"So, what are your plans for today?" Bickslow asked as he walked into their living room, looking to the blonde sitting on the floor in front of the lounge.

Lucy kept her eyes focused on Ingrid who was only staring intently at the wooden tiki sitting closer to Lucy and only a little out of her reach. "Well," she began, still looking to Ingrid and hoping she'd test herself and move just that little bit forward. "I was going to go shopping later for groceries, and then buy a dress for the gala on Friday. And then I was maybe thinking about starting to write something again since I haven't for a while, and I thought it would give me something else to do when Ingrid's asleep."

In truth, the more Lucy read, the more she missed writing, and she'd been reading a lot those days. She'd spent so much of her free time in their old world just writing and working on her novel, and ever since everyone had found themselves in that world, she hadn't put pen to paper once – or, her fingers to the keys.

She'd found a notebook in the desk drawer just a few days earlier that was filled with ideas and fleeting thoughts her other self had scribbled down. On her computer, she'd found countless documents with scenes half written out, and some had been scrapped ideas for Fantasia. Or at least, that's what she'd thought they'd been. There were plenty she hadn't read yet though.

Even though she had no intentions of actually using any of those ideas or what her other self had already written, she just wanted to write something. She could still, of course, use them for inspiration if it came down to it, but she didn't know quite what her mind would come up with. She was sure she'd be able to think of something if she found the time though.

"As long as I get to read whatever it is you write once you're done with it," Bickslow said as he walked around to the lounge as he done up the band for his watch around his wrist.

"It wouldn't be that good, even if I did manage to think of anything to write."

"Come on, it would be amazing. I've read your work, remember? It's great."

Lucy shrugged as Bickslow sat down on the lounge behind her and next to her. "You've only read that book, and I'm not even the one who really wrote it," she mumbled. "I'm not that good of a writer."

He leant forward with his elbows on his knees, and he smiled when Lucy turned back to look at him with just a frown. "Well, I'll be the judge of that, okay? I'm sure you're better than you think," he said softly.

"I'd expect you to be a little biased, so I don't think you'd be the best judge," she laughed, if only quietly. Even though she was the most critical of her work (something Levy had told her she had no reason to be on several occasions), she just couldn't help it. But, Bickslow had made her feel just a little bit better about her writing and herself. She'd only only ever shown her work to Levy, never to anyone else, but she would show Bickslow if he really wanted to see it. Well, she would eventually.

"Maybe so, but I still genuinely believe everything about you is great," he replied as he leant forward just to quickly kiss her cheek. "Including your writing."

"Okay, you're extremely biased, Bicks," she laughed again.

"It doesn't count if it's the truth."

"Biased."

He rolled his eyes as he looked down to his watch on his wrist, and he slid forward to be crouching down in front of the lounge instead. "Just a little biased then," he chuckled. "But… I've gotta go. Master Makarov is coming in for a meeting first thing this morning so I really can't be late today." He wasn't exactly going to tell Lucy what that meeting was about though. Not until later.

Lucy nodded as he went to Ingrid first, just ducking his head to lightly kiss the top of her head. "Do you think you'll be finishing earlier or later today?" she asked.

"Probably a bit later today since I didn't really get much work done yesterday, but I'll see how things go." His previous day at work had truly been less than productive. It wasn't like he'd ever particularly done that much at work (most of the time he spent messaging either Gajeel or Lucy about completely random things), but when he'd been able to think of nothing but Lucy and what he'd said that morning, he'd done even less.

But… Now everything was more than perfect, and as much as it pained him to even think about it, he was actually going to be able to get some work done that day. It didn't help that he did have a lot to do considering he'd been out for a few weeks and he hadn't been able to do all that much at home. Of course, he still wished he could spend more time at home with Lucy and Ingrid, but he knew he couldn't.

Stepping back around Ingrid, he crouched back down next to Lucy and lifted a hand to cup her cheek as his lips pulled up into a wide grin. "You know what's awesome though?" he asked as he slowly began to lean forward. He didn't even give Lucy a chance to answer (though she was already pretty sure of what it was) before he said, "I get to tell you I love you without wanting to throw myself off the top of a building. So… I love you."

And Bickslow truly loved that. Even though they'd only sorted everything out the night before, it felt great to be able to actually tell Lucy that he loved her. A lot. It was almost as great as knowing that Lucy loved him, and that was something that could have him grinning like the idiot he was for far too long. Of course, he had been doing that, and Lucy had called him out on it the previous night and called him a dork. Again. But Bickslow didn't care. He was too fucking happy to care about anything. It didn't help that he was still trying to figure out just how it had happened at all, because how Lucy had fallen for him was more of a mystery as to how they'd all found themselves waking up in a new world.

