Looking around the table she was sharing with her friends, Juvia couldn't help but to think how completely normal that moment was. Three couples having nice dinner together, talking, sharing stories and laughing about most of them; her boyfriend's arm on her chair rest, her hand on his knee and he laughed at the current story told by Natsu.

An awful voice inside her head promised her it was too good to be true, that it was just the calm before her storm and Juvia's heart started to beat faster, so many scenarios about what could possibly go wrong went by her mind but she took a deep breath and pushed them away the best she could. They were still there, but whenever something bad went through her mind, she told herself that even if something happened in the future, at least they were all happy now.

Noticing her change of mood, Gray, when he looked down her way, frowned and whispered, after leaning in. "Hey. Are you alright?" He whispered and Juvia was glad the other four people on the table didn't notice – if they did, none gave away. "You looked lost in thoughts."

"I was, in bad thoughts." She told him and Gray nodded in understanding. Even though she was much better between her sessions with Mira and was taking some antidepressants to help her, sometimes she still took a step back.

"Alright." He said. "Do you need to go home to have some time? I can get us out of here in two minutes."

Juvia smiled at her boyfriend. "No, this is actually pretty perfect, a moment Juvia wants to remember. The bad thoughts were about how too much perfect this is. It's too quiet, too amazing to last."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Gray sighed. "I think about that all the time. But someone" he put his own hand over hers, above his knee and squeezed it a bit, then he gave her a pointed look "taught me to appreciate the moments we do have instead of dwelling on 'what ifs'."

Juvia hummed in agreement and put her chin on his shoulder and smiled. "This someone must be very wise."

"She is." Gray smirked. "Just try to remember that. I do. Everyday."

"You do?"

He snorted. "Every day. Especially when we are home."

Juvia laughed. "We don't do anything special at home."

"I take offense on that. We do a lot of special things there." He said in a suggestive tone and she slapped his shoulder while he snickered.

"Oh, shush." Juvia laughed. "No, but really."

"I don't know, I just feel lucky." He shrugged. "Then I have a little panic attack thinking what I would do if I lost it all." Gray cleared his throat and his cheeks pinkened a bit with the confession and seeing her smile widen with his words. "Shut up."

"You look so adorable right now." She beamed at him and his cheeks got pinker when she kissed one.

They heard a throat being cleaned and they looked at the direction of the other two couples. Natsu and Lucy looked amused while Levy was hiding a smile behind her hand and Gajeel had a raised eyebrow. "Don't you two look cozy."

"We did. Thanks for interrupting." Juvia told him and rolled her eyes.

"Always my pleasure." Gajeel smirked. "Can you two stop being all lovey-dovey – it's disgusting to see, actually, so please stop – because Levy and I have something to ask of you." He looked at the other couple as well. "The four of you."

That time, Natsu and Lucy were surprised as well. "What is it?" Lucy asked, brows frowned in confusion.

Levy looked to her boyfriend and after a nod from him, she returned her gaze to the four people in front of them. "The babies are going to be born in roughly two months." She put a hand on her expanding stomach – she was so small she looked like she could burst at any moment. "And we are making a lot of decisions in our lives to prepare for them, to welcome them the best we can and provide them with the best future we can think of." The blunette took a small breath. "But bad things happen all the time and in our line of work, it doesn't matter if I'm tucked away with my computers: it's still risky."

Juvia saw Gajeel's hand that was atop of the table to turn into a fist, clearly upset with his girlfriend's words.

"We talk a lot about what would happen to them if..." She didn't need to finish the sentence for everyone to understand her meaning.

Lucy grabbed Levy's hand. "Nothing is going to happen."

"I know." Levy smiled, trying to reassure her friend.

"Just in case it does," Gajeel was the one speaking, then "we thought about it a lot and we decided that if something happens to us, the four of you would be the next best thing."

"What Gajeel means is that we would love for you to be the babies' godparents." Levy clarified and the two couples were surprised. "Each couple godparent a baby, I guess." She shrugged. "We are all friends, closest than some families, so I am sure you wouldn't separate them and would raise them right if anything happens."

"Not that we have any intention of dying any time soon." Gajeel clarified. "But you know... just in case."

Juvia blinked in surprise; she knew she'd be part of the babies' life since she snatched an aunt position to herself, but to be asked to be a godmother?

"I would love to be a godmother." She was certain her voice shook a little as she muttered the words. Oh, she was so happy.

"Me too." Glancing at Lucy, Juvia could see her eyes were watering and the blunette wasn't too far behind.

"Count me in." Natsu was grinning.

"Yeah." Gray nodded and Juvia looked up at him adoringly. "But with the condition you two really try not to die."

Gajeel snorted. "We are going to try our best."

"Good." Gray smiled then.

They stayed a moment in silence and then they heard Natsu say: "Dibs on the firstborn." Everyone else looked at him as if he was crazy. "What? They needed to assign a kid to each couple, I just made it easier."

"Natsu!" His girlfriend reprimanded him. "It should be their choice."

"Oh, so what are they gonna do? Match our personalities to the babies?" Natsu rolled his eyes. "Babies poop, sleep, cry and eat. Really, there's no criteria here to match us to the kids."

"I'm so sorry." Lucy said to Gajeel and Levy.

"What for?" Natsu was confused. "Do you understand that I can say they promised us their first child in a pact or something? Do you really want to miss this opportunity for life-long jokes?"

The blonde was clearly exasperated. "Why am I with you?"

"Now the real questions are being asked." Gray snorted but stopped when Juvia elbowed his ribs lightly.

