Life got interesting when Layla started walking and talking.
Having one toddler was interesting, but two? The pitter-patter of little feet was a very real thing at the Dreyar house, and usually, they ran everywhere. It was Yuri's custom to run at any time for any reason, and Layla did her best to keep up with him. Sometimes, when they were playing in the yard and he realized he was too far ahead, he'd stop and urge her onward with a "c'mon! You can do it!"
It was the kind of thing that was so cute it made childless people feel a little nauseated.
Lucy smiled a little as she listened to her two babies playing while she cooked for what would be referred to the Great Dreyar Dinner Party. The house was clean, the table had fresh linens, they had the 'good dishes' out - the ones the children couldn't be trusted with - and the house smelled of delicious food.
Laxus was half-asleep on the couch while she worked, supposedly watching the children.
Recently she read in a newspaper article that reptiles spent most of their energy looking for food, fighting, eating, and mating. The rest of their time was spent laying motionless in a warm, sunny area. This summed up the life of every dragon slayer since ever, and Lucy could be considerably more forgiving when she considered her darling husband was basically a very large reptile trapped in the body of a man.
When she saw the lizards lying on each other in the window of the pet store, she couldn't help but think, "This is how my husband and I spend Saturday morning."
She looked over the counter and saw him stretched out on the couch with his eyes closed, a beer on the coffee table beside him. The babies were giggling and happy, and Lucy was too busy to try and worry about what they were doing.
But there were two things that caused suspicion in a parent; first, when the children were completely silent, and second, when they were happy and not moving around because it implied they were busy and delighted at the same time.
She put a red velvet cake in the oven and went to see what her darling blonde-headed babies were doing.
They were drawing all over each other with markers.
With their father napping six feet away.
Lucy stared at him for at least an entire minute, her eyes narrowing as her rage slowly bubbled up.
He felt her anger. It caused him to jolt awake and sit up. "Lucy?"
His wife tapped her foot on the ground. "You know how you invited your insane father to our house, and then when he decided to show up, you decided that you'd watch the kids while I clean and cook and get ready?"
Laxus already knew he was in deep, and he reached for his beer. He knew the kids had gotten into trouble, but since Lucy was standing directly in front of him, he couldn't see them. "Yes?"
"Well.."
"Your only job, Laxus. Watch the babies."
Lucy stepped out of the way and he saw the kids were covered in marker.
Layla had a blue mustache, and a red beard and a marker in each hand that coordinated to the mindless scribbles all over Yuri.
His wife said, "And for that matter, didn't I tell you this morning to put the markers away, because why?"
He brought a palm to his face and groaned.
"Because why, Laxus?"
Laxus rolled his eyes and repeated what she'd said only that morning, "Because the kids might get them and write on each other."
"And what did I say when you bought them the markers?"
"They might write on each other."
"Okay. The next time you don't want to listen to me…" she started.
He took the last gulp of his beer. "We both know I'm not going to live this one down for a while."
Yuri leaned over to his sister and whispered, "Daddy made mommy mad again."
"Dat's bad," the little girl answered with a nod.
Laxus got up and felt the judgment of his children. "Right, well. Bath time."
He took one toddler in each arm and hauled them to bathroom, ran some bath water, and undressed them. Yuri loved to undress, and his sister was the opposite. She'd throw tantrums behind having to take her pretty dresses off, even if they were covered in mud.
Anyone with experience in bathing toddlers knew that toddlers enjoyed getting themselves in a state that required a good scrubbing, but they actually hate to be scrubbed. Laxus knew this task would lead to screaming and crying, but it was necessary and it was more or less his punishment for falling asleep on the job.
Toddlers could not be trusted.
Laxus whistled while they cried and splashed around in the water.
Layla kept screaming, "WHY!" as he scrubbed her red beard off, and Yuri declared him a monster.
Laxus gave them a moment of peace and reached for the rubber duckie. "Why? Well, why would I relax and take a nap when I could be making my children cry instead?"
