A/N: I was working on something bigger when, suddenly, I got those sneaky plot bunnies.

Beware: You are walking into a sea of fluff.

"Okay, I've got to say it," Jellal stated as he lay down on his and Erza's bed, his head propped up on his elbow. "This is all a bit…" He hesitated in finishing the sentence, not sure the word he was thinking was the appropriate one.

"Strange?" Erza provided, basically reading his mind without even looking at him. She lay on her side only a few inches away from him, her head resting on two pillows, one of which she'd shamelessly stolen from Jellal.

"Definitely strange," he agreed immediately. "Not the bad kind strange – the farthest from it. But still a bit strange."

"I know," she mumbled before looking him in the eyes, appearing a bit bewildered. "What on Earthland do we do with him now?"

Jellal sighed and took a glance at the 'him' in question: the tiny, helpless little creature sleeping peacefully between the two of them at the moment – a little creature who just happened to be their son.

That was kind of what made it all really weird: they were home and they had a son. And said son – who wasn't even two days old yet – just happened to be that wrinkly little thing sleeping between them rather than the big bump on Erza's belly that made her grumpy all day long for weeks because it made her back hurt, kept kicking her in all the wrong places and wouldn't let her (and, by extension, him) sleep properly at night.

"I have no idea," he admitted. All those books they'd read… where had all that information gone? "I guess we wait for him to wake up and go from there?"

She sighed, thinking that might be as good a way to start as any, and resumed watching the baby boy napping peacefully on the bed with a strand of her red hair firmly clasped in his tiny little hand. He'd been doing so practically since birth, wrapping his small fingers around her hair for the first time not five minutes after taking his first breath – it seemed he had inherited his father's fascination for it. Thankfully, he simply liked to hold it rather than pulling, which she hoped was a sign that he'd also inherited Jellal's natural gentleness. She couldn't think of a better trait for him to inherit… well, maybe his father's smile. She had hoped for the hair as well, but the fuzz on his head showed him to be a Scarlet through and through, so she told herself that maybe he'd get Jellal's eyes instead.

In his sleep, the baby stretched his little legs in a kick before bending them back into a position that he'd probably gotten familiar with in the womb and, carefully, Jellal readjusted the blanket that had been slightly disturbed by the kick.

Erza could only stare at his hands. They dwarfed the baby in a very noticeable way and not because Jellal had particularly large hands. "I still can't believe how tiny he is," she thought out loud.

Such a fact must've been stated a few dozen times already since she'd given birth because the boy was indeed small and not just compared to his grown-up father – to most newborns, more like. He'd come early. Not so early that it was a very worrisome problem but early enough that Porlyusica had warned them to be more careful in handling him than they would be with a regular newborn. That might have been helpful if they had ever handled a newborn before: not only had they gotten a new baby – fragile, breakable creature by nature – but also, it turned out that their baby was actually more fragile and breakable than most babies, even if just very, very slightly. Such a thought was terrifying.

That was why, more than once in the past few days, she had wished he was still safely cocooned in her bump: at least there was little risk he'd be dropped or that he'd catch a cold or choke on his food but never as badly as she did now… She took pride in her bravery but she wouldn't hesitate to admit to herself that she was terrified. Absolutely terrified. It had never felt so real how easily they could damage their precious baby than during the ten minutes that had passed since they'd brought him home, all by themselves.

"He'll get bigger," Jellal said confidently, smiling at her. "He certainly eats enough for that to happen." He might or might not be a little jealous about that… it would be a while before he recovered the full ownership of Erza's breasts. Oh, well, it was for a good cause…

His reassurance made her feel a little better but she was still scared, fearful of failing that little being that she held so dear… maybe even dearer than Jellal himself, which she never thought possible before. She didn't like being scared. She wasn't used to it anymore, like she had been all those years ago when she was a fearful little slave in a scary, cold tower. It made her feel weak.

"It shouldn't," Jellal spoke, alerting her to the fact that she had, again, said those last few sentences aloud. "I'm scared too. But this is good scared," he explained, looking her in the eyes. "It's that kind of scared that makes us determined to be the best we could possibly be for him. We'll probably make mistakes along the way but babies don't usually remember the first couple of years of their lives, right? Hopefully by then we'll have it all worked out and he won't grow up to hate us," he joked, managing to get a smile and somewhat relieve her hormone-induced stress. But the smile wasn't as much about his joke as it was about his general mood.

It was a treat looking at Jellal now. She hadn't seen him so happy since… honestly, she didn't think she'd ever seen him that happy ever, not during the most lighthearted moments they'd shared at the tower, not after joining Fairy Tail, not after they had become a couple. He looked… fulfilled. She couldn't spot the faintest hint of pain in him, something rare, considering that he wore his past misdeeds in his sleeve. Being a father certainly suited him.

"It's us," he added. "We'll be fine."

She might have replied if her attention hadn't been caught by the sound of a little sneeze that sent a shiver all the way up her spine. The reaction was always the same, although the baby did it a lot and Porlyusica had stated that it was a normal thing for newborns – that fearful part of her couldn't help being alarmed and deem it as a sign of illness before her rational self finally managed to process it and calm down.

When she faced the little baby lying down between her and Jellal again, she saw he was now awake, blinking in confusion, apparently having been awoken by his own sneeze. He wasn't happy about it and made sure his parents got the message through a wail full of indignation. Erza was quick to move into a cross-legged sitting position and reach to pick up her son, ever so carefully, as always, cradling against her chest as soon as he was in her arms.

