Shivers:

"Brr!" Levy shivered as she put down the blanket she'd been knitting and rubbed her hands over her arms. She was cold all of sudden. That was-

"Oh, no!" Levy gasped. Her heart began beating rapidly. Chills! Those were symptoms of…

Her breath became short as she shouted: "Gajeel!"

Her hands began shaking uncontrollably.

"Gajeel!"

"What is it, Shrimp?" Gajeel asked as he peeked into their bedroom. He was shocked to find his wife shivering.

"Blood sugar dropping!" Levy cried, eyes growing watery as she continued rubbing at her arms. "Get me something!"

Gajeel's eyes grew wide as he raced out of the room. He quickly returned with a glass of orange juice in his hands.

"Here we go," he said softly, trying to be comforting as he set one hand on the back of Levy's head and used his other to bring the glass to her lips.

Levy quickly swallowed a large gulp down.

"Don't choke yourself," Gajeel said.

Levy slowed down, but only a little bit. It took her only seconds to empty the cup.

"There we go," Gajeel stroked her hair along the back of her neck as he set the glass down on the bedside table. "Feeling better?"

"A little bit," Levy said as she rubbed her arms again. "I'm still cold, though."

"Hm," Gajeel muttered as he stood up and pulled the blankets of their bed back. "Well, lie down for a minute, I'll get you some more juice."

Levy did not want to lie down. She really, really didn't. Since she found out she was pregnant that was all she'd done. Still, she knew it was for the best. Even though she was so disgusted with the situation that she thought she'd be sick, this was what she had to do to keep her baby safe. So she crawled under the blanket and laid her head on the pillow. Gajeel covered her in the blankets, picked the glass back up, and walked back towards the kitchen.

Levy pulled the blanket up to her chin. Her throat began to grow tight, her eyes itchy. She growled at herself and bit her lip. No! This was dumb! All she was doing was lying down for a second. It was not worth crying over! Still, her vision began to blur. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the tears back.

This was so dumb! All she was doing was taking a short break!

But no.

It was more than that.

Deep down she knew that.

But she tried not to dwell on it.

She tried not to think about it.

Moping around about her situation was not going to make things any better.

The mattress shifted behind her, breaking her out of her trance. A set of strong, warm arms wrapped around her.

"What's going on, Lev?" Gajeel asked softly.

"Nothing," Levy answered.

"You're not going to make me arrest you for lying to your husband, are you?"

Despite her somber mood, Levy couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"So, what's wrong?" Gajeel asked.

Levy shook her head. "It's silly."

"Not what I asked…" Gajeel sighed.

Levy took a deep breath. "The S-Class trials are coming up in three months."

"Yeah…?"

"I'm not gonna be able to go," Levy lamented.

"Well, no," Gajeel replied, confused. "You'll be eight months pregnant, of course you're not going to go."

"This will be my first time since making the S-Class that I haven't participated in. Even when I was pregnant with the twins I went."

"Well, to be fair, we didn't know you were pregnant at the time," Gajeel said, recalling how freaked out he'd been when Levy spent the entire trials sick to her stomach. Being frustrated at not being able to talk her stubborn butt to leave and go see a healer. Literally dragging her to Porlyusica once they returned from the trials, and then being completely and utterly shocked to find out she was pregnant.

"Still…" Levy muttered.

"No one is going to hold it against you," Gajeel said. "You won't be the first S-Class wizard to sit it out because of family business. Heck, even Erza sat it out the year the triplets were born!"

"She had three very, very sick babies, though."

"And you have a condition that is making this pregnancy dangerous for you and the bab-"

Levy burst into tears.

"Hey!" Gajeel shouted, surprised. Still, he held her closer, rocking her back and forth. "Hey, hey, c'mon Lev, tell me what's wrong."

"I've fought hard for this," Levy whimpered. "I've fought hard to be an S-Class wizard. I've fought hard to prove myself. Everyone always saw me as a weak, pathetic little nerd, and I fought hard to prove them otherwise. But now...look at me!"

