Bonds of Mates

Ch 10

One week and two days later

Lucy pov

It's the middle of the night and I can't sleep. I sat up in bed and rubbed the tired from my eyes. Doesn't work, I'm exhausted. I look over at Natsu who's fast asleep, mouth wide open and snoring. That might be why I'm not sleeping. I smile and shake my head. I get up to get a glass of water. I'm a couple days over due now. Bisca said it's possible I could go over my due date but I was really hoping I wouldn't. As terrified as I am about becoming a mom, I'm done with pregnancy. I grab a glass and fill the cup. I take a sip and start to make my way back to bed when I feel a sharp pain in my stomach that stops me in my tracks and makes me drop my glass and shatter it as it hits the floor. "Lucy? Lucy!" "Natsu I'm in here." I see Natsu rush to me, "Are you okay? What happened?" He looks me up and down and sees the glass on the floor. "I just dropped my glass, i felt a pain in my stomach that surprised me." He picks me up and carries me over the shards of glass and back to bed. "Is the baby coming?" He asks worried. "I don't think so.. I think I'm just stressed out." He doesn't look convinced but helps me lay down before leaving me to get the glass off the floor.

He comes back to the room but stands by the bed rather than coming back in. "Should I get you to the infirmary? Or get Wendy to check you over?" I shake my head, "No, no I think I'm okay. I think it's just stress and that I'm so tired." I try to laugh a little so he'll lessen his worry but judging from what I'm sensing from him, it's not working. Nevertheless he asks me, "Are you sure? We can go right now, I can get you to the guild." "Natsu, its okay. I just need sleep." Remaining unconvinced he gives up and lays beside me. "Okay, you tell me though when you wanna go." "I will." I respond sleepily as I'm already passing out. 

It's daybreak and I still feel so tired. The pains didn't stop. They kept up through out the night keeping me awake, and thereby keeping Natsu awake as well. But I insisted I was fine. Natsu didn't fight me on it. He did however strongly insist we at least get to the guild. I agreed and we've been here since. The pains keep coming and going but nothing steady. I'm sat at one of the booths with a few of the girls and have my face scrunched up in a painful expression. "Lucy?" I open my eyes to a concerned Erza, "Yea?" "Maybe we should get you into the infirmary, you might be ready to deliver." I shake my head, "No, no it's okay. I'm okay. Besides, Bisca said I'll know I'm close when the pains get closer and closer together. So far they're still pretty far between each other." Erza glances at Levy with a worried look and chooses to not fight me on it. 

Natsu pov

I've been trying like hell to not get on Lucy's case about checking herself into the infirmary to save any added stress it could cause her but this is driving me crazy. I can sense the pain she's in and I hate that she's trying to power through it. I overheard her tell Erza that she'll know when it's close to having the baby when the pains get more frequent. This is frequent enough in my opinion. "Hey, you doing okay?" I hear ice princess ask. "I'm fine." "You're not fooling anyone you know." "Who said I was trying to fool someone??" I ask him annoyed. "I've known you sense we were kids, and you've never been any good at lying. You're not fine." I breathe out a sigh of frustration, "I don't understand why she's trying so hard to tough it out." He glances her direction, "Lucy's always been that way. I don't get how that's shocking to you." He lightly chuckles and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Trust her. She'll be okay, you will too." He walks away leaving me with my thoughts.

*Later that night*

Her pains are a lot closer together and I'm about to punch a wall out, she still insists she's fine. "Hey, we should probably get Wendy and get you into the infirmary." She's sat down and shaking her head at me with closed eyes and clenched fists. "Nope, I'm okay. It's not time yet." "Come on Lucy, I can sense your pain. I think it's time." "No Natsu, seriously I'm" she gasps in pain and holds her breath, "I'm okay. Really." I lean down in front of her. Bisca and the girls are sat around her just as worried as I am. "Lucy, come on I'll carry you." I get ready to grab her hand when she yanks it away from me, "I'M NOT READY NATSU." Her expression changes from pained to terrified. "I'm not, I'm not ready. I'm not ready, I can't.. I can't do this." I take a second to stop and get a better sense of her emotions and she's absolutely petrified, no anger, no happiness, just fear. "Hey, come on, what do you mean you can't do this? You can. You've got this." She's shaking her head profusely at me, "I can't. I don't. I don't have this. I can't do this, Natsu." Tears streaming down her face, "I can't." "Lucy" Bisca intervenes, "You can do this. We know you can. You're one of the strongest girls here. Right ladies?" She asks the group and responses of agreement are heard all around us. I can feel Lucy try to calm down but just feel her panic rise. I grab her hands, she looks down at me, "I'll be right there the entire time. I won't leave your side. I know you can do this." She whispers at me, "What if I can't? What if I can't Natsu?" "You can. I promise you, you can. You have me and everyone here supporting and thinking of you." She starts to slow down her breathing and grips my hands tighter, "You'll stay with me?" 

