Egg
Things were much simpler when they were trying for Pike. Just put Nate to bed around six and then bam! The whole rest of the night belonged to them. Since that time however, things had gotten a bit more complex.
For one, Nathan wasn't that easy to just send to bed. And neither was Pike. It was a battle, practically, to get the two boys to go to sleep and stay asleep. Even when Mira and Laxus thought they won, there'd be the creak of a bedroom door opening and there was Pike, fearful of some sort of closet monster or, oh, there was Nate, walking into the kitchen where they were trying to have a romantic night, complaining about how he was thirsty and what was with the candles?
Huh?
Ugh.
They weren't the only detriment though. With the new house came new expenses. Which meant that Laxus was off on jobs far more often and Mirajane was pulling tough schedules up at the bar. When the two's schedule did mesh, usually there was nothing they wanted to do more than just, honestly, take a nap.
Add in Makarov who was living with them and seemed to constantly interrupt anything that they got going and, well, you were left with very little time for trying for anything, much less a baby. It was a pretty good sign to Laxus that, hey, maybe they had enough people filling up their little world as it was. If they couldn't even find the time to make the baby, then did they really need it?
Yes. Apparently, Mirajane very much so did. Nathan was coming up on ten and, finally, beginning his slow descent into not needing her (though he had this weird thing where he also didn't want anyone else to have her and mostly just wanted Mirajane staying at home, waiting for him to come home from playing all day, baking and cooking him all sorts of things the entire time) while Pike was finding some of his own independence.
Err, rather, the five year old was finding that the new house wasn't anything to be fearful about and, shockingly enough, was beginning to enjoy having a room all to himself. For the first few months of the new house, he either crawled into bed with his grandfather or begged Nate to let him sleep in the bottom bunk in his room.
The past couple of months though had been a big improvement for Pike. More often than not, he wanted to stay in his own room, with his own toys, and even, occasionally, could sleep at night without the door being opened and the hall light staying on.
He wasn't a baby anymore. Which was great, of course, big development in his life and all. Mirajane was more than impressed. She just wanted a new baby to fill that void…
Even though he wasn't totally sold on the idea, Laxus wasn't wholly against it either. They bought the house with the intention of having another kid, after all. They just...hadn't...gotten around to it.
It happened eventually, of course, as most things seem to work themselves out. They'd been trying for a baby for so long at that point that, honestly, Laxus sorta just took it for granted that it just wasn't happening. Or, well, not that it wasn't ever happening, but rather he just stopped caring whether it did or not.
Mirajane was so into it though, from the beginning, and even when the whole thing just got plain old, that he had to admit, when the time finally fell upon them, he was happy.
Really happy. Mira was so pumped about being pregnant that her giddiness sorta transferred right on over to him. She wanted to rush out and tell everyone, but Laxus had her hold up on that.
"But why?" she complained as they sat on the living room couch, him coming down off his high of finding out and slowly getting back to his usual gloominess. "Laxus?"
"Because," he told her with a slight frown. "It's still really early. I don't want to tell the boys about it until it's all a bit more real. Or anyone else for that matter. This is a me and you thing right now and I...I'm kinda into it. Aren't you?"
Slowly she nodded and giggled and, man, he was sure glad that the old man was down at the guild and the boys were off with one of their aunts or their uncle or something. Whatever. At least it gave him a chance to snuggle right up with his demon and, well, it was just so much more fun when they weren't both hoping for something out of it.
When it did come down to telling the boys, their reactions were vastly different.
"Why?" Nathan asked with a frown, apparently not realizing that Mirajane's smile and giggles meant that he should smile and giggle as well. "I already got a brother. What more do I need?"
"We didn't do it for you, you brat," Laxus told him. "We-"
"Now, Nate," Mira said as they stood before the two boys at the kitchen table. Pike, who had been happily enjoying that pudding they'd given them (he should have known something was up the second they did that; his older brother had), only stared at them in shock. "Having another brother or a baby sister would be a wonderful thing for you. I had two younger siblings growing up, you know."
"Yeah," he grumbled. "I know."
"Well-"
"The baby's in your tummy?" Pike was most concerned with that. "Mommy?"
