===Chapter 7===
Babysitting Woes
Gajeel is 27, Levi is 23, Tacks is 4, Aiko is 2
Gajeel had gone away for a few days on a mission. That was normal, and Lily went as he usually does. Levy was thinking that she'd have to go on a mission with Shadow Gear soon – with Aiko now two years old, her maternal instincts had subsided to the point where she didn't need to be with her kids 24/7.
But then Lucy had appeared at her door with her two kids and thrust them into Levy's arms – quite forgetting Levy's lack of upper body strength. She'd pleaded that there'd been some kind of emergency – all very vague – and that she needed a babysitter on the fly. Levy's protestations fell upon Lucy's back as she was halfway down the garden path.
"Thanks, Levy-chan!" She called as she hurried away.
"Mou," Levy said, setting Nashi down quickly so she could support only Ignale. She hadn't spent much time with their two year old, but he reminded her of Natsu in most ways. He had tufty blonde hair and his father's expression. He just looked like the world was one big adventure to go and explore.
By contrast, Nashi was like a pink-haired chibi Lucy. She hurried into the front room, squealing with joy when she saw Tacks. Levy was glad that the two had made such fast friends. Ignale and Aiko on the other hand, were already glaring at each other.
Gajeel vs Natsu, the generational battle.
"DUMDUM HEAD!" Aiko bellowed.
"SMELLY GIRL!" Ignale shouted back.
"MUMMY! PLAY WITH ME!" Aiko demanded.
"NO! AUNTY SHORTY PLAY WITH ME!" Ignale wailed.
"My name isn't…"
"MY MUMMY!" Aiko wailed, grabbing the hem of her dress. Levy was vaguely happy that her daughter actually wanted to play together, but realised that it was very much a case of 'I want it because you want it'.
"Now now, let's use our inside voices," Levy soothed. "I can play with everyone. What do you want to play?"
"EAT FIRE!" Ignale shouted happily.
"Well…I can't…"
"Mummy so bad. Can't eat like Daddy," Aiko said with pout. Levy made a sweat drop. It wasn't her fault that all of their father's were so goddamn special! Nor could she summon playmates, but she could do some cool things. She set Ignale down next to Aiko and crossed her legs.
"How about this?" With her solid script, she wrote FIREWORK, the word constantly glowing and sparking. Ignale clapped and laughed, and she could see that Aiko liked it through the façade of her pout. Nashi and Tacks were also watching – this was all happening within the confines of the living room, after all.
"Hmm…then I have an idea! If I can make Iron…then I can make…" She stuck her tongue out, concentrating on a word she'd never written before, but the logic behind the language made sense. She wrote CANDY.
"OOOOH!" The children said with amazement. Levy felt so proud at her innovation. Ten minutes later, she realised her enormous error and collapsed against the couch with exhaustion.
"I gave them all sugar…," she mumbled, "and now they look at me like a candy store."
There was an enormous crashing and banging coming from the bedroom upstairs, and as long as she didn't hear any crying, Levy resolved to just to stay out of it. Four sugar addled toddlers were a bit much. Okay, far too much. Just let them play by themselves, wear themselves out…that was a good plan, right?
"Let's paint the room!" Aiko shouted.
"I dunno," Tacks said, looking at his little paint set, "Mummy might get angry."
"NO! PAINT!" Ignale bellowed, grabbing a pot in his little fingers. "Make it pretty! No, make it cool!"
"Pretty is good!" Nashi said, alighting on the simple concept. "Your mum will like it if we make your bedroom so pretty! I want to do a unicorn!"
"DRAGON!" Aiko retorted, going straight for the black paint.
"I guess," Tacks agreed reluctantly. Ignale was already making flames with the red paint. If this was his room, he should do it too! But what should he paint? Something nice… The room dissolved into excitable shouting as the four infants went about their games. Finally, Levy poked her head around the door.
"Oh, my! What have you done!?" Levy shouted in her most angry tone…which was not particularly angry. More shrill, really. Giggling children fled the room around her, carrying paint splattered hands with them. "No!" She shouted, racing after them, aghast at the little handprints along her pristine walls. Neither Levy nor Gajeel were exactly house-proud but this was any parent's nightmare!
She managed to pounce on Ignale, held back by his little legs and lack of knowledge of the house's rooms. He squirmed and she managed to get a handprint on her face, but she had him, and struggling with how to handle the situation properly, immediately washed his grubby hands in the sink. She made sure that Tack's door was closed so he couldn't go back to the paints and continued her hunt.
"Tacks! Nashi! Aiko! Get back here or there'll be trouble!" She huffed. Nashi appeared, looking sad. She was a good kid, Levy thought, washing her of paint and asking her to look after her little brother for a minute. Now to find her own kids. Fortunately, Tacks had followed Nashi like a moth to the flame, and was standing outside the bathroom in tears.
"Sorry, Mummy. I just wanted to play. I didn't mean to make a mess," he sniffled.
"That's alright, love," she soothed, carrying him in to clean him off aswell. Three down, one to go! This wasn't so bad – where had Nashi and Ignale gone? She bit back an angry curse. "Tacks, go to your room and clean away your paints, okay? Mummy doesn't want any more mess."
"Then candy?" Tack asked hopefully.
