The crying on the background made Gray slowly open his eyes. His back ached and he had trouble to get aware of his surroundings.
Gray knew it was Teru who was crying. He pushed himself up, feeling the need to get there as quickly as possible. He looked upstairs and saw that the bedroom door stayed closed. Juvia was still recovering from the pregnancy.
It was 6 days ago. And she was still weak, even if she said she was doing better by the day.
Gray had to take care of the children meanwhile and he was tired. He even fell asleep on the sofa the day before. He stretched before he reached the nursing room. Just when he was about to open the door, Bozu started to cry as well.
He sighed after a loud yawn. He loved his children, but he missed his sleep. Maybe if it was one child he could sleep... No I shouldn't think like that. He shook his head. These are just the first days. The first days are the most difficult.
But it seemed like they took turns crying and he couldn't ask Juvia right now. It felt as if he wasn't able to sleep more then 5 hours a day.
He opened the wooden door and enter the room. A bluehaired mage just bend over the cradle of Teru. Gray rubbed the sleep from his eyes and wrapped an arm around her. 'What are you doing out of bed?', he yawned. 'How are you feeling?'
'I'm doing fine... But could you take a step back?'. It wasn't Juvia's voice who spoke. Gray carefully spun the mage around because his child was in her arms. He looked into her eyes: blue and green.
'Rose, what are you doing here?' he asked astonished.
Gray was now fully awake and aware of all the differences between the two woman. Except the long blue hair there wasn't much to compare. Rose had less curves, was shorter and their clothing choices didn't match at all.
Gray was kind of flustered that he didn't notice in the beginning. But the fatigue didn't make him the sharpest. Besides: he didn't expect Rose to be here.
'Are you going to argue, or are you going to take care of Bozu?'
'Right', Gray walked to the other cradle and picked the "wildchild". He noticed that Bozu would be a hand full. 'But we'll talk about this'.
'yeah....'
----
Bozu just received a fresh diaper and the old one disappeared where no one would dare to look again. After that he showed Rose how to bottle feed the youngest. He made sure the bottle was at the right temperature, checking the heat with his wrist. After that he handed the bottle.
Rose made sure she held the bottle up to prevent that Teru would drink some air. Otherwise he'd surely get stomachache.
Gray observed his old enemy while she gave his baby the bottle. They were sitting in the livingroom, each on one end of the sofa.
The icemage was wiggling his finger in the little palm of Bozu. If he wouldn't distract the little one, he would surely cause some ruckus.
'So?' Gray started when the silence began to nag him.
Rose stared intense at the bottle avoiding every possible eyecontact. She said nothing.
'You don't have to talk about it. I should bring Juvia dinner anyway', Gray stood up with Bozu still in his arms. He cooed happily when his father hopped up and down a little.
Rose simply looked when he disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later he reappeared with a plate and walked up the stairs towards the master bedroom.
'Room service', Gray looked around the corner to see if Juvia was awake. With one arm he made sure Bozu wouldn't fall and with the other he held up the plate. He had to open the door with a push from his shoulders.
'Hey', Juvia said with a smile. She still seemed weak from the delivery, but she was recovering well. She held out her hands and gave Bozu a hug. 'Where is Teru?' she asked.
'Rose is with him', Gray answered. He deliberately avoided the part where she was giving him the bottle. It seemed Juvia was feeling bad because she wasn't able to breastfeed her own children.
'Rose-san?' Juvia raised her eyebrow. 'Why?'
'Not sure. She doesn't say'.
'Hmmm', the watermage hummed while thinking. 'Perhaps she wants to make sure the twin's alright?'
Gray shrugged. 'Could be. Now eat something. I'll be right back'.
He gave her the plate and got Bozu back. Before he left he gave Juvia a little peck.
When he walked downstairs he saw Teru finishing the bottle. 'And now?' Rose seemed lost.
'You should help him burp'.
'How?'
They traded child. Rose entertained Bozu while Gray patted Teru on the back.
'Isn't it difficult?'
'Sure, but Juvia and I got help from Bisca, Alzack and the others. Like Natsu and Lucy, they helped us buy some more stuff we needed because we didn't expect a twin'.
'Can I be honest?' Rose blurred out. Guilt was written over her face and Gray expected this to be the reason she came to visit.
'Sure'.
'If Juvia was pregnant of one child, then he probably would've died. The curse was split in two, that's why they were able to survive both...', it did hurt Rose to say those words. But she felt it was necessary to tell him and their was a part that wanted to get this guilt of her chest. She didn't know how much it affected Gray.
The way she saw it, Gray was strong. He would be able to handle this kind of information.
