Colic:
"Wah! Wah! Wah!"
Lucy grumbled as she awakened to the sound of one of the babies crying. From the sounds of the cries it was Kyri.
Maybe?
Lucy's brow furrowed as she stood and walked to the bassinet. It was indeed Kyri crying, no, sobbing. Her tiny hands were clenched in fists. Her brow was furrowed. Her legs were pulled up close against her stomach. Her cries were piercing, shrieking, pained sobs.
This wasn't behavior Lucy was used to seeing with any of her babies. Frowning in concern she lifted Kyri up. Kyri trembled slightly as Lucy cradled her to her chest.
"What's wrong, baby?" Lucy asked.
Kyri just continued to cry. Lucy sat down at the edge of the bed and began unbuttoning her shirt to see if maybe Kyri needed to eat. Try as she may, though, Lucy couldn't get Kyri to take her breast. Fixing her shirt back up she carried Kyri to a changing table to check her diaper. It was clean and dry.
"What's the matter with you, sweetie?" Lucy asked as Kyri kept crying. Her sobs got louder and louder. She looked almost like she was in pain. Lucy looked the little girl over, searching for anything that could be causing her discomfort but found nothing. Perhaps she was cold? It was the dead of the coldest winter Magnolia had seen in Lucy took an extra blanket out of a draw and wrapped it around the baby, cradling her in the crook of her arm and began rocking her back and forth.
Kyri still didn't stop crying but, if anything, screamed all the louder. Lucy began pacing across the floor. What on earth land was wrong with her baby?
"Sh, sh, sh, it's okay," Lucy whispered as she kept bouncing and pacing. She placed a hand on Kyri's forehead, no fever. She'd never seen anything like this with any of her five children before. If only Natsu were here! He usually had good instincts when it came to comforting people, especially one of his babies. But we has away on a weekend long job. She was on her own. Carrying the sobbing six-week old to the living room she pulled out one of the numerous baby books she had. She carried it to the coffee table and set it down so she could flip through and read while still holding Kyri.
"Sh, hush sweetheart, it's okay," Lucy whispered as thumbed through the book, looking for anything that could be causing Kyri's discomfort.
"Colic," Lucy sighed as she read the list of symptoms. They all fit Kyri's behaviors. What exactly was colic, though? A really bad tummy ache? No wonder Kyri was crying so loudly, but what could Lucy do to fix it? She turned the page as Kyri's sobs turned to screams. She drew her tiny limbs in closer as she kept sobbing and shaking.
"Oh, I'm sorry, baby," Lucy crooned as she sat down on the couch and unwrapped Kyri from the blanket. She began rubbing Kyri's tummy hoping that it would help. It did for a little while, Kyri even looked like she was about to fall back asleep, but just As Lucy wrapped her back in her blanket she began crying again.
"Aw, Kyri," Lucy sighed as she set the baby in the crook of one arm and began rubbing her tummy again. As she rocked the crying baby Luna began to whine from the bedroom.
"Oh, no," Lucy groaned as she walked back down the hall. Luna was sucked on her hand as she whimpered. Well, at least Lucy knew what was wrong with her. Her brow furrowed as she looked back at Kyri, who was still sobbing her lungs out. She couldn't breastfeed Luna and rock Kyri at the same time. As much as it hurt her heart to do so she set Kyri back into her bassinet and picked Luna up. She sat down at the edge of the bed and opened her shirt. As Luna fed, Lucy reached one arm over to rub Kyri's stomach. This time it didn't help, though, Kyri kept crying.
Luna finished eating, Lucy burped her, rocked her, and put her back to sleep. The whole time Kyri kept crying and still cried afterwards. Lucy picked her back up, took her back to the livingroom and kept rocking, bouncing, patting, and humming to Kyri. She'd quiet down for a few minutes, but then she'd erupt into screams again. Finally Kyri quieted down and fell asleep. Lucy carefully put her in her bassinet and then shuffled to her own bed, collapsing onto it. She was just starting to feel herself fall asleep when Kyri erupted into pained screams again.
"Oh, no," Lucy groaned as she pushed herself back onto her feet. Why couldn't she make her little girl feel better?
The sun was starting to rise when Kyri finally went to sleep for good. Lucy set her down in her bassinet and then laid down to sleep.
Luna woke up and cried. Lucy felt like crying as she stood up and walked to her bassinet. A foul stench met her. She changed her diaper, but her back to sleep, and then laid down again. Finally she was able to get some rest…
...for about an hour before she heard the rumble of tiny feet running down the hall. She groaned as she lifted her head to see Igneel bounding towards the living area. It wouldn't be long before the older girls woke up as well and they would all need breakfast. Lucy groaned yet again as she stifled a yawn and dragged herself out of bed.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Finally, bed," Lucy sighed as she laid down and pulled to covers over herself. All five children were asleep and soon she'd join them.
Or so she thought.
"Wah! Wah! Wah!" Kyri screeched.
"No, not again," Lucy whimpered as she shuffled over to Kyri's bassinet. Her legs were drawn against her body. Her little hands were clenched into fists. She trembled slightly in pain.
"Oh, no, Kyri, not again, honey," Lucy sighed as she lifted her up out of the bassinet and began pacing the floor with her. Once again it would be the crack of dawn before Kyri quieted down enough to go to sleep. Lucy fell asleep almost instantly, but was awakened two hours later by the sound of Igneel bounding down the hall to go play in the living room once more.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Wah! Wah! Wah!"
"Ugh, why, oh, no, no, no," Lucy whimpered. For the third night in a row now Kyri was up screaming in pain. Lucy all but shuffled and stumbled her way to the bassinet.
