Chapter 21 – After the Wedding
Eventually, Adryn and Laxus are drawn into the partying. The married couple was sat down at a table and were brought drinks, however, before Adryn could start drinking, Bickslow approached her.
"Hey, Adryn? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Bickslow questioned as he motioned for Adryn to come with him to a quieter side of the guildhall.
"Uh... sure?" Adryn responded in a questioning tone. She looked to Laxus who was now speaking with his grandfather and just shrugged her shoulders. She then got up from the table and followed Bickslow to where he guided her to. "So, what's up? Is there something wrong?"
"No, well I don't think so at least." Bickslow's words were confusing to the girl. She couldn't think about a single reason as to what Bickslow would have to say to her.
"What does that even mean?"
"You can't drink anything anymore, alright?"
"I literally just spent a night of drinking, what's the problem?" Adryn was getting a little upset with the man in front of her and he could tell.
"Don't freak out, but I can see another soul within you."
"You can what now?!" Adryn looked down at her stomach in realization. She began to breathe heavily and it caused Bickslow to put his hands on her shoulders.
"You are pregnant. I don't think that all you drank last night will hurt anything since it is so early, but you should get checked out in the morning." Bickslow was trying to calm the girl down, but it only made it worse. Adryn took a step away from the man and held her face in her hands.
"I can't believe it. I'm going to have another child, and this time I'll hopefully remember it all." To Bickslow's surprise, Adryn was excited and happy about the situation. She removed her hands and smiled up at Bickslow. "Thank you for telling me. I'm just... so happy now." Adryn couldn't help the tears that began to escape her eyes. Bickslow just smiled back at the girl, but his smile left when they both heard a voice.
"What's going on over here? Why is my wife crying?" It was Laxus who'd finally realized that Adryn was gone, only to turn and see her crying. Bickslow instantly put his hands up and took a step back.
"I was just telling her something, I swear," Bickslow stated before he took off in another direction. Laxus was at Adryn's side now and was caught off guard when she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.
"What's going on, Adryn?" Laxus was thoroughly confused now.
"Laxus, Bickslow can see another soul within me. I'm pregnant!" Hearing those words from Adryn caused Laxus' brain to fizzle out for a moment. He just stared down at her, wide-eyed and confused. It took him a few moments to process the words that she'd spoken to him. Then, he smiled down at her.
"Seriously? You're going to have a baby, my baby?"
"Isn't it amazing?!" Adryn laughed as she spoke and was cut off by Laxus wrapping his arms around her. The two held each other for a moment before pulling apart. "Let's tell everyone!"
"Yeah." Laxus couldn't help but agree. The smile that was on Adryn's face was one that wasn't always there. It was pure happiness and elation. Adryn didn't always get the chance to feel like that, so Laxus would do anything to make sure it stayed there or at least returned another time.
"What are you two doing over there all alone and are you crying, Adryn?" Eclipse questioned a little worried about the two of them. However, Laxus and Adryn just looked at each other and smiled before speaking in unison.
"We're having a baby!" The married couple's words shocked everyone and caused silence before everyone burst out into excitement. That caused everyone to begin partying harder and louder.
After some time of partying, Adryn and Laxus found themselves surrounded by a group. The group was Bickslow, Freed, Evergreen, Eclipse, Nova, Mirajane and Master Makarov.
"What do you think the gender will be?" Eclipse questioned the group. "I think it will be another girl."
"Same," Nova responded with Evergreen and Mirajane nodding their heads in return.
"I think it will be a boy," Freed stated with the other men nodding their heads in return as well. "What do you two think?" Freed questioned as he looked to Laxus and Adryn.
"Whatever it will be, they will be loved and cared for no matter what," Adryn responded simply with a smile on her face.
"Exactly." Laxus agreed instantly with his wife.
"Well, what names is everyone thinking of?" Adryn asked the group around her.
"Willow," Eclipse responded almost immediately. "But don't use that, I want to name my future daughter that."
"Then why did you... never mind." Adryn couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's words. The group then continued to chat about names and what they would want Adryn and Laxus' kid's name to be.