"Because you love me." Natsu winked her way and even though Lucy rolled her eyes, her cheeks became pink. "Now, let's talk pact and firstborns."

"Idiot." Gray snorted. "You can't put on dibs on a baby!"

"Hey!" Natsu pointed a finger at his friend. "Just because you didn't get the idea of asking for the firstborn, don't get your panties in a twist!"

"Oh, shut up!" Gray told the pink haired man. "I don't want the firstborn and this is not a pact-"

"We are the parents, we decide whoever-" Gajeel meddled in.

The girls watched the discussion before sharing a look that clearly said 'men, right?' while amused, knowing it would take a while for their boyfriends to be over their bickering.

Even with all the ruckus, Juvia was so very happy to be there, with her friends and the man she loved. She was truly happy.

#

It had been a while since Juvia and Gray had taken a mission together – Mira had suggested they tried to get a bit more independent of one another even with missions – but when she gave them the green light, they chose a good one.

Their main objective was to retrieve two men, suspects of stealing a company secrets and selling to the black market. It was Gray's turn to be the leader but thankfully he was more than alright with listening to her ideas and input.

Good god, she wanted to jump him at the reunion room when he was in work-mode even when the walls were made of glass. Thankfully, she was a lady so she didn't. It crossed her mind, though, that afterhours the firm was very empty...

"Guns?" Gray asked while he turned off the car and looked at the house their targets were.

"Loaded." Juvia said, putting on her coat to hide her holsters.

"Ammo?"

"You know it's been a while we worked together but Juvia hasn't forget about being an agent." She chuckled.

Gray had the decency to look ashamed. "Sorry, it's been a while since we had a mission together."

Juvia leaned in his way and gave him a peck on the lips. "Oh, Juvia knows. Usually you like to see Juvia kicking ass. You get really handsy the moment we are alone."

He cleared his throat. "Well, you do look fantastic." Gray shrugged. "It's been a while since we worked together, so I know I'll get some very good material for later on today." Juvia giggled and gave him a last peck on his lips. "Now, let's focus. You know the drill, it should be an easy extraction."

"Can Juvia rough them up a little bit?

"Oh, please do. I spend many lonely nights on missions and the vision will get me through some of them." Juvia laughed out loud before opening the car's door.

#

John and Jack Kieran, brothers and thieves even though they were caught by surprised in their warehouse and were quick to notice the couple and retrieved their guns. Thankfully, their rounds ended soon and their only hope was to hand on hand combat.

Oh, it was their mistake.

Not wanting to actually shoot them, Juvia put her gun back on its holster quick and ducked when her opponent tried to punch her. Seeing that Gray had everything under control with his own fight, she tried to punch him but he also ducked.

Seeing that he was very skilled as well, she decided to use her size as advantage. She pivots and hit his nose and solar plexus a couple of times, but got surprised with his elbow on her jaw. Juvia stumbled a bit but didn't slow down, grabbing his head and bringing it down to her knee, hitting right on his face. He groaned and took a step back, clearly stunned.

Not to lose any time, she lowered herself and, with a sweep kick, made him fall on his stomach. Juvia grabbed the plastic handcuffs she had taken with her and joined his arms on his back. He tried to fight, but she pushed him down. "Don't move." She hissed, her jaw a bit sore from his elbow but not enough to be a great distraction. "Stay down. I have a gun right here with me if you want some better incentive."

With a groan of annoyance, he gave up and let Juvia cuff him. "Goddammit. Taken down by a girl."

"Woman." Juvia agreed, amused and looked to the direction of her boyfriend, who had his opponent on the ground as well, cuffing the other brother.

"Great." She heard from underneath her, not happy at all, making her smirk.

Juvia got up and left him on the floor, it really didn't look like he wanted to face reality just yet, and grabbed her phone to send a text to Cana informing her they had managed to capture both men and that they would go through their things next to see exactly to whom those information had been sold.

"Just texted Cana-san." Juvia said over her shoulder to her boyfriend without taking her eyes from her phone, reading her secretary's answer that a police car was coming their way in two minutes. "She said the police is coming and she's going to contact the client."

"Juvia?" Gray called and she answered with a distracted 'hm?', still going through her messages before the police got there and they needed to get their statements. "Marry me."

"Sure." Juvia snorted, amused with his words. "Juvia knows you like it when she's being bad-ass but it'll have to wait until we get home. The police are coming and she would hate to get arrested for public indecency. We can be indecent later."

"Juvia, I mean it." He interrupted; she frowned, suddenly confused to what he was so keen on meaning it. She almost let her phone fall from her hand when she saw him holding something small and shiny between his fingers. It couldn't be but oh, it was. Her eyes widened when he stepped closer and she saw he was actually holding a gold ring with a beautiful blue round diamond that looked like the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen. "Marry me."

"What?" She whispered, looking up from the ring to her boyfriend.

"I've been walking around with this ring for a week, trying to figure out the best time to ask." He was clearly uncomfortable to have had confessed how long he had the ring with him, not that it matters to Juvia, because she still thought she was having a dream. "I actually had a reservation at a restaurant in a few days to ask, but... Well, I couldn't wait anymore."

"What?"

"I know this isn't the best place or time to ask." He waved a hand around the warehouse and the two cuffed men – paying very much attention to the couple, actually. "It's not romantic, it's not classy or whatever and I'm sorry, but seeing you today... Shit, you looked so perfect that I just needed to ask you. I knew I had to."

"You... want to..." The blunette seemed to have found a bit of her voice. Strangely enough her mind was surprisingly still, with the occasional 'what is happening' floating around. "Marry? Me?"