Yuri jerked his hand back and then threw the duckie, hitting Laxus on the forehead.
Layla started to giggle at this.
Laxus found himself a little offended and leaned over the edge. "Layla, whose side are you on?"
His daughter quickly answered, "I wuvuuuuuuuuu!"
"That's my girl."
He got them out of the water, dried, and dressed them up a little nicely, and left Layla at Chelia's room because he'd given up on being able to do her hair and it wasn't long before guests were supposed to arrive.
Laxus and Yuri went to the kitchen to find Lucy setting the table.
"You're such a good little housewife."
The blonde smiled at him. "All I have to do is get through tonight, right?"
"Right. Ivan comes around about once every six years or so."
Yuri climbed onto a chair and reached for a fork, but was stopped dead when Lucy gave him a single glare. "We gonna eat? It smells so goooooood, Mama. What's it?"
His mother said, "Garlic and rosemary pork loin, roasted red potatoes and asparagus, risotto with mushrooms, stuffed squash, parmesan dinner rolls, and a fresh salad. For dessert, red velvet cake with cream cheese and almond frosting."
Yuri, the most un-picky child ever born onto the earth, knew very little about what those words meant, but said, "I want to put them in my tummy!"
"Not yet," Laxus sternly said, knowing his son would throw temper tantrums over food when it suited them.
"...then I'll poop! A lot!"
Lucy and Laxus gave their son the same unamused expression at the same time.
Laxus cleaned up the kitchen a bit while Lucy went to change into her dress, and Chelia brought Layla back down. In order to keep the toddlers from getting into any further trouble, Laxus carried the girl and kept a constant eye on Yuri.
Just as she was coming downstairs, the doorbell rang and Lucy took a deep breath.
Laxus was so pleased with Lucy. There was something about introducing her to his father that made him want to demonstrate he'd done better than Ivan could ever hope to do. She was an amazing wife, an incredible mother, she was a good cook, and she was supernaturally gifted in the area of putting up with his shit.
For instance, she'd already forgiven him for ignoring her when she said not to buy the kids markers, ignoring her when she told him to make sure they were put away, and then falling asleep while the kids drew on one another.
Laxus opened the door, still holding Layla on one hip.
Ivan was dressed like a normal person, in slacks and a button-down shirt, and it was surreal, because Lucy just expected him to look like a clown. He still had little beady crazy eyes though, and without asinine 'wizard wear' Lucy determined he seemed like like an evil mastermind and more like a garden variety serial killer.
Lucy tried to be friendly, especially when she realized he'd brought a date. Laxus seemed weirdly paralyzed and bizarrely shocked, but she didn't know it was because his father's date was his mother, the woman Laxus told Lucy was dead.
His mother was tall, and pretty, and had long red hair and some interesting-looking bangs. It was the same little cowlick Laxus and Yuri had, but Lucy didn't even consider this connection because she still believed her mother-in-law was long dead.
Laxus glared at both of them and said nothing.
And Lucy wondered why her husband invited his family over if he was only going to be rude and silent. If that was the case, they could have continued doing that from opposite sides of the country.
"Ms. Heartfilia," Ivan said.
"Dreyar," she stiffly corrected.
"Yes, that's right. Sorry. It's hard for me to imagine my son as a husband."
Ivan pointed to his date. "This is Charlotte."
Despite how properly Charlotte was dressed, Lucy, like all women, had an innate sense that told her things about other women. Just like Laxus knew whether or not he could defeat an opponent before a fight began, Lucy knew.
Charlotte, who was wearing a fur stole, grinned at Laxus somewhat lovingly and Lucy completely misinterpreted her affections.
Laxus took her stole, his father's coat, and hung them politely.
His mother looked around. "You have a lovely home, S -"
"Smells amazing," Laxus quickly said, giving her a glare.
