AN: A little OOCness here, but please, bear with me for a while. I want to make a point.

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What to Expect When You're Expecting

Chapter Five – One Step Forward

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"Loving you replaces all my worries with happiness." – Unknown

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Juvia was the first one to wake up the next morning. But that time, she wasn't confused, nauseated or with a killer headache and she knew exactly where she was: she woke up with Gray's arms around her. Juvia knew exactly how they ended up in that situation and she smiled. She had had the most wonderful night she had in a very long time and that time, she could remember it all.

That night it wasn't a couple of drinks what led them to spending the night together; it was mutual need, mutual feelings. They had missed each other.

The blunette carefully removed his arms from her, even though she really didn't want to. When she looked to the watch that was on her nightstand, she sighed. Five a.m. She had fallen asleep not even half an hour before. She and Gray were very enthusiastic towards each other that night and she bet that if they weren't so sleep deprived, they would still be…

Her face became red and she sat on the bed, her hands covering her face as it became redder and redder once she remembered what they were doing.

Once again she looked over her shoulder and saw the magnificent man she had been with and that time she knew it wasn't a dream. He was there for her. He had chased after her.

And they were supposed to talk about what happened that morning.

All the redness of her face was suddenly drained and she was paler than ever. Her hand fled to her stomach where she knew a new life was being created at that very moment. What should she tell him? She had knew about her pregnancy for what? Less than six hours?

Pulling the covers off, Juvia found her robe on the floor, right next Gray's pants, and she put it on as fast as she could, tying the knot and without glancing back, she left the room and closed the door as quietly as she could so the man on her bed wouldn't wake up. Gajeel seemed to not have arrived yet or he had spent the night at Levy's.

Juvia leaned over the door of her bedroom and sighed. What should she do? He had finally, after three years, told her that he could be feeling something for her and now with that pregnancy…? What would that do with his feelings? What if all she fought for…?

She had to sit down for a bit. Once she had a moment to think, she would come up with some kind of solution for it all.

The girl gave two steps before her vision become dark and she had to seek balance by leaned on the wall. Her legs felt weak and she had to take a few breaths when her stomach started to feel weird again. As soon as she could, she went to the small bathroom she shared with her roommate and bent over the toilet, praying that Gray didn't hear her.

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Gray frowned in his sleep. It was weird, he had been warm a few minutes before and now he was cold. Usually any raised warmth would make him uncomfortable, but that time it felt the opposite. He wanted the warmth back. He patted the bed to grab Juvia and make her return to the function of his special heater.

The bed was empty and Gray opened his eyes as soon as he realized that.

He sat on the bed and sighed. And people said that he had trust issues; that girl couldn't stay in bed with him even after that night. At least it was her apartment; she could've left for all he knew but one day she would have to return and he was in no hurry.

In fact, despite the fact that Gray woke up alone and slept only an hour max –as he could see when he noticed her watch– he hadn't felt that great in ages. Maybe it had something to do with having sex with Juvia. Twice.

It was one of the most amazing experiences he ever had, really. At first it was all about their needs, so it was fast and dark: they only wanted to get closer and closer because both had missed each other during the past weeks. But when they were just lying together, Juvia had giggled and kissed him.

That sound made his heart flutter inside his chest. And just like that, they both laughed for nothing and then kissed each other, like it was something they did every day.

Gray grinned to himself and decided to get up. He found his boxers and opened the door of the bedroom and got out. He walked over to the living room, where he indeed found Juvia, sitting on the couch and looking towards the window.

"Do you always get up this early or is it only when you wake up next to me?" Gray asked half joking when he stepped into the living room. Juvia turned around from her spot on the couch and offered him a smile. She had a cup in hands and she put it on the center table.

"Juvia's an early bird." Gray walked over and she moved so he could have enough space to sit beside her, which he did. She didn't tell him the fact that a wave of nausea and half an hour bending over a toilet were involved in the earliness of her awakening. "She enjoys watching the sun rise."

The blunette pointed to the window, where indeed the sun was starting to show itself. The sky was losing its darkness and it had some shades of orange and pink. It was a pretty view. It was lucky that the buildings around hers weren't high enough to make it a problem about seeing the dawn.

"That's why Juvia loves this apartment so much." She mumbled and unconsciously, Gray's arm circled her shoulders; she rested on him, as they both fell into silence.

Both watched the sun rise in silence while thinking about what to do next.

Of course the thoughts were completely different from one another; he was thinking of what the next step would be, while she was thinking about what to tell him about the pregnancy.

"What do we make about last night?" Gray asked and Juvia looked up to him.

"No idea." Juvia whispered and he frowned. He thought that she would jump on the assumption that they should start wedding plans.

"Keep up with the one night stands?" Gray asked after a few seconds, but didn't like the idea.

"Is it what you want?" Juvia asked, glancing again towards the window.

"No." Gray said after some time. "It may be good enough for other people but that would be wrong for us." She nodded; her gaze still on the window. "Maybe we could... Do something else."

