Children of Fairies Chapter 17: Wedding Shaningans, a fairy tail fanfic

Wedding Shenanigans:

Farrah Lee-Dreyar: 8 ½

Nashi Dragneel: 5 ½

Storm Fullbuster: 5 ½

Cato Dreyar: 5 ½

Roman Fernandez: 4 ½

Persephone and Koree Redfox: 4 ½

Bianca Fullbuster: 3 ½

Lorelle Strauss: 2

Eva, Minette, and Von Fernandez: 1 ½

Layla Dragneel: 1 ½

Igneel Dragneel: 4 months

Meeko Fullbuster: 4 months

"Nashi, please, stand still!" Lucy sighed as she tugged on the tangle pink tresses.

"Ouch, Mommy! You're pulling my hair!" she whined.

"Well, if you'd sit still it woldn't hurt as much," Lucy countered as she finished braiding her hair around Nashi's head and then began pinning it in place with every hair pin she could get her hands on.

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Juvia asked. "Does she really need that many pins?"

Lucy shot her a glare. "This child can't sit still to save her life. If the hair can't withstand five somersaults in a row it's not tight enough."

"Oh," Juvia nodded as she finished braiding Bianca's hair. Today was Wendy and Romeo's wedding day. And, seeing as both Juvia and Lucy had recently had babies they had volunteered to take care of the children rather than participate as bridesmaids. Wendy had still been kind enough to give them a roll other than babysitter, though. They, and the itty bitty ones were to be greeters, passing out wedding programs and helping people put notes of congratulations into the keepsake book.

Lucy checked over her shoulder as she kept fixing Nashi's hair. Both of their baby boys were currently sleeping on a cot in a corner. Yes, Juvia's hunch had been correct. Their baby had been a boy as well. They'd named him Meeko Silver, in honor of Gray's parents, despite the fact that he had Juvia's hair. The rest of him was a nice mixture of both parents, though. Meeko was cuddled up in a small ball in the far corner of the cot, while Igneel lay sprawled out in the middle. Reassured the babies were fine, Lucy went back to pinning her eldest's hair. Once Lucy was certain Nashi's wild, pink, tresses wouldn't go anywhere she began sticking tiny white flowers into the braid.

Nashi had been asked to be flower girl. Storm was the ring bearer. Cato, Koree, Persephone, Roman, Bianca, and Lorelle were old holding signs that read: "Just wait until you see her." Farrah was the page girl, responsible for holding Wendy's train. The rest of the children were too small to participate.

"Okay, you're done," Lucy finally stated. "Now turn around and let me see you."

Nashi obeyed, though a bit reluctantly. Lucy beamed as she smoothed out the tulle skirt of the lavender flower girl dress.

"Aw, you look so pretty!" she cheered.

"Can I eat something now?" Nashi asked, face crinkled upin annoyance.

"No, you'll get crumbs on your pretty dress," Lucy answered.

"Aw, but I'm hungry!" she whined.

"You can last a few more minutes," Lucy sighed.

"But whenever you say a few more minutes it ends up being hours!"

"Nashi," Lucy gave her daughter a warning look, to which Nashi sighed and trudged to play dolls with the Redfox girls who were already dressed and ready. Lucy turned to check on her other two children. Igneel was still asleep-

-And so was Layla.

The tiny girl was curled up in a ball on one of the chairs, sucking her thumb.

"Layla," Lucy gently tapped on the shoulder. "Wake up, sweetie."

Layla grunted, stirred, then sat up, droopy faced as she continued sucking her thumb. Lucy frowned in concern. Layla had been draggy all day. Hopefully she wasn't getting sick.

"Mommy," Layla groaned, reaching out her arms to her. Lucy stood and placed the toddler on her hip. Layla leaned her head on her mother's shoulder and kept sucking her thumb as Lucy patted her back. She placed a kiss to the little girl's forehead. She didn't feel hot. No fever.

"Hm," Lucy thought as she kept rocking her. As she did so she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Geez, she'd put on a lot of weight! She looked like a pudding cup that had exploded. Porlyusica had only recently cleared her to start working out following her c-section, but so far the excercises hadn't been doing her much good.

