Chapter 78

"Rose Marie."

"Sounds like Rosemary..."

"What's wrong with that? Rosemary sounds pretty, too."

"She's not an herb, shrimp. Vetoed. How about Anne Marie?"

"No. Tracy Anne?"

"Nah. Stacy?"

"I don't like Stacy." Levy sighed as she played with her husband's hair. "Lacey?"

"Sounds like a dog's name." Gajeel scoffed, snuggling further into his little wife's arms as his head rested on her chest. He gently rubbed her stomach, where he could feel their daughter kicking against his palm. They were lying in bed together, and it was well past midnight. But Levy was having trouble sleeping because the baby was being too active. Being the good husband he was, Gajeel was staying awake with her until she could fall asleep again. "Liza?"

"My mother's name?" Levy tilted her head in surprise.

"I like Elizabeth. Could call her Liza for short." Gajeel said around a yawn.

"That's sweet." Levy giggled cutely. "But I'm honestly not a big fan of Elizabeth." Gajeel just hummed against her. "What was your mother's name?"

"Emily." He sighed softly against his wife. Mavis, she was using her nails to scratch his head and it felt so fucking nice. "Emily May Redfox."

"What was she like?" Levy asked quietly. She'd not heard much about Gajeel's mother, but she'd seen a few pictures. She was tall and slender, but still quite small compared to someone like Metalicana. But then again, Metalicana towered over everyone, even Gajeel, and his bulky frame only made him seem even larger. She had a gentle face, which helped soften Metalicana's harsh features in Gajeel, and she was where Gajeel got his unruly black hair from. Her hair had been long and wavy, reaching almost to her knees. Gajeel had gotten his sharp, angular eyes from his father, but the coloration from his mother. Her eyes were large and gentle and full of life. Every picture Levy had seen, she'd been smiling as if she was the happiest woman in the world.

"She was incredible." The honesty in Gajeel's voice made her smile. "Everyone loved her. She was the nicest person to ever walk the earth, I think. Always went around helping people, doing charity work." He paused and took a deep breath. "She was the best mother I could have ever asked for. I went to her anytime something was bugging me, and she always made me feel better. She didn't baby me or anything... but she was understanding and caring."

"How did she... um, you know..."

"Die?" Gajeel sighed. "She... got sick. Leukemia. I was twelve when she passed." Levy felt his grip on her tighten slightly. "I didn't understand back then. I just knew she was sick. But I thought she'd get better. And then one day... my old man rushed me to the hospital. And I saw her hooked up to all kinds of machines and she looked so... it was bad, shrimp." He breathed out shakily as he recalled that horrible day. "But she put on a big smile for me and my old man... gave us both this big hug that was way stronger than it should have been for as weak as she was. I remember her shaking. She was scared. She didn't want to go. But she knew she was leaving and she just... smiled and said it was okay and that she loved us so much. And then she was gone and..." And Gajeel was crying now...

He didn't talk about his mother much for a reason. It still hurt him deeply to dig up those memories. He cried against his wife's chest, holding her and their unborn daughter close as his silent tears fell. Levy hugged him tightly, sniffling as she cried her own tears. She could feel his pain as if it were her own, and she felt so truly horrible for him. She'd been too young to fully understand her parents' deaths but Gajeel... he was old enough to know what death was... and he'd had to watch his mother go right in front of him.

They stayed that way for a time, even after their tears had dried. They just held each other close and clung to the comfort the other provided. Gajeel knew Levy had never actually seen him cry before, but he couldn't bring himself to care. This was his wife. He could be... vulnerable around her. He could be weak around her. And she consoled him just like he would have consoled her if their positions were reversed. He found himself thinking just how lucky he was to have her in his life. He'd be lost without her.

"Emma." Levy's quiet voice broke the long silence, and Gajeel looked up at her in question. She gave him a small, gentle smile. "Emma Leigh Redfox."

"After my mother?" Gajeel asked in awe. Levy nodded. It wasn't an exact name match, but it honored his mother perfectly, and it was a beautiful name. But... "Are you sure?"

"I was thinking of it before... and I really loved it. I love it even more now." she nodded happily. She'd been looking at baby girl names for weeks, ever since they found out the gender, and Emma Leigh had been in her top three since she came across it. It was cute and a modern version of Emily. What's more, she adored the name Emma on its own. Now that it could be used to honor Gajeel's mother... oh, she knew it was the perfect name for their baby girl. And Gajeel's bright smile told her that he loved it, too.

"Emma Redfox. Emma Leigh Redfox." he tested the name out. "Emma." Yes, he was in love with it, too. "Shrimp, you're fucking perfect, you know that?" Levy giggled lightly at him, but it ended in a quiet yawn. Gajeel smiled lightly at this, noticing the taps against his palm had stopped. "She's stopped kicking. Think you can sleep now?"

"I sure hope so." Levy sighed, snuggling further into the pillows surrounding them. "Lucy and Juvia are coming over for breakfast. I'm going to tell them about the baby... about Emma."

"Finally done avoiding them, huh?" Gajeel sighed with a smile. She nodded sleepily. "They'll understand, shrimp. Don't worry."

"I know." she sighed back, her eyes starting to droop. "Gajeel... thank you for telling me about your mother. I know it had to be hard to talk about."

"It is... she would have loved you, you know." he told his wife quietly. He knew without a doubt that his mother would have adored Levy, and that she was smiling down at them from heaven.

"I would have loved to meet her." Levy sighed happily, hugging her husband's head gently. "Good night, Gajeel. I love you."

"I love you, too, shrimp."

"Oh! S-sorry, boss, we didn't know you'd still be here." Lucy apologized, surprised when Gajeel was the one to open the door to their suite that morning. It was so odd, seeing the boss in anything but a suit these days. He was wearing some lounge pants and a tight black tank-top, and he looked like he'd just woken up... which was odd, because he usually was in his office by now.

