Date night!

The best part of having a live-in nanny was that they could both leave the house at the same time. Having an infant and careers tended to necessitate separation where one would work and the other would be with the baby, then they'd switch, or if Lucy went to the market he'd keep the baby. It wasn't terrible, but since Chelia moved in, life had improved significantly.

On Friday nights, Chelia took their eight month old son to some music and play class for babies, and they went out. Thunder Baby seemed indescribably happy to go see the other babies and seemed to treat this as a high point of his entire week.

So they walked hand-in-hand through downtown Magnolia.

Lucy almost couldn't believe how long they'd been together. They'd been together for nine months before they got engaged, married six months later, had a baby ten months later, and he was already eight months old, so they were creeping up on almost three years.

Life was good and Lucy was so glad she'd said yes the day he asked her out. She couldn't even imagine how her life would be without Laxus and their baby boy.

Laxus felt her grab his arm and snuggle against him, lovingly gazing up at him. Somehow, he still couldn't resist when she was sweet on him like this, and he'd noticed their son was equally undone by the purely sweet affections of his mother. They were equally powerless against her, and no matter what was going wrong, she could make the whole world all right.

Yuri was getting to an age where sleep wasn't so much of a problem for them anymore and he was growing out of some of his more abhorrent habits and into a much cuter stage. He'd laugh and play with nearly anyone now, although when he was upset, he still maintained the 'short list' of people that could handle him.

They had a nice dinner together, dressed up like people do when they go out on a date, not how they do when they have an ambitiously messy infant crawling all over the house.

When they got home, their son was already asleep, and Chelia and Wendy were in Chelia's room with the door closed.

They looked in on the baby and stood over his crib as he slept with his mouth open.

"He's just like his daddy," Lucy whispered.

Laxus grinned softly at him. "Isn't he?"

His little toes curled in his socks and Laxus pinched them lightly, causing him to jerk his foot away in his sleep. Laxus enjoyed bothering their son when he was truly in a deep sleep.

"Leave him alone. He's sleeping well."

Laxus poked his little face and Yuri's expression soured. "Revenge of the parents. Let's start waking him up eight times every night."

Yuri's eyes cracked open and closed again as he rolled away from his father and emitted some noise that communicated he wanted to be left alone.

Lucy decided this was as good of a time as any and looked up at her husband. "So umm...Laxus, honey..."

Something about the uneasy way she said his name caused him cease his pointless torture of their infant. "What it is it, babe?"

"I feel weird."

"Weird? Like how..."

The blonde nervous answered, "...pregnant?"

"...pregnant..." he very dryly and very slowly repeated. "Pregnant. Like," he pointed down at their son, "...that?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes. Like that. Pretty sure that's the only way."

Laxus couldn't really describe how he felt in that moment, but once as a teenager he'd been hit by magic vehicle because he was wearing headphones and not paying attention when he crossed the road.

It was kind of like that.

Since Lucy couldn't take birth control while breastfeeding, they'd been using condoms, but now that their son had been weaned, Lucy had wanted her body to get hormonally back to normal before going back on.

"How?"

"The same way it happened the first time?"

As soon as Laxus considered it, they had been careless. As a single man, he'd been insanely careful, never willing to take the risk. As a husband, he was a little more relaxed and taken the risk on a few occasions.

"I have a test. I didn't really want to take it by myself. I kind of wanted to tell you first and ask you how you feel," she said.

It was certainly unexpected, but they were married and very happy as a family. Unplanned pregnancy at any other stage of his life would have been disastrous, but Laxus was not really that bothered by the idea.

He bent down and kissed her cheek. "I'm all right. Let's find out though."

They went upstairs to the master bath and Laxus sat on the edge of the bathtub while Lucy read the instructions and tore the box open. There was a day when she would have died if he'd told her she'd ever be comfortable enough to use the restroom in front of him, but that was before pregnancy. After having a kid together, they had a completely different level of comfort around one another.

She peed on the stick, put the cap on the pregnancy test, wiped, and flushed, then washed her hands and sat on the lid of the toilet with the test in hand.

"Is it healthy for you to have another baby this soon?" he asked.

Lucy shrugged. "According to all the books we read, eighteen months is a good amount of time to wait. Thunder Baby is eight months, so...maybe not ideal, but I'm young and healthy and strong."

"Sorry."

His wife answered, "We're kind of equally guilty in this."

The spent the rest of the time waiting quietly, and a little plus sign slowly appeared.

"I'm pregnant."

Her husband took a deep breath and gave her the subtlest of smiles. This wasn't really part of their plan, but neither of them was completely devastated. He kissed her, they took a shower together, and then dressed and snuggled up in bed. They were quiet, but sweet, each considering all the various things that were about to change in their lives again.

Once they were in bed, he put a hand on her belly. "Round two?"

XXX

The next morning, Lucy was feeding her son when she felt the same twinge of nausea that had alerted her to her pregnancy. She made a face and knowing her well, her husband took the baby food Chelia made homemade for their son and offered him a spoonful. The boy chomped down, biting the fork with his teeth and held onto it, refusing to let go.

