I sure am glad I didn't decide to name these chapters; I'm horrible at thinking of titles ':D
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, that's some name :D Thank you so much for your review! Glad to know you're enjoying.
foxydame, thank you SO much for your suuper long and wonderful review! Ah, you mentioned so many things, I could write a whole chapter just to thank you. Hehe, you didn't forget about the foreshadowing, huh (smug face). Foxy as always. Aberrant it a new word for me, and a very cool one at that, thanks :D I'm also glad you like Jellal's magic uses (and ponytail of course, love that thing). So many praises, I'm so happy you found the mission so satisfying; it's a real confidence boost for me! Don't worry about the review getting longer and longer, makes me happier and happier :D (heart) And don't worry, you'll get to meet the baby ;D
Speaking of which, it's a little early but do you guys have wishes/suggestions for the names of the Gajevy/Gale twins (boys)?
The camping site had been… nice. Simply a camping site. A clearing in the forest, a creek nearby, a field sewn with wild daffodils and crocuses. The tents had come in all shapes and sizes – Caelum was apparently a hugely popular vacation destination – fitted for families, groups of friends, lovers and more. Only… a tent did not exactly harbour a kitchen, and a honeymoon was an escape from home without actually leaving behind the comforts of home, right?
Erza blamed the whole thing on Jellal's wish to make dumplings, not her own appetite.
Moving on, they had been guided around a number of hotels, inspected the more impressive yurts next to an old farm – the only old thing to be found anywhere – and taken a look at the luxurious but slightly cramped interior of a houseboat in a hinterlands harbour.
Nothing had sparked particular interest – apart from the churning question as to whether they would be able to move the boat more than the waves already did while… active in bed. She had not shared the idea, but Jellal's awkwardly tight lips while focusing hard on the landlord's words had told her he could read her better than she assumed.
Finally – taking them an additional hour out of town by train – they arrived in a small, almost historic village. Historic was relative in Caelum, tourism having made it rich and prosperous enough for the competing hosts and providers to modernise their accommodations nearly once a year. The village was further out, farms and fields surrounding it seemingly endlessly, though perhaps those, too, only added to the charm of a more rural getaway. It was lovely in any case.
Orchards lined the neatly paved streets whenever a canopy road ended. The forest to the east was denser than most others, wilder and by far closer to what Erza was used to. It gave a sense of home where other people might have cringed in fright.
Merely a handful of hotels had offered direct access to a beach, but Erza felt her heart skip a small beat upon spotting the large lake up ahead. The landlord presented a cosy hut to them, the lake's shore merely steps away from the terrace. He must have seen the look in her eye, leading them right to the furthest accommodation, the neighbouring vacation huts farther away, rendering it more private.
Jellal relaxed at that thought, scrutinising the bedroom, bathroom and not least kitchen. Erza hardly noticed his and the owner's conversation to die down where she had opened the glass doors leading out to the back. To the lake.
A fresh breeze caught in her hair, allowing it to dance in the wind. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the scent of the forest and of the water where it gently swashed along the shore in a way that reminded of petit tides of the sea. Hardly a sound of the village reached, not a single whinny of a horse disturbing the peace.
Gathering up her snow-white dress – flowing and not yet tight but snug around her midriff – she left her sandals scattered on the sand. It was something she had never come to appreciate until watching her husband do it every day – the shedding of clothes without any use of magic.
The water was cool where it licked at her toes, then retreated almost as quickly. The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky, making the water all the more refreshing, becoming warmer on her skin the further inside the lake she went. It was marvellous. The glittering reflection on the surface, the whisp of wind in her hair, the cool liquid against glowing skin.
She did not see her husband where he watched her, a tender smile forming on his lips. Wordlessly, he exchanged the keys for money without having to ask for her consent. The moment the front door shut behind the leaving owner, he snuck out onto the hot sand, kicking off his shoes to follow whom he could only call the true image of an angel.
Erza gasped lightly when his arms slung around her. Unfortunately for him, a reflex kicked in, and she knocked her elbow into his chest.
"Sorry," she turned, grimacing where he nearly lost his balance. Nearly. Waving and flailing about with his arms most ungainly, and for more than just one moment too long for Erza not to burst into laughter, Jellal somehow saved himself from getting soaked. He panted slightly when finally straightening, a blush creeping up his neck. Erza could not stop laughing.
