Title of story: The Other Man

Update: 04/01/14 (MONDAY) 04:50 PM

Edit:

+Summary:

Gray Fullbuster threw his fiancé, Lucy Heartfilia out of his life when he thought she'd betrayed him with someone else! Six years later, and Gray learns that Lucy was innocent! His cousin and currently arranged fiancé, Juvia Lockser lied! But also he learns that Lucy was pregnant! However, Lucy wants nothing to do with Gray. He can't get her back, for she has a new man in her life now! What's Gray going to do now…? How is he going to get his Lucy back? And who is this damn Other Man?

+Pairings:

Gray x Lucy

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and this plot. The story belongs to "MizEvilBlossoms," at least some part of it hhahaa! I recently read this story "The Italian's Stolen Bride" by Emma Darcy suggested by one of the Graylu Fans here BelieverInMusic. I guess I'll be making changes and name of this story "Gray's Stolen Bride By the Other Man" XD I'm just jokin'

Chapter 16

Baby On the Way!?

"Daddy's here!" Grey and Grayson yelled from the front porch. "And he's come in his blue car!"

The Ferrari! The excitement in her sons' voice shot Lucy out of dallying in the kitchen. Grey and Grayson had been outside, waiting and watching for their father in a fever of impatience, and the double attraction of the Ferrari spelled danger! Lucy raced down the hallway to the opened front door in time to see Grey and Grayson unlatching the gate and Gray emerging from his car on the other side of the street.

"Don't run onto the road, Grey and Grayson!" she called.

It alerted Gray, who instantly spotted them running towards him and held up a hand. "Wait on the sidewalk." Gray said with commanding authority.

Grey and Grayson obeyed, but they literally jiggled with pleasure as Gray strode across the road towards them, smiling his own pleasure in this obvious welcome from his sons. He swooped down, picked both of them up and hoisted Grey and Grayson up against his shoulder, laughing as Grey and Grayson laughed—the sound of mutual happiness.

"So how did it go at soccer training?" Gray asked. And Grey and Grayson bubbled over with news of the two after-school sessions they'd attended during the week. No shyness. A quick and easy rapport with their father, plus unadulterated delight in his interest and company.

Which put a little hollow in Lucy's heart. It was hard, realizing she couldn't supply all her sons' needs. Not even years of loving Grey and Grayson, doing everything she could for them, was enough. Grey and Grayson wanted their father.

Lucy waited on the porch, watching them bonding as Gray carried both Grey and Grayson back to her. They were alike, though maybe she was seeing the similarities more acutely now that it was impossible to deny them with Gray right in front of her again. And Gray wasn't going to go away.

The only question was…how far should she let Gray into their lives?

All week Lucy had been weighing it up in her mind and was no closer to an answer. It was no use even trying to think of Grey and Grayson as the much younger Gray she had loved. Gray was different, just as she was different. He'd spoken of darkness and she sensed it ran very deeply, married to a steely resolve that encompassed her because of what had been done to him.

Lucy wasn't sure love had any part in it…yet watching him with Grey and Grayson, seeing him drink in the innocence of his children's natural response to him…his heart was surely being touched. It wasn't just ownership.

So maybe Gray was still capable of loving. Whether that could extend to her…if she was his wife…but there was still the Fullbuster family in the background, a powerful mother who would hate having her will thwarted.

Then Gray turned his gaze from Grey and Grayson to Lucy, a direct blaze of power that thumped into her heart and burned into her brain the unequivocal fact that he wasn't about to have his will thwarted, either.

"Daddy said we had to ask you if I can have a ride in his car," Grey piped up.

"Can we, Mummy? Can we?" Grayson finished.

"May I," Lucy corrected automatically, wrenching her gaze away from Gray's,

"We can't all fit in that car, Grey, Grayson. If we're going to Hargeon Town…" The outing agreed upon.

"Perhaps a quick spin around the block?' Gray suggested. "He's not a stranger any more, Mummy. It can't be a bad thing to do." Grey and Grayson begged.

Lucy flushed at the reminder of the argument she'd used in a protective need to keep Gray a stranger to Grey and Grayson. "Just a short ride then," Lucy muttered, feeling hamstrung by her own dictate.

"Five minutes at most," Gray promised, undoubtedly realizing it was stretching Lucy's trust to let him go off alone with their sons. It was against their agreement.

"Okay, five minutes," Lucy conceded, shooting Gray a warning look. One wrong decision didn't mean he could trample anywhere he liked.