Figuring that was a better route to go down than Nate's obvious annoyance over the whole thing (he was even pouting, it looked like), she nodded at Pike.
"Yes," she said. "That's where babies grow."
"Oh." Then he thought. And thought some more. "How-"
"Not today, Pike," was all Laxus grumbled in response. "I don't feel like it."
"Where's it gonna sleep?" Nathan asked, that being the most important question to him. "Because I like having my own room!"
"We don't have to worry about that for a long-"
"Where?" he cut off Mirajane. He was rare to be so serious about something with her, but the situation called for such brashness. "Huh?"
Glancing at her husband before back at the boy, she said simply, "The crib will probably be in me and your father's room at first-"
"What?" Laxus was hearing that for the first time and didn't enjoy the thought. At all. "Pike's crib didn't have to be in our room when-"
"The house was smaller," Mirajane said. And, though Nate was hardly paying attention, she added for good measure, "The same for when we had Nathan."
"You mean when you had Nathan," Laxus said just as quickly, frowning over at her. "Remember? I still lived at my apartment when we had Nathan. When we were just dating? Before we got married? Or lived together? Back when we had him?"
Was that the story? Mira couldn't remember. Made sense, just in case he saw any photos of him over at her old house (Elfman's current one), living there, when he first came to stay with the two of them.
At the moment, however, Nathan didn't give a dang about where he lived or what was done with him. He was far more concerned with his bedroom situation.
"What about after?" he asked with a frown, still having not touched his pudding.
"After?" Mira repeated to which the boy only nodded.
"When the baby doesn't need a crib anymore, where will he stay?" His tone was heavy. "In my room?"
"No, Nathan, of course not," she was quick to say.
"It depends, really," Laxus told them. "I mean, maybe with Pike, maybe Pike will stay with you-"
"What?" Nathan glared across the table at his brother who only grinned sheepishly. "That's not-"
"-or maybe Gramps will die and it can have that room."
"What?" both Pike and Nate cried out then, staring at their father fearfully.
"Laxus!" Mirajane literally hit him and, dang, that demon was tough. "Why would you say that?"
"Gramps is gonna die?" Pike's blue eyes turned watery. "I gotta go tell him!"
And, jumping up, he tried to go do that, but he had to make it passed his father first, which he didn't. Snatching him up, Laxus held him with one arm as the far too big for such a thing boy struggled.
"Daddy-"
"He's not dying." Then he frowned. "Today."
"Laxus Dreyar-"
"Real life," the man told his wife as he still held his writhing son, "is real life."
Nathan, who was old enough to know that people did, unfortunately, die, wanted to get right back to what was most important.
His room.
And besides, Gramps was fine; he was just nappin' in his room.
"Can't Pike and the baby just share a room?" the older boy asked. "For sure? I had to share a room when he came. Now Pike has to share his."
Ceasing his wiggles, Pike only stared up at his father. "I don't care. I'll like the baby. A lot."
Nathan snorted, but said nothing. He'd learn. Oh, he'd learn.
"Of course you will, sweetie," Mirajane said, smiling at him. "I'm sure that you'll like him a lot."
"Just leave my room alone," Nathan warned them all. "It's mine. You guys said so."
"Yeah, well, it's my house, you little snot," Laxus said as he gently dropped Pike back down on his feet. "So don't for a second think- Are you sticking your tongue out at- Just for that, the baby's definitely bunking with you."
"What?" Nathan growled, much like his father was getting ready to do. "No!"
"Yes." Then, with dark eyes, Laxus added, "And he'll get the top bunk."
"I hate you!"
"Just for that, it's going to be a sister!"
"You can't!"
More growling. From both of them. Mirajane only rolled her eyes before moving to pat Pike on his head.
"You're going to love being a big brother," she told him, even bending down so that she could stare him in the eyes. "You know, it's a lot different than being a little brother."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh," she said with a nod. "When you're the little brother, you have to do what your big brother says. Don't you?" When he nodded, she said, "Well, now you won't have to. When the baby gets here, you guys will play and it'll be whatever you decide. If Nate wants to play something and you don't want to, you can just go play with the new-"
"Mirajane," Laxus complained, giving up on his fight with his oldest (for the moment), to glance over at her. "Don't tell him that."
