AN: I know abortion is a sensitive matter, but Juvia's terrified of having a baby. I told you that it is different from 'The Baby Problem', where she didn't even considered ending her pregnancy even if it could kill her. This Juvia lives in the real world, and she is a college student and has to work to pay her bills and study to keep her college grades up. I'm trying to make this as realistic as I can, alright?

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What to Expect When You're Expecting

Chapter Seven – Don't Have to Have

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"Knowing that you're always welcome, no matter how much has changed; that's what having a home is all about." –Oerba Dia Vanille, Final Fantasy XIII

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After helping his mother eat the ice cream without actually talk much, Gray and Ur went to the living room and sat on the couch and the older woman was staring at her son and when he looked up to her, he was fast to avoid eye contact as soon as he saw her looking at him. It was a very delicate subject what he had to tell her.

"Oh, what did you do?" Ur narrowed her eyes. She knew her boy and he was acting like he killed someone and had to hide the body. And as far as she knew, that was the case.

"Why do you assume that I did something?" Gray asked, very interested in the floor.

"Because you do not come to my house at this hour and in the middle of the week" He mumbled something like 'It's Friday, not the middle of the week' and she ignored him. "because you feel like it. I know my kids. Usually you've done something bad and listening me yell at you helps you out." She shrugged. "Okay, just tell me what you did so I can scold you and go take a very nice and long shower and go to sleep." Ur crossed her arms under her breasts. "I was about to take off my prosthetic leg." She raised her right leg to show him the leg and she saw a bit of pain pass through his face, but it was gone. At least the pained expression didn't last as long as would've been before.

"Hm... Maybe I should tell you after you take it off." Gray looked to the other side of the living room.

"Oh, so this one is a chasing-to-kill-you scolding. It's something big, then." Ur nodded in understanding. "Tell me and be ready to have your ass kicked."

"I..." Gray hesitated.

"Out with it, Boy." Ur rolled her eyes and waited without much patience.

"I... I had a one night stand and I got someone pregnant." Gray said and stared at his mother. He said it vaguely like that so his mother could really give him a scolding; he had to be called an idiot a few times to feel better.

Ur blinked once, then twice, then one more time.

"You. Stupid. Brat!" She yelled, Gray ducked a pillow and both got up. "You impregnated someone? Did you forget about protection? Don't you remember of our very awkward conversation about protection when you were fifteen? You never, ever sleep with someone without protection! You could've gotten a disease! AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, getting someone pregnant! Wait, you actually accomplished the last one!" Her face was becoming redder by the second. "When I get my hands on you, you little prick, I'm gonna..."

Then they walked around the living room for about twenty minutes: Gray running from his mother while she ran after him, cussing and telling how stupid he was.

When she finally sat down on her favorite chair, sighing, Gray stayed in a safe distance from her, and very aware of his surroundings in case he had to run again. He didn't need a beating.

"How did you let this happen, Gray?" Ur sighed; she rested her face on her hands. "I raised you better than that."

"We were drunk." He said. "She had always been... affectionate towards me and we got crazy drunk..."

"Okay, I get it." She held her hand up so he could stop talking. Ur really didn't have to know about her son's sex life. "Do you even know her?"

A pause.

"It's Juvia."

Ur raised an eyebrow. There was a name not uncommon in that house. All of her children had mentioned it fondly more than once, actually.

"Juvia?" She asked and he nodded. "That Juvia?"

"Yes." He sighed. To his surprise, Ur smiled.

"Oh, boy. This' gotta be nice."

"What?" Gray was confused. Wasn't his mother mad at him just a moment before?

"You never introduced me to this girl. You intentionally kept her away from me all those years, even after I asked to meet her. Now, she's having a little you. And now I have to meet her, because she will be the mother of your kid! Oh, and just think how happy Meredy's gonna have a cousin!" It was scary for Gray to see his mother so optimistic. "And there's Lyon. Christmases sure will be fun around this house again." She chuckled to herself and Gray only watched her in amazement.

