Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima

The First Surprise

It had come as a definite surprise when she found out.

For a while she had thought all her years of drinking had finally caught up to her for one hell of hangover. It wasn't like she was in denial or anything- she really had honestly forgotten what it was like to have a hangover, so it took her a while to realize she had misdiagnosed herself.

And man, when she finally knew what was truly happening to her, she was absolutely incredulous, even going as far as visiting the town doctor so many times the doctor actually threatened to get a restraining order against her. But once she finally accepted the truth of her situation (after reading her fate for the twentieth time with the same result) she figured, what the hell, what was done was done, and all that was left was to have a little fun spreading the news.

She wasn't surprised, when she saw his reaction. Quite the contrary, she expected it. Hell, she even laughed upon seeing his dumbfounded expression. Daddy material he was definitely not, she had told him in between fits of laughter. This seemed to finally snap him out of his shocked state as he quickly joked in like, stating she was no better suited for parenthood than he. When he, still slightly stunned, asked if she was absolutely sure, she deadpanned and answered quite seriously that, yes, she was sure.

No one else knows what else was said between the two that day Cana told the Bacchus that she was pregnant. All she would say when asked was that things had been settled. He didn't love her. She didn't love him. They were good friends. It had simply been "a wild night," as Cana called it, laughing at her own joke before trailing off into silence as she remembered fondly that night, releasing enough pheromones to intoxicate all the males in the guild.

Indeed, Cana had asked nothing of the Quatro Cerberus man…except for one, not quite-so-simple condition.

If she couldn't drink alcohol for nine months, than by gods, neither would the man who knocked her up.

Bacchus took quite easily to the request, considering it more as a challenge to see which of the two raving alcoholics would cave in first. A hefty bet was of course made, though the unspoken truth was that they both knew this was a sure win for Cana (what with all the women in her guild that would surely be watching her every move like hawks). When later questioned by his companions, he simply remarked that it was the least he could do as a man.

Bacchus ended up paying Cana the 1,000,000 jewels they had bet seven months into her pregnancy.

Two months after that, Cana was lying in a hospital bed grinning victoriously as she heard the first cries of her healthy baby girl. And when she finally got to hold in her arms the beautiful little girl, with a little fuzz of black hair on her head and striking red eyes, Cana cried out loudly for her entire guild, who was impatiently waiting outside her hospital room, to hear, "Someone get me a beer to celebrate!"

(This of course, was immediately prohibited by her doctor, much to her disdain.)

And celebrate they did as soon as Cana was proclaimed well enough to leave the hospital. It was one full night of partying where beer and cheer was plentiful, and Cana drunk with abandon as if to make up for those hellish nine months of sobriety, holding a large glass of beer in one hand and cradling baby Cornelia in the other (who oddly enough was able to sleep through most of the party).

Yes, Cana had expected Bacchus's surprised reaction. She had expected her female guild mate's overexcited, overprotective reactions including Erza's flushed anxiety, Bixa's guidance, and Lucy's reprimanding whenever Cana had even thought about taking just a tiny sip of alcohol during her pregnancy. She had even anticipated Gildart's stupid, giddy reaction at the thought of being a grandfather and the equally stupid rampage that followed soon after upon hearing that the good-for-nothing man that had impregnated his precious daughter had no plans of taking responsibility. (Both reactions which resulted in the untimely loss of the entire west side of Magnolia town's buildings until he was finally calmed down by an aggravated Cana.)

What Cana hadn't expected – what no one had expected – was the man who unconsciously took the reins as the child's main father figure over the years.

But that is another story for another time.

Ah, sorry that was a terribly abrupt ending...

I never had the intention of making Cana have a child, because even though I really like Bacchus and Cana as a couple, I realized that I just can't see them being actually together as a married couple with children. And I kinda needed Cana's little spawn for future chapters.