"Why not?"
"Because you did the same thing with Nathan and we ended up with a big hassle. He won't be able to play with the baby for a long time after its born and-"
"So?" She only grinned at Pike, the hand that was still resting on his head stroking gently then. "You're going to love the baby no matter what. Right, Pike?"
Nodding, he said, "A whole bunch."
Which was nice in theory. But, much the same as Nathan had been, reality is a harsh, harsh master. Pike, though rather kind and caring and gentle and sweet (Mira's words, not Laxus; no way either of his sons were any of those stupid girly words), was also very adverse to change. Extremely, in fact. Having his father and mother both working more left him in the very (read questionably) capable hands of, mostly, Bickslow and Lisanna.
A lot, actually. Mira started working open to close shifts there for a bit as Laxus started taking S-Class jobs, as they both tried to get as many jewels as possible before Mira started taking smaller shifts (and eventually time off) for the baby.
It wasn't all bad. To counteract this lost time, when Laxus was off, he tried hard not to fill it all training, snoozing, or schmoozing the demon, but rather hanging out with his boys. He took Pike to the museum (he was so weird) and even started helping Nate learn some magic (he was disappointed when it turned out not to have anything to do with lightning). Either that or the park. Both boys liked that. Nate could run around with their mangy old mutt that was still clinging to life and Pike could take Laxus around and show him all sorts of different bugs.
And Mirajane, of course, showered them both with attention when she was off. Even to her own detriment at times. She'd yawn her way through a song on her guitar or just eat toast for breakfast so she could take the boys on an early morning walk around the block with their doggy before she went to work.
The next big difference was in, well, Mirajane.
She got a bit meaner there for a bit. Other than when she was being overly indulgent and snuggling with him and promising him that she'd always love him. Pike was rather weary at these moments, all of them, as Nathan only soaked all of them up, even when she was in a bad mood, because any time with Mirajane was a great time.
No matter what.
Then came the snacks.
Oh, the snacks.
Pike never thought that he'd hate to find out Mirajane was baking cookies, but eventually, even he got tired of them.
It was around the fifth month of her pregnancy when she began taking more time off and, apparently, developed a sweet tooth.
When she'd been pregnant with Pike, she'd mostly craved salt and lots of it. She was also sorta kinda still figuring things out with Laxus back then. Sure, they were married and had Nate, but had only been together for a few years, really. At over half a decade of marriage, Mira was ready to pig out a bit.
That alone was a pretty big adjustment. Usually it was Laxus that was sneaking them ice cream and cookies in vain attempts to buy their love, usually behind Mirajane's back as she was quite the stickler for healthy living. Until she got knocked up, apparently.
So many cookies and cakes. And that's not even mentioning the ice cream. Fun for a bit, but eventually chocolate began to give Pike a headache.
Laxus and Makarov learned quick too not to make mention of it. Even a question of what it was Mira was putting in the oven might get them a tirade of tears and yelling about how she had hardly gained any weight and they had better back off.
As if they wanted any of that.
Of course, somewhere in there, started the buying of the baby's things. Bleh. It needed a new crib (they'd long given Pike's away) as well as some other essentials like clothing and blankies and it even got stuffed toys that he and Nate weren't allowed to play with until the baby arrived!
Hmph.
Overall though, Pike seemed to be taking the idea of a younger sibling better than Nate had. It, of course, was due in part to the age difference in which the change occurred as well as the fact that Pike had been waiting for his chance to be the big brother for a long time. His whole life in fact.
Finally, he would be the one dictating just what qualified as what counted as base during hide and seek and what didn't. He'd be the one that the new baby looked to for guidance when there was a monster hiding under the bed (though, honestly, he'd only take the new one to Nate so he could help them both out) as well as the one that would get to decide what they had for snack time if, you know, Nate wasn't there to decide for them. Oh, and man, Pike had been waiting forever to be able to have someone to play with when Nate and Mace, his cousin, decided that he was too much of a baby to hang out with.
He was so pumped for his very own baby brother that it almost threw him completely off when he was told he was getting a sister.
