Chapter 3
Natsu woke up the next morning with Lucy's hair completely covering her face. The curls had gone so it was all over. He very carefully moved them out of the way until he could see her face. Gently he leaned down and planted a kiss on her as she smiled and opened her eyes. "I love waking up to your kisses" she said sweetly as he had a warm grin on his face. "Lucy, I will kiss you every single morning if it makes you happy" "Don't tempt me" she said as she laid in his arms. "What's the plan today? She asked. "Not sure yet" replied Natsu. "You want to go get Layla?" "Yes, but not now. I'd like to spend time with my wife" he insisted. "You'll get no arguments from me" said Lucy as she cuddled up next to him. "So that's why Erza and Levy were excited last night. They knew about your plan didn't they?" he said as a lightbulb went off in his head. "you little minx" She laughed as she said, "you're just figuring that out now" He shook his head as he lightly smacked her forehead for teasing him. His eyebrows raised as he looked at he body. "You know your still wearing that sexy outfit." "No Natsu. Not right now..my neck hurts" she said as he looked and saw a great big hickey bitemark on her neck. "Damn, I outdid myself this time" he said grinning. "Oh well aren't you full of yourself huh Dragneel" "Yep" he answered with no hesitation.
"Come on Natsu, lets get our butts moving" she told him as she dragged herself out of bed. Begrudgingly he dragged himself out of bed with her. "I wanted my time with her but nooooo" he muttered to himself. "What was that?" said Lucy hearing him say something. "Nothing love" he said as he muttered quietly "mine, mine" "Come on Natsu!" she yelled as she went downstairs. Rolling his eyes, he said "I'm coming! Gimme a sec. damn Luce" he said to himself as he slipped a shirt over as he had his pants on and walked on downstairs. She was already preparing the coffee pot as he walked and took a chair next to the counter. "I wish I could sing again" she said looking away from him. He sighed as he said "I know Lucy. I'm sorry" Turning to face him she said "it's not your fault. We just can't take the risk with Zeref still being out there" Irritated ,Natsu said "If I wasn't half out of it at the time, I could have shot him and this would all be over" Reaching over the counter, she grabbed his hand as they looked at each other. "Once they are both dead and gone, I swear you will sing again" he told her firmly. " I know.. for now, just need to wait and bare it some more" she admitted. Hearing the coffee go off, he went to grab the pot and pulled two cups down for them.
"Any word on him?" she asked taking a sip of the coffee. "Not a damn thing. Since Evelyn got involved. There hasn't been a fucking thing that anyone can find on them" said Natsu "Well we know what his weakness is at least" said Lucy as Natsu gave her a puzzled look. " That's right, you were unconscious. Evelyn freaked when you shot Zeref. She almost sounded like a real mother" she finished bitterly. "Luce, baby ,it's fine" he said assuring her. "I know just sometimes..it still makes me mad how she treated you" said Lucy as her hand balled into a fist. "Lucy" he said calmly as he put a hand over her fist squeezing it. She looked at him and saw a peace in his eyes as he said "I resigned to it a long time ago that she was not my mother. Don't let her make you angry" "Okay" she said lightly. "Let's go do something with Layla" said Lucy. "alright, well let's finish the coffee then we can go" he said. A few minutes later, they were off and running into the car. "You want to stop for breakfast first? "he asked as they were driving. "Sure" she said as Natsu pulled into a diner parking lot. They went in as they ordered coffee and waited for the waitress to come back. "What are you thinking Lucy?" he asked. "Layla's birthday is coming up."
"Is it really?" said Natsu shocked for Lucy had never told him when her birthday was. "How many days is it?" "It's in three days" said Lucy. "Well we better get to planning then" he said happily making Lucy happy he wanted to get started right away. "So what are you thinking?, hit me with anything you've got" he told her eagerly. "I'm still working on it" "Happy" he said catching her off guard. "Huh?" "Happy the cat. It's the show that Layla always tries to watch" "Oh yeah!" "wow..he really is an amazing father. I didn't even think about that" she thought as she looked at him. "What?, what's with the smile?" "Nothing..just that you are a loving , amazing dad" "Lu" he got caught off as the waitress came back to get their orders. "I'll take the breakfast platter with my eggs over easy please" he told her politely. "I'll take the ham and cheese omelet please" said Lucy as they handed the menus back. "As I was saying, it's not a big deal Lucy. I just know that she loves to watch it." he said nonchalant.
