After the success of the party, the family business soon became better than ever.  The reputation of the Fullbuster family and all who were related to it had been brought back into a more positive light. Each member of the household became well respected by nearly everyone in town. They were barely seen as pariahs now. Also thanks Cana's treatments, Gray stopped hunting for blood and the police investigation was slowly but surely dying down. He was ecstatic and could hardly wait for when he became completely human again. Cana couldn't say for sure if it would happen but he was so sure of it that he didn't hold back with his budding relationship with Juvia. Yes they did take things slow and that kiss at the party was the only affection they had shown each other but Gray just couldn't help surprising Juvia with sweet tokens of his adoration.

For example one day after she got back from taking Romeo to the library, she returned to her bedroom to find a bouquet of flowers in a vase that was perched by her nightstand. The bouquet was made up of Gardenias, Forget-me-nots, and Lavender. Not only were they beautiful flowers but they were her favorite flowers. The card told her that they were from Gray which made her smile and blush with joy.

"Those are pretty." Lucy said when she saw Juvia smelling the flowers as she was walking by the open door to her room. "Who sent them to you?"

"Gardenias, Forget-me-nots, and Lavender. How did he know they were my favorites?" She wondered. "I never told him."

"Lucky guess?"

"Perhaps if he had just given one of my favorite type of flower but all three? If he knows why they're my favorites then I'll really been astonished."

"Why are they your favorites?"

"It is because of what they mean. Gardenias mean eternal love, Forget-me-nots mean memories of love and that you'll never be forgotten, and Lavender means Thee Only I Do Love."

"So he's basically saying he'll love you forever, he'll never forget you, and you're the only woman he'll ever love?"

"Oh no." She giggled. "No that's not what he's saying. I...I don't think that is."

"Well if he is saying that, he's coming on a little strong don't you think? How long have you two known each other? Two months at best?"

"Yes but it doesn't feel like that."

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy when I tell you this."

"No I'm not."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay. The thing is even though we only met two months ago I feel like I've known him for years. As soon as I saw him that first night I had the strangest feeling that I already knew who he was. What kind of person he was, how he feels about something, how he views life. It was instant knowledge and when he first saw me I...I felt like...Like..."

"Like what?"

"Like he had been missing me. Like I had been someone very dear to him and then suddenly I was just gone. Out of his life for good and that he had spent years mourning me. Missing me. Praying for me to come back to him. That doesn't make sense does it?"

"No. Not really."

"I thought not but really, he probably doesn't love me. He probably just somehow figured out these were my favorites and that's why he gave them to me."

"He may not love you but he definitely likes you. Has he asked you on a date yet?"

"No. He seems hesitant to start a relationship with me. Hesitant yet at the same time excited. It's like he wants to do it but something is holding him back. Either way I won't pressure him into it."

"So you want to go out with him?"

Juvia blushed again before answering.

"Well yes. I do. He's nothing like the men I've seen in my lifetime. He's very smart and sure of himself and honest. He's kind and generous and considerate. When I'm with him I feel like and I've never seen a man so devoted to his family."

"He also happens to be loaded."

"Lucy!" She scoffed. "That has nothing to with how I feel about him."

"I know. I'm just joking. I know you're not that kind of girl." She chuckled. "You're lucky, I wish Dan would bring me flowers once in awhile."

"How are things going with him?"

"Things are fine." She said while pulling down the sleeves of her shirt to hide the bruise on her left arm. 

"Are you sure?" Juvia asked with concern. 

"Yes."

Juvia so desperately wanted to tell Erza or someone about Lucy's situation but she wasn't sure if it was her place to tell, she also feared losing Lucy's friendship or worse, Lucy's boyfriend might attack her. Problems like these were so complicated and unfortunately complicated problems were apart of life. In fact one came knocking right at the door of that house one week later.