"This is your fault," Nate told him not soon after Mirajane excitedly explained this to them.
"How?" Pike whined as Nate only glared.
"I don't know," he hissed. "It just is."
Then he pushed him when Mommy was looking and arrg! Pike was so happy then to be getting a sister instead of another brother that he didn't even mind the idea of one day sharing a room with a girl.
Not. One. Bit.
Mirajane, however, was the most excited of course. Living in the house with four guys (five including the old mutt) was not conclusive to a very happy demon at times. She loved her boys though, of course, as well as her two guys, and her dog, but still; it would be nice to not be farted on and burped at for entertainment. She and Lisanna had, after all, ruled Elf all those years and, well, even if it wasn't a reclaim of the throne, it would be a nice start.
Laxus, however, was a tad overwhelmed. Boys? He could do boys. Other than the diaper stuff, which he still gagged through. But a girl? What was he supposed to do with that? Now he was going to have to figure out how to comb hair (if Mira didn't do it for the boys, he just let theirs go all tangled and greasy) and probably not yell as much and, damn, could you spank girls? He felt like he should be able to, but something told him he wouldn't be able to.
Not to mention it had been a bit since he'd had a baby to begin with. After that long of a break the demon was going to throw a girl at him? A girl?
Unacceptable.
Heh.
"Ugh," Ever said when she found out. "I would give anything to have a daughter. Uh, except for you, of course, Mace."
Her son, who she was dropping off at his cousins' house and come in on Mira's insistence, only glanced back at his mother with a frown. But then Nate was tackling him again (they were wrestling, in the house, because Mira was in a good mood, so why not use it to their advantage) and, well, he got over it.
"Mmmm," Mirajane hummed with a grin. "I would have been just as happy with another boy, of course, but-"
'You don't have to explain it to me." After all, Ever was just as outnumbered with Elfman and Mace. "At all."
Laxus was graced, however, with some time before the girl showed up. Unfortunately he ate up most of it on jobs and, what little rest didn't go to his sons, sitting around with Bickslow at his place and lamenting over having a third child while drinking.
"It's not that I don't want another baby," he'd say sometimes as Bickslow would just sit there on the couch with him, sipping a beer too, and, usually, contemplating what Lisanna was doing. Sometimes it would be cooking or working down at the bar or even out on a job. The only thing he didn't do was listen to the boss and his problems. He was the one that married Mirajane. Not him. Laxus knew babies went along with that. She only said it, oh, a thousand times. Not to mention, it was kinda the reason they got together in the beginning… "Because I do. And it's not that I don't want a daughter because that's cool or whatever. I'm not, like, a douche or something. I just don't know what to do with one. I mean, my main selling points with Pike and Nate is that I'm a guy too and when they get tired of their mother, I'm there to play in the mud and wrestle with. What am I supposed to do with a dainty little girl?"
"I dunno, boss," the seith would tell him a lot. "That's why you should just have souls for children. Then gender don't matter!"
"Or," Lisanna would complain, the few times she was around in the apartment too. "You could just try, gee, I dunno, loving her too."
"I didn't say," Laxus would growl, if he was drunk (and sometimes even if he wasn't), "that I didn't love her. I do. Already. I just don't know what to do with her. That's all."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out, boss," Bickslow was always sure to end it with. "How could you not?"
Heh.
His brother (by law; Laxus always made sure that was known) just told him that he should get the hell over it.
"This is Mira's baby, you know," he'd growl before throwing his arms up and flexing and damn, why did Laxus marry into the Strauss' tribe again? "Boy or girl, that baby will be all man!"
Ugh.
"Have you tried speaking with Mirajane on your concerns?" Freed asked once as he and Laxus hung around the hall.
"No," he mumbled, sinking down in his seat. The demon was back at home, with Pike, Nate, and the Master, doing some more prepping for the baby stuff. Baby proofing a house was a lot more tedious than that tiny apartment had been. Laxus' biggest concern was when the baby got to that walking phase and Mira put one of those locks on the toilet. Back when she'd done that with Pike, Nathan had frequently been unable to figure it out and just taken to peeing on the floor instead. It hadn't been fun. And, honestly, sometimes Laxus couldn't figure it out either and just peed in the shower. Sue him. "She's all hyped up on feelings and emotions and would, like, start bawling and saying that I don't love her or the baby or something stupid like that."
