Bickslow woke up with a pounding headache and a dry mouth, and laying halfway down the bed. The open curtains streamed light into the room, and Bickslow had to shield his eyes the second he managed to open them. He had a sick feeling in his stomach that only managed to worsen when he rolled over and struggled to pull himself out of bed.

Perhaps treating his hangover the day before with even more alcohol hadn't been the best idea.

After sitting on the edge of the bed for a few moments, just rubbing his head and waiting for the sick feeling to subside slightly, Bickslow finally stood, first closing the blinds a bit before he decided to venture out into the hallway to see if he could actually find Lucy, because the last he remembered, he'd been using her stomach as a pillow the night before.

She was in the kitchen, chopping board in front of her and cutting up the ripe fruits into bitesized pieces. She smiled over her shoulder when she heard the footsteps. "Morning," Lucy murmured. "I didn't think you'd be up until later. You were pretty out of it."

"Yeah, well, I feel like I got hit by a train or something, and I'm not even sure why I'm awake right now," he mumbled. It was way too early for him to be awake even if he hadn't been hungover.

"Why don't you go back to bed then?"

"Because I can't spend the day with you then." He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind so he could kiss her cheek and lean on her shoulder. "Besides, I can sleep later."

"Mm, I guess so." It wasn't like Lucy had been planning on doing anything special that day anyway. If anything, she'd only been wondering when it would be acceptable to go and have a nap, since she'd only gotten up a couple hours earlier and she was already tired enough to go back to bed. She was just exhausted that morning.

If Bickslow was capable of falling asleep while standing, he was sure he would be doing it right then. Everything was just perfect - so perfect he was almost inclined to think that none of it was real - and he just didn't want that feeling to end. He was still finding it hard to believe that he'd actually reached that point at all, where everything was so great, because for a while, Bickslow really had been convinced that the day would never come where he had everything he'd ever wanted.

"I feel like this is all a dream, you know?" Bickslow said quietly. "It's not though, right? Like, we totally got married yesterday, and I'm definitely not imagining you saying you're pregnant?"

"No, you didn't imagine anything," Lucy giggled. "But I know what you mean. It does feel a bit like a dream. I assure you it is not, though."

"I'm so glad it's not. God, I can't believe it's really happening. We're actually going to have a family! Fuck, I love you so much. I really do."

"I know you do."

Bickslow's reaction to the whole thing was what Lucy enjoyed the most. He was just so excited. And Lucy was excited too, but seeing Bickslow as happy as he was right then was the second best thing to come out of it all. Everything was just falling into place.

But… There was one thing that was ruining it, and that one thing was making Lucy feel so incredibly guilty. She supposed she could just ignore it, but she knew that'd just make her feel worse - she'd kept things to herself once before and it was one of the worst decisions she'd ever made. And really, Lucy didn't want to start her marriage off by keeping secrets from her husband. She was supposed to be able to tell him things, and right then, that just meant breaking the news to her new husband that she'd purposefully avoided telling him she was already pregnant for three whole weeks.

Lucy's only hope was that he wouldn't take it too badly.

"Hey, uh…" She pushed the board back on the counter and then slowly turned around in Bickslow's arms. Perhaps I shouldn't have turned around… At least then she wouldn't have had to see him get hurt when she told him, and already he was looking at her like she could do no wrong. "I… I wanted to tell you something," she began, looking away nervously as she laid her hands against his chest. "And, I promise I was going to tell you eventually..."

"Cosplayer, you're making me nervous."

"I already knew I was pregnant before the wedding," Lucy said quickly.

Bickslow blinked, his mouth quirking slightly as he fought off his grin. "Well, I mean… I assumed as much…"

"No, I mean I knew way before the wedding."

"Oh. I see…"

Lucy noticed how his grip around her waist loosened all of a sudden and she couldn't help but grimace. That was what she'd been dreading. "I'm sorry, I am. I… I know I should've told you, but... But I was worried that, well… I was worried that I'd lose it again, and I knew that it'd devastate you and I didn't want that to happen…" She shook her head as she apologised frantically. Bickslow looking down at her with a frown hurt far more than she expected. "I'm sorry for keeping it from you again, Bicks. I really am," she whispered.