His lips curled up just a bit on the sides. "There was never going to be anyone else. Not in a million years." Oh, she was going to cry. "It has always been you and if you agree, it will always be you."

"You want to marry me." She was trying to wrap her mind around it.

Gray rolled his eyes in affection. "Well, yes. That's why I have the ring and we are talking about it." He stepped close to her and put an arm around her waist to bring her close and only then Juvia took a better look at the ring he was offering and, just like she thought earlier, it was gorgeous. "I really need an answer, you know."

"But... it's me." She whispered, hardly believing in that moment. "I'm just me and you want to... This is forever."

"I know it is and because it's you that I have no doubt to ask you." Gray said in a low tone. "Most important person, remember? Just trying to make it official." She smiled with the memory of when he told her that for the first time and a warmth spread through her, her eyes watered, reality finally catching up: that was really happening. "I think you are finally getting what is going on here, so I'll ask you properly now."

His cheeks were pink, they were in a dirty warehouse in one of the worse neighborhoods in town, two criminals cuffed just a few feet away from them, Juvia could feel her jaw ache from the hit earlier, the weight of her guns on its holsters, she could hear the sirens of the police cars coming their way and yet nothing else mattered when she saw Gray, stoic Gray who hated public displays of affection and society's conventions, go down to his knee on that very dirty warehouse ground, offered the beautiful ring and, as open as she ever saw him be, said those precious words she only ever dreamt of hearing.

"Juvia Lockser, will you marry?"

"Yes." She heard herself sob and nod, because really, what else there was to say? "Oh god, yes."

Gray's smile could light up the whole town and she saw his shoulder release its tension, as if he was waiting for a negative answer. Silly man.

The next thing she knew, his arms were around her waist as he hoisted her up and kissed her while she smiled and cried at the same time. She started peppering his face with kisses and between them, whispering: "I love you. I love you. I love you so much."

Gray put her on the ground when they heard the police entering the warehouse. He grabbed her left hand and put the ring on her finger, to which Juvia sobbed harder – man, she must be a vision – and the moment the ring was safe on her finger, she pulled him for a kiss and she could feel Gray smiling into the kiss, just as much as she was, she guessed.

"I love you." He whispered, just to her and she started to cry all over again, kissing him.

"Aw! That was romantic."

"They just arrested us, Jack. Stop crying."

"Shut up, that was beautiful!"

#

To say it was a bit awkward when the police arrived and found the couple making out as if there was no tomorrow while there were two men handcuffed close to them, was an understatement, but Juvia was beaming with happiness and just couldn't contain herself, buzzing in excitement.

After a long talk with the police, thankfully Magnolia PD was used to FT and their methods, they were sent home and it was as if Juvia was surrounded in a cloud of happiness, as if she was drugged and euphoric. She looked to the ring on her left hand while Gray drove them back to the firm, and she still couldn't believe.

The ring was white gold and there was a rather large blue round diamond. It was a simple ring and its simplicity made it even more beautiful.

"It was my mother's." Gray told her without taking his eyes away from the road, a hand on her thigh as he drove as he grew used to whenever he was behind the wheel.

"Your mother's?" Juvia was surprised.

Gray nodded. "I remember her favorite color was blue, that's why my dad chose that ring, or at least it was what she told me when I was little." He shrugged.

"Where...?"

"Remember when I got to the bank after my dad died?" He glanced her way and she nodded. "I told you he left me her jewelry, the ring was included. My dad even left a small note." Gray tried to pretend he was annoyed, but his voice was actually soft when he spoke. "It said: 'This was your mother's engagement ring and now it's yours for whenever you are ready.'" He snorted. "And there was a PS too, saying: 'It matches her eyes, doesn't it?' Guess who the 'her' was?"

"That's why you were so red when you came back from the bank's vault!" Juvia laughed, she just couldn't seem to stop giggling and laughing, too happy to bottle up. "And you hid a box inside your pocket but Juvia never wanted to ask to give you privacy. Was it...?"

"The ring?" The tip of Gray's ears were red. "Yeah. My dad knew I was going to ask you even before I did, the old man, and he only met you one time before that."

"Perhaps he was just hopeful." Juvia put a hand over his on her thigh and squeezed it. "Juvia is glad he was right."

Gray snorted. "Like I told you, Juvia. It could only be you." He shrugged, tried to be nonchalant about it and she smiled even more.

"It could only be you too, Gray-sama." Her eyes got moist again – she was going to be in that state for a little while, alternating between smiling like a crazy woman and crying in joy. She suspected she'd do both at the same time a lot in the near future. She looked down to her finger once again, marveling her new ring. "We are engaged."

"We are."

"We are getting married." The words made her heart skip a beat.

"Yeap." He popped the p.

"Juvia never thought she was going to be this girl, you know? To be so excited to get married, or to have the opportunity of getting married at all." She told him. "And now all she can think of is marrying you. You made me the happiest woman alive today." She told him, every word as honest as they could be.

He chuckled. "Well, it was time I reciprocate you making me happy." Reading between the lines about how happy she made him, Juvia started to cry in happiness. Glancing his way, Gray panicked. "Shit, stop Juvia! Don't cry! You know I hate when I make you cry."

"I-" She sobbed. "I'm so happy."

"Then laugh!" He was exasperated. "Goddammit, I knew I should've done this at home so you could let your emotions go wild." Gray stopped the car and took off his seatbelt and did the same with hers. "Come here." He sighed and Juvia was eagerly on his lap a moment later, curling around him. "Better?" He asked after a moment when she was comfortable.

"Yes." Her face was hidden on his neck. "Juvia is afraid she is dreaming."