"Hmmm." Freed thought for a moment before saying, "Quite honestly, Laxus, I remember a time when you were just as scared to take care of a toddler that was just dropped off at the bar. And another when you were fearful about taking care of an infant, which you never had before. Now look at you. So, in short, I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Not scared," the slayer grumbled though, begrudgingly, he had to at least somewhat agree.
Mirajane, in contrast, spent the final months of the pregnancy in near bliss. Other than when she was having a complete and utter meltdown. Those moments sucked. Hard. But the rest? Just greatness.
"I couldn't imagine taking care of three kids," Lucy told her as they sat at her kitchen table one day. Nate had a cold and was snoozing in his room while Pike was running around the house with the dog. "At all."
"I dunno," Mira hummed as she smiled brightly at her friend. "You kinda take care of two right now."
"What?"
"You deal with Natsu and Happy constantly."
"They are nowhere near as bad as they used to be," Lucy insisted, even throwing up a hand. Mira only stared.
"Didn't they steal the rent money last month to buy-"
"They really needed that fishing pole," the other woman insisted. "It's really high tech."
"Didn't they break it after-"
"Please." That time Lucy waved the hand around while using the other to cover her eyes. "Let's talk about something else."
"I think it'll be great to have another baby, actually," Mira said with a grin, easily fading back into her own life. "You just don't understand. Really, you have to have one to get it."
"I'd rather not then."
When the occasion finally struck and the baby came, Laxus felt just as frantic as he had the first time (two when they mentioned it to Nate, but that was besides the point), though he did feel a bit better in that he didn't have to worry about his other kids as much. When they'd had Pike, Nate was still so young (and obsessed with Mira) that it was rather hard on him when she had the baby. With the new one, however, both boys were old enough to understand the process to a degree and what was to be expected of them.
In an attempt to be helpful, Lisanna offered to stay over at the house with the boys and their dog while Laxus and Mira were at the hospital, even spending the nights prior just in case Mira went into labor in the middle of the night.
"How does the baby get out of Mommy's stomach?" Pike asked Lisanna after his parents departed. "I asked Gramps, but he wasn't very helpful."
"Well-" Lisanna started, but Mace, who was, of course, over as well that day (Ever and Elf picked the worst times to go out on jobs), cut her off.
"She pees it out," he said to which Nate, who was rolling his toy cars around glanced up with a frown.
"No," he groaned loudly. "You dummies. She doesn't pee it out. It-"
"She pees it out," Lisanna said before going back to her magazine. This was good enough for Pike for some reason as he only went back to playing with his stuffed animals and Mace his marbles. And, with a huff, the very ten and very savvy (to an extremely rudimentary extent; he'd been curious about a few things that Laxus let him in on and, when that confused him even more, Mira clarified) Nathan got back to pushing his cars around some more.
Honestly, the biggest ordeal to Laxus was yet to come. It stemmed, mostly, in the fact that they had yet to pick out a name.
Or, rather, Mira had. Many times. Even before they found out if it was a boy or girl, she had a name decided. Then it changed. And changed. And then Laxus stepped in and mentioned the fact that she had named Pike. It had been a point of contention for a bit before he caved.
His turn for naming was then and he was taking it. Before he ended up with Flounder or Tide or something else idiotic for a daughter.
The only problem, however, was that the usually decisive man couldn't think of one. At all. Especially after he found out that he was having a daughter. Boys were, by far, much easier to name. What he decided to call his daughter would define her life.
Would he give her a delicate name and treat her like a princess? Or a boyish one and give her no special treatment at all? Just treat her like the boys?
Ugh. It made him sick to think about. And Mira's insistence that he just pick before she did it for him wasn't helping!
For a guy named Laxus, he held names to a rather higher standard for others.
In fact, it wasn't until she was there and his baby was making those horrible noises that babies do when they're first pulled from their mothers and he was just staring at her that he came to a decision.