"You should name him 'Bickslow'," Bickslow stated with a smirk on his face.
"What? Why?" Eclipse questioned, seemingly offended that he'd suggest that.
"I was the first one to figure out that Adryn is pregnant. So I should get their kid named after me."
"Um, no. There isn't a chance in hell that I'd ever let them name their child after you." Hearing that from Eclipse, Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle.
"Now, now, there is no need to be mean, we wouldn't name our child after someone for such a reason," Adryn spoke up causing the conversation to be over. However, Bickslow began to pout and Eclipse couldn't help but chuckle at that. Which caused the others to laugh as well, minus Bickslow of course.
Adryn couldn't help but look around at those she cares about and tear up a little bit. She was so thankful for them all and she wouldn't change anything about how she got there.
~
About a week later, Eclipse and Nova sprung an announcement upon Adryn. The three girls had been having lunch at the guildhall together. They'd just been chatting about their plans when Eclipse and Nova turned to look at each other sadly.
"Adryn... Today, Nova and I are leaving." Eclipse spoke up after a moment.
"Where are you... Oh, you're leaving, leaving. You aren't coming back anytime soon, are you?" Adryn frowned and looked down at her hands.
"I never wanted to just leave like this, but I knew if I told you when we were leaving, then you would try to stop us."
"Of course I would! There is no need for you two to go anywhere!"
"We need to start a new life. Somewhere where people don't know us. Somewhere where-"
"Where I'm not. Right?" Adryn's sad words cut off Eclipse. That silenced the pink-haired girl and caused Nova to frown deeply.
"Adryn, I'm so sorry that I'm taking Eclipse away from you, but I know that I can't go on without my sister. I just..." Nova's voice trailed off sadly.
"No, no. I understand. It's alright. I can't ask you two to separate from each other."
"I will miss you, Adryn," Eclipse muttered sadly after a moment of silence.
"No, you won't. We will..." Adryn got choked up and began to cry. "We will write to each other so much that we'll get tired of each other. However, just wait to write to me. Wait until you two get to where you want to be. Then write to me and I'll respond as soon as I get the letter." By the end of Adryn's sentences, she was in full-blown tears.
"I promise, I'll write to you then. Alright? Don't cry." Eclipse herself was crying as well now.
"You're crying too!" Adryn cried out causing Eclipse to chuckle through her tears. Adryn joined in on the laughing and Nova did as well, even though she was also crying.
"What is going on over here? Why are you three crying?" Hearing a sudden male voice, the girls jolted and turned to the voice. It was Laxus standing there, having seen Adryn upset. He'd wanted to check in on Adryn due to her suddenly crying.
"They are leaving today." Adryn simply stated as she began to wipe away her tears.
"Leaving? Already?" Laxus asked as he sat down beside Adryn.
"Yeah, it's time," Eclipse responded as she as well wiped away her tears. "We have our bags here with us, so we're just going to head to the train station and leave."
"We'll walk you there. No saying 'no' to it." Adryn instantly responded. The two girls nodded their heads and stood up.
"We'll go say goodbye to those who we've met during our stay here." With that, Eclipse and Nova went off to say their goodbyes.
"How are you holding up?" Laxus asked his wife as he turned to look to her.
"I'm... I'm not too happy about this, but I know this is something they need to do for themselves." Adryn responded simply with a sad look on her face.
"Even though Eclipse will be far, you'll always be together."
"What does that even mean, Laxus?" Adryn couldn't help but chuckle at her man's words. Laxus just looked away from her.
"I don't know. I just thought hearing that would help you?" Laxus clearly wasn't even sure about what he'd said in the first place.
"That's sweet, but I'll be alright." Adryn leaned against the man and smiled. "I'll miss them, but it'll be alright. As long as they are happy, it'll be okay."
"Okay, we can leave now." Eclipse's voice startled the redhead. She hadn't seen Eclipse and Nova approach them again. "I'm sorry, but I made Serenity cry. She didn't want to see me go, but she understood."
