Yuri Dreyar, now four months old, was having a rough day. His father? He was having a rough day too. His son became a more terrifying child every time he learned to do something new and his newest trick was rolling.

Lucy was on a job for the first time in over a year, and Laxus really was trying to prove that he could handle the baby without her, but he'd never had Yuri all to himself for such a long period of time. Forty-eight hours in and he was sure his son was causing him grief purposefully.

He'd left Yuri on a blanket on the couch for one minute to answer the door, and he was signing for a package when he heard a thump and a scream, and the delivery guy looked at him like he was the worst father ever.

He'd been screaming for ten minutes since then, and Laxus was panicking as he quickly tried to get him dressed to take him to Porlyusica.

Trying to change and dress a screaming infant was actually a lot harder than it looked. Yuri was a screamer, a kicker, a wiggler, a roller, and he didn't seem to appreciate the clothing experience at all to start with.

Laxus took his diaper off and was so busy panicking about the bump on the baby's head he forgot Yuri had another interesting little quirk.

He was trying to reason with him, when Yuri peed on his face.

The baby's father barely closed his mouth in time, and he made some kind of face that caused his son to stop screaming and smile.

Laxus reached for a baby wipe and wiped his face off. "Pee on my face and smile..."

When he brushed his fingertips on the bump forming on the baby's head from rolling off the couch, Yuri started yelling again. Laxus managed to put a clean diaper on him, and practically wrestled him into a blue onesie that had a dragon on it.

He rushed the screaming baby to Porlyusica's house in the woods and banged on the door.

The old woman opened the door and found Laxus holding a screaming infant on his shoulder. "What have you done to Thunder Baby?"

"He started rolling around a lot recently and he uhh...rolled off the couch."

Porlyusica took the infant and saw the bump on his head. "Where's his mother?"

Laxus crossed his arms and cut his eyes to one side. "My wife went on a job and left him with me. He screamed like a banshee when he realized she wasn't there yesterday. He rolled off the couch today. He peed on my face. I think he's just mad his mother isn't home."

"I heard you're nasty when you're away from Lucy too. Like father, like son?" the old woman asked as she examined the baby thoroughly for any signs of concussion. The idea of this child peeing on Laxus was indescribably amusing to her.

"Is my son okay?" Laxus worriedly asked.

"He's fine. Just a little bump. It'll probably leave an ugly little bruise," she answered.

Porlyusica really was enjoying the drama as it unfolded. She'd known a lot of babies over the course of her life, but Thunder Baby was a very special little guy. Somehow, he acted just like his father most of the time, and she didn't know how Lucy managed to deal with both of them at once. She wanted to say she had the patience of a saint, but she really didn't. Maybe with the baby, but Porlyusica had seen Lucy blow up and wag her finger at Laxus for being ridiculous.

Laxus was so relieved the baby was okay and took him back from the woman. "Any chance you can mash some herbs and potions and get rid of this bump? Lucy will be home tomorrow. She's only been gone for two days."

The old woman laughed at him. "Of course not. He's a baby. I can't just give him potions. She's going to let you have it when she sees her son's forehead all bruised."

"How about Wendy?"

"He's a baby. We can't just use magic on him. You're son is going to have a bruise and everyone is going to think you're a bad father until it goes away, especially people who don't have kids. Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. Every kid does stuff like this," she answered.

The woman gave him a little bottle with an eye dropper and unscrewed the top, filling the dropper halfway. "Give him this much for his headache every four hours." She gave him the first dose with practiced ease, although Laxus knew that it would be an ordeal to do at home like trying to get him to take his vitamins.

Laxus nodded. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver."

Porlyusica scribbled a bill and he reached into his pocket for some jewels.

"Do you remember Chelia Blendy?"

He had to think about it for a while. "Umm...the girl from Lamia Scale. She lost her magic, right?"

Porlyusica nodded. "She wants to become a pediatrician, but that means years of school. So she's enrolled here in Magnolia. She needs a cheap place to stay, and you need a nanny if you're both going to be going on jobs out of town. I think she can handle the Thunder Baby experience."