A knock came at the door. Levy and Erza poked their heads in, already in their bridesmaid dresses.

"Is everyone ready?" Levy asked.

"Yeah!" all the kids cheered as they ran towards the two women.

"Okay, wedding's about to start," Levy smiled. "Let's get in line. Nashi and Storm first. The Cato, Roman-what is it Lorelle?"

Lorelle, who had raised her hand, put it down. "My Mommy said I have to have the biggest sign."

Levy sighed, annoyed. "Honey, the biggest sign is too big for you. You'll drop it."

"But my Mommy said I'm the prettiest little girl so I should have the biggest sign."

"You'll have the sign we assign you, and you'll like it," Erza crossed her arms. "If your Mommy has a problem with it she can come talke to me."

Lorelle huffed, pouted, and crossed her arms, but stayed in her assigned spot as Erza and Levy lead the children the the lobby of the chapel.

"Honestly, I don't know what we were expecting," Lucy sighed as she set Layla into the rather large, decorated pram they'd borrowed for the wedding.

"Yes, Evergreen has always thought, well, rather highly of herself. It makes sense she'd spoil Lorelle," Juvia agreed as she placed Meeko next to Layla.

"And both of them have Elfman wrapped around their little fingers," Lucy muttered, setting Igneel inside.

"I have a feeling this little attitude Lorelle has isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"The teen years are going to be a nightmare with her," Lucy nodded as they placed the last triplet in place and began pushing the pram out to the table next to where the guests would be coming in.

Suddenly Juvia began to giggle.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"Look at your son!" Juvia chuckled.

Lucy looked into the pram. She hadn't realized that she'd placed Igneel in between Eva and Minette who, other than the placement of their birthmarks, were completly identical. Igneel stared at Eva, a confused scowl on his face, before turning to look at Minette, jumping and blinking from surprise. Then turning back to scowl at Eva. Lucy laughed.

"Aw, what's wrong little guy?"

"Eh?" Igneel exclaimed turning his head back to Minette. "Eh!?"

He looked up at Lucy with a look that read "Help me, Mom!"

Lucy busted into laughter again. "What's wrong, Igneel? Can't figure this out?"

"Eh!?"

They reached the table. Lucy picked her son up, and turned him to face the two Fernandez girls.

"Look, there's two, see?"

Igneel jumped, his tiny arms raisng and waving widely as his eyes grew big. Lucy laughed again.

"There's two, see?"

Both Eva and Minette just stared up at Igneel, confused as to what the issue was.

"AH!" Igneel shouted, waving his arms at the girls. Lucy laughed again.

"Whatta w'ong?" Eva asked.

"Yee, watta w'ong?" Minette crossed her arms, frowning slightly.

"He's not used to seeing two people looks so much alike," Lucy explained.

"AH!" Igneel screamed again, leaning back and reaching for Lucy to hold him closer.

"Aw, you silly. There's nothing to be scared of," Lucy said as she snuggled him close. "It's just Eva and Minette. They don't bite."

"Uh-huh!" Von crossed his arms. "Minna bit ma fingwa!"

"Minette, did you bite your brother?" Juvia asked.

"He took ma cake!" Minette insisted.

"Yeah, you're Erza's alright," Lucy muttered as the first guests began filing in. She set Igneel back in the pram, noticing that Layla had fallen back asleep. She frowned, but decided to let the little girl sleep as she picked up a program and passed it to the first guest.

"Thank you for coming!" she said brightly.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wendy stared at herself in the mirror once more. She was actually doing this! She was getting married! She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she reached up and draped her blusher over her face.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Wendy jumped slightly, but answered. "Come in."

Natsu, who had agreed to walk her down the aisle, poked his head inside. "Hey, you about ready to-wow!" He smiled when he saw her. "You look amazing! Aw, man, just wait until Romeo sees you! He's gonna flip!"

"Thanks," Wendy blushed. "Is it time?"

"Yup. Just about," Natsu nodded.

Wendy took in another deep breath, checking her reflection once more. "Okay."

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she smiled. "You're sure everything looks alright?" She spun around to show off the whole ballgown of a dress she was wearing.

