Day 6: Directions

Short Cuts Are A No-No, And Cook Books Are Stupid!


A small smile curved full pink lips, a small mewl leaving her as Lucy stretched her body out, eyes still closed as she relaxed her limbs once more, snuggling into the silky bed sheets, hugging her husbands pillow once she realized he was no longer in bed for her to hug, nuzzling the dark blue pillow and inhaling his ozone honeyed scent.

"Mama~" a small happy voice sounded from the foot of the bed, followed by the feel of a small furry body shooting up the bed to her head, purring reaching Lucy's ears as the small little being burrowed their fur covered face into her nape.

Giving a soft giggle, Lucy released the pillow, reaching up behind her head to grab at the purring kitten and bring it to her breast to cuddle.

"Good morning to you too, Nova." Lucy greeted as she finally opened her eyes, smiling down at the content cream colored kitten purring into her chest. "Where's Laxus?"

"Papa went out earlier, said he'd be back later and to give you this!" Nova said as she wiggled her way out of Lucy's arms, immediately missing her mother's warmth, and over to the dresser, grabbing a folded sheet of paper and an envelope and handing it to Lucy.

Sitting up in bed Lucy, one hand reaching down to scratch at Nova's ear, she read the letter.

"Dear Lucy,

I'm sorry I can't be there to wake you up and say happy birthday. But an emergency request that specifically ask for me came in. I will hopefully be back within a few hours. In the mean time, to make it up to you, inside the envelope are eight vouchers to Rosalyn's Spa for you and the girls to enjoy and be pampered. I also left you my jewel card, go crazy and have fun.

I love you and will see you later on tonight,

Laxus."

Reaching for the envelope and opening it, Lucy squealed pulling out the vouchers and black card. "Laxus, I love you!"


It was later in the afternoon, around 4:36, when Lucy finally arrive home with Nova, a small handful of large bags held within her hands, body practically buzzing with her contentment as she closed the door and made her way up the stairs and to her room.

Dropping her bags at the bench of their bed, she allowed gravity to take her, falling backwards on bed, giggling softly as she bounced.

"I had a lot of fun today, Mama!" Nova exclaimed as she plopped herself down on Lucy's stomach. "I really liked that spa! Do you think Papa will come with us next time? Do you think he'll like the new dress I go?" The small little Exceed asked.

"I'm sure he'll love it, Nova." She assured her. "And I have no doubt he'll come with us next time if you'd just ask him."

Lucy's smiled lessens slightly at the reminder that Laxus wasn't there. Although she, Nova, and the girls had had a wonderful time at the spa and shopping, she couldn't help but wish that she were at home with her husband instead, cuddling him with Nova on the couch while they watched movies.

A small high pitched yawn tore Lucy away from her mopping, her smile returning as she watch Nova rub at her tired eyes with her tiny little white tipped paws.

"How about a little cat nap?" She asked the tired kitten. "When we wake up I can make us some yummy food to eat and you can choose a movie for us to watch, and hopefully Laxus will be home by the time dinner is done."

"Okay!" Nova said before hopping off Lucy's stomach and moving up to Laxus' pillow, circling around it once, then twice, before settling down, falling asleep almost immediately after.

Lucy shook her head, getting up so that she could settled under the blankets, and found herself falling asleep almost as quickly as Nova had.


Nova and Lucy both shot out of bed, startled and hearts racing, the smoke alarm blaring loudly in their ears. Lucy could faintly pick up the sound of a familiar voice cursing over the blaring alarm. Relaxing, Lucy gently scooped Nova up, running her hands down her bristling fur.

"It's okay, Sweetie." She soothed able to feel Nova's heart beating a mile a minute. "Let's go see what happened."

Making her way down the hallways stairs and to the kitchen, Lucy covered her mouth and nose with her hand when smoke greeted her as she opened the kitchen doors, gently pressing Nova's own face into her chest to protect her from breathing in any smoke.

Inside she found Laxus running around opening every window in the kitchen and the door leading to the backyard, before running over to the alarm and trying to rapidly fan at it with a kitchen rag, his own nose and mouth being covered by another.