"She's all right?"

"Chelia is a really good kid."

The subject had come up between Laxus and Lucy before, and while the gut reaction of new parents was to automatically oppose the idea of anyone else helping raise their child, there was a pragmatics issue.

First, they were both wizards, and Lucy didn't want to quit her job and stop progressing because they had a baby, and he wouldn't have asked her too. Motherhood didn't mean all her other dreams and goals died, and she was so excited to go on this job with her team. It was important to him that nothing go wrong so she'd feel like it was okay to do what she needed to do.

Second, there were occasions they fought in the same battles or might have to be gone at the same time. What then? Most of the people they knew might very well be involved in the same conflict, especially if it was something guild-wide, and they didn't have any relatives besides Makarov.

Laxus took his baby and headed back home, stopping at the market to grab a few essentials. Baby balanced on one shoulder, basket in the other, he really didn't know how Lucy managed to do all that she did. Mothers were amazing to him, and he was glad Yuri had such a great one.

While he was at the market, he put things into his basket and explained what they were as he went down the aisles. Even if Yuri didn't understand, he always found himself talking to his son about everything. The baby expected Laxus to talk to him by that point in his life, so it was a source of comfort.

Yuri was a curious baby, and he looked around at everything going on around him while Laxus shopped. Diapers, wipes, bacon, eggs, bread, meat, and snacks went into his basket. Since he'd been screaming half the morning for assorted reasons, he slumped over and fell asleep, drooling on his father's shoulder while the women in the store swooned over the sight of a big strong man who loved his baby that much.

Laxus was walking home with a paper bag full of groceries in one hand and and was using the other to hold his son on his shoulder when he felt someone leap at him from the side. He cursed under his breath, threw the bag in the air, kicked an assailant in the face with a little lightning, and then caught the bag on his foot.

Romeo tumbled across the ground. "Owww...oh shit! I didn't know you had the baby! Sorry!"

"You should be glad I know your scent or you'd probably be dead right now. And since when are you old enough to curse?" he asked.

"You're such a dad now..." Romeo grabbed the grocery bag and walked beside him. "I've never seen Thunder Baby in person before."

"God, that name..."

"What's his real name again?"

"Not even sure if it matters anymore, but Yuri."

"How come his forehead is purple?"

Laxus brought him down from his shoulder and found the entire front of the baby's forehead was bruising. "He fell off the couch."

When they got to the Dreyar house, Laxus put the groceries down, brought a blanket outside, and put the baby on it. "You wanted a fight?"

They had a quick sparring session while Yuri watched, and then when Romeo went home, Laxus took the baby in, fed, and changed him. The baby took a nice little nap, and around dinner time, Laxus fed him again and then made himself some bacon and eggs while he put his son in his high chair.

As soon as he sat down to eat, the baby threw his bottle across the table and started yelling.

Laxus pinched a soft bite of egg between his fingers and blew on it. "Is this what you want?"

Yuri bit down on his fingers as he took the egg and held it in his mouth for a while before he made some chewing motion.

"You only have one tooth, I guess you can gum it to death though, huh?"

The baby swallowed and opened his mouth.

His father offered him another piece of egg. "Look, we have a weaning plan. This is not part of it. You're supposed to be on breast milk only for two more months. So if your mom finds out I fed you solid food while she was gone, she's going to kill me and you'll be fatherless."

And, since he was confessing his sins to his son, he added, "I also took you outside without pants, and your mother would be infuriated about that. She likes to have you all dressed up before you go out in public. To her, a baby in a onesie in public is like a grown person going outside in their underwear. But trying to dress you is like trying to put a straight jacket on a python."

Once he finished, he cleaned up a little while his son watched his every move, and he drew a warm bubble bath in the huge master bath. He put the baby in his bath seat and got into the water.

"You better not poop this time or we're going to have a problem," he warned.