"Hey," he growled playfully, scooping her close into his arms. She shook with giggles, turning her head away as not to splutter into his face. A grin edged its way onto his lips, adoration radiating back at her.
"You-" Erza hardly caught her breath, giggling interrupting continuously, "you looked like an out-of-control windmill," she snickered, grunting unintendedly. She shrieked when he poked her side, this time evading her instantaneous punch. Ecstatic, Erza's chest heaved. She found it pressed against his, her heart's joyful skipping melting into warmth where she felt his stomach just as close to her own. To their baby.
"I like this place," she wheezed, beaming a bright smile at him. One of his hands unwound. Clinking the keys up where she could see them, Jellal grinned at her stunned silence.
"Any other wishes, my love?" He stuffed the key away, lowering his face towards hers.
"I really liked that cake shop we passed on our way here," she muttered innocently. Cake for lunch, however late, was not anywhere near his favourite choices, she knew. But his smile did not leave, eyes shining down at her.
"Then let's take the next train back," he returned.
"Don't you have any wishes?" She remembered. Too late, she told herself, realising that there was still a long way to go if she truly wanted to change for the better. Not to press and let him act of his own will. He pushed out his lip in thought. She did not catch herself to have stared at it until it retreated into an amused smile. He had noticed, too.
"There is one thing but that can wait until after lunch," he decided. She opened her mouth to protest, to dig and to rush as usual, when she yelped instead. Having tightened his embrace, Jellal lifted Erza up to carry her, faces only centimetres away, her own now hovering above his. "On second thought, there is one other thing I'd like to try," he announced. Then he marched them further into the water.
Puzzled, Erza's eyes went wider the deeper he went. Submerged until the tops of his shoulders, Jellal stopped. His gaze met hers. She understood, an almost unnoticeable nod passing between them. With his arms still holding her safely, he took her with him beneath the surface.
Breath held, Erza tensed where the water swallowed her. Relaxing a heartbeat later, she opened her eyes. Where she had expected darkness, there was light. The lake was clear, even the ground beneath still visible in the shallowest depths. Slightly blurry but right in front of her, she met mesmerising green eyes. Insides aflutter, she eased into his embrace, into the weightlessness of the water, closing her eyes again when his lips tenderly enclosed hers.
The landscape flew by on the way back to their new temporary home. Erza could hardly wait to get there. She craved their domestic life, finding the private hut the perfect solution. The shopping bags at her feet rustled where she caged them in as not to let them fall over. They had enough groceries to last them an entire week, though perhaps rather a few days considering her appetite. She could also not wait to help him cook, to learn and to become more useful around the house by the time they would set off to return to their own.
Above all, she wanted Jellal to repeat what he had so readily done in the lake – touch her belly. Her contently with cake stuffed belly. And this time with his hand, she hoped, eager to watch the love develop that already streamed through her every vein.
"So… coming back to your question," Jellal snapped her out of her daydreaming. She frowned, then stiffened. Stiffened with agitation that was, his hand having landed on her knee. It wandered upwards to the hem of her skirt. "The thing I might have wished for," he vaguely phrased. Proud anyway about him to bring it up again, Erza lowered her lids as encouragement. It worked wonders, his head already closing in on hers. "I've been wondering," he muttered, eyes flashing from hers to her lips. She licked them self-consciously. A smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Grasping his biceps with one hand, Erza had to steady herself when their breaths collided but he so cruelly deprived her of the desired contact. He chuckled, humming as he teasingly chose to peck her cheek instead. Rising complaints drifted into a sigh of satisfaction when he continued along her jaw.
"I remember you mentioning something back at the hotel yesterday," he murmured as he tasted the supple skin up to her ear, "and I would like to politely enquire if making out is still on…?" He grinned next to her ear. She was pinching both of his arms by now, almost shaking with excitement.
Despite herself, Erza had to giggle. It drowned in a moan when he licked at her jugular, suckling lightly, tickling in a most delightful way. Like electricity, the sensation shot through her body, not least between her legs where they clamped closed at the sudden tingle.