"There, there," she whispered. "Did you scare yourself with your sneeze?"

She couldn't get over how light he felt. Her baby. Hers and Jellal's. He kept fussing a little for a few seconds before settling into a position that pleased him and his little hand reached up, as if in search of something, but came down again once he managed to grasp another fistful of her hair since the previous one seemed to have slipped when he'd sneezed. Immediately, the baby was blissfully content. She couldn't help smiling at him.

"You are easy to please, aren't you?" she asked softly as her son looked up at her with sleepy newborn blue eyes.

"It sure helps that he seems to adore his mommy," Erza heard Jellal saying. He had apparently sat up as well, occupying the spot opposite Erza as he gave his son a finger to grasp onto. The baby accepted it and, although his hand wasn't quite big enough to fully circle it, his grip was strong, making his father smile. "Can't really blame him for it. What's not to like?"

Erza blushed a little even though they had been together for a while. Compliments like that always tended to embarrass her a little and it didn't help that, when he wasn't busy blaming himself for things he hadn't been fully responsible for, Jellal tended to be… well, a bit of a charmer. In a sweet sort of way, not in a flirty one like, say, Loke and the Trimens were.

She felt herself shivering when her mind drifted from the Trimens to their leader – instinctively, she clutched her baby harder to her chest because the thought of that… perverted little troll near her child made her want to summon up a sword and slay him for good in fear that his behavior might be somehow contagious. He certainly seemed to have infected his team mates with it.

"Erza, are you okay?" Jellal asked in concern. "You're frowning really deeply."

"I was just thinking," she said through her teeth.

"Of what?"

"Things I'm going to kill if they get within fifty feet of our son," she declared.

Jellal raised an eyebrow for a moment before sighing in acceptance. "Well, I guess this just shows he will never lack in protection," he offered.

Erza made a look that showed something between anger and determination. "Let him try to bring his perfume anywhere near my child," she mumbled under her breath, holding onto the little boy like someone was actively trying to harm him. "I'll make sure he's never able to smell again."

Perfume? Was she speaking of that… that… Ichiya? Well, he hadn't been the sort of enemy Jellal had been picturing but he could think of less deserving victims. "Let's step away from this subject, shall we? I think someone in this room is a little too young to hear what sort of treatment you plan to give to people you see as a threat to him." Thankfully, by then the baby was happily napping again, so he probably wouldn't be getting any subconscious trauma from the negative vibes she'd been exuding for the past two minutes.

He wondered if her sudden rage was still fruit of her hormones – he'd been told they would take a few weeks to go completely back to normal and, well, one could say her pregnancy mood swings had been… infamous, to say the least.

At first, when the belly wasn't in the way, it had been mostly okay because she'd just channel her frustrations into (physically) giving her guild mates hell over their mistakes (never had Natsu Dragneel suffered so much for the damage he tended to cause during missions or Gray for his recurrent nudity than they had during Erza's pregnancy). But then, when she got too big and tired for that, things had gotten harder: she'd get frustrated to a point that small things could suddenly explode around her because her magic was so out of control; his immunity to her temper tantrums also appeared to get compromised and she'd yell at him furiously for random things like the decorative pillows on the couch being an inch too far to the left, then become horrified at her own behavior and then crumble into a crying mess in his arms; sometimes, she'd even get catty with Mirajane or try to compete over ridiculous matters and the barmaid, suffering from similar mood swings due to her own pregnancy, would respond in kind before the two of them eventually made up, usually also in a crying mess.

It was crazy and he hadn't even gotten to the eternal taboo subject of her pregnancy: the cravings. He doubted she would ever forgive her body for the betrayal… the things it had made her want to eat and the ones it had made her not. Suffice to say, her love for strawberry cake had been suffering for the past six months due to what she called 'the unforgivable fling with lemon bars that her own body had forced upon her'. It might not have stung so much if her normal self didn't have such a deep-seated hatred for the sour citrus fruit, the very nemesis of the beloved sweet things her palate started rejecting.

So, now that the baby was out, things could only get better, right? Because as much as he loved her, he was fairly certain that he had never been as stressed as he was when she was pregnant, even if he'd bent himself backwards for her not to see it because she probably had it much worse than him. Of course, he had no doubt whatsoever it was all worth it in the end when it gave them that little boy that was theirs… just theirs.

When he turned his attention to Erza, she was once again laying their son in the center of the mattress between the two of them and pulling the soft blue blanket over him before laying back down so she could watch the baby in wonder some more.

Ever the proud father, he did the same, watching it as once again, this time even in sleep, the baby's hand seemed to search around for something before getting a handful of his mother's hair. It brought a smile to his face. "He really is perfect, isn't he?"

Erza nodded. "He is. I guess it's not that bad that he came when he did," she admitted softly…

… and then, the conversation took nastier turn.

"After all, he did beat Mira's twins. While he's already out here, learning the ways of the world, her rugrats are still busy playing kickball with her kidneys. You simply can't deny the benefits of a head start. That's two days so far and Mavis knows how long those two will laze around. This round is mine!"

Jellal sighed. The pregnancy might be over but the competition was not. He wondered how long that would last.

He had a feeling 'forever' might be his answer.

A/N2: For those who are wondering, yes, I have withheld the baby's name on purpose. The name is part of... another fic I am working on for this little universe, so it didn't feel right to reveal it in this little sneak peak into the future just yet. Feel free to use your imagination at this point - I hope the lack of a name didn't ruin the flow for you.