This is a short fanfic about Gajeel's relationship with his child. I tried my best to find the appropriate words to describe his feelings. I don't want you to think that Gajeel is presented as a bad father and he wants to stay away from his kid. He is just so protective that it made him distant. I don't wanna say any more. Read to find out how he deals with the situation. Enjoy :)
Gajeel and Levy had been together for four years now, and living together for three of them. Everything was going smoothly in their relationship, until two years ago the unexpected happened. Levy was with a child. The news fell like bricks on their heads, since they never talked about moving on and starting a family. And that little buddle of joy, that was growing every day inside Levy's belly, gave them the push they needed. On her third month of pregnancy, Gajeel invited levy to one her favorite fancy restaurants, and, needless to say, they walked out of there engaged. They agreed to get married after the baby was born, so that it wouldn't be much pressure for Levy.
Gajeel was extremely happy about his forming family. But he was also insecure. What if he wasn't good at it? What if he wasn't the right father for the baby? What if he turned out to be a huge loser and levy would leave him? All those thoughts were keeping him awake at nights, until his fiancé threatened to 'kick his ass' if he ever thinks like this again. That woman always knew what to say.
A little more than a year passed and they still didn't get married. The baby was born strong and healthy, and they devoted all their time to their new born baby boy, completely neglecting their marriage. Before their son was born, they were desperate about tying the knot, but after, they agreed that they didn't need a silly paper to tell them they were together. They had it right there in their arms. They baby's godfather was chosen to be Lily. He wanted to pick a name that was tough and gentle at the same time, representing the characters of the parents, thus he chose then name Alphonse.
Gajeel tried to be as careful as he could with his son. He didn't want to hurt him accidentally, so he rarely stayed alone with him. Levy was saying that he would never hurt their child but Gajeel was still hesitant. He had trouble holding him correctly, or changing or feeding him without making a mess. And no kisses. Not when someone was watching at least. He was stealing a couple of kisses on the cheek or the forehead when he watched him sleep during the night. For some reason he felt kinda embarrassed to get soft and gentle in front of others. Alphonse though absolutely loved spending time with his father, even if Gajeel's stupid awareness made him distant.
One day, the whole family was sitting in the living room. Levy was reading a book, while Lily purred on her lap, and Gajeel at the other side of the couch, with the boy sitting on his lap, playing with his father's hands. Gajeel's eyes never left his son, until suddenly the boy raised his eyes and looked straight into his. Red met red. 'Why is he staring at me like that? He is so cute that I just want to hug him and kiss him all the time. But I don't want to hurt him.' Gajeel thought. Then Alphonse moved his tiny hands, pulling up his blue bangs so that his forehead was visible. Gajeel put his hand on the back of the baby's head.
"Why are you staring at me for so long?" He asked with a soft voice.
"Papa." He smiled. "Kiss." He said as he pointed at his forehead. The 's' sounded more like a 'th' because of the boy's lack of teeth.
"Levy, he wants you to kiss him on the forehead." Gajeel turned to Levy, even though he desperately wanted to be the one to give it to him.
"No mama! Papa!" The baby insisted.
Gajeel looked again in his eyes. The boy saw that Gajeel's stubbornness was keeping him from getting closer, so he decided to take things into his own hands. He was a smart kid after all.
"Is this what you want?" Gajeel asked.
The boy nodded, never removing his hands from his forehead.
"I guess it can be helped." Gajeel scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
The baby was watching closely with anticipation. 'I can do it. It is not a big deal. I just have to be gentle, not sudden movements.' Gajeel thought. He placed both his hands on the kid's back and starting leaning forward slowly. Levy woke Lily up to watch. Gajeel reached the baby's forehead and barely touched it with his lips, making an almost silent kissing sound and then pulled back. 'Is it enough? Does he want more? Why is he staring at me again? Did I do it wrong?' All those thoughts flooded Gajeel's brain, but they were quickly erased when the boy smiled and blushed. His eyes were sparkling, which made Gajeel's heart flatter in happiness. He had done it! And not in secret this time.
The boy moved his tiny arms and flexed them towards his father. Gajeel froze. He helped him stand on his knees on his lap after the boy placed his hands beside Gajeel's eyes and tried to stand. When Alphonse reached, he placed a kiss on Gajeel's forehead as well and then immediately wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him. Gajeel didn't move an inch. His eyes and mouth were wide open trying to comprehend what just happened. A tear started forming in each of his eyes as his muscles eased and his arms wrapped around his son. They snuggled for a couple of minutes. Gajeel was holding his son tightly, not being afraid if he hurt him anymore. 'How can some hugs and kisses hurt him? All this time I was such an idiot. From now on I'm going to repay him for all the love I hesitated to give him since he was born. I'm gonna be the best dad in the whole world. I promise.' Gajeel thought as he continued cuddling with the boy.
Levy and Lily looked at each other and smiled.
"At last this idiot realized that his hands can also be caring apart from destructive." Lily smiled.
"Our baby helped him with that." Levy's eyes filled with tears as she was touched by Gajeel's change of thinking. After Gajeel pulled away from the hug, he looked straight to Levy and smiled proudly. Not his usual smirk, it was a huge smile, rarely seen on Gajeel's face. Levy scooted close to the two, and Gajeel moved one of his arms and brought her into the hug. Then Alphonse pulled Lily in his arms, which he gladly accepted. Gajeel leaned forward and placed a kiss on Levy's lips. Then they kissed both sides of the boy's cheeks and he, in return, did the same to them. He even kissed Lily's head and he ended up getting some cat hair in his mouth. Gajeel immediately moved his hand to remove the hair from his son's mouth, a gesture that he couldn't even think he would do before. 'What if I brake one of his teeth with my rough hands?' Was what he thought back then. Now it was more like 'I must remove the hair before he swallows them.'
From that moment, Gajeel's attitude towards his son changed completely. He would race with Levy to wake him up, feed him, change him, play with him and put him to sleep. He wanted to spend every second of the day with the boy. He was waiting, not so patiently, for Alphonse to reach a certain age, so that he could teach him magic. Of course, he would show him some tricks behind his mother's back. He was always careful though. He never went too far.
His family was completed with a second son that joined two years later. They raised their boys with love, and taught them good manners. Gajeel loved his family with all his heart and protected it with all his might, because that was the kind of man he had become.
The end! I dedicate this fanfic to my friend, Finn, who said she liked more stories that happened after Gajeel and Levy got together. So here it is Finn *throws fanfic on Finn's face*. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed. If you did, go ahead and leave a review and a favorite. See ya!