Chapter Text
A few years later saw Natsu, with tears in his eyes, holding a teary-eyed Lucy as she cradled a little stick that spelled out the rest of their lives.
They had been married for two years, actively trying for a baby for one. That year had been filled with too many negative tests to count, with Lucy’s confidence withering away after each one. A check-up with Wendy had found nothing, and she had expressed that some people just struggled more than others to get pregnant; and Lucy was one of them.
Natsu did everything he could to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault, that they’d get a baby when they were meant to have one and to not give up hope. But over time, the box of tests under the bathroom sink had slowly stopped disappearing, until the box remained untouched altogether.
But a week of early morning nausea had Natsu urging Lucy to take a test, despite her own anxieties and fears. Natsu had left her to her privacy, busying himself with cleaning up the kitchen to distract himself from the overwhelmed beating of his heart. Lucy may have lowered her hopes, but Natsu could hold enough hope for both of them. 5 minutes later, a loud yell of his name had him hurrying to his wife’s side.
Unlike every other time he’d walked in on this scene, Lucy’s downturned and quivering lips were spread into a disbelieving smile, the tears staining her cheeks ones of joy instead of sorrow. Natsu crouched to her level, gently taking the test out of her shaking hands. His eyes widened and his heart screeched to a stop as he took in the sight before him.
A pink plus sign. Pregnant.
Lucy collapsed against his side, smiling into the skin of his neck exposed by his tank top. “We’re finally having a baby, Natsu.”
“We’re finally having a baby?” Natsu parroted, his voice cracking with his emotions. It almost didn’t feel real, that after so many heartbreaks, he was finally going to start a family with the woman he loved like he’d dreamt of for so long. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s real.” Lucy’s smile was bright and contagious, and a matching one finally made its way to Natsu’s face as he choked on a sob and threw himself at his wife, pulling her into his arms. He murmured “I love you” repeatedly, peppering her face with kisses as she giggled cutely, and Natsu swore he’d never been more in love with her than he was in that moment. Holding her, with a test in their hand that made all of their dreams a reality.
After the adrenaline of the moment wore down, Natsu pulled away so he could settle his palm against her soon to be not-so-flat stomach, the reality of everything setting in. She had a baby, a little life, growing inside of her. One that was a mix of both of them, living proof of their love for each other. One that they would have and raise for the rest of their lives, bringing them endless joy.
Natsu lowered his head, so his face was level with Lucy’s midsection. Overcome with love for his child, and maybe a little bit childish, Natsu found himself whispering to her belly, “Hi, Nasha.”
“Natsu, we don’t even know if they’re gonna be a girl yet.”
He grinned, simply replying with, “It’s a girl, I can feel it. She’s our Nasha.” Natsu thought back to the adorable little daughter of their Edolas counterparts, the same one that had helped push him and his own Lucy in the direction that brought them to where they currently were.
Despite the physical strain pregnancy took on her body, Lucy glowed. They waited a few weeks to tell their guildmates, just until the possibility of losing the baby lessened entirely. And when it did, they also learned from Wendy that their baby was, in fact, a baby girl. They spent the coming months preparing for their daughter, anxiously awaiting her arrival.
Quieter nights found Natsu suffering from nightmares, ones that now involved losing his wife and unborn daughter, and Lucy wide awake in fear of the reality of what being a mother entailed, and worry that she’d be a failure of one. They both still struggled, but found comfort in each other as they always had. Eventually, they found comfort in the little kicks of their girl, too.
The months felt like they were going by unbearably slowly, but so fast at the same time. They were swept up with nursery decorating, necessity buying, and money hoarding; but when a guild wide baby shower gave them everything they could want or need for their daughter, they couldn’t be more thankful for the large family of aunts, uncles, and cousins that she was being born into. Natsu went on solo jobs that lasted longer than Lucy would’ve liked, but she was in no state for going on missions and Natsu wanted to stock up on jewel so he could go for as long as possible without having to leave after the baby was born.
8 months later, Natsu’s heart stopped as high pitched squeals and cries rang out inside of the hospital room. He watched as Wendy and Porlyusica rushed around, cleaning and checking her vitals. For his part, Natsu squeezed Lucy’s hand and brushed her sweaty bangs out of her eyes, pressing a kiss to her forehead and praising her as she sank tiredly against his side.
Finally, finally , Wendy placed the little baby in her mother’s arms, and Natsu and Lucy’s lives changed permanently.
“Hi, baby.” Lucy cooed with tears in her eyes, gently brushing her finger against the girl’s red cheek. Her motherly instincts kicked in immediately as she cradled their daughter to her chest, and Natsu’s heart melted at how quickly her crying ceased and how soft her cries instantly became.
From his spot next to her, Natsu could see the light pink wisps of hair on the baby’s head. Her eyes hadn’t opened yet, but when they did, Natsu would guess that they’d be the exact same shade of warm hazel that Lucy’s own eyes were.
“Nasha.” Natsu whispered, scared to speak too loudly in case he startled the baby. She was so small, so delicate, and as Lucy adjusted the blanket swaddling Nasha so she could hand her to her father, Natsu was suddenly terrified of breaking this tiny little thing. But he forced his fears back and opened his arms so he could cradle Nasha, just as he’d practiced for the past few months.
She settled into his arms perfectly despite the transition, and Natsu’s heart had never felt so full of overwhelming love and adoration. He rocked himself gently, sitting at the edge of Lucy’s bed so they could sit as a new family. Wendy had silently opened the door and allowed Happy to fly in, so he could settle between the two of them on the bed and look at Nasha nestled in her father’s arms, eyes full of wonder.
After a few minutes, Nasha’s eyes fluttered open, and just as Natsu predicted, they were identical to Lucy’s. She was the spitting image of both of her parents.
