A/N: Hello again! It took a while for me to figure out what I was gonna write for this chapter, but I think this works!
"Have fun, guys!" Levy called to Natsu and Lucy as they left, just having dropped Layla off at Gajeel and Levy's house. Layla tried reaching for them while also waving, apparently conflicted.
The parents were getting some long-desired alone time while their friends babysat the four-month-old, they would be "on a job", although Levy and Gajeel were smart enough to figure out that there was no mission; Natsu and Lucy were just gonna be sexing it up all day.
Layla would of course miss her parents, but she'd really grown to love both Gajeel and Levy and the couple would be able to take care of her for the day just fine. Layla had easily taken to most of her Fairy Tail family.
Levy smiled down to the baby girl as she closed the door. "You're gonna have a lot of fun with Aunt Levy and Uncle Gajeel, aren't you?" she said, earning a smile from the baby. "Gajeel, can you take the diaper bag?" Levy asked her husband, handing him the bag and then grabbing some toys from it. "Alright, your mommy said we need to make sure you have tummy time. Let's do a bit of that now, okay Layla?"
Gajeel set the bag down and took the baby as his wife laid out a blanket. "Ack! Shrimp, she's pulling my hair!" he yelped through clenched teeth. Levy suppressed a laugh as she helped him pry the tiny fingers from his dark tangles. Gajeel gave a grumpy glare to Layla, who was still attempting to reach for his hair even as Levy took her away from Gajeel for 'tummy time'. Layla just giggled at him.
"Ooh, which toy do you wanna play with, Layla?" Levy asked, setting the toys up in front of Layla. Layla immediately tried to reach for both her star-shaped teething toy and the dragon plush. Layla wiggled for a bit before laying her head down, lacking the strength to hold it up for too long. "Bonk!" Levy joked, helping the baby. Gajeel couldn't hide his smile anymore as he watched his beloved interact with some of their best friends' child.
"Do you want Uncle Gajeel to come play, too?" Levy asked the baby, who was currently nomming on the star. Gajeel just grunted in response. "I see that smile, Honey," Levy teased, turning around to stick her tongue out at him. "You don't have to act grumpy all the time. It's okay to admit how much you're starting to adore Layla."
"Oh yeah, because Natsu would totally be able to let me live it down," he told her sarcastically.
Levy rolled her eyes. "He doesn't have to. He'd appreciate that you aren't being a grump, even if he wouldn't say it out loud. Just like you're refusing to say out loud that you actually feel some affection towards Layla."
"Yeah, yeah..." Gajeel kneeled down next to Levy and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, letting Levy lay her head on his arm once he'd moved back.
They played with Layla like that for a good while, Levy eventually helping Layla turn over onto her back so that she wouldn't end up spitting up from too much time on her belly. It wasn't until she'd started crying a bit afterwards that Levy and Gajeel had a problem.
"Shh... Shh... You're okay..." Levy consoled the baby. "It doesn't seem to be her diaper," she noted, taking a peek while rocking Layla in her arms.
"I coulda told you that," Gajeel stressfully chuckled. "The nose would know."
"She might be hungry, then..." Levy suddenly gasped and started viciously digging through the diaper bag. "Gajeel, we never put the milk in the fridge! Do you think it'll still be any good!?" She kept searching the almost overwhelmingly huge and full bag for the milk, only to find that it wasn't in there. "Gajeel, the milk's not here."
"What?"
"There's no milk in the diaper bag. Natsu and Lucy forgot to pack it."
Meanwhile, back at Natsu and Lucy's house, Lucy herself was realizing what she might've forgotten.
"Natsu, I don't think we packed the milk..." she commented before letting out a high-pitched moan.
"Hmm?" Natsu bleerily questioned, too deep in their fiery haze to fully realize what she'd said.
"I said- NnnnaaaAAHHHH" Natsu had given a sensuous bite to her overly-sensitive thighs and Lucy's previous concern was whisked out of her thoughts.
Levy frantically bounced Layla in her arms while Gajeel double-checked the fridge and the diaper bag for the milk, to find that it did not, in fact, get brought to the Redfox household.
"Gajeel, we can't babysit Layla if we can't feed her. You need to stay here with her." After he gave a complaint of indignance, Levy snapped, "Would you rather go to their house to get the milk!?" Gajeel grumbled, not wanting to go within twenty feet of Natsu and Lucy's house and see, smell, or hear what exactly they were up to. "Then stay with Layla and see if you can calm her down a bit while I'm gone!" And with that, Gajeel was left with a crying baby in his arms as his wife closed the front door behind her.
"Fuck."
Gajeel started bouncing Layla in his arms like he'd seen Levy do earlier when trying to keep the baby calm. "Fucking hell, I don't know how to take care of a baby!"
He flopped onto the couch, holding Layla to his chest. "Uh... Shhh? Shh... You'll get your milk soon, it's okay?" Gajeel groaned. He felt kinda silly saying stuff like that, but he knew he shouldn't. I mean, the idiot Flame Brain did it with no problem. Anything Natsu could do, he could do just fine. He'd have to do it for his own kid someday, anyways...
"Just wait a bit longer, Layla..." he patted her back and after a couple minutes of crying, Layla slowly started to calm down finally. She was still crying and screaming, but perhaps a bit less incessantly. He started trying to bounce her in his lap, and after that good, long cry, Layla gave a yawn and drifted off to sleep on his shoulder.
"Is that all it was?" Gajeel complained, quietly and wearily. "You just wanted to sleep?" Gajeel sighed and continued patting Layla's back so that she would (hopefully) stay asleep. And in a silent house and nothing to do beyond sit there with the baby, it wasn't long before Gajeel himself was drifting off, making sure Layla wouldn't fall off of him.
After a good thirty-five minutes, Levy was finally back at home.
Her face was still painted red after the... experience.
She'd been intervally knocking at Natsu and Lucy's door for over five minutes, unheard by the otherwise occupied couple. Knowing her husband had to be having difficulties with the baby by himself, Levy had sighed and braced herself, finding the spare key in the mailbox and coming in.
Luckily, it seemed like Natsu and Lucy were in their bedroom, so Levy didn't have to see anything. Unluckily, the two were loud as FUCK, especially when it came to that act, so Levy had heard plenty.
Not that she and the rest of the guild hadn't already heard far too much from Natsu and Lucy. There had been more than one coupling that had taken place in the guild hall while they thought they were being secretive, but the two were anything but.
Then she'd had to search for what seemed like forever for Layla's milk, made more unpleasant by the background noises.
When Levy'd finally found it in a cooler on the table (apparently ready to be taken to her house and just forgotten in the haste), Levy had gotten her ass out of there as quickly as possible.
"Gajeel, I've got the milk now," she called out wearily. And then she realized that Layla wasn't crying anymore.
Levy turned around from kicking her shoes off and saw Gajeel's head lolled on the back of the couch. Approaching closer, she could see the tiny baby also sleeping, propped up on his shoulder, clutched in one of his arms.
Her heart melted at the scene, and imagining that the baby had black hair instead of Layla and Natsu's bright pink brought sweet tears to her eyes. Her mouth was spread in a grin.
Levy gently woke Gajeel up and then carefully took Layla from his arms, making absolute sure that the baby wouldn't wake up.
Maybe... Maybe I am ready for kids... Levy thought as she set the baby down in the playpen that Natsu had set up in she and Gajeel's bedroom earlier.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following!