I'm Baaack!

Cana paced back and forth through her father's kitchen, hands on her 4 month baby bump, wondering just where in the hell the old man was. After his 'talk' (that's what they said they did after Gildarts chased Laxus halfway around Magnolia but Cana wasn't sure she believed them) with Laxus, Gildarts had promised he would stick around until after the birth of the twins much to Cana's annoyance. However the one day that Cana actually needed him and she couldn't find him anywhere. And to top off her annoyance, Laxus was late. He had agreed to meet up with her at her father's home asking no questions. Yet 10 minutes after the time they were supposed to meet and the blonde was no where to be seen.

"Useless men." Cana murmured to herself as she rubbed at her stomach. She was finally getting used to having her stomach swelled and, although she couldn't feel them, two heartbeats under her breasts. A knock on the door knocked her out of her thoughts and she yanked open the door revealing the blonde lightening dragon slayer.

"Where the heck have you been?" she asked, stepping aside and letting him in.

"Hi to you too." He grumbled, "Running an errand for Gramps." He said in way of explanation for his lateness.

"You haven't seen Gildarts today have you?" she asked watching as he collapsed into a chair. Weariness and fatigue showed on his face as he shook his head. Cana watched him for a few minutes before saying softly:

"You need to stop killing yourself with these requests."

Laxus merely shrugged in response. It wasn't really a topic that they spoke about. They needed a lot of things for the twins and with Cana unable to work most requests that made their way into Fairy Tail's guild hall, Laxus was left to do a lot of the spending. And babies were truly expensive, even if they hadn't arrived yet. Laxus simply wished he had saved more jewels from past s-class missions every time he was out buying formula, diapers, or furniture. Cana's living room had turned into a complete nursery.

"Why did you want to meet up?"

"I need to tell you something." Cana shifted in her seat before continuing, "I probably should have said something a lot sooner but I honestly didn't think it was that a big of a deal until yesterday. I think someone has been following me."

Laxus' eyes narrowed and a frowned formed on his face.

"It's only happened three times where I've felt like someone was watching me. Once outside my house, the other day when I was out shopping with Lucy, and then yesterday." Cana let her voice fade to a murmur.

"What happened yesterday?"

"I felt like I was being watched outside my house again last night. Only this time when I looked around for anything suspicious I could have sworn the shadows across the street moved."

Laxus' frowned deepened.

"If it was late are you sure you didn't just imagine it? I'm sure there were plenty of shadows."

Cana shrugged at his skepticism. While he might sound like he didn't believe her, she could see the worry growing in his eyes.

"This isn't good Cana." he finally said, his voice low, "Shadow magic is popular in dark guilds, and I know for a fact that there are several mages in Raven Tail with those abilities."

Cana shuddered involuntarily.

"I honestly haven't even thought of them."

Laxus shrugged.

"I have and I've already looked into it. Raven Tail hasn't moved in this area in quite awhile but I didn't think of shadow users."

"Are you going to go investigate?" For some reason the thought of Laxus being away for a long period of time made Cana uneasy, especially now that she knew she might be in trouble. Laxus shook his head.

"I'd rather stay with you and the twins. I'll send Freed and the other two. They've been bored out of their minds since I decided to only take local requests."

"Uh right." Cana was only half listening. She was to busy trying to figure out why her heart beat sped up when Laxus mentioned staying with her.

"Have you told anyone else?" Laxus continued, not noticing Cana's lack of attention.

"N-no, not yet. You're the first person I've seen since last night."

"I'll let Gramps know. I'm not sure we need to put the whole guild on high alert but we can let Gramps decide that." Laxus said. He was finally feeling like he was making some productive decisions since this whole thing started. Protecting Cana was going to be easy; He just hoped that being a father came as naturally as protecting his nakama. Silence fell between the two and it occurred to Cana that this was the first real conversation they've had since they were kids hanging out at the guild. Cana shook her head slightly, wondering where exactly that nostalgia had come from.

"Are you alright?" Laxus questioned. He had been studying her from across the table, his own thoughts swirling.

Cana opened her mouth to tell him she had been thinking about the first time they had drank together, when she froze.

"Cana?"

Cana didn't answer him. Instead she stood and walked over to him, hesitating for just a second before grabbing his hand and placing it on her stomach. Laxus' face turned slightly pink as he stuttered.

"Cana wha-"

"Shh." she said biting her lip. She could have sworn she just felt something. After a few moments there it was again: a subtle kick in her stomach. Cana looked at Laxus to see if he had felt it, only to find him wide-eyed and staring at her in amazement.

"Is that-?" Laxus trailed off, while Cana nodded, a smile on her face.

"One of them is kicking." She whispered. Laxus' face lit up like christmas had come early. It had been a long time since Cana had seen such a big smile on his face.

"Our baby is kicking." he whispered, causing Cana to blush. Cana squeezed his hand, smiling softly. Maybe they could make this work after all.

** YAY! Finally got the seventh chapter done between internet problems and writer's block. But I have prevailed!

So I just wanted to mention a few things since it's been awhile:

First I want to thank all my readers for being so patient and waiting for this chapter to come. You're so good to me T.T

Second I apologize for the relatively short chapter. I just wanted to get some Laxana goody-goodness in there which brings me to my next point.

(Third) I will not be making this a Gray/Cana fic. I know a lot of you asked for them to eventually get together but if you haven't figured it out already this will be a Laxus/Cana fic. I mean they are his kids and everything. Besides I ship Laxana 100% ;)

**And lastly and probably most important. Cana is pregnant with twins and I'm having trouble coming up with names. I would love it if my readers helped me out with some ideas of girl and boy names and the more unique they are the more I'm gonna love them!**

Until next time kiddies~~~Nienna~~~