Like his father, Thunder Baby would eat anything. There was never a fuss about whether or not he'd eat something, but on the flip side, he'd demonstrated he'd eat things that weren't necessarily food as well. Laxus assured his wife bugs and dirt were probably good for his digestion, but she didn't buy it at all. Thunder Baby did not care whether or not she bought it; he was intent on continuing to consume those things regardless of anyone's judgment.

Chelia came bouncing downstairs, headphones on her ears. She took them off briefly and asked, "Hey, can I borrow the baby at about two this afternoon?" She asked like she was asking to borrow a pair of pants or a pencil.

"...for what reason?"

"I'm going shopping and the guy at the shop gives me crazy discounts if I have Thunder Baby because he thinks I'm a teenage mother trying to provide for my young son by myself," she said.

Laxus shook his head, but said nothing.

"How did he come to the conclusion you were single mother?" Lucy asked.

"Well, I had Thunder Baby, and so he just assumed he was my kid. He asked if I was with his father, which I'm not. He didn't ask if I was the lesbian nanny helping a wizard couple raise their cranky baby dragon," she explained.

Chelia was really nothing short of brilliant, and she took amazing care of their son. She tolerated none of Yuri's more unfortunate behaviors. When they first met, Yuri resisted her through the power of biting, and Chelia subdued him by lightly thumping his nose. She was learning about caring for babies so she did things like take him to baby classes, make homemade food, and teach him about colors and sounds when they weren't around. If one had to have additional help with a baby, it was great for that person to be knowledgeable about things like learning and nutrition.

Laxus sniffed the baby food and tried it. "This is pretty good. What is it?"

"Mashed bananas, pureed carrots, and kale. Okay, I'm out, I'll be back to get Thunder Baby later," she said as she put her headphones back on and bounced out the door.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Thunder Baby saw his father eat his baby food and yelled in protest.

The baby's father responded to this protestation by taking a big, slow bite. "Mmmmmmm..."

Yuri let out what Lucy called a 'baby dragon screech' and she covered her ears. "Will you please stop teasing your son?"

"I made him. I can piss him off if I want."

Yuri threw his cup at Laxus and the two men stared one another down. Laxus made a mean face that would have made any other person in the world piss themselves, and the baby did his best to do the same. Baby growled, Daddy growled louder.

Laxus reached to the little pile of dry cereal on his high chair and stole one, popped it into his mouth, and made a show of chewing it before the enraged infant, who let out another angry screech. He repeated this action, and the boy slammed his hands down and continued yelling.

"Laxus..."

Lucy sighed, because this is just what they did. They all had their own relationship with the baby, and while Yuri was happy to accept her coos and snuggles and kisses, his dynamic with Laxus was completely different. They seemed determined to make each other crazy most of the time, and they were both happy with this arrangement.

"Laxus."

When Thunder Baby ran out of patience (which happened quickly for most eight month olds), he looked up at his mother and screamed.

Lucy's head was already hurting, she wanted to crawl back in bed, and she needed to puke. Yet as she stood there, her husband was steadily making the baby scream and cry for her. And she decided he was okay with her pregnancy because he wasn't the one who had to barf, pee, and push the kid out. His job, if she had to guess just by looking at him, was to annoy the baby.

Her patience wore thin and then vanished completely. "LAXUS! SHUT UP!"

He froze in place, as if he had turned to stone. He wasn't actually talking when she shouted, but he had known her for long enough that she was blaming him for the noise.

The baby similarly froze, and stared at her in wonder.

Lucy threw up in the kitchen trash, and found when she finished hurling that the kitchen was dead silent. Father and son were watching her in silence with the same cautious expression. She looked upon them and started laughing.

Her husband decided it would be best for everyone if he just fed the baby and tried not to irritate his wife for a while. It suddenly occurred to him that pregnancy was going to be a little more complicated with an infant.

And Thunder Baby had no understanding, so he just decided to eat and stop yelling.

Laxus looked up. "You can lay down for a bit. We'll be good."

"Sorry," she quietly said, "I needed to throw up and you two..."

Yuri reached up for her and spoke in a language he only knew as if he was trying to explain himself. He had moments where he was very vocal and talkative, so they knew he'd be making actual words soon, but for now he had a mouthful of syllables that sounded a little angry.

Lucy did not pick him up, so he reached up and screeched again. "Let me just wash my mouth out, okay? I'll be right back."

He decided to yell while she did this, and so Laxus took him from his high chair and put him in the living room so he could crawl around on the floor. Their son seemed to have an excessive amount of energy, and much of his day was spent cruising around. Sometimes, he would pull himself up using furniture.

One of his favorite activities was to climb all over Raijin, who had taken such a liking to the baby that she slept under his crib at night and they often took naps together throughout the day. They also growled at one another, and once, they were playing outside while Lucy watched and the tiger politely informed some random passer-bys with a roar that they were not to stop and look at the baby.

When Lucy brushed her teeth and washed the taste of knocked up out of her mouth, she found her son had moved on to zipping around on the floor. "You want to keep him while I go see Porlyusica?"

"We can take him with us."

They dressed and went to visit Porlyusica, who opened the door and immediately reached for the only human she would admit to liking.

