Mommy and Igneel:
"Igneel Jude Dragneel, don't even think about it," Lucy warned as she continued chopping vegetables, not even having to turn around to notice her son trying to sneak out the back door.
"But I'm bored!" Igneel whined, dropping his hand from the door knob in defeat.
"You're not going to play outside with that arm," Lucy said plainly as she scraped the chopped veggies into the pot.
"Wha-But Nashi and Layla get to play outside!"
"They don't have broken arms."
"Aw, man, having a cast sucks!" Igneel began to stomp off.
"Well, now maybe you'll think twice before climbing up a ten-foot tree," Lucy said before setting to top over the pot to let the vegetables cook. She let out a sigh. That was a bit harsh. And she had to admit, she did feel sorry for her little boy. She knew he hated being cooped up on the first pretty day Magnolia had seen in a while. Having a broken bone was no fun. But, darn it if he wasn't making it any easier on her and himself!
At every turn he was trying to sneak off and do somethign stupid that could result in him hurting his arm even more. Why couldn't he just do a coloring book or play with a stuffed animal. That would be the sensible thing to do. But, no! He had to keep trying to sneak outside, or slide down the stairs in a laundry hamper, or jump from the couch to the love seat, or dance on top of the dinner table.
"Of course," Lucy sighed to herself as she wiped her hands on her apron and then took it off and tossed it onto the counters. "It had to be the mini-Natsu that broke a bone!"
She walked up the stairs and then poked her head into Igneel's room. He was lying on his back upon his bed, tossing a red ball at the ceiling and then caught it again in his non-cast-constricted hand.
"How you doing, honey?" Lucy asked as she opened to door a bit wider and stepped in.
"Bored," Igneel grumbled. "Probably going to explode and die from being bored in a minute."
"Don't be so dramatic," Lucy sighed as she sat on the bed next to him and ruffled his hair, only crinkle her nose.
"Your hair is a greasy mess! Are you not washing it when you take a bath?"
"No, 'cuz I only got one arm," Igneel grumbled.
"Oh," Lucy face-palmed. Why hadn't she thought of that! "Well, let's run you a bath and I'll help you."
"But I don't wanna take a bath!"
"I thought you said you were bored."
"Yeah, but baths are no fun!"
"They can be if you make them," Lucy encouraged, though Igneel seemed less than impressed.
"Come on, I'll make it a bubble bath," Lucy said, poking Igneel in his sides. His mouth curled into a grin as he rolled over onto his stomach and reached a hand into his bucket of wooden soldiers.
"Can I bring these guys with me?" he asked.
"One," Lucy replied.
"Twenty?"
"Two."
"Ten?"
"Three."
"Nine and one of those bead-looking things that changes the water's color?"
"Five and I'll make it your favorite color."
"Deal," Igneel held his good hand out and he and Lucy did their handshake: high five with Lucy going up and Igneel going down, reverse the high five, pinky promise, fist bump, twist it.
"Ska-doosh!"
"Go get a pair of pajamas and some underwear, goofball," Lucy grinned as she ruffled his hair and started towards the bathroom. She stopped in the hall and leaned her head back into the bedroom to add: "CLEAN pajamas and underwear, thank you."
Lucy let the water and the orange capsule fill up for a little bit before adding the bubbles. She'd learned a while back doing it this way would dye the bubbles too. As the bath ran she got a trash bag and a roll of tape from the hall closet and then ducked back into the bathroom to wait for Igneel. He soo came in, five soldiers and his clothes tucked under his arms.
"Oh, wow! The bubble are orange t-"
"Wait! Are those jammies clean?" Lucy asked.
"Uh..."
"Let me smell them."
Lucy took the small bundle and sniffed it.
"Ew, it is not. Try again," she gently shoved Igneel back into the hall. "Goofball."
Igneel came back a few moments later with actual clean clothes and Lucy taped the bag over his arm before letting him jump, literally, into the tub.
"Why is it everytime I bathe one of my children I end up as soaked as them?" Lucy grumbled to herself before picking up a cup off the side of the tub.
Igneel poked just the top of his head out over the bubbles as he held two soliders in his hurt and bagged hand and three in the other.
"We're in dangerous lands, gentlmen, called Orange-Bubble-Badlands! Our mission-"
"Hold your breath," Lucy said before dumping a cup of water over Igneel's hair.
"Ack-Mommy! You messing up my mama-wags."
"Monologue, Igneel,," Lucy said before dumping another cup of water onto his head. "And I apologize."
Igneel continued in his "mission" to either slay a dragon, find a buried treasure, or rescue a princess, depending on whatever his short attention spanned imagination told him to do at that moment as Lucy sudsed up his hair.
"-but, before the witch will give us the secret recipe we've gotta bring her hermot favoritest food of all time. Stinky cheese!"
Lucy chuckled and shook her head at the little boy's shenanigans as she finished scrubbing his hair.
"Hm...let's see, should I give you a mohawk!" she asked as she slicked Igneel's hair into said style.
"Wha-no!" Igneel protested as he set his good hand on his head. "That's for weirdos."
"Well, how about pigtails?"