"I don't see why you would have to ask for that," she rasped, digging her nails into his muscles. She knew he found it embarrassing whenever she succeeded in exciting him too quickly or too easily, but she herself was trembling with endorphins. He was thrilling in every way – his out-of-the-blue seduction, his feathery-light teases up her thigh, the roughness of the beginnings of stubbles on his chin mixed with the softness of his lips where both trailed along the weak spots he knew too well along her neck. The boldness of him to do so on a public train, the possibility of people passing by the shut door of their compartment lingering in the air like a looming thunderstorm anvil.
She hardly noticed him to have lifted off her neck in her daze. Opening her eyes, she met sparkling ones. Sparkling with amusement. But there was no time to contemplate pouting when his mouth was already on hers. She groaned wholeheartedly. No matter how often she praised herself on how mature a couple they were, she had to admit that her body occasionally won over her mind.
And that she craved this. Him. Secretly even the feeling of being putty in his hands, arousal only heightening the truth of that forbidden fantasy of the indomitable Titania coming undone at the capable hands of her lover.
Jellal's throat rumbled in return at the moans she released. They came muffled and puffed into his mouth, chocked, cut off or unexpectedly changing pitch were his tongue already conducted a heated tempo. His finger was drawing snaking lines up the side of her thigh, having stolen itself beneath her skirt. She did not regret that she had had to change out of her soaked dress when his other hand trailed around her waist, fingering the fabric of her blouse.
Starting to think he was seriously considering more than making out right there on the train, Erza's brain was becoming slushier by the second. Coming up with something to prevent intrusion was harder than imagined when imagination logged off completely at the light tug on the waistband of her knickers. Moaning, she offered herself, his lips and tongue seizing the chance without hesitation.
Jellal froze mid-kiss. Erza pulled on him, coaxing him into going on with a bite to his lower lip. He could not stop now of all times, any kind of friction desperately needed. He retracted his hand, and she almost mewled in protests when she heard it too. The clicking of the sliding door handle.
They zoomed apart when the door suddenly opened. An older man entered, shortly lifting off his hat in greeting. Mumbling something back, they inwardly cursed when the stranger sat down on the opposite bench. If that was not bad enough already, a whole group of people followed, one of them bringing a goat while another even sank down between Erza and Jellal. She rubbed her knees together in frustration. And then the goat started nibbling on their salad.
With pulsing lips – and other, untouched places pulsing, too – Erza held back an outcry. Pent-up, the two merely endured the rest of the ride back.
Their lips did not meet so much as they clashed the second the key was inserted into the lock. Groaning when she introduced her tongue to his, Jellal failed at the simple motion of turning the key. His hand shook, only the third attempt bringing the desired outcome and somewhat making them stumble into the room. The grocery bags dropped to the floor, an onion straying without either paying it any mind.
Erza steadily worked on the buttons of his shirt, suckling on his lips, rolling them between her own, then her teeth like a grape about to be devoured. Impatient, he hitched up her skirt rather than search for the zipper. She made it especially hard for him to walk when her legs wound around one of his, her stomach too big to grant the needed friction between them.
She gasped when his hands found her rear. Having opened his shirt, her hands began to trace his chest, nails about to scrape when the teasing along the lacy hem of her knickers became too much for her. Her forehead dropped to his shoulder, teeth clenching around his flesh when he brushed down the very last of her lumbar vertebrae to the tip of her tailbone. She shivered.
Moaning in tandem at the chill that travelled down her spine, Erza's grip on his leg with hers threw him off balance. Staggering backwards, somehow managing another step before falling, Jellal only just caught them on the end of the bed. It bounced like a ship on a stormy sea.
Despite herself, Erza had to laugh. Infected, he cracked up as well. Hoisting herself up above him, she freed his crushed face and torso. He used his chance for a test, intrigued by the excruciating softness in his back. So he wiggled his body like a stranded fish, Erza on top and all, and she gave an unladylike snort between her giggles.
"It almost feels as if the mattress is filled with water," she caught her breath. Frowning at that, Jellal turned his head to the side. He picked at the tucked-in sheet, uncovering the corner of the mattress. Eyes widened in surprise at the translucent material, actually holding hundreds of litres of water.
"Huh," Jellal blinked at their discovery.
"It is filled with water," Erza nodded.
"Stranger things have happened," he tossed the blanket back again, turning to look up at her. "You know what that means: no spiky or pointy costumes – so no seduction armour," he emphasised. Erza raised a single brow.
"You don't really want me not to wear that, right?" She smugly asked.
