"Gaj?" Levy groaned, gripping the scarred bicep next to her as pain coursed through her body. "Gajeel, wake up!"
Startled, he shot upright, partially awake and looking for whatever threat had roused him from his sleep. "Wha'? Who?"
"Sorry, my dragon. But - oh" Levy drew a shaky breath. "You have to get Wendy."
"Lev, yer meant to git to the hospital. Why didn't ya wake me sooner?" He was instantly alert, brain firing a million miles an hour.
"You sleep like the dead. I'm waking you now, aren't I?" She trailed off with a gasp, nails digging into his skin where her fingers were still latched to his arm.
"Th' squirt said, first signs ya had ta go to the hospital. This don't look like no first signs ta me, Levs."
"Gajeel, we saw Wendy yesterday. I remember what she said, and believe me, this is the fir - oh, fuck." Levy hissed through her teeth, focusing her attention on breathing through the pain. "Stop arguing, and for fucks sake - Go. Get. Wendy."
"Wendy. Got it. Ya okay, Blue?" Gajeel stood, throwing on clothes and running calloused fingers through his unkempt hair, pulling it into some approximation of a ponytail at the base of his skull.
"Mmhm" Levy nodded. "Let Lily know what's going on, he - sweet Mavis - is going to have anxious hatchlings on his hands shortly." She stood, turning to brace her palms on the mattress and swaying through the contraction, sighing happily when rough hands pressed exactly where she needed them. "And Gaj? Hurry."
With a quick kiss and a whisper of love, he was gone, offering a rushed explanation to Lily before racing away in the early morning shadows.
It felt like no time at all before he was back, popping out of the shadows in the bedroom and hauling a slightly ruffled Wendy with him, just in time to hear Levy cry out.
"Levs!" He called, following the sound of running water to find her bent over under the shower, whole body shaking. "Breathe, Lev, jus' breathe. Wendy's here, yer alright."
"It hurts, Gaj."
"I know baby, but d'ya know wha'? Ev'ry time ya get ta this point, means its 'bout ta be over. Ya jus' gotta be as strong as I know ya are, jus' fer a bit longer." He glanced over her shoulders at Wendy, who was nodding and giving him a thumbs up. "Wha'd I tell ya, almost over. All ya gotta do is push, baby."
"Not like I got much choice." Levy groaned out through gritted teeth.
"That's good, Levy! Just breathe, let your body do the work. Gajeel, towel!"
Blindly, he reached behind his back and threw a pile of towels into Wendy's waiting arms. "Ya got it Levs, jus' a bit more."
"I can't, Gajeel. I - fuck". Levy swore, a long drawn out thing somewhere between a gasp and a cry.
It made Gajeel wince every time, but after watching her do this twice before, he knew that noise was almost always followed by the tiny cries of a new baby. "I know love. Yer amazin' shrimp" he whispered against her hair, ignoring the water splashing from her shoulders up onto his face.
"Just breathe, Levy. Head's out. That's it, push like hell with the next one and you'll have your baby."
Bracing herself against Gajeel, arms around his shoulders, Levy bore down and with a final cry she felt Wendy's steady hands guiding their child's body free of her own. Running on instinct she reached down and gasped when she saw what Wendy had placed in her hands.
Their tiny new baby, squirming slightly still inside the amniotic sac with the placenta still attached.
Wendy appeared near their shoulders, her voice soft. "Congratulations, you two. Levy, hold tight okay? Gajeel, you know what to do?"
And, in some weird way, he did. His dragon, running on instinct like always was screaming at him to bite through the membrane to hear that first breath. So that's exactly what he did. The second the sac ruptured, Wendy was there with a fresh towel for them to wrap around the tiny body as their baby took her first breath in the outside world and, instead of crying, cooed up at her parents.
"Aina." Gajeel breathed, the name coming from somewhere deep inside of him, the same way it had done with the twins. And as he watched the pale scales shimmer over her skin, he knew instantly why.
"Guess I'm even more outnumbered now" Levy giggled quietly, holding tight to Wendy's arm and she watched her husband hold their brand new daughter to his chest and snuffle her hair in the peculiar way all the slayers seemed to bond with children. "Wendy? I think I need to sit down" she stammered out as her whole body began to shake violently, glad for the bluenettes firm grip and strength as she guided her to the bed, and the nest of warmed towels she'd prepared.
"Levs? Yer alright?"
"She's okay, Gajeel. Her body's just in shock from everything happening so fast." Wendy reassured with a gentle smile, bustling around and tidying, the way she always did after such events. "Levy, do you want to cut the cord?"
"N-n-not yet. W-we ta-talked -"
"Talked 'bout leavin' it fer a while, doin' it proper dragon" Gajeel finished, one eye fixed firmly on his mate, still shuddering in their bed.
"S-seems like the r-right thing now, with another h-hatchling" Levy smiled weakly, shakes slowly subsiding. "Mavis, that was odd. Can I have my newest baby Dragon now?"
"Ya must be better if yer crackin' jokes, Shrimp." Gajeel chuckled, passing the tiny bundle over to his wife, feeling the wave of love wash over him at the sight of his wife holding another one of their children. "Fuck do I love ya, woman. Le's have twelve more".
"Only if you grow them, birth them, bleed for weeks and get your nipples chewed on, my Dragon". Levy jokes, poking his stomach. After so many years and children, there was nothing but affection in their ribbing, no embarrassment or secrets between them.
"Apologies, everyone, but I don't think I can contain three excited dragons much longer" Lily smiled wryly, doing his best to keep his eyes averted.
"Alright, let 'em in" Gajeel laughed, arms outstretched as he knelt down to corral the exuberant brood. "Now, listen close ya bunch o' hellspawn. Yer gotta be quiet, an' gentle. Yer Ma is gonna be hurtin', an' the baby is real little so yer all gonna be real careful, ain't ya?"
"Yes Papa!" came the chorus of little voices, already forgetting his words as they bounded over to climb up onto the bed and their mother.
"Mama! I helped Uncle Lily with the twins because you were having a baby!" Amaya proclaimed proudly, sitting back and grinning widely.
"Baby! Baby!" Shutora bounced, eyes alight with excitement as she pointed at the bundle laying against her mother's chest.
"Mama hurt?" Their sweet little boy ever so carefully edged up next to Levy and gently wrapped his chubby arms around her arm. "Hug better".
"Oh, my babies!" Levy exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes. "Would you like to say hello to your new sister?"
"Another girl. Congratulations, you two. Gajeel, I say we are far outnumbered at this point" Lily had to laugh good naturedly at the realisation dawning across his old friends face.
See, told you guys if enough people wanted more, then I would oblige! I think this will probably turn into a series of one-shots all within the same universe as Night Rain and I'll come and add more whenever the urge strikes, or as stuff to clear out any writer's block for Hit or Miss and Scars - both of which will hopefully have updates before long.Apologies for any weird formatting, I've been using the app and it still doesn't have all the features I'd like. I hope you're all safe and healthy, and I'd absolutely adore if you left some reviews xxx