The Clive Home for Orphans

Summary: The story of how Gildarts and Cornelia wound up adopting the entire younger generation of Fairy Tail. Spoiler: it was all Cana's fault.

Disclaimer: I don't own

AN: This is one of those chapters that became something completely different than I had planned, but somehow I think it turned out better. Enjoy guys!

"Mommy can I have a little brother?"

Cornelia sputtered, choking on her coffee and hacking up half a lung in shock.

What-?

"I'm- what was that sweetie?" The mother asked after she had regained her ability to speak.

Cana eyed her for a moment before she repeated herself," Can I have a little brother?"

"That's- "Where the hell had this come from? "Why do you want a little brother sweetheart?"

The eight-year-old shrugged," I just do." She answered simply," I want to be a big sister and carry him around like Laxus carried me around when I was a baby. So, can I have one?"

Cornelia swallowed," Sweetie… that's just not in the cards for us." She said gently," You see- after Daddy and I had you we loved you so much that we wanted to have another, but that just isn't possible. Daddy and I were upset at first, but we have you and you are more than enough for us."

Cana tilted her head," Why?" She asked openly curious.

"Why what?" The mother asked for clarification.

"Why can't you have another one?"

The older brunette closed her eyes for a moment," Its just not possible sweetheart." She said firmly, wanting to nip this in the bud," Let's just go wait for Daddy- he said he should be home by this afternoon."

The look on her daughter's face made her sigh inwardly: this was far from dropped.

oOOOOo

Sure enough, later that day when the reunited family were out for ice cream, Cana once again repeated her request.

"Daddy can I have a little sister?"

This time it was Gildarts' turn to choke and after he was done sputtering, he stared right at his little girl. "Where's this coming from?"

"I just want one." Cana said passionately," Mommy said that I couldn't have a little brother, so can I have a sister?"

The Ace floundered and looked to his wife for help before answering," Cana- I don't know what to say." He answered honestly. "Its not that we don't want to give you a little brother or sister, but… baby it's just not possible."

"Why not?" She asked stubbornly.

"Cana." Cornelia said gently," Sometimes life just isn't fair- this is one of those times."

"Exactly." Gildarts said, seamlessly picking up for his wife," We always wanted to have more but the universe decided that you were all we could have, which just makes you even more precious. Do you understand Pumpkin?"

"No."

The parents shared a look but shook it off. "No matter how much we want something- sometimes it just doesn't work out." Gildarts explained patiently," We just aren't meant to have any more babies, we're okay with this and I'm sure, eventually, you will be too. You'll understand better when you're older."

The little girl nodded," Okay Daddy." And as she went back to her ice cream, both parents shared a look and Gildarts reached over to gently squeeze Cornelia's hand.

Hopefully that was the end of that.

oOOOOo

Several weeks later and the conversations had been almost totally forgotten by the members of the Clive family. Until one day…

Cana marched determinably toward her parents, dragging an uneasy, half-naked boy with her," Mommy, Daddy, this is Gray, he's my brother now." She said firmly.

Both Gildarts and Cornelia slowly blinked at that declaration.

"What?" They asked simultaneously.

"He's my brother now." She repeated firmly to her bewildered parents," He's got no where to go and no one to take care of him- you're supposed to step up and help people who need it. So he's ours now."

"You really don't have to- "The boy started but Cana cut him off.

"You have no place to stay tonight: yes or no?" She asked directly.

The boy visibly floundered for a moment," Uh- well I can manage- "

"Yes or no?"

"…no."

"You don't have anyone to make you pancakes: yes or no?"

"…no."

"You have nobody to look after you: yes or no?"

"I can look after myself just fine-!"

"Yes or no?"

"…no."

Cana opened her mouth to once again ask a question, but Gildarts raised a hand.

"We get it Pumpkin." He assured her and shared a look with Cornelia who gave him a small nod," Well, Gray if you need a place to stay until the guild can get things sorted for you, you are more than welcome to stay with us."

"You really don't have to- "

"We want to." Cornelia interrupted gently, before raising her eyebrow," But do we have to go get you clothes while you're with us?"

Gray let out a loud yelp," When did that happen?!"

All three people stifled laughs and so, Gray moved in. What was meant to last several days became several weeks, until eventually Cornelia realized that Gray had been with them for an entire year. And as soon as she realized this, she smiled and made sure to grab a cake on her way home: if any of them wondered why they never commented.

oOOOOo

Neither Gildarts nor Cornelia could imagine life without both of their children, nor did they want to. So, when a battered red-haired girl arrived at the guild one day, they were almost expecting what followed immediately after.