"Kyri, honey, why? What do I need to do to make this stop?" Lucy asked as she lifted the screaming babe out of the bassinet. She barely had the energy to bounce or rock Kyri as she shuffled her way to the living room. Why, oh, why couldn't she make these hour long, agonizing crying sessions stop. No matter what she did Kyri wouldn't sleep. At most she could buy her daughter 15 minutes or so of comfort before she erupted into sobs again.
"Kyri, please, go to sleep. Please show me what I need to do. Please, I want to help you but I can't keep doing this!" Lucy cried.
Thump!
Lucy whirled around as the front door swung open.
"Natsu?"
Natsu dropped his bags onto the floor as he walked straight towards her, a concerned frown on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Eh?" Lucy asked dumbly.
"I heard you talking about not being able to do something from outside, what's wrong?" he asked again.
"It's Kyri," Lucy answered. "She's got colic."
"Colic?" Natsu's look of concern deepened as he bounded to his wife's side and set a hand on the crying baby's back.
"She's been getting horrible stomach aches the past three nights and I can't figure out how to make them go away!" Lucy lamented.
It was only then Natsu noticed the circles under her eyes.
"When's the last time you slept, love?" he asked.
"I don't know," Lucy answered.
Natsu nodded as he took Kyri from her. "I've got this, go to bed."
"But…" Lucy weakly protested. "But you just got home…"
"I got to sleep last night before heading back," Natsu argued. "Get to bed."
Lucy gave up arguing and trudged towards their bedroom, only to be met with a fussy Luna.
"So much for sleep," she groaned as she picked her up and fed her.
"How on earth did Erza handle having three at a time?" Lucy wondered to herself as Luna ate. Once she finished Lucy burped her, then began rocking her to try and put her to sleep. It was then she noticed Kyri wasn't crying anymore.
"What?" Lucy gasped. That couldn't be right, something had to be wrong. She jumped to her feet, still holding Luna, and raced back into the living room.
Natsu was laying on the couch, Kyri laying against his chest on her belly with a blanket draped over both of them. Natsu had one hand against her back, the other holding the baby book Lucy had left on the coffee table that had remained untouched the past three days. Kyri squirmed slightly against him, but she was quiet.
"How!?" Lucy exclaimed.
"I told you to go to bed," Natsu sighed, glancing away from the pages of the book to frown at her.
"How did you do that!?" Lucy asked again. "It took me hours to-"
"Heat," Natsu answered plainly.
Lucy blinked. "What?"
"Heat," he said again. "Heat can make stomach cramps feel better."
It was only then that Lucy noticed Natsu had his shirt open, allowing Kyri to lie directly against his overly warm skin. Natsu's body heat was higher than most under normal circumstances, but no doubt he'd kicked it up a few notches to further aid in giving their daughter some comfort.
Heat.
Why hadn't lucy thought of that? She could have gotten a hot water bottle, had Nashi come hold Kyri for a little while. She could have saved both herself and her daughter a whole lot of pain and suffering if she'd just been sharp enough to figure out that obvious solution on her own! Though she was more mad at herself than anything a tear or two began to roll down her cheeks. She repositioned Luna against her shoulder to wipe them away before Natsu noticed them, but she was too late.
Natsu frowned as he set the book down and reached a hand out to her. "Oi, c'mere."
"I'm fine," Lucy sighed.
"No you're not, you were crying."
"How'd you know! You weren't even looking at me!"
"Dragon slayer," Natsu said plainly as he tapped his nose. "Now come here."
Of course, she should have known he'd pick up the scent. How long had she known Natsu? What was wrong with her?
She shuffled to Natsu's side and knelt down on her knees next to him.
"So, why are you crying?" he asked.
"I'm a horrible mother."
"No you're not."
"I couldn't even get her to stop crying for three days and you got her to quiet down in thirty minutes!" Lucy exclaimed.
Natsu set his free hand behind her head and pulled her in for a gentle kiss which she gladly reciprocated.
"You're not a bad mom, you've just a rough few days is all," Natsu said.
"I know, but I still should have thought of that."
"You look like you haven't slept all weekend," Natsu pointed out in a matter-of-fact voice. "I'm surprised you can still form words."
"Well...that might be because I-"
"Put Luna down and get some sleep you madwoman," Natsu said with a grin as he shook his head.
Lucy stood back to her feet and shuffled to their room.
Natsu watched her go. If he was being honest he was a tad disappointed. He'd been looking forward to cuddling with his wife in their bed, but now it looked like that wasn't going to happen.
Kyri squirmed against his chest again and fussed slightly.
"Sh, sh, sh," Natsu whispered as he patted her back with one hand and smoothed her hair with the other. He hummed softly to her and she began to quiet down, sticking her thumb in her mouth to suck. A smile tugged at the corners of Natsu's mouth.
"Been giving Mommy a hard time, haven't ya Kyri?" he whispered. "Guess I'll have to keep you out here with me so she can get some sleep."
Kyri grunted in response, causing Natsu to chuckle. He gently kissed the top of her head as he continued patting her back. True, he wouldn't get any cuddles with Lucy tonight, but he would get to spend it holding Kyri, which was just as good. He knew from experience that she wouldn't be a baby for long, so he was glad he got this moment to cherish.
Kyri shifted once more and her eyelids slowly drooped closed.
"That's it, you go on to sleep," Natsu whispered. "Daddy'll be here if those tummy aches come back. Trust me, I know a thing or to about stomachs not agreeing with me. Just wait 'til you're old enough to watch me on a train and you'll see."
Kyri yawned snuggling closer against him. He set both hands on her back, holding her close and kissing the top of her head. She quickly fell asleep, comforted by the heat her Daddy's body put out. Natsu soon followed after her, tired from his trip and relaxed at being home, even if he was on the couch for the night.