"No, that's for girls!"
"Spikes?"
"No!"
"Twists?"
"No!"
"Curly-q's?"
"Mommy!"
"Alright, I'll stop, hold your breath."
Igneel took a deep breath in and held his nose as Lucy rinsed his hair out.
"I've gotta go check on supper and the babies," Lucy said a she stood up. "You scrub off the rest of yourself, and don't forget behind your ears."
She tickled him right where his ear and neck met to emphasize her point, making Igneel squirm and laugh as she went down the hall and slipped into hers and Natsu's room. Kyri was still asleep in her crib. Luna, however, was awake, happily playing with the pink patch on her blanket.
"You have to be the most content and easily amused baby ever, Luna," Lucy said as she scooped the little girl up and set her in the crook of her arm as she headed back downstairs. The stew was almost ready, which was good because Natsu would be home soon. He'd gone to the guild hall to help out with some situation or issue. Something about Max getting stuck on the ceiling.
Lucy set Luna in the play pen in the diningroom before going to the window, opening it up and leaning out to call:
"Nashi, Layla, come in, wash your hands, and set the table."
Vwoom!
"Okay!"
"Gah!" Lucy jumped as Nashi suddenly appeared behind her.
"Just because you're trying to perfect your Styx speel doesn't mean you can just sneak up behind me like that!" Lucy said, playfully swatting at her oldest daughter with a rag. Nashi giggled as she rushed over to the kitchen to take down the plates.
"Ah, ah, ah! Go wash your hands first!" Lucy scolded.
Nashi made a pouty face, but did as she was told. Layla came into the houe through the back door, like a normal person and headed straight to the bathroom. Lucy smiled as she watched her golden pigtails bounce behind her skipping daughter. She stirred the stew a little bit, cut the burner down, then headed back upstairs to check on Igneel.
"You all clean, little man?" she asked.
Igneel was nowhere to be seen at first, cauing Lucy to worry, until he popped out of the mountain of bubbles. "Yup!"
Lucy sighed in relief, then squinted as she noticed only two wooden soldiers in each of her son's hands.
"Where's your fifth soldier?" she asked.
"Huh?" Igneel looked, and then shrugged. "I dunno."
"Well, you better find it before we pull the plug, otherwise he might go down the drain."
"Ah!" Igneel shouted, tossing his four found soliders out of the tub and dove, literally, back into the water and swam around.
Lucy ducked the soliders. "Well, hey, don't throw them at me!"
She sighed as she rolled up her sleeves and began sloshing through the water for the missing toy. "Found it," she called after a short while, pulling the soaked soldier up under a coat of bubbles going from her elbow to her fingertips.
"Yay!" Igneel cheered as he popped his head up, making his mother laugh.
"What?" he asked.
"You've got a bubble beard," Lucy said, tapping the recently found toy against his nose. Igneel crossed his eyes and poked his lip out.
"Look at me," he said in a creaky voice. "I'm a little old man with an orange bubble beard."
Lucy giggled as she pulled a towel out of the bathroom cabinet. "You silly baby dragon!"
"I'm not a baby!"
"You're my baby."
"Uh-uh! Luna and Kyri are!"
"Not matter how big you get you'll still be my baby," Lucy argued. "Beside, I can't call you 'silly dragon' because that's your Daddy."
"It is?"
"Yup. Now get out before you get all wrinkly."
"But I'm supposed to be wrinkly," Igneel said before cracking his voice again. "I'm a little old man."
"Just get out you silly baby dragon."
"But I don't wanna!"
"Igneel, come on, supper is almost ready and you need to take your medicine."
"That medicine is yucky!"
"Would you rather your arm hurt?"
"No…"
"Then come on."
Igneel sighed but climbed out of the tub and let Lucy dry him off.
"Hey, Mommy?"
"Hm?"
"If Luna or Kyri turn out to be dragon slayers will I still be the baby dragon."
"Yup. You'll just be baby boy dragon, and they'll be baby girl dragon."
"Aw, man!"
"What, were you going to try and teach them your magic so that you wouldn't be the baby anymore?"
"Maybe."
Lucy chuckled as she shook her head and helped Igneel put his pajamas on and then unwrapped the bag form his cast.
"Head downstairs," she told him with a peck on the top of the head. Igneel skipped off. Lucy started to follow after him, but then heard Kyri crying from her bedroom. She raced off to tend to her infant daughter.
"What's the matter, sweetie?"
Kyri smacked her lips as Lucy scooped her up.
"Hungry?" she asked as set her in the crook of her arm and undid her shirt to feed Kyri. Keeping a hold on Kyri with on arm she headed back downstairs. The girls already had the table set, minus the stew which was actually still sitting on the table. Igneel was already seated in his chair, kicking his feet playfully.
"Alright girls, sit down. As soon as I finish fee-"
Just then the front door open. Lucy didn't even have time to turn around before the three older children darted off, calling:
"Daddy!"
