A/N: I don't even know about this chapter. Just take it.

Lucy loved taking Layla out into town with her to do errands. While it was a bit of a nuisance to cart a baby around and take care of her while also trying to do grocery shopping, every single compliment Layla received made it all worth it.

She swore, babies were magnets for little old ladies that couldn't stop gushing about how adorable they were. Natsu loved it too, because whenever he was out with them, everyone just had to comment on how much Layla looked like her father, and Natsu would wear that grin proudly like a badge of honor the rest of the day.

Every once in a while, there'd be some moron who'd ask "How old is he?" even when Layla had a little yellow dress covered with bows as well as tiny pigtails in her hair, but beyond Lucy's initial annoyance, that was okay, too, because it just meant she had an excuse to buy even more adorable, girly clothes for Layla.

Which was exactly what Lucy (plus Natsu) was doing today.

Natsu had insisted on coming, opting for them all to go do errands together rather than one of them stay home and babysit. He'd groaned as he saw Lucy hesitate at the clothing section in Magnolia's department store before taking them in to look at more baby clothes, but knew better than to argue with a mom on a mission. It's not like Layla couldn't use more clothes, anyways.

"Natsu, look!" Lucy called over to him from a rack across the way. When'd she go over there? Natsu shrugged and just listened to her beckon. "Look at this adorable dress! She's wearing this the next time we go out!" Natsu chuckled at her excitement as she fawned over the blue ruffly dress that even featured a cat's head on its front, holding it in front of Layla (who was currently sitting in her stroller, chewing on her teething star) to get a preview of just how cute the baby would look. "Happy's gonna like this one!"

"Y'know, Luce," Natsu started as he looked over her shoulder. "It's been a while since I've seen you buy cute clothes for yourself."

Lucy thought back and realized that the last clothes she'd bought for herself were maternity clothes. "Huh. I guess it has. But as long as I get to dress up my sweet little baby girl..." Lucy trailed off into baby-talk-babbles as she started tickling Layla.

"Lucy, you're so..." Natsu struggled to find the words as he ran his hands through her hair. "Gah, I love you."

"Mm, love you too, Honey," Lucy replied, grinning up at him.

"Is that a stroller I see?" They heard an older woman who had to be the age of at least 60 say from a few racks away before she was right next to them to start fawning over Layla. "Oh, let me see the darling!" she kindly asked of the couple. Of course, Lucy and Natsu grinned, the latter picking up Layla to hold for the woman to see. "She looks just like her father!" she exclaimed, just as many had done before, and brought wider smiles to the parents' faces. "You two are in that wizard guild, Fairy Tail, aren't you! Yes, I've seen you in the news and such before! I had no idea you two were together, but that's so sweet!..." the old woman rambled on.

oOo

Later that night, Natsu was climbing into bed after his wife, quick to cuddle against her.

"Hey Luce, are you sure about the clothing thing?" Natsu asked her as he rolled her on top of him. Lucy hummed in confusion. "I mean, I know how much you love shopping and buying new clothes. It just kinda seems weird that you'd just stop caring since we had Layla... If you're trying to hold back because of money, then don't. We have plenty-"

Lucy laughed. "You're always so concerned. When did you become so intuitive?"

"When I had to start thinking about you, how you felt, and how what I do affects you," he shrugged. He'd been asked that question by a lot of his fellow guild members after they'd noticed his change when he and Lucy had finally gotten together, so Natsu had figured out that answer long ago.

The celestial wizard smiled at him before pecking his nose. "I love you, too, Natsu. But seriously, I'm fine. I've still been out 'shopping' with everyone. I've still browsed. It's not that I've stopped caring about having cute clothes, it's just... Less of a concern. I'm still gonna buy new clothes every once in a while. I mean, the girls and I have been planning on doing a huge shopping spree since I started fitting into regular clothes again, but I just don't worry about it as much. Does that make sense?"

"I guess..."

"Things change in a lot of ways after having kids, Natsu, whether we plan on them changing or not. I certainly didn't think I would start caring about my closet less, but I'm sure you didn't plan to care less about fighting, did you?" Lucy asked, laying against his chest and twirling his hair between her fingers.

"Wait- What!?"

Natsu looked at her like her head had been replaced with a pumpkin and she giggled again. "You mean you haven't noticed it? You've caused a hell of a lot less brawls in the guild than before we had Layla. You've still fought people here and there, but it hasn't been near as common. I've heard people comment on it. Erza seems to be very grateful. In fact, she thanked me for getting pregnant and making you destroy the guild hall less."

The dragon slayer burst out laughing at that. "Really!? Geez, I hadn't noticed that! You'd think I would've!" Lucy just hummed in response before kissing his cheek. "This is weird," Natsu commented. "Now that you've said something... Like, I still want to fight Laxus and Gildarts and everyone, but I don't feel like I absolutely need to, either."

Lucy smiled. "We're growing up so that we can help our little girl do the same."

Natsu kissed the top of her head, and Lucy could feel his grin through the peck. "Yeah, I guess we are."

"Now let go of me, you heater. Seriously, it's fucking hot in here and your arm wrapped around me isn't helping," Lucy teased.

A/N: Just take it. I don't know

I have the next chapter basically done, so it should be going up sometime next week unless something gets in the way.

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