I squeeze her hands back, "I promise you, I won't leave for anything, unless you ask it. I'll be right next to you the whole time. Okay?" She takes deep breaths. "Okay.. okay." I help her stand only for her to double over in pain. I pick her up and shout for Wendy.

A few hours later

Third person pov

"How's she doing?" Mira asks the group stood outside the infirmary door as she brings everyone coffee to keep awake. "Better. Natsu came out here a couple times to give us updates. Wendy used her magic to take some of the pain away to make it a little easier on her." Lisanna says. Everyone freezes in place, except Bisca, as they can hear Lucy yell out in pain. "Yep. I remember that feelin." She says before sipping her coffee. "Is... she gonna be okay?" Erza asks with a blank stare on her face. "Oh yea she'll be fine. The baby is almost here. It hurts the worst as the baby gets closer and closer to arrivin." Bisca replies to Erza. Lucy screams out once more, before a deafening silence is heard throughout the guild. Everyone exchanges looks of worry and anticipation as it seems to linger far longer than what anyone finds comfortable, when something finally breaks the silence. A baby's cries. The entire guild erupts into joyous celebration. The baby's here.

Lucy pov

"Is it okay?? Why don't I hear it crying?? Natsu??" Natsu was beside Porlyusica as she was cleaning the baby and tending to it. Master asked for her to come in to help deliver the baby around the time Natsu and I got to the guild this morning, yesterday morning? I've not been keeping track of the time. I can suddenly hear the baby cry. I lean back into my bed relieved. It's okay, the baby's okay. Natsu walks over to me and presses his forehead to mine. "Told you you could do it." I smile at him. "You feel okay?" He asks me. "Exhausted." I chuckle. "How is it??" I ask him eager to know for sure. "She's okay." He smiles as brightly as he can at me. "She? We had a girl??" He nods his head. "Lucy." We're interrupted by Poryusica with the baby all cleaned up and wrapped up in her arms. "You want to hold her?" I can just nod my head and stretch out my arms. 

Poryusica gently places her in my arms. "I'll step outside to give you guys some privacy." As soon as she steps through the door she's bombarded with everyone outside asking questions, and we can hear her reply, "You vultures. Step away and give them the space and time they need! They'll tell you everything when they're ready!" We just giggle at what would be her typical attitude. "Natsu, look at her. She's perfect." Natsu sat and leaned beside me in the bed to have his arm around me and the other holding her little hand. She'd wrapped her fingers around his finger. Her eyes were closed and seemed perfectly content in my arms. "She's beautiful." He whispers to me. "Yeaa, she is." I say without looking away from her. "Just like her mom." I look up and then turn to face Natsu, who's looking right back at me. I smile at him and he leans in to kiss me. Just like every kiss before this one, I can feel every ounce of love in his kiss, but there's something else I can feel from him along with it.. a sense of pride. 

He pulls away and we both look back down at the baby. She has Natsu's hair. "She has my hair." "She does." I look to him but he hasn't looked away from her. "Natsu?" He looks up, "Want to hold her?" His smile slowly fades to a look of uncertainty and I can sense his panic begin to bubble. "I don't know Lucy, what if I drop her, she's so small." I just giggle at him. "You won't drop her. Here." I start to pass her over to him and he takes her in his arms. He looks so unsure what to do I can't help but laugh. "What's so funny?" I finally stifle my laughter, "You. The great Natsu Dragneel have been subdued by fear of a sweet baby." He at first has a look of offense before he finally relaxes and chuckles at the thought. He's let her hold his finger again. Without looking away from her he asks in a whisper, "Should we let the guild in?" 

"Yeaa, that's fine. But only a few at a time. I'm not ready to handle everyone at once." Natsu hands her back to me and hops off the bed and starts to make his way towards the door, "Oh, wait! Natsu!" He stops and turns around and looks at me with a questioned look. "A name. What do we name her? We never considered names for if she was a girl." He looks up in thought with his hands on his hips. "How about.. Nashi?" I look down at the baby. "Nashi." I can't help but smile. "I like it, Nashi."