"Like what?" She seemed so far away, like her mind wasn't totally into that conversation. And for a moment he was concerned, but pushed that thought away.

"I don't know." His ears reddened. "Maybe a more… conventional agreement."

Juvia's heart skipped a beat and she couldn't even breathe. If that was going where she thought it was going, she was going to be the happiest girl in the world.

"Like...?" She asked moving her eyes away from the window, but she didn't look to him, she focused her stare on the cup of milk she was previously drinking. If he wasn't going into the direction she wanted him to, she didn't want him to see the disappointment all over her face.

"Like... Going out. Like normal people. Go out to have dinner. Watch a movie." The guy was utterly interested in her ceiling, Juvia could tell, by the way he was staring at it. His cheeks were colored in a light pinkish tone and she couldn't believe her eyes.

"We do that already." Juvia knew she was pushing her luck and at any moment Gray could get up and go away from her exactly like she did when they first woke up together naked and in the same bed.

"Yes, we do." Gray nodded, finally staring at her. "But what I mean is... We do it differently now." Juvia turned to look at him.

"Like... Dating?" She pushed again and was prepared to see him leave, and she was certain that this time it would happen, because he opened his mouth too fast...

Gray was about to tell her 'no' by reflex –she had been asking for dates for so many years now–, but stopped himself before he did. He looked to Juvia in his arms and it felt right. It was the most complete he had been in months. Besides, Gray Fullbuster was no sissy. He could admit his feelings. A little bit.

"No, not like dating. Dating."

Juvia's eyes widened in surprise. She thought that he would never say anything like that in her whole life. Actually, she thought that even if they got married, Juvia was certain that he would still introduce her as 'Juvia' not his 'wife'.

Passed her surprise, Juvia smiled widely as she could and then used both her hands to bring his face close to hers, giving him a very long kiss. He was surprised at first, but was reciprocating it as soon as he realized what was going on.

Before either could see, Gray was lying on the couch and Juvia was on top of him, legs in each side of his hips while they kissed with passion. Oh, she was in cloud 9! Not only they had a very passionate night together, but Gray was telling that they should try dating.

"You are pregnant." She remembered what the doctor said and she froze and then pushed him away, surprising not only him, but also her. They stared at each other with surprise written in both of their eyes.

"Hey… Are you alright?" Gray asked concerned, because if he wasn't mistaken, Juvia was getting paler and paler by the second. She was in a sitting position now and he followed her lead and also sat. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other's.

"Juvia has to tell you something." Juvia mumbled. He waited, but she didn't say a word.

"About...?" He asked, frowning. And then she sighed and hid her face on the crook of his neck. Then he remembered. The night before some kind of problem appeared and that was what kept her from going to his graduation. She had told him that she was going to tell him in the morning. "Is it about the something you found out about last night?" He felt her nod, his arms tightened around her waist. "You can tell me what it is, you know?"

"Please, not today." She murmured and Gray was taken back of how much the situation changed in just a few seconds.

"Hey, calm down." He said softly, caressing her back. "You don't have to tell me nothing right now. There are some things that we can only say to others when you are ready." Juvia sighed in relief. "It's not like I'm going anywhere. You can tell me when you're ready." She nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Can you stay today?" Gray nodded and she smiled.

"I thought that we agreed on… dating." The last word came out a little strangled, he had to get used to say the word if they were going to really do that. "Going out to eat and stuff…"

"Juvia has food here." She shrugged and he laughed loud bringing her closer to him so he could kiss her, it cheered her up a few hours back and he could definitely try then… He untied her robe and had every intention of letting things go further, but before he did more to her breasts than set them free, something he didn't expect happened.

"What the fuck…?"

Gray and Juvia looked towards the door of the apartment and saw Gajeel standing there, door opened, just like his mouth.

Juvia was the first to recover and she put her robe around her chest once again while Gajeel covered his eyes with his hand and Gray was just looking at Gajeel in surprise. He had totally forgotten that the guy lived there as well.

"Shit, Juvia! I sleep on that couch sometimes! What the hell are you two doing…?" Gajeel kept yelling, his eyes covered by his hand. "Don't answer that!"

Juvia had buried her face on Gray's chest again. Passed the shock, Gray hugged Juvia to hide her form even more, even though he was pretty sure Gajeel wasn't looking.

"Jeez, Gajeel! Don't you knock?"

"This is my apartment!" Gajeel yelled. "Sorry if I thought it was alright for me to get inside without seeing Juvia have her way with you in our couch. Which is going to be burned now. Thanks Stripper!" Gray was about to talk again, but Gajeel interrupted. "I should've gone with Levy to her place, but no! I had to be a fuckin' good friend and come back home to see if you were better because you can't answer your damn phone, Juvia. Apparently, I was worried for nothing."

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia said glancing towards her friend and getting off the top of Gray and sitting on the couch, while Gray grabbed a pillow to cover his lower half, not that he was naked, but because things were tense down there.

"Look, I'll go to Levy's." He turned around to leave. "When I come back, you better not be here, Fullbuster! Or I swear I'll torch you along with the couch!"