Erza went to answer the door thinking it was a neighbor or a door to door sales person, oh how she couldn't stand door to door salespeople. But once she saw who was at the door she found that she much preferred the latter. Standing at the doorway was someone who Erza thought and had hoped to never see again. An attractive and stunning woman with slitted eyes, perfect make up, and hair perfectly in place. Her name was Minerva Orland. Ex wife to Erza's brother Macao and Romeo's mother.

"Minerva." She said surprised to see her here. "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think?" Minerva said with a smile. "I'm here to see my son."

"Really? That's a first." Erza snarked.

"Are you not going to invite me inside?"

"I don't know. Should I?"

"Of course. We are family are we not?"

"No. We ceased being family after you divorced my brother. Remember?"

"Oh yes. True but I'm still Romeo's mother which means I have a right to see him, don't I?"

Erza gripped the edge of the door in annoyance and reluctantly opened it wider to allow her inside.

"Thank you Erza." She said looking smug. She took a moment to admire the detail and design of the house. "I must say, when I read in the paper that you had moved into a manor house I couldn't really believe it but now that I'm here it would seem I have no choice to believe it. I can't imagine how you were able to afford this."

"Call it an inheritance. A gift from a family member."

"I see. So where is my son?"

"Romeo is not here at the moment. He's in town with his governess and our handyman picking up groceries. They won't be back for an hour which gives us plenty of time to talk."

"Oh I'd love to sit down and have another one of our legendary chats but I think my time would be spent more appropriately trying to find some lodgings for myself while I'm in town. I'll be back in the evening, you will tell him that I'm coming won't you?"

"I'll be sure to do that."

"Wonderful. I'm sure he'll be most excited to see me. Ta-ta Erza."

The red head gnashed her teeth together as she watched the woman stepped out of the house, closed the door, and left.

"Well you look like a rabid dog who's just waiting for the muzzle to come off." Gray said approaching her from the left.

"If I was a rabid dog with no muzzle I'd give her a real good bite." Erza sneered at the window showing Minerva getting in her car.

"If I may ask who is that woman?" Gray asked.

"That's Minerva. My ex sister in-law."

"You mean she's Romeo's mother?"

"Yes but mother is a term used rather loosely in her case." 

"Where has she been?"

"God only knows. She ran off when Romeo was five and before today no one ever saw or heard from her again. She didn't even come to my brother's funeral." She said with disdain. "I rue the day Macao ever laid eyes on her, the very instant he brought her home to meet us and I saw her I knew right away what she was."

"And what is that?"

"A vain, manipulative, and conniving shrew. She was always criticizing me and insulting me and doing everything she could to alienate Macao from me and our family."

"Why?"

"Because unlike most people in the world, I could see through her. She's a very good looking woman and she knows it and uses it to her advantage. Macao was so wrapped up in her pretty face and attractive body that he couldn't realize that those were her only good qualities. Lord knows how many times I begged him not to marry her. Me and our grandfather but apparently infatuation made him deaf."

"Did they have any love for each other?"

"Macao thought her loved her and tired to convince himself that he did. But Minerva didn't love him at all. Sure she acted sweet and affectionate toward him but behind his back I'd hear her say the cruelest insults about him. To this day I don't know why she married him."

"What about Romeo? Any love for him?"

"Hard to say. She seemed happy when she got pregnant and when he was born but then she started rambling about how now that she was a mother her looks were going to fade and she would get older. Then came the complaints about how she never wanted to be a house wife and how Macao was never there for her. Next thing we know she's gone one morning and a month later she mails Macao divorce papers."

"How terrible. Did they ever try to make up?"

"Macao did but for some reason he couldn't find her. Couldn't call her, mail her, nothing. He never saw her again and she never made any attempt to see Romeo."

"Does she want to see him now?"

"She does but I'm afraid of what will happen. I don't want Romeo to get attached to her only for her to just up and leave again."

"In that case maybe we should both talk to her more before even informing Romeo that she's here. Find out why she's suddenly come back after all this time."

"Agreed."