Looking at his wife, Gray knew that he couldn't in all good conscience push this responsibility onto Lucy. She was completely drained and he was fairly certain that if Silver went into one of his rare 'tantrum' modes, Lucy would not be able to cope with the emotional stress. Either she would break down completely or she would go into a towering rage, but no matter which direction this went it would only end in disaster. He didn't want to imagine the kind of lecture he might get from some of the hospital staff about there being other patients in the adjoining rooms. Gray didn't have have much hope that Silver would react favorably to having a baby sister rather than a brother, but Gray was hoping that should things turn ugly, he could quickly hand off Mila and then take Silver somewhere and have a 'man-to-tiny-man' talk with him and at least get him to the point of accepting his disappointment.

Giving Lucy a look that said 'trust me, I've got this', Gray said very seriously, "Actually Silver, do you remember that time when Mommy and I came home with pictures of the baby to show you?"

Silver scrunched up his face and concentrated hard for a few moments before he replied, "Yes, those weird pictures that were all dark."

"That's right," said Gray before saying very carefully, "And do you remember what Mommy and I told you about the baby?"

"Umm," said Silver as he thought hard again for a bit and then said, "You told me the picture was really dark because there's no light in Mommy's tummy to hurt the baby's eyes."

"Good grief, this kid has a good memory. I'll need to be careful what I say around him," Gray thought to himself just a moment before he heard a snort of laughter from someone (Gray assumed it was Natsu) that was quickly muffled.

Out loud, Gray said, "That was one thing we told you, but there was also something more important that Mommy and I talked with you about. Do you remember?"

Scrunching up his face again, this time in a kind of distaste, Silver answered with, "You said the baby was a girl, but I don't want it to be a girl. I want a brother."

At this point, Gray was torn. So far, Silver was surprising him by remaining calm and under control, but with what he needed to say next, Gray doubted the boy would stay that way for much longer. If he was going to take Silver out of the room to avoid a scene, this would be the perfect time. However, Lucy was Silver's mother and so should be included in the conversation as well and that meant staying in the room.

Next moment, the Fullbuster females eliminated any need for Gray to choose a course of action by deciding for him.

It began with Mila squirming in Gray's arms and beginning to fuss a little before letting out a plaintive cry. Both parents knew from experience that this was the 'I'm hungry, feed me' cry.

As she reached out to take Mila, Lucy said, "While I'm feeding her, why don't you take Silver on a walk or something? I'm sure you both have things to talk about."

Getting up from the bed, Gray kissed his wife's temple as he laid the baby in her arms and whispered in Lucy's ear, "Have I told you how much I love you today?" to which Lucy responded non-verbally with an upraised eyebrow and a grin that said 'you could stand to say it more often, but I love you too'.

Turning to Silver, Gray said, "So, you heard Mommy. Wanna come on a walk with your old man?"

Silver's response was to whirl around to scooch close enough to Lucy, give her a quick peck on the cheek and whisper to the baby, "Bye Baby,"before scooting off the edge of the bed and looking up expectantly at this father. Grinning down at his son, Gray quirked his eyebrow quizzically at the boy while holding out his hand, non-verbally asking his question. Without hesitation, Silver took hold of his father's hand and pulled him out of the room.

When the boys were gone, Wendy took a few steps towards the bed and asked Lucy, "How are you feeling?"

The temptation to lie and say she was doing just fine rose for an instant before it was quickly squashed as Lucy remembered exactly who she was talking to. Even Natsu and Happy would be able to see right through her if she tried.

Letting out a sigh as she leaned back against her pillows, Lucy gave her friend a tired smile as she answered, "I'm holding out, but I could certainly do with a good, long nap after this."

Surprisingly, it was Erza who asked in a concerned tone, "Should we not have come so soon? We should have waited until tomorrow, shouldn't we?"

Shaking her head once, Lucy replied, "No, I'm really glad you guys came and I know Gray is as well."

Giving them all a grateful smile, Lucy finished with, "Besides, these moments are best when shared with family."