Gray grinned at Lucy, triumph dancing in his eyes. Grey and Grayson whooped with joy and they were off, leaving Lucy to fret over the feeling that control was slipping away from her.

In fact, it had been slipping away ever since Gray had re-entered her life. Her independent stance was gone. She couldn't even believe that she left Sting at the restaurant just to check on Gray's health. Any peace of mind was gone. The future directions she had been considering were hopelessly blurred by the now prime consideration of whether or not she should entertain the idea of marrying Gray Fullbuster.

With a helpless sigh, Lucy retreated into the house, checked that everything needed for their day out had been put in the backpack before zipping it shut, slung it over one arm, grabbed both her hat and Grey and Grayson's, and went back out to the porch, locking the front door behind her.

The Ferrari came vrooming down the street as she walked towards their cool ride. Gray had kept his word. He didn't want her to be frightened of him. The problem was it was difficult not to be when her knees went weak at the sight of him.

She unlocked the Alfa Romeo 4C and waited beside it, wondering how she was going to cope in Gray's company all day long—a morning visit to the aquarium, lunch in one of the many restaurants overlooking Hargeon Town, idling the afternoon away at the children's playground or the Magnolia Gardens.

Father and sons emerged from the Ferrari, twins holding each others hands to cross the road, the three of them wearing jeans and T-shirts, just as she was. The four of them were dressed like a family, going on a holiday tour together, and Grey and Grayson was skipping with excited anticipation. They'd had his ride in their father's flash car and now they are going to see all the fish from his favorite movie, Finding Nemo.

Lucy handed the Alfa's key to Gray. "You drive. I haven't been near inner-city traffic for so long, it would make me nervous."

"Then this should be a practice run for you," Gray argued.

"I'd rather do that alone rather than risks all of our lives at once. Better some of us left to be spared even if that person doesn't deserve it." The last part had Gray cringed at the hurtful truth.

"I could help you avoid mistakes."

"Just let me be a passenger, Gray. It's your day with Grey and Grayson." Not with me. Gray instantly picked up the implication not to assume too much and gave her an ironic little smile as he took the key. "Keeping your distance, Lucy?"

"Keeping out of trouble," she answered. Lucy had trouble enough, sitting so closely beside him in the car on their way to Hargeon Town. His physical presence in such a small space dominated her consciousness, even though she kept her gaze fixed on the traffic, trying her utmost to ignore how acutely all her other senses were attuned to him.

Nor could she stop her body from feeling all keyed up—whether to repel any touch from him or welcome it, she didn't know. Just being near Gray aroused the fresh sexual memories from last week, but she couldn't let that happen again, couldn't risk any kind of intimate contact while she was still trying to sort through the situation between them.

Grey and Grayson was full of chatter, keeping Gray engaged in conversation, for which Lucy was intensely grateful. She listened to their voices. No strain in either of them—happy, cheerful, having fun. Would Gray be a good father in the long run? Discovering he has sons was still very new to him. He wanted to indulge Grey and Grayson, but there was more to parenting than indulgence.

Still, Lucy couldn't quarrel with the indulgence when they finally reached the aquarium and walked into a new entrancing world for Grey and Grayson. The touching pond and the showcases of fish were fantastic. Seeing sharks swimming overhead was positively awesome. She could not have afforded to give Grey and Grayson this experience and they were loving every minute of it.

The tropical fish, of course, were a very special attraction, Grey and Grayson told Gray the names of those they recognized from having watched Finding Nemo many times since Lucy had bought them the video for Christmas not including Pokemon as well. Naturally the clown fish was their favorite.

Eventually they'd exhausted every attraction and Lucy suggested a toilet visit before going on to lunch. She automatically took Grey and Grayson's hand to lead them into the Ladies' Room, only to be halted by Gray.

"He should come with me, Lucy."

"But they're just little boys," she objected. "I'll look after them." Hard challenge in his eyes. It was his day with Grey and Grayson.

Rather than make a fight of it, Lucy reluctantly let them go together. She was waiting for them when they came out and Grey and Grayson rushed over to her to whisper proudly, "We peed in the urinal with Daddy."

Lucy grimaced over this highly basic piece of male bonding and rolled her eyes at Gray who was totally unabashed about it. "About time I had a first in my sons' upbringing," Gray said pointedly, reminding her of all the firsts he'd missed—first word, first step, first day at school…

Grey and Grayson skipped on ahead of them as they walked towards the aquarium exit and Gray seized the chance for some private talk between them, stunning her with his opening line. "Any chance you might have conceived another child last week?"