"We didn't do anything!" Gray said and yelled, when Gajeel closed the door after him. "Yet!"

"Argh!" They heard the groan from outside and as soon they heard the many cuss words Gajeel was saying stop, both Juvia and Gray looked to each other and Gray laughed.

"I can't believe you are laughing!" Juvia said slapping her lightly on the arm, getting up from the couch and tying the knot on her robe tighter.

"Sorry." He said watching as she went to her bedroom. "It was funny."

"No, it wasn't!" Juvia said as she entered the room and kept the bedroom's door opened so Gray could hear her. "He saw Juvia on top of you, Gray-sama!" If it was another girl who had seen him, Juvia would be glad, since she would be 'marking her territory', but her best friend –the closest thing she ever had to a brother– was something else entirely!

"I thought you would be more concerned about him seeing your breasts." Gray stopped laughing and saw when she returned, with her phone in hands.

"He had seen them before! The part where we both were almost having sex on this couch is what embarrasses Juvia!" She said and she started dial her friend. "Gajeel-kun?"

"Wait, what do you mean he saw them before?" Gray asked, getting up and standing next to her, while she waved him off.

"Juvia is so sorry!" The blunette said on the phone. "She knows. But please, don't put acid on your eyes." She paused. "Or stab yourself on the eyes to erase the image. Juvia is so sorry…" She stopped and Gray could hear some yelling and Juvia blushed. "Sorry." She stopped again. "Yes, Juvia will repay you. How does an apple pie every time you want for the next two months sound?" A pause. "Okay, it's a deal then. And no torching the couch! Nothing happened." She blushed. "No, it wasn't because you interrupted us!"

"Yes, it was." Gray said loud enough so Gajeel could hear.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia said and the dark haired man walked towards the kitchen to find something to eat. Apparently, he was going to stay there for the rest of the weekend. Once he was away enough of her, she whispered to the phone. "Gajeel-kun, could you please tell no one about seeing Juvia and Gray-sama together?"

"Why? I thought that you would be telling everyone the moment that guy even kissed you." He snorted. "You two were more than just kissy on my couch."

"Please, Gajeel-kun. No one must know. Not even Levy-san." She whispered in a hurry and Gajeel paused for a moment.

"What's going on, Juvia?"

"Please." She said calmly begging and heard him sigh.

"Fine. I won't tell, but you better tell me later what's wrong. This is not like you." He said. "I don't like it."

"Thank you. Bye."

Juvia ended the call and checked her phone, just to see that Lisanna had called her five times and Lyon two. She frowned in confusion. Gray returned from the kitchen and saw the frown in Juvia's face and asked what was wrong.

"Lisanna-san called Juvia five times and texted about nine. Lyon-san also called."

"Oh." Gray looked guilty. "I kind of stormed out and they were worried I would say hurtful things to you. I should probably apologize." Juvia didn't know what happened, but at the mention of Lisanna's name, she started to read her texts.

'Juvia, Gray's going to your place right now! He'll arrive soon!', there were about four just like it and a few 'Are you alright?' but the last one was the one that made her tremble inside.

'Did you tell him?'

She glanced and saw that Gray was heading towards her bedroom to get his own phone and she quickly texted the white haired girl back.

'No. Please, don't mention it to anyone. Juvia is fine. He was here but left. You don't need to come over, Juvia will stay in bed all day. Talk to you later, okay?'

Gray returned to the living room as she sent the text and saw that Gray was also texting someone.

"I'm telling Loki that I won't be going home tonight. He probably wouldn't even notice, since I'm pretty sure he'll be pretty hammered." The man shrugged and put her phone beside hers above the center table.

"So, you are staying." Juvia got closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Yes." Gray nodded. "That couch is not going to be burnable alone."

Juvia laughed and once again let her problems slip from her mind. Everything Gray did was making her delay the inevitable: finally understand that she was pregnant. But she just wanted some time with him before the mess. Was it too bad that she wanted to enjoy what she had while she had it?

She wasn't going to tell him that weekend. That weekend was theirs alone. Without any complications.

That weekend, she only had him.

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AN: Okay, let me explain… I want to show how Gray and Juvia's relationship can be when they're older and I want a more open Gray. I know he's a little closed up most of the times, but I want it to change when he's around Juvia. Besides he just had sex and is in a very good mood.

Sorry if I let anyone down.

And, next chapter, things will heat up. Plus, there's a BIG surprise.

Thanks to: Mareig, enzeroo86, Guest, DanielleFullbuster, Random fangirl, Essence97, NekoMaji, yagami rin, pewpewmew, , Jessicutie, AngelLips23, cybercorpsesnake, TAEMiNATOR18, AnimeFreak992, YamixTeaLover, Chibi Waru-Chan, wakamehime530, Yukistar, Cupcake-Lover-1374, superduperizee, Seyrin, krisannw, Tamely, Guest, AliceCullen3, Lavi-hime 4E -3 and Angel the Neko! Thank you guys so much! ;)

01/28/13 ~ BonneyQ