Baby Steps
Chapter 2
Levy seemed to take the whole teaching the baby to walk thing way too far. She thought that it meant that the two of them had bonded (gag) and wanted them to spend even more alone time together because that would just get them to love one another even more!
Gah! The shrimp had to have some of the worst ideas ever. For one, Gajeel was not a babysitter. At all. And fine, he knew how to watch the baby and, if Levy wanted to go on a job, he could watch the baby, it didn't mean that he should watch her. He knew how to give CPR, but he sure hoped someone else around did too if someone was choking.
"Levy," he complained as she left one morning after feeding the baby breakfast. "Don't leave me! Hey! I'm talking to you. Shrimp-"
She just went right out the front door, giggling and all. As if there was something remotely funny about leaving him there. Right. Sure. Growling, he glanced back over at his daughter who was happily playing with Lily on the floor of the living room.
"I think we're stuck," Lily said, looking back at him. "Gajeel."
"Stupid woman," he growled, heading over to the couch. "I was going to train today."
"You may," he said. "I will stay here with-"
"No," he groaned. "Levy wants me to stay here with the baby. If she finds out that I left too, she'll be all mad at me and stuff. It's not worth it."
Then the baby had to start making those loud annoying noises she did when she was having fun. With a growl, Gajeel got up and headed out of the room. If Levy wanted him to stay home with the kid, fine, but that didn't mean that he had to be the one to deal with her.
And Lily was more than fine with watching the baby for awhile. He really did like it. Sometimes living with Levy and Gajeel could become a tad monotonous. In the past year, at least things had gotten switched up a little.
It was while he was busy playing with her though that he heard voices out on the porch and then a knock at it. No way Gajeel would bother opening it (as he put it, the shrimp had a key, the baby was always in the house, and the cat could find his own way in, so who the hell else did he care enough about to open the door? No one) so that left Pantherlily to get it.
"Happy," he greeted. "And Natsu. And-"
"No," they all heard before Lily could announce the arrival of the Salamander's son as well, who was riding up on his father's shoulders, the three year old smiling down at the cat. From further in the house though, Gajeel was already complaining. "No way. Turn right around. You are not coming in."
"Ah! Gajeel!" Natsu fist pumped. "I wanted to know if you wanted to-"
"How many times," he growled, "do I have to say it? We're not friends!"
"He wants to train," Happy said as he punched the air. "Fight. The two of you. Come on!"
"No," Gajeel growled. "I am not going anywhere with you two. I-"
"Gajeel is on babysitting duty," Lily told them. Natsu was still grinning.
"Me too," he said as his son giggled. "You can take the baby with us. Or I know! She can fight my boy here and-"
"Get out," the other slayer growled. "Before I toss ya out!"
"I'm not in your house."
"Then get off my porch. Now!"
"Uh, Natsu," Happy whispered as his wings appeared and he took to the air once more. "I think this was a bad idea. Come on. Let's go bother Laxus or-"
"No way! I got all the way here. Someone's gonna train with me!"
"No one invited you over!" Gajeel challenged. Lily though just sighed.
"I will go and train with you, Natsu," he offered. "Allow me to go get my sword. I was hoping to today anyhow."
"Me and you train together, huh?" He thought about it. "Alright. If you're sure you don't wanna fight some, Gajeel."
"I don't," he told him, tone still harsh. "And don't come crying to me when my cat slices ya in half."
"Well, I'd be dead then," Natsu told him, slightly confused. "So I don't see-"
"Stop arguin' with me!"
It wasn't until Lily had left that Gajeel realized he'd tricked him. Now he was the one stuck with the baby while Pantherlily go to go out and have fun (as much fun as one could have with the Salamander, anyhow). Gah!
"Well, I hope you're happy," he grumbled to Gaia as he went to sit down on the couch. She was, actually. Very happy. She thought that they were going to have guests, which she loved, but no such luck. It was just her and her father. "You just llost y our playmate. And I sure ain't replacin' him."
He got bored of watching her easily and, rather quickly, he decided that if she got to play with her toys, he deserved a chance to do something as well.
"Don't worry," he told the baby as he drug his amp into the living room, guitar with him. "I won't have it up too loud. Your precious hearing's safe, huh?"
Recently, Gajeel felt like he didn't get enough time to hone his craft. The baby was always sleeping or the shrimp had a headache or, as Lily put it, he just wasn't getting any better and should give up sooner rather than later. Bah! Naysayers. All of them. He was improving. He just knew that he was.
And the baby didn't seem to mind his music much. He was afraid that it would make her cry or something, which would mean he had to put an immediate end to it. The noises seemed to interest her though and, eventually, she pushed up and, all on her own, toddled over to where he was sitting on the couch, strumming away on his axe.
"You hear that, baby?" he asked her as she toppled over by the couch. She was okay, of course, and just sat back on her butt, staring up at him. "This is music. Don't listen to the others! I make the best music around. I play the blues, yeah? That's what they don't get. I'm hurtin' inside and they just make fun of it!"
The baby made a few noises back at him, still just watching the man. He nodded.
"You should see me decked out in my gear," he went on as he stopped strumming and stared at her. "I- Hey! Why are you cryin'?"
He'd never had that happen before. Most people cried when he was playing.
"Alright, alright," he groaned, picking then at the guitar. "Don't be such a, well, baby about it."
That got her quiet again. For a bit. Then she started making noises too.
"See?" He kept up his playing. The baby got it. "It ain't so bad, is it?"
Nope.
If teaching her to walk was fun, having someone that sympathized with him was even better. Clearly, if a baby could see the genius and artistry in his playing, then the others should see it too.