Gray snorted. "If you were dreaming, that propose would've been much more romantic, I bet."

Juvia shook her head and put a hand on his cheek. "No. That was perfect. It was amazing, it was you and me. It was us." She smiled. "And now you are stuck with me, Mr. Fullbuster."

"Oh, the horror." He smiled and kissed her, sweetly on the lips. "As long as you are stuck with me as well, I guess I can cope." Juvia giggled and joined their lips again.

She really didn't think she could get any happier than that.

#

Cana raised an eyebrow when she saw the couple step outside the elevator and she got up from her chair, curious.

"So, did you do it on your way here? You two are especially sparkly today." She crossed her arms under her breasts. "You usually get this way when you get laid after a mission, before you get here for the debriefing. Or just get the hots for each other during the day." The brunette took in Juvia and Gray's appearances. "But your hair is not messy and Gray's shirt is not that much creased, so, not sex."

"Cana-san!" Juvia blushed – she thought they were being very discreet when having a midday encounter. Out of instinct, her hand went to her hair to comb it even though they did not have sex.

"Wait..." Cana squinted her eyes. "You didn't have that on your finger earlier." Juvia blinked and looked down to her beautiful blue diamond ring and then to Gray, whose cheeks became pinker. Cana saw the interaction and, as smart as she was, she was quick to do the math. "Oh, my god. Is this...? No, don't tell me yet! I need more people to share this moment with. Lucy! Lucy, come over here right now! Oh my god, this is happening. This is not a drill!" Cana was buzzing in excitement. A moment later, Lucy and Natsu, who went along since he was speaking with his girlfriend at the time of the summon. "Look at Juvia's left hand."

The blonde frowned and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. My. God."

"What, what is it?" Natsu asked, clueless.

"Did you...?" Lucy asked. "Are you...?"

With a final look at her fiancée (her fiancée!) and a slight nod from him, Juvia grinned. It wasn't as if they would or want for it to be a secret. Juvia twined her right hand with Gray's and nodded. "We got engaged."

The shriek that came from her girlfriends were almost deafening. They pulled Juvia away from Gray and gave her a group hug. "Oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

"I can't believe this!"

"Let us see the ring better- oh, that's so beautiful."

"Look at how blue it is! And the cut is amazing!"

"Congratulations!"

Juvia couldn't stop smiling, no matter how much she tried and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw that Natsu had stepped closer to Gray and was giving his friend a hug, patting him on the back and both were laughing.

"What's this ruckus all about?" Gajeel stepped out of his office, confused with how much noise the girls were making.

"Gray and Juvia are getting married!" Lucy announced, almost shrieking happily and grabbing Juvia's left hand so he could see the ring.

"Oh, he finally got the nerve to ask, huh?" Gajeel barked a laugh and patted Gray on the back and the smaller man rolled his eyes. "So, where was it? The restaurant?"

"You knew?" Juvia was surprised.

"Yeap." Gajeel grinned. "He didn't know how to make it special or whatever, so since I'm your oldest friends and the girls" he waved at the general direction of Lucy and Cana "wouldn't keep their mouths shut, he came to me."

"Shame me even more, won't ya?" Gray muttered.

"Oh, absolutely, let me try. He went to my place and started to go all: 'this needs to be good, Gajeel!'" He tried to mimic Gray's voice. "'It's the least I can-'"

"Alright!" Gray interrupted his friend, clearly embarrassed. "That's enough. Just shut up and go talk to Juvia."

With a snort, Gajeel stepped closer to his best friend. "Congratulations. Are you happy?"

"Thank you." Juvia grinned and she hugged him. "Yes, very happy."

"Well, then, good." He patted her on the back. "It was about time. Now let me go threaten Gray if he hurts you he has to deal with me, it's the best part of all this." Juvia raised an eyebrow. "The best part for me, you get your wedding and all that crap, I get my threats. Let me have this."

#

"Say it again." Juvia whispered, breathless while moving on top of him, his hands on her hips. Gray's mouth was on her nipple and Juvia felt her body on fire with every thrust. They were seated on the bed, her legs over his thighs and she was chasing her release. "Please, say it."

Gray left her breast and kissed her lips, a hand went to her hair and pulled it when his fingers twined around her locks, breaking the kiss, he assaulted her neck.

"I love you." He told her and Juvia's eyes watered in happiness, heart swelling with so much love she thought she was going to explode. She clawed herself on his back, moving her hips faster and she moaned louder when he slipped a hand between their bodies and rubbed her clit. "I love you."

"Oh, god." Juvia sobbed, feeling her orgasm approaching more than ever. "Oh, oh."

"Juvia." He pleaded and she looked at his eyes, so sincere, full of love and worship she got dizzy. "I. Love. You." And with those words, he pinched her clit and Juvia flew over the edge, contracting around him and let out small wail, feeling as the waves of her pleasure crashed on her and she sought his lips in a desperate kiss. He was still moving her and she realized he hadn't come yet.

"Gray-sama." She whined, but Gray's lips on hers made her quiet. He pulled out off of her and she whined in protest, still hungry for him and wasn't at all surprised when he turned her around and arranged her on all fours in front of him. Her whole body was still shaking, but she gathered her strength to support herself.

She felt him nudge her entrance and in one quick thrust, he was inside her again and Juvia braced herself. Gray liked that position whenever he wanted to make sure his point was cross, that she knew he meant business and Juvia was rather fond of it herself.