"That's alright, I'll cheer her up later."
So, with that, the 4 of them began their journey to the train station. Along the way, the three girls chatted about their future plans. Eclipse hoped and knew that one day she'd come across Dracul once again. She just hoped it happened before she turned 60. Nova just hoped that she would find true happiness like Adryn had. Adryn herself wanted one thing; for the child, she was carrying to be happy and healthy.
"Well... I guess this is-"
"It's not goodbye. It's just... a see you later type of situation." Adryn's words told Eclipse that this wasn't something to argue on. So, Eclipse just smiled sadly and hugged the redhead. The two held each other for a little while before parting. Adryn and Nova then looked to each other and threw themselves at each other. The two hugged as well and spoke to each other. "No matter what happened between us, I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you as well," Nova responded sadly. Then Eclipse threw herself into the hug and the three of them held each other until the station announced that the train had arrived.
"Like I'll meet Dracul again, we'll meet each other one day as well!" Eclipse cried out as tears began to flow once again. Adryn and Nova began to tear up as well.
"We'll meet again one day," Adryn noted sadly. The other two nodded their heads and then picked up their bags.
"See you later, Adryn, Laxus." Both Eclipse and Nova stated as they began to walk away. They quickly disappeared into the train. Laxus and Adryn stood there until the train disappeared out of sight.
"I miss them already," Adryn muttered mostly to herself. Laxus put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.
"It'll be fine. I'm sure Serenity is still crying though, we should head back and cheer her up." Laxus stated simply causing Adryn to nod her head.
"Yeah, let's go." So, with that, the two of them headed back to the guildhall. They were silent the whole way there, but they were thinking about how to cheer up their daughter. However, once they got there, they realized that Serenity was alright. She had coloring supplies on the table in front of her and she was clearly drawing something.
As Laxus and Adryn got closer to Serenity and saw what the little girl was drawing. There were 9 figures in purple and a bunch of other figures in the background in red. There was a sun in the background and the sky was a light shade of blue.
"Hey, Serenity? Who are those people in purple?" Adryn questioned as she sat down next to her daughter. Laxus sat down on the other side of Serenity in return.
"This one is you, this one is father, then this one is Uncle Freed, Aunt Evergreen is that one, Uncle Bickslow is this one, Aunt Mira is that one and grandfather is this one. Oh! And this one is Aunt Eclipse! Then this little one is me and the other little one next to me is my new baby brother." Serenity's last sentence startled Adryn and Laxus.
"What do you mean you 'new baby brother'?"
"You are having a boy. He will be my baby brother." Serenity looked up at Adryn confused at having to reply that.
"Well, I am not sure what I'm having yet, Serenity. However, no matter what it will be, we'll love them."
"No, mother, you are having a boy. I know it." Serenity's tone clearly told Adryn that she wasn't supposed to argue with the child. However, she was alright with not arguing, as she was freaked out. Adryn was obviously startled, so Laxus quickly began to speak.
"I'd be happy to have a boy. We already have an amazing daughter, so a son would be good." Laxus spoke up to break the silence that Adryn had caused. Serenity liked that answer and smiled up at her father.
"Color with me, alright father?"
"Alright." Laxus was given a piece of paper and some coloring utensils. After a few minutes of just sitting there, Adryn was broken out of her startled state. Serenity had slid a piece of paper to her mother and handed her a blue crayon.
"Color with us, mother!" Serenity happily called out, causing Adryn to smile at her daughter.
"Of course." Adryn then began to draw and color flowers before looking over to see what Laxus was drawing. The man was drawing a stormy day with his crayons. Adryn couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Laxus draw lightning.
"What's so funny?" Serenity turned to her mother in confusion. Adryn just shook her head and smiled at Serenity.
"It's nothing. I... I just feel so lucky to have found a family. Since I never had one before." Serenity just leaned against her mother and smiled up at her. Adryn couldn't help but wrap her arms around her child and hold her for a moment. Adryn truly was thankful for everything that she had. She would never trade this for anything else in the entire world.