Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter 14: Toddling Joy

"Mommy!" The ungraceful brunette turned towards the tiny voice and lost her balance. "Ouch!" Mikan murmured as she hit the counter. She watched as her two year old son toddled towards her. "Wow! Daisuki, you're walking much better now!" Joyous crimson eyes caught hers.

"Look mommy!" Mikan turned her attention to the drawing in her son's hands. It was a crude drawing of perhaps a person, and perhaps fire. With this child, one could never be sure. "Wow!" Mikan exclaimed. "What did you draw?" Daisuki smiled brightly up at his mother, who was attempting to cook dinner. "Fire!"

A pain shot through Mikan at the sound of the word. Fire? What does he mean fire? Mikan bent down and scooped the happy toddler into her arms. She ruffled his feathery, velvet hair. "What kind of fire did you draw?" Mikan questioned, hoping to get some kind of comprehensive answer.

Daisuki smiled. "Fire!" He cheered. The picture in his palms began smoking. A trickle of flames crept across the paper. Fire. He has the fire alice. Great. However, Mikan didn't show any hesitation about praising her beloved child. "Wow! What a great fire! You can make fire, but you have to be careful. No fire while Mommy isn't around, okay?" Daisuki nodded. "Okay!" Mikan quickly nullified the flame.

Hotaru peeped open the lab door. "What's all the yelling for?" She scowled. Daisuki scowled back. "Fire." He proclaimed, as if it meant everything in the world. Hotaru chuckled. "Oh, I can see." She pointed towards the charred piece of art. Mikan sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hotaru… seriously, fire." Her 'what am I going to do now?' look was written all over her face. Hotaru laughed. "I know! I know! Let me catch my breath and I'll play with him for a bit."

Hotaru sat carefully down into a chair, rubbing her very pregnant belly. At the word 'play' Daisuki's ear's perked up. "Play? Play with Hotaru!" He wiggled out of Mikan's grip, and tottered towards the exhausted Hotaru. Her violet eyes glazed over his happy figure. "Yes, Dai-chan. I'll play with you in a minute. Can you show me your fire?" Daisuki's crimson eyes flared under his black locks. "Fire!" He exclaimed as the picture caught a spark of fire again. Mikan gave Hotaru a death glare and nullified the fire once again.

The front door opened and Ruka tumbled inside. With Daisuki's attention diverted, Hotaru was saved. "Ruka!" The toddler bee-lined for the blonde. Ruka gave his blissful smile before dropping his book bag on the floor and grabbing Daisuki in a bear hug. "Dai-chan! How's my favorite man?" Daisuki smiled gleefully, enjoying the attention.

Ruka glanced at his wife, who was scowling. Well, that's almost normal. He glanced at Mikan, who was faking a smile. Uh oh, something's wrong. "Ruka! Fire!" The gorgeous raven haired boy in his arms proclaimed. Oh. That's what's wrong. He just had to be one of the difficult types. Ruka patted the boy's head and gave a relieving smile. "That's great, Dai-chan. Just like your daddy." He turned towards the frighteningly angry women. "At least the Academy is now just like a regular school and he can still live at home. Right?"

Mikan gave a sigh. "Yeah, I suppose so, thanks to Father. Do you think You-chan will be visiting us this weekend?" Ruka shrugged. "Perhaps." Looking to his wife, Ruka was met with a rare smile. "Hey, Daddy. It's baby time."

Ruka's blue eyes grew wide with panic. Daisuki's crimson eyes grew confused. "Baby?" Mikan shrieked with joy as she galloped to Hotaru. "Really! You're going into labor? Yay!" Mikan grasped Hotaru's hands and helped her out of the chair. "Ruka-pyon! Get the car ready!"

Ruka's mouth was dry so he couldn't speak. Instead, he nodded and quickly took Daisuki with him to the car. As Ruka strapped Daisuki into his car seat, the toddler became excited. "Yay! Car ride! Yay!" Watching the cheerful child, Ruka calmed down. He smiled and patted the child's velvet hair. "Yes, Dai-chan. We're going for a ride in the car."

