Sting had been about as excited to see Rogue come home with the old wheelchair as Rogue expected. He'd cried, moaned, begged, and even insisted he would spend half a year in bed. Finally, though, Rogue got Sting to admit that he couldn't possibly manage to stay in bed so long, and that it would be best if he did whatever the doctor said.

He had been in a wheelchair before Alex was born, and for several months after, but she had no memory of this. She regarded the wheeled chair at first with mild curiosity. When her daddy sat in it she wanted in as well, but her mommy and daddy would only let her sit on Papa's lap. She wasn't allowed to monopolize the chair. And even after crying and screaming because he got the chair when she wanted it, they didn't budge on this.

Over the next several weeks, fortunately, the allure of the wheeled chair that her daddy wouldn't get out of wore off. He sat all the time, so she imitated him and sat on the couch regularly. Staying there for half a minute or so before sitting became boring. Still, she figured there must have been something about it to make it so great. And she wanted to be like Papa.

Papa, she had noticed, had a bigger tummy now. And Mama acted like that had something to do with the chair. She tested out the size of all of her stuffed animals, then took the smallest of her bunnies and tucked it under her shirt before sitting.

At the time, Natsu was visiting. Rogue and Erza were away with work, the three of them and Sting having worked out an arrangement where Rogue and Erza took a high paying, overnight job together while Sting, Natsu, and Lucy watched over their children. Before Erza left, she and Sting traded jokes about "Kiseki scandalizing precious little Alex." Natsu assumed they were jokes, at least. Still, seeing Alex sitting on the couch with a fake pregnant tummy, Natsu froze.

Had Alex overheard something that made her want a baby? What if she understood what having a baby entailed? If not in depth, she might at least know it involved a boy you really liked.

He looked around frantically for Sting, hoping to make sure the blond wasn't there to see that Natsu had failed to keep Alex from starting too young. As it turned out, Sting was in the room, and Natsu's glancing every which way made him curious enough to wheel his chair over and see what had Natsu looking so panicked.

"W-wait. Hold on."

"I'm not going fast," Sting pointed out. Even going slow, the wheelchair bothered his stomach. He liked being a dragon slayer, but some of the cons that came with the magic, namely motion sickness, were a bit over the top.

Alex was still sitting there when he finally reached her, and he laughed upon seeing what had alarmed Natsu.

"You aren't worried?"

"She's two. That kind of play-acting is normal."

"Oh." Natsu scowled. Sting brushed off concern over the situation so lightly he was impressed the blond hadn't laughed him out of the room. If he was going to be wrong about something Alex did, he preferred to be wrong in assuming there was a problem, only for it to turn out things were okay. But he would prefer not to be wrong at all.

Sting glanced left and right. "Was Kiseki with her?"

"No. Should she have been?"

"Yes. He should be somewhere, at least. Erza will skin me if I lose him."

Sting grabbed the arms of his chair and started to push himself up, but Natsu grabbed his shoulder and pressed him back against the chair. Despite being on quasi speaking terms again, he and Rogue had made no agreement for him to look after Sting on top of helping with the kid. Not when the shadow slayer still seemed so guilt ridden about their affair to say more than a sentence or two. But agreement or no, Natsu figured it was implied. Sting was pregnant and injured and not one-hundred percent compliant with his doctor's orders.

They weren't fighting over Rogue anymore, so Natsu wanted to try and get along. And having Sting as part of his Fairy Tail family meant looking after his wellbeing. Even if it made the blond glare at him.

"I can look for Kiseki," Natsu said.

"I'm perfectly capable of searching my own apartment, Natsu. It's not that large a space."

"Take it easy."

"Take it easy? What the hell about this makes easy possible?"

Sting blinked, seeming more surprised than Natsu to hear his own outburst.

"Is something wrong?" Lucy asked, sticking her head out of the nursery. Both slayers could see her holding Kiseki in her arms.

"Nothing's wrong," Sting told her, which, as far as he was concerned, was the truth. There was absolutely nothing wrong. It wasn't like his fantasy pregnancy had been nothing but miserable and even landed him in a wheelchair again. He certainly wasn't struggling to manage to look after his own daughter for a simple eight hours.