"Mother...?" Gray was expecting a scolding, not his mother so happy about it. Ur noticed that and sighed, losing the smile.

"Okay, getting someone pregnant was a stupid move Gray. Really. And was it a one night stand, you said?" He nodded. "Stupider. But at least she's not someone you never saw in your life and you don't know; she's your friend."

"We kind of started dating a few weeks after that night. A few days ago." He mumbled and Ur thought: well, not so bad. "And now I don't know if we are even friends anymore."

"What happened?" She frowned in confusion. She had been hearing about Juvia for the last three years, the friendship couldn't end like that. Sure, it was awkward, but not hardly enough to end their bond like it was nothing when clearly meant something for both of them. And at the moment seemed that they were more than just friends.

"She lied to me." Gray said. "She didn't tell me she was pregnant. She started a relationship with me knowing that she was pregnant and then... She chose not to tell me." He proceeds telling his foster mom what happened between them during the time since the one night stand. How he had missed her, how she lost the graduation and how they decided to take it to the other level. And how she had told him about the pregnancy and how they ended up yelling at each other, making him go to his mother to seek some kind of guidance.

"The way I see it, you are more concerned about the deceiving than with the kid on the way."

"A baby wasn't in any of my plans for now or the next 10 years, but if it happened, I'm fine with it. It's a challenge, sure. But... People younger and less resourceful than me do it, so I can too." He paused and glanced towards his mother. "She told me abortion was on the table."

Ur nodded in agreement and Gray got pissed. Why was she agreeing with Juvia's crazy plan? "I lost my parents to a murderer 15 years ago, and now someone else is planning on killing another person with my blood! Do you agree with her?"

"Yes, right now I do!" Gray was about to argue, when the woman interrupted him. "Hey, hey. Take off your dress, end this little tea party and quit the whining, princess!" He raised an eyebrow and listened to her scolding: that was the reason he went to her in the first place. "Gray, you are a smart kid. You said it yourself that she found out about the baby the night of your graduation. You told me that you arrived not two hours after she received the news. What did you want? The girl was probably in shock. I bet she didn't expect it either. And when she's feeling confident enough to tell you about it, you yell at her? You two didn't sit and talk, you yelled at each other like infants. Of course she's thinking of all scenarios! Some girls can do it without a father in the picture, like I did with Ultear and some girls just can't handle being single moms."

"What about me? I told her I would stick around." He argued back.

"Gray, she told you about the pregnancy and instead of going after her to talk; you spent four hours in a train and came to talk to me." Ur said and Gray's face became pale. "You already didn't stick around."

"Wait, no… I had to think about…" Gray tried to defend himself. Ur waved him off.

"Sure, but you have to face it, kid: men don't always do what they say they will do." Ur saw his expression of surprise. "Don't give me that face, you know it's true. I know you are the exception; one of the good ones. But as far as I could gather about Juvia, is that she have been alone most of her life, right?" Gray nodded. "Maybe she's not used to have someone who promises that won't leave and really doesn't." She shrugged. "If you are really staying by her side, you have to stay by her side." The woman eyed Gray and gave him enough time to think before talking again. "You two don't have to have this baby, Gray." He stared in confusion and Ur sighed.

"As much as I'd love to have a grandchild, your child, to rotten silly, you said it yourself that you and Juvia just started dating. If she does terminate the pregnancy, she can get pregnant again when you two think the time's right, not just because you have to have this baby." Then they were in silence for a long time while Gray absorbed her words before Ur talk again. "You are not the bad guy here, kid. Neither is she. It was a shock for both; hell, I am shocked and I'm not the parent! You two are handling a stressful situation in the way you can. I don't know why she didn't tell you right away, but you'll never know if you yell at each other every time you two try to talk." Gray looked up to his mother. "She may even make decisions she'll regret."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked, but he knew what his mother meant.