“What did you all decide to name her?” Happy broke the silence, his voice quiet enough to only be heard by Natsu and Lucy.
Natsu opened his mouth to answer but Lucy beat him to it, her hands pushing down the pink blanket wrapped around the girl so she could get a better look at her face.
“Nasha. Her name is Nasha Dragneel.”
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“Papa!”
Natsu looked up at the sound of his daughter’s voice, his face breaking into a grin as she sped over to him, nearly tripping in her glee with some flowers clutched in her tiny hand.
At 3 years old, Nasha Dragneel was all smiles and endless energy. Her eyes and face were identical to her mother’s, but the wild pink locks were all from her dad. She had revealed very young that she’d taken on her dad’s fire Dragon Slaying abilities, with his pension for chaos and her mother’s smarts. She was Master Laxus’s worst financial nightmare, and she was the best thing in Natsu’s life.
Nasha hopped onto the porch and Natsu crouched down to her level, Happy hot on the little girl’s trail; ever the protective and attentive big brother. “What’cha got there, sweetheart?” He asked her, eyeing the colorful collection of weeds and flowers in her grasp.
Her eyes lit up at the question, and she held them out proudly in front of her as she proclaimed, “They’re for mama! She wasn’t feeling good this morning, so I thought some flowers would make her feel better.”
Natsu’s heart melted as he was once again reminded of something else Nasha got from Lucy, her heart. He rubbed the top of her head, trying his best not to ruin the two pigtails that Lucy had managed to wrangle her unruly hair into that morning. “I think she’d love that. Once she comes out, you can give them to her.”
Nasha looked back down at the bundle of flowers, the gears in her brain turning. Just like her mother, it was easy for Natsu to tell when Nasha was thinking hard about something. She’d bite her lip and her brown eyes would glow with the ideas swirling around in her head, just like Lucy’s did. “If I went and got some more, do you think we could take them to grandma and grandpa’s graves?”
Despite the fact that Layla Heartfilia and Igneel never lived to meet their granddaughter, Natsu and Lucy kept them both alive through stories and memories. Lucy told Nasha that her grandma lived on in the stars, and that whenever she looked up in the sky and saw the stars twinkling above, it meant she was looking down on her. For Igneel, Natsu told her that he kept his grandfather’s memory alive by living for him, and going on all kinds of adventures that Igneel never got to see.
And even though Nasha had never met either of them, Natsu was happy that she loved them all the same. She loved visiting her grandparents at the gravesites created in both of their honors, telling them all about everything going on in her life. They didn’t need to talk to Igneel or Layla to know that they’d both adore their little granddaughter.
Natsu smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to Nasha’s forehead. “Yeah, we can go after lunch.” He stood back up, putting his hands on his hips as he nodded over at Happy. “Why don’t you go play with Happy in the meantime?”
Nasha giggled and nodded, handing the flowers over to her father before darting back into the yard with a squeal of Happy’s name.
As Nasha retreated, the door to the house opened and Lucy stepped out. She padded over to her husband, her gaze on their daughter the minute she was in eyesight. It was something that had been established when Nasha was born, Lucy had a radar for knowing where her daughter was at any given moment.
“Hey.” Natsu greeted, holding his arm out so Lucy could come to his side. She obliged, seeking his heat as she stepped out into the autumn chill. With two fire Dragon Slayers, she was still the odd one out when it came to being cold. “Feeling any better?”
Lucy turned her head, smiling against Natsu’s collarbone as she said, “Yeah, I got it figured out.” She’d been hit with a bad stomach bug for the past week, and for someone who didn’t get sick often, it only made it harder on her when she did.She leaned onto her tiptoes, pressing a kiss against Natsu’s lips and then turning her head so she was right next to his ear, her breath sending a shiver down his spine. “Our family is gonna be getting bigger soon.”
Natsu whipped his head in Lucy’s direction, his breath hitching. “Really?” He clarified, beaming when Lucy nodded her head in confirmation. “Yeah. An even more solid positive than I got with Nasha.”
He swept Lucy into his arms, kissing her hard, though it was more teeth and smiles than lips. He relished in Lucy’s delighted giggle as he picked his wife up and spun her around, pressing his forehead against hers when he dropped her back down. “Nasha will be thrilled, she’s been talking about wanting a little sibling.”
As if on cue, the aforementioned girl must’ve spotted her mom as she ran up to her and jumped into her arms, and Natsu barely managed to get out of the way before Nasha was barreling into Lucy’s arms. Naturally, Lucy caught her with ease and scooped her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek in greeting. “Hi, baby.” She cooed. “Are you and papa having fun out here?”
“Yeah! Look, mama, I picked these for you since you were feeling bad!” Nasha took the flowers out of her pocket, and though some of them were crumpled and missing petals, Lucy took them in her free hand with an ecstatic gasp. “They’re beautiful, sweetheart. Thank you!” Natsu took in the sight of his girls together as Nasha asked if her mother was feeling better, and Lucy responded with a cheeky grin and a glance at her husband as she said, “Never been better.”
Happy flew into the group hug, settling on Lucy’s head, and Natsu was overcome with emotion as he took his little family into his arms, dropping a kiss on the heads of his wife, daughter, and Exceed.
As Nasha squirmed out of her mom’s arms, her toddler energy finding an outlet in chasing Happy again, Natsu wrapped his arm around Lucy’s waist and pulled her back to his side, content to watch as Nasha chased after Happy in the endless field of their backyard. Without looking up at him, Lucy settled her head against Natsu’s shoulder and broke the silence with a question. “So, what do you think? Are you ready to do this all over again?”
There was no hesitation in Natsu’s answer. “With you by my side? I’m ready for anything .”