Disclaimer: I don't own fairy tail or any of it's characters.
March came in like a lion, throwing snow and ice everywhere. When the warmer weather finally arrived it was unfortunately very wet and still too cold to be enjoyable, it made Levy miss the snow. She stared out the window, tea mug in hand, watching the rain pour on the cars in the parking lot. She knew it would be a quiet day in the store, rainy days did not bring many customers, but she had tons of online orders to pack before the delivery man came to pick up her shipments at the end of the day. Even so, the boxes and books lay behind her counter forgotten, and Levy continued to gaze out at the rain.
She had started the day pleasantly, coffee with Gajeel, a ride to work in his dry warm truck, and a kiss goodbye. She had come in through the back, made herself a cup of Earl Grey and unlocked the front door. Levy then checked the list of books and set them all out, sorting by shipment type. Next she had looked at the calendar, had a blissful moment of 'wow the time has really flown by with Gajeel, over three whole months now'. This had led her to the gut wrenching realization that she couldn't remember the last time their love making had been disturbed by a certain monthly visitor. Levy could not remember the last time it had been her time of the month!
She chewed on a thumbnail, and got lost in her thoughts. She was pretty sure there had been a week in January, but this February? Certainly not yet this month and March was almost over. Did she feel any different? She didn't think so; she hadn't been sick or anything. Levy didn't consider herself an irresponsible person, a little absentminded at times maybe but certainly not reckless. Wasn't this something that happened to irresponsible people? What the hell would she do now? Run out and get a test? She shouldn't leave the store. It took nearly half an hour of watching rain, drinking tea, and ruining her thumbnail until she was ready to do something about this predicament. She had to call in reinforcements.
Levy was finally packing her boxes when her front door was thrown open, bells chiming wildly. Cana pulled a bunch of pregnancy tests from her purse and held them up like she was doing a card trick. "Pick a test any test," she said with a huge grin on her face.
Levy groaned, "Cana! This isn't funny!" She threw herself down on the counter, dramatically trying to get her point across.
Cana walked around so she was right next to her and gently stroked her hair. "Don't worry Levy, it will be okay, no matter what the tests show."
"How could this happen?" Levy whined.
"Well with hips like that it's as if nature made you for baby making!" Seeing Levy's look of irritation, Cana smiled and switched gears, "Come on let's go see, just a few minutes and we'll know if we need a plan or if you just a crumby memory. No need to fuss until you see the plus!" Cana grabbed Levy's hands and pulled her out the seat.
Ten minutes later and Levy was staring at three plastic sticks. Two pluses and a double line, this wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. She put her hands on her face and stared at them wide eyed.
"Well shit," Cana said, resting a hand on Levy's shoulder sympathetically.
"I'm screwed," Levy whispered out.
"You know what we need? We need chocolate," Cana said decidedly. "Luckily we've got what I hear is a fantastic bakery next door with an owner who has a bad habit of giving friends free stuff. We'll lock the doors with an apology note, saying you had to close for the day. Let's get you something sweet and come up with a plan, okay?"
Levy nodded silently, not taking her eyes off the tests.
Cana gave her a hug. "I'll go write the note." Levy barely heard her, all she could think was how am I going to tell Gajeel?
At the bakery Lucy was struggling to roll out a batch of shortbreads, Natsu was being way too distracting. He had folded her in a hug from behind, which was fine at first, but then he started nuzzling and kissing her neck. She lightly batted him away and attempted to frown, knowing very well that the laughter in her voice gave her away, "Natsu! Stop! I need to get this finished!"
Natsu removed his arms and crossed them, "Aww Luce, you're no fun," he pouted.
Lucy looked at the clock on the wall, "Don't you have to get to work? Laxus will be cross with you."
Natsu came from the front this time, grabbing her by the waist and pushing her away from the table. He gave her a lazy grin, "I'll get there when I get there, he's cross even when I get there on time, a few minutes won't make a difference." Natsu kissed her and Lucy forgot the cookies, and the bakery, and Laxus, until the bell of the front door brought her violently back to real life. She pushed Natsu away and looked out into the front, feeling relief and embarrassment when she saw Cana's sly grin and Levy's look of shock.
