Tail Of A Fairy

14.

Lucy let herself be carried gingerly into the house. She made no movement whatsoever; she was content to stay in her husband's arms. Even as Natsu walked into his bedroom, she stayed still. Slowly and carefully, Natsu lowered her towards the bed. He released her arms from his neck and down she went — still half asleep. Natsu turned and closed the bedroom door.

"Where's Happy?" Lucy asked sleepily.

"He's staying with Pantherlily for the night. Gajeel and Levy needed babysitters for Nayeli."

"Oh." Was all Lucy could mutter before she once again fell asleep.

Silently Natsu went up to her. Her face was gentle in her slumber. A few strands of her hair strayed over it. Natsu pushed them off her face tenderly so as not to wake her. But as he looked down at her dress, he began to think. Surely it's impossible for her to sleep comfortably in that.

"Lucy," He whispered into her ear. "Hey, Lucy. Wake up, you need to get changed."

Lucy only shifted in her sleeping position with a sigh. She wasn't going to be woken up again. Natsu groaned. Forget about Lucy, I'm not gonna be able to sleep if I have to share the bed with that huge skirt.

Carefully, he moved Lucy onto her side. The back of the dress was tied up with a ribbon, tied into a neat bow at her waist. Natsu fumbled with the ribbon as he tried to undo her dress. When he finally succeeded, he could see a sliver of her back. He mentally told himself to calm down and proceeded to pull the dress off of her.

Once he got the dress off, he carefully pulled the bed covers out from under her and tucked her in. Turning, Natsu laid the dress out on a chair. He sighed. Now it was his turn. It didn't take any effort at all to remove the shredded vest, tie, and shirt. He silently removed his belt buckle and pants. Once again in his boxers, he climbed into his bed.

"Goodnight Lucy," He whispered as he kissed her forehead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lucy-san, Levy-san," Juvia sighed again. "Juvia is so... so..."

"Juvia!" Levy cried, reaching over to cover her daughter's ears. "I don't want another story about your love life! I don't care how obsessed you are with your husband!"

Lucy chuckled. This was their weekly meet up with the girls. Most of them were there; Levy — with Nayeli since Gajeel was off on a job, Juvia, Erza, Evergreen, Wendy, and finally Lucy herself. The Strauss sisters weren't there however; they were on a job request as well.

"Levy, don't deny that if Gajeel was as active as Gray, you'd want to brag about him as well." Lucy laughed.

"L-Lucy!" Levy turned red, once again keeping her hands over her daughter's ears. "W- what about Natsu? What do you have to say for him?"

"Ha! Simple," Lucy bragged. "Gray's got nothing on him."

"Now, now girls. Please remember that there are some very virgin ears in our midst." Erza chided, revealing a very awkward Wendy.

"Oops," Lucy apologized. "We forgot that you and Romeo aren't married yet. But seriously, you guys should get married! After all, you've been dating for so long."

Wendy shrugged and looked away, "Lucy-san... it hasn't been that long. After all... we only started a few weeks before you and Natsu-san got married."

"Hah! Not that long? Natsu and I have been married for two years now!" Lucy chuckled.

The girls chattered amongst themselves about the life of a married woman. Lucy calmly sat back to sip her milkshake. Erza looked through the girls towards Lucy and smiled.

"You know Lucy, you and Natsu haven't mentioned anything about having a kid or two yet, have you?"

Lucy choked on her drink. Waving her hand in the air as she tried to restore her breathing, the other women stared at her.

"What ~? Natsu and I? Kids? It's just that... I don't know. We never talked about it I guess."

Levy looked over Lucy's shoulder with a grin. Lucy groaned inwardly, knowing what that look meant. Slowly, the other women quieted their teasing and joined Levy in her stare. Slowly, as if not wanting to confirm what they were looking at, Lucy turned around. There he was, white scarf blowing in the wind, and that single sleeve jacket he wore. His pink hair shone in the sun, but his smile at seeing his wife was even brighter.

"Yo! Luce ~ how are you?"

Despite the recent teasing, Lucy couldn't help but smile back at him. "Oh, you know, just a day out with the girls. How have you been?"

"Bored. Happy went out with Carla and Pantherlily. I think the little guy's got a serious jealousy problem with Pantherlily." Natsu joked.

"Wow." Lucy shook her head. "Even after she married him?" Natsu nodded.

Levy, from behind Lucy, smirked. Picking up her own daughter, she laughed loudly. "Oh Nayeli! You're so cute!"

Lucy and Natsu stared awkwardly, but the other women picked up on the cue.

"Levy," Erza sighed. "Now you're making me miss my own daughter."

Wendy nodded. "Isn't it amazing how your whole world can change when you have a kid?"

"Sure; Khayal's no walk in the park, but I love him anyway." Evergreen added.

Natsu looked from mother, to mother, to Wendy, and back to another mother. Levy was tickling her daughter and receiving joyous screeches of laughter. Erza had pulled out a locket that contained Jellal's picture, as well as a picture of the entire Fernandez family. Evergreen was playing with a necklace that Khayal had recently smithed for her.

Lucy looked between each of the women. She didn't need it written out for her to understand what they were planning. Carefully she looked out of the corner of her eye towards Natsu. The wonder in his eyes was evident — he wanted something. But there was also a small fear there. An unwillingness to act.

Chiding herself, Lucy stood up to grab Natsu's hand. She waved goodbye to her friends and pulled her husband. Natsu intertwined their fingers and followed her obediently. They steadily headed towards the center of town.