"You look great, now c'mon," Natsu opened the door for her. "Let's get you and Romeo hitched."

Wendy just stood there.

"Erm, Wendy, you comin'?" Natsu asked.

"I want to but I can't get my legs to work," she chuckled nervously. "Is that normal? Is it normal to be this nervous?"

Natsu laughed. "You kidding? I thought I was going to sick the day Lucy and I got married. I was a nervous wreck!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Natsu set a hand on her shoulder. "You're fine. This is just a part of it."

Wendy nodded. "Okay." She took another deep breath then slipped her arm into Natsu's. "Let's go."

"Alright!" he closed the door behind them.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sniff!

"Dad, please don't cry," Romeo begged.

"I make no promises," Macao chuckled from where he stood behind his son, serving as best man. Most of the procession had already made their way down the aisle, now it was just the children and then-

-Romeo took a deep breath-

-the bride!

Nashi and Storm came first, walking side by side. Nashi stopping every now and then to drop a huge handful of petals on the aisle. Much bigger than she'd been instructed to drop. About half way down she stopped dead in her tracks and began looking about wildly.

"Nashi, come on," Storm said, taking one hand out from under the pillow to beckon to her.

"But I ran out of flowers!" Nashi shouted, causing everyone in the chapel to laugh.

"That's okay, kiddo," someone from the crowd called.

"Keep going, munchkin, it'll be okay."

"You're doing a good job!"

Nashi still just stood there, wide-eyed, not sure what to do.

Storm rolled his eyes, grabbed her hand, and led her to thr front. "C'mon!'

Everyone chuckled at Nashi's unsure expresion as Storm dragged her behind him.

Next came Cato, holding a sign that said "Just..."

Then Roman with a sign reading "...wait…"

Then Persephone holding "...until…"

Then Koree holding "...you…"

And then Lorelle, who loudly shouted "Mommy! They didn't give me the biggest sign!" as she poutingly carried her sign...upsidedown. Everyone could still tell that it read "...see…" though.

Bianca was the last of the children, holding a sign that read "HER!" in big, silver, sparkling letters.

Romeo held his breath, eagerly awaiting for the next part…

There she was! Dressed in a sparkling white ballgown with a cascading veil covering her face. She beamed at him as she walked down the aisle, arm-in-arm with Natsu.

"Daddy!" Nashi shouted, starting to run towards him. Erza caught her before she could take off, though.

Natsu shook his head at her, motioning to her to wait as he and Wendy kept making their way towards Romeo, who began sniffling at the sight of her. Macao smiled, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Here you go, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Romeo sniffled as he wiped away at his eyes.

Wendy finally reached him. Natsu gave her a quick hug before passing her hand into Romeo's.

"Take care of her, or I'll kill ya," he whispered in a half-joking, half-serious voice.

"Will do," Romeo nodded as Natsu went to take his seat next to Lucy, who was holding Igneel and Layla in the front row. Happy and Carla were sitting next to her, not participating in the wedding because Carla had...ahem...not been feeling so well lately. And she and Happy would have to go...ahem...take care of something (or someone) right after the ceremony. The fact that Carla could barely hold back her loud sobs and giant tears ran down her face was even more of an indication of her current physical status.

Natsu sat down and set Layla into this lap, a bit surprised when she immediately grabbed onto his shirt and buried her face against his shoulder, fussing slightly. He set a hand on her forehead. No fever. Still, she wasn't acting like her normal, cheery self. Deciding not to worry too much about it, he wrapped both arms around her and held her close as he watched the rest of the ceremony.

Makarov had been chosen to officiate the ceremony, and he was beaming in pride as he stood on a stool in front of the couple.

"My children, today is a very special day!" he began. "Today is the day we get to witness a romance that has been blossoming in front of our eyes take the next step. All love, esecially the romantic kind, is specil. But there's just something a little extra special when it comes to childhood sweethearts. Romeo and Wendy, you two have come here today, in the company of your friends a family to be joined together in Holy Matrimony. This means that from now and until the end of time you will be binded together as one. You will share both good and bad times together. You will relish in each others victories, and mourn in each others failures. But no matter what the road ahead may lead to, always remember the vows you have made on this day. And let those promises and the love behind them carry you through any obstacle or hardships you may face."

