~PREVIOUSLY ON THE LAST CHAPTER~
"She's been with Sting for almost a year now." Rogue explained making Lucy gasp and pull away from Natsu. She sat down and looked at Sting, wanting Sting to talk to her about this girl. "Tell me, Sting. Who's Yukino?"
"The girl I shall marry."
Lucy giggled as Natsu kissed her swollen stomach, the two grinning like idiots. They were in the garden once again just because it was a beautiful day and Natsu wanted to enjoy it with his two favorite ladies. Natsu wanted to hurry and finish the crib before Nashi was out and bouncing but Gray and Gajeel refused to come over while the relatives were over. And so, Natsu did the work little by little when he had the time. He didn't even dare asking Rogue, Sting, or Laxus because he was afraid one of them might mess up his crib up. Lucy told him he was over exaggerating but he knew they would do anything to just piss him off.
"What color do you think would be most appropriate?"
"Thing of nice pale colors. Something that would match our little Nashi."
"I'm guess she'll have pink or blonde hair so maybe a pale orange?" Lucy nodded at the idea, clapping her hands together like a small little girl. Natsu chuckled and started to look through a magazine with Lucy by his side, trying to find out what color looked best. Natsu was also looking for a house to live with Lucy but he had found none. All of them were either too small, too broken down, too far, or Lucy didn't like them.
He didn't know having a family of his own was this tiresome.
"How about this color?" Lucy's arm stretched out in front of his, pointing at a very light orange color. Natsu pursed his lips trying to imagine the color surrounding his darling daughter. He grinned and nodded, seeing that the color would match her. "We really need to find a house and paint a room for our Nashi,"
"I know, but all the houses are crap!"
"We can build one."
"But that'll take forever!"
"Not really, maybe a couple months but we can make them build one." Lucy puffed out her cheeks, trying to think if that was a good idea. Since Natsu's parents were supporting her and her child, Lucy thought maybe she could ask her parents for the house money. Just to build, of course. "Hey, what's going on here?"
"Stingy! Hey, we're building –"
"A sand castle." Natsu interrupted as he covered Lucy's mouth, the woman glaring at him. "A sand castle? Out of what?" Sting asked as he looked around for any sand. Lucy pulled his hand away and scolded the pink-haired man, looking at Sting with a soft smile. "We're building a crib for Nashi!"
"Who's Nashi and this is just a box made out a wood."
"Nashi is our soon-to-be daughter and we're still in the process of making it."
"Cool," Sting sat down next to Lucy and smiled just a tad bit making Lucy smile back. Sting had been such a sweetheart to her and Lucy liked this side better then the flirty asshole one. "When's the baby due?"
"In 3 months," Sting nodded as he picked up a piece of paper. It was the directions of how to make a crib and Sting snorted, shaking his head side to side. "What?" Lucy now looked at him; one arm laced with Natsu's while one rested on her swollen stomach. "Do you honestly believe you can build one out of these lame instructions?"
"We can try,"
"Bullshit, I bet you Rogue and I can make a better one."
"You two build things?"
"Rogue can, I can paint well." Lucy shook Natsu's arm and he shifted his attention on Lucy, realizing she was smiling; he looked at Sting and raised an eyebrow. "Rogue and Sting could help!" Natsu gave Sting a look and Sting shrugged, a small smirk coming to his lips. "I don't mean to brag or anything, but we're pretty good." Lucy's eyes widen and a huge smile came on her face. She looked at her fiancé who stared at her, trying to see if he could allow that.
He was on good terms with Sting and Rogue again but he didn't want so much attention being held on the crib since he already worked so hard. "If you two do one thing that messed the crib up, I swear I'll have you two begging for my forgiveness." Sting opened his mouth to retort something but when he saw the glare Lucy was giving him, he shut his mouth. "Alright, when do we start, boss?"
"Right now. You look for the perfect color and I'll go fetch Rogue,"
"Yay! Come on, Stingy. What do you think of this color?"
"Don't you think it's a bit too dull?" Natsu smiled and kissed Lucy's cheek before standing up to leave. "I'm leaving you in charge of her for 5 minutes!" Natsu shouted as he disappeared into the house. He can trust Sting, right?
Natsu went up the stairs as he hummed some unknown tune Lucy had been constantly humming to herself for the past nights. It must have rubbed off on him. Once Natsu reached Sting's and Rogue's room, he lifted his arm up to knock. "I know baby, I miss you too." Natsu froze and stopped to listen, his eyes widening. "I'll be home soon, don't worry."
"Laxus?"
"Yes, I'm at Natsu's house. Keep your sexy body well," Natsu's feet automatically started moving as he now stood in front of Laxus's room, listening to his conversation. "Oh god, I just want to fuck you right now." Natsu pressed his ear onto the door, wondering who in the hell Laxus was talking to. Was it some girl? Maybe it was that girl Sting was telling them about this morning at the table. "I'll be home tomorrow evening." Natsu backed away and shook his head, thinking this was wrong. He'll talk to Laxus next time since all this dirty talking will just turn him on.