"We'll see, just please help Mummy, okay?"
"OKAY!" Tacks toddled away. Levy heard the sound that terrified her – crying. She hurried downstairs to find Nashi consoling a bawling Ignale.
"What happened?" Levy cried. Nashi looked reluctant to explain.
"We tried to get Aiko to wash her hands, but she got angry and hit my brother in the face," she said shyly. Oh bollocks, Levy had managed to get someone else's kid hurt. That was the number one sin of motherhood. "And then, she went outside…"
Levy glared at the front door, slightly ajar. While she was worried, she was fed up with Aiko's bad behaviour. Always violent, always truculent. As she hurried to the door, she was thinking about what she was going to do with her child. Tacks had been such a positive and happy child that he'd left them unprepared for Aiko.
As she reached the garden, she saw to her relief, that the gate was still closed. So she hadn't left the property. Thank God. She very suddenly heard the unusual sound of Aiko crying, and hurried along the garden to find her sitting by Gajeel's bike. With Levy's runes to counter motion sickness, it was the only vehicle that Gajeel could use. He normally took it on missions, but had walked due to the proximity of the current one.
As she heard her mother approach, Aiko turned to look, clearly distraught. She jabbed a little finger at the bike's chassis, where she'd gotten a splodge of paint. Of course, she might not care about general property damage, but if there was one thing in this universe she loved, it was her father.
"MUMMY! Didn't mean to! Wanted play, but, but…" She'd forgotten that she'd gotten her hands all dirty. "Daddy angry!"
Levy knelt by her child, stroking her hair to comfort her. "It's alright, nothing that can't be fixed. Maybe we can ask Uncle Reedus to make sure the paint job's okay. Would you like that?"
"Um yes! Make Daddy happy!" Aiko nodded forcefully. She looked around, brow furrowing as she thought. "Tank you, Mummy."
Levy smiled. "There's a good girl. Let's go and get you washed up."
Evnetually, Levy succeeded in corralling the four youngsters into the living room, where the sugar high was fading and they all looked a little tired. Hell, Levy was pretty goddamned tired too. She lay on the sofa with the four children nestled against her and fell sound asleep.
She awoke to a delighted, childish squeal. She expected to see the kids playing, but it was Gajeel, his mouth a giant grin under his glowing eyes. She hadn't expected him back so soon.
"So cute! It's like the five shortest, cutest people all gathered in one place!" He said with obvious, unrestrained glee.
"I'm not cute," Levy replied good-naturedly, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She winced at the deafening bellow of 'Daddy!' from a few inches away. Gajeel smiled and lifted Aiko into his arms.
"Not being giving Mummy any trouble, have ya?" He asked.
"Naughty," Aiko mumbled.
"Oh? Something to do with the handprint on my bike?" He asked, his features set and stony. Aiko looked like she was about to cry under that scrutiny. Suddenly, he smiled. "Cuz it's so cute! I love it! Wanna grab some paint and write your name next to it? That way I'll always know my little girl was there! Tacks, grab yer paints! Come on you four! I want one from each of you!"
As the kids hurried away, Levy huffed. "That's not fair! I do all of the work, and you just enjoy the playtime!"
"Sorry, Shrimp," Gajeel mumbled. "Maybe ya need to get away on a mission sometime. Ya must be going a bit stir crazy all by yerself. Lord knows that Tweedledee and Tweedledum miss ya! Gihihi!"
"Maybe I do." Levy sighed deeply. "Gajeel, we're going to have to do something about Aiko. She's not getting better. Unless she's with you, she gets violent and aggressive all of the time."
"Well, that settles it," Gajeel declared. "Take a long mission with yer team, and leave the kids to me for a few days. Let me have a chance to see her in action."
"You're not teaching her slayer magic! I can't handle that!"
"Shrimp, she's two."
"Now. Now, she's two. Imagine when she becomes a teenager and rebels even more! Oh God, she's gonna grow bigger breasts on purpose!"
"I don't think that's how it works…and aren't I supposed to be the immature one in this relationship?" He growled softly and picked her up in a hug. "It's like yer my little kid too! Gihihi!"
"I am not going to be called immature by you!" Levy pouted. "What was the damage bill for this mission?"
Gajeel's face fell slightly. "I dunno. Lily wouldn't let me see and took it straight to the guild. I may have levelled a church."
"You're joking."
"It was a small one! It was just in the way and I roared and then there…I'm maybe not the best role model for her…" They heard the thump of little feet down the stairs. "Ya come too! I want all of my little people's prints on my bike!"
"Won't it look a bit silly when you're driving around?" Levy asked.
Gajeel laughed. "Anyone's welcome to laugh…if they dare!"
Levy giggled and then panicked. "Oh, you haven't seen Tack's room yet! They made a big mess in there!"
"What kind of a mess?"
"Well, there's a unicorn and a lot of fire…and Aiko made a big black dragon, just like you. But Tacks, now he's a good little boy and painted me and him holding hands! Bless him, but it makes the whole day feel worthwhile!"
Two days later, at the guild...
"So," wheedled Cana, drawing up alongside Levy. "I've heard that you can maybe write Solid Script: Beer?"
Levy shuddered, pressing her forehead into the counter. "I've made a terrible mistake."