"You know what I mean." Ur said, shrugging. "She can have an abortion for the wrong reasons and even keep the child for the wrong reasons. The concept of good and bad are relative here, Gray. You have to understand all the sides. And you… you know that you may want this baby for the wrong reasons."

They stayed in silence for long minutes and Ur searched what else to say, but got nothing. As much as she wanted to protect Gray, her son, from the world and heartache, she had to face that he was no longer the seven-year-old she adopted. Gray was a grown man who had to make his own mistakes to learn. And that meant that she could only guide him so far and let him sort the rest by himself.

"Go to your room, kid." Ur pointed to the stairs. "Go and think. You don't need my opinion; you know I'll back you up to whatever you decide to do. I just ask for you to really think about all of this, and all scenarios."

Gray nodded and kissed her on the cheek while she smiled to him. Once he left and was upstairs, Ur let out a sigh and prayed those kids made the right decisions for both of them.

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Gray didn't sleep that night. He lied on his childhood bedroom, looking to the ceiling and thinking about how his life would change with a baby. How would he help Juvia up when he also has to work for a living? How could he ask her to stop her own college to have the baby?

Was she being selfish? Was he being selfish? Were the two of them right and wrong at the same time?

Why did that have to happen when they finally understood each other? Right when he finally had the guts to confront his own feelings.

Gray knew that they were not as deep as her feelings, but he did care for her. After three years, he could say it that he indeed liked her a lot and he could really see it get deeper and deeper.

The blue haired girl had been always there for when he needed her and she had even been tangled into some of his own family dramas, as like when Ultear and Meredy went bananas. She was the one who had almost died, putting herself in the way of the pink haired girl when she decided she wanted to kill Gray, yet somehow saved not only her own life, but also Meredy's; which Gray was incredibly grateful for: the girl was a cute little thing when wasn't getting homicidal.

Gray had made his mind when the dawn was coloring the sky with pink and orange.

Once he had his breakfast with his mother, he would go back to Magnolia and talk to Juvia as soon as he could. Both of them had had time to cool off and think. They only had to talk to each other, like they used to.

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Gajeel was staring at his roommate while she petted Pantherlily, his black cat. The animal was very fond of Juvia and while he was like a little feisty tiger with Gajeel sometimes, it was quite a kitty when Levy, Juvia or Wendy were around him. The cat had a soft spot for girls. Or he just liked the blue of their hair.

Either way, he was being petted and loving it, while Gajeel stared at them; the cat was on her lap while the girl was doing the petting without really putting her mind in what she was doing.

Her eyes were glassy, as if she was about to cry. And he was sure that the Fullbuster bastard had something to do with it. Juvia wasn't one to cry over nothing. Only he would have such effect on her.

Since the day before she had been light headed and that morning she burned pancakes. Not that he minded much, Gajeel ate it just fine, and the strange thing was that Juvia never burned anything. She was meticulous with food. And until that moment, she had totally forgotten about lunch.

Juvia didn't just forget about lunch. Not during the weekend, when they ate together.

"Hey, Juvia." Gajeel said and the woman. Barely moved; she made a sound so he could know she was listening. "What about lunch?"

"Oh." She said, absent minded. "Juvia's not feeling well. Maybe we should order pizza."

"Sure." Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "When will Stripper come over, so I can leave? I don't want to see what I shouldn't."

Juvia tensed visibly and even stopped the petting on the cat, which looked up in question, just like Gajeel was looking at her confused. Usually she would happily jump into any subject that involved her boyfriend but that time she was tense to say the least.

"Gray-sama..." She mumbled. "We had a fight. Juvia doesn't know when he'll pass by."

"What was the fight about?" Gajeel asked and when Juvia didn't answer, he frowned. "You have been secretive about you two going out and now you two had a fight? I thought we had no secrets."

"Juvia's not ready to talk about it." She said.

"Yes, you are." Gajeel went to stand in front of her. "You have been all secretive and I don't like it. I don't know what's going on and that pisses me off!" He half yelled, not because he was angry, but because he was frustrated with her for not telling him whatever it was bothering her. "Is it something dangerous?" She shook her head 'no'. "So tell me!"

