Hey everyone! Now I know you're probably all real upset that I haven't updated lately but I've been having internet problems and unfortunately it seems these problems are going to continue for the foreseeable future. What that means for you guys is that my updates are going to be infrequent. But hopefully that means by the time I can update I should have multiple chapters to update at the same time. For example I am putting up both chapter 5 and 6 today. Again I'm sorry I won't be able to update that often but I hope these two chapters make up for it :)

"Master Ivan?" Ivan Dreyar didn't turn from the window he was staring out of. There was no need to see who it was. It didn't matter.

"Your report?"

"It seems he has not left his guild for sometime. All requests he has taken have been local."

"Really?"

"Yes. There has been a celebration of sorts there."

"A celebration?"

"One of them is pregnant."

Ivan Dreyar half turned toward the man speaking behind him.

"Really? Well then find out what you can about the coming child and it's parents."

"Yes master." The man bowed before leaving the room but Ivan Dreyar was no longer paying any attention to him.

"A child. How interesting."

As the following week dragged by, Cana avoided going to the guild in order to avoid Mira and her plans for a huge celebratory party. Of course Cana knew she would not be able to avoid the party itself at the end of the week, but not going to the guild meant she didn't have to think about it. However Cana could not avoid her father or Lucy as easily as not going to the guild. They pestered her the entire week about telling Laxus that he was the father. The day

before the scheduled party Cana was finally able to get a quiet afternoon to herself.

"Cana!"

For the most part anyway.

Cana's front door swung open revealing Lucy and a bunch of shopping bags.

"Look at all the stuff I got for you to try on!"

"Shouldn't you be paying rent with that money?" Cana grumbled from her seat on the couch.

"Mira let me borrow some money." Lucy said cheerfully as she dropped the bags. Cana glared at the bubbly celestial mage for a second before turning her gaze to the window.

"I'm not even going."

"What!?" Lucy stared at her in shock, "Cana it's your party, you have to go."

"What's the point of going to a party if I can't drink? Besides it's been almost a week and no one has pressed me for a name of the father. I don't enjoy being ambushed."

Lucy pursed her lips as she dropped onto the loveseat.

"Well we can always have Natsu and Gray stop anyway from asking too many questions."

"I don't need bodyguards." Cana grumbled. Lucy shrugged and picked up one of the bags.

"Either way Mira will get you to that party so you might as well go without her going demon barmaid on you." Lucy said shaking the bag in her direction.

"Why can't I just go in my normal clothing?" Cana asked looking at the bag warily.

"Because I said so. This will be the perfect time for you to tell Laxus so you need to look your best."

Cana rolled her eyes.

"Give it a rest woman." She muttered.

"Here try this on." Lucy said shaking the bag again, completely ignoring what Cana had said. Three and a half hours later of trying and retrying all of Lucy's selections and Lucy and Cana finally came to an agreement. A simple turquoise spaghetti strap, knee length dress was placed in Cana's closest for the following night.

"Well I guess I'll bring these to the girls at Fairy Hills. They wanted to dress up too."

"Yea have fun with that." Cana stated once again sitting in front of the window.

"I hope you're not this grumpy tomorrow." Lucy said picking up her bags.

"We'll see." Cana said shortly. Lucy shook her head slightly but said no more. Cana would get over it on her own.

Cana spent the remainder of the day lounging, unable to shake off the uneasy she's had since waking up that morning. She was surprised Lucy had not commented on her uneasiness besides to call her grumpy. Something clearly wasn't right but it seemed only Cana noticed it. Cana glanced at her deck on the side table briefly wondering if she should do a prediction. Then she shook her head. Knowing about things before they happened wasn't always a good thing and Cana had a feeling that this uneasiness was better left alone. She would deal with it when the time came.

"Now if I could only get out of going to this stupid 'Congratulations you're an idiot for getting pregnant' party." She mumbled to herself as she got ready for bed. The next day was promising to be something special even if that was nothing more then a spectacular headache for Cana.

"There she is." Mira said happily as Lucy and Cana entered the guild. The guild roared in greeting as all eyes landed on Cana.