"No," Lucy answered quickly, a wave of heat whooshing up her neck at the abrupt reference to their intimacy.

"I didn't use protection, Lucy, and your own long drought from any sex suggests you didn't, either."

"It was a safe time." A fact she'd only figured out—frantically—when the possible consequence of pregnancy had occurred to her after he'd gone.

"Sure about that?"

"Yes,' Lucy bit out grimly, remembering the churning panic while she had checked dates.

"I was rather hoping it wasn't," Gray drawled. "What?" Lucy threw a horrified look at him.

"I'm here to take care of you this time." His eyes glittered ruthless determination. "And I'd like us to have a child we both shared from the very beginning."

Lucy felt his strongly embittered sense of having been cheated of years with Grey and Grayson and kept her mouth shut. This was not something she could argue against. Yet a revulsion against the ruthlessness she saw in him forced her to ask, "Were you thinking of getting me pregnant when you carried me off to bed?"

"No." He sliced her a sardonic little smile. "I just wanted you, Lucy. So much that protection didn't enter my head. And it didn't enter yours, either." He paused before softly adding, "What do you think that says about our need for each other?"

She didn't answer. Gray called out to Grey and Grayson, bringing them back in line with them, taking their hand—a hand that was readily given, unlike hers. Lucy wondered if Gray would stoop to seriously playing Grey and Grayson as a persuasive force in getting her to accept his proposal of marriage. Or was he simply counting on her own vulnerability to a connection with him?

She couldn't block out the powerful attraction he exerted on her, yet marriage was something else entirely. No way was she going to rush into a decision. Six years was a huge gap to bridge and she was far too conscious of the murky waters that flowed all around them, making a foundation on which to build seem very rocky.

They proceeded to a harbor side restaurant where Gray had booked a table out on the open terrace so they could watch the colorful passing parade of people and the boats in the water—lots of boats on show this weekend, reminding Lucy of how she had first met Gray and his brother.

It was at the end of her second year of university and she'd got a casual summer job in the supply shop at the big Hargeon Town Restaurant. The Fullbuster family had owned a huge waterfront home nearby in those days. Probably still did. She and her father had moved from the adjoining suburb of Magnolia after her stepmother had deserted them.

But that summer, the Fullbuster brothers had sailed every weekend. She had met Lyon first, serving him in the shop. He'd flirted with her and she'd thought him a rather gorgeous playboy until Gray had appeared, completely knocking out the attraction of his younger brother. It wasn't so much he was better looking, more that he somehow made Lyon seem lightweight in comparison, instantly relegated to the sidelines.

He still had that power.

Lucy glanced around the men seated at other tables, the men walking by…all of them paled in comparison to Gray. He commanded attention, compelled attention, and she knew she was in a hopeless position, trying to hold him at a distance when he was intent on reclaiming her.

After lunch they strolled down to the playground area where Gray directed that he and Lucy sit on a grassy bank, watching how brave Grey and Grayson was at using the slippery dip by themselves. Encouraged to show off, Grey and Grayson was only too eager to demonstrate to their father how capable they are of using all the playground equipment, which neatly took Grey and Grayson out of earshot.

Lucy resigned herself to another private conversation with Gray, knowing there was no ultimate way of avoiding it. One way or another, he'd make the opportunity. Besides, her nerves were so on edge waiting for it, she might as well get it over with. They sat side by side, their knees hitched up, arms resting on them, no doubt looking very relaxed together to Grey and Grayson, and at least Gray made no move to get closer.

"Let's discuss marriage," Gray started without any preamble.

Lucy plucked a blade of grass and began slowly shredding it as she struggled to put her thoughts into some kind of sensible framework.

"You've had time to think about it,'"Gray pressed. "I don't know the man you are now," Lucy said truthfully, keeping her focus on the strips of grass.

"You want more time."

"Yes."

"Then you are considering it."

The satisfaction in his voice stirred rebellion against the pressure he was laying on her. "There's a hell of a lot to consider, Gray."

He came straight back with, "Tell me what's on your mind."

More pressure.

Lucy gave him a curious look. "Have you run the idea of marrying me past your mother, Gray?"

"I didn't discuss it with her, no. I told my mother flatly that she either accept you as my wife or lose me. And having just lost one son, I don't think she'll be inclined to buck my statement."

It shocked her speechless. She stared at him, stunned by the starkly drawn stand he had made, the sheer ruthlessness of his planning, and the assumption that they would marry, all laid out as though it was already decided.