The young couple shared a smile, as Makarov asked:

"May I have the rings?"

Storm scampered forward, holding up his pillow to Wendy and Romeo who each took a ring off it.

"Romeo, please place the ring on Wendy's finger and repeat after me please: 'With this ring I, Romeon, take you, Wendy, to be my wife…"

"With this ring I, Romeo, take you, Wendy, to be my wife…"

"...to have and to hold from this day forward…"

"...for better or worse…"

"...for better of worse…"

"...for rich or for poor…"

"...in sickness and in health…"

"...to love and to cherish…"

"...till death do us part…"

"...til death do us part…"

"...this is my solemn vow to you."

Wendy's shoulders raised as she let out a small giggle of excitement, causing everyone to laugh along with her.

"Wendy, please place the ring on Romeo's finger."

Even though it wasn't his day, Natsu couldn't help but glance down at his own wedding ring. It was a simple brass colored band with a dragon carved into the metal. He still wasn't sure where or how Lucy had found it for him, but even after all these years he cherished as much as he did the day they got married.

"Repeat after me please: 'With this ring I, Wendy, take you, Romeo, to be my husband…"

"With this ring I, Wendy, take you, Romeo, to be my husband…"

"...to have and to hold from this day forward…"

"...for better or worse…"

"...for better of worse…"

"...for rich or for poor…"

"...in sickness and in health…"

"...to love and to cherish…"

"...till death do us part…"

"...til death do us part…"

"...this is my solemn vow to you."

Carla let out a rather large sob of joy as Makarov loudly announced:

"And with these vows now sworn, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. Wendy you may kiss your bride."

Cheers and applause broke out over the entire chapel as Wendy bounced up and down with excitement, throwing her arms around Romeo's neck as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Natsu stood to his feet, cheering loudly.

Unfortunately the sudden movement was just enough to agitate Layla's condition, and she threw up on the front of her father's shirt.

"Oh, no!" Natsu said, sitting back down quickly to try and contain the mess as much as possible.

"Oh, poor little thing!" Happy called, flying off to find something to clean up the mess.

"I was wondering why she was acting so droopy and clingy," Lucy sighed, reaching over to help her husband.

Fortunately everyone else was too excited for the newly wed couple, throwing birdseed at them as they passed by to notice the small crisis.

Layla began whimpering. "Sowwy, Daddy."

"Ah, it's okay, sweetie," Natsu assured her, rubbing her back.

"So much for going to the reception," Lucy sighed as Happy returned with a stack of rags and began mopping up the mess.

"You can still go," Natsu said. "I'll take her home and keep an eye on her. You, Nashi, and Igneel stay and have fun."

"Natsu, are you sure?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I gotta go change anyways. And I don't have another suit to wear, so…"

"You're sure you won't need help, though?"

Natsu smiled up at her. "I'm sure. Not the first time I've taken care of a sick kiddo."

"Yeah, but-"

"Lucy you've been cooped up in the house for almost a year. Get out! Have fun! I'll take care of Layla."

Lucy smiled, stealing a small peck of a kiss from him as they both stood. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Will all the single women make their way to the middle of the dance floor for the bouquet toss?"

"Mommy!" Nashi raced towards Lucy. Despite all the pins that had been put in her hair, strings and hair were sticking out every which way.

"What is it, honey?" Lucy asked as she bounced Igneel against her shoulder.

"Can I go?" Nashi asked.

Lucy turned and looked to the other mothers she was sitting with. They all chuckled and shook their heads at the rambunctious little girl.

"I think you're a little too young, sweetheart," Lucy answered.

"Aw, but Mommy…"

"No, you can do these kind of things when you're older."

"But why?"

"Because this is supposed to tell who's going to get married nest. You're too young to get married."

"Uh-uh," Nashi shook her head, hands onher hips, causing all the mothers to laught at how such a small girl could have such a large amount of sass.

"Oh, no?" Lucy asked.

"No," Nashi answered.

