Soooo... I'm not sure what I'm doing lol. I told you I'd post in like a week and here I am, posting within a day. I'm actually going on that road trip in like 6 hours and I'm super sleepy. I worked on this chapter throughout the day today and I finished it so I was like, why not? might as well not keep my lovely fans waiting. anywho, give me some prompts or ideas of one-shots you'd like me to write and I'll have fun with them. I will most likely add another chapter or so to this story. enjoy :)

Chapter 37

Family

Levy stayed with Porlyusica for a few days so she could be monitored, just in case she had delayed complications from the birth of their beautiful son. After Levy was deemed fine and well, the older woman practically kicked them out, slamming the door behind them muttering something about hating humans.

Levy couldn't tear her eyes away from the mini human in her arms; it's like she fell in love all over again.

"Come on, Shrimp. I know you're tired."

"Yes, tired and sore, but it was all worth it," she said cooing at the baby.

"Would you do it again?"

Levy smiled up at her mate. "Yes."

Gajeel walked alongside Levy and Zeke to their home, his mind running a million miles a minute. As if the kid were in his head, he started fussing.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong?" Levy asked. "Your face is all scrunched up. Are you hungry?"

Levy pulled out a bottle of milk she'd pumped earlier and tried feeding him, but he just wasn't having it.

"Do you need to be changed?" She checked his diaper, but it was dry.

Gajeel watched as Levy tried to soothe their fussy baby. 'If this kid is anything like me, he could go for some iron right about now,' he thought as his stomach rumbled.

"Do you think you could make some iron?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure, just take him for a sec," she said handing over his clone.

As soon as he held Zeke, he stopped fussing and the thoughts swirling around in his mind finally subsided.

SOLID SCRIPT: Iron

Zeke watched in awe as the large shiny object appeared before his eyes.

"Thanks, Shrimp," Gajeel said munching the delicacy.

He looked down at his kid, noticing that he seemed to be boring a hole into the iron with his eyes.

"You want some of Mommy's iron?" He smirked as he broke off a piece of iron and rolled it in the shape of a makeshift pacifier.

Zeke took it happily, sucking on it as if that was his only source of food.

"Well, what do ya know?" He said, laughing.

Levy looked slightly annoyed, and she was.

"What's wrong, Shrimp?" He teased. "No mama's boy for you. This one's all me!"

Levy couldn't help but notice Zeke stopped fussing when his dad took him and that he was into iron. She hoped he'd be a little more like her. She guessed when the time was right, they could always have another.

"Let me hold him," she said, desperate to get the same bond.

She took Zeke, and he was fine for maybe two seconds until he started fussing again.

"I carry you for nine months and you choose him over me?" She pouted as she held him up in the air.

"It's alright, Lev. Give him some time," he said, taking Zeke back from her. "Let's go home." He extended his free hand and Levy took it, sighing heavily.

When they got closer to their house, Gajeel remembered her surprise. He was a little annoyed that he kept forgetting, but he figured it was because of lack of sleep.

"Shrimp," he said, putting the key inside the door. "Close your eyes."

"Eh? Why? You know I hate surprises."

"Just close 'em," he demanded, perhaps a bit too harshly.

Levy huffed and closed her eyes, prepared for anything. She braced herself as he ushered her inside and seemingly pushing her down the hall, all with one hand. After trekking down what she assumed was the hall, he stopped her and positioned her a certain direction.

"Open them," he said in her ear.

Levy opened her eyes and saw a door. The door to their guest bedroom. 'I guess he wants me to open it.' She reached for the handle and turned the knob, slowly pushing it open.

Her jaw dropped as she entered the room. It was as if her dreams came true. Either that or an extreme case of Deja Vú. There were bookshelves in place of walls that reached up to the ceiling. It held every one of her books and then some. There was even a small stool for her to reach the ones on the higher shelves. She scanned the room and saw an iron crib, topped with stuffed animals and blankets and an iron mobile hanging over it. Next to the crib, there was a really fancy rocking chair that Levy took a liking to.

Gajeel studied her face, liking the reaction he got from her.

"So, whatcha think?" He asked.

"Gajeel…." She was speechless. "How did…. When…?"

"There was a reason why I wanted to go on such a long job, Shrimp. I had a few guild members come over and build this for you while we were gone."

Levy couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Gajeel, it's wonderful, thank you so much!"

She turned around to give him a hug, sandwiching Zeke in the middle.

Gajeel and Levy stayed in their home for a few months getting accustomed to life with Zeke, and it was a bit hard, but not impossible. Sleep was scarce, as he was a bit of a handful. He definitely was his father's son. He had his temper and his appetite. She was constantly making iron for them both; plain iron for Gajeel and iron-infused milk for Zeke.

Gajeel was proud. Zeke was strong and he definitely had small amounts of magic coming from him. He suspected his son was an iron dragon slayer given the fact he was into iron, and his senses seemed to be a bit heightened. He'd always seem to know when Levy woke up in the morning and would cry until she gave him attention.

Zeke Redfox was truly one of a kind. He was smart and intuitive, seeming to know when his parents were in distress, more often his dad, who he had more of a bond with. Zeke loved his mom dearly and loved getting attention from her, but he absolutely adored his dad.

The older he got, the greater the bond became between him and his dad. When Gajeel would be stressed out, all he had to do was pick him up and hold him for a bit, his stress dissipating as soon as he had him in his arms. It was times like those when he was more like his mom. He could be comforting without doing anything, and he picked up on things quickly.

There were only a select few people who'd seen Zeke; Lucy and Natsu stopped by a few weeks ago and Juvia dragged Gray along to see her longtime friend's baby. Lucy's eyes were practically stars when she first met Zeke and she begged to babysit when they started going on jobs again.