"I've heard of love being an ingredient, but I didn't realize that was literal," teased Cana.
"Gross Cana," Natsu gave her a look of disgust.
"Hey, I'm not the one making out on top of the cookie dough," Cana laughed when Natsu stuck his tongue out. "Are you staying long? We need Lucy."
Natsu sighed, "I guess that's my cue. Don't worry I'm just leaving. I've got work anyway." He gave Lucy one more quick kiss and went to leave out the front. When he got next to Cana he said, "For your information, we weren't on top of the cookie dough, I made sure to move her away from it. The cookies are safe."
She patted his cheek and nodded patronizingly, "Sure you did Tiger."
"The worst Cana! Still the worst!" he yelled as he left out the front door.
Lucy smiled and went to wash her hands. "What can I help you guys with? Grab a coffee if you like and come on back, I need to get these cutouts in the oven."
Cana helped herself, while Levy trudged back, heavily taking the seat in the corner. When Cana had a mug in hand she followed and leaned against the table in front of Lucy. She didn't waste any time, "Our little friend here is preggers."
"What!" Lucy said shocked, eyes wide, dropping her cookie cutter on the floor. "Ooops, damnit now I have to wash that one." She went over to her bin of cutters and picked a new one out. "How did this happen?"
"Well Lucy, when a man and a woman really love each other, or just think the other is attractive . . ." Cana began.
"You are killing me here with the jokes Cana!" Levy grumbled.
Cana grinned sheepishly, "Okay, okay. I'll stop. Sorry, I just hate seeing you so sad."
"Have you told Gajeel yet?" asked Lucy as she filled a tray with flower cutouts.
"No, I just found out fifteen minutes ago."
"Why don't you call your doctor and get an appointment? Then you can do a blood test and an ultrasound and know one hundred percent that you are pregnant. That way when you tell Gajeel there won't be any doubt," Lucy said.
"So the tests could be wrong?" asked Levy, hope shining in her face.
"It's not likely, but it is possible," said Lucy. "It happened to me once with my boyfriend in high school. It turned out I read the test wrong though, so glad I hadn't told him right away. He would have freaked and I would have been so embarrassed."
"Yea probably not likely we read them wrong, we did three of them. But definitely a good idea to go see the doctor, then you can figure out how far along you are." Cana grabbed Levy's phone and started scrolling through it. "Is your doctor in here? I can see about getting you in today, I'll drive you over, my shift doesn't start til late today."
"Yes, it's in there as Doctor Law," Levy said.
Cana went to the front for quiet and Lucy threw three trays into the oven. She turned on the timer and turned to Levy with a smile, "Just give me one sec." She wandered up front, grabbed a plate, and filled it with chocolate chip cookies; she then turned and made a large hot cocoa. When she got back to the kitchen area Levy was leaning forward, hiding her face in her arms. She set the plate and the mug in front of her and leaned over her to give her a big hug. "Don't worry Levy, we'll figure this out. Maybe it's all just some crazy fluke."
Levy looked up at her, tears starting to form in her eyes, "and if it's not?"
Lucy stood straight and gave her a big smile, "Then you will be an incredible mother with an amazingly adorable, book and metal loving baby. And he or she will have a huge group of aunts and uncles who can't wait to baby sit."
Cana came back from the front, "We've got an appointment in an hour!"
Levy hugged Lucy around the waist and smiled at Cana, "What would I do without you guys?"
"Probably lose five pounds and be less of an alcoholic," Cana answered.
"Cana!" Lucy and Levy groaned.
"What? That was an honest answer!" she defended, but her grin gave her away.
"I've decided to make the bar more family friendly, go a more restaurant/bar type route, what do you think?" Mira asked Cana while cleaning up the bar counter that night.
"I think that's crap," said Cana twisting her face. She was already onto beer number two for the evening and her shift just finished five minutes ago. "Just because everyone is going and pairing up, doesn't mean we need to change our lives to keep up with them. I like how things are here."