Lucy shrugged and beckoned for Alex to come to her, and the girl pulled her stuffed bunny out from under her shirt and ran to the older girl. She didn't have an innate sense for what to do with kids, but she picked up fast. If her and Natsu did have a child, Sting figured the kid wasn't completely screwed.

Happy's laughter drew Sting out of his thoughts, and he looked back over to Natsu to see both his own cat and Lector teasing him for thinking a two-year-old might be seriously thinking of having a baby herself. Happy didn't usually come with Natsu, for whatever reason. Sting assumed he was there that time because there was no tricking him into following Lucy around while Natsu snuck off to study parenting.

"I'm going to make lunch," Natsu declared, loudly, so as to drown out the cats' teasing. "Sting, want anything specific?"

"I'm not that hungry."

"That so? I'll pick something out for you then."

"I said I'm not hungry."

"And Rogue said to make sure you were getting enough to eat."

Sting scoffed and turned his wheelchair towards his bedroom. "Fine. Come and get me when it's done."

He half expected Natsu to stop him, but the roset just shrugged and walked over to the kitchen, saying, "I'm gonna make something with bacon, if you don't have a preference.

Free from overbearing friends and family for a few short minutes, Sting wheeled himself into his and Rogue's room. The second he had the door shut, he stood, grimacing slightly, and dragged the chair the rest of the way to the bed so it would look like he stayed in it for as long as was reasonably possible.

While Sting made his small acts of defiance where no one could see them, Natsu dug through the fridge and put together something for them to eat. He put a bit more effort into it than he usually did while cooking for Sting. Lucy was there, after all. Although he was careful to make it still look like something meant for Sting. Otherwise Happy, who was none the wiser at the moment, might tease him for trying to show off his culinary skills to his girlfriend. And if Sting called him out on it in front of Rogue…

He shook his head. Rogue's opinions didn't matter any more than the rest of the guild. Rogue's opinions of him trying to impress Lucy especially didn't matter. Rogue had ignored every last opinion Natsu had on his relationship with Sting, so Rogue had no right to pass judgment on how Natsu acted with Lucy. Less than none, considering what his and Sting's situation had been at the time. And either way, Natsu didn't care what Rogue thought of him and her!

Although he did care if Rogue thought he wasn't paying enough attention to Sting and Alex to be trusted with looking after them. As if was, he knew he was only 'trusted' with Alex because Sting was supervising. And he liked being able to see Alex. Whatever Sting and Rogue thought on the matter, Natsu had thought of himself as her father for so long while Rogue was still pregnant that it felt like he lost his daughter when Rogue went back with Sting. He dared not admit it to anyone, for fear of how Rogue and especially Sting might react, but getting to visit her was like being reunited with his own estranged child. He imagined Jellal must have felt the same way every few months when he and Erza and Kiseki all managed to meet up.

Well, he'd kind of told Sting a much lighter version of that. Which was why he knew better than to confess to his affection for the little girl in full.

When lunch was ready, he called to let Lucy know, then yelled for Sting. Sting didn't yell back. Usually, Sting would yell anything from "Coming" to "Shut up, idiot! The neighbors can hear you well enough at your normal volume." The latter being one Natsu suspected Sting picked up while being scolded for his volume by Rogue.

Sting continued to play mute, so Natsu let himself into the blond's room, and found the boy more or less curled up in his bed.

"You okay?" Natsu asked. "If you're having a rough time—"

"I'm fine."

"If it's only moodswings I—"

Natsu was knocked off his feet by a thrown pillow. He should have known he had that one coming. Back when Rogue was pregnant, he responded to any comment along those lines by giving black eyes.

Pulling himself back up, Natsu grabbed the pillow and tossed it back to Sting. It landed on the blond's head and stayed there until Natsu closed the distance between them and pushed it aside.

"Hey. You know, Rogue came to me to get that wheelchair because he didn't want you to stay in bed all day."

"Heaven forbid you disappoint Rogue."

"I'm telling you not to upset him. He worries about you."