But the truth was that it did bother him. The thought that his children only survived by sheer chance frightened him more then he would like to admit. The two protected each other.
His head suddenly felt light, but he wanted to hide it for Rose.
Teru's burp interrupted his thoughts from escalating.
'You know it's my fault'. Rose looked at Bozu with sorrow.
Gray waited for her to continue. When she didn't, he sat next her. 'It's no ones fault. You didn't know I would...'
'It is!', she raised her voice only a little but restrained herself when she thought of the twin. 'It's just....' there was a short silence. 'It's just... if I just removed the curse earlier... If I didn't curse you to begin with'.
'Even if you did remove it earlier... it would've still been too late. I made Juvia pregnant before I found you'.
'But this wouldn't have happened if I never cursed you. I could've told you when you found me when we were still children what happened to me. Maybe we could've worked it out. It's all my fault'. With her free hand she tried to rub the stress away from her forehead.
'You couldn't have known', Teru became a little bit restless so Gray stood up and rocked him back and forth. Strangely enough Bozu was the quiet one at the moment.
'It doesn't make it right. What would you have said if it turned out bad?'
'But it didn't', Gray kept rocking the little one. Teru was on the edge of crying. He didn't know what was wrong, but it was his guess that he felt the tension. Teru was a real child of his mother. Being with his mother often soothed him. 'Sorry, I'll be right back'.
Gray walked upstairs towards Juvia. 'You ate?' he asked when he saw the empty plate. The patient nodded.
'Can Juvia hold Teru?' she pleaded.
'Are you still tired?' Gray gently placed Teru in her arms. He seemed to calm down within a few seconds. His little hands reached out for Juvia's nose.
'Not for at least an hour'. Juvia said. She placed several kissing on Teru's head. Her hair got entangled in his fingers in the process. 'Is Rose-san still here?'
'Yes, and I know why she is here'.
Juvia looked up from Teru to look her man in the eye before giving her son all the attention he wanted again. 'ow?'
'She blames herself... So I should get down again. Just needed your help with Teru for a moment'.
'Alright'.
'I'll be back soon again', Gray took the platter and walked downstairs again. 'Sorry about that'. He reached out for Bozu. The little one was contempt in his arms.
'You know...?' Rose started. 'I hated you SO much... But not YOU-you'. she fiddled with her thumbs before able to continue.
It's been a long time since she was able to be honest like this. She was on herself on that mountain. She could only rely on her own or the people she imagined.
'The truth is, when you left me on that mountain unknowingly, I couldn't even move a muscle... The most exciting moment was when the wind blew me over once, because I finally was able to see another part of the mountain. I knew every unevenness of the caves wall and I did my best to lift my curse with only my mind, but I couldn't. So the only thing I could do was think about you'.
Gray just listened.
'I thought about the idiot whose fault it was that I was stuck in that place. And the more I thought about it, the more evil you became. I tried to defeat you many times and sometimes I would succeed, but most of the times you'd beat me and leave me alone in that snow... So when you did show up, I couldn't believe you were good. I hated you with fiber of my body'.
Rose started to tremble. 'And then you showed me Fairy Tail, your home, friends and you let me know you found love... I was angry with you because you destroyed my life and were living happy without thinking about me. Even when you reunited me with my little sis I couldn't do anything but hate you... In those fantasies of mine you kidnapped and manipulated my sister countless of times. And then I found out you DID met her... she even picked your side'. her voice cracked with the last sentence.
'...I didn't know', Gray mumbled. 'I've been the worst'. The blackhaired mage placed his hand on her shoulder. Not sure if she wanted to be comforted, but it was the least he could do for now.
There was no place for doubt because Rose lunged around his neck. 'Don't be sorry... I didn't try to get to know you too. I just got mad whenever I saw you... But I did get to know you little by little. I guess you've proven me wrong. You are not the man of the nightmares I created. So sorry for giving you a hard time so long. I shouldn't have snapped so many times and I shouldn't have cursed y-'
'It's alright', Gray let her cry on his shoulder. Bozu was calmly observing the two. He wasn't bothered at all. His eyes tried to catch everything.
'It's all my fault to begin with. I accidentally cursed you. If I hadn't done that, then non of this would've happened.'
'You just tried to help me during that Deloria attack... Just a shame you sucked at it', Rose replied.
The two shared in awkward laughter while Rose wiped away an escaped tear. .
'Let's just say no one is fault', Rose concluded in the end.
'Sure. And if it would help you to feel better: there are more in the guild who did worse then you', Gray smiled at the thought of him and Juvia meeting. He even told her he would punch her without doubt if she hurt one of his friends. He couldn't have imagined that he would get children with her.
