Author's Note: And so, we arrive at the pregnancy stage! Thanks for all of you who reviewed or favorited this. I know the first chapter was kind of slow, but the story will pick up as it goes along. :)
Pregnancy
Gajeel had to admit, it didn't really start to become real for him until he walked into the guild the day after he got back from the mission and was bombarded by congratulatory greetings and bundles of pastel-colored balloons.
"Levy..." he growled, resisting the temptation to beat down every intruder of his personal space. Distinctly, he felt his right eye twitch.
"I didn't tell them," Levy defended, throwing up her hands. "They figured it out, I swear."
"And how the hell did they figure it out?"
Levy glanced guiltily at the stack of books in her usual corner. They were all books about pregnancy and babies in general. Gajeel scowled.
"Aw, don't be so hard on her, Daddy-o," Natsu mocked, throwing an arm over Gajeel's shoulders. "She really did do her best to keep quiet about it. Lucy just tricked her into admitting it."
This time, Gajeel didn't bother to contain himself. Natsu flew across the room and landed squarely on Cana's table, breaking it in half. Gajeel didn't have to worry about the Salamander's counterattack; the Fire Dragonslayer was too busy fending off an angry Cana.
"C'mere," he told Levy under his breath, grasping her by the elbow and practically carrying her over to a secluded part of the guild. "That's exactly why I didn't wanna tell 'em yet!"
"Why? Are you embarrassed?" Levy hissed.
"No!" Gajeel defended. When Levy kept up her accusatory glare, he crossed his arms and mumbled, "Yeah, maybe a little."
"Well, you shouldn't be," Levy reprimanded. "This is your baby, and you should be proud! Macao got the same treatment when his ex-wife was pregnant with Romeo." She frowned, gazing up at him with her damnable brown eyes. "I am sorry I let them know too early, though."
Gajeel sighed in defeat. "Whatever, s'no big deal."
So even though Gajeel still threw someone across the room when they called him "Daddy-o," it wasn't out of embarrassment. Just irritation.
Levy's array of mystery, horror, and fantasy novels were quickly replaced with baby books, and she spent a good duration of her time reading up on how to take care of her offspring. She seemed completely prepared for it, but as Gajeel watched her stomach swell up like one of the ever-present pastel balloons, he felt a sense of panic setting in. It was a baby, for crying out loud! He knew absolutely nothing about babies; he didn't know how to hold one, or feed it, or how to change a diaper. He'd never had parents other than Metalicana, and even then he'd taken care of himself a good portion of the time.
As a result, he found himself asking Levy a lot of questions. She seemed to have become an expert overnight, and usually had an answer. When she didn't, they both asked Macao since he was the only parent in the guild that they knew of. Some of his answers were helpful. Others were less so. A few got him punched in the mouth.
One day, Natsu was watching Levy as she read and Gajeel as he fought Macao because of another naughty thing the pervy man had said. After a moment the Salamander declared, "Their kid is either going to be really awesome, or really messed up."
Lucy, who happened to be sitting nearby, opened her mouth to object, but in the end was inclined to agree. It was half Gajeel, after all.
Levy abandoned her apartment in Fairy Hills and moved in with Gajeel, reasoning that they would feel more like a family there and that the baby couldn't wake up any of her fellow female guild mates that way. Renovations ensued; a few left Gajeel quite disgruntled, but pregnant Levy could be scary when she wanted to be. He was convinced that Pantherlily also had a hand in a few of the decisions, seeing as though some of Levy's designs were remarkably similar to repairs the cat had wanted in the past.
When they were done, it was no longer Gajeel's home. But eventually he grew used to the curtains (at least they weren't the flowery ones Levy wanted; that was one of the few battles he fought until the very end) and sharing his shelves of metal trinkets with Levy's books (though he did persuade her to rid of a few, he also lost some of what Levy called "junk") and the throw-pillows on the couch (he actually didn't argue too much about those...they were surprisingly comfy, not that he would ever admit it).
The house was cleaner overall, but that was mainly because Levy let Pantherlily and his military precision do all the tidying. She was no cleaner than Gajeel, as her apartment in Fairy Hills had been ridden with dust. "The baby needs a better environment," she said. But Gajeel never saw her so much as pick up a sponge.
She had Pantherlily lock up his Buster Marm, an act that Gajeel had to agree with. Swords and babies, no matter how small, were a lethal blend.
It was nice having Levy sleep in his bed every night, even if the sheets had been changed out and some of the furniture rearranged. She was warm and soft and smelled pleasantly like parchment and ink drying in the sun. Gajeel purposely kept it cold in the house so she would have no choice but to snuggle closer to him.
Gajeel liked snuggling, but much like the throw-pillows, he would never ever admit that.
As Levy's belly swelled to a disproportionate size and the due date dawned ever closer, Gajeel stopped taking jobs outside of Magnolia. It was a suggestion from Mirajane, who said that if he missed the birth of his child because he was away on a mission, she would personally kill him. She said it with a sweet smile, but a chill ran down Gajeel's spine just the same.
He also tried taking jobs that involved kids, just to get a feel of what it would be like. Some of them weren't that bad, but he got kicked out of a couple schools for his behavior toward others. They were wimps, Gajeel decided, and it didn't matter if he liked other people's kids or not. He was certainly not raising a weakling. He knew his son was going to be awesome, and he made it no secret that he thought so.
Levy disagreed. "I believe you mean our child is going to be awesome. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet."