"Levy," Gajeel sighed, kissing the top of her head. "You are not weak. Anyone who thinks that is an idiot, and I'll have to arrest them for being stupid!"

Levy smiled weakly but didn't feel any better. "I've been out of the field a while, though," she whimpered. "I know it was my choice to stay home with the girls when they were little, and I don't regret that decision. I didn't have any parents growing up. I wanted my children to feel secure, to know that Mommy would always be there. But it's taken me awhile to get back to my prime since going back to work. Which is fine, I expected it. But now I have to start all over again!"

Gajeel frowned. He hadn't realized this was bothering her so much. Sure, the thought had crossed his mind, a bit. He and Levy had talked several times about work arrangements while she was pregnant with the twins. They'd ultimately decided that Levy would be a stay-at-home parent while their children were little, but would return to work once they got older and more independent. They hadn't yet had discussions about how they'd handle work now that they had a new baby coming, mostly because they'd been too busy preparing the house: building a new room for the baby, baby-proofing everything, buying all the tools, toys, equipment, and clothes they'd need.

Having Levy be a stay-at-home mother for the twins was not a choice they'd made easily. Both were very aware that she'd be sacrificing a lot of her time and freedom, and that Gajeel would have to take on extra work to provide for everyone. But ultimately they'd decided it would be best for their family.

But that was then.

Now?

"I know it's selfish," Levy whispered as she rubbed at her face. "And I'm happy about this baby. I just-"

"You're not being selfish," Gajeel cut her off. "You've given up a lot for our family, Levy. And I think I've taken that for granted. So I'm sorry. We should have talked about this a long time ago."

Levy sniffled. "I mean...there's not a lot to talk about, is there? We decided years ago that this would be best-"

"Well, yeah, but we didn't think we'd be starting over thirteen years from then!" Gajeel exclaimed. "It's been over a decade since we decided that. A lot has changed."

Levy turned over on her side to face Gajeel. "What do you mean?"

"Like I said, you've given up a lot for our family," Gajeel said. "And I think it's time I return the favor."

"Return the favor?" Levy arched an eyebrow.

"What if I stay home with the kids for the next few years?"

Levy sat straight up. "WHAT!?" Had Gajeel Black Steel Redfox actually just agreed to be a stay at home dad!?

"Well, we're both S-Class, so it's not like you make less money than me. And like I said, you've spent too much time at home, it's time you were cut loose. Besides, with the twins getting older now they could benefit from having an in-home combat coach so to speak. Especially Persephone. Kids smart as a whip, but she's gonna have to learn how to throw and take a punch in case those fancy screens of hers fail."

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my husband?" Levy asked. "Aren't you the guy who said you don't need friends all those years ago?"

Gajeel chuckled. "What can I say? True love and family life have changed me."

Levy smiled softly. "Are you sure about this, though?"

"Yeah," Gajeel nodded. "Like I said, it's only fair. And besides, I'd love to get to spend more quality time with my rugrats."

Levy smiled softly. "Well, okay then, I guess."

"There's that pretty little smile I was looking for," Gajeel said as he cupped her chin in his hand.

Levy chuckled, then gasped, setting a hand on her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Gajeel asked, sitting up, worried.

Levy smiled. "Nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just give me your hand," Levy said, holding her palm out to him. Gajeel set his hand in hers and she placed it against her stomach. A small thumb pressed against his palm. A wide smile spread over Gajeel's face.

"Did you feel it?" Levy asked.

Gajeel nodded. "I felt it." He set both hands on either side of Levy's baby and then leaned his ear against her stomach. The baby began to move again, kicking and stretching.

"That's it," Gajeel whispered, rubbing circles on Levy's stomach. "Exercise those little arms and legs. Be strong, so you can come out here and kick some butt!"

AN: So...um...I've reached a dilemma. Obviously I've been building up the tension with Fairy Tail, Twilight Ogre, and the new guilds in Magnolia. It was just gonna be like a sporadic mini-arch thing that just popped up here and there, but it's kinda grown into something bigger. So...we may be getting a full length Battle of the Guilds story here soon, similar to the Phantom Lord arc from the anime. So stay soon for that...maybe...