"How long did you know?" Bickslow asked.

"…A few weeks. When you got home from your last mission…"

He remained silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh, rubbing at his temple as he tried to ignore his headache that only seemed to be growing worse. It really wasn't the news he'd been expecting to hear that morning, but Bickslow found he didn't really mind that much.

On one hand, Bickslow hated that Lucy had kept it from him again. He hated that she'd even considered keeping it from him, and that she'd been able to look at him every single day for the last few weeks and still not tell him. And Bickslow couldn't help but wonder if Lucy would've bothered telling him at all if she had miscarried again. He liked to think she would, but Bickslow just wasn't sure.

But then on the other hand… Bickslow knew that he'd never quite understand how Lucy felt, and he'd never claim to know the pain she did. He knew why she'd kept it from him the first time, and he knew how scared she was of losing another baby. He couldn't blame her for being afraid of the same thing he was terrified of, even more so now that she was actually pregnant again.

But still, Bickslow just didn't care that much that Lucy hadn't told him. He could see why she'd done it. It hurt, but he got it. And with the way everything was right then, Bickslow refused to let it bother him. He was married, and he had a home, and he had his sisters back in his life, and now he had a baby on the way, too. Everything was beyond perfect, and the fact that he even had half of that still astounded Bickslow sometimes.

Bickslow just didn't see the point of dwelling on things that had already happened. All he cared about was the future he had ahead of him. That was just for the best, anyway.

"Alright then," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Are you mad at me?"

"I'm… disappointed that you waited so long to tell me."

"That's even worse!" Lucy wailed. She really would've preferred Bickslow be mad at her.

"But," Bickslow emphasised, smiling softly as he cupped her face between his hands, "it's fine. I get it. I can understand why you didn't want to tell me. And you know what? None if it matters now anyway. The only thing that matters is that this time next year, we're actually going to have a baby, and that is just so unbelievably amazing."

Lucy smiled softly. She supposed that he had a point. "I guess," she whispered. "I still should've told you."

"It doesn't matter anymore, so there's no point in stressing about it." Because Bickslow knew his wife, and he knew that stressing about trivial things was one of the things she did best, especially when it involved her feeling guilty. But from Bickslow's standpoint, it was all just unnecessary. He just wanted Lucy to see that too. "Now…" he began again, exhaling as he decided to change the subject. "I really hope you have nothing planned for the day."

"Nope. Nothing at all." Why she'd have anything planned, Lucy really wasn't sure. "Well, not unless doing nothing actually counts as plans…"

Bickslow nodded. "Excellent. And, it totally does count, because after I have a shower, you know what I'm going to do?"

"No…"

"I'm going to drag you back to bed, first make up for the fact that I completely passed out last night, and then we're going to just lie in bed and do absolutely nothing of importance for the rest of the day. Sound good?"

Lucy giggled as she stood on her toes to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "Sounds absolutely perfect." It was pretty much exactly what she'd had in mind anyway.

"Wait, so… Is that why you didn't want to go on a honeymoon?"

"Hm?"

"You said you found out before I got back from that mission," Bickslow continued, sitting up slightly just so he could adjust the pillows under his head. "And when I got back, I asked where you wanted to go for our honeymoon, but you never really answered."

"Oh, right." Lucy had completely forgotten about that conversation. She was surprised Bickslow had even remembered it. Then again, she supposed it would've been a little suspicious had it been reversed, especially since she'd always told Bickslow how she'd love to travel and see more of the world before they settled down. She should've jumped at the chance to visit far-off shores.

"So it was because you knew you were pregnant?" Bickslow asked again.

Lucy shrugged, a guilty smile on her lips as she looked to her husband sitting at the opposite end of the bed. "I wasn't sure if I'd be feeling up to travelling, so it was safer to not plan anything," she said. It wasn't even a lie. "That, and… I couldn't really think of anywhere specific to go…"

"How do you feel, though? Aren't you supposed to be all puke-y?"