"I love you too," she whispered, right before his lips finally descended to hers and her smile was almost lost as they moved over one another for just the shortest of moments. She'd found that she could very well spend all day with her mouth on his, and as much she really did want to sometimes, she knew she couldn't do that. They had responsibilities – a seven-month old, Bickslow's job – that came first.

So as Bickslow finally began to rise to stand, their lips pulling apart the higher he got, she was just a little relieved. Strangely. "But seriously though," she began again, only scooting over to the side to get closer to Ingrid and hand her another one of the totems. "Don't go throwing yourself off any buildings or anything. Ever. Because if you die, I'm just going to have to find a way to bring you back so I can yell at you for even thinking about leaving me, just before I push you off again myself for being stupid."

The fact of the matter remained that she still needed Bickslow. He was the one who had held her together and stopped her from completely falling apart, the one to reassure her and tell her everything would be okay every time she'd needed to hear it and far too many times to even count. Bickslow was the sole reason she was even remotely close to being okay – even when she was more than fine, especially with the way things were then – and she truly didn't know what she would do without him.

Of course there was still the issue where he'd also been the one to get her knocked up (well, sort of. It was his DNA, so it counted) and there was just no way in hell Lucy was going to let Bickslow leave her when she was almost three months pregnant and already had a kid to look after. Even if he'd meant it as a joke (she hoped, at least), she needed to get her point across.

Bickslow could only grin at her as he turned to look over his shoulder before he reached the door again, his phone in hand and messenger bag over his shoulder. Sure, his girlfriend was just a little scary with her threat of pushing him off a building for dying (not that it made any sense, but he wasn't going to question that), but he could still see she wasn't deadly serious. Or at least, not really.

Sort of.

"Don't worry, Cosplayer," he smirked. "I wouldn't even dream of leaving you any time soon." Or at all, at this point. But Bickslow wasn't going to tell her that part. Oh no.

She nodded. "Good. Now go to work before you're late."

"You really like getting rid of me, don't you?" She shrugged and Bickslow only shook his head with a smirk before he slowly pulled the door open. "Well, I'll see you tonight," he said quickly. "Love you, baby." And only getting a hum in response with Lucy having gone back to being preoccupied with Ingrid, Bickslow pulled the door closed behind him.

Only to find Laxus leaning on the wall just opposite his apartment door when he turned around.

It wasn't actually that surprising, considering he was going into work with Laxus, instead of getting a taxi since Lucy was using the car that day, just so he could make sure he was actually there on time. Of all days, it was the one time Bickslow really needed to not be late, just because of his meeting with Makarov that he needed to go to. But, Laxus being actually outside his door had been been a little unexpected. He'd thought they'd meet downstairs or in the car park for the building, but not outside his damn apartment.

He cleared his throat as they began to walk down the hall and towards the elevator, and only after a few silent steps did Laxus ask, "So… Can I ask about that?"

"You mean what I just said?" Laxus nodded, and Bickslow only looked towards the dark green carpet beneath his feet as they walked. He expected Laxus – or even Evergreen, maybe – to ask about what was going on with Lucy, after what had happened the previous morning. He had less of a problem talking about it now that everything was sorted out between them, but it still wasn't even close to being something he would just blurt out to everyone.

To Laxus though… Laxus was his best friend and he knew more about everything than anyone else did. Shrugging, Bickslow answered, "We sorted things out last night. We kind of fought because I was being an idiot, but we sorted things out."

"When are you not?"

Bickslow sighed. "It's a fair point, but I was being seriously stupid last night. But we eventually kind of talked about it, and everything is fine and I don't feel like throwing myself out a window anymore." He paused for just a moment as they reached the elevator doors and waited for them to open, then mumbled as his brows drew together slightly, "Not that I'm even allowed to do that, apparently."

Laxus followed Bickslow into the empty elevator before pressing the button for the basement car park, then put his hands in his pockets as he leant back against the metal railing. "So you get to tell her you love her?" he asked, an eyebrow only slightly raised in his curiosity. "Isn't that kind of weird?"

"Why would it be weird? She's my girlfriend, and I love her, a lot, so I'm gonna tell her."