Gajeel just rolled his eyes. While that was true, he was sure that it was going to be a boy. He couldn't see himself raising a girl, anyway. What if she was one of those kids who liked pink and dolls and lipstick? That would be awful. Also, if they had a girl, Gajeel would have to beat away her admirers.
Though that part might have been fun.
He was helping some construction workers with a building when Natsu came roaring down the street, shouting his name. Scowling, he threw a metal beam at the Salamander to get him to shut up, much to the horror of the construction workers on the sight. Natsu swiftly dodged it, and instead it went through a brick wall and into a convinience store.
"GAJEEEEEEEEEEL!" Natsu screeched, distraught. "GAJEEL, IT'S TIME! YOU GOTTA GET TO THE HOSPITAL!"
It took three seconds for Gajeel to process this, then he was barreling down the street toward Magnolia's hospital after Natsu, picking up speed and surpassing the Salamander altogether when he remembered Mirajane's threat.
The nurse was quite startled when he barged in the doors, huffing and puffing and sweaty. "Levy...McGarden..." he wheezed.
The nurse held up a hand. "Say no more. You must be part of the Fairy Tail guild. The waiting room is down the hall to the left." Gajeel nodded and made his way to the area she mentioned. The interior was mostly filled with bustling Fairy Tail members, a few nervous fathers-to-be glancing warily at the bizarre group.
"What's the news?" he asked them.
"Nothing yet. We rushed her here when she started having contractions. Her water broke on the way," Pantherlily dutifully reported, patting the chair he'd reserved for Gajeel.
He sat, and he waited.
He tapped his foot, and he waited.
He paced, and he waited.
The guild members made runs to get food for the others. Gajeel scarfed it down gratefully. He tried to use his keen ears to listen for any sign that Levy was in pain. He heard nothing. Part of him worried; the doctor said that Levy was small, and that she might have a little more trouble with delivery than most. Fairy Tail sensed this aggravation and kept their distance.
Finally, a nurse walked in. "Gajeel Redfox?"
"That's me," Gajeel cried, shooting out of his seat. The nurse jumped and looked him up and down, raising her eyebrows.
"You're the father of Levy McGarden's child?" she asked suspiciously, shifting her feet uncomfortably when she felt the stares of every member from Fairy Tail on her.
"Yeah. How is she?"
"Everything went fine," the nurse assured calmly, diffusing some of Gajeel's buzzing energy. "There was only a slight complication with the umbilical cord, but it was quickly resolved and Miss McGarden and the baby are perfectly healthy."
"What room are they in?" Gajeel inquired. He had to see them to make sure.
"Come this way," the nurse said, stepping aside. Fairy Tail surged out after him, but the nurse held up a hand. "I'm sorry, only one or two visitors at a time right now. She just got through six hours labor."
There was a unanimous groan, but the guild decided that they would allow Gajeel and Levy this time to themselves. In groups of two and three they left the hospital. Jet, Droy, Lucy, and Pantherlily were the very last to go.
Meanwhile, Gajeel shifted his weight from foot to foot in front of the door. He was a great force of anxiety, so uncharacteristic of him. The nurse shook her head as she opened the door to Levy's room. The Iron Dragonslayer was probably the biggest, most intimidating father she'd ever seen, but he was reduced to a bundle of nerves here at the hospital room door.
He barged in as soon as the door was open, his eyes settling on Levy to ensure that she was healthy like the nurse said. The blunette was sweaty and exhausted, but otherwise seemed in good condition. She blinked when he walked in, then grinned. Gajeel's eyes shifted to the wiggling mass of blankets in her slender arms.
Pink blankets.
"I told you it would be a girl," she teased.
The nurse smiled. "I'll leave you two alone," she whispered, closing the door to the room.
Gajeel numbly shuffled over to the bed and plopped down into a chair, knees suddenly weak. Levy grinned again, and held the baby out to him. "Do you want to hold her?"
"I dunno how," Gajeel admitted, still in a state of shock.
Levy rolled her eyes. "Come here, and I'll show you." She cradled the baby in one arm and grabbed Gajeel's hands as he leaned forward, positioning his arms to hold the baby's neck steady and keep her from falling. Then she let go and sat back, watching with a smile.
Gajeel marveled at how small she was. She fit perfectly into the crook of his arm, as though she were made to settle there. She was rather shriveled and pink, her face pinched against the light outside the womb. Gajeel gently rubbed his finger along the soft down of black hair on the top of her head. It was because of him that her hair was this color. This was a little bit of her that was Gajeel Redfox.
She opened her eyes briefly, before squeezing them shut again. She had Levy's eyes. Now there was no doubt that she would get whatever she wanted.
"What's her name?" Gajeel asked.
"I thought we could decide that together," Levy said.
"You're the one who went through six hours of labor."
"And you had to wait for that long," Levy laughed. She stopped and considered it for a second. "I do like Evelyn though. Evelyn Redfox-McGarden."
"Evelyn it is then," Gajeel agreed. He grinned at her, revealing every one of his pointed teeth. "She's gonna be awesome and kick-ass like her daddy and smart and cute like her mommy. Isn't that right, Evelyn?"
Levy giggled. "Wow. You actually called us 'mommy' and 'daddy.'"
"That never leaves this room," Gajeel threatened.
"Whatever."
That night, the three of them slept in the hospital (Gajeel wasn't technically supposed to stay, but none of the staff dared ask him to leave). They were awakened by their guild mates, who thrust pink balloons and bouquets of daisies in the new parents' faces once they heard that it was a girl.
Before the day was over, Evelyn Redfox-McGarden had adopted the nickname Eve and had every member of the guild wrapped around her finger.