"No, thank you," Lucy scoffed. She resisted the urge to throw the nearest pillow at his face. It didn't help her husband was already in possession of most of them; Lucy didn't really care to give him another one. "And I'm feeling pretty okay so far. Although… I am kind of hungry all the time… And, I'm not going to lie, I almost threw up on you in the middle of your vows."

"Fuck, I didn't think you found me that repulsive."

"Mm-hmm. Even just looking at you right now makes me feel ill."

"What a shame you're stuck with me for the rest of your life."

"I know, it's so unfortunate."

Every time Bickslow was sure he couldn't possibly fall in love with her more than he already was. It still astounded him that Lucy of all people had chosen him. He'd claim that until the day he died that he didn't deserve her, but he sure as hell wasn't complaining.

"I love you," he said, a giant grin still plastered on his face.

"I know," Lucy giggled. She was sure Bickslow had already told her that a dozen times that day alone, but thankfully, that was one phrase Lucy would never grow tired of hearing. "But… Since you love me and all, I think you should go and get me some food."

"Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm."

Bickslow sighed, shaking his head a little. So he'd resigned to being a personal slave already. Honestly, there were worse things to be. At least he was a slave to someone he actually tolerated. "Alright, fine," he sighed. Pulling himself up from the pile of pillows he'd been resting on. He was getting pretty hungry too, if he was honest. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd eaten anything either, now that he thought about it, but he had a feeling it had been at the wedding. Bickslow had mostly just been too hungover to care about eating for most of that day. "What do you want then?"

Lucy thought about it for a second. "Would you judge me if I said I just really wanted a bacon sandwich?"

"Yes. Yes, I would judge you."

"Hey, you're not allowed to judge me anymore."

"Mm, nope. Fairly certain I said I would judge you for all eternity," Bickslow insisted. Lucy only pouted and resisted throwing her sole pillow at him. "Seriously though, what do you want?"

Lucy huffed and instead hugged the pillow to her chest. How was she supposed to know what she wanted? Bickslow should know by now not to ask her that. She never had an answer. Sure, she usually did the cooking, but that didn't mean she planned what she prepared. Lucy's speciality was throwing together what they had in the house. Still, Bickslow was putting her on the spot and she couldn't think of anything but her damn bacon sandwiches. If it wasn't a craving at that point, then Lucy didn't know what it was.

"Alright, how about we go out and get something instead?" Bickslow suggested. "Are you going to be able to decide on something from a menu?"

"But then I'd have to put clothes on and get out of bed…"

Bickslow sighed again. He was already dressed, that's how long it had taken his wife just to decide that she didn't want to get out of bed. It was wonderful. "Okay, so… How about I go out and pick up something and just bring it back here?" It was a win-win for everyone. Lucy got to stay in bed, he got to go and food, and… Well, he got to feed his wife. That was always a win. She tended to be grumpy when she was hungry.

Lucy nodded in approval quickly. "Fine. As long as you hurry back," Lucy mumbled. "I don't want to miss you for too long."

"Sure," Bickslow snorted. Although he knew full well that Lucy just cared more about how his return would mean food. That was fine, though.

When Lucy had told him that it was time they went through the stack of presents sitting in their living room, Bickslow had only rolled his eyes and thrown a pillow over his head. They'd been sitting there for nearly a week. At some point, Bickslow had just stopped looking at the ungodly pile of gifts and pretended they weren't there.

Lucy, however, didn't forget about them. Well, she might've forgotten for a couple of days, but then she'd remembered that she did, in fact, have a life to get back to, and she had a list of things to do. That list just happened to include sorting out all the wedding presents that she definitely hadn't asked for.

In fact, Lucy could distinctly remember saying that she didn't want any presents at all. She hadn't wanted anything. Besides, the guild had handled almost everything with her wedding and that was more than enough in Lucy's eyes.

Of course though, it wasn't like her guild mates to actually listen to her. Oh no. So now she had a giant pile of presents to go through, and honestly, Lucy wasn't sure what to expect. Most people in the guild weren't exactly that good with gift-giving.