"No, I get that much. I just meant…" Laxus bit the inside of his cheek as he looked down to his crossed ankles. He didn't want to be blunt, but he could see that he had no other choice. "Doesn't it make you uncomfortable to say it if she's not going to say it back?" he finally asked after a moment when Bickslow only looked to him in confusion. Laxus had accepted that Bickslow had somehow been in love with her for a while, and he really wasn't going to dispute his claims to how he felt. But he just couldn't see Lucy feeling the same way. Definitely not yet, anyway, because from what Laxus understood, the two had only really been together for a few weeks – a month at best.

But then Bickslow was grinning at him, and the former Seith mage shrugged again. "It doesn't make me uncomfortable at all," he answered.

It was all the answer Laxus needed too, and just as quickly as he'd understood what his friend was saying, his mouth was suddenly hanging open and he was staring at Bickslow in shock. "Holy fucking shit," he muttered. "Really? She actually loves you? Already?"

"Apparently," Bickslow chuckled. "I don't know how or why, but she does, and it's just amazing."

"Huh. Well, uh… I feel like I should say well done." Laxus just truly didn't know what else to say. On one hand, he was very confused as to how Lucy had managed to fall for the guy, let alone how Bickslow had managed to get her to do it. But on the other hand, he was glad. He'd seen how out of sorts the man had been all day after what had happened the previous morning, and he'd seen that it only got progressively worse the more everyone asked him about it. He had truly been a mess as he stressed about what he'd said, and at the time, Laxus had felt a little sorry for his friend.

But now, Bickslow was back to his usual self. And to no surprise, it was because of Lucy and because she loved him. Laxus could see that that alone would make Bickslow undeniably happy. The woman he was in love with and had been for quite some time – possibly always, according to the book Lucy's other self had written that he hadn't been able to put down all day after he'd had his own assistant go out and find him a copy – loved him back.

Lucy and Ingrid were his family, as well as the twins they had on the way, and Laxus knew as well as everyone else did that he really did love them more than anything. Of course, everyone else was only just beginning to see how much the former Seith mage cared about Lucy in particular, but Laxus had known because Bickslow had told him. If Lucy saw Bickslow the same way he saw her (or even close to that, really), then Laxus was happy for them.

"Thanks… I think," Bickslow laughed, only shaking his head lightly before he cleared his throat. "But um… This meeting," he mumbled, and his grin was instantly lost as they stepped out into the apartment building's car park. "I'm not getting fired, right?" It was why Bickslow hadn't told Lucy what the meeting was about, and that it was specifically for him. Laxus would be there too, because technically, he worked for Laxus and he reported directly to him. But that day, Laxus was only really there for moral support.

Finding out that he'd been summoned to a meeting with the chairman of the company he worked for was not something he needed Lucy stressing about, because it definitely did not sound good. At least not to Bickslow.

"Nah, you're not," Laxus said quickly. "He just wants to talk to you about the last few weeks and all since you're on the board, and given that you're kind of supposed to tell me what's legal and what's not, you're pretty important. Apparently. Gramps just wants to know what was going on. He said he was worried about you and what was going on when I asked him about it."

"Right…" Bickslow mumbled. He didn't doubt the man was actually worried about him, because apparently in that world, he'd been friends with Laxus for a long time. Longer than he had in their original word, at least. They'd gone to high school together, apparently, and as soon as he'd finished college and gotten his degree (apparently in that world, he was a lawyer. He had the certificate on his office wall and all) he'd been offered a job to work for Laxus who was, at that stage, being groomed to take over the company so Makarov could retire.

It was just that Bickslow was actually worried about talking about the last few weeks, because it would mean having to explain everything that had happened with Lucy. It was really all about the missed time and his lack of participation – not to mention his tendency to have outbursts to other morons on the board. "So he just wants to talk," he mumbled again.

"Just talking." As he walked around to the driver's side of his car, and Bickslow to the other side, Laxus added, "I did try getting you out of everything because I know you didn't really have a choice because of Blondie and Ingrid, but it's still kind of a big deal, Bicks."

Bickslow sighed as he climbed up into the leather seat and pulled the door closed, settling himself in the comfortable chair as best he could. No matter how comfortable Laxus' car was, Bickslow knew he wouldn't be until the meeting with Makarov was over. "I know, I get it," he said quietly. He'd already found out that he'd skipped quite a few important steps in the process of getting time off, and Laxus had helped him do it. He was just a little glad things weren't any worse than they were, because he knew they should very well be. "I just don't really like talking about everything with Lucy and the babies. We had to tell her team the other day. Well, she wanted to, but it still kind of sucked to bring it all back up again."

