A/N: Hey guys! I don't have much to say except I'M GOING TO COLLEGE ON SUNDAY!
That is all! Hope you enjoy!
When Natsu and Lucy brought Layla home, they didn't think they could ever stop smiling. She was their daughter, their little bundle of joy, and every moment with her felt magical and beautiful. Neither thought they could even attempt to let their grin falter.
That is, until she woke them up at midnight, and then again at three in the morning.
As the crying resounded, the parents woke up, and when Natsu (who was quickly and silently decided upon to check on the baby with one look from an exhausted Lucy) blearily approached Layla's room, he still couldn't help but smile when he saw her. Even when he discovered that Layla was hungry both times and so Lucy needed to get up anyways and feed her.
And then similar circumstances happened again the next night.
These times, Lucy was the one to get up and see what was the matter, and just like Natsu the night before, even through her exhaustion, she couldn't help but smile, even when it turned out once that the newborn just wanted to be held by her father.
It kept happening over the next few days, and with each night, their smiles fell just a little bit. Happy had started staying with Carla and Wendy again, not being able to stand it. But Natsu and Lucy could. They could handle it, they thought.
She just had to be fed and maybe a diaper change, but it never took too long. She was never inconsolable!
Right?
"Bouncy, bouncy baby girl! Bouncy, bouncy baby girl!" Lucy cried in a sing-songy, yet frantic voice as she bounced her daughter in her arms in an attempt to calm her down. It was two in the morning, and Layla simply refused to stop crying. There also happened to be a thunderstorm raging outside, the first one since the baby had been born, so a brand-new experience for her. Currently, Natsu was searching the house for two things: Layla's pacifier and Layla's stuffed dragon. Natsu had found the toy just a few days ago, a red stuffed dragon that Natsu thought looked kind of like Igneel, and Layla had seemed to take a liking to it. Whenever Natsu waved it around her like it was flying, she always seemed to calm down.
Layla had been home for almost two weeks now, and neither parent had gotten a proper night's sleep since.
"Natsu, I really do think she might be scared of the thunder!"
"Yeah, I know that!" he called back. "I just don't know how to calm her down! Did you try feeding her again?" Natsu called from Layla's bedroom floor, where he was looking underneath her crib for a pacifier. He gave an excited yelp when he saw one finally and was quick to grab it and stand back up.
"What was that!?" Lucy shouted right back, not able to hear Natsu over the crying.
Natsu walked back in the living room. "I asked if you tried feeding her again. I'm gonna go wash this," he added, lifting up the pacifier.
"Of course I tried feeding her again! I've tried twice now! But I guess I'll try again!" Lucy conceded. "Layla, honey, are you hungry? Let's go sit down, okay?" Lucy asked as she sat on the couch to try feeding Layla for the third time since she woke up.
From the kitchen, Natsu heard Layla stop crying for just a second before spluttering and starting up again. "Here, try the pacifier!" Natsu suggested as he ran back into the living room, the pacifier clean again. While Lucy pulled her shirt back on, Natsu took Layla from her and tried putting the pacifier in her mouth, which was almost immediately spit onto the floor.
"Here, I'll take her again, you can try the dragon!" Lucy cried. Natsu nodded and swiftly passed the baby to his wife after holding her for less than a minute.
"Whoosh! The dragon is flying!" Natsu cried, making sweeping twirls around Layla with the stuffie. "Whoosh!" Layla was quiet for just a little bit, seeming like she was going to calm down and perhaps even go to sleep before a crack of lightning outside started her right back up with her crying.
The dragon wasn't working now. "Natsu, what else should we try!?" Lucy asked in desperation as she started bouncing the girl again, not having any ideas left herself.
Natsu pulled at his hair in frustration. "I don't know! We could- no, you tried that, I could- No!" Natsu gave a quick sniff, then groaned in frustration again. "And it's not a diaper change! Argh!"
"Maybe you could try holding her again? She always likes how warm you are!" Lucy offered.
"Yeah, I'll try it," Natsu agreed, taking Layla back. He held Layla close to him, doing the same kind of bouncy motion that Lucy'd been doing. She seemed to calm down after a good while, Lucy being correct in her notion that Layla loved her father's warmth. She took after Lucy in that regard. The parents sighed in relief as she seemed once again like she could fall asleep.
And then the lights flickered.
Then they were gone.
And with the sudden loss of the sight of her parents, Layla started crying again.
Lucy was quick to act, taking Layla from Natsu in order to reassure her that she was still there. "Sh, shhh, Layla. Mama's right here. Natsu, some light?" Natsu nodded, although no one could see it, and he lit his fist, casting a warm glow within the room. Layla stopped crying with a seemingly surprised hiccup when the light began to shine. Lucy turned Layla so she could see Natsu. "See, Layla? Daddy's right there! We're okay!"
Layla stared at her father. Or rather, her father's fist. She was mesmerized.
"Natsu, she stopped crying!" Lucy shouted with glee. Natsu nodded his head in acknowledgment, a huge grin splitting his face.
"I think she likes fire, Luce!" Natsu commented proudly.
"I guess she's never seen it before," Lucy agreed. "Have you really never used your magic around her until now?"
Natsu shrugged. "Guess not." He leaned closer to his daughter, holding the fire at a close distance for her to see. "D'ya like fire, Layla?" Layla hiccuped in response as she continued staring, lazily waving her arm towards it.