"Oh, Gray-sama." The blunette moaned when Gray hit a very nice spot inside her and she felt his body cover hers, his lips trailing a path from Juvia's shoulder to the side of her neck. One of his hands on her hip and the other down to grab one of Juvia's breasts, thrusting a bit too roughly inside her. She was still in a high because of her last orgasm so soon she was easy to feel the fire in her veins again.

"You are the most amazing woman I know." He whispered in her ear, biting her lobe lightly and Juvia moaned, pushing back with each thrust. "And mine." She whimpered when he pinched her nipple. "All mine."

"Yes." She agreed and felt him release her breast just to put his hand over her left one, touching the ring and then twining their fingers together.

"Fuck, this looks good on you." He panted. "Should've done this ages ago."

"Glad you finally did." Juvia chuckle turned into a moan when he bit her neck. "Oh."

"Shit." His hips started to snap on hers faster, indicating he was closest to his own release. "God, you always feel amazing, like that first time." He panted. "Always perfect for me."

Juvia hummed in agreement, her right hand between her legs, rubbing herself so she could get off the edge with him one more time. "Just for you."

"Yes." He grunted. "Just for me."

"Harder, Gray-sama." Juvia begged, her upper body falling on the mattress, arms too tired to hold her up, but her fingers still worked herself closer and she gasped when he complied her request. "Oh, oh. Like that."

"I fucking-" Gray tried. "Shit, I- Juvia..." He pleaded.

"Let go." She managed to say and a moment later she felt his teeth sunk into her shoulder and with a final thrust, he emptied himself inside her with a loud moan. It sent her over once again, not as intense as the first time, but left her in an amazing high.

Knees giving in, she felt Gray's weight on top of her for a few moments before, with a burst of energy, he exited her and lied by her side with a soft 'humph'. Juvia looked his way and saw he was breathing heavily, much like her.

"Okay in there?" She asked, amused, still a bit breathless herself.

"Engaged sex is the best kind of sex." He told her and Juvia giggled.

It had been a week since his proposal and they, just like when they resumed their sexual relationship after his return, were with a very high drive of hormones and every time they could, they were at it.

Not that Juvia was complaining. It was amazing, especially since it didn't take too much pleading for him to tell her he loved her and boy, was that one of her kinks. The blunette also didn't hear any complaints from her fiancée (she still squealed internally every time she called him that inside her mind) when he introduced her that way to an old client of his while he was on his way out. Two minutes later, Juvia had pushed him to his office, locked the door, undone his pants and had his mouth on him until he was pleading for her to come.

"If I knew this was going to be the kind of treatment I would have when I called you my fiancée, I would've started doing it the second I proposed." He told her while looking a wrecked mess as he sat on his chair, still dazed from her blowjob – she did use all her knowledge to drive him nuts – and later on when they arrived home, he also put in his mind to drive her crazy.

So far, engaged life had been the best.

Breathing much better, Juvia slid closer to Gray and rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist, both clearly satisfied, and the blunette smiled when with his other hand, Gray grabbed her left hand and played with her ring without even realize it – he started doing that and it melted her heart. Even though she was tired, she didn't want to fall sleep yet so she brought something up she was thinking for a while.

"Should Juvia change her name?" She asked. They had decided to get married on April thirteenth in just three months and they had some major decisions to make yet.

"Hm?" He was clearly distracted.

She propped her chin on his chest. "Since we are getting married, Juvia has the chance to change her surname to yours. Should she?"

Gray looked down to her. "It's your name, it's your decision."

Juvia smiled. "Come on, tell me what you prefer."

"Oh no, I'm not going to fall into that." He shook his head. "I'll be fine with whichever you choose, either keeping it Lockser or changing it to Fullbuster."

With a huff of annoyance, the blunette asked: "Should I hyphenate? Lockser-Fullbuster?"

"Doesn't sound bad." He shrugged and raised an eyebrow when she offered her hand as if to shake his. "What is that?"

"Juvia will introduce herself so we can decide what sounds better. You've heard my name a million times, so let's change it up." With a sigh and knowing his fiancée had a little of crazy in her, plus, he was too tired to argue, he grabbed her hand and she grinned. "Hello, my name is Juvia Fullbuster, nice to meet you." The words fell from her mouth so easily but even so her heart beat faster with it. "Oh, it does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

Gray cleared his throat. "Yeah."

"Oh my god, you liked it." She could see in his body language, the way his eyes darkened and how hungrily he looked at her when she introduced herself as Juvia Fullbuster. "You really did, Juvia can see you did."

"Maybe it's just because there's an attractive woman half-naked rubbing her body on my side." He pointed out.

"True" she conceded "but no, you liked it." She grinned. "Admit it." Juvia teased him. "Come on."

"Fine, I liked it." He rolled his eyes. "Call me a Neanderthal but it sounds good to me for you to have my last name. I don't want for you to change your name to please me, though. If you don't want to change it, it's fine too."

The blunette hummed in agreement and thought it over for a moment. "Juvia Fullbuster sounds good. She would like to be a Fullbuster, she thinks it would make her happy, but only in our personal life. Perhaps she'll add the Fullbuster and not lose the Lockser." Gray looked at her in question. "Juvia Lockser Fullbuster. When it's work related, she'll keep being Juvia Lockser; I do have a reputation that I built over the years and I would like to uphold and use said reputation."

"Your record is very impressive and people recognize it." He granted her the point and she felt proud of herself. "And when would you be Juvia Fullbuster?"

"Everywhere else." Juvia shrugged. "It's more practical that way, especially since we won't have to explain our relationship or to our kids' teacher it's not Mrs. Lockser, but Miss, for example. People will just connect the dots easier that way."

Gray was clearly amused. "Oh, so now we are already on the kids subject."