"I know, Bicks. But Gramps is still pretty reasonable. It's just talking, remember? You said so yourself that everything is fine with Lucy and the twins now anyway, so just try and stop worrying about it. You get weirder when you worry and not even I can handle it sometimes."

The corner of Bickslow's mouth pulled up into a smirk. He could always trust Laxus to say something like that on the rare occasions he let it show that he did actually care. Try as Laxus might though, Bickslow knew the former Lightning mage and Dragon Slayer very well, and even though he did his best to make it seem like he didn't care about anything, Bickslow knew he did. Just like Evergreen and Freed did. They knew everything there was to know about him, and they knew that he really did care about those around him a lot more than he let on.

And considering all that had happened in the last couple of months, Bickslow knew that very well. Laxus had done a lot for him, whether it be just being there and being his best friend and listening, or even giving him the much needed time off work with a simple 'trust me'. Bickslow was truly incredibly thankful for it all too, and he did feel just a little bad that he was in just a small spot of trouble with his grandfather and chairman of the company because of it all, but there wasn't much he could do about that.

All Bickslow could do then was sit down with Makarov and Laxus and talk. Talking he could do, even if it would be terrible to have to bring everything up again. He just had to remember that it was just talking. He had no reason to worry, like Laxus had said.

Lucy came out of the dressing room with yet another dress on, and she looked to Mira sitting on one of the lounges in the store with a frown and awaited her opinion. "So?"

Mira shook her head. "The colour is good, but I don't like the style. Maybe try a one-shoulder gown?" she mused.

"I'll see if I can find one," Lucy sighed. Turning, she walked back into the small changing room just behind her and closed the curtain once again. They'd only been there for half an hour, and Lucy was close to falling asleep. She never would have thought dress shopping would be so difficult, but it was. She'd come to realise that she did in fact have plenty of formal gowns sitting in the wardrobe of the spare room, but of course, none actually fit her. Or if they did, they wouldn't look anything close to flattering on her now that she was just about three months pregnant and looking a lot further along.

Putting the deep red gown back on the hanger it had been on and placing it on the hook with the rest of the ones that Mira or herself had decided were not the right dress for her to wear to the gala on Friday night, Lucy came back out into the small store and went on the search for a one-shoulder dress in the same shade of red as the one she'd just worn. She had to admit that she did like the colour, just because it reminded her of a certain someone's eyes.

She was thankful the women who worked in the store had left them alone, even if they were the only customers in there that afternoon. Lucy didn't think she could handle the stress and frustration of the overbearing shopkeepers. That was something she'd realised within five minutes of walking into the store when they'd proceeded to bombard her with questions of what kind of dress she was looking for, what kind of event she was going to, and of course, how far along she was and how old her daughter was.

Plus, asking if it was a wedding dress she was looking at trying on. She might have been pregnant and she might not wear her ring, but she was technically already married, thank you very much.

She had Mira with her anyway. Mira was more than enough at the best of times, and Lucy had been watching her from the moment she'd come to her apartment before they'd left to go shopping together. Lucy knew she was dying to ask about Bickslow, or more importantly, herself and Bickslow. It was Mira, after all. She just couldn't help herself. Lucy was just waiting for her to bring it up.

"So… How are things between you and Bickslow?"

Lucy smiled to herself as she slowly walked along the clothes racks with countless styles of gowns. There it is… "Things are uh…" She paused as she tried to find the perfect word to describe how things were between them, and then she stopped as she pulled a dress from the hanger. "Things are perfect, actually," she said softly.

She realised that there was just no other way to describe it, because to her, things were perfect. She didn't think things would ever end up like the way they were, but she was more than glad that they had. It was her life now, and she was happy with it. To her, it was perfect, and it had taken her up until that moment to see that it was that. But now that everything had settled down and things were getting better, Lucy could see that her life was, to her, perfect. It just didn't matter how anyone else saw it, because it was her life and it was her life with Bickslow, and right then, she wouldn't change it for anything.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Mira giggled as she squeezed Ingrid in her arms. "You three make the cutest little family, I swear. And oh, the cutest babies! Ingrid is so adorable, and you're going to have two more little ones that are just as adorable as her!"

Lucy laughed quietly at the former barmaid's enthusiasm. "I suppose so."

Mira sat in silence for just another moment, looking down to Ingrid in her lap who was fiddling with a small soft toy and giggling when she dropped it to the ground. She was so precious that Mira almost wished Blake was younger, but at the same time she didn't, because at nearly four, he was a handful to say the least. If she needed her baby fix, she had Ingrid and then Emery and Ellis. If she needed her cuddle fix, well… She had her boys for that. As much as Laxus would hate to admit it, he enjoyed their family cuddle time, as long as no one else knew about it.