"Cana, I need to keep up with the neighborhood. Just look at Bisca and Alzack. They were in here all the time! As soon as they had Asuka they practically disappeared! Everyone is becoming couples and soon they will be getting married and having babies . . ." Mira leaned forward on the counter and sighed. "I just want to be part of that. I want a place where the babies can come!"
"Geez Mira, it's not like they're knocking them up yet," Cana sat back, snorting into her beer, hoping her face didn't give her away. Gajeel still didn't know and telling Mira was the same as announcing it with a megaphone. "Give the boys some time; we've got nine months at least."
"Well it doesn't hurt to be prepared!" said Mira cheerfully. "I have a new chef coming in to talk tomorrow, we can see if he will work out."
"We? You want me to come help you decide?" Cana rested her chin on her hand and looked up at Mira quizzically.
"Yes, that brings me to my next question, how would you like to become bar manager?" Mira asked, smiling big with her hands on her hips.
"Really?" Cana sat up straighter.
"Yea! I know I can rely on you. You're great at your job and you've become very good at waiting until you're off duty to start drinking. If I'm going to have this place running as both a bar and full restaurant, I'm going to need a management team, not just me. Elfman's gym is really coming along and now that Lisanna's a full-fledged physical therapist I know she's not coming back. I need you!"
Cana smiled brightly, "That would be fantastic!"
"It might take a bit, but we could get a few more waitresses and another bartender. Some prep cooks for the chef. We'll be the real deal here." Mira got a dreamy look in her eye. "I've done really well for myself these last five years but I can tell the well is starting to dry up. I'm going to put my savings to good use and make this a place for everyone."
Mira's phone buzzed in her pocket. She looked at the text on the screen. "What are you up to? You closed yet?"
Cana smirked, "When the booty calls huh?"
Mira frowned and texted back, "Yes we're closed but I'm going home, still not doing this anymore." She looked at Cana, "Nope, I'm an adult now. No more late night calls for me," she said, firming her chin.
Cana's wolfish grin widened, "Well I know a certain guy who won't be happy with that news."
Mira rolled her eyes, "Not my problem." She was almost thirty after all. Mira needed someone who would take her out, make time for her. She wanted a family; she wanted kids of her own. She could no longer waste her time with someone who was still a kid himself.
Levy stared at the ceiling. Gajeel was in a deep sleep next to her, snoring slightly with his arm draped over her stomach. She envied the way he could just lay his head down and be out, no worrying about tomorrow, no thinking through his day. Even on a typical day she would lay there for a while in the silence, on a day like today she wondered if she would sleep at all. There was something growing inside her and it terrified her.
She should have told Gajeel already. She had everything ready to tell him at dinner, she rehearsed what she was going to say in the mirror at least five times, but then he was held up at work. She ate by herself and when he got home he was so tired that he showered and fell asleep next to her on the couch while she read a book. Surely she couldn't wake him to tell him, he was so tired, she would wait until tomorrow. Levy knew it was just an excuse but she didn't care, she had to do this in a way that made her comfortable, she was just so terrified of upsetting Gajeel. So when she had closed her book and headed to her bed, all she did was kiss him awake and help him follow. No need to upset him, he was exhausted.
She stared at the sliver of window between her curtains, the moonlight just peeking in, and couldn't stop the tears that started to fall. How could this happen? She tried to hold the sadness in but it just made her body shake. "Levy?" Shit, she woke up Gajeel. Levy froze hoping that he would think she was asleep and he imagined it.
He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him, lifting his head up so that he could look at her face, "Are you okay?" She opened her mouth to tell him she was fine but all that came out was a sniffling sob. She covered her mouth, mortified, and he rolled her over, his face painted in confused concern. "Shorty, why are you crying?"
She responded with another wail. "Shrimp you are kinda freaking me out, is this because I came home late?" Levy shook her head, keeping a firm grip on her mouth. "Is it something I did?" Levy shook her head again. "Well what the hell Levy, why are you crying?"
"I messed . . . every . . . thing . . . up," she managed to get out between sobs.
Gajeel rose to a sitting position and pulled her into his lap. "Somehow I doubt that, you sure this isn't because of me?" Levy shook her head into his chest.
He lifted her chin and wiped the tears from her eyes, "You gotta tell me Shorty."