"How would you know? You two don't even talk to each other."

"We exchange words."

"How many? Three?"

"Full sentences," Natsu said indignantly, because three sentences was about their upper limit when there wasn't something important Rogue needed to arrange with Natsu.

"You can make a full sentence out of three words."

"Just get out of bed. I made you lunch."

"I'm not hungry."

"Morning sickness?"

"Sure. Go away."

"I can heat up tea, if you're feeling sick."

"I'm sick of you pestering me. Does that count?"

"No. Get out of bed."

Sting flipped Natsu the bird.

"Okay. That does it!" Natsu grabbed the sheets and yanked them off of Sting, tossing them across the room. "I'll drag you if I have to."

Sitting up and glaring at him, Sting spat, "Wow. I'm sure that won't make Rogue fret over my health at all."

"Just because you… can't…" Natsu trailed off, words dying in his throat as he watched the blond's shoulders sag. "What's really wrong? I won't tell Rogue, if you don't want me to."

That seemed to be the nudge Sting needed. He took a deep breath, looked up at Natsu, and confessed, "I hate this."

"Obviously. No one likes sitting in a wheelchair with two splints. But it's only for a few more months, and then we can get you fixed up so this won't ever happen again."

"No. I hate all of it." Sting insisted. "I hate being stuck in that torture chair. I hate having to be restrained by this splint. I hate not being able to work, throwing up breakfast as often as not, getting fat… I don't care if it's not really fat. I look like I have a beer gut. Rogue's shirts don't fit me anymore and after talking so much about how I was going to love looking pregnant I can't ask him to buy me new clothes, so I'm stuck wearing things that don't come down far enough to cover my stomach and I hate it. I hate feeling the kid move—and you can't tell Rogue that. I hate how everyone at the guild and even Frosch insists on handling me with kiddie gloves. I'd have told Rogue my back hurt way earlier if he hadn't spent months before acting like he expected my spine to snap the second he looked away. I hate—"

He hiccupped, which startled him out of his train of thought. He hadn't noticed he'd started crying.

"Are you o—"

"Shut up!" Sting snapped, trying to wipe his eyes.

He hiccuped again, and gave up on trying to hold it in. Burying his hands in his face, he started to wail.

"Sting?" Lector called.

"Is everything alright?" Lucy shouted from the kitchen.

"Uh…" Natsu gave it a moment's thought. "Not really. Lector? Get in here. Everyone else just eat."

He heard Happy's protest, which grew louder and closer as it went on, so he made sure to shut the door and, for good measure, jam a chair under the handle as soon as Lector was in.

The red cat climbed up onto Sting's lap, patting his cheek while Natsu shouted apologies to Happy.

"Sting? What happened?"

"I… I'm not…" Sting hiccuped. "Mood swings."

That had likely played a role in his meltdown, though Natsu wished he would say more.

"Do you want me to bring you lunch? I won't tell Rogue you ate in bed."

Sting nodded.

"Should I move the chair?" Natsu asked.

"I'll go out the window," Lector told him. "Keep Happy out. This isn't that gossiper's business."

Natsu had never thought of Happy as the gossipy type, but he did know that Happy loved to tease. Even if Happy had the good sense to leave Sting be in the moment, that the moment occurred would be rubbed in his face the next time they crossed paths.

Lector let himself out, leaving Natsu to comfort Sting. Wonderful. Because he had done such a good job earlier.

Clearing his throat before he knew what he planned to say, Natsu paused, then blurted out, "So am I not supposed to tell Rogue that you hate feeling the baby move, or does he not know you can feel it?"

Sting drew his breath and said, "It feels weird. And it comes when I'm least expecting it. It's unsettling."

"Ah."

"Oh…" Sting hiccupped. "I haven't told Rogue I've felt the baby yet."

"That's fair. He held off on telling us when he could feel Alex kick, remember? He only let Frosch feel it. Did you tell him the gender, or does he not want to know with this one either?"