He knocked on Rogue's door and soon it opened, Rogue looking as if he just woke up. "Yo, were you sleeping?"
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"Follow me out to the garden. I need your help."
~X~
Lucy set down the tray of watermelons and lemonade, seeing that the boys weren't fighting and all in one piece, she smiled. They have been working on the crib for almost an hour now without any of them fighting and Lucy was happy. They got the work done faster and Natsu seemed happy too. "Boys, drinks!" Lucy called out catching the male's attention. They dropped whatever they held and walked over to her, grabbing the refreshments.
"Hey baby," Natsu gave Lucy's cheek as kiss as her whole face lit up to his voice. "You two are so lovey dovey, it makes me sick." Sting said as he took a sip of his lemonade, Lucy giggling as Natsu shot him a look. "Jealous?"
"Why would –"
"- Sting remember to keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything nice to say."
"But Lucy, Natsu-San started it!" Lucy shot Natsu a look and he grinned sheepish, shrugging. She felt like they were her children and she needed to keep them in check.
"Rogue, you're awfully quiet." Sting commented as they saw the male sipping his lemonade. Rogue gave him a look of acknowledgement, clearing his throat. "I was just thinking what Yukino's expression might be when you propose." Lucy watched as Sting's face turned a shade of red she had never ever seen before. Natsu held back a snort. "Did you just blush?"
"Y – You always blush when you're with Lucy!"
"Well because she's one sexy lady." Lucy flushed. "Natsu!"
"Now that you mention it, it's my first time seeing Sting blush too."
"Not you too, Rogue!"
"Do you have a picture of this Yukino girl?" Lucy's face lit up as she saw Sting rummaging through his pants pocket, taking his phone out. Natsu tightened his hold on Lucy who sat on his lap, telling her to calm down. When Sting faced the screen to Lucy, she snatched the phone out of his hands and looked at the picture, her eyes widening. "This is Yukino?" Natsu leaned in to look over her shoulder, his eyes widening at the picture. It was a picture of a lady, about their age. Pale white short hair – something similar to Lisanna's – and she had the chestnut colored eyes. "She's beautiful, Sting."
"I know she is."
"She's not that pretty; I think you're far more beautiful."
"I'm sorry but I have to agree on that," Sting rose his hand in a sheepish manner, making Lucy flush and Natsu shoot him a warning glare. Sting smirked and shrugged, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He couldn't lie; Yukino was beautiful but Lucy was far more beautiful. But he had no feelings for the blonde, Yukino was his one and only. "Wouldn't you love to see little Sting as a father?" Lucy asked, clapping her hands together to make Sting's eyes widen. "Whoa, whoa, how did this end up as a conversation about being parents?"
"You know, it isn't that bad."
"That's because you're going to be a father in a couple months."
"It's pretty exciting."
"It's not my fault you got Lucy knocked up at the age of 19." Natsu opened his mouth to say something but Lucy elbowed him in the gut, silencing him. Lucy shot Sting a glare showing if he said anything else, he won't be able to make babies for the next couple months. "Invite her over!"
"No way! I don't want you two scaring her away with your weirdness."
"Weird? You're the weird one!"
"Who are you calling weird?"
"Shut the hell up, all of you!" Lucy snapped causing all the male's to flinch. She glared at everyone and looked at Sting, pointing towards his pants pocket. "Call her, invite her to dinner tonight." Lucy snapped causing Sting to reach for his phone in his pocket, grumbling about something. "You know, this isn't your house or anything to invite people over."
Lucy shrugged and looked at Natsu, smiling. "It's fine, right?" She asked sweetly making Natsu grin and nod, Lucy turning towards Sting to smirk at him. "Call her." Sting dialed Yukino's number in and pressed the phone to his ear, sighing in process.
After three rings, the line was finally picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey, babe." Sting muttered against the phone as Lucy and the rest of the guys stared at him. "Sting! Oh, it's nice to hear your voice. I miss you, how are you? How's visiting the relatives?" Sting saw Lucy gasp and whisper something to Natsu making him grin and nod at her direction. Lucy looked at Sting with those large brown eyes which looked Yukino's.
"Sting?" Sting snapped out of his little world as his girlfriend's voice echoed through the line. "Oh, hey. Sorry about that, I wanted to invite you over for dinner, is that okay with you?" Sting scrunched his face up as he saw Lucy squealing and jumping up and down on Natsu's lap making him scowl at her. "Of course!"
"Great, I'll send a car over around 5."
"Okay, Sting! I'll see you soon!"
"I'll see you too, wear something beautiful."
"Of course, bye dear."