Mikan played with Daisuki in the waiting room at the hospital. Ruka was in the delivery room with Hotaru. Surprisingly, Daisuki remained reserved and calm. "Mommy, read." Daisuki said in a quiet tone. He was holding out a child's book, waiting for Mikan to accept it. Mikan smiled at her son. "Daisuki, what do you say when you ask for a favor?" Hotaru is about to have a little miracle of her own. Daisuki smiled shyly. "Mommy, read, please?" He extended the book out to Mikan again. Placing Daisuki in her lap, Mikan accepted the book and began to read to him.

Hotaru panted heavily, struggling to push out the baby. "Damn you, Ruka! I'm going to kill you if you ever make me do this again!" Hotaru shrieked as she squeezed the life out of Ruka's hand. With his other hand, Ruka calmly wiped the sweat off his wife's forehead. "Just a little more, Hotaru." The blonde gave her a gentle kiss. Hotaru gritted her teeth and pushed again.

A nurse appeared in the waiting room and beckoned Mikan. The brunette turned to her son. "Daisuki, we're going to visit Aunt Hotaru now. You need to be very quiet, and be a very good boy, okay?" Daisuki nodded.

The two entered Hotaru's room and saw Hotaru sleeping quietly. Ruka was cradling a small bundle in his arms. He gave Mikan an astonishing smile and his sapphire eyes sparkled clearly. "It's a girl." He bent down as Daisuki approached him. "Dai-chan, this is your new cousin, Akari."

The boy's scarlet eyes widened at the sight of the small infant before him. "Wow! Tiny…" Daisuki extended one hand to touch the baby's face, but drew it back. Ruka chuckled. "Do you want to hold her?" Daisuki met his uncle's unwavering eyes and nodded.

"Okay! But you have to sit down, and you have to be very careful with her." Daisuki toddled over to a chair and sat down. Mikan watched as Ruka carefully situated Akari within Daisuki's arms. Mikan and Ruka took a seat on each side of the children.

Daisuki held the baby carefully in his arms. She cautiously opened her eyes, and they met with the large curious crimson ones. "Pretty blue eyes…" Daisuki murmured. Mikan watched over her son's shoulder to inspect for herself. "Wow, Ruka-pyon. She really is your daughter with those crystal blue eyes. But… with that hair, she's definitely Hotaru's daughter too!"

Hotaru awoke and noticed the gathering on one side of the room. "Of course she's mine, baka. I just gave an excruciating birth to her." Mikan chuckled and raced to her friend's side. "Look, Hotaru! Daisuki is holding Akari. I think they're going to get along great!" Mikan's smile filled Hotaru up with joy. I like it better when you smile.

Natsume awoke to grumbling from his roommate. "Yuuri! How much longer do I have to stay in this stupid bed?" He didn't need to open his eyes to know that Yuuri was smiling casually at the furious blonde. "Oi, Wolf-boy! Shut up! You're giving me a headache."

Natsume's eyes fluttered open in time to catch the murderous glare he was receiving from Wolfram. "Stop calling me that!" Natsume rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Yuuri chuckled. "Wolfram, you both still have a bit to go before you can begin walking around again." Wolfram scoffed, but didn't argue.

"On a brighter note…" Yuuri began, his smile becoming bright and cheery. "Hotaru and Ruka just had a baby girl, Akari!" Yuuri whipped out some pictures of everyone from Earth. Since his first visit with Natsume's friends, he visited occasionally when he returned to earth.

After showing both Natsume and Wolfram pictures of everyone, Yuuri surprised them with some extra news. "Apparently, there has been a recent occurrence. It hasn't been mentioned yet, but Koko pulled it out. Dai-chan has the fire alice." Wolfram groaned. Natsume was shocked, but didn't know if he should be proud or nervous. "So… he will need to make a contract eventually, like I have to."

Yuuri's face turned serious. "Perhaps. It depends on the situation of his alice. If his power is strong and life-long like yours, then he will have to. However, it wouldn't be serious if the power is limited." Natsume's eyes stared at the wall opposite him. If his power is limited… "… We'll have to wait until he's older to determine the situation. Don't worry, Natsume. We'll take care of him."

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When Mikan refers to "Father", she's talking about Narumi-sensei.