Sting shook his head. "I don't know it. We forgot to get the baby checked out when my back…" a sob interrupted the sentence, and he didn't try to pick back up with it after. "I don't think Rogue cares, anyway. He hates me being pregnant more than I do. He tries to act supportive about it, but he's not good at hiding it. He only barely gave in to the idea in the first place, and after the first one died he started suggesting we give up. I think he wishes I miscarried this time to."

This absolutely was something Natsu had to tell Rogue, even if it meant forcing the shadow slayer to sit and exchange more than three sentences. It wasn't on the scale of having your love call you a cheating whore and kick you out of the house when you told him that you were going to be parents, but it was still a lack of support that would need to be remedied. If nothing else, Rogue would need to do a better job of masking that he didn't like Sting being pregnant.

Until Rogue came back, Natsu figured damage control was up to him. "I bet he's just worried about your health. You said he expected those old back injuries to flare up, right?"

"He doesn't want the baby. I bet the only reason he isn't saying 'I told you so' is because he's still trying to hide how much he doesn't want the baby."

"Rogue complained all the time about being pregnant with Alex. Really. All the time. And he hit people for pointing out reason that being pregnant wasn't fun. He definitely wouldn't have chosen to have her, but he still loves her. He'll love your baby once he gets to meet 'em."

Sting hiccuped and smiled for Natsu, if only for a second, then said, "Never tell that to Alex."

"Gotcha. Anything else?"

"Is Lector back yet?"

On cue, there was a tap at the window. Natsu opened it wide enough for Lector to carry a plate in, and set it down in front of Sting.

To make sure Happy couldn't pry, Natsu shut and locked the window, and drew the curtains. When he looked back Sting had picked up one of his bacon wrapped meatballs and was sucking on it. As far as comfort food went, Natsu thought it was a good choice. But he wasn't pregnant. He hoped the sausage and bacon wouldn't upset Sting's stomach. They already had enough upset Sting to handle.

"Is the baby alright?" Lector asked.

Sting nodded, managing a weak smile as he said, "Alive and kicking."

"Thank goodness. What went wrong, then?"

"I'm pregnant."

"And he thinks Rogue doesn't want him to be," Natsu added, for Lector's sake.

"Of course not," Lector said. "Rogue hasn't even want Sting going on physically taxing jobs since that truck hit him."

Sting rubbed his cheeks, which were taking longer to wet now, and asked, "Why?"

"Because sometimes you limped after, whether you were hit in the leg or not," Lector told him. "Here."

Sting obediently took the piece of bread that Lector spread butter onto and stuck it in his mouth, staring down at his plate while not even attempting to bite into the food between his teeth. He wasn't crying so hard anymore, although the hiccupping hadn't subsided. The whole letting food hang out of his mouth uneaten thing was probably a bad sign to. But fewer tears was a step up from a couple minutes ago.

Finally, Sting bit into the bread and swallowed it, then told Lector, "Frosch doesn't need to hear any of this."

"Obviously."

"Or Rogue."

"No deal."

"Lector."

"Frosch might not know the full scoop, but she'll tell Rogue you cried. And if Rogue was part of why you cried, he needs to know."

"No he doesn't," Sting muttered, then stuck the bread in his mouth again so he wouldn't have to talk.

Lector patiently waited for Sting to give in and eat another bite. "Telling Rogue you didn't understand how he could be pregnant would have prevented a lot of problems before, you know."

Sting cringed, and blinked rapidly, but it looked to Natsu like they were in danger of more water works.

Not wanting Sting to still be crying when Rogue came home, Natsu said, "If you don't want to be the one to talk to him about it, Lector and I can mention it to him. He's acting this way because he doesn't want you getting hurt, right? So he'll want to know that he's hurting you. I won't tell Lucy, and I definitely won't tell Happy. I mean, I'll just tell them this was mood swings."

Sting nodded.

"And you should eat," Natsu told him. Those meatballs won't be as good cold."

"Noted." Sting hiccuped again, and rubbed his cheeks. "Um… Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you leave it to Lector to tell Rogue? I don't think… um… You shouldn't be the one to come to him with news that things between the two of us are… not ideal."