"You look great Cana." Gray said hugging her.

"Congratulations!" Wendy shouted over the noise. And it was noisy. Not only was the majority of the guild present but it seemed like Mira had also invited the townsfolk and Cana could see many of them drinking with her friends.

"Get me out of here." Cana murmured in Lucy's ear. But Lucy only shook her head and steered her toward the bar where Mira was serving drinks to Gildarts and Master Makarov.

"Well what do you think?" Mira asked cheerfully.

"It's great Mira." Cana said with a sarcastic little smile, "Can I leave now?"

"Now, now Cana don't be like that." Gildarts said, "This is a magnificent party for little Gildarts."

"You mean little Makarov." Makarov said bashing him on the head with his cup. Cana stiffened at his words. Did he know?

"What?!" Gildarts roared in outrage.

"I've been more of a father to her since she joined the guild then you've been since you found out you were her father."

Cana breathed a sigh of relief as the two started smacking each other with their mugs. It looked like her father was able to keep his mouth shut after all.

"Oi Cana. Come here." Macao called over from where he was sitting with Romeo and Wakaba. Cana sighed. Well being at the guild in the first place meant she had given in so she might as well join in on the fun. Cana spent the evening walking around the guild hall talking with everyone, accepting their congratulations and avoiding Mira who stood behind the bar glaring at her most of the night. Cana could only assume Mira desperately wanted to corner her and ask her about the father.

Halfway through the night Cana excused herself and left the guild. She took a seat outside on the ground, relieved that the noise from inside was muted.

"Are you alright?" Cana bit back a groan. Couldn't she have just a few minutes to herself?

"I'm fine Gray. Just a little noisy in there."

Gray sat beside her on the ground and looked up at the darkened sky.

"Well it was noisy." He mumbled. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Or at least Cana thought it was comfortable. Gray on the other hand kept fidgeting.

"What's wrong with you Gray?" She finally asked.

"Um I kind of wanted to talk to you about something." He said bouncing up to his feet.

"Ok."

Gray stared up at the stars for a few seconds before finally turning to Cana.

"I don't care if you're pregnant Cana." He declared.

Cana blinked waiting for him to continue but he didn't.

"Um that's great Gray."

"It is?"

"I guess. I have plenty of other people that care so one less person doesn't matter."

Gray cocked his head in confusion and then he laughed.

"That's not what I meant Cana. Of course I care that you're pregnant."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?"

"I still love you Cana. I don't care if they're Laxus' kids."

Cana just stared at him. Was he being serious right now?

"Gray you're an idiot."

"What? How am I an idiot?!"

"You do realize that I have no interest in you like that right?"

Gray crossed his arms.

"Oh but you'll sleep with someone like Laxus?"

Cana stood up angrily.

"I told you that that was a mistake."

"They say that a person's drunk self acts out the thoughts of their sober mind."

"Really Gray? You honestly believed that I wanted to get pregnant?"

"Well I don't know Cana, seeing as you're already pregnant."

"You know what, go away Gray! Just get away from me! I don't need your bullshit!"

"With pleasure." Cana collapsed back on the ground wiping away tears as Gray went back inside cursing under his breath.

"Damn him." Cana muttered still wiping at her face.

"Cana! Cana!" Lucy came running out of the guild not two minutes later.

"What now?" Cana said standing. How could things possibly get worse?

"Gray just told Laxus that he's the father."

"What?"

"Laxus knows that they're his kids!"

Cana felt the blood drain from her face. She stumbled to Lucy and grabbed her arm.

"We need to leave now." Lucy said steadying her, "Natsu jumped in and punched Gray in the face but everyone was shocked so who knows if the fight will last long. Laxus didn't look happy. We need to leave until everyone cools off."

Cana blinked and suddenly she could hear the ruckus from inside.

"Lucy, my house." She said tugging her arm. Lucy nodded. The two girls ran down the path back into town, quickly making for the card mage's house.

The next morning dawned with a thunderstorm, the perfect weather in Cana's eyes. She sat curled up on her couch with a cup of tea listening to the rain against her window. Lucy sat across from her on a chair reading a magazine.