While Lucy was a little anxious about Gray and Silver, when Mila was done eating, Lucy willingly and happily handed the infant over to Erza. Since she had children of her own, Erza deftly placed Mila against her shoulder and patted the infant's back until she burped. That task being done, Erza cradled Mila in her arms for a few minutes before passing Mila along to Natsu. Then a little while later, it was Wendy's turn. A few times, Mila's eyes opened the tiniest bit so that it seemed as though she was trying to look up at the faces of her extended family members. Mostly, Mila was content to take her mother's lead and rest peacefully while their family kept watch.

Outside, Gray was once again torn between two conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he knew that now was the best time to talk with Silver about the baby being a girl while on the other hand, seeing the boy so excited about getting to spend some alone time with dad just made Gray want to put off the conversation as long as possible. Mentally, Gray kicked himself. He needed to quit acting like a wimp and just get this over with already.

Gently squeezing Silver's hand, Gray waited until the boy turned to look up at him before he asked, "Why don't we sit down over there?" as he pointed at a nearby bench.

"Ok," replied Silver simply before letting go of Gray's hand to race over to the bench. Just like the hospital bed, the bench was a little too tall for Silver to climb on his own. Unlike before, however, as Silver got close he created an ice block just big enough for him to step on and reach the seat on his own. Gray couldn't help the proud grin on his face as he sat down next to his son and ruffled the boy's hair affectionately.

Deciding to take a slightly indirect approach, Gray asked smoothly, "So, what did you think of the baby? She's cute, right?"

"I guess so," replied Silver with a slight shrug and looking completely calm and happy.

Internally, Gray let out a long sigh. It was times like these when he wondered if maybe, just maybe his son was starting to take after Natsu. Not a lot, but mostly in the department of 'being completely dense' or 'somehow missing the obvious'. Granted, Silver was only two years old, so Gray's use of a feminine pronoun likely wasn't going to register on the boy's radar...but then again, it all had to start from somewhere.

Choosing to just 'drop the bomb' and see how it exploded, Gray said carefully, "Silver, remember when Mommy and Daddy told you that you were going to be a big brother and that the baby was going to be a girl?"

Nodding up at his father with an infantile version of a displeased frown, Silver replied, "Yeah, but I said I wanted a baby brother."

Patting the boy's head gently while saying in a soothing yet firm tone, Gray said, "Mommy and I understand that you wanted a baby brother, but the truth is that you just met your baby sister upstairs. The baby is a girl."

Silver didn't answer right away. His frown became more pronounced as he turned and looked straight in front of him. While Gray wasn't entirely sure how his son was going to react in a few minutes' time, he was able to see that his son's frown was one of concentrated thought and not childish temper or pique. That was hopefully a good sign.

Finally, Silver returned his attention to his father and said, "Daddy?"

"Yes, Silver?"

"Do we have to keep her?" asked Silver seriously, "Can't we trade with somebody else for a boy?"

For just a moment, Gray wasn't quite sure how to react. Should he laugh at the way Silver's two-year-old logic worked? Should he scold his son for even coming up with such an idea? Neither of those reactions seemed like a good idea to Gray as one might make his son feel ridiculous and the other would ignore the fact that Silver was too young to fully appreciate what he was requesting.

Wrapping an arm around his son to pull him against his side, Gray answered, "No, we can't do that, Silver. A baby isn't like a toy that you can return to the store if you don't like it."

"Oh," replied Silver in a half-surprised, half-confused tone.

"Besides," said Gray as he gave Silver's side a slight squeeze, "Mommy and I love this baby just as much as we love you. We never would have dreamed of giving you away to another family after you were born."

"Oh," repeated Silver, but this time understanding was starting to dawn on his face.

"Mommy and I will understand if you are disappointed and a little sad about not having a baby brother," continued Gray, "but we hope that you will do your best to be a good big brother to your baby sister."

"Ok, Daddy," Silver said after a slight pause, "I promise."