Laxus soaped up his own hair, which was inexplicably hilarious to his son, who laughed and splashed his hands and feet around at the sight of it. He did the same to his son, and they sat there with soapy, spiky hair and stared at one another.

Laxus rinsed his hair, then his sons, and washed himself, then his son, taking care to make sure he didn't miss any spots. "It'll be the apocalypse if she comes home and your ears aren't clean. But, we're all right without her, right?"

The baby looked up at him.

"You're right. It's not the same. We're hopeless."

He thumped the water, sending a tiny splash at his son, who excitedly flailed around in the water and laughed.

XXX

Lucy rushed home, anxious to see her son. She'd never been away from him before, and the whole time she was on her job, she had wondered if Laxus was doing all right.

When she opened the door, Laxus was sound asleep on the couch and Yuri was curled up asleep on his chest.

They both stirred at the same time, and Laxus stood up and greeted her with a kiss, holding their half-asleep infant son. "Let me explain..."

Lucy took him and as soon as she turned him to hold him, she saw his forehead was one huge bruise. "Laxus! What...is he okay?"

"He's fine, Babe."

Lucy rubbed his back. "My poor baby! How did this happen?'

"He rolled off the couch."

"You left him there by himself?!"

"For one minute."

Lucy felt the baby nuzzle at her chest and unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt. "You took him to the doctor?"

"Of course. Porlyusica said he was fine. Besides, he's my kid. His head is probably pretty hard," her husband answered. "He literally ate twenty minutes ago. He's just being a glutton."

Lucy felt him latch on as soon as she pushed her bra down and then winced. "Easy with that tooth, Mister."

Laxus bent down to kiss her. "You had a good time?"

"It was great. I was a little worried about you guys, but it looks like you managed."

After eating, the baby nodded back off to sleep so they put him in his crib and headed back to their bedroom. Lucy shut the door and grinned at her husband, and he pulled his shirt over his head.

Now that their son was starting to sleep better, their lives had calmed down considerably.

Intimacy was wonderful to them, and not just the sex part. Laying in bed and talking about everything, and taking care of one another and loving each other on a day-to-day basis was all very important. Having a baby together had been the most intimate thing in the world, and not only for the belly snuggles and birth, but for everything that came in between and after.

After they made love, she snuggled up to him. "So anything else I need to know about?"

Laxus would say nearly anything right after sex, so it was a fantastic time to ask questions he might not usually answer.

"I took the baby outside without pants."

"Ugh, you know how I feel about that!"

He sat answered, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to put clothes on that creature?"

"Yes, I do it everyday. Sometimes several times a day, in fact."

Laxus said, "He actually hasn't worn pants since you left. Most of the time, he was just rolling around in his diaper."

"Honestly..."

"He didn't mind. What he minds is pants."

The boy's mother answered, "I don't care what he minds. He's a baby. He literally minds everything except funny faces, weird sounds, bubbles, eating, and growling."

"He's a great guy."

Lucy sighed and shook her head. He was such a cute dad, and he really did love their little son so much. It was such a sharp contrast to what she had previously thought of when she heard the word 'father,' which always reminded her of her cold father. "Anything else I need to know?"

Laxus shook his head. "No, I can't think of anything."

Something about the way he said it caused her to sit up. "What did you do, Laxus?!"

"Nothing."

"Laxus!"

He groaned. "Why do you have to know me that well?"

"We're married, remember?"

Laxus looked up. "I fed our son food."

"Food...like...people food..." she whispered in shock.

"Eggs are people food, I suppose? He is people, you know," her husband answered.

Lucy reached into the nightstand and flipped through a notebook. "We have a weaning plan, Laxus! You are not following the plan! What if he couldn't chew? What if he choked? What if it had made him sick?"

"None of those things happened. Relax. A dragon's stomach is a force to be reckoned with."

Lucy rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "So in three days, our son fell off the couch, ate solid food, and went outside without pants. Sounds like you two guys had a pretty good father-son time."

"It was a fantastic male bonding experience."

"You're a good dad."

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