'Who?'
'I joined forces with a psycho once who built a dragon... And Juvia was in a dark guild with G-', he quickly shut his mouth. Thinking she wouldn't forgive Gajeel as easily as Levy did when she'd find out he pinned her against the tree.
'G- like Gajeel?' she took a little more distance to glare Gray in the eye.
'No, no, no!! I said J, like Jellal'. He tried to cover up and started to name others on the list. 'The Sabertooth guild wasn't the way they are now. You heard about Lyon and Toby right? And then there was Ultear and Meredy who tried t-'
'Oke, Oke you made your point', Rose laughed. Her laugh was surprisingly girly for someone like her.
Suddenly they heard the wooden stairs creak under the weight of a certain mother. 'Juvia?' Gray raised his eyebrows. This was the first time she stood up without help and it bothered him that she was walking down the stairs on her own. Especially since she was holding Teru.
'Juvia is fine', she insisted but Gray walked up to her anyway to give her a hand.
'Why did come downstairs? You could've said so if you needed something'.
'But Juvia wanted to come, besides she wouldn't have walked on her own if she couldn't', she pouted but secretly she was screaming happily from the inside that Gray was so caring.
'Alright, I just want to make sure there's nothing wrong'.
'Thanks Gray-sama, but it's not needed... So Rose-san, Juvia's glad to see that you two made up', she took her place next to Rose while Gray sat down on the chair across the sofa.
Both parents were holding one of their kids.
'Don't mind me'.
'Juvia just hopes you two can get along now', the newly mother moved a little closer to Rose so only she could hear the next sentence. 'Just make sure you don't get too close'. She warned.
'Again with that? I told you alre-'
'But you've been getting closer...' Juvia squinted her eyes. There was a new love-rival. And something told her to be cautious of this one.
'What's wrong?' Gray asked confused. He knew about her outbursts towards Lucy. But he isn't expecting her to act this way towards Rose.
'Nothing', Juvia swooned. 'But Juvia should freshen up. So she's bringing Teru to bed'. Teru started to rub his eyes as if they planned this. They usually slept around this time, so it wasn't strange they needed some more sleep. According to Porlyusica they would sleep a lot the first weeks because they were born too early.
'Guess I should be going then', Rose stood up. Just to tease the watermage, she gave both Juvia and Gray a hug.
Juvia huffed when she saw their embrace.
Gray filled the tub after they brought the twin to bed.
Soon he helped her girlfriend to step in the tub.
'It hurts doesn't it?' Gray asked.
Juvia nodded. Her muscles were aching but she didn't want to stay in bed this whole time. 'Juvia wants to spend more time with the twins and Gray-sama'.
She sank a little in the tub till her eyes and nose were slightly above the water.
'You can soon enough'
'...'
'I was planning to keep this a secret but I planned a date for you, me and the kids'. Gray saw her faintly smile but it soon disappear.
'...'
'What's wrong?' Gray asked as he started to wash her hair as he sat on the edge.
'Juvia has another love-rival', she mumbled.
'What? Why would you think that?'
'...'
'Juvia listen', Gray cupped her cheeks. 'I don't want you ever to think that I'd leave you or the kids. I didn't get together on a whim with you. So don't think I'd replace you, because that would be impossible'.
'Juvia isn't scared Gray-sama would leave her... She is afraid someone will take him'.
'Then I'll fight my way back'.
A sudden smile brightened her features. She lunged her arms around his neck and pulled him in the tub with her.
Flustered Gray tried to free himself from her embrace because the way she held him, he was only inches away from her breasts.
'For always together', Juvia whispered seductively in his ear.
Gray was able to free himself. He hovered now above her. Their legs pressed against each others in the narrow space. Gray's clothes were soaked but he didn't care. He just look wide eyed into Juvia's eyes. It's been a while where she went on a chase and he just didn't knew how to handle her like this.
'Juvia loves you Gray-sama', she cherished his cheeks. He held his breath during her careful touch. This was the only woman who could make him this mad. It made him go crazy and he didn't mind.That's why he knew there would never be a second woman like her.
Gray grabbed her wrists with both his hands and pressed his thumps in the hollow of her hand. She enclosed his thumbs in return with her fingers.
Slowly Gray brought her hands to his lips and gently kissed her ring finger. 'Always'.
End book 1
But gruvia isn't over. Gruvia is never over!!
So there will be some gruvia in book 2 as well.
Already updated: Gale- protecting mine. (Part 2 of the Fairy tail Trilogy)