Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.
"ZOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lilia threw her hands up into the air and screamed, running down the hallway from her bedroom and kicking open her parents' bedroom door with her little toes; not that there was much to kick, as it was already open. "ZOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Mmm... gmm..." the little bluenette wife rolled over, throwing an arm against her husband's back, "Mmm, Gajeel...?"
The whole bed shifted, nearing knocking the woman onto the floor as the large dragon tried to evade her arm.
"Gajeel... you promised..." she reminded, followed by a yawn and a little prodding.
Tiny fingers crept over the side of the bed, pulling up a body with them. The creature hobbled on top of the large mass that was her father, beating at his shoulders with her fists, "DADDY PROMISED!"
"You did," Levy confirmed, sitting up and fixing her hair, "You shouldn't promise things if you aren't going to follow through!" not that she had any indication that Gajeel wasn't going to take her to the zoo; he never broke his promises to the Peanut.
"DAAAAAAAD-"
A white, fluffy pillow caught her by the side of the head and she tumbled over into the center of the bed, giggling and struggling in the pillows, "Dadddyyy!"
"I'm getting' up," he grunted, grinning and throwing the pillow on top of her. For safe keeping, of course, "Ya just give me a minute, I'm getting' up!"
"WE DON'T HAVE A MINUTE!" she flung the pillow at him, although it somehow managed to spiral and fling backwards instead. "We have to go now or else the animals will be all gone!"
"Oh NO!" Levy gasped, holding her cheeks, "Gajeel, you better go quick!" she giggled, "Pick up Beef, and get to the zoo QUICKLY!"
Gajeel scoffed, pulling himself out of bed with the Peanut following after, shoving him towards his bathroom. "Ya don't gotta push! I'm gonna get ready!"
"QUIIIIICK!"
"Why aren't you comin', again?" the dragon asked, narrowing his eyes at his wife who did NOT have to spend the day with two screaming children; although he was only pretending to be angry about it.
"Because I have to help Juvia and Gray," Levy tilted her head, "She's having trouble dealing with their little bundle-to-be."
"Oh..." he hoped everything was okay. They'd been waiting a long time to get pregnant! "But-"
"You're going to be fine!" Levy encouraged, "You take very good care of the Peanut, so taking care of one more kid won't be too hard!" Gajeel had never been alone with someone else's kid before!
"Mmmm..."
"What's wrong?"
"That kid's been coming over here a lot lately," he scratched the back of his neck, "Why?"
"Because he likes to play with Lilia!"
"... Yeah..." but it felt like something else was going on.
Levy hesitated a little, wringing her hands together, "Gajeel... just trust me. Everything's going to be okay."
"BUT-" that implied that things weren't okay!
"Just sit tight!" she winked, "It's okay!" if she said anything to him now, he'd just... rush to conclusions.
"... Right."
"WHAT'S THAT!?"
"Uhh..." he looked down at the map, "Looks like a bo-"
"WHAT'S THAT!?"
"That? It's uhh... Oh, it's one of those gira-"
"WHAT'S THAT, DADDY!?"
Gajeel tore the map to little bits and tossed them in a trash, resisting the urge to pull his hair out. Her enthusiasm was unmatched, her energy was undefeated and the look on her little face surpassed the world in sheer adorability. Since they'd walked through the zoo entrance two hours ago, the Peanut had yet to stop talking. 'What's that?' she'd ask, 'How do they work?' she'd inquire, 'Can I keep them?' she'd beg.
"You okay there, Beef?" Gajeel asked, folding his arms over his chest and giving a cursory glance down at the little boy.
Beef, the direct contrast to Lilia, spent most of the time to himself, standing several feet away from the others. He seemed to dislike the crowds, and the noise, and every once in a while he'd disappear only to pop out a few minutes later from some hiding spot. He was a pretty strange kid.
Every now and again, though, Lilia would take his hand and point out something exciting to him, and he'd get just a hint of life in his eyes – although whenever Gajeel noticed it, it vanished.
He felt just a little bad for the boy.
"Daddy?"
"Huh?" he realized immediately that he hadn't been paying attention, and looked down between his legs where the Peanut was trying to get his attention, tugging on his shirt. "What is it, Peanut?"
"Beef and I want to go feed the animals!" her finger pointed over to a little ring where other children were feeding goats and deer, "Okay?"
Beef didn't look as enthused as Lilia did, but maybe this would help to bring him out of his shell! "Gihi, okay!"
"Daddy?"
"... What."
"I don't think they liked you very much!" Lilia giggled, pressing a hand to her mouth; damn, she looked just like her mother!
"I know." He didn't know what it was, but animals just didn't like him! The minute he stepped into the corral he was headbumped, bitten, knocked about and thrown over the fence by a herd of angry mother deer. He wasn't a dangerous person!
… Anymore!
"... Sorry ya couldn't feed the deer, Peanut."
"It's okay, Daddy," she hugged him around the middle, pressing her cheeks into his belly, "Daddy is okay, so it is okay!"
Bless her little heart! His eyes welled up and he grabbed her, giving her a happy squeeze, "Y-... Yer too nice!"
"Daddy?"
"Y-Yeah!?"
"Beef and I are," yawn, "Sleepy..."
"Ya wanna go home?"
"Mhmm," she nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Daddy?"
"Eh?"
"Can Beef sleep over again?"
Again? He'd been sleeping over a lot... not that he minded, but it smelled strange. "I guess so, if it's okay with yer mum."
"Okay, Daddy!" she smiled, pulling back, "Let's go home, Beef!"
"Beef?" Gajeel looked behind him at the little boy, shuffling his feet. "Ya comin' home?"
"A-... ahh..."
"Gihi!" he grinned, "That's good enough fer me. Let's go!"
Author's Note:
I'm setting up for something here *cough*
Still not ENTIRELY sure what I want to do about this story. I HAVE thought about having Lilia become older, but I think the tone of the story would change and I'd like to keep this one the way that it is right now. If I do Lilia as her older version (probably will?) then I'd stop this story, and make a sequel of the later years.
Before that, though, I have to do that *other* story, the third part. It would be around the same time as this one but... sad. *cough* But it is a necessary step to take if I want to move onward!