Juvia tried her best to look nonchalant about it. "The seven months are almost up, Juvia has an appointment in a few weeks."

"Yeah." He nodded. "We'll talk about this again soon."

"Alright." Juvia smiled and kissed his lips.

Gray broke the kiss and she lied down her head on his shoulder once again. "So, Juvia Lockser at the firm, Juvia Fullbuster everywhere else."

"Yes." She agreed, finally feeling sleepy. "Is this alright?"

"More than alright." He kissed her forehead. "Honestly, I just want you to marry me."

Juvia smiled, turning to her side and feeling her fiancée spoon her from behind. "Give me a few months and she'll do it."

"I'll hold you to that." Gray whispered.

#

The day the Redfox twins were born, it wasn't a surprise at all, it was a schedule C-section but it didn't prevent Gajeel to absolutely freak out.

Juvia and Gray, alongside with Natsu and Lucy arrived at the hospital early, just an hour after the soon-to-be-parents arrived and the moment she was through the door, Gajeel had grabbed Juvia's hand and pulled her out from the room (she didn't even have the chance to properly greet Levy) to the corridor.

"Gajeel-kun, what-?"

"Surgery, Juvia." Gajeel started to walk in circles. "They need to cut her up to take the kids out. Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Juvia blinked two times before answering. "The doctor told you this was the best option months ago. The babies are too big for Levy-san to have a natural birth."

"I know!" Gajeel almost yelled. "I thought I was ready, I- I thought that by now I'd be ready. But I'm not. In a few hours, I'll have two kids." He was very pale and Juvia was suddenly worried. "I'll have two kids."

"Alright." Juvia put a hand on his shoulder and guided him towards some chairs. Once he sat down, she sat by his side. "You are overwhelmed. When was the last night you slept through the night?"

Gajeel snorted. "Since I found out about Levy's pregnancy." Juvia raised an eyebrow. "I get worried. She got really uncomfortable towards the end, back aches, foot aches and a million of different ached but even so, she's so freaking... graceful, even when she's annoyed she can't see her feet or crying because there are no more cookies. She's a natural, Juvia. She's going to be amazing to them and I'll be the awkward parent."

"Gaj-"

"No, listen." He interrupted her. "I love them already, I love both of them so much and I never ever touched them, never saw them besides de sonograms. With women is different, because you feel the baby inside so it's faster, I guess. But with men is different, we are more physical, we want to see, to touch. I love them so much I can't sleep, I can't think of anything else other than how much I want them to be safe forever. And I don't even know them yet! That's why I don't sleep, I don't know how I'll do this, worry like this for the rest of my life. And there are two of them!"

"Oh, Gajeel-kun." Juvia couldn't help but to smile at her sweet friend. "You say you don't know them, but you do. Juvia knows you talked to Levy-san's stomach throughout the pregnancy, Juvia knows you felt them kick, you heard their heartbeats during the appointments. That's why you love them so much. You know them, they are yours. All three of them." She squeezed his hand. "You won't be able to protect them forever, but you are not supposed to. You'll need to let them grow up to become their own people when the time is right."

"The world is a nasty place." He mumbled.

"No, it's not. It can be, but it's not a nasty place." Juvia told him. "You will teach your children to make the world better, to be better. Juvia is not a parent, but she knows you'll always be worried and that's normal. So, now that you vent a little of your frustration, I need you to remember it all the doctor said about the C-section and how safe it is nowadays."

Gajeel took a few deep breaths. "Very safe."

"That's right." Juvia nodded.

"I read that-"

"Some things can go wrong, but those are very rare and nothing will go wrong today." She spoke with certainty. "In a few hours, you'll have your kids in your arms and you'll panic about other things."

"That's reassuring." He mumbled.

Juvia laughed. "I know." She patted him on the back. "Are you feeling better? Shall we return to the room?"

"I think so." Gajeel took a deep breath. "I'm still not ready."

"You will be the moment you see your children." She got up from the chair and so did he.

"Look at us." He snorted. "I'm about to become a dad, you are getting married in a couple of months and I'm sure you plan on having your own kids soon..." She shrugged in a noncommittal way, but he knew her. "We've come a long way."

"A very long way, filled with bumps and setbacks." Juvia agreed. "But here we are, happy at last."

"And terrified." He added.

"And terrified." She granted. "But happy."

"Happy and terrified. Sounds like one of those novels you used to read." He snorted and Juvia laughed

"Come on, time to become happy, terrified and a daddy."

#

The moment Gajeel came out from the delivery room with a wide smile on his lips, Juvia's heart got filled with happiness for her friend. She had never seen him that happy, boarding euphoric before.

"It's a boy and a girl!" He told the people waiting, a small crowd, since some more of their friends came to wait and everyone cheered. The couple had decided to wait to know the genders when the children were born. "They are fine, and so is Levy!"

Juvia wrapped her arms around her best friend and, with watery eyes, told him: "I'm so happy for you."

"I know." He grinned, clearly buzzing in excitement. "Lots of happy, very terrified and definitely a dad now."

"That's the spirit." Juvia laughed and dried a random tear she couldn't hold back. They didn't talk much after their other friends came closer to congratulate them and Gajeel had to come back to his family. She felt Gray's arms around her, pulling her closer to him and she sighed in contentment.

She couldn't hold on the tears, though, when they were finally able to visit the room and Gajeel put one of the babies in her arms while Lucy got the other from the bedridden Levy – she looked tired, but happy.