She climbed off of him and wandered, sobbing, into the main part of the apartment, over to her purse on the counter. She searched its contents finding the black and white picture from earlier that day. Gajeel had followed her into the kitchen, rubbing the tiredness from his face. She handed the picture to him with a sniff, unable to think of another way to tell him without bawling.
"Is this what I think it is?" asked Gajeel, looking at the picture of a tiny black and white peanut. Levy nodded and reached for a tissue, blowing her leaking nose and wiping her eyes.
Gajeel's expression was unreadable as he studied the ultrasound. Levy found it extremely irritating, was he happy, was he sad? Would he help her? Would he leave her? What the hell was he thinking? "Gajeel, say something!" she wailed.
Gajeel looked up at her, "Well, damn." He looked back at the picture.
Indignation finally cut through her sorrow, "What the hell does that mean?"
His face broke into a slow grin and Levy felt a weight come off of her heart. He looked up at her again but this time with a huge smile on his face, "Well this kinda bumps up the timeline huh? Gihihi."
"So you aren't mad?" Levy asked.
Gajeel looked at her like she was crazy, "Why the hell would I be mad?"
Levy hid her face, "I don't know, we've only been together for a few months, this is all so fast."
Gajeel closed the distance between them and pulled down her hands, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yea Shorty, this is fast as hell, but I love you. I've loved you for so long I don't remember what it was like to not love you. So no, I'm not mad, I'm surprised, I'm nervous as hell, but I'm not mad. Don't cry shrimp, this is good news alright? We'll make this good news."
Levy threw herself in his arms, crying into his chest, "I love you too! I can't believe we're going to have a baby!"
Gajeel stroked her hair with a smile, "Yea, it's gonna be one hell of a year huh? I guess we're gonna have to get a bigger place gihihi." He lifted her up in his arms and started carrying her back to the bedroom. "But for now let's get you to bed huh? Gotta get some rest while we still can."
Levy curled into him smiling into his neck, "Yea, while we still can." When they got back in bed Levy fell asleep easily, curled up snug in Gajeel's arms.
The new chef was tall, cute, and had a strange scar on the left side of his face. With shaggy dark hair and bright green eyes, even Cana had to admit there was something attractive about him, that is, until he opened his mouth. After Mest introduced himself, he seemed to notice her staring at his scar, so he winked and said, "Bar fight, just had to know what a girl smelled like." Then, as if it was a completely normal statement, he carried on and started wandering around the bar, "This place is fantastic! Look at the lights, look at these tables! Are these chairs comfortable? I have to know!" Cana looked at Mira, a wry look in her eye.
"Don't judge him until we try his food," Mira whispered back, "he's just a little bit excited."
Mest had begun stomping on the floor screaming "What great acoustics!"
Mira grimaced, "Hopefully he'll calm down when the place is not so new?"
They were both worried when he had to touch everything in the kitchen, but then they tried his food. Cana had never considered herself a much of a gourmet, her love tended more towards a drug of the liquid variety, but his food made her mouth feel like it was going to explode. Apparently being so in tune, and crazy, about his senses made Mest a fantastic chef.
"I just want to create food that brings you back home and makes you never want to leave, you know?" Mest tried to describe his style while serving them his desert of a simple chocolate mousse with a raspberry puree. "I want you to taste things you didn't even realize you were missing, like the way a simple pot pie brings you comfort or some spicy tapas makes you want to get up and dance. How do you taste these feelings, how can food bring you somewhere new? You know what I mean?"
Mira and Cana just nodded enthusiastically, both knowing that no matter how nuts he was they couldn't let him leave. This food was just too good to have just once. It was exactly what Fairy Tail was going to need to make the difficult transition from bar to restaurant. There wasn't a doubt between them when they conferred after the meal, so before he left Mira shook his hand and said, "You're hired!"
Laxus knew it was late, but he didn't care. He didn't have anything to prove and he knew Mira had only left the bar half an hour ago. The woman was practically nocturnal. He knocked loudly on the door and leaned on the door frame, trying to feign nonchalance.