Eventually, of course, the baby got more interested in crawling back over to her toys, but she did frequently look back over at him, giggling and making noises along with him.
"If I'd known that you liked it so much," he mumbled to her at one point, "I wouldn't have been so averse to practicing when you were in the house."
As if he needed another reason to be certain that she was his daughter. The kid clearly had great taste. Clearly.
When Levy got home though, she was less than enthused by what she saw. Mainly because, by that point, the baby wasn't even paying him any mind (he'd been practicing for over an hour and long exhausted her interest) and all she could think about was how valuable the baby's hearing was and how he was potentially ruining it.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as she took to complaining, not soon after she entered. He didn't even fight her on it. After all, with her home, he could finally go down to the guildhall and get out of that dang house. The baby was the best fan he had, fine, but with her mother around, he didn't need to be. He could have far more fun up at the guild.
Still though, it wasn't lost on him how great it was to finally have someone like his music. Even if it was just a baby, whose likes included drooling, grabbing her feet, and making loud noises. It was still a supporter and that was all that mattered.
He didn't tell anyone about it, but he didn't forget about it either. In fact, since Levy had made it so obvious that she didn't like him playing his electric guitar around the baby, he found a compromise (and they all think he 's a horrible husband). He bought an acoustic.
It was a cheap thing that he bought out in the market that could hold a tune well enough. He didn't even mention that he'd bought it to Levy or the cat. Just did, shoved it in a closet in the house, and sorta forgot about it.
Until, once more, home from a job, Levy sprung on him that he was babysitting. Either that or she could take Gaia over to Lucy's for a play date with her son. Which wasn't happening.
She was a tricky one, his shrimp was.
Once again, the cat was out, up at the guild, no doubt having a good time, and Gajeel was stuck with the baby. Levy suggested that, since he liked teaching her to walk so much (gag), that he take a crack and helping her learn to talk. Levy was working on that a lot and, well, some help was appreciated. And she knew that he clearly enjoyed spending time with her. Clearly.
Ha. No. Gajeel was not a teacher. Not really. Didn't even enjoy it. And, when he found it to just be him and the baby in the house, he remembered that acoustic that he'd bought a few weeks back. Perfect.
"Here you go," he said, dropping her on the bed in the master bedroom before sitting up there with her. He'd already placed a few of her toys up there, to keep her preoccupied, and had his acoustic resting against the side of the bed, which he picked up quickly.
"Alright, baby," he told her as she immediately took to chewing on one of her soft toys that were up there. "You ready to be wowed? Huh?"
Not particularly. But when he started playing, well, she sure liked that. It almost made her forget that she really, really wanted Lily or her mother there to play with.
Almost.
But...Gajeel was alright. He was a lot less gruff recently. He really liked it too when she'd walk over to him and, if no one was around, would clap for her. It was kind of their thing.
Like the guitar stuff, apparently.
She liked the acoustic as much as the electric, it seemed, and if it really was better for her ears, so be it. He didn't want her hearing damaged over something so simply, after all.
He even came up with a song for her, he was that good of a guitarist. Not to sound like a boaster, but he was nearly certain that he was better than even Mirajane. The others just favored her because she was a woman. Obviously. And his daughter could see that.
It was a lot less fun though, playing on an acoustic, and he found that the strings weren't exactly to his liking. He was just used to electric ones, after all. Not that his daughter cared. She just made noises right along with him. Singing, almost. He thought that he'd find that annoying, but for some reason, he actually liked it. A lot. Even if it was just gibberish and nonsensical.
If Levy was around to see it, she'd say that they finally found something to bond over. And maybe they had. Maybe. It wasn't like it made much of a difference. If she just so happened to like his music, well, that made it great. But nothing for the shrimp to fawn over. So he definitely wasn't telling her about it.
Eventually though, he got tired of playing and just moved to lay out on the bed, the baby crawling up it so that she could lay at his side.
"What?" he grumbled. "Gaia?"
When he was younger, he used to love having red eyes. It made him look more ferocious. On his daughter though, they looked anything but.
Lifting one of his hands, he rested it atop her head, stroking the thick, course locks gently. She was so sensitive about her hair. Like when Levy tried to comb it out. She never seemed to like it much. He figured she never would.
"I'mma be going on a job soon," he told her, shockingly not feeling as foolish as he would have thought. "So you'll have to put up with others for awhile. And go without my music. Both of which suck. Trust me, I wouldn't trade places with you." Then, lifting his head slightly, he stared at her for a moment before adding, "But you got it pretty cushy, you know. And you're lucky. If I had myself as a father, I would be thankful every day. Because I'm awesome. Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. Get it?"
More head pats. At that point, she was more than used to them.
He had the baby down for her nap when Levy got back and hidden away his acoustic again. He hoped that the shrimp never found it. Or the cat either. He liked 'em both more than normal people, but man did they like to tease him. In Lily's case. Levy was much more of a gusher. She'd brag on him and fawn over him and talk about how much he was coming to love the baby and all these stupid things that he just didn't want to put up with.
Or worse; she'd tell the others, up at the guild.
Nope. He was fine, just as he was. And so was the baby. Why fix what wasn't broken?
"Lily sure is doing a lot without you recently," Levy remarked once. But he only glared at her until she giggled.
"It's your fault," he grumbled. "You're the one that's bogging down my day with this baby stuff."
"She's your daughter too."
"And when she gets interestin', I'll spend time with her, huh?"
Or just secretly keep playing guitar for her, since, apparently, she was the only one that understood him and got just how talented he truly was.
Yeah, he'd probably go with the last one.