Levy assured her he was a handful, but the celestial mage didn't care. Natsu was pretty excited to have a new addition to the guild that he could train and take under his wing, but Gajeel quickly ended his excitement, telling Natsu that as his father, he felt that it was his responsibility to train his son. They proceeded to argue back and forth about how the guild was supposed to help and whatnot, causing a tired Levy to leave the room and be free of their bickering.

Throughout the time they spent hibernating with Zeke, Lily would take a few jobs here and there and keep the guild updated on Levy and Gajeel. They were all eager to meet the baby, but they understood that they wanted to keep to themselves for a bit until they got used to their new life.

Not too long after that, Levy decided they should finally show their face at the guild. Around that time, she noticed two new things about Zeke.

"Gajeel! Come look at this," she called from the baby's room.

Gajeel came into the room, not really surprised at what he saw. Zeke was growing iron studs on his face and arms where his dad's were, and they saw a bottom tooth poking through his gums.

"Yeah, I suspected as such," he said. "The kid is just like me."

Levy pouted, not going unnoticed by Gajeel.

"But he's got your brains," he said, ruffling her hair.

"He's growing so fast, I wonder if that has anything to do with being a baby dragon," she thought out loud.

She really hoped Zeke would be more like her when he grew up. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about books and other things. It was obvious he wasn't going to be a script mage, and honestly, the only thing that he had of hers were her eyes. 'Gajeel must have some strong genes.'

They got to the guild and were immediately bombarded by their friends, all of them taking a liking to their new addition. A few people collected bet money, saying they knew the baby would be like Gajeel, while others congratulated them and offered them drinks.

They were happy to finally be back at the guild. Even Gajeel missed his mates.

"So," Mira started. "When are you guys looking to take another job?"

"Well, we're pretty much accustomed to life now, so I imagine we'll be taking jobs again here pretty soon," the script mage explained.

"Nope!" Gajeel said. "We need ya, Lev. Can't risk anything happening to ya."

"Well, what about you? He likes you more anyway! You're the one who should stay and watch Zeke!"

The guild watched as the two went back and forth, chuckling at the scene.

"You guys fight like an old married couple," Cana said, slurring her words.

The debate unintentionally got a bit heated, resulting in Levy storming out with Zeke in tow.

"Who does he think he is?" She muttered angrily to herself as she walked through the woods.

"Stupid Gajeel! I can work and take care of you just fine! Isn't that right, baby?" She pinched Zeke's cheek, causing him to giggle.

Levy understood his worry, but she hated being treated like she was made of glass. Granted, it had been a while since she actually worked on a mission, but she felt she was still in good shape.

She rolled her eyes as Zeke started fussing. She knew he wasn't hungry, and he'd just been changed, and the only other thing that she could think of was him needing his iron pacifier or Gajeel was coming up on them. She turned around, and sure enough, her visibly annoyed mate was approaching.

"What do you want, Gajeel?" Levy spat.

"I want Zeke."

"Here, take him. He wants you anyway."

She handed him the baby and he stopped fussing, as usual. She turned around and walked home, almost stomping the whole way.

Gajeel held the little black-haired baby, his anger quickly subsiding. He didn't really understand how or why his little man calmed him like he did, be he wasn't going to question it. Every time things between he and Levy escalated, Zeke would cry until they made up, and they had to have actually stopped arguing. He remembered one night they argued about something silly, and he picked him up while they were still going at it, but he continued to cry until they stopped. 'My smart little guy.' He walked home with Zeke in his arms, ready to make up with his mate.

When Levy got in the house, she went straight for the bathroom to take a long, well-needed bath. She soaked and thought about her life and how every decision and event landed her here with the (annoying) love of her life, and their baby, whom she loved dearly.

She closed her eyes and sighed when she heard the door to their home open and shut. Levy honestly just wanted some peace away from everyone and everything, but unfortunately, that wasn't feasible, not with a baby. Maybe that's why she wanted to go on a job. Lucy would be more than happy to babysit and take Zeke off their hands for a few days if they decided to.

Gajeel was tired of waiting on Levy to come out of the bathroom. He'd already fed and put Zeke to bed and made a small dinner for them to eat. He got up from the couch and leaned on the bathroom's door frame, watching her dry off. He quietly admired her curves, her having not lost the baby weight so she was thick. Turns out, he liked a little thickness.

Levy felt his presence and decided to ignore it, not really wanting to talk to him until she turned around and saw him gazing at her with his trademark smirk. Suddenly, she felt aroused.

It had been a while since they'd had sex, and it wasn't intentional. Zeke took a lot of their time and attention and they both acknowledged that there were more important things to get done than fucking like rabbits all the time. They'd found time and energy to do it two or three times after her six weeks was up, but after that, it wasn't often that they'd be intimate.

A lot of it had to do with Levy not feeling sexy anymore. She knew she hadn't lost the baby weight, and she felt fat. In reality, she knew she wasn't that big, only having gone up two sizes, still, she was bigger than she was used to being. It was hard to believe he would still find her sexy while looking like this. 'At least something good came from it.'

"Levy," he said, walking toward her with open arms.

"Gajeel," she replied, welcoming his embrace that eventually turned into a passionate kiss which turned into him picking her up and carrying her to their bed.

He pinned her wrists above her head, his eyes scanning her thick, but petite body.

"Fuck, you're so beautiful," he said, his voice almost a whisper.

He used a free hand to cup her breast, gently squeezing, a small moan escaping her lips. As they were becoming more into it, Zeke started crying.

Gajeel lightly dragged his fingers down her torso, chuckling in response to the soft cries of the baby.

"Looks like this will have to wait, Shrimp," he said, standing upright and making his way toward Zeke.

Levy smirked; her new life so surreal.