Charlotte had been well-briefed on the situation by Ivan and really didn't want to out her son in front of his wife.
"You have beautiful children, Laxus," the woman said, looking from Yuri as he stood at his father's feet to the baby girl in his arms.
"Whatever."
Laxus tried his best to be nonchalant, but the situation was bad and he knew it was going to get ugly.
The doorbell rang again just as he showed his guests to the table, and Laxus let Makarov in.
As soon as his scent entered the house, Yuri came running. "Gams! Gams! Gams!"
And then a smaller squeal, "Gammms!"
Laxus put Layla down so she could toddle her way into Makarov's arms and Yuri jumped full force, nearly knocking the old man down.
Makarov hugged them tightly. "My sweet babies…"
The oldest of the Dreyars really couldn't get over how wonderful Laxus' little family really was. Despite the many failures to parent in their family, Laxus was an incredible father. He was calm and patient with the little ones, and together with Lucy's impeccable mothering, they had two amazing little babies.
When they all turned to go into the dining room, Lucy whispered, "Laxus, is that woman a prostitute?"
Laxus nodded once.
"Do you know her?"
He nodded again.
"You didn't...you wouldn't...I know back in the day…you were wild and..."
Laxus put two fingers over her mouth. "Lucy, please stop thinking."
"Have you ever paid for a prostitute?" she whispered as the other guests started to take a seat at the table.
He clenched his eyes shut. "Lucy, not now."
"You have!" she hissed.
Had he?
Yes, yes he had. Once, when he was a nineteen and drunk, and he really didn't understand it was a business transaction until the woman was doing her good work a little too well and he realized she was clearly a professional. And as such, he paid her a due and never spoke or thought of it again.
But that was neither here nor there.
Here was a dinner party with every living member of the Dreyar family, spanning across four generations of severe familial dysfunction.
Virgo and Loke seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Princess! Allow us to serve you!"
Lucy nodded. "Thank you, Virgo."
She put Layla in her high chair next to her and Laxus put Yuri in a booster seat in the chair beside him.
Yuri complained, "I no wanna booster!"
"Son, you have to sit in the booster because you're short."
"Gams is short!" the toddler indignantly retorted.
Yuri was almost as tall as Makarov already, so to him this was a valid point. Why Makarov would need to sit in a booster seat or who would force him to get in one was a thought for more grownup minds.
Makarov chuckled at this. "Thunder Baby is quite a man, isn't he?"
Virgo poured dinner wine, and Laxus watched his wife reach for it quickly. And then Laxus reached for the glass she put in front of Yuri and then filled. He glared at her.
"No wine for the little human?" she innocently asked.
Laxus answered, "Nothing alcoholic for any little human. Geeze."
"Good to know."
Loke started bringing plates of food and Ivan asked, "How long have you been married, son?"
Laxus answered, "We just had our third wedding anniversary. We've been together for four and a half years."
His mother asked, "How old is your oldest?"
"Two years and three months."
Charlotte nodded. "So that's how you of all people ended up married."
Lucy's fork clanged against the plate. "I'm sorry, are you implying something? Because I'm pretty sure you're not in a place to make judgments about my lifestyle."
All the men at the table became silent and still. Lucy had been afraid the fireworks would fly among the males, but for some reason, she and the person she believed to simply be Ivan's girlfriend were not clicking right.
They glared at each other.
Yuri decided to announce to everyone what the problem was. "Mama doesn't like you."
Makarov decided to change the subject because Lucy, while an amazing wife and mother, was not at all scared of a confrontation. This was the woman who called the Celestial Spirit King 'Mustache Dude' and yelled at all the living members of the royal family; Laxus' mother really had no idea what kind of devil she was tempting.
"Ivan, you've been staying out of trouble?" he asked.
Ivan nodded. "Mostly."
Makarov and Ivan spoke, and Laxus really just paid attention to the kids.