"Laxus?"

Turning at the sound of his wife's voice Laxus waved at her to leave.

"Go out into the living room. I don't want you or Nova breathing this in." He ordered.

Normally not one to just sit and obey, Lucy decided to listen to him for once, exiting the smoke filled kitchen and waiting in the living room for him.

It was only a few minutes later, when the fire alarm stopped its screeching, that Laxus finally came out.

"What happened in there?" She questioned as she stood up to check him over, gasping once she saw the burns on his fingers and hands. "Laxus! You're hands!"

Wasting no time Lucy grabbed at her keys, feeling for the familiar silver key Juvia and Gray had gifted to her after finding it during a mission, and drawing.

"Open, Gate of the Healing Avian, Caladrius!" She summoned.

In a burst of golden light flew out a bird of pure white color, landing gently upon Lucy's shoulder, mindful of its sharp talons.

"Caladrius, could you please heal Laxus for me?" She asked the bird.

Chirping softly Caladrius spreed it's wings, swooping down, gently grazing Laxus's hands with glowing feathered wings, and flying into the kitchen through the open door and out the window, soaring high into the sky like a beacon of light before vanishing back into the Celestial World.

Lucy gave Caladrius' key a pass of the fingers, sending him a silent thank you, before turning her attention to her mate.

"Now, explain to me why our kitchen was filled with so much smoke."

Clenching and unclenching his hands, sighing in relief at having the pain gone, Laxus sheepishly scratched at the back of his head, a tint of pink dusting his cheeks as he averted his gaze to the side.

"I was trying to make you a nice birthday dinner..." he mumbled.

"A birthday dinner? How sweet, but that still doesn't answer my question."

"I was so busy reading the direction in the cook book, trying to figure out how the hell to properly make that béarnaise sauce you like so much for the steak, because I kept scrambling it, that I forgot about the grill heirloom tomato and feta panzanella salad I was making. But I had a issue making it. I don't know if you remember or not, but Natsu and Gray broke our grill last month during one of their fights, and I completely forgot about it until I started cooking. I didn't have the time to go out and buy a new grill, so I thought I'd improvise.

I grabbed the tray with the tomatoes and put them in the broiler with the bread, letting them sit their and cook. The bread was coming out great from what I could make out, just the way you like it, so I turned to focus on the sauce, which turned out to be a real hassle you know? Anyways, while I was busy doing that, trying to follow the directions, the tomatoes on the other hand... The tray of olive oil-soaked tomatoes just... I dunno... exploded or something? Long story short, we need a new oven."

Lucy could do no more than stare at Laxus in shock, eyes wide and mouth hanging wide open through the long winded conversation.

Laxus fidgeted just the slightest, waiting for the lecture that was sure to come. But how the hell was he supposed to know that cooking oil coming so close to a heated source could spark a flame? How was he suppose to know he had poured way to fucking much olive oil on the tomatoes and then had the idiotic idea of placing them directly under the broiler? Wasn't like the cook book gave him any useful tips, like letting him know that splattered oil could cause a spark when coming into direct contact with boiling heat, for instance.

Of course once Lucy got over her laughing fit, after the shock left her, she made sure to properly school him on why generously oiled food with high moisture should be left on lower oven racks and stuff- not like he was ever going to try that again, he was going to steer clear of cooking with tomatoes near ovens for a while. Stupid cook book and it's crappy, no detail, choppy directions!

"How about we order some takeout and watch a move?"

"You're not mad that I ruined dinner and the oven?" Laxus asked.

Lucy shook her head, her eyes shining bright with amusement. "Nope!" She said popping the 'P'. "I think it was a very sweet thing for you to try and do, making my favorite foods, even though they were hard to make and you ended up ruining my oven. So, you're off the hook this time." She said before spring a quick kiss on his lips. "Now come on, Nova's choosing what movie we watch. And we need to decided what we want to order!"


Note: The Caladrius, according to Roman Mythology, is a snow-white bird that lives in the king's house. It is said to be able to take the sickness into itself and then fly away, dispersing the sickness and healing both itself and the sick person.