"So who are you going to marry?"

"Storm."

All the mothers busted out laughing again.

"Oh, really?" Juvia asked, chuckling.

"No I won't!" Storm shouted, suddenly appearing from under a table. "I'm not ever, ever, ever, ever getting married!"

The mothers laughed at the children again as all the single women made their way to the dance floor.

"Mommy?" Koree asked.

"Yes, honey?" Levy turned to her.

"If Nashi marries Storm, can I marry Roman?"

"WHAT!?" Gajeel shouted, snapping his head around towards Roman who was seated in Erza's lap, looking very startled. "You better not be getting any ideas, bub!"

SMACK!

"Honestly, what did he expect?" Gray muttered as Gajeel rubbed the hand-shaped mark Erza left on him.

"Do not yell at my son like that!" she shouted.

"Well, then, keep him away from my daughter!"

"But I didn't say anything!" Roman insisted. "I don't wanna get married. I wanna eat cake and checkers!"

"I meant when we're big, silly!" Koree sighed.

"But even when I'm big I'll wanna eat cake and play checkers!"

"So if Koree gets Roman, and Nashi gets Storm, does that mean I'm stuck with Cato?" Persephone asked, making all the adults (except Gajeel) laugh.

"Huh?" Cato asked, turning at the sound of his man.

Persephone rolled her eyes. "Aye-ye-ye! Why me!"

"That's my girl!" Gajeel cheered, giving her a highfive.

"Wha'did I do?" Cato asked, thoroughly confused.

As the adults laughed again, the last of the single women filed by them to the dance floor. Lucy overheard several of them whispering:

"Make sure Lisanna gets it."

"Remember to make sure Lisanna gets it."

Lucy arched an eyerbow. Why Lisanna? She turned and looked at Wendy getting into place, a mischivous smile on her face. What was she planning?

Wendy tossed to bouquet over her shoulder and, sure enough, Lisanna caught. Next came the men for the garter toss. Bixslow caught it.

Lucy's mouth began to curl into a smile as she begant o catch onto what was happening.

Lisanna sat in a chair so Bixslow could put the garter on her leg. Rather than slipping it over her foot though, he knelt down on one knee and pulled a velvet box out of his pocket.

Everyone squealed in excitement as Lisanna gasped, clutching her hands to her chest as Bixslow opened it to reveal a ring. She began nodding and cheering "yes!" before he could even ask the question.

"Hey, let me at least ask you first," Bixslow chuckled.

"Okay," Lisanna squeaked as she held her hands to either side of her face.

"Lisanna Strauss, wil you marry me?"

"YES!"

Everyone cheered loudly as he slipped the ring on her finger and they hugged each other.

"Oh, my baby sister's getting married!" Mirajane cried happily as she raced to Lisanna's side.

"No, I'm not crying!" Elfman shouted from somewhere in the crowd. "Men don't cry!"

The music began playing again. Most everyone went to dance. Lucy, Juvia, and a few of the other parents reamined seated and chatted back and forth about, well, whatever. She did get up after a little while to go dance with Nashi, though, Letting Levy hold Igneel while she played with her eldest daughter.

"Mommy, watch this!" Nashi called as she raised her hands and did a cartwheel, in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by hundreds of stomping and dancing wizards.

"Nashi, be careful!" Lucy shouted, but too late.

One, slightly tipsy wizard stepped on her fingers.

"Ouch!" Nashi screamed, stumbling to the ground, hitting her head as she fell. She scrambled to get back to her feet, tearing her skirt as she did so. Another wizard stepped on her fingers.

"Ow! Watch it, stampy! I'm a little!" Nashi shouted, waving her arms angrily as someone else stepped on her dress and ripped it a little bit.

Lucy raced to her daughter's side and scooped her up. "Are you okay, baby?"

"My fingers are all dead!" Nashi insisted, holding up her swollen and slightly bruised hands.

Lucy looked about the crowd dancing around them. They were all starting to get a little tipsy. She sighed deeply. Looks like the fun is over, she thought to herself as she went back to the table to get Igneel back from Levy.

"I think it's time we headed out," she said as she set Nashi down and set Igneel in the crook of his arm. "People are starting to get wild."