"Ivory," he whispered when he was finally able to hold her and she was there in that pink blanket and, man, he felt old, because last time he was doing the same thing with Pike, he'd had so many different values and thoughts and family was still new to him. And who had been there with that woman? Nate's mother? Did no one hold him the way he did Ivory and Pike? That sucked. He was a horrible person, wasn't he? "Okay?"
And Mirajane only grinned at him, but she was still hopped up on drugs, probably, and nodded, which was good because he was going to call her that anyways. His baby, with her little bit of white hair, just right at the top of her head, but he was sure that would grow darker and be blonde, like his, because she was his more than she was Mira's, he could just tell.
This one was his.
When the boys were introduced to their sister a few days later back at the house (taking them to the hospital to look at her was too tedious for their babysitters, e.g. Lisanna and the still hanging around Bickslow), they, of course, had their own views on this.
First though they had to get passed the introduction.
The poor baby was upset when they arrived because the dog, who hadn't seen his master in two whole days (considering the few months he had left, that was a lot), barked at the sight of her coming through the door, regardless of the bundle in her arms.
And man, Pike didn't know that his baby sister would be so...noisy. He and Nate, who had been enjoying lunch in the kitchen, but rushed to greet their new sibling, both backed right off as Mira only rushed to the bedroom to go calm her down.
Laxus and the dog, however, had it out.
"Listen, you mutt," he growled as the dog only barked back at him (he hadn't missed the slayer a bit...maybe a tiny bit). "I oughta stick you outside right-"
"Lax, can you come in here?" he heard Mira calling over the crying. Lisanna, who had wanted to see the baby, was (un)shockingly scarce then as she and Bickslow slunked right back into that kitchen to hide. "Please?"
"We'll finish this later," he grumbled to the dog who, honestly, wouldn't remember it later.
Meh. Neither would Laxus.
Nate only gave Pike that look that usually meant he'd been right about something that the other boy hadn't been, but honestly, he had no idea what it was about.
Eventually, of course, the baby did calm down and, rather cautiously, the boys went to go peek in their parents' room and check it out. At the sight of them, Mira immediately beckoned them over and, far more concerned with the fact he'd missed her than any stinkin' baby, Nate rushed to go give her a hug as Pike only went to stand at the baby's crib and stare in.
"Ivy," he repeated softly when Laxus, who was standing there as well, told him her name.
"No, little buddy," the slayer whispered, gently patting him on his white hair that, back then, Laxus was just as sure would turn blond. "Ivory."
"Ivy."
"N-"
"That's a dumb name." Nate, after snuggling his mother a bit, came to peek in at her too. Staring for a moment, he said simply, "I'mma call her Egg."
Both Mirajane and Laxus blinked. Then she came over as well and frowned down at him.
"No," she said, gently bopping him in the head. "You won't."
Pike, however, just kept staring and watching and waiting for something, but nothing happened. Huh.
It got better though, as not an hour later, Nate was sitting up on the couch real tall and real tense, watching as his mother, very tenderly, moved to set the newborn in his arms for the first time.
"Gentle," she warned. "And watch her head."
Oh, he would. Staring down at her, Nate just sat there as Pike, who was in front of the couch, stared down at her too. It was his turn next, but he was still a bit scared by the idea and, honestly, was getting enough fulfillment from watching Nathan with her.
"Hi," the older boy whispered as his mother turned to speak with Lisanna about something. "Egg."
And Pike giggled, only a little, as not to wake the baby (anything to keep her from sobbing again), but enough that Nate heard it. Glancing up, the two brothers shared a grin as their father, who was hovering over them like the overly cautious dragon he was (why did he ever think otherwise), didn't correct them at all.
She'd be alright, he knew then. Sure, she still had all her aunts and uncles, the rest of Fairy Tail, and, most importantly, her Gramps to meet (her doggy felt he was rather high up there too), but Laxus just knew that she'd get through it just fine.
Resting a hand on Pike's head as he and his older brother just continued to watch their baby sister, their Egg, Laxus knew exactly why.
She was, after all, a Dreyar.
I thought of all the silly and stupid things that the boys could call their new sister (I actually went through a lot), but Egg just makes me laugh because then I think of Eggman and Dunk and Egg and it's just too much for me.