Shaking her head "It's more then that Natsu, it may just be a tv show which isn't a big deal in itself but the fact that you pay attention enough to know that. That warms my heart like you wouldn't believe. For a long time, it was just me and her while I was wishing you were there." Lightly he grabbed her fingers and entangled them into his and said "that will never happen again Lucy. I'll be there for everything from this point on" "I love you Natsu" "I love you too Luce" "Okay, so Happy is her favorite show, right?" she asked him curiously. "Oh yeah, have you seen her, she goes nuts whenever it's on so I think the theme should definitely be all about him." Said Natsu. "That's a great idea." She said cheerful. "It's just sad she doesn't have any friends we can bring over for her" said Lucy. "Don't worry Luce, with all of us there, she will have plenty of entertainment, besides you know Jellal and Erza will spoil that child to death" Laughing, Lucy said "true, oh look here's the food" The waitress set Natsu's plate down as Lucy closed her eyes and shook her head at how much Natsu could eat. "There was a stack of five pancakes, over easy eggs, toast along with three sausage links" "What?" he said innocently. "Sometimes I forget how much you can eat" she said baffled as she watched him stuff his face while she ate her omelet. After they were done eating, Natsu acted like it was nothing when he ate a trucker's meal baffling Lucy even more, but she wasn't really surprised as she stacked the plates for the waitress to take. "So, want to head to the store before we grab her?" asked Natsu. She nodded as Natsu asked for the check. As he signed it, he looked up and saw Lucy with an attitude face. "What?" he said confused. "well maybe I wanted to pay for breakfast" she said as she turned her face away making him laugh since he knew she was joking. "You can do it next time" he said positively as they both got up and headed to the car. "I'm so excited for Layla. She's going to love this!" exclaimed Lucy chipperly. "Ha. I don't know which of you is going to be excited more, you or her" he joked as they got into the car. "I'm really glad I can do this for her. I missed enough of her birthdays" he thought as they drove to the store.
Getting out, he barely kept his footing as Lucy grabbed ahold of his hand and began pulling him into the store like she was little kid wanting to get her favorite toy. He couldn't hold back his laughter or happiness when he saw Lucy jump in place when they got to where happy the cat party stuff was. They grabbed everything they needed and put in the cart as Natsu amusingly said "calm down there jumpy. Ha. Your gonna make yourself sick" "I'm sorry, this is just the first time you and I both get to plan her birthday together and have it with everyone. I can't help it" she said calmly as she stopped jumping. "Want to get her presents while we are here" "YES!" she shouted as she grabbed his arm "oh boy,I know where this is going" he thought as he let her drag him to where the toys were. He saw stars in her eyes as she went nuts picking up toys and books for her. He looked until he caught something. "Perfect" he said as he went and picked up a happy cat stuffed animal.
"Hey Lucy, think she'll like it?" he joked as she yelled "yes!, she's going to go ballistic when she opens that. It's perfect for her Natsu. That should be from you" "Oh Luce , I can" Shaking her head with a warm smile she said "no you came up with the idea and you knew it was her favorite. It wouldn't be right if you didn't give it to her" "Alright" he said blushing as he put the cat in the car. "Alright, I'm gonna call it and say she's got enough now. Our daughter is going to be spoiled enough" he said as he pulled Lucy away from the toys. Once they cashed everything out, they put everything in the trunk where Layla wouldn't see it. "Let's go get our baby!" she yelled merrily as Natsu just shook his head with a smirk as they got in and drove to Levy's. She ran up Levy's porch as Natsu walked up behind her as Lucy quickly knocked as Levy opened the door. "Afternoon guys" she said cheerfully as Layla popped up behind her. "Mommy, daddy!"she said as she hugged Lucy as Lucy hugged her tight.
Lifting her up, Natsu ran a hand through Layla's hair as she giggled. "Were you a good girl?" she asked. "Oh she was perfect" said Levy. "Ate all of her food, went to bed without a problem. Hell, she even got Gajeel to play with her. He's a softie when it comes to kids" she said warmly as she rubbed her stomach. "I'm so glad" said Lucy. She turned towards Natsu who had a puzzled look as she said, "you want to tell Levy about you know?" "Oh sure" he said as Lucy and Levy waved goodbye to Levy. Layla happily put her head on Lucy's shoulder as she carried her to the car. "So what's up Natsu?" she asked. "Well Layla's birthday is coming up" he started before Levy shrieked happily "WHAT!, WHENNN!" "I guess I don't need to ask if you want to come then" She shook her head as she said "absolutely count me in. How many days away is it?" "Three days" he replied. " I'll be there and do Erza and Jellal know yet?" "Not yet , I was going to let em know" "Don't worry about it. I'll save you the trouble and tell em myself" she said nicely. "Thanks Levy" he said as he went to go back towards the car. "Oh and Natsu, looks like last night went well" she teased as she raised an eyebrow making Natsu and Lucy both look at her. "Don't think I don't see where you tried covering up that bitemark Lu" Their faces went red as Levy smirked and started laughing. "It was definitely a great night Levy, but you aren't getting anymore then that!" said Natsu firmly but lightly. Lucy nodded in agreement as they all waved goodbye and left.