"Yes, I think we might head out, too," Erza nodded, opening the rather large diaper bag that she carried around with her everywhere these days, pulling out three child carriers. Jellal put on two, she put on one, and they went to strapping the triplets up.

As Lucy reched for the diaper bag so they could go, she noticed something weird about the pacifier Igneel was sucking on.

"That's not your binky!" she said, pulling it out of his mouth. "Where'd you even get that?"

"So that's where it went!" Gray said, taking it from her and sticking it in Meeko's mouth.

"So, wait, where's yours?" Lucy asked.

"Here," Gray reached into his pocket and pulling out a red pacifier.

Lucy crinkled up her nose slightly. There was no telling where that thing had been between Igneel's mouth and Gray's pocket.

"Thanks," she said, taking it in her hand. Meeko immediately snatched it from her, and held it to his chest while still sucking on his pacifier.

"EH!" Igneel yelled in protest, reaching over, snatching Meeko's pacifier and sticking it in his mouth.

"AH-AH!" Meeko yelled, snatching it back.

"Oh, no," Lucy groaned as she took Igneel's pacifier back. "Don't tell me you two are going to have a rivalry like your Dads do!"

"Yeah, we're gonna go ahead and split before they start throwing punches…" Gray said as he began heading towards the door.

"They're four months, how are they going to throw punches?" Lucy asked.

"Let's not find out," Juvia said, holding Bianca and Storm by the hand. Lucy followed after them, stopping to say good-bye to Wendy and Romeo before heading home.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"WHAT!?" Natsu shouted as Lucy recounted Bixslow's proposal to Lisanna later that night. "And I missed it!? Darn it all!"

"Yeah. Sorry, Love," Lucy said as she sat cross-legged on their bed, breast-feeding Igneel before bed.

"Man, I guess I'll have to make it up to her later," Natsu sighed, lying on his stomach next to Lucy.

"We had a sick child, I'm sure she'll understand," Lucy assured him.

"Yeah, hopefully. Okay, serious question now."

"Yes?"

"How much did Elfman cry?"

Lucy laughed. "More than he'd like to admit. Going back to the sick child, though, how's Layla?"

"Okay for now," Natsu said, glancing at the clock on their wall. "She's been sleeping for a few hours now, actually, so maybe the worst is over."

"Poor baby," Lucy sighed. "I'm not sure where she would have picked it up from."

"Eh, probably just one of those bugs little kids get," Natsu shrugged. "I betcha she'll be fine by tomorrow morning."

"I hope so. And I hope that Nashi and Igneel don't catch whatever it is."

Natsu let out a nervous chuckle in reply as Lucy finished feeding Igneel and fixed her shirt. Her eyelids began drooping. Getting to hang out with all her friends had been fun, but now she was wiped out.

"I know you've already handled Layla all day, but do you mind putting him down while I take a shower?" she asked.

"Sure, no problem," Natsu said, sitting up and reaching for their son. "C'mere, buddy."

"Thank you," Lucy sighed as she slipped off the bed to pick out some pajamas.

"Whatcha thanking me for?" Natsu asked. "Just doin' my job."

Lucy smiled at him. "Well you're doing it well."

"Thanks!" he smiled brightly at her as she headed into the bathroom. As she showered she could hear him whispering and singing to Igneel, just like he had done with the girls. As she finished sudsing up her hair she looked down at the large scar going over her abdomen. She sighed as she traced it. So much for getting back into her bikinis. Not that she was likely to ever do that again, anyways. Having three children had taken quite the toll on her body. Stretch marks covered her from just above her belly button to her upper thighs. The skin of her stomach was lose and saggy, making the extra pounds of fat now there all the more apparent. Her thighs were quite thick, now, making her hips look even larger than normal.

She sighed as she turned the water off, stepped out of the shower and began drying herself off. Oh, well. This was just a part of being a mother she supposed. Of course she was still going to slim up a little bit. She had her work-outs she'd started. Realistically, though, she knew she'd never be the size she was before she started having babies. She slipped into her pajamas and stepped into the bedroom.