And so it was much to Bickslow's disappointment that he let himself be dragged out of bed at nine o'clock on a Sunday morning just to write some stupid thank you cards. He might've stuck his ground had Lucy not walked back in and started raving about how she could finally use the fancy cards she'd had stashed in her desk.

After convincing his wife to let him at least eat and shower before she tortured him, Bickslow finally sat down in front of the daunting tower of gifts. "Are these all from people in the guild?" he asked warily.

Lucy smiled as she made sure her work station was neatly organised and ready for her to begin. She'd already decided that Bickslow would be on opening duty, and she'd be on writing duty. It was just better that way. Still, she'd already peeked at a few of the presents (she definitely hadn't opened any, oh no), and judging by some of the small cards she'd seen attached to some of the presents, Lucy was certain there were at least a few gifts from people she'd never met. Or at least, the names weren't familiar.

"I don't think so," she answered. "I have a feeling Mira put an announcement about our wedding in the paper…" That, or she'd spoken to Jason from the Sorcerer. Or both. Lucy wouldn't have put it past Mira to have done both.

Bickslow sighed and shook his head. "Of course she did…" he muttered. Staring at the pile for a while longer, Bickslow finally reached for the closest one to open it and read the card. "Alright, fine. Time to get this over with."

After four hours of opening presents, they came away with multiple dinnerware sets, two sets of wine glasses for the wine they never actually drank, gift certificates for places they'd never heard of, and seven cases of various liquors that Bickslow was going to make sure he drank at some point - that, or he'd build a pretty shelf to display them all. Lucy got a new writing set from Levy, a cake baking set from Erza, complete with strawberry shortcake scented candles (which, admittedly, Bickslow thought smelled super fucking good), and an entire book full of gift certificates from the day spa in Hargeon from Evergreen, which she figured Lucy would appreciate over the coming months - which, she would.

"Come on, next one," Lucy said, flexing her hands after sealing the last envelope and adding it to the growing stack next to her. Her hand was cramping after writing so many thank you notes, but she really just wanted to get it all done and out of the way. She was thankful for all of it, but she never wanted to write another thank you note again.

Bickslow groaned as he fell back into the cushions. "What? No, come on. It's been hours," Bickslow whined. "Can't we finish this tomorrow? Let's just take a break." He had paper cuts on his hands from all the wrapping paper, and Bickslow had stopped being able to see his living room floor about twenty presents ago.

"But we're almost done!" Lucy insisted. She'd much rather take a break, too, but she knew that is she stopped then, she'd have a hard time forcing herself to get back to it. "Just think of it this way: the sooner we get this done, the sooner we never have to do this again."

"Seriously? That's your argument?"

"Well…"

Bickslow shook his head, quickly getting up from the couch and then stepping through the pile of paper on the floor. "You can finish these on your own if you want to. I'm going to go find something to eat."

"Bicks, no, come on!" Lucy almost tripped on her feet as she got up from her desk. As soon as she caught up to him, she wrapped her arms tightly around his middle and stood her ground, and she didn't need to be facing him to know that he was rolling his eyes at her. "Please, we're almost done. I promise it'll be fast."

Bickslow only stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he finally caved and let out a heavy sigh. "You're horrible, you know that?" Well, she wasn't really, but sometimes Bickslow was sure she had superpowers or something. It made him feel less weak.

"Oh, I am not. Now come on, let's get this over with. I promise I'll make it up to you once we're done."

If the kiss to his cheek and gentle nip to his ear (which sent a shiver straight down his spine) was anything to go by, Bickslow figured it was within his best interests to to get all of the wedding gift shit done as soon as possible. Lucy sure knew how to motivate him, that much Bickslow was certain of. If anything, that was her superpower.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle quietly to herself as Bickslow quickly reached for the next present after dragging him back to the living room. "Who's that one from?" she asked.

Bickslow turned the small box over in his hands, searching for any kind of label. "Not sure," he mumbled. "Doesn't say."

"Well, open it then."