"Well, these are Gale and Anna." Gajeel told Juvia, who looked lovingly at the little boy in her arms. Both babies were born with blue hair, lighter than Levy's, and thankfully were quietly asleep. "Since Natsu called dibs" Gajeel rolled his red eyes "and Anna was born first..."

"Yes!" Natsu cheered quietly while looking to his goddaughter and then to his girlfriend. "We did it! Pact baby!" He touched the chubby cheek, sweetly. "We are going to be quite a team, Anna."

"Oh, god." Lucy groaned. "I apologize in advance for whatever Natsu teaches her."

"This sweet little boy will be a gentleman." Juvia couldn't take off her eyes off of her godchild. He was so perfect, all chubby and pink and warm. "Juvia will make sure of it."

"With Gajeel as his dad? Good luck." Gray snorted, but touched the small hand lightly, as if testing if Gale was real. "He's so soft."

"And smells good." Juvia smelled the top of the baby's head and seeing the curious look on Gray's face, she decided to let him try to hold their godson. "Here, hold him."

"What? No!" Gray took a step back. "He's too small to- Juvia!" He hissed her name but she didn't let him run away, passing the baby to his arms, that rose in instinct to take the newborn. "I don't know how to-"

"Support the neck and head." She arranged the baby so Gale's head was supported by Gray's forearm and the baby snuggled close to him, quietly. "There you go." She smiled and Gray's eyes were wide.

"Oh." He finally breathed. "Oh, this isn't so bad." Gray moved a bit, swaying lightly when Gale yawned. "You are stronger than you look, aren't you, little man? That's good, buddy." He whispered to the baby and he looked up to Juvia with a huge smile on his face. "Look! I'm holding him."

"I can see that." Juvia couldn't help but to smile as well, her heart beating faster and images of him holding their own child running inside her head.

Seeing he was confident holding the baby and that Gajeel was hovering like the overprotective father she knew he was going to be, Juvia stepped closer to Levy's bed, where Lucy was as well, had done the same to her boyfriend, who was now holding Anna and walking slowly towards Gray and Gajeel, clearly proud of his goddaughter.

Gray rolled his eyes at something Natsu said, shook his head and looked down to Gale, his gaze soft and, being brave, held the baby closer to his chest and touched his small nose.

"Oh god." Juvia groaned.

"What?" Lucy and Levy looked her way, concerned.

"I think one of my eggs just dropped and my body is ready for insemination after watching Gray-sama holding a baby." She told her friends, who laughed. "Don't laugh."

"I'm sorry, but it is kind of funny." Levy tried to stop laughing while holding her stomach, close to where the incision from her C-section was.

"I felt this way watching Natsu." Lucy shook her head and sighed. "There's something about men holding babies... Especially a man you love."

"Yeah, I feel the same when Gajeel holds them. But now this fabric is closed, no more egg dropping. We've got one of each, it's more than we hoped for." Levy snorted. "But hey, it must be harder for Juvia, seeing the babies have blue hair and they could easily pass as theirs."

Juvia groaned again. "Well, two eggs were dropped now. Thank you, Levy-san. Another comment and Juvia will auto-inseminate."

"Maybe you'll have twins too when you and Gray have children!" Levy teased. "Or maybe you, Lu-chan!"

"Oh, no. We leave the multiple birth to you." Juvia said and Lucy nodded, laughing, and the women fell into a conversation, but every few moments Juvia would look at her fiancée's direction and wonder if he'd be that amazed by their own children.

No, he'd be more. Much more, and it made her smile.

#

Juvia kissed her fiancée's cheek after breakfast, he was still shirtless and eating half of his toast. "Juvia is going, don't forget we will have the twins here for a couple of hours so Gajeel-kun and Levy-san can have a little time off." The babies were four weeks old and even though they were having a lot of help from their friends, it was a lot on the young parents. "Juvia bets they will be glad to take a nap and a shower without worrying about the babies."

"Yeah, okay." Gray nodded and frowned when he saw her grab her purse. "It's 8 a.m., too soon to leave for work."

"Uh, Juvia has her appointment?" She told him and his face remained impassive. "It's time to change her IUD." Since they hadn't talk about going forward on the baby front, she figured he wanted a little time on their own after they were married to take the next step.

"I know. I... Uh, I have been thinking about that." He cleared his throat. "Don't put another IUD." He blurted out. "If you don't want to, I mean."

Juvia blinked in surprise. "What?"

"It's a simple procedure, I know, but unnecessary if in a couple of months we'll not need it anymore." His cheeks were clearly getting redder.

"We won't?" She asked in a whisper, leaving her keys and stepping closer to him. "Are you sure?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah. We are getting married in just four weeks, we'll use condoms again. When... we don't want to anymore, we let nature take its course."

"We haven't used condoms in years." She put a hand on his cheek, rubbing her thumb on his cheekbone.

"Before you, I could count in one hand how many times I've had sex without them." Gray snorted and put his hands on her hips, looking up her way from his spot on the chair. "So, whatever you decide; to remove it or to put it back, it's fine with me."

"Alright." She passed a hand through his hair. "I think... I think Juvia won't put another IUD. Not now. Being with the twins in a regular basis makes me want to have our own."

"Yeah, weirdly enough I get the feeling." He nodded. "Alright, I'll make sure to buy condoms, then. Today. Lots, just in case. When we are ready..."

"Nature takes its course." Juvia smiled and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Nature takes its course, yes." He agreed.

#

To be taken in a mission in such a short notice wasn't something that happened often, but even so it wasn't exactly weird, but Juvia frowned to her phone when she saw Gray's text saying he was needed alongside with Natsu, Erza, Wendy, Mest and even Lucy went along since she was already with them. It was about Master Makarov's long absence, top secret mission.