She looked back up to see Lucy holding out a dress for her opinion, and she shook her head. Mira didn't need to see it on the blonde to know that it wouldn't quite suit Lucy. Silently watching as Lucy put the dress back on the rack, a frown etched on her lips. Lucy saying things were perfect just wasn't enough for her. She needed more. She needed to know more about her favourite couple of the week… Or month. Or whatever.

"So what is Bickslow like?" Mira asked as the blonde continued her search for a ball gown.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I just mean that he's obviously changed a lot since everything has happened, and you're the one who obviously sees him the most since you live together and are actually together now," Mira said slowly. "None of us have really seen much of him lately, or you two together actually, apart from breakfast last week, but he's definitely different. He almost seems… Happier."

Lucy looked over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised. Had Bickslow really changed as much as Mira thought, and maybe as much as everyone else thought? Lucy had barely even talked to Bickslow before she'd woken up next to him – literally – so she'd really only seen him in that world. She knew that he'd changed, because to an extent, she had watched him change, just like he had watched her change and in more than one way.

But changing, or maybe it was growing, was expected when something like that happened to a person. How could you not change when your entire world and everything that you knew about it was basically taken and turned on its head?

To an extent, they'd had to change. They'd had no choice. They'd had to adapt to their new lives and their new roles, and in that world, it was primarily as parents.

But was Bickslow really all that different? Was she all that different too? In truth, it had been long enough and enough had happened that Lucy had long since stopped paying attention to the way things had changed or even noticing the differences. She just didn't see the point in it much, instead just embracing all of it. There was no point in dwelling on the past, after all.

If Lucy thought about it though, she could see that Bickslow did seem happier. She swore she could remember a conversation not too long ago where Bickslow had said he really was happy with the way things with her. With her, and Ingrid, and the baby turned babies. He hadn't expected to be as happy as he was in that world and with that life, especially not so soon, but he was definitely happy. Lucy knew he was, and she knew that she felt the same way.

So maybe they had both changed drastically. But was it a bad thing? Lucy didn't think so. Not in the slightest. Things were truly perfect to her. Ingrid was perfect, being pregnant was perfect (finally), and Bickslow was perfect. With a smile tugging on her lips, Lucy shrugged as she softly said, "I suppose he is." He was especially happy those days, even Lucy had to admit that. Sighing almost dreamily as she continued to slowly browse the dresses, Lucy continued, "He's uh… He's actually really sweet though. And he's really kind, and he's so great with Ingrid that I think he's better with her than I am. And he's just… He's just…"

Mira giggled at the blush that crept onto Lucy's cheeks. "He's just…?"

"He's just amazing, and I really don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for Bickslow, especially with everything that's been happening with the twins."

"Aw, he sounds like he's really as full of surprises as he seems," Mira crooned.

Lucy held out a dress to Mira and silently awaited her opinion, and upon received what she had deemed the nod of approval after trying on countless dresses already, Lucy turned and headed back towards the dressing room. Had Bickslow always been full of surprises? Yes, yes he had, and Lucy had realised that pretty quickly. She'd found it more than enjoyable over the months to see the other side to Bickslow though, and he probably enjoyed seeing the side of her that only existed around him too. At that point, Lucy just liked to believe that they brought the best out in each other.

With the curtain closed behind her and the dark red dress sitting on the hook, she quickly began to slip out of her clothes to try the dress on. An almost devilish smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as she heard Mira quietly talking to Ingrid. "You know… I think Bicks would probably kill me for telling you this," she called out from within the change room, only raising the volume of her voice enough to travel to the lounge that was really only a few feet away from her anyway. "But every night before we go to bed, we usually uh, talk about our days, right? And he does this thing where he'll always rest his head on my belly for a little while. We won't even talk sometimes though. Sometimes I'll just be reading and he'll be there because he says he likes to be close to them, or he'll occasionally just talk to them and tell them they need to stay happy so he can stay happy."

"Oh my goodness. That is so precious! How long has he done that?"

Lucy giggled as she struggled with the dress. "Basically right from when we found out I was pregnant. It's quite adorable, really."