Cana marched right up to her parents and informed them that since Erza didn't have anywhere else to go, she would be staying with them for the foreseeable future. Upon seeing just how guarded the little red-head was, both of them immediately agreed.

It took time, but slowly Erza opened up to them, showing great aptitude for magic and weaponry and an equally great sweet tooth.

And a year after that, a brash pyromaniac entered the guild. Natsu caused trouble as easy as he breathed, he was loud, belligerent, and tried to challenge everyone he met to a fight.

And he fit into their small family like a missing piece of the puzzle- even if he and Gray frequently fought each other.

And the pattern continued.

"This is Levy, she's my sister now."

"These guys are Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna- they don't have anywhere to stay tonight."

"Laki hasn't eaten a full meal in almost three days."

On and on.

It wasn't until one day, when Cornelia was in the kitchen making dinner for her family and listening to the familiar sounds of construction as they added onto the house yet again, that she realized exactly what Cana had done.

She had realized that her parents weren't able to expand their family themselves, so she had taken it upon herself. Now they had gone from the trio they once had been to a family of fourteen.

And neither Gildarts nor Cornelia would have it any other way.

oOOOOo

Lucy couldn't believe that she was actually standing in the real life Fairy Tail guildhall!

More than that- she was now a fully-fledged member of the Fairy Tail Guild- could this dream get any better?!

Mirajane (Mirajane in the flesh!) tapped her on the shoulder," Lucy- I was wondering if you had anywhere to stay tonight."

The blonde blinked and shook her head," No- my plan was to get a hotel for a couple nights until I find a place." She admitted.

"Well, I was just about to head home- we have family dinners every Friday and I'm sure no one would mind if you join in." She offered sweetly.

"Oh!" Lucy said in surprise, immediately trying to find a polite way to turn her down," I really couldn't impose- "

"You wouldn't be imposing on anything!" The brunette who had been drinking straight from the barrel said happily as she butted into the conversation. "Mom won't mind- hell since most of us are out of town she'd be happy to have another mouth to feed."

The blonde blinked in bemusement," Wait- are you guys related?" She asked in confusion.

Both women shared a look and shrugged.

"Not by blood- but Cana's parents adopted all of us at some point in time." Mira said casually," Even though most of us have our own places now, it's still home."

Lucy took a moment and slowly nodded," Well, I mean if you really don't think I'll be a bother- "

Mirajane squealed and Cana grinned widely.

"Let's get on our way, shall we." The brunette said happily, slinging her arm around the blonde's shoulders. "You're in Fairy Tail now- I think you'll find that we're all one big happy family here. We may have our spats, but when push comes to shove there is nothing we won't do for each other."

oOOOOo

"This is your house?" Lucy asked incredulously as she took it all in. Now, Lucy was no stranger to gigantic houses. She had practically grown up inside a palace and the only other children she had been allowed to meet had similar backgrounds, but this place-

She could see the original house that it had started from, and from there a veritable fortress of towers and levels had been added on seamlessly- as if they had grown organically. Each level had its own distinctive style- with one area having a balcony with wide windows, and another had a telescope poking out of the roof.

Cana let out a loud laugh," Yeah- every time we added to the family we had to make the house bigger and since stuff would get destroyed from time to time we eventually started personalizing the place- Levy's got her own little library, Natsu's room is climate-controlled because he likes to keep his room boiling constantly, Gray lives in a walk-in freezer, Laki has a woodshop and Erza's got an armory."

Before Lucy could come up with a response, her attention was drawn to a plaque half-hidden by the jungle growing off of one of the walls:

In This House

We Make Mistakes

We Forgive Quickly

We Cherish Our Friends

We Laugh Loudly

We Say We're Sorry

We Stand Together

And Most of All: We Are A Family

The blonde stared at that sign for a long time, before Cana gently shook her shoulder.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." Lucy answered with a smile.

Cana smiled down at her," Welcome to the family Lucy, we're a patchwork of issues and baggage, sometimes we fight and sometimes we don't, but for better or for worse we will always support each other. And that goes for you too. Now you ready to go in?"

"Yeah… I guess I am."

AN: You guys have no idea how much I war with myself on small details: do they have another kid after Cana? If so gender and name? Eventually I just decided on fertility issues but I'm still open to possibilities. If you guys could see how much I junked from this you would be awestruck (most of it was garbage written on sleep deprived sugar high). Though just imagining what the house would look like made me smile like an idiot.