Chapter 41

"You look so beautiful." Lucy cooed as Levy came out of the changing room for the hundredth time that day, wearing a gorgeous white dress that flowed down her body. "I really like this one."

"Y-you think so?" Levy hummed as she looked herself over in the mirror. She looked to Juvia for her opinion.

"Juvia is... unsure. Juvia is not a big fan of empire waistlines, and Levy is a bit too... um, short." Juvia said as she pressed her fingers together nervously, hoping she didn't offend.

"I was thinking the same." Lily nodded from where he stood by the store's doors, guarding it and the girls diligently. "Perhaps something a bit more form hugging?"

"I think so, too." Levy nodded. "I look pregnant in this, anyways."

"Don't worry, ma'am, we will find something for sure." the shop owner smiled sweetly at Levy as she escorted her back to the changing room. Levy just sighed. Back to the drawing board. Who knew shopping for a wedding dress was so hard?

They ended up leaving the store two hours later without a dress, but with a sad Levy. Lucy and Juvia dragged the sad bride to be into an ice cream shop to cheer her up, Lily following along dutifully. Levy was glad that he was able to guard her on his own now, having earned the family's complete trust after the mansion attack. It was nice to see him being accepted. Not only that, but he and Gajeel really hit it off as friends, which made Levy even happier as Gajeel didn't really have anyone but her and his dad in his close social group. The rest of the family didn't count, really, as he interacted with them out of duty, not for fun.

"Don't worry, Levy, we'll find something. Hell, I bet Gajeel would even fly you out to Italy or France to get a custom made dress." Lucy giggled.

"I don't want anything too expensive... I just want to look good for him." Levy pouted. If only she was more busty or taller! And then there was the one requirement Gajeel had requested. Her mark needed to be displayed. Which meant either a backless or sleeveless dress.

This was making it more difficult to find a dress. First of all, the shop owners had to be sworn to secrecy under penalty of being silenced before she could even go to the shops. Second, the whole shop had to rented out and shut down for the day she was there. And then on top of all that, she wasn't busty enough to pull off a sleeveless style... not in her opinion. And she'd yet to find a backless dress that didn't make her feel like a slut. Oh, what to do!

"Levy knows Mr. Boss will love anything Levy wears." Juvia assured her with a sweet smile. "Just find something Levy likes, herself."

"Yea, just find something you like." Lucy nodded in agreement. "Besides, there's no rush. You have plenty of time to find a dress, so don't worry so much."

"Yea, I guess you're right." Levy sighed. She smiled at her friends. "Thanks, guys. I really don't know what I'd do without you." They smiled and hugged her with happy giggles.

"Anything for you, Levy." Lucy smiled. "Now come on, let's get some ice cream!"

A few minutes later, the girls were sitting outside the ice cream shop, Lily standing nearby and keeping watch. You couldn't tell from looking at him that he was a body guard, or that he was armed head to toe with various weapons, as he was just in cargo shorts and a simple white shirt. He was holding up a newspaper, acting like a simple civilian, but his eyes were always looking out for danger.

And then he gave a signal, which startled Levy a bit. She'd not expected any trouble in this outing. But Lily made eye contact with her for three seconds, which was his signal that something was about to happen. If he'd nodded while doing that, it meant danger, but he hadn't. So Levy was a bit wary but knew nothing dangerous was coming her way. Still, she jumped a bit when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Doctor McGarden?!" Levy knew that voice too well. She turned around to find a familiar figure standing not far off. It was strange to see Wendy in something other than scrubs and a doctor's coat, but there she was in a cute sun dress and sandals. "It is you!" the younger woman hurried over, looking beyond relieved to see Levy alive. "Sweet Mavis, what happened? You up and disappear one day and nobody seems to notice or care! Was it because of that incident at the hospital?! Are you okay?!"

"W-woah, Wendy, please calm down." Levy laughed nervously to the hyper doctor. "I'm okay, Wendy. Nothing dangerous is going on, I just... have a lot of personal stuff going on right now. So I took a leave."

"What a relief!" the girl sighed happily. "You know, there were rumors after you left! That you were involved with dangerous people. I didn't believe them, of course. Not one bit." Levy just gave a small, nervous laugh at that, but the girl didn't catch it. "Anyways, I'm so glad you're okay! Do you know when you'll be back?"