"When…" Lucy's mouth had gone so dry she had to work some moisture in it before managing to choke out the question skating through her dazed mind.

"When did you tell her?"

"After I faced my mother with your accusation that she'd paid for an abortion," Gray said in a matter of factly. "And the whole truth of what had happened six years ago was finally disclosed."

Not this past week…much, much before…after coming face to face with her and Grey and Grayson for the first time. He'd decided then! Was it to spite his mother for keeping all knowledge of Grey and Grayson from him—a vengeful act on his whole family for having sabotaged his right to choose whatever woman he wanted in his life?

"Your mother won't want me as your wife," she stated with utter certainty.

A hard relentless pride looked back at her. "She doesn't have a choice."

"I do, Gray," Lucy pointedly reminded him. "She will accept you, Lucy. She has too much to lose if she don't."

"I don't want to be involved in your fight with her. I don't want Grey and Grayson to be a pawn in your game. They'll feel it. They'll know they are not what your family wants. You can't force approval from people when they don't feel it inside."

"This is no game, Lucy. Believe me, I'm deadly serious." Deadly was right, she thought.

"My family will love Grey and Grayson. Unreservedly," he pushed on, laying out convincing arguments.

"They are her only grandchildren and the only two they'll have if you don't marry me. Lyon is dead and his marriage produced no children. The whole future of the Fullbuster family is now narrowed down to our sons." Gray's smile held a dark wealth of satisfaction as he added,

"That makes Grey and Grayson very precious to them." A convulsive little shiver ran down Lucy's spine.

"Don't put that weight on me. Or Grey and Grayson," Lucy cried. "It's not fair!"

"I think it balances the scales very nicely. You should feel it does, too, Lucy."

Lucy shook her head. "You're taking advantage of your brother's death. For all the wrong he did to me and to you, it doesn't make this right. Nothing can make this right."

It was incredibly painful to say it but she truly felt the alternative would cause even more pain. "You should marry someone else…leave Grey and Grayson and me out of it."

"But I won't, Lucy." In a soft, insidiously invasive voice that curled around her heart, demanding entry, Gray added, "You're the only woman I've ever loved…or will love." Lucy jerked her head away, frightened of showing how deeply it touched her when she hadn't realized herself how much it would mean. He must have interpreted it as a negative reaction. With barely a pause Gray spoke in a much harder tone, determined possession underlining every word.

"And Grey and Grayson are! my sons."

~till next time~

Graylu Fan Moto:

"Spread the Graylu Love"

"Uwahhh ^o^ This chapter as sooo cute :) Ughhh! Why Gray! Lucy was so touched that she would be the only woman you'll ever love and you just had to gone and ruined that! You might as well have said "I'm marrying you because Grey and Grayson are my sons!" You are a effing ice blockhead! Idiot! Idiot! Ugh, I wouldn't blame Lucy if she goes back into the arms of Sting!

Hi minna! Long time no update hahhaha :D I don't have FULL internet connection yet because I have to save every GB I receive so I don't know when my next update is gonna be. I miss my old buddies of GrayLu fan letter. Well,

Happy April Fools Day!

Thank you to all GrayLu Fans who subscribed to me as Favorite Editor/Author and for putting The Other Man to their favorite story.

Also Thank you all who reviews this story and all my other edited stories. You know who you are! YOUR REVIEWS HELPED ME TO UPDATE THIS STORY! I love you all GrayLu Fans! Have a fantastic Day! and Fu*K Juvia! hahahhaha ^o^

I would just like to say Thank you to Nora57-san for letting me know when our GrayLu Fan week is gonna be. And I'm very very proud to say that GrAyLu FoReVa! (GrAy X LuCy) (GrAy AnD LuCy) likes has reached to 2396! AWESOME! KEEP LIKING THOSE PAGES GUYS ^O^

And Rememberr!

To Always

"Spread the GrayLu Love"

-Cesia14

Special Thanks To:)

EVERY GRAYLU FANS WHO LOVE THIS STORY AND READ THROUGH THIS WITHOUT SKIPPING PARTS AND ALSO TO GRAYLU FANS WHO ARE DEVOTED TO GRAY AND LUCY AND HER CHILDREN! KYYAAA I WANT BABY LAYLA! :) THANK YOU GRAYLU FANS WHO REVIEWED THIS STORY.

~COMING SOON~

JUST SAY "YES" TO MARRIAGE!