"No," he bashfully squeaked. It set her off again, the loveliest of sounds that was her laughter ringing through their new private space. "But we really can't risk stabbing the mattress and flooding the room," he seriously added. His face was flushed anyway, so it hardly mattered how keen his libido was about her mysterious armour.
Erza only lowered herself towards him again. He barely noticed how the act alone, not to mention stopping in mid-air with her arms bent and her increasing weight supported on nothing but a water-filled bed, was something no regular woman – or man – could have managed even once. Erza on the other hand could stay in her half-press-up for as long as she wanted. It made his insides tremble to know such a raw powerhouse to be his wife. (Not to mention tremble in reverence when it came to that powerhouse taking command in the bedroom.)
"Well, there is one other place I can think of to get this done," she trailed her voice with feigned innocence. Completely ignoring the couch in the corner, he knew, already having waited for her to pick the issue back up. Of course she would. Her lids had already dropped alluringly, her tone lowering alongside them. "Since we still need a shower anyway…" she huskily breathed into his ear.
His hands came up then. One of them travelled to her waist as if on autopilot, around the small of her back, to her shoulder blades until gliding up her nape and into her hair. The other found her chin, raising it to meet her eyes with the same lust clouding his own. He stretched his neck, bringing her chin down to almost meet with his.
"You know what else…?" He whispered. Guiding her face, he passed her cheek with a hot breath, lips tickling the shell of her ear. "No."
"Oh, come on!" Erza exclaimed indignantly. She shoved him down into the mattress, sitting up with her arms crossed in annoyance. "What does a woman have to do to get laid in the shower?" She huffed.
"I think 'lying' is the correct word, though you forgot to add 'ouch'," Jellal grinned boyishly.
"Ha. Ha," she dryly retorted. Her breath got stuck when he was suddenly above her. Not so much flipping but sliding her onto her back, Jellal smirked triumphantly. Her own sour expression melted off, the tenderness of his usually handsome impulsiveness striking her to the core. Because he did it out of care for the baby.
The thought got interrupted when his lips met hers, her whole being as if absorbed into the passion she gladly returned as deeply as she could. His lashes tickled when he opened his eyes halfway.
"How about I give us another reason for needing a shower instead…?"
The spoon clanked against the bowl in rapid succession.
"Hey, Erza?" Jellal turned where he finished stirring the filling for their dumplings.
"Mhm," she hummed, poking a finger into the stuffing, licking it clean.
"About this… honesty thing,"
"Thing?" She raised an amused brow. He shrunk ever so slightly. "You mean the thing called honesty?"
"Yeah, that," he slowly confirmed. "I…" he took a breath. Then he reconsidered, turning to face the counter again. "No, never mind, now I feel stupid," he hid his tinted cheeks.
"No, no," Erza waved her hands, "I'm sorry, please-"
"No, I don't think I have the guts anymore," Jellal admitted, focusing back on the dough.
"Yes, you do," she pursued him, "you have loads of guts," she grabbed his stomach. "See? This is just crawling with guts,"
"Erza,"
"Sorry," she curled her fingers away. "Please tell me," she pleaded. He hesitated. She could practically read the excuses lining up on his forehead, ready to be used, to be forged into lies where his frown told of the fray he fought against the old habit. So she decided to take more drastic measures. "Then I'll tell you something too," she offered, obviously not too convincing, "like… like my favourite food," she proposed. He gave her a look.
Panicking slightly when he was already folding up the first dumpling, she scooted closer.
"Alright fine, uhm…" she raked her brain for an aspect of her he did not yet know. Proving quite hard, if not impossible. Looking around for help, Erza fidgeted unhappily, knowing to be losing him on the topic. "I'll tell you about my books!" She finally blurted out. His brows rose at that, intrigued. "Now what was it you were going to say?" Erza insisted.
Silence passed between them, when eventually he sighed in defeat. He did not look up while speaking, eyes glued to the task he once again used as a means of distracting himself.
"Well, it's just that…" he struggled, his cheeks flaming up. That puzzled her, but she waited. "Do you… realise that it…" he almost gulped, "is going to have a birthday…?" Her lips broke out into a huge smile. "That we'll know the birthday," he corrected, still not daring to glance at her. Nodding over-excitedly, Erza could not help but wag on the spot.