"Bye, babe." And with that, Sting ended the call and Lucy squealed like a little girl. "Yes!" She cheered as she stood up making Natsu also stand up and grab her, steadying her. "Jesus, Luce. You're going to scare Nashi and I'm afraid you might slip." Lucy stuck her tongue out at Natsu and grinned at Sting making him smile back.
Lucy said something about going to take a shower and get ready, tugging Natsu along. Natsu apologized and told them he'll be back soon and to work or get ready for Yukino's arrival. Rogue looked at Sting and Sting looked at Rogue, the two thinking for a while. After couple minutes of staring, Rogue turned and left to go do something while Sting was left alone in the garden, left alone to think.
Could he really propose?
"Yukino's coming over?" Grandine asked as she looked up from whatever she was doing, looking at the blonde who was dressed in a beautiful blue sundress. Credits going to Natsu who dressed her in the blue sundress, saying that she couldn't wear anything else but dresses for the next couple of months. And Natsu was wearing a white polo shirt, the collar rolled up as he wore some tight jeans, something Lucy picked out just because Natsu picked the blue dress out for her.
Grandine eyed the couple for a moment before setting her knitting things down and going towards the phone. She ringed up the cooks and chefs, telling them to prepare a good and delicious meal for their guest for today then she hung up. "Lucy, you look beautiful. Where'd you get the dress?"
"Thank you, mother. And I really don't know Natsu gave it to me."
"You bought her clothes? You're not the one to match or buy clothes for woman."
"I found it in a store and I thought it'll look good on Lucy," Natsu pouted, a bit offended his mother thinks he didn't have a clue about fashion. Lucy giggled and planted a kiss on Natsu's cheek, smiling. "Don't worry, it's beautiful and I love it." Natsu grinned and kissed her cheek back, grabbing her hand. "Come now, we should finish up the crib for today and wait for Sting's girlfriend."
"Alright!" Natsu walked side by side with Lucy, one hand one her waists while one hand gripping her hand, making sure she didn't fall. Once they were out, they saw that the crib was built and was just needed in coloring and decorating. Lucy squealed and smiled widely as Natsu stared at the crib, grinning to himself. His family and friends really did make everything go by faster. Natsu was excited. "Seems alright to me."
"Alright? It's perfect, Natsu! I love it!"
"And if you love it, I love it." Lucy flushed a bit as she looked at the structure of the crib, looking in every detail. "Just painting and decorating is needed. I can do that."
"And I can do it also." Natsu picked the crib up, going towards his storage room to store everything in their till some other time. Lucy picked up the tool box and followed him there, storing everything in the shack. "Come, Luce. It's almost time to meet Yukino and I want you safe and sound in the house." Natsu held his hand out to his fiancé, smiling his boyish grin. Lucy placed her hand on top of his and smiled, walking by his side.
Once the couple was inside, they saw Sting and Rogue there, all dressed up to impress along with the Dragneel family. Laxus was still nowhere to be found – Natsu betting on that he was asleep.
"You look beautiful, milady." Sting grabbed Lucy's other hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand. Lucy giggled and Natsu scowled, pulling her away as Rogue smiled. "It's like the president is coming over,"
"Well, we're all excited to meet Sting's girlfriend whom I did not know he had."
"I've been with her for months now, Grandine-San."
"Oops," She giggled and Sting scowled at her, Igneel grinning at her. Finally after talking and laughing, the doorbell rang and they all flinched, Sting gulping just a bit. Why was he so nervous to see his girlfriend? The Dragneel's always were like family to him since his parents rarely were there with him. His father is always away and his step-mother was never around making Rogue and Sting spend a lot of time together.
He blamed Lucy for this.
Sting opened the door and a huge smile came on his face as Yukino stood in front of him, wearing a beautiful pink party dress. She smiled at him and jumped on him, hugging him tight and saying how she missed him so much. Sting smiled and hugged her tight, nuzzling into her short white-hair.
The couple let go when they heard somebody clear their throat from behind, the two of them flushing. "Let me introduce you to the family. And don't let their weirdness scare you away." Yukino giggled and faced the family, smiling at them all. "This is Rogue, remember him?"
"Ah, Rogue-Kun."
"Hello Yukino."
"And these are the Dragneel's. Grandine-San, Igneel, Wendy, Natsu-San, Lucy." Sting said as he pointed at every one of them. Yukino's eyes met their faces till her eyes fell on Lucy's smiling face. Her smile dropped and her eyes widened when she saw the blonde woman. Her eyes fell on her swollen stomach and saw Natsu's arms around her and gasped, seeing the couple before her eyes. "Something wrong, babe?"
"L – Lucy-Sama?" Everyone's eyes shifted towards Lucy who looked at Yukino, cocking an eyebrow at her direction. "Do I know you?" Sting's eyes darted from Yukino's and Lucy's face, not liking the tension lingering in the air. Before he could speak, Yukino jumped forward, hugging Lucy tightly.
"Lucy-Sama!"