The text was quick, clearly written in a hurry so she wouldn't freak out, but did little to help her.

Juvia didn't like it at all, a bad feeling forming in her stomach.

They had been in a quiet strike for almost a year, Zeref's forces finally stopped the random attacks and he was nowhere to be found.

"So, how is the wedding planning coming along?" Lisanna asked from across Juvia's desk. They had met while riding the elevator up and the white-haired woman went to the blunette's office to have a little chat. "Is Gray helping at all?"

Juvia smiled. "He doesn't care about this in the slightest."

"You don't seem upset about it." Lisanna raised an eyebrow in question,

"Juvia isn't upset." She shrugged. "She knows who's she's marrying. All Gray-sama says is that I need to tell him when and where to show up and he'll be there. He wants to be married, he's leaving the wedding to me."

"At least he is not getting in the way." Lisanna chuckled.

"He said he wants me to have a good day and since we are only doing this once, Juvia is free to make the decisions."

"And the bridesmaid is helping a lot, I suppose." Lisanna smiled and Juvia chuckled. She had chosen Lucy to be her bridesmaid while Gray chose Natsu to be his best man and it was a nice fit: Lucy was very invested with helping planning the wedding meanwhile Natsu match Gray's vision to just show up when they were needed. The women, though, were having a blast while planning.

"She's crucial for this to turn out to be a good day." Juvia said. "The days we spent trying to find my wedding dress... boy, those days were very sentimental. If Juvia had been alone..."

"But you weren't." Lisanna reached for Juvia's hand over the table. "You have an army of girlfriends now to help you with everything, especially weddings. We love weddings."

"Funny that Juvia never thought she'd have one and here I am, worrying about venues, catering... even a dress! I didn't even know I wanted a white dress until I started dating Gray-sama." Juvia said. "Juvia never thought she'd be that girl."

"You told me once you never expected to be in a serious relationship. You also never expected to live with a boyfriend, to build something." Lisanna told her, gently. "Yet, here you are. Perhaps your mind wired itself since you were young to think you didn't want those things, so, if you never had them, you'd think you never really wanted. But now you have the opportunities and you are seeing things you do want."

"I do." Juvia nodded.

"Nothing wrong in wanting something you never thought you needed it. So what that at the age of fifteen you thought you didn't want a big wedding? Or no wedding at all? People change. You changed a lot since you started to work here three years ago, and so did Gray." Lisanna smiled. "I never thought I'd see Gray engaged and ready to get married in a few weeks. You managed the impossible."

"Hopefully the impossible will happen in three weeks." Juvia smiled.

"You must be very anxious."

"You have no idea. The time will fly now, I just know that."

"Hey, Juvia." She heard a male voice and looked up to see Gajeel and Cana standing there, arms crossed and looking her way. Right after, the remaining Strauss siblings got inside her office as well. "Lisanna." He nodded her way.

"Hey." The blunette smiled. "What is it?"

"Heard about this emergency mission?" Gajeel asked and Juvia frowned, but nodded, suddenly very interested. Gajeel smirked. "I found out what it is about. We're putting B-Team back together." He smirked and even Cana looked his way surprised.

"Ya mean from the Games?" The brunette frowned, confused.

"We'll go out to find Mr. Lightning-fer-brains." Gajeel told her and Cana looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on her.

"Wait! You know where Laxus is?" Her whatever-they-were had been undercover for a long time.

"Yeah, and not just him. From what I could find out, he's got his lackeys here too." Gajeel told them.

"The Raijin Tribe?" Elman asked, his voice thundering on the walls. Of course, Cana couldn't help it but to tease.

"We know you only wanna come along to see Ever." She smirked when the tall man became bright red.

"But I wonder..." Mirajane asked, sitting on Juvia's couch "if it is really necessary for us to split up."

"They called it an infiltration mission." Gajeel told them, serious. "That's precisely what is needed in this case. We are not facing a foe we can beat this time. We'd have a zero percent chance of winning otherwise." Cold ran down Juvia's spine after seeing the serious expression on Gajeel's face. "Even sneaking in is a long shot."

"The chance of success for this mission is so close to zero percent as to be negligible." Juvia turned her head towards the door, where Levy was stepping inside, a baby monitor in one hand and her laptop under her arm. "That's the whole reason why you'll be taking different routes, to improve the odds even the tiniest bit." She stopped in front of her boyfriend and shoved the baby monitor on his chest. "Honestly, Anna starts to cry and you bail?"

"She is very loud and she wakes Gale up! You know how sensitive my hearing is."

"You are on diaper duty for a week." She narrowed her eyes. "Jet and Droy are with them for now, but you are so on diaper duty and I hope they poop a lot." Juvia smiled at the interaction; seeing Gajeel fake sigh of resignation was always entertaining. "But just so you know..." Levy's attention returned to her friends. "The enemy this time is seriously dangerous. I don't want anybody thinking of going to battle with them."

"What is the mission exactly?" Juvia asked, confused. "Gray-sama texted me saying it was about Master, but nothing more and now you are all here talking about strong enemies, battles..."

The others seemed curious too, with the exception of Mirajane, Gajeel and Levy, who had been in the loop, whatever that loop was.

"Master wasn't in a secret mission." Mirajane finally offered and her sister looked surprised, being Makarov's secretary, she should've known but was clearly confused. "He is... a guest in Ishgar."

"A guest?" Juvia didn't like the sound of that at all.

"A hostage. Master is a hostage and we are bringing him back home."

Suddenly three weeks to her wedding didn't seem it would fly.