Enough

Summary: After an accident leaves Cana an infant, Gildarts gets a chance at some of what he missed out on.

Warnings: Extreme fluff ahead

AN: Cana is my favorite character and I love her relationship with Gildarts and I wish we saw more of it- just a little more development than what we got. So, I started thinking about them and this was born, also quarantine has proved to be great for writing for me.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail why would I be on this site?

Gildarts bit back a swear as he narrowly dodged the projectile aimed at his head.

How was this happening? He was Gildarts Clive, the Ace of Fairy Tail, one of the strongest wizards in the country. The mention of his name made grown men freeze in fear, none could hope to match him in a contest of magic or physical strength.

So how was it he was losing the battle to get his daughter to eat her dinner?

The infant his incredible daughter had been transformed into was a picky eater- which was every bit as endearing as it was frustrating.

"Come on Little Miss," the father pleaded, "Just one more bite sweetheart. You want to grow up big and strong right?"

The baby just giggled and gnawed on her fist. He wondered how Corneilia had handled this, then again, his wife had been so incredible she would have been able to get Cana to eat with out the baby missing a single bite.

"Come on Princess, surely this tastes better than your little hand," Gildarts tried, moving the spoon with the mashed carrot (or was it sweet potato? It was orange whatever it was) towards her, only for the baby to close her mouth and move her head away. Dinner with Cana tended to take at least two hours on average, ending with him wearing the majority of her food.

The worst part was how happy it made her when she managed to hit him with whatever mashed up food she was meant to eat. She just let out a belly laugh that made the whole room light up and more then that he never wanted his perfect little princess to ever be upset- he was a bit ashamed to admit how much of a push over parent he was turning out to be.

His daughter was the most magnificent woman on the planet when she was her normal eighteen-year-old self, a woman who walked with a self-assured confidence in herself that made everyone stop and take notice and he was so proud of her- but now as a little baby she took his breath away. She was just so effortlessly happy in a way she just wasn't as an adult, with eyes taking in everything she saw with a sense of wonder coupled with endless curiosity. Before this all had happened, he had known he would do anything to make sure she was happy, now he was absolutely certain he would kill to keep that smile on his sweet girls face.

He remembered the lacrima call he had received from Makarov- on the emergency line that was absolutely never used lightly. He had been concerned at first, but as soon as 'its Cana' had left the master's mouth Gildarts had already been running in the direction of Magnolia. Thankfully he had kept the line up as Makarov filled him in on the situation- Natsu had screwed up a mission, lost all pay except for a potion he never bothered to ask for details on, and as soon as the dragon slayer had gotten back to the guild he had picked a fight and the potion vial broke splattering onto Cana. His best girl was now an infant (who was apparently between eight and ten months old), and Makarov figured Gildarts would appreciate the heads up.

It had unfortunately taken him far too long to make it back to Magnolia (ten whole hours!)- and thankfully the city had already shifted into formation so he could go straight to the guildhall where his little darling had been waiting. She had been screaming at the top of her tiny lungs as the frazzled barmaid frantically tried to sooth her, and upon his stepping into the guild hall, his arms had immediately been filled with baby. He would be lying if he said he hadn't felt smug when upon being placed in her father's arms, she had immediately stopped crying. According to Mirajane, Cana had been throwing her little fit on and off for the whole length of time it took him to get there- crying herself to sleep and then waking up to continue screaming. Seems his girl had just wanted her daddy!

Makarov said the potion would only last for two weeks- and the Ace fully intended to make the most of it and squeeze in as much as he could.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as several peas hit him in the eye, Gildarts started in surprise and mock-glared at his giggling daughter.

"Did you find that funny little miss?"

Cana cheerfully started clapping in response.

"I take it you like throwing your food more than eating it," he took her open mouth as his opportunity to shove the spoonful of orange mash into her mouth, thank fully she didn't spit it out. In order to avoid the grumpy fit, he knew was coming, he pulled his baby out of the improvised high chair and blew a raspberry onto her tiny belly- he was rewarded by her excited squeals.

"Did you like that Princess?" He cooed, blowing another raspberry onto her stomach," Now think you can say 'da-da' Cana, can you? Your Daddy's brilliant little girl Cana, come on say 'da-da'."

As per usual, a spit bubble blown his way by the cheerful baby was her only response. Gildarts only had five more days with her like this, only five more days with his Princess where he could shower her with attention and not have her push him away.

Only five more days for him to have her first word be 'da-da'. Of course, he knew that it wouldn't really be her first word, but he wanted to hear her say it dammit!

Taking a break from his self-assigned quest, he passed Cana her pre-prepared bottle, the infant eagerly latching on. Gildarts had quickly figured out that his baby girl liked her milk at a certain degree of lukewarm and she absolutely would not stand for anything else. Judging by how she hadn't immediately spat the bottle out, he'd gotten it right this time. He studied her for the millionth time as she nursed her bottle peacefully.

She was absolutely perfect. Her tiny head was covered with perfect little chocolate colored curls, shining violet eyes that always sparkled with curiosity at the world, her giggles sounded like chiming bells, and she was faster than Jet once she got to crawling.

Cana released her bottle with a milky burp, Gildarts easily wiping her mouth off, used to the routine by now. She happily babbled away as he settled her onto the blanket that was her play area, all the toys he'd gotten for her laid out from her last play session before dinner. From the routine the last week had established, she'd play for maybe another hour before she tired herself out enough to fall asleep.

The stuffed kangaroo was her favorite, and he had quickly learned to keep it on hand at all times. At the moment she had it by the tail as her other hand messed with one of her blocks, turning it every direction as she examined it.

How had he helped create something this incredible?

The tiny girl looked at her father and held out the block to him, and he joined her on the floor gratefully accepting the offering.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Gildarts said, pressing a kiss onto the crown of her head, and received a sloppy kiss back as the baby tried to mimic her father. Playing with her was such a wonderful thing, though it was definitely approaching her bedtime. As though on cue his best girl yawn widely, showing off the three teeth she had.

"Alright little miss, bedtime," the crash mage scooped his baby up as she started rubbing at her tiny eyes.

The tired girl let out another yawn as she let her father change her for bed- alright maybe he'd gone a bit overboard when buying things for her, Cana had enough outfits that she had not worn the same thing twice in the nine days he'd had her, but he had never gotten to spoil her at this age so there!

The onesie she was wearing had a hood with little puppy ears and a tail, and it actually made her look even cuter than normal- which he had not actually thought was possible! A sleepy tug on his hair got him to look her square in the face, as a tiny hand patted his cheek.

"Da!"

Gildarts froze- did he just hear that right?

"C-can you say that again Cana-darling? Daddy didn't quite hear that."

"Da! Da!" Came the cheerful reply from the sleepy little girl.

Unbidden he felt tears well up in his eyes as he stared at the miracle in his arms.

"Yeah," he croaked, "Yeah, I'm your Daddy."

The baby could barely keep her eyes open, having said her piece. The father took that as his cue to put her down in her crib- and damn had putting that thing together been a pain in the ass. His precious girl had been asleep before he even got her all the way down.

The father just stood there for a while, just watching his child sleep. He may miss the grown-up Cana, and deeply regret not being there the first time to see this. He was never not going to regret not being there to see her birth or her first steps or see her become the amazing woman she was, but he'd gotten to hear her first word and that was enough.

AN: Let me know if I made you squeal, I may add onto this, I might not. Depends if I come up with more, either way have a nice day everybody!