"I, um, I'm not certain. I hope it's soon but... we'll see." Levy answered vaguely. A small cough behind her caught her attention and she blushed a bit. "Oh! Sorry, where are my manners? Um, Wendy, these are my friends, Lucy and Juvia. Girls, this is Doctor Wendy Marvell. She works in the maternity ward with me." Levy introduced. Wendy gave a cute bow and a sweet smile.

"Nice to meet you! Although... you two look familiar. Have we met?" Wendy cocked her head.

"We've both been through the maternity ward." Lucy giggled. "Levy delivered my daughter."

"Juvia's, too." Juvia added with a smile.

"Ah, so that's why!" Wendy giggled. She looked at her watch and frowned. "I'm so sorry to run, but I'm almost late to my date."

"Still seeing Romeo?" Levy teased, watching the younger woman blush.

"Yes. He's wonderful! I wish you could meet him." she smiled through her blush. "I'm so glad to know you're okay. Please let me know when you'll be coming back, as soon as you find out!"

"Will do." Levy giggled, waving to the young doctor as she ran off. She looked to her friends with a wry smile. "Well that was interesting."

"Indeed. But that does bring up the question, why haven't you gone back yet?" Lucy questioned her.

"Er, well... so much has happened, and there's still so much to do. I just... want to let everything settle down first." Levy told them. "I really miss working, but I just don't think I can balance it with everything else that's going on right now. M-maybe after the honeymoon..."

"After the honeymoon, Levy might become a patient, herself." Juvia teased, giggling as Levy turned a bright shade of pink. She heard Lily snicker quietly, too.

"Speaking of... has anything interesting happened lately?" Lucy's mischievous voice had Levy wary.

"I-I, uh..."

"The boss has been in an awfully good mood lately, you know." Lucy continued with an evil grin.

"And Juvia saw hickies on Mr. Boss the other day..."

"I really don't wanna have this conversation in public." Levy whined, but to no avail. The girls were teaming up on her.

"Did Mr. Boss finally get laid?" Juvia asked which an evil chuckle. Levy's face was bright red as she looked between them. They wouldn't let her go without an honest answer, that much was obvious.

So she gave a small nod.

Girlish squeals could be heard a mile away. Lily flinched a bit and rubbed at his ear from the sheer volume.

"Go on, then! Spill! I want details!" Lucy demanded. "When? Where?"

"Um..."

"Is he pierced? You know, down there?" Lucy continued. "How was it?!"

"L-Lilyyyy..." Levy managed to whine out between the rapid fire questions. "Evacuation plan Bravo!" Instantly she was scooped up by the rather amused Lily, who quickly ran off with her in his arms, much to Lucy's dismay.

"Hey! How are we getting home?!"

"I'll send Virgo!" Levy shouted back as she was quickly ushered into a black car that appeared out of nowhere, Lily hopping in next to her and ordering the driver to go. Levy cracked up laughing as soon as they were far away from the girls, and Lily joined in.

"I must say, that was most amusing!" Lily laughed loudly. "And their faces!"

"Oh! That was priceless!" Levy actually had to wipe a tear from her eye, she was laughing so hard. "But thank you, Lily. You're a life saver!"

"Anytime, my Lady." he chuckled. "Anytime."

Gajeel grunted as he was knocked back into the pole. He just barely managed to dodge the punch aimed for his face, rolling out of harm's way at the last second. He stood up and faced his father with a scowl. The old man was going easy on him... and he didn't like it.

"Dammit, pops, fight me for real!" Gajeel growled as he countered, throwing his own punches and cornering the Don in the ring. Metallicana just gave him a smug grin and quite easily dodged his son's next attack, moving so that Gajeel was now the cornered one.

It's not as if Gajeel was a bad fighter. By all means, he was one of the best when it came to hand to hand combat. But everything he knew he'd learned from his father... and the old man still had some tricks up his sleeve.

With Gajeel cornered and Metallicana bearing down on him full force, the winner was quickly declared. Gajeel huffed angrily as the bell chimed, signaling the end of the fight. He always lost to his father. He knew, of course, that he was one of the best. But his old man was the best.

"Yer improving, boy." Metallicana chuckled as he slung a towel around his neck. Even in his old age, the don was ripped. Thick layers of muscle covered every inch of his body, and he made sure it stayed that way with daily exercise... including sparring against his son. "Work on yer footing more. I can easily tell what yer next move is."

