Far From Comfort

39. The Calm Before the Storm

~Juvia's PoV~

I hissed to myself as a sharp pain flowed throughout my body. The baby kicked.

I squirmed on the couch to find a comfortable position, looking out the window at the pouring rain.

"You okay Juvia?" Gray quickly came into the room halfway through cooking to check up on me. Since I was already 9 months pregnant, he checked up on me about 7 times per hour to make sure I was okay.

I giggled at the sight of him in my old apron. "Yes I'm okay. The baby just kicked."

A lot had happened in the last three months. For starters, it was now official that Jellal and Erza started dating! Of course, it did take a bit of convincing to get her to spill it.

Lyon proposed to Meredy, and they're planning to get married this summer. Lucy and Natsu moved in together a month ago, and now live on the neighboring road.

As for us, we were patiently waiting for the baby to arrive. Gray had already baby proofed the entire house, and was ready to head to the hospital as soon as needed.

A loud sound interrupted my thoughts, as the heavy rain broke into storm and thunder followed closely behind the lightning.

It had been the first storm we had had in Magnolia in a while. I stared out into Magnolia and hoped it would end soon.

I winced once again, as a sharp pain flowed through my body. What's up with the baby today?

I stood up from the sofa, and headed to the kitchen. An immense pain struck me once again, and I held on to the living room table and firmly as I could.

And then, at probably the most inconvenient timing, my water broke.

I stared at the floor in horror. With this weather there is no possible way we could get to the hospital.

"Gray!" I quickly shouted desperately. I was terrified. With no way to get to the hospital, how am I going to have my baby?

He sprinted out of the kitchen and sharply turned the corner, and he saw me leaning against the table. "My water broke."

His eyes widened as he looked out the window, realizing what I so deeply feared. "Okay. It's okay. We can do this. Um. It's okay."

He paced around the room, trying to think of ways to get us to the hospital. Then, he realized there were none.

He helped me lay down on the couch and took a deep breath. His before panicked and stressed expression changed to a quite serious one.

And what followed, I could probably describe as the most painful hour of my life. We didn't have access to any sort of anesthesia, so giving birth was a slow and painful process.

I held on tightly to Gray's hand, probably hurting him.

After what felt like and eternity, my body finally relaxed and crying filled the room. Not just the baby's though.

I laid on the couch, exhausted and unable to move a muscle. I lazily looked up and saw Gray holding the baby, with tears flowing down both their eyes.

"It's a he." He said, playing with his little hands.

He handed the baby to me, and for the first time I looked at my newborn. Tears formed in my own eyes, as the rain outside kept pouring.

"What do you want to name him?" Gray asked, and in that moment the vision I had a year ago came back to me.

"What do you want to name her?" Her husband asked as he looked at his new born daughter.

Rue looked out the window to the pouring rain. "How about Juvia?"

The tears that were before pooling in my eyes flowed down my cheeks. I looked out at the raging storm outside and remembered how my mother named me after the rain.

"What about... Storm?"