"Patience, woman." There was no wrapping paper on the gift, only a simple bow tied around the narrow box. It looked more like a jewellery box than anything, and Bickslow really hoped that it wasn't some form of jewellery since he was the only one who should be buying jewellery for his wife, thank you very much. He removed the string bow and pried the lid off, revealing a single, wilted rose. "Oh. Well… That's gross."

"Hm? What is—oh." Bickslow carefully lifted the rose up by the stem just for Lucy to see what it was. She grimaced as one of the petals fell and landed on the rug. "I'm… sure whoever sent it had good intentions," she mumbled. Had they opened it a few days earlier, then it might've still been, well, alive. "Did it come with any note?"

Bickslow dropped the rose back into its box, catching one of the still sharp thorns on his thumb. "Shit."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just cut my thumb on one of the fucking thorns…" He stared at the narrow cut for a moment before sucking it into his mouth, ignoring the metallic taste and biting down to put pressure on it. What kind of asshole sends a rose with fucking thorns still on it? That just seemed stupid in Bickslow's book. "Fucker, that hurt," Bickslow hissed, pulling his hand back to stare at the still red cut for a second before shaking his hand quickly.

Lucy rolled her eyes, getting up from her desk just to fetch the box and see if there was anything else in it. Bickslow was clearly busy. She'd had paper cuts more painful that that.

There was a small note taped to the inside of the lid. "'Congratulations on your marriage. Enjoy it while it lasts,'" she read aloud. "Well, that's not cryptic at all. Still no idea who it's from, though."

Bickslow scoffed. "Probably just some old guy who's bitter his wife left him for a better fuck or some shit."

Lucy didn't even think she could disagree. Still, she'd appreciate it if people didn't take their frustrations out on them. It was unnecessary. She'd had enough go wrong in her life that she deserved to be happy, and she refused to let anyone think that they could take that away from her.

As appreciative as Lucy was for all the gifts, she didn't think twice about closing that box back up and adding it to the growing rubbish pile.

Autumn had officially begun by the time they returned the guild. It had only been a couple of weeks since the wedding, but Lucy had started to miss everyone, and she'd just really gotten tired of cooking every single day. Bickslow had put a stop to the constant take-out after they'd had nothing but that for three whole days. Really, Lucy hadn't even seen the problem. Less cooking meant less dishes, the latter of which was Bickslow's department.

She'd wanted to go back to the guild earlier, but Bickslow had put a stop to that, too. Although that was one thing Lucy had been glad for. Those extra few days had been great. They'd been able to go down to Hargeon for a weekend to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted, and then she'd even gone and seen a doctor who wasn't grumpy and named Porlyusica. Bickslow had been responsible for both of this trips, too.

Still, they'd needed to go back to the guild at some point, but after two weeks, they both agreed it was a good time to head back to the rest of their friends.

Lucy had barely walked through the doors before Happy had flown right at her, nestling right in the centre of her chest and just barely bringing a blush to Lucy's cheeks. She was way too used to that from the annoying cat that it hardly fazed her anymore. "Lushy!"

"It's good to see you, too, Happy," she laughed, rubbing the flying feline's ears.

"Did you bring me any fish?"

"Why would I… No, I didn't."

Lucy didn't get a chance to think about apologising to Happy before he quickly flew away, presumably in Natsu's direction. "Natsu! Lucy didn't bring me any fish!" he wailed.

"And you're sure you wanted to come back to this?" Bickslow whispered by her ear. Really, it was way too early to be dealing with a crying cat. Sure, he'd wanted to go back to the guild as well, but he'd also like to go back home and sleep for a few more hours. He couldn't quite tell what he preferred most. The latter was growing more tempting by the second.

"Oh, shush," Lucy hushed.

The rest of her team had gotten up before she'd reached where they all sat, smothering her in a tight hug all at once. She might not have missed Happy's odd hugs, but she'd definitely missed her team hugs, even if they weren't always the most comfortable.