"Look at you, Thunder Baby. You're getting so big!" she cooed.

Laxus believed his son had a magical charm power over "cranky old bitches" (Porlyusica, Aquarius), and they waited for her to express her affections while Lucy sat on a chair and Laxus leaned on the wall.

Porlyusica finally turned to them. "Why are you two here?" she asked, eyes narrow.

Lucy laughed nervously. "Well...I think I might kinda maybe be pregnant."

The old woman looked from her to Laxus. "...idiots..."

Laxus put his son down on the floor and watched him as he crawled about, exploring the apothecary's house curiously. He sniffed the air, which was full of strange herbal scents that were interesting to a little dragon's nose.

When Porlyusica confirmed Lucy was six weeks pregnant, she gave them a long lecture about how long they should have waited, gave Lucy vitamin supplements, and then bashed Laxus upside the head with a pot she normally used to make healing potions.

"It's not an ideal situation," the older woman explained, "but in this particular case, it's unlikely there will be complications. Lucy is young and very strong. There were no real complications with the last pregnancy or birth. She'll have to be very careful to get enough nutrition, especially calcium, unless you want her teeth to fall out and her bones to get brittle. Gain a little more weight than last time, don't forget your vitamins, and be mindful that your body is going to need more rest."

Lucy nodded in understanding. "Anything else?'

Porlyusica added, "After you have this kid, you might want to send your oldest child," he indicated Laxus, "to have a procedure."

Porlyusica screamed suddenly and they looked down at their son as he stuck his finger in an electric lacrima adapter.

His parents were unmoved at this terrifying idea that made most parents scream in fear.

Electricity passed from the outlet to the baby, and the baby laughed and let out a lightning burp.

Lucy sighed. "He started doing that about two weeks ago when he started crawling. I almost died from a heart attack the first time."

"Consider the procedure."

"Consider shutting your mouth," Laxus answered.

"Consider condoms."

"Consider minding your own business."

Porlyusica and Laxus went at it for a few minutes while Lucy considered her life, collected her little son off the floor, and waited.

They left, and Laxus watched her thoughtfully as they walked home. She had one baby balanced on her hip and another growing in her womb. To him, she was a perfect mother and the best wife there ever was, so he was looking forward to the baby's arrival since it was now several weeks too late to be concerned with the baby's life scheduling.

They passed a park, and Laxus saw a big slide and took their little son.

"You sure he's ready for that?" Lucy asked.

Laxus rolled his eyes. "He's a tough little guy. What's the worst that will happen? We're right here."

"Let me go down with him then," she said.

Lucy climbed up on the slide, which was six feet tall, and he handed her the baby. Thunder Baby seemed suspicious, yet curious, and the slide was a bright color, which was exciting to him. She put her son in her lap and slid down, and he immediately squealed in sheer delight, laughing and giggling and making a flurry of baby talk about this exciting new experience.

Laxus could always tell when their son was really excited because all his limps would flail around and he'd usually roll over.

It was too cute and so his father picked him up and put him back at the top, letting him slide down on his own, which was even more exciting because Mom caught him at the bottom.

The more Yuri went down the slide, the more he screamed and jerked around, but on the fifth time, he became silent and looked around listlessly.

Laxus asked, "Maybe he's bored?"

When he picked up Yuri, the boy promptly puked up everything that had been in his stomach, right onto his father. Then, he shook and very slowly broke down into tears. As any parent knew, the longer it took a baby to start crying, the worse the baby usually felt.

Lucy broke out the diaper bag and said, "I think that he has motion sickness."

Laxus held his son out at arms length while he screamed. "You really are like me. Poor little guy."

Honestly, by that point of parenthood, being puked on was not at all bothersome. Laxus took his shirt off, Lucy changed the baby's clothes and cleaned him up, then wiped her husband down with baby wipes. The baby clung to his father tightly and after he became tired of screeching, laid limp on his shoulder.

When they got home, Yuri took a nap until Chelia came to 'borrow' him, which he was happy about. He generally liked to go outside and do things, which made it easier for everyone.

Lucy went to go take a nap, and her husband joined her after a shower, snuggling closely in the bed.

When she awoke from her nap, he was asleep, one hand draped around her to rest on her belly.

Lucy kissed him gently, and he awoke to smile at her. "Hey."

"Hey. How's my pregnant wife?" he asked.

"Good. How's Dad?"

"Good."

Laxus yawned and stretched. "You make sure you follow Porlyusica's instructions, okay?"

His wife nodded.

"I want this baby to be a girl."

Her husband nodded. "Agreed. I think the world really can't handle another one like that last kid we had. He's kind of a handful."

Please Review!

Special thanks to Guests Aryillia, kurahieiritr JIO, Misty Shayna, totalqt91, Paname, killer-kelly420, LucyXHeartfiliaXFan, boyceashlee, w1n6s-0f-f1r3, Julius Night, Katieboom, katiexAnyoneshipper, yumeyumi1986, Megumiyoung, mewhee89, thornadom aoutre, katiekat2001, wild birdie, silverghostkitsune, and arouraleona for reviewing!