"Natsu, not so close!" Lucy warned.
"Relax, Luce! You really think I'm gonna let my fire hurt my precious baby girl? It's never hurt you, has it?" Lucy rolled her eyes, but had to concede that he did have very good control over his magic. Natsu focused his attention back on Layla and her fascination with his fire. "Yeah, that's pretty, isn't it? Your mama thinks so, too, even if she's acting all worried right now." Lucy scoffed, making Natsu laugh. Layla gave her sorta-grin at the sound.
The lights flickered back on just a couple minutes later. For Layla, the novelty of the fire light bouncing off her face was lost a bit, at least in favor of taking care of the hunger that suddenly struck her. Natsu laughed and put the fire out on his fist as Layla wiggled in her mother's arms while smacking her lips.
"You're finally hungry, huh? Alright, let's go eat," Lucy laughed, heading to sit down on the couch. "Let's hope this storm lets up so you don't get scared again."
"Well, if she does get scared, then she has Mommy and Daddy to protect her!" Natsu blew a kiss to Layla before the baby began eating.
"Natsu, you don't have to wait up. I'm sure she'll go to sleep just fine after she has a full tummy again." Natsu nodded, realizing that Lucy wanted it to be quiet so that Layla could fall asleep. He headed back to their bedroom, although he was too excited from being up and awake to fall asleep. Laying down on the bed, Natsu started playing with fire in his hands, seeing it in a bit of a different light knowing how fascinated his daughter was with it.
Just over a half hour later, Lucy came into their bedroom after putting a sleeping Layla in her crib. She smiled at the warm grin on her husband's face as he looked at his magic in a way she'd never seen. "You're excited, aren't you?" she asked as she crawled in next to him. "With how much she seems to love fire, I mean."
Natsu turned his grin to her, not bothering to extinguish the flames in his fingers. "She really likes it! She- she could be a dragon slayer, Luce!"
Lucy smiled at him as she cuddled up closer into his side. "Yeah, she could be. She could be a powerful fire wizard, just like her daddy." Natsu just grinned at that again.
"You haven't used your magic since we brought Layla home either, have you? She hasn't gotten to meet your spirits!" Natsu realized as he finally let the fire dissipate so he could wrap an arm around her.
Lucy's eyes widened. "Oh no, why didn't I ever think about letting them meet her!? Oh, I'm horrible!"
Natsu laughed as he pulled Lucy on top of him to hold her closer. "You are not horrible. You've just been a little preoccupied taking care of Layla. She is a newborn! Heck, I haven't even really used my magic since she arrived, and you know we're busy if I haven't burned anything down!"
Lucy laughed. "Yeah, okay. But let's not put it off! I'm sure they're eager for the news!" Natsu hummed in agreement. "We'll have to see if she can go to the spirit realm or not."
"Yeah," Natsu replied, pressing a kiss to Lucy's forehead. She smiled at him before pulling his face back towards hers and captured his lips. "We should probably go back to sleep now, Luce, shouldn't we?" Natsu asked, obviously not inclined to the idea.
"I'm too awake now from getting Layla back to bed," Lucy told him. "Aren't you?" she asked him, cuddling even closer. Natsu thought he could feel her rub a certain part of her against a certain part of him and let out a shaky exhale at the sensation as his eyes dilated. She wasn't suggesting they do that... Was she?
"Yeah, I'm not tired at all," Natsu replied simply.
"I can think of something to do if you don't wanna sleep..." Lucy told him, dragging her fingers in random patterns around his face and neck.
"Like what?" Natsu asked, still not wanting to misinterpret her and push her into sex while she was still healing.
Lucy frowned and sat up. "Oh come on, Natsu! I've never had to work so hard to get you to pounce on me!"
"So you do want to," Natsu didn't bother hiding his grin now, but he still hesitated. "You aren't still healing?"
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Damn, I appreciate how much you care for me, but you've been annoying to try and get into bed since I became pregnant! We haven't had sex in almost five months and I want to goddamnit!" Natsu blinked at her tirade before bursting out laughing, covering his eyes with his arm as the giggles shook him. "What's so funny!?" Lucy demanded. Natsu moved his arm from his eyes after he stopped laughing and Lucy saw how heated they were. He was now practically exuding desire and after merely a second, Natsu had flipped them over, holding himself above her and staring at her with that look and that smirk and oh God she hadn't realized just how much she missed this. "Okay, but you still have to be a little gentler than you used to be! It's only been two weeks since..."
Natsu smirked before diving down to start sucking at her neck. "Will do," he told her in between kisses. "I want to feel, kiss, and love every bit of your body. It's been a while and I want to be able to appreciate this."
Lucy gave a shaky moan, both at his words and the fact that he had found a sensitive spot underneath her jaw. "Mmm... I've missed this," she told him before finding his lips and giving him a deep, sensual kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, too." They kissed again, each running their hands across the other person, reminding themselves how every line, curve, and bump felt. Natsu moved his hands to the edges of Lucy's shirt.
CRACK!
Lightning had hit not too far from the house, jerking Natsu and Lucy from their stupor. They laughed when they realized what happened, before diving back in for a kiss and to resume.
"WAAAAH! AAAAAAH AAAAAAH!" came the crying from Layla's room.
A/N: Thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! Have a nice day!