"So adorable." Mira couldn't keep the smile from her face as she pictured the two of them in bed with Bickslow resting on Lucy's belly. She realised her imagination wasn't doing her justice though. Sure, in her head, it was cute as all hell, but the real thing was bound to be a million times cuter. All Mira had to do was find a way to see it… "You two are just so cute together though!" she was gushing suddenly as she looked back down to Ingrid, her mind, for once, not picturing the future babies from her new favourite ship. "You're gonna fall in love and it's just going to be so cute!" She was absolutely and positively convinced that if Bickslow were to in fact fall for anyone, it would be Lucy. She just had to wait.

"Uh…"

Mira frowned towards the curtain. "What? You don't think you two will get there?" It had to happen. Mira needed it to happen.

"Well, that's not exactly it…" Lucy slowly came out of the dressing room with her face a colour that probably matched the dress she was wearing. Looking to the confused woman just in front of her, Lucy quietly said, "We're kind of already there…?"

Mira only blinked at her as the words only floated around her head, their meaning not quite setting in yet.

Sighing, Lucy's hands came together in front of her and she looked down to them. "Bickslow told me yesterday that he loves me." She looked up just to see Mira's eyes widen in shock, before she continued with, "And I said it back."

The squeal (if that was what you could call it. Lucy wasn't quite sure since it really just sounded like a high pitched jumbled mess of words that couldn't be formed) that fled Mira's mouth had Lucy wincing slightly. "You did?!" she shrieked, not noticing the way the infant in her arms was wriggling and looking down to the toy she'd once again dropped. "You mean you two are already in love with each other?!"

"Yup."

"When did that even happen? Oh my gosh, this is perfect! You two are just… Gah, I love it so much!"

Lucy laughed at the over excited woman in front of her. She knew she should have expected a reaction like that. It was Mirajane Strauss, after all. "As to when… Well, that's a little complicated." Lucy didn't think Bickslow would appreciate Mira finding out about how he'd apparently felt for a considerably long time. He would never hear the end of it if that happened. Smiling softly as she looked down herself and to the flowing fabric pooling slightly on the ground, she said, "But yeah, it is pretty perfect. Now… What do you think of this dress?"

It only took Mira a few moments, thankfully, to calm down, and only after Lucy took her daughter from Mira's arms to calm her down and get her to stop crying (it was yet another day where the seven-month old was being incredibly fussy for reasons she had yet to determine, but she wasn't crying as much that day… So far) did the former barmaid finally remember what they were there to do in the first place. "Oooh! Yes!"

"Yeah? You like it?" Lucy asked as she did just a little twirl for the white haired woman. Lucy actually adored the dress – the colour was a nice deep red that still made her think of a certain someone's eyes (she had stated on many occasions when she'd been half asleep that she was glad Ingrid got Bickslow's eyes), it had the wide strip of fabric going over one shoulder, and it was most importantly comfortable, even if it was a little heavy with all of the layers in the flowing skirt. Plus, it didn't totally hide her little bump, that wasn't really that little, but it also wasn't tight enough that it was very incredibly obvious. It was still obvious, with the way the fabric cinched under her bust and accentuated the swell of her belly, but that was fine. After all, she was nearly three months along and having twins. She was gonna be showing, and she just didn't really care anymore.

There was literally no way to hide it anymore.

"I love it!" Mira exclaimed excitedly before that frankly terrifying gleam set in her eyes. "And I think Bickslow will love it too."

Lucy rolled her eyes, but she couldn't keep the blush from tinting her cheeks. Part of her actually hoped that he liked it, even though she knew she probably shouldn't really care about whether or not he did. If she was going to wear that dress to the gala at the end of the week, which she was because she loved the dress and she thought it looked great on her if she had to be perfectly honest, then it would be because she wanted to and because she liked it. Not because Bickslow did, but because she did.

But she still liked to think that he would. She couldn't help but think back to the time where he'd made her put on the damn wedding dress they'd found – and broken the zip on – where he'd been just a little speechless for a short moment from seeing her in it. Even when they hadn't been together and Bickslow hadn't even realised how he really felt, she'd felt incredibly flattered at the time.

Shrugging, she turned to head back into the changing room to take the dress off. "Maybe he will," she said. If anything at that point, she was hoping he would like it now.

Bickslow sat the laptop down on the kitchen counter and opened it up, then quickly typed in Lucy's password for it and turned to go to the fridge, paying no attention to what was already open on the screen.

His meeting with Makarov and Laxus had gone surprisingly well. It had been a little uncomfortable at times, but he felt incredibly relieved because of it too. Laxus had been right; all Makarov had wanted to do was talk, and that was all they'd done. All Makarov had wanted was to make sure one of his most important employees (how Bickslow could be important, he actually had no idea. From what Bickslow could tell, his team of minions on another floor did most of the lawyering for the company) was doing okay, along with his family.