Igneel was asleep in the crib at her side of the bed, Natsu lying down on his side, already under the blankets, which he lifted with a smile upon seeing her.

"C'mere, beautiful."

She smiled, heart swelling a bit. He still called her beautiful. It was just a small, simple thing that had probably become habit for him. Still, he'd never know how much that meant to her.

She climbed into bed next to him, snuggling into his side as he tucked the blankets around her, stealing a kiss from her once as he did so.

"G'night, Lucy," he whispered.

"Good night," Lucy replied, closing her eyes…

...though not for long, as after about five minutes she heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet racing down the hall. Nashi practically kicked the door down, eyes wide as she held an equally frightened Layla by the hand.

"There's something in our closet!" Nashi shouted.

"No there's not," Natsu grumbled, sitting up.

"Uh-huh! We heard it moving around!" Nashi nodded.

"It gonna eat us!" Layla wailed.

Natsu sighed. "Girls, there's nothing hiding in your closet."

"Yeah, there is, come see!" Nashi insisted, racing to grab Natsu's hand. She practically dragged him out of bed and down the hallway. Lucy sighed, and shook her head.

"See? No monster. Just clothes, shoes, and toys," Natsu said from down the hall. "Now, go to sleep."

"But what if it comes back?" Nashi asked.

"Nashi, there was never a monster to begin with."

"Yah, dere was!" Layla shouted. "It makin' scawy noises!"

"Yeah, like something scratching the walls!" Nashi explained.

"It was probably just the tree outside your window scraping it's branches on the house," Natsu said.

"De monsta live in da twee!" Layla squealed.

"Wha-no, no, no! Layla, sweetie, there's no monster."

"I dunno, Daddy. Maybe we should just sleep with you and Mommy," Nashi said. "Just in case there really is one."

"But there isn't really one, that's what I'm trying to tell you."

"Can't we sleep with you and Mommy anyways?" Nashi asked.

Lucy sighed as she listened along. She already knew where this was going. All those two had to do was-

"No, you girls are fine."

"But, Daddy, ppppplllleeeeeaaaasssseeeee!"

"Pppppwwwweeeeaaaazzzzeeeee!"

"Aw, don't look at me like that!"

Yup. There it was. Even though Lucy couldn't see she knew her girls had just given Natsu the puppy-dog eyes. He was done for now.

"Pretty, pretty, pppplllleeeaaassseee!"

"Pweddy, pweaze!"

"Ugh, fine. But just for tonight."

"Yay!"

The pitter-patter of tiny feet came down the hall again. Nashi practically launched herself into bed next to Lucy, burrowing under the blankets at lightning speed. Layla raced to Natsu's side of the bed, setting her hands on the edge, but not having quite the height or stregnth to pull herself up began jumping and grunting with as much effort as she could muster. Natsu came in behind them, shrugging hopelessly at Lucy as he walked up behing Layla and lifted her up.

"C'mere, sweetie. Up-sa-daisy."

Layla crawled to the middle of the bed and climbed under the blankets, curling up in a tiny ball and sticking her thumb in her mouth as Natsu began to settle down after her-

-only to be stopped by Igneel crying.

He let out an aggravated sigh. "I've got it."

He picked Igneel up, immediately catching a whiff of something foul. He took the baby into the bathroom to change his diaper. By the time he came out, the two girls had fallen asleep, Lucy's arm arching over both of them as she watched them, guarding them from whatever monsters or ghouls may have been lurking in the shadows of the closet or the hallway. He began to put Igneel back into the crib, but stopped and shrugged.

"Eh, what the heck," he crawled back to his side of the bed, crawled under the covers and lied down, setting Igneel on the pillow next to him. Lucy chuckled at them, lifting her hand up just a tad, spreading her fingers. Natsu intertwined his with hers.

"G'night, Luce."

"Good night," she yawned, closing her eyes. Soon she fell asleep. Natsu stayed up a little while longer, though, watching over his family as they slept. His three childrenlaid side by side, guarded by his and his wife's arms as they clasped their hands together.

"Heh," he smirked as he ran a gentle finger of Igneel's hair. "How'd I get so lucky?