Normally when he woke on especially cold mornings, his hand would slide over her hip and around her middle to pull her body into his. Today, however, his fingers brushed something that felt much too fuzzy to be bed sheets. Jellal lifted himself onto his elbow and peered over Erza's side. Wrapped head to toe in fleece pajamas was the tiny body of their daughter.
Her hair, a slightly darker shade than her mother's, mingled with Erza's on the pillow. He liked to think that she resembled Erza more than him even though his wife joked that her personality was nearly a carbon-copy of his before… well, before. His daughter was bold, and charismatic. She often stood too close and spoke too much. It broke his heart to think of someone crushing her spirit, and wondered if Erza felt the same way about him.
Jellal reached over Erza's side and brushed the wispy strands of hair from his daughter's forehead. She stirred before pushing her face back into the pillow. Her thumb drifted toward her mouth, but he redirected it to the piped edge of the thick blanket. She'd only just started to quit the habit on her own and if she woke sucking on her thumb, it wouldn't leave her mouth all day.
Erza startled him by grabbing his hand and pulling his arm around her.
"What are you doing awake?" she whispered.
"Nothing," he replied. "Just go back to sleep."
Jellal pressed a soft kiss to the side of Erza's neck and tried to focus on how lucky he was and not on how easy it would be to lose it all.