She could only roll her eyes as Erza bombarded her with questions about whether or not Bickslow was being a good husband (which he audibly scoffed at, several times, in fact) and treating her right. Sometimes Lucy was certain she'd just have to learn to expect Erza being a tad too overprotective. She was harmless, for the most part. Bickslow didn't really agree, of course, having been on the receiving end of one too many of her threats, but that was still fine.

"Didn't expect to see you around here for a few more weeks," Gray said once Erza was satisfied. "Thought you'd be long gone."

Lucy shrugged, finally getting to sit down at her team's old table. The splinter that dug into the back of her thigh was an oddly welcoming feeling. "Well, we didn't really plan anything, and we couldn't decide on where to go anyway," she answered. "Besides, I missed you guys too much, so I had to come back! And… I got sick of looking at Bicks's face."

"Oh, shut up." Bickslow rolled his eyes as he turned around to head for his own team. He swore he'd seen Laxus sulking in the corner with his kid. "You wouldn't still want to sit on my face if you were that sick of it," he muttered.

Across the room, Laxus choked on his coffee.

Turning off the bathroom light and throwing his towel into the hamper, Bickslow took his place in the bed, crawling over to his wife's side to rest his head on her abdomen.

Every night he would do that, as well as every morning, and then every time he caught her lying on the couch, too. He couldn't really help himself. It had started after the wedding when Lucy had told him she was pregnant, mostly just because it had been too amazing to wrap his head around and seeing that tiny, glowing soul had been the most amazing feeling in the world... But then it had turned into a habit and a necessity, and mostly out of fear of seeing something change.

Bickslow didn't tell Lucy that, though. He didn't tell her that he'd wondered what would've happened if he'd used his magic sooner, too, before they'd gone their separate ways. He wasn't sure it would've helped all that much, but at least he would've known, and he wouldn't have been stupid enough to leave her alone. It was still the one thing he regretted most, even if Lucy had never blamed him for it.

Even if it was mostly out of fear that he did it, it was still a comfort thing, too. Not so much for Lucy, because she wasn't the biggest fan of being a pillow, but for Bickslow. Sometimes he thought it was a bit too good to be true and that it was all just some crazy dream (because that was the kind of shit he'd dream up), but then he usually ended up waking up to Lucy being sick in the bathroom, or even to Lucy prodding him just so she could complain at him about how she had a headache or how gross she felt, and how it was very much his fault - although Bickslow was strangely okay with the latter. Still, using his wife was a human pillow a couple times a day for a little while was probably his favourite thing those days. But just knowing that Lucy was pregnant with his child and being able to see that tiny soul inside of her was the greatest feeling for Bickslow. He almost wished that everyone else could see what he could.

"Feeling better yet?" he asked quietly.

Lucy let out a sigh, absentmindedly combing her fingers through her husband's hair. "A little better, but not much," she answered. "Still just have a headache, though." She'd had one for the last few days and it just didn't seem to want to go away. Lucy had known to expect some annoyances as she got further along, though, so she didn't mind them all that much.

"I'm sorry."

"So you should be," Lucy scoffed. "It's your fault I'm miserable."

"Like I've said, I will gladly take the blame for this," Bickslow chuckled as he slowly sat up, only leaving his spot to lean down and kiss her gently. "And you don't seem so miserable to me."

Lucy sighed again as she turned her cheek into the hand that lingered by her face. "I'm not." Far from it, but that didn't stop her from teasing him. "No more pillow tonight, though, please?"

Bickslow knew better than complain, even if he really did love his human pillow.

Reaching behind her to turn off the lamp, Bickslow got himself comfortable again, pulling the duvet up over them both before curling up with his wife tucked into his chest and kissing the top of her head. He couldn't use her as a pillow, but he could smother her half to death. Probably. "No more pillow," he whispered.

Lucy sighed happily and closed her eyes. That was what she preferred, but she knew why Bickslow did what he did. And if she was honest, she didn't hate it when he rested his head on her tummy. It just got uncomfortable after a while, and it was worse when she actually felt sick. Thankfully though, that wasn't as often as she'd expected.

"I think I want to tell Natsu," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. What do you think?"

"Baby, you know I'm fine with whatever you want to do."

Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sometimes she missed the days where Bickslow would do whatever we wanted without worrying about the consequences. Then again, she did like having a tame Seith mage as a pet - er, husband. "I meant about telling people," Lucy said. "Do you think we should start telling people?"

It wasn't like she could keep it a secret forever, not unless the universe decided to remind Lucy just how much it hated her sometimes, which was still entirely possible as far as Lucy was concerned. The only reason Lucy had wanted to put off telling people at all was because she'd been convinced she would lose the baby the second she did. But she wasn't supposed to be negative (Bickslow downright refused to talk to her when she said anything remotely negative and would speak to her again until she apologised or said something positive for a change), and Lucy knew that she didn't really have much reason to be, either. She'd almost made it through the first trimester already.

Still, she had to tell someone other than Evergreen eventually, and Natsu seemed like the best place to start. Assuming Bickslow wanted to tell people. Lucy wasn't really sure.

"Lucy, I wanted to tell the whole damn guild the day we went back," Bickslow said softly.

He'd wanted to scream it to anyone who would listen, but he'd been somewhat certain that Lucy would've divorced him if he'd done that. He'd only had Evergreen to rave to since Lucy had told him, which was fine and all, but Bickslow would still love to have other people know. Maybe not the whole world, or even the whole guild, now that Bickslow had thought about it a tiny bit more, but definitely a few people. Everyone else could find out in their own time as far as Bickslow was concerned, probably when Lucy actually started to show.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't," Lucy giggled. She might've been absolutely mortified if he'd done that. She really would've miscarried the second Bickslow blurted it out to the entire guild, too. "So… You don't mind if I tell Natsu, then?"

"Tell anyone you like, Cosplayer. But if you tell Natsu, then I get to tell Laxus. And Gajeel, too. Although I'm pretty sure those two already know… They keep looking at me weirdly and stop talking about whatever they're talking about whenever I go up to them…"

"You can tell anyone you like, too. Just… not the whole guild at once."

"Of course not," Bickslow chuckled, letting out a drawn out sigh as he made sure he was still cuddled up as close as possible to his wife. "When do you want to tell Natsu?"

"I don't know," Lucy sighed. "Maybe in a few days? I was thinking we could take a job together, just the two of us, and Happy, I guess, and I'll tell him then."

Bickslow sat up abruptly, not quite noticing that he'd had Lucy's hair under his arm when he moved. "What? Fuck no. No, no jobs." He didn't give a damn who Lucy told, or how she did it, but definitely not like that.

Lucy sighed again as she pulled herself up, tugging the hair-tie from her wrist to do something with her hair. I really need to stop leaving it down at night. Bickslow had an awful habit of pulling on it in the middle of the night, or when he got up in the morning. It was kind of annoying - almost as annoying as the fact that he seemed to think that she wasn't going to take a job.

"You didn't seriously expect me to sit at home for the next nine months, did you?"

"Well, yeah, kinda." Bickslow shrugged.

"Well, hate to break it to you, but that isn't going to happen," Lucy scoffed.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No?"

Bickslow hated it, and he hated that Lucy was fighting him on it. But Bickslow knew when he'd lost a fight, and he knew when to just give up. Not even trying to hide how much he was pouting, he slid back down on the sheets to get comfortable again, although on his side of the bed for a change. "Well, I don't like it," he mumbled, crossing his arms and huffing.

Lucy couldn't help but smile softly as she pulled herself back towards her husband, propping herself up on an elbow and crossing a leg over his hip. She'd figured out early on that she couldn't be ignored when she was leaning on him. He wasn't strong enough for that, and she loved it.

"I know you don't," she whispered. Her fingers lightly traced across his cheek, lingering by his lips for a second. "But you don't need to worry."

"I always worry, Cosplayer. You have a habit of getting into trouble, you know?"

"That's why you love me, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure," Bickslow scoffed. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I know," Lucy said softly. "I promise I won't."

"God, Bicks, I'll be fine!" Lucy's face was bright red as Bickslow made a show of kissing every shred of space on her face in the middle of the station platform.