At first, Bickslow had reluctantly explained the entire situation to Makarov. He hated having to bring up and remind himself of all that had happened with Lucy at first, especially when Laxus was hearing about a good majority of what had actually been going on too. Laxus had only known the bare minimum.

But Bickslow had realised that talking about all of it, now that it was behind them and things were looking up, was a good thing. It had helped him remember that things were okay now.

There had also been another upside to talking to Makarov and Laxus about everything and explaining all of his absences, apart from not getting fired. Makarov was giving him some time off so he could spend some more time with his family, and Bickslow was sure it was the best thing that could've happen that day. He'd be able to finish work a few hours earlier every day, and he'd get the days off when he needed them, whether it was to go to any of Lucy's appointments or to take care of his daughter when Lucy was either having the odd day where she spent more time sitting on the bathroom floor or she just needed some time to get some rest, or for any other reason.

It was great for Bickslow, because the less time he was away from Lucy, the less he stressed about something happening to her, the babies, or even Ingrid when he wasn't there. He would much rather spend just a few more hours of each day with his family than spend it sitting in his office or going to some of his afternoon meetings. The only stipulation to being able to get some time off every day to spend it at home, was that he had to make sure he did his work at home. Bickslow could deal with that.

So when Makarov had said he could have the afternoon off on that day, finishing at two instead of his now usual time of three o'clock, Bickslow had jumped at the chance. Coming home that day though, Bickslow had found himself just a little disappointed that Lucy and Ingrid weren't home, but he figured she was just out shopping like she said she'd be.

It was only when he'd been home for a little over half an hour did he realise that he'd left his laptop at work in his attempt to get home and out of his damn work clothes. Or at least, some of them. Like the tie, and the jacket. The rest he could deal with.

Turning back to the open laptop finally and kicking the fridge shut behind him and twisting the cap from the bottle of water he'd taken out, he finally went to open up the internet browser on the computer to go to his emails. He hadn't actually checked them at all that day, but he knew he had a whole lot of them, and he'd have to respond to at least a few of them. Though, if he had another email from Natsu asking if it was safe to go visit Lucy and not get kicked by her and punched by him, then Bickslow was probably going to respond with something that was less than pleasant.

It was only when Bickslow sat down on the stool in front of the computer and actually looked to what was open did all thoughts of checking his emails go out the window. He almost choked on the water he was trying to swallow when he read the words on the page, and his eyes went wide when he felt his mind completely shutting off and mindlessly reading the words when he couldn't look away.

…He watched her writhe under his ministrations, clutching at the sheets and his shoulders, and her head shaking side to side before she sunk her teeth into the pillow. She bit down with so much force to muffle her screams that he feared that she would rip through the fabric of it…

He just couldn't stop reading the words on the page, and he found himself scrolling down to continue reading what he quickly realised was another masterpiece involving the characters that were essentially based on himself and Lucy in their old world. His pants got tighter with the more he read, and Bickslow was suddenly glad that no one else was there to realise he was getting impossibly turned on by something he couldn't tell which Lucy had written.

Bickslow wasn't even sure what it was he was reading, apart from the obvious where it was the character based on him sleeping with the character based on Lucy, but he loved it. And he was far too enraptured by the words on the screen that he was only pulled from his daze when he heard his front door opening.

He quickly got up from the stool and slammed the laptop closed just as Lucy walked in the door with Mira and Ingrid following behind her, and he almost knocked over the open bottle of water as he moved around to the end of the counter. He grinned as they walked in, and he did his very best to act like nothing was wrong at all. He was pretty screwed if anyone wanted to get to the fridge behind him though, because there was no way in hell he was moving.

"Hey, honey," Bickslow greeted, only getting a suspicious and surprised glance from the blonde as she placed the groceries down on the opposite end of the island counter. "Enjoy your day?"

"I guess," Lucy mumbled. She looked over her shoulder and watched Mira silently take Ingrid down into her nursery, the infant asleep in her arms then. "What are you doing home? It's only just gone three o'clock."

"Uh, well remember how I said Makarov was coming in for a meeting this morning? It was specifically with me because I needed to explain all of that time off over the last couple of months and all, but I…" He trailed off as Mira walked back into the living room then and only cleared his throat as he looked down to the marble counter.