"So how long are we going to exile ourselves?" Lucy finally asked.

"As long as possible, though you can go home whenever you like."

Lucy stretched as she stood.

"Well I think I'll go now. I still smell like booze and sweat."

"Mmm." Cana gave a distracted wave, her eyes focused on the rain outside. Lucy was long gone by the time Cana drew her gaze away from the window.

"My life is a mess." She muttered. A clap of thunder made her jump suddenly. And just as it finished a knock sounded on her door. Cana sat there in surprise. She never had any visitors. Not many people knew where she lived. Another knock jolted her out of her chair and she slowly went to the door, her mind racing. Cana opened the door to wind, rain, and Laxus. The sight of him made her gulp.

"You mind letting me in out of the rain?"

Cana hesitated a moment before stepping aside.

"Where can I –"

Cana took his wet coat before he finished and hung it up on her coat rack. Then she walked into her living room and sat back down. Her hands were trembling as she picked up her teacup.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No." Laxus' eyes were wandering, taking in the neat little room. Finally they rested on Cana's curled up form.

"We need to talk."

Cana didn't look at him. She was already on the verge of either bursting into tears or going out and murdering Gray.

"How did you find me?"

"Gray."

Cana gritted her teeth. Murdering Gray sounded like a really good idea at the moment. Laxus sighed.

"Is it really mine?" He asked sitting back in the chair Lucy had vacated only an hour before. Cana suddenly wished the blonde celestial mage was still there.

"Yes." She whispered. Laxus didn't say anything at first, his face unreadable.

"Why didn't you tell me? When were you going to tell me?"

"I… I don't know." Cana buried her face in her hands.

"Jeez Cana didn't you think I needed to know?" Laxus was desperately trying to keep a hold on his temper. He didn't want to yell at her.

"I… Of course I had to tell you!" Cana raised her head and finally looked at him, "I just couldn't find the nerve to tell you but I would have eventually."

Laxus gave a short laugh.

"You? Fairy Tail's biggest drinker who's not afraid of kicking some ass, drunk or sober, was afraid of telling me I have a kid on the way?"

Cana opened her mouth then closed it. She didn't really know what to say to that.

"I… I'm sorry Laxus. I didn't think you'd really want him anyway."

Laxus sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"I… don't really. But I'm not going to just pretend it isn't happening. Gramps would kill me."

Cana frowned.

"So that's why you're here? Cause Master threatened you if you didn't accept the consequences of your actions?"

"Well sort of –" Laxus began. Cana jumped up from the couch.

"Out! Get out! If you're not going to be sincere then get the hell out! I can do this on my own."

Laxus stared at her in shock.

"Cana that isn't what I meant."

"I don't care. I'm tired of you men and your double meaning words. You and Gray both."

Laxus stood up.

"Yeah how come you had him tell me anyway?"

"I never asked him to do anything and he can't even do that right!"

"Well that's not very nice." A third voice sounded.

Cana and Laxus both turned to see Gray leaning against the doorframe, no shirt, arms crossed and rain soaking him from behind.

"You!" Cana was nearly shrieking, "What the hell do you think you're doing in my home?!"

"I came to see how you were doing."

"Like hell you did you shitty little troublemaker!" Cana reached for her cards only to find them gone. With her magic still unsettled she had been afraid to use them for anything but fortune telling. Now she wished she hadn't put them in her bedroom before the party the night before.

"I was only trying to help Cana." Gray said defensively, "I knew you weren't going to tell Laxus but he had to know."

"Wait you weren't going to tell me?" Laxus said butting in.

"I was going to tell you. Shut up Gray, you don't know anything! You wouldn't even talk to me after you found out!"

"Because it should have been me!" Gray shouted, "They should be mine not his!"

"Are you an idiot? Why the hell would you want kids at this age?" Laxus asked incredulously.

"It isn't about the kids. It's about Cana! I love her!"

"But I don't love you Gray!"

Cana watched as Gray opened his mouth and said something back but she couldn't hear him. In fact she couldn't hear anything. She opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't even hear herself talking. The last thing she saw was Laxus' hands reaching for her then Cana blacked out.