Giving his son another squeeze, Gray said sincerely, "Glad to hear it, Buddy."

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Silver?"

"What do brothers do with their sisters?"

Having a slightly difficult time containing his grin, Gray answered as seriously as possible, "Well, right now your sister is just a baby and can't really look out for herself, so you, Mommy and I need to help her until she's big enough to take care of herself."

"What can I do to help her?"

"One thing you can do is keep an eye on her," said Gray, "Right now your sister isn't going to do much more than sleep, cry and eat, but once she starts moving around, you can make sure she doesn't get into trouble or hurt herself."

"All right, Daddy," replied Silver in a completely serious way that once again made Gray want to grin in amusement and pride, "What else?"

Patting his son's head, Gray replied, "I think that's enough to be getting on with for now. You're a smart boy and I'm sure you can figure out what a good big brother does for his little sister on your own."

"Ok, Daddy," Silver reiterated like a soldier ready to carry out an important mission, "I'll do my best."

"That's my boy," and this time Gray didn't bother trying to smother his enormous grin as he picked Silver up and gave him a proper hug.

When Gray and Silver arrived back in the hospital room, Wendy was currently holding the baby. As soon as they realized who was entering the room, all eyes immediately looked down at Silver to see what sort of a mood he was in. Surprisingly, his face was impassive and cool so the group wasn't quite sure how 'the talk' had went. So, their attention then turned to the parent to see if they could pick up any clues from him. However, they were once again disappointed as Gray was sporting an expression almost identical to Silver's.

"Like father, like son," Erza muttered in grudging respect as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Huh?" inquired Natsu, "What'd you say?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," Erza replied in a calm, cool tone.

Fortunately, Natsu knew that tone and didn't press the matter and instead decided to just address the 'elephant in the room', asking, "So, Silver, ready to meet your baby sister now?"

While no one was really and truly surprised at Natsu's blunt remark, everyone who was not acquainted with the fact that Silver had resigned himself to having a sister felt their blood and hearts freeze. Gray nearly lost his composure when Silver turned to Wendy and took a few steps forward with an impassive expression on his face. However, it wasn't so much what his son did as the fact that his big, brave, adult friends all took an involuntary step back from the 'oh-so-scary' two-year-old boy. Silver didn't say a word, but simply stood there, staring up at Wendy until the young woman seemed to grasp the situation and carefully knelt down on the floor so the big brother could look at his baby sister in a different light.

After observing for a few moments, Silver looked back around at Gray and asked, "Daddy? What's her name?"

"Mila."

Nodding once before turning his attention back to the tiny bundle, Silver said, "Mila, I'm Silver. Your big brother."

As if in response to this statement, Mila let out a long yawn and blinked her eyes a few times as she seemed to try and focus her infant gaze on her older sibling. To everyone's surprise, Silver turned his back on the baby and walked away. A moment later, Silver's intentions became clear as he climbed back up onto the hospital bed and sat beside his mother. Then, wonder of wonders, Silver looked Wendy straight in the eyes and held out his arms in front of him.

"I wanna hold Mila," said the boy matter-of-factly before he promptly remembered his manners and added, "Please."

Seeing both Lucy and Gray's approving expressions (Lucy's mixed together with relief and Gray's with pride), Wendy stood back up and said with a smile, "Of course, Silver," before she carefully laid the baby girl in her big brother's arms.

Even though Mila was about half his size, after a little guidance from his parents, Silver properly supported the infant's head with one arm while wrapping the other arm around her middle to keep her nestled on his lap. If the scene wasn't already adorable enough, Mila let out another yawn after which her face seemed to relax into a kind of smile. Once again, Gray almost cracked up when Silver looked completely lost for a moment before his cheeks flushed slightly as he took in the sight of his baby sister smiling up at him. However, he felt a lump rise in his throat when his gaze locked with Lucy's and he saw a few tears swimming in her eyes as she gave him a relieved, grateful smile and mouthed 'I love you'.

Yes, today had been a good day.