Summary: Gray discovers only he can handle Nashi when she's teething…

Pairings: Natsu/Lucy, Parental Lucy/Nashi, Parental Natsu/Nashi, Gray/Lucy/Natsu friendship, Parental Gray/Nashi, implied Gajeel/Levy, implied parental Levy/Gilly, implied parental Gray/Gilly, and Gray/Levy friendship.

Author's Note: For UnitedOsprey1991, who suggested this.

Gray has seen Natsu and Lucy in all states before. He has seen them bloody and sweaty after battle, he had seen them bone tired after a long, difficult, jobs, he had seen them a giggly messes after they had drank too much, and there has been way too many times than he would like to remember where he has seen them in compromising positions…

But never before has he seen them literally been driven to tears out of sheer exhaustion.

Lucy paced up and down the guild as she gently bounced a grizzling Nashi in her arms. Her hand was rubbing soothing circles on Nashi's back and she softly murmured "there, there," over and over again.

Natsu, on the other hand, was following on Lucy's heels as he pulled one ridiculous face after another in an attempt to cheer up his baby.

This usually worked.

Nashi, when she wasn't being particularly grumpy and temperamental (Natsu maintains that these moods came entirely from Lucy and Gray is willing to believe it seeing as Lucy threw a shoe at Natsu the last time he brought it up), was usually a cheerful and happy baby. To see her face scrunched up in a little scowl as she groaned and grumbled and grizzled was entirely unusual.

As was the fact that Natsu and Lucy looked like they were going to collapse,- their eyes were sunken into their deathly white faces, dark shadows formed under their eyes, and they were both yawning widely and unattractively - as tears began to run down their faces.

"Nashi, baby, please," Lucy begged, "go to sleep!"

Nashi merely grizzled in reply.

Gray was beginning to understand why Happy flew in looking like death warmed over, picked as many jobs as he could, and flew out without a backward glance earlier this morning…

He was desperate to get away.

"What's wrong with the baby?" Gray asked. "Did she finally comprehend how hideous her Dad's ugly mug is?"

"You're pretty too," Natsu yawned in reply.

Gray stared at him dumbstruck for a moment until he realised that Natsu was that tired that it never registered to him that he had been insulted….either that or he really was that thick. It was 50/50 if you ask Gray.

"No!" Lucy snapped. She was always more irritably and crabby when she was tired, or hungry, or stressed, and she was definitely two out of three right now. "Nashi is teething."

"So give her a teething ring," Gray rolled his eyes, "it's not rocket science."

"She has already shredded through three teething rings today alone," Lucy said as her eye twitched in irritation, "we've not been able to cool them down quick enough to keep up."

"She shredded them?!" Gray yelped. "Lucy, what sort of baby are you raising?"

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at that. "His," she said pointedly as she pointed at Natsu….who was sleeping on his feet and snowing loudly.

"Oh, right," Gray blinked, "stupid question….she's getting dragon traits already?!"

"She's getting dragon traits already," Lucy sobbed helplessly, "and her tooth is sharp. Here feel," she shifted Nashi in her arms slightly so Gray could put a finger in Nashi's mouth.

He ran his finger along the inflamed, warm, gums and winced when he felt something sharp, pointed, and painful pressed up against his finger.

Nashi had a sharp canine coming through.

"Ouch!" Gray winced as Nashi bit down on his finger. "I see what you mean," he mumbled as Nashi grizzled round his finger and Lucy seemed to look wearier by the second. "Hold on, let me help," he gently pushed his magic to the finger in Nashi's mouth and instantly felt the inflamed gums cool at his though.

Nashi slumped against Lucy's shoulder as she let out a breathy sigh of relief.

"Oh thank God!" Lucy cried out. "I thought she was never going to calm down."

"If you want," Gray said as he eyed Lucy nervously, she was beginning to wobble a little and looked as if she was about collapse, "I can take care of Nashi for a while."

"Bye! Have fun! We love you!" Lucy and Natsu blurted out as they dashed out of the guild door. "That was aimed at Nashi," Natsu added over his shoulder, "not you!"

Gray barely blinked before Lucy and Natsu had vanished completely, leaving nothing but dust in the air where they used to stand, he was suddenly aware that his arms were full of baby and the moment he tried to pull his finger out of Nashi's mouth, she grizzled and tears welled up in her big, brown, eyes. Gray sighed and pushed his finger back in, sending in another blast of ice magic to numb to pain in Nashi's mouth. Nashi gargled delightedly as she drooled all over Gray's hand much to his never-ending disgust.

(It was running down his wrist…urgh.)

"You're lucky that I love you and your parents," Gray informed Nashi stiffly. She blinked her brown eyes and gave him a gummy, bright, smile as she snuggled closer to him. "And that you're too cute to say no to," He added under his breath, "goddamnit. I'm a sucker. Literally."

A couple months later Levy appeared at his front door looking like death warmed over as she jiggled a grizzly, grumpy, definitely Gajeel's daughter, in her arms. "Please," she begged weakly, "Please…"

"All right," Gray sighed as he held his arms out for Gilly, "but I'm warning you. I'm charging a hundred jewels per a bite."