A birthday. Their baby's birthday. More importantly right now was, however, the fact that Jellal had told her. That he had revealed his thoughts, and that his thoughts were baby-centred. She could have whooped so loudly, Warren might have heard it all the way back at the port city.
"We have to watch out not to spoil it too much with presents so that the birthday stays special," she squeaked, nodding repeatedly to herself.
"That's the problem I found," Jellal interrupted her cheering. "Erza," he risked a glance to the side, "you know I love spoiling you,"
"I hope there's not 'but' coming any time soon," she put her hands on her hips, one brow perked. He shook his head.
"No, no, it's just that…" he sighed. Finally ceasing to keep himself busy with folding dumplings, Jellal turned to properly meet her expecting eyes. "Neither of us is good with money. We'll blue it all,"
"So?" She squared her shoulders, not backing down in her defying stance. "We both work and we have a house – we know how to budget,"
"Erza, we're both terrible with money," Jellal plainly objected.
"Are you saying we should not buy little Jenkins any toys?" She tilted her head, bordering bewilderedness. He blinked at her in momentary confusion, then caught on to the random name the random-example section of her brain had just come up with. Again, he shook his head.
"I'm saying we should perhaps start working on the problem before it's too late; tighten the belt – or purse," he frowned for a second. Reaching for a towel for his sticky fingers, she handed it to him where she stood closer.
"Tightening your belt is the last thing on my list,"
"Erza," Jellal chided, though she did not miss the twitch of a smirk of the corner of his mouth.
"Shopaholic therapy?" She asked, shoulders sinking.
"But without the other people,"
"Because you don't like people,
"Uhuh," he affirmed. It was her turn to sigh. A gentle sigh, one that spoke of gladness where curiosity had shortly turned into fear at the speculation of a less attention-overdosed relationship. Not after the years of complete deprivation and actual anxiety about his mere survival, she thought to herself, not now and not ever would she accept that.
Relaxing her stance, Erza let her arms sink. He was back to folding, this time with his own shoulders at ease. A gentle smile graced her lips.
Nearing on bare feet – very much enjoying the sneak-peak at summer with Caelum's warm weather – she came to lean her head against his arm. It moved beneath her ear, but she did not mind. She watched as his other hand overtook most of the work to spare her the jerking, nimble fingers squishing the thin dough to trap its contents. Those fingers she loved for everything they did, starting with the captivating way they cast spells. One struck her in particular – the one with the ring – but she adored them all, sometimes enjoying tracing the minimal ripples of his nails.
Her vision wandered, straying to what could definitely not be overlooked at this point. Her belly rounded smoothly beneath the swell of her breasts, already on its way to being a perfect globe. They were at five months after all, she reminded herself, somehow having forgotten about Porlyusica's 'over' four months announcement. No, she was far too taken by the fact that she had known to be pregnant for roughly a month now. A small part of her wished it would never end.
Weaving one hand around his occupied arm, her other cupped the mound. Unimpededly visible of course, the shirt she had pilfered from her husband only buttoned up loosely at the top. Another thing she savoured about the warm weather. She wondered whether Magnolia would be warm enough for her to show off her beautiful family addition in its shell. She hoped it would.
The birthday notion returned. With a broad smile, Erza closed her eyes against the steady fumbling of Jellal's arm. Of course she had already been aware of that. Birthdays were something scarce in Fairy Tail, though celebrated excessively – any excuse to get the booze flowing – yet rarely known due to harsh childhood fates and a surplus of orphans. The fact that it had been on Jellal's mind, too, made her warm with joy.
After a positively connotated dumpling dinner, Erza tenderly saw to redressing Jellal's wound. Only a graze of the fired shot within the catacombs of the criminals' hideout, but she liked taking care of him. She liked to hum a melody they both knew though neither remembered where it came from. She liked the unhasting wrapping of bandages, the kiss that sealed her work and the loving smile he would beam at her. He must have noticed the motherly feelings where they laced into her demeanour bit by bit.
They fell into bed with less force than before, but the water beneath swayed regardless. It made her giggle every time, and she could not help a playfully overdone movement to make them wobble for a little longer. Jellal chuckled, winding his arms around her to hold her close, giving a peck to the tip of her nose followed by a long, devoted kiss to the lips.
She fell asleep before him as usual, though this time, she had the feeling the holiday part of their honeymoon had finally begun.