"Hey-oh!" Natsu called, smiling as he knelt down to hug the three bigger kids. Lucy smiled at the scene as she walked towards her husband. He stood up and gently kissed Lucy on the lips.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hi," she smiled back as he leaned down and kissed Kyri on the top of the head. He then walked passed Lucy, finsihed setting the table, and rounded the three older children back up to eat dinner. Kyri had finished eating a Lucy sat down, and she set the baby againt her shoulder to burp.
"So, Daddy, why'dthey need you at the guild hall?" Layla asked as Natsu laddled stew into her bowl.
"I had to get Max out of a roof beam."
"A roof beam?" Nashi crinkled her nose. "How does that happen?"
"Simple," Natsu explained as he began filling Nashi and Igneel's bowls. "Max knocks Erza's cake with a broom, Erza kicks Max in the jaw, Max's upper body goes through a roof beam, Daddy has to go burn a whole big enough for him to crawl out of."
Everyone at the table except for Kyri laughed at the tale as Natsu set the bowls in front of his children.
"What!?" Igneel asked. "This stew has vegetables!? WHO PUT IN VEGETABLES!?"
"I did," Lucy said, pushing the bowl closer towards Igneel. "They're good for you and you'll eat them."
Igneel corssed his arms (or, arm, as one was in a cast) and pouted.
Layla just glanced at him and shrugged. "I like 'em," she said as she spooned a carrot into her mouth.
"So, what did you all do today?" Natsu asked a he began eating.
"Nahi's trying to master her Styx spell," Layla said.
"Yeah, by giving me heart attacks," Lucy grumbled as Nashi giggled.
"Oh, yeah, thinking your all big and tough sneaking up on Mommy?" Natsu asked, poking Nashi in her side as she giggled.
Nashi shrugged with a coy smile.
"Oh, yeah, well maybe you and I should go a few rounds outside ofater dinner and see what you've got?" Natsu grinned, igniting his fist.
"You're on old man!" Nashi cheered, also igniting her fist.
"Old man!?"
"NO FIRE I THE HOUSE!" Lucy scolded both her husband and daughter as she walked to set Kyri in the play pen next to Luna who was playing with a chain of teething rings.
She sat back down at the table and ate her meal. She'd just finsihed by the time Natsu and the others had already eaten, cleared the table, and had set the dishes in a sinkful of soapy water to soak. The minute they were done Natsu and Nashi raced into the backyard. Layla followed after them to watch, closing the door behind her. Igneel reached to open it back up when he was stopped by a:
"Igneel…"
"Aw, man!" Igneel sighed as he stomped up the stairs. Lucy sighed. She knew he was tired of being cooped up, but she couldn't trust him outside. Who knew what kind of trouble he would cause?
A she set her bowl into the water an idea came to her mind. She wet the the closet under the stairs, took a few things out, and then headed for Igneel's room. She knocked on the door and then let herself in.
"Igneel?" she asked.
She found him lying face down on his bed, absent mindedly kicking his legs behind him. "Hm?"
"I need your help with something," Lucy said.
"What?" Igneel asked as he lifted his head up and saw a big roll of paper and a box of markers in her arms.
"Well, you know we're going to have to move to a new house soon to make room for us all when Kyri and Luna gt bigger."
"Yeah?" Igneel sat up, suddenly more interested.
"So, I need you to help me come with some ideas," Lucy said, rolling the paper out. "C'mon, let's draw some houses."
"YEAH!" Igneel cheered, bouncing into the floor and reaching a hand deep into the box of markers. Lucy smiled as he began scribbling on the paper.
"Let's see…" she mused as she began drawing. "Do you think we should have a garden?"
"Yeah, with big trees to climb!"
"What!?" Lucy exclaimed, tapping on his cast with her marker. "That's the last thing you need!"
Igneel jut blinked, giving her an innocent look that made her shake her head.
"Hey, Mommy?" Igneel asked.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"How did you meet Daddy?"
Lucy blinked. That was not what she expected. "Well, I was in Hargeon. I had just left home and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do, and there was this dude using a love charm on a bunch of girls-"
"What!?" Igneel stopped his scribbling to gape at her. "Did he put the charm on you?"
"Yes, until someone pushed through the crowd and distracted me long enough to break the spell."
"Daddy?"
"Yup!"
"Did he beat the guy up?"
"No, not then," Lucy answered.
"Aw!" Igneel grumbled. "So what happened then?"
"Well, I bought him and Happy lunch as thanks for breaking that charm. A little bit later the same guy who used the charm tried to kidnap me and a bunch of kids. He even through my keys into the ocean!"
"That big meanie!"
"Yeah, but guess who came to save the day?"
"Daddy!"
"Yup!"
"Awesome!" Igneel fist pumped, then grew quiet. "So...you weren't kids when you met?"
"We were teenagers," Lucy answered. "Why did you ask me that, sweetie?"
"No reason," Igneel shrugged.
"Is there a little girl you like?" Lucy teased.
"No," Igneel began to blush.
"Is her name Portia?" Lucy poked him in the side.
"No!" Igneel shrank away from her and went back to coloring.
"Well, you're too young to date, so that's a no."
"Ew, Mommy, that's gross!" Igneel cringed.
Lucy giggled as she and Igneel went back to coloring.