weirdo!" she defended. She threw her arms down at her sides and puffed out her cheeks.

"Please, Luce, you're the weirdest weirdo I've ever met." Lucy opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted. "SSSSHHH!" The two turned their heads to see Yukino emerging from the hallway and approaching the kitchen bar. "I just put the little angel down for a nap, you better not wake her." Yukino threatened as she sat down in a chair.

"Sorry, Yuki… we will be quiet." Lucy apologized. Lucy began to reach for her coffee mug, but it was snatched away from her grasp. "Hey!" she turned to protest, only to see Natsu give a sly smile before sipping from the mug.

"You two seem awfully weird today," Yukino commented.

"See, she thinks you're weird too," Natsu motioned to Yukino with his mug.

"She called you weird too, idiot," Lucy snapped back.

Yukino looked back and forth between the two with an odd look, "What's up with you two? You guys sleep together or something?" Both their eyes went wide; Lucy's jaw dropped and her face turned as red as a tomato while Natsu turned and spit the mouthful of coffee he had just taken a sip of. Yukino's face slowly changed from a joking smile to the realization of what occurred. "Oh… oh my Mavis!" she began to yell but Lucy was quick to run around the counter and cover her sister-in-law's mouth with her hand.

"SSSHH!" Lucy warned and Natsu tried to recover from nearly choking to death on coffee. "Yukino, it's not like that!" Lucy pleaded.

"Not like what?! You're trying to tell me you two didn't fuc-"

"Uncle Natsu!" All three people whipped their heads around to see little Lector run in from outside and head straight to Natsu. When he reached him, Lector grabbed a hold of Natsu's legs and looked up at him, "You promised!" he whined.

Natsu looked down at the small child, "W-what bud?"

"You promised to play Dragons with me."

"I- uh…" Lector grabbed a hold of Natsu's hand and pulled on it, leading him out of the kitchen and towards the door. "Come one! Daddy is waiting too!" With one last pleading look, Natsu glanced over his shoulder at the two girls before he exited outside.

Lucy quickly turned around to face her sister-in-law. "Please, Yuki… don't say anything," she quietly pleaded as she held Yukino's hand in her own.

"Isn't this good though? Isn't this what you want?" Lucy sighed and let her shoulders slump a bit. "I think it's what I've always wanted." Lucy looked back up and met Yukino's eyes with a spark. "But isn't that good?"

"We haven't really had time to explore what is going on here…"

"But you want to, right?" Yukino pressed. Lucy excitedly shook her head and Yukino clutched her hand in response. "But I don't want to ruin the opportunity to do that because of the situation we are in."

"But isn't it the situation that gave you the opportunity in the first place?" Lucy looked down at her lap and sighed. Would Natsu and I have gotten together if this weekend never happened? She snapped out of her downward thinking when she felt a hand on hers. Lucy looked from the hands to the person's eyes. Yukino smiled, "Whatever is going on, the two of you owe it to yourselves to figure it out… on your own time and in your own way." Lucy smiled at her. "I promise I won't say anything."

"And this isn't a 'spouse secret,' it's a 'don't tell a single soul' secret." Lucy pointed out.

Yukino raised her hands defensively, "I know, I know… I won't tell Sting. I don't want to set him off anyway." The two chuckled at the mutual man in their lives. If Sting found out about her and Natsu… Magnolia would be destroyed.

"You're the best sister a girl could ask for," Lucy smiled.

"I love you too, Lucy," she replied before the two shared a hug. "We better go outside though before anyone gets an idea something is up," Yukino reasoned just before the two broke apart. The two shared one last smile before walking outside to join the rest of their family.

Lucy and Yukino giggled with one another as they stepped out onto the back porch. Both girls stopped and took the sight in of the group of people before them. Igneel had a long banquet table set up in the lawn area just off the deck stairs which sat all of their family. Igneel and Grandine sat near the head of the table with Jude and Mrs. Spetzo, who all watched Natsu play with Lector while Sting looked on cautiously. Gajeel and Levy laughed at the playing boys from their spots at the table.

Lucy smiled warmly at the sight of her family; while they weren't all biological, these people meant more to her than anything. Her eyes fell on her father; tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the look of joyous laughter on his face. She had only distant memories of her father laughing and smiling but here, now… it was a reality. He was livelier than he had seen him in a long time and her heart swelled with joy.

Her eyes looked at the couple beside him, Igneel and Grandine. They had always been like parents to her… giving her a space of her own in their house, taking her in on nights where her father was away, cheering for her at all her extracirricular activities, etc. They had been a huge support her entire life and she really felt like part of their family. Here they were now, actually as one family, sitting amongst one another celebrating the occasion.

All this because of one man, Natsu. She looked on lovingly as the pinkette hoisted her nephew into the air and spun him around. Both were laughing and smiling, seemingly enjoying their time with one another. "He's so good with, Lector," Yukino spoke aloud. Lucy could only nod in response. Yukino leaned into the blonde, "If it's any consultation, I approve." Lucy turned to stare at her sister-in-law who responded with a genuine smile. Did it help the situation?

"Hey!" The girls turned their heads to see Natsu yelling at them from the table. "Come sit so we can eat; I'm starving!" The girls gave one last look to one another before making their way over to their respective seats. Lucy sat between Wendy and Natsu, while Yukino sat between Levy and Sting.

"Everything okay?" Natsu whispered to Lucy as she sat in her chair. Lucy waited until she scooted herself into the table before she responded. "Everything is great," she stated as she placed her hand on Natsu's knee under the table. He smiled and placed his hand on top of hers.

Levy couldn't help but notice the smiles and longing glances shared between her best friend and her fiancée from across the table. Lucy has always seemed to be the optimist in her life; she was encouraging and infectious with her joy. Despite this, Levy always knew there was more to Lucy deep down. She knew Lucy struggled with things in life but was amazed she found the strength to smile. Natsu was one of those people she drew strength from, but honestly, she was always jealous of how he could make her smile.

Something was up with Lucy at the start of this trip, but Levy couldn't help but notice how at peace and happy the blonde was now. What changed? "Yo, Shrimp," Levy looked over at her boyfriend to see him holding out a bowl of potato salad. "Do you want some of this before the Salamander eats it all?"

"Oh… thanks." She almost whispered as she gently took the bowl. Levy stole one last glance at the 'happy couple' before she focused on the food on her plate. They seemed like their usual selves, but something felt off… oh well. Levy decided to just enjoy this family time she had while everyone was getting along and in a good mood.