If she'd known Bickslow would be like that, she would've insisted on going on her own. It was just difficult to say no when he pouted and sulked, and in a moment of weakness, Lucy had figured it'd be fine to just let the man walk her to the station, since she knew how much he hated her going on a job as it was.

The only problem was that they'd stopped by the guild first, just so Bickslow could drag Laxus along with them. And it wasn't all bad because Lucy had a feeling she knew why Bickslow wanted to actually spend some time with Laxus, but Lucy hadn't anticipated on walking that much and by the time she finally made it to the station, all she wanted to do was take off her boots and take a nap.

In hindsight, Lucy realised she should've taken the fact that it had taken her five minutes to pull her boots on a sign that she needed to find some different shoes. At least for the next few months.

"Bicks, come on, that's enough," Lucy finally managed to squeeze out, pushing back on Bickslow's chest after he decided to give her one last kiss. "I'll be fine. You know this."

Bickslow sighed in defeat as he dropped his head to rest his forehead on hers. "I do. I'll just miss you."

Laxus rolled his eyes at the sight before him, barely containing his groan of disgust that went along with it. "This is why you're supposed to have a honeymoon," he mumbled. "So by the time you get back, you realise you fuckin' hate each other and so no one has to see this shit."

"Fuck off, Laxus," Bickslow chuckled, extending an arm behind him just to flip his friend off. He didn't need to look behind him to know Laxus was rolling his eyes at him again.

Lucy used that as her opportunity to escape from his grip. Part of her wanted to stay, but she also knew the train would be leaving any moment now and she didn't want to miss that. "We should get going before the train leaves without us." Natsu and Laxus both paled at the mention of it. "It's only two days. I'll be back Saturday," she whispered.

Bickslow sighed again and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Love you, Pixie."

"Mm-hmm, sure you do. Now go on, get outta here already."

The final call for the train sounded and Bickslow watched silently until the train doors closed and it got ready to pull out of the station. There was a sick feeling in his stomach, one that had been growing worse and worse over the week.

He knew what it was, and he knew it was stupid, too. He'd mentioned to Lucy that he hadn't been feeling well, and then she'd laughed at him and told him that they could swap lives for a little bit. And, admittedly, Bickslow had realised he'd been complaining to the wrong person about feeling sick, but it hadn't changed the fact that he did. He hated Lucy going on jobs so much that it made him feel horrible, and he'd be lying if he said he'd slept at all the night before.

He'd known long before they'd started dating that Lucy and her team had a habit of getting into trouble. He'd never blamed her, of course. It'd be hypocritical if he did, considering all the shit his team used to get up to. And Bickslow trusted his wife, because of course he did. He just didn't trust the rest of her team, especially right then.

For the life of him, Bickslow just couldn't shake the feeling that some though horrible was going to happen.

Laxus elbowing him brought him back to reality as the train finally rolled away from the platform. "Relax," he told him. "She's been out on jobs before. Blondie will be fine."

"I know. Something just… doesn't feel right."

"Yeah, well…" Laxus didn't really want to tell his friend that he was worrying for nothing and that he was just being a clingy husband, but… he kind of was. But Laxus probably wasn't the one to give anyone anything remotely related to relationship advice those days. "Come on, no point of standing around here all day. You know how much I hate this place anyway."

"Right, yeah," Bickslow scoffed.

He'd always found it amusing how Laxus's motion sickness would get worse each year. But the guy was right, and Bickslow didn't really want to stand around the platform all day anyway. He had things to do and places to be.

Except, Bickslow didn't get very far before the not too distant sound of an explosion rang out, followed by the sound of the train's brakes squealing along the tracks. He wasn't the only one to run up to the end of the platform, pushing his way to the front to see his worst nightmare come to life as he watched the dark smoke rise from the carriages that were quickly engulfed in flames.

I was going to apologise for how long this update has taken, but now it's just... meh. Like I'm grateful that no one bugs me to update things, but I guess that's also a bad thing. Oh well. Enjoy to those who still read this. You put up with a lot more shit than I can. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