It was early afternoon, spring… flower season. Laxus let out a low sigh, tucking a bag into the large pocket of his fur coat, and swinging open the door of the flower shop and walking into noise that could rival the noise of the street he'd just left. The babbling of children, the sound of two customers talking, Hisui on the phone at the counter… Laxus's eyes were immediately drawn to his wife. Her sleeve's rolled up, one one-year-old twin on each of her hips, her muscles taught, the phone tucked between her shoulder and cheek.

"Mmhmm! That's perfect. Let's talk about the… the flowers..." Her eyes met her husband's and relief made her shoulders sag. "Hold on one second, okay? Just one second." She somehow slipped the phone out and set it on the counter before rushing around to meet him at the door.

"Thank goodness!" She sighed. The twins were babbling, fingers tangled in her green hair. "Look! Look who it is! Daddy's home! Can you take them? I'm talking to Lucy about the wedding."

"Anything for you. Where are Yuri and Annalise?"

"Playing on the stairs."

"I'll take the kids up to the house, okay?" Laxus said, "You can have all the time you need."

"You're my hero," Hisui whispered, gently passing Makarov and Mavis into Laxus's arms.

"Hey, kids!" He grinned, pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads. Hisui was already rushing back around the counter. "Hey!" Laxus pouted.

"What?" Hisui grinned, picking up the phone. "You wanted to kiss me too?"

He let out an overexaggerated sigh, and moved over to the counter. Hisui laughed, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright. She gently leaned over the counter-over a bouquet of tiny white flowers-to kiss his lips. "Thanks for coming home for lunch, detective." She murmured.

Laxus let out a sigh, "You know I'm happy to get away from work to be with all of you. I'll make sandwiches for lunch." He turned the corner, twins still in his arms, to find his oldest, and Freed and Mira's daughter, towering blocks on the stairs.

"Daddy!" Yuri gasped, leaping to his feet and racing towards his father, throwing his arms around Laxus's legs.

"Uncle Laxus!" Annalise beamed, following her best friend to make a group hug.

"Okay, kids," Laxus grinned, "I brought some treats, but first we're going to eat lunch okay?"

"Yes!" Yuri grinned, bounding up the stairs towards their apartment above the shop. "Lunch time!"

By the time everyone was seated at the little dining room table, the twins in their high chairs, and finally eating, Laxus felt like it had been an eternity. No one told him being a father would be this exhausting, but seeing his children's faces… cheeks smeared with peanut butter—Yuri somehow had peanut butter in his green hair?—bright smiles, the contagious laughter… he loved them, more than anything in the world. I would die for the three of you. And in the evening, in the still couple hours of sleep before one of the twins woke them, he got to hold the most beautiful woman in the world in his arms. Guess I'm the luckiest guy around. The door swung open, and his wife stepped in, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide with excitement. She let out a deep sigh, catching her breath. She must have run up the stairs.

"The moment I was done with the phone call from Lucy they called."

Laxus's eyes widened. "Freed and Mira?!"

"Come on!" She giggled, nodding with excitement. "We gotta get the kids ready if we're going to make it to the hospital before the end of visiting hours."

"Okay, kids! We're going to go meet Anna's new sibling!"

Annalise glanced up, jam on her chin. "My baby brother or sister is here?!" Her bright blue eyes widened with excitement.

"You have a baby sister, Anna!" Hisui gasped, clasping her hands together. "Don't you want to meet her?"

"Yes!" Annalise nodded.

"Let's go!" Yuri gasped, jumping off his chair and rushing towards the door.

"Yuri Toma Dreyar!" Hisui gasped, "First, lets wash your face!"

⁂

The hospital was quiet. Hisui led the way, Mavis on her hip. "They're in room 234," she said. Laxus could feel Makarov falling asleep against the top of his head. It was around nap time for the twins. He was surprised they weren't being fussy. Yuri and Annalise were rushing, pointing out the numbers on the doors, trying desperately to find Room 234.

"There! There!" Annalise gasped, pointing to a room on the corner. Hisui rushed to catch up with the green-haired girl before she could throw open the door. And together, they all entered the hospital room. Freed glanced up as they stepped in, standing from where he sat on the edge of Mira's hospital bed.

"Daddy!" Annalise gasped, bounding across the room.

"Shh!" Freed crouched to pull her up into his arms. "Your baby sister's sleeping." He lifted her onto the bed next to her mother. Mira gently wrapped an arm around her oldest daughter.

"Hi, sweetie," she murmured, "Look at your baby sister."

"She's so small," Annalise breathed, "Can I hold her."

Freed's eyes widened. "Uh, no, let's wait on that one—"

"It's okay, Freed," Mira smiled, her eyes bright and warm, "I'll help her." She glanced up at Hisui and Laxus and Yuri. "Do you want to meet her, first?"

"Yes!" Hisui nodded. Together they crossed the room, leaning over the bed to get a glimpse of Freed and Mira's second. She was fast asleep. Laxus remembered that… holding the twins for the first time. Holding Yuri for the first time. The calm before the storm. Where Annalise had frosty green hair—almost a mix between her mother and father—her younger sister had a tuft of pale white hair.

"She's beautiful," Hisui breathed, "What's her name?"

Freed pouted a little. "Well…" he huffed. "If she had been a boy we had a name picked out—"

"Freed was very determined," Mira said, as she helped Annalise hold the baby in her lap. "That she would be a boy. He wanted to name the baby after you, Laxus."

Laxus's eyes widened. "What?"

Freed let out a deep sigh, "We've been a team for a long time—you, me, Ever, and Bixlow. You've always been there for us, Laxus." He laughed a little. "You're the strongest out of all of us. And I wanted to honor that. To honor you. You're… my best friend."

"Oh my god! That's so cute!" Hisui gasped, and then she seemed to remember, "But… baby turned out to be a girl, huh?"

Freed gritted his teeth. "Yeah."

"We still named her after Laxus," Mira said, trying to offer her husband a smile. "Her name is Lexa."

"That's adorable!" Hisui said. "Annalise and Lexa Justine! That's sooo cute!"

"I don't know what to say," Laxus breathed.

"You don't have to say anything," Freed huffed, "It's not perfect. Not the way I imagined… but…" He gently reached out and rested his hand on Mira's shoulder, "She's perfect. And that's all that matters."

⁂

Hisui slipped into bed, gently slipping an arm over Laxus's chest, and nuzzling close against him. He stirred, letting out a breath. "You were up late," he murmured, turning to press a kiss to her forehead.

"Had to finish this arrangement someone ordered for tomorrow," she yawned.

"You work too hard, Sui."

"I love both my jobs," she murmured.

She could feel him shift a little, could almost see the frown as he tried to work through the words through the sleepy fog of his brain. "Both?"

"My flower shop, and being a mother, silly." She laughed. She was fading, sleep tugging at her eyelids. Tomorrow we get to do it all over again. It seemed like a scary prospect, if she had to face it all on her own. But she had him—her everything. "I love you, Laxus," she said

He relaxed. "I love you too, more than anything."

"We can do anything together, you know?" She questioned, "We could take on the whole world."

"I know," he chuckled, "But it might be better to start small. Let's try and take on the whole flower shop first."

Hisui laughed, "I don't know if we'll ever be able to go bigger than that."

Laxus turned, propped up on his elbow, glancing down at her with a soft smile. "A flower shop is big enough for me."