"I'm fixin ta leave soon." Gajeel said around a yawn. "Come on in. Shrimp's almost done cookin." He gestured for Lucy and Juvia to come inside, and then he closed the door and walked off to go get changed. Since nothing big was going on, aside from the whole serial killer thing that was being worked on, and he had no appointments today, he could go into his office whenever he liked to do his paperwork. After staying up late last night, he'd thought it was a good idea to sleep in a bit.

"Hi, guys!" Levy cheered happily from the kitchen as the girls approached. She was cooking at the stove that was in the island in the kitchen, so her lower half was hidden fairly well, and she planned to keep it that way until it was time for the reveal. "Make yourselves comfortable. Breakfast is almost ready."

"It smells delicious." Juvia hummed in delight as she helped the heavily pregnant Lucy to sit down at the dining table. She was about seven months along now, and it was getting very difficult for her to sit and stand. Levy was starting to relate.

"Mavis, you weren't kidding about the renovations, Levy. It looks gorgeous in here." Lucy said in awe as she looked around. It looked like a house, even though it was really two combined suites in the middle of a large mansion. It was homely, and Levy's touch was everywhere from the paintings on the walls to the small bookshelves scattered about. It was really nice.

"Thank you. Oh, the designer did such a wonderful job." Levy smiled brightly. She absolutely loved the suite now. It felt like a home... and that's what it was now. Their home. "And Gajeel, he was so thoughtful! He had them put in a reading room for me."

"Aw, that's so sweet of him." The girls crooned together.

"Oi, oi! Don't go tellin people I'm sweet. I got a reputation to uphold, ya know." Gajeel grumbled lightly when he walked out of their bedroom, fully dressed in a suit and fixing his tie. He frowned at Lucy and Juvia. "That ain't leavin this room, got it?" he warned lightly. The girls giggled but nodded. They, of course, knew how Gajeel was around Levy, having basically watched the entirety of their relationship from the beginning. Gajeel rolled his eyes as he approached his wife. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss, ignoring the 'awws' coming from Lucy and Juvia. "I'll be back around lunch, shrimp. You know where ta find me if ya need me." he told her softly. Levy smiled with a small blush and nodded. One more soft kiss, and Gajeel was heading out the door.

"He's really mellowed out." Lucy giggled when the Don was gone. "I never thought I'd see the day he became a doting husband."

"Juvia always hoped he would find his match." Juvia added with a smile. She'd been in the family the longest out of all of them, and had grown up with Gajeel, Natsu, Gray, and the others. She'd always been friends with Gajeel, it seemed, and she was so happy that he'd found his happiness.

"Breakfast is ready." Levy hummed, looking into the dining room. "But I need you guys to do me a favor before I serve it." This earned some confused looks, but they nodded. "Close your eyes, please." She waited until they were closed before approaching the dining room. She set their plates down in front of them, then took a step back, shifting nervously. "Okay, now... don't hate me for this... but open your eyes, please." She requested. Confused, the girls did as told, their eyes first landing on their plates of food. Why would food make them hate her? They looked to Levy in question, and their eyes went wide at what they saw.

Levy Redfox stood in front of them, wearing a light-blue blouse and a white skirt. The blouse was tight... and it very clearly showed off her prominent baby belly. She was so obviously pregnant...

"I... uh, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys." Levy said quietly when shocked silence prevailed. "B-but I couldn't tell anyone, even you. It's dangerous for me... i-if any of Gajeel's enemies learns about this... I'll be in danger. I'm so sorry, guys."

"I... L-Levy, we understand. This is just... wow. This is a big shock." Lucy was the first one to find her voice. They understood, of course, why they weren't told. They'd even expected something like this to happen if and when she did get pregnant, just because of who her husband was. But that didn't make it any less shocking to find out about it.

"Oh, Levy is having a baby!" Juvia found her voice now, and she squealed happily. "Juvia is so happy for you!"

"How far are you?" Lucy asked, her shock dissolving and a smile coming to her face. Her best friend was having her first baby! And shortly after Lucy had her baby, it seemed.

"A little over five months." Levy smiled in relief upon finding that they weren't mad. She put her hands on her stomach lovingly. "It's... it's a girl. We're having a little girl."

"How wonderful! Oh, what joy!" Juvia sang, bouncing in her seat with her joy.

"I'm so happy for you." Lucy smiled, opening her arms to Levy, who giggled and accepted the hug from her friend. Juvia joined in happily. When the hug ended, they started breakfast, talking nonstop about babies as they ate happily. Levy could only smile from ear to ear, overjoyed to finally be able to talk to her friends about this. About her baby.

About Emma.

A nice long chapter for my lovely readers, yay. I love the very detailed reviews I'm getting lately. Honestly, I'm surprised at how much some people are analyzing this story and all the character growth, but I find it so flattering! Especially since you guys are picking up on subtle things I've been trying to do, like making Gajeel seem more mature and such. I'm really so happy you guys pick up on these things! And I love the analyses!

Please continue telling me what you think! The last thing I want is to grow stale here, hehe.

Oh, and that reminds me. I still want to stick to the Monday/Thursday updates. However, I do need to take a small break here. I'm falling behind due to my busy work schedule, and I just did a huge overhaul of what I'd already written down... so I basically lost about ten chapters. No worries, what I have planned is much better than what I was first working on. I do this a lot. But this was the biggest overhaul I've done in a while and it really put me behind.

So, yeah, I'm gonna disappear for a short time. No longer than three weeks, promise! If I don't post anything by mid-august, spam me with PMs, okay?

Anyways, thanks for reading! Thanks for all your support! I'll be back before you know it!

-Nerdy12