"Gajeel-kun, please." Juvia murmured and looked up to him, eyes shining with unshed tears. "Juvia will tell you when she's ready."

The man had an internal battle; he knew that she would tell him if he pushed a tiny bit more, but at the same time as he wanted to know whatever was bothering her he didn't want her to be sad for it. He sighed and kneeled in front of her.

"Fine." He said after looking into her eyes. Whatever it was, he knew it was something she had to deal with before letting him know. "Just promise that you will be fine, because you don't look fine." She opened her mouth and closed, hesitating. Gajeel saw that and narrowed his eyes. "What was that?"

"Nothing." She shook her head lightly and started petting Lily again and the cat started purring as the girl did so.

Gajeel got up. "I don't like this." He said it again. "You have an oversharing nature, Juvia. When you don't tell me something as important as whatever you have in your mind right now, you make me mad, you know that." She nodded but said nothing else. Gajeel sighed in defeat. If she didn't want to tell him then, it was fine –it wasn't, he was still mad at her–, and he was going to wait for her to tell him.

"What flavor of pizza do ya want?" He picked his cellphone and Juvia smiled a bit to him and he felt a little better. At least she was smiling. But he would keep an eye on her, just in case.

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Juvia heard her cellphone buzz on the nightstand. She sat on her bed to see who it was; she wasn't really in the mood to talk. Once she saw who the caller was, she nearly had a heart attack.

'Gray-sama', she read, but really had no reason to. The cellphone showed a picture of Gray that she had taken without him realizing and as far as she was concerned, it was the best picture of him she ever saw. He was bare chested (no surprise there), the sun was in his face and he had the most wonderful smile. She had taken that one during a soccer game the boys played once and since then, it was his caller ID on her phone.

She hesitated, but grabbed the phone and accepted the call.

"Hello?" She said quietly.

"Hi." Gray's voice made her feel butterflies all over her stomach, as it always did. At least that didn't change.

"Hi, Gray-sama." Juvia had a small smile on her face; despite of it all he still made her feel like a hopeless little girl waiting for her prince charming.

He hesitated to talk, she could tell. "Can I come over?"

"Gray-sama…" Juvia sighed. "It's…"

"You know we have to talk about… it, Juvia." Gray said.

"Where are you?" She asked looking at the clock on her nightstand, it was a little past seven pm.

"I just arrived home. I have to take a shower and I can be at your place in twenty minutes, max." He said, fast.

"Okay." She sighed. They had to face it whatever they had to face it and move on, with or without each other. Maybe he was coming over to end things with her; and at that point, she just wanted it all to happen so she could suffer and try to move on already. Her life was so messed up. "See you in a bit, Gray-sama."

"Yeah." He said and Juvia had the feeling that he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. "See you in a bit, Juvia."

The blunette stared at her phone for a full minute, wondering what was that all about and decided to get up from bed and take her own shower before he arrived. She was looking like hell and the last thing she wanted to add to her image in his head was: dirty little deceiver.

She took a deep breath; she had to face him and the consequences of their acts. All of them.

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AN: Gotta say: I don't know about you guys, but I just loved how Ur came out. And next chapter, the confrontation between Juvia and Gray. What's that gonna bring? :O

Special thanks to: cybercorpsesnake, Essence97, Uchiha Evangeline, pewpewmew, Seyrin, animegirl115, Yukistar, Kira, AliceCullen3, Yuki Brunestud, Angel the Neko, SakuraIchigoDark, Tamniin, superduperizee, Darkhope, Jessicutie, xScarletxMoonx0, yagami rin, amyskywalker, AngelBaby5643, Summer Eclair, Chibi Waru-Chan, krisannw, YamixTeaLover, Ushiio, Esthellar, , Cupcake-Lover-1374 and Tamely

02/04/2013 ~ BonneyQ