When she opened it his heart dropped, it was obvious that she wasn't happy he was there. "I told you yesterday I wasn't doing this anymore Laxus," she mumbled, but she didn't close the door when she turned and walked back into the kitchen. He hesitated for a moment and then followed after her silently, trying to figure her out. He didn't understand, what the hell had changed?
They had been going on with this arrangement for almost two years now. Ever since that fateful night when Elfman had gone out of town and a big order had come in ahead of schedule. What had started as a night of a friend helping a friend with heavy lifting, had ended in a tryst in the back office. After that he couldn't stop, she was like a drug, a sexy, blue-eyed, voluptuous drug. When they were with others she was just a friend, sweet little Mira, but when they were alone that tigress came out and they just couldn't keep their hands off each other. The sex was fantastic and their day to day interactions stayed light and easy. Why the hell would she want to give that up?
"I don't get it Mira, what did I do?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Nothing, and that's the problem, you never do anything," she said angrily, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed.
"Nothing?" the woman was nuts. What the hell did that mean? He walked over to her and pushed her hair behind her ear then kissed her just below the lobe, "So what we did last week, that was nothing?" he whispered into her ear. She made no effort to push him away and the way her expression melted encouraged him. "All those times before were nothing?" He looked down, noted the heated look in her eye, and felt slight relief, she was going to change her mind. Laxus grabbed her face and bent down to kiss her. Mira was kissing him back and he couldn't help but smile.
Then she suddenly pulled away, "Laxus stop," Mira commanded. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on him.
Laxus stepped away from her, holding out her hands, "Damn Mira, what the hell?"
"I told you, I'm not doing this anymore!" she yelled. She pushed him further away and stormed out of the kitchen.
He followed after her confused and frustrated as hell. She was so hot when she was mad and he couldn't touch her. Why was she torturing him like this?
"Mira . . ." he began.
She spun quickly and held up a finger, "No Laxus, don't make this hard for me. I can't do this anymore; I'm not doing this anymore!"
"But why Mirajane? You've gotta at least tell me why," he growled, his frustration making him angry. He ran his hands through his hair, struggling to keep his cool.
"This isn't enough for me anymore Laxus. I need a partner not some . . . some . . . hook up buddy!" she spat out.
"Well if you're looking for some boyfriend," he couldn't help but sound sarcastic, he hated that word, "then I'm sorry Mira, that's not me."
"Exactly Laxus, you aren't what I'm looking for anymore," he looked at her shocked; tears were starting to form in her eyes. She covered her face and pointed to the door, "I really think you need to leave."
"Fine," he snapped, upset that she was crying, frustrated at her rejection, and pissed that he couldn't have her. He slammed the door behind him unable to control his anger. What the hell made Mira decide to ruin such a good thing?
Lucy sighed in contentment and rested her head on Natsu's chest. She ran her fingers along the muscles in his stomach, chuckling at the way they flinched. "You keep that up and I'm going to start tickling you back," he warned, lazily running his fingers through her hair.
Lucy couldn't stop thinking about Levy's dilemma, what would she do if she was in her shoes? She looked up at Natsu, "Do you think you want kids Natsu?" She asked, then cringed, was that something you asked someone you had only been dating a few months? Lucy hoped he wouldn't read too much into it.
Natsu looked thoughtful. Lucy relaxed when he looked down at her and smiled, "Yea I want kids Luce. I think that would be fun. Do you want kids?"
"Yea, I mean not now, but eventually. At least two you know, I always hated being an only child."
"Two, no way! We need at least four, six would be best. Gotta have enough so we can have teams," Natsu grinned.
Lucy rolled her eyes and snorted, "Six! That's a lot of babies."
His grin turned mischievous, "Yea, that's going to be a lot of work, we should probably get started on that now."
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed as she was suddenly pulled on top of him.
Natsu gave her a serious face, "Okay, okay, just a practice run." He pulled her down and started kissing her neck.
"You are nuts," Lucy said with a grin.
"I know, you love it," Natsu gave her a toothy smile and rolled so that Lucy was underneath him. "I love you Luce," he said looking down at her.
She gently placed her hands on the sides of his face, "I love you too," she admitted sweetly and pulled him down for a tender kiss.