"Oh." Natsu blinked, then grinned to hide how much that remark bothered him. "Sure. Less work for me."

"Thanks. For the food too. And… for talking, I guess. It felt good to say everything."

It hadn't looked like it felt good, but Natsu smiled and nodded and let himself out, using his body to block any view into the room, since Happy, Lucy, and Alex were all waiting outside.

"Papa's sad?" Alex asked.

"A little, but he's okay."

"Papa needs Mama," Alex told him.

At that moment, Natsu suspected Rogue was the last thing Sting needed, but he patted Alex on the head and nodded along. She was still distracted by her daddy's distress, and Natsu had to persuade Lucy to take Alex and Kiseki out for ice cream. It was so early in the spring that the snow hadn't even melted yet, but both kids loved the idea, and Natsu promised that he wouldn't be too far behind them, so Lucy gave in.

"You too, Happy."

Happy hesitated before following the kids out the door, looking Natsu over and asking, "Are you okay?"

"Mm. Fine. I just want to make sure everything's in order for Sting before I go."

"Alright."

Once alone, Natsu scooped up the lunch dishes, some with meals abandoned halfway through when Sting had started crying, and dumped them in the sink. If he really wanted to tidy up for Sting he would have washed them, but tidying up wasn't something Natsu was keen on. In fact, that he'd suggested he wanted to do such a thing probably made Happy worry that something was really wrong.

Which was fair. Something was really wrong. He was over Rogue. Completely, utterly over Rogue. The whole fight between him and Sting was water under the bridge. So it shouldn't have bothered him so much that Sting didn't want him talking to Rogue about what happened. It shouldn't have bothered Sting to imagine him talking to Rogue. It shouldn't have bothered Rogue to talk to him at all.

He didn't blame Sting for being so upset. Nothing felt right to Natsu either.

-o-

Sting didn't know what Lector told Rogue. When the shadow slayer came home the next day, he lingered in the doorway with the cats for some time, then came to find Sting in the bedroom, bent down, wrapped his arms around him, and said nothing.

"I didn't cry," Sting said, to break the silence.

Rogue chuckled at that, and sat back on the bed. "No one said you did."

"You're not going to tell me it's okay because of hormones?"

"Would you punch me if I did?"

"You would. You gave me a black eye once, remember?"

"You teased me for wetting my pants," Rogue reminded him. "Look forward to my revenge, by the way. That baby is only going to get bigger, and it's going to make room for itself to grow by displacing the rest of your organs. Your days of continence are numbered."

"Oh goodie." Sting pushed himself up and faced Rogue. "What exactly did Lector tell you?"

"That I haven't been as good to you as I should have been. Either of you."

"And Natsu?"

"He said 'good afternoon.' "

Sting blinked, surprised by such a simple response. He hadn't been serious when he said Natsu and Rogue spoke that little. Natsu came to lend a hand so often when Rogue was away that, even if Sting still remembered the fighting between them a few years back, he'd forgotten all about the awkwardness that was coexisting in a guild with his love rival who he suspected still liked to imagine himself Alex's father. But then Rogue was the one who strung Natsu along, dragged him into their drama, broke his heart, then invited the man Rogue chose over him to his longtime home. Facing Natsu after all that probably took more on his part.

"Anything else?"

"That was all. Lucy had a list of groceries we're low on, and wanted to know where to meet Erza to drop Kiseki off with her."

"And we have money for groceries now?"

"Of course." Rogue bent forward and gave Sting a kiss on the cheek. "I'll make you whatever you want. But be warned that if you want something really special, it will have to be for tomorrow. I might need time to prepare."

The words "how special" were on Sting's tongue, but he swallowed them back. Wendy had been over to alleviate some of the strain on his old injuries only a few days ago, and the medical equipment, for as much as he hated it, really did slow down the rate at which those injuries became agitated and acted up. He was up for something very special, and didn't doubt that Rogue, clearly in repentance mode, would give him what he wanted.

But after over a decade with Rogue, for their first time to be apology sex wasn't really what Sting wanted. So instead he grinned, and started thinking of the most elaborate apology dinner he could set Rogue to working on.