"Yeah, yeah." Gajeel sighed, but he took it to heart and made a mental note to fix that. He knew his old man meant only the best for him. With a sigh, he hopped out of the ring and headed for the lockers to take a shower. Didn't want to suffocate his fianceè with his stench when he went home.

"I've been informed," Metallicana said as he followed his son to the locker room, "that yer girl is having a hard time dress shopping."

"Yeah." Gajeel sighed. "Doesn't like how the dresses either make her look short or look flat. Women are picky like that, I guess."

"Indeed they are." his father chuckled. "I wonder... yer mother was about her size. A little taller, I suppose." The don's comment had Gajeel raising a brow curiously at him. What was he getting at?

"You should ask her if she'd like to try on your mother's dress. I still have it, you know." Gajeel's eyes went wide at his father's suggestion. He'd really let Levy use his mother's dress?!

"You really mean that, old man?" Gajeel questioned, trying to hide his shock. The don just grinned at his son.

"Of course. My son is getting married to a wonderful woman. Your mother would be honored, flattered even, if she wore her dress." Metallicana chuckled at his awestruck son. "Ask her, and let me know if she's interested."

"You're home early." Levy smiled as Gajeel walked through the door. Ever since he'd learned to delegate tasks, he'd been on a fairly regular schedule, special jobs aside. He was usually home by seven, just in time for dinner, and he would be back at work by eight the next morning, making sure to take a day off here or there.

"Yea. Got a special job tomorrow, need plenty of rest." he hummed as he walked over to his tiny fianceè, who was sitting on the couch with dozens of wedding magazines spread out around her. He grinned at this, she was so eager to marry him. He gently pulled her to her feet and gave her a sweet kiss, which she smiled into before returning. "My cute little wifey." he teased lightly as he held her close. She blushed but smiled at him.

"Well, not quite. But soon." she giggled softly.

"Find a dress today?" Gajeel asked, releasing her to tidy up her magazines. Her cute pout answered his question, and he chuckled at her. "I might have a solution, shrimp." This earned him a curious look. "My old man suggested you try on my mother's dress."

"Eh? Really?" Levy asked with wide eyes, and Gajeel nodded.

"I've only seen it in pictures... but I think it would look good on you." Gajeel told her. "But... it's completely up to you, Lev. I won't be upset if you don't like it. Just... try it on?"

"Of course, Gajeel." Levy smiled sweetly at him. "Just tell me when." He smiled back at her, happy that she was willing to try it.

"Good. Now... what's this I heard about you getting extracted today?" he grinned devilishly at the tiny woman, who blushed at being caught red handed.

"I-It was an emergency... I was going to faint if Lily didn't get me out of there. I could have hit my head and died, Gajeel." she tried to play it up jokingly, but Gajeel chuckled knowingly.

"Right... what I was told was less... dramatic." he chuckled, pulling her back into his arms and tilting her chin up so she'd look him in the eye. "Levy, Levy... abusing yer power already?"

"I-I'm sorry..." Levy whined. Gajeel just gave a soft laugh.

"Why? It's a good thing, shrimp."

"Eh?"

"Look, shrimp. The way I see it, the more comfortable ya are communicating with yer body guard and going through drills like that, the better off you'll be if something dangerous really does happen." Gajeel explained with a soft smile, loosening his grip on her. He'd just been teasing her, after all. She didn't do anything wrong. "It was good practice for everyone. You, Lily, the driver."

"Really?" Levy asked in surprise. She would have thought she'd be in some kind of trouble, at least... not getting praised.

"Really. Lily told me today, that it really helped him identify weaknesses in that strategy. And the driver said he was going to work on his reaction speed." Gajeel told her. "See? Yer already filling the role of a don's wife well. It won't always be big things, shrimp. It's small stuff like this that make the family grow stronger."

"Gajeel..." Levy marveled at his words, taking them to heart. "You... really think I will be good at this? At being a don's wife?"

"Yer already good at it, Levy." he smiled at her. "Not just the stuff from today, either. You care for people, care for the family. Yer always helping others, and ya know when to put that foot down." he chuckled. "Trust me, you'll do just fine. And I'll be right there beside ya the whole time."

"Always?" Levy asked with a small smile. He chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers.

"Always and forever."

Woo! Two days in a row! I'm on fire!

I don't have much to say for this one, it was mostly filler. Sorry!

Anyways, let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

-Everythingnerd12