Lucy slowly began to unpack the groceries and lay them all out on the counter after laying the dress in the garment bag on the table. She didn't have a chance to worry about Bickslow being home early after a meeting with Makarov before Mira spoke. "So I think I'll be heading home now," Mira said with a smile as she looked back to the two in the kitchen, barely registering how uncomfortable Bickslow seemed. "Blake should be getting dropped off right about now anyway."

Lucy nodded at the former barmaid as she went to the door. "Thanks for today, Mira."

As soon as the door had closed behind Mira, and Lucy looked back to Bickslow, ready to ask him just what had happened in the meeting she was suddenly feeling anxious about, Bickslow instead quickly continued, willing himself to just get it all over and done with so he could get the hell out of the room and go deal with his problem that was just not going away. "I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want to worry, and I also didn't get fired, by the way," he said quickly, the relief instantly washing over her face as she let out a quiet sigh. "He just wanted to talk about things, so, since I didn't really have much of a choice, I had to tell him about the situation and all. But he's given me some time off every day, just a couple of hours, and the days when I need to take them for your appointments or just whatever reason. So yeah… Nothing to worry about at all."

"Oh. Well that's good then," Lucy said softly. Picking up the bottle of tropical juice she had been addicted to for the last week and a half, she slowly moved along the counter to begin putting the groceries in the fridge. When Bickslow made a point of moving around the opposite side where the stools were, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him when she picked up on the way he was acting. "Why do you look so guilty though?"

"Guilty? I'm not guilty of anything."

"You're being weird, Bicks. First you close the laptop as soon as I get home like I'm your mother or something and I just caught you—" She quickly cut herself off when she looked back down to the closed laptop on the bench, and then up to Bickslow with eyes wide and her face and ears feeling incredibly hot.

Lucy could remember what she'd left open on the computer. She'd found it that morning before Mira had come over so they could go out for lunch and then go dress and grocery shopping together. She'd only been looking for a hint of inspiration for something to get her creative juices flowing, but instead she'd found something she almost wished she hadn't. Just because it was making her hate the fact that she literally wasn't allowed to have sex for the next two weeks.

She'd been just a little embarrassed to open the door slightly flushed, but she'd also been relieved that Mira had arrived and had pulled her from her daze where she was only wondering how accurate her other self's story was. She couldn't help it if she was curious.

She didn't think Bickslow would ever read it though. Hell, she hadn't really wanted Bickslow to read it. But now... Now Lucy was more than certain that Bickslow had been reading it, and that was almost mortifying. "You um… On the computer…"

Bickslow blinked, and lifted a hand to run through the hair at the back of his head. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Lucy might have read it too, because he'd been too preoccupied with wondering just which Lucy had written it in the first place. Knowing that Lucy had read it too though was really making the entire situation much for difficult for Bickslow. Much more difficult indeed.

"Uh… Yeah. It was open and I needed to check my emails and then I just um…" He cleared his throat as he looked down to the groceries on the counter. "I might have read just a tiny part of it. Just to uh… See what it was."

"Bicks… How much did you read?"

"Barely any of it."

Lucy frowned. She knew Bickslow, and she knew that there was no way he'd have been able to read just a tiny bit of it. She'd barely been able to stop reading it, so she really doubted Bickslow would have been able to. "Bickslow," she said firmly.

Damn it… He cleared his throat again, knowing full well that he wasn't going anywhere until he said just how much he'd actually read. He already knew it was going to embarrass the living hell out of Lucy, if not himself which would truly take a lot. So quickly, he mumbled, "I got up to the part where you were getting handcuffed to the bed." The way her face seemed to get even redder and how she seemed to be wanting to hide herself within the fridge as she went back putting the groceries away had Bickslow smirking. He was quickly realising it was an opportunity he just couldn't waste. "Which, by the way, I really didn't think you'd be into, but hey, you'd be surprised what I'm into as well."

"I'm… I'm not!"

"Whatever you say, Cosplayer," he chuckled. Bickslow was, of course, aware that his Lucy wasn't into those kind of things. Or at least, she didn't know if she was because she was far too innocent for that. He could still tease her about it of course, because that's what he did. So as she made a point of avoiding looking at Bickslow, only keeping her eyes down as she unpacked the bags and then placed everything in the cupboards or the fridge, Bickslow took that opportunity to finally take his leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to go take care of."

There was a shower with his name on it right down the end of the hall, and some very detailed mental images that he was sure he'd never get out of his head again. Or at least for the next two weeks. And of course, he was still counting down until her next appointment, much like Lucy was, but he didn't know that.

Not yet, anyway.