Chapter 17
As they left the office, Lucy pulled Wendy into an alley and asked, "Are you okay? I didn't know they would be here. You must have felt scared…"
Wendy nodded shakily, but sighed and said, "It's fine. Everyone is gonna find out eventually. I can't hide it forever."
"I know, but your privacy is still important, especially when it comes to intimate things like this," Lucy said, firmly but kindly. She waited for Wendy to process that before they started to head home.
After they settled into a calm walk, Wendy heard Lucy speaking. "Wendy, Erza asked Natsu and I to join her for an overnight mission tonight," Lucy mentioned tentatively. She had to resolve herself before continuing on, saying "We were thinking that tonight would be a good time for you and Romeo to babysit Nashi. I already spoke to Macao this morning while you were asleep."
"So we will be at home alone watching Nashi?" Wendy questioned carefully. "I thought we weren't allowed to be at home alone anymore?"
"Technically, you're still not, but this is different; you're babysitting," Lucy explained. "Plus, I doubt you will have time for anything other than watching Nashi tonight. How sure are you that Romeo even knows how to hold a baby, much less take care of them?" she asked, a mischievous smirk on her lips.
Wendy let out a surprised giggle, a hand lightly covering her lips. Wendy had to admit; Lucy was most likely right about that. Lucy smiled knowingly and said, "Also, even if you do get into any trouble, you're already pregnant."
Wendy blushed at the thought, but smiled and agreed. "Okay, you're right. When will you guys be leaving?" she asked curiously.
"Around 1 pm," Lucy said "Y'all can order pizza for supper tonight. I'll leave some money on the kitchen counter."
"Thank God," Wendy exclaimed, "I thought we were gonna have to cook on top of babysitting too. What time will you be back tomorrow?"
"Some time in the afternoon. We just have to deliver some diamonds to the mountains bordering Hargeon. It shouldn't take long if we leave this afternoon, especially since Erza and Jellal are going with us."
"Okay, sounds good!" Wendy said with a smile. She knew it would be a little awkward to babysit with Romeo, since they had never done it before, but she was happy enough to take any opportunity to spend time with him.
They were almost home at this point, when Lucy directed Wendy to a bench in the park. Once they had sat down, Lucy looked at Wendy intently. Something in her eyes must have given Lucy relief, because she sighed and pulled something out of her pocket.
"The receptionist gave me this. I could tell the appointment was hard for you, so I didn't know if you wanted it," Lucy said in a low voice, while holding out a small rectangular piece of paper. "It's the sonogram photo," she whispered.
Wendy's eyes widened as she focused on the image, but her face fell. She didn't know if she wanted to keep the picture, but she didn't know if she wanted it thrown away either. Her heart was conflicted.
"Could you keep it for now?" Wendy asked, her voice shaking. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath and now felt slightly lightheaded.
"Sure," said Lucy, looking at Wendy with sadness. "I will put it in the kitchen drawer, in case you want to show Romeo while he's at the house."
Wendy nodded and her chest felt lighter.
When they finally stood up, Lucy hugged Wendy tightly and said, "I know life is difficult right now. You don't have to decide how to move forward right now, but once you do, it will get easier, I promise."
Wendy froze at the declaration with tears pooling at her eyes. Everyone knew how sacred promises were to Lucy. To hear her promise this, it felt like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. Wendy squeezed Lucy back and nodded. When they got home, Lucy dropped off the photo and, with Natsu following close, they headed to the guild. Once they arrived, Wendy looked around for Romeo, who was sitting at a table near his dad.
Wendy walked over and said, "Hey Romeo, hi Macao..."
Macao responded with a lopsided smile and a wave, while Romeo turned to face her and said, "Hi, apparently, we are babysitting tonight until Lucy and Natsu get back from a mission? Is that true?"
"Yeah," Wendy said, sitting down beside him. She wrapped an arm around his and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Well, it shouldn't be too hard," Romeo said with a shrug.
Wendy rolled her eyes and scoffed, jabbing her elbow into his ribs for extra measure. "You know nothing about babies, do you?" she asked, disappointment lacing her tone. Romeo hissed in pain and rubbed against his ribs, before looking at his girlfriend's face. He gulped.
"I know some stuff," he said, defensively. Behind him, Wendy could see Macao muffle a snort as Romeo continued. "I mean, I hang around Kyle, and there are babies at the guild quite often."
Romeo honestly didn't see why Wendy was worried about this. He knew babies didn't sleep for long and woke up at night, but what was the big deal? If Nashi wakes up, they will put her back to sleep. It couldn't be too hard.
Wendy hid her face in her hands as she sighed deeply. She knew this was a sensitive topic, and it could end badly if she goes about it the wrong way. Straightening up, she firmly told Romeo, "Seeing a child from a distance and babysitting a baby are two very different things. Plus, Kyle is like a year old, and you don't spend a lot of time with him."
Kyle was Cana's son. She had gotten drunk one night and later discovered that she was knocked up by Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus. They got married a month after the discovery. Then, 4 months ago, Cana called off their marriage after coming home to find Bacchus with two girls, having a threesome. After her divorce from Bacchus was finalized, she started having trouble making ends meet. So, for the last 2 months, she had been coming over once a week to clean Romeo's house because neither he nor his dad knew how to take care of themselves. Their house had always been a mess. Most of the time, Cana brought Kyle over with her until someone from the guild picked him up.
"Still, how hard can it be?" he asked nonchalantly. At this, Wendy could see Macao's shoulders shake as he turned away and began coughing loudly. She knew he was hiding his laughter.
Wendy laughed, mirth filling her eyes. "You'll see."
Pouting silently, Romeo walked over to grab some lunch for them both. Wendy picked at her food, not feeling very hungry. It wasn't long before Lucy and Natsu walked over.
"Alright, we're headed out for our mission. Nashi is over there with Levy," said Lucy, as she pointed to her best friend on the other side of the guild. "Call us if you need anything, okay?"
"We will," said Wendy, waving at Lucy and Natsu as they exited the guild.
They spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the guild. Wendy kept an eye on the time, and at 5:30 pm, she got up and urged Romeo to stand, saying, "We should start heading home."
"Okay," said Romeo. "You get Nashi, and I'll let my dad know that we're leaving." She nodded, and they split off to their own tasks.
"Hey, Wendy and I are leaving," Romeo told his dad.
Macao chuckled and leaned over to tussle his hair. "Alright, good luck tonight."
Romeo waved goodbye and walked over to Wendy, who was talking with Levy. "I'm surprised Lucy is having you babysit," said the blunette.
"To be fair, I offered, and I'm grounded, so what else am I supposed to do?"
"Alright," she said hesitantly, looking up at Romeo and doing a double take. "Hold on, is Romeo staying with you tonight?"
Wendy shook her head. "No, he's just walking me home."
Romeo gave her a side-eyed glance, but he masked his surprise and nodded as Gajeel walked over with his son, Gale, who was two weeks younger than Nashi.
"Oh, alright," said Levy. Wendy grabbed the baby stroller and the baby bag from Levy, and made sure Nashi was safely tucked into the seat before walking away.
As soon as they exited the guild, Romeo quietly asked, "Why did you lie to Levy?"
Wendy groaned. "Because nobody is supposed to know about this, remember?" she whispered, gesturing to her stomach. "I don't think Lucy ever told Levy that you were babysitting with me, so I didn't mention it."
"Oh," he replied, turning to face the road ahead. Wendy, too, turned and began to make the trek home. The short walk was quiet as neither teen knew what to say. The impending night would test their readiness for the future they had stumbled upon.