He was really trying to make it through the night without a fight breaking out, people yelling, discussions about feelings, or Lucy finding out his mother was not only not dead, she was the whore his father brought to the party.
Lucy found it really wasn't as bad as she'd imagined. Weird and dysfunctional families were still families. Ivan had the craziest, beady little eyes and she would probably knock his head off if he ever came around uninvited, but he was a human and still had connections to other humans. It was always weird to imagine one's enemies as real people, especially in this case.
Laxus was completely unnerved by the presence of the woman though, and Lucy was confused as to why for quite a while.
She watched him helping Yuri cut up his food and asked, "Do you think parenting makes you soft?"
"I suppose you have to ask questions about being a parent because you've never really been one," he snapped in reply.
And this was the moment Lucy knew.
Laxus regarded people he didn't like with disinterested disdain. For him to actually be upset with someone over something was fairly rare.
Lucy looked down at the woman's abnormally large hands, and how her bangs grew up and outwards, and the funny curve of the cartilage in her ear that Laxus and both of their children had and she knew.
The blonde sighed and downed all the wine in her glass, thankful when Virgo refilled it immediately.
Laxus had never really ever complained about her outbursts, but Lucy never disrespected him in front of others. She'd fussed at him in front of their closest friends or Makarov, but even when he pissed her off, they were still married and he was still her husband. She was going to give him hell as soon as everyone went home and the kids were in bed; that much she was sure of at that point.
Lucy focused her attention on trying to feed their daughter, who was very picky. She always considered it a high compliment to her cooking when Layla didn't throw the food off her plate and cry. There had been countless times that Layla not only refused to eat what was put before her, but she felt like she needed to express exactly how much she hated it by crying.
Layla Dreyar once threw herself on the floor, screamed, and slammed her fists onto the floor because Laxus tried to feed her a shrimp.
Laxus knew from the look on Lucy's face as she fed Layla that she'd figured it out, but he knew she wouldn't make a scene then.
Lucy was a really good wife and he'd known all along she deserved better. He just wasn't good about talking about his family and wished most of the time his mother and father did not exist.
He didn't really want any of them there besides Makarov, but having a kid will change the way one feels about their parents and about obligation to family.
Lucy was equally enraged to the point of explosion that he'd lied to her and saddened he was very obviously going through something as they all sat at the table and he was forced to look at and experience his parents - the ones who abandoned him. And if his relationship with Ivan was bad, it seemed substantially better than the one he had with his mother.
As he got older, Laxus seemed more inclined to try harder to see good in people, but as he sat there, she knew he really didn't find any.
Makarov sensed the tension and said, "This is really good. I'm glad my grandson found such a good wife. You make good meals and cute babies. Plus you can put up with this one." He tilted his head toward Laxus and added, "I'm ready for Baby Number Three. I feel like you have a few more in you, Laxus."
"Unless you want to move in and change all the diapers and do all the 3 am feedings, you might be waiting quite a while," Laxus answered.
"Nevermind!" Makarov quickly answered.
Yuri was pensive because his father didn't seem normal.
Laxus' mother looked around and zeroed in on Lucy feeding Layla. "You shouldn't her her be so picky. Picky babies make whiny adults."
Lucy's eyes shot up, but before she could say anything Laxus snapped, "I've had enough of this. What are you going to tell my wife about how to be a mother?"
"Don't you disrespect me, young man!"
Ivan said, "Son, we don't need to get upset about anything."
Ivan just wanted to have a peaceful dinner with his family.
Laxus, never one to speak about the deeper things, put his fork down and swallowed. "I have two kids, and they depend on Lucy and me for everything. My son needs me, and he needs his mother. I'm sure when I was this age, I was the same way. I look at my son now that he's the exact age I was when I was left with Gramps and I can't even comprehend how you just left me. After that, you don't have any right to expect anything from me."
They were words unspoken for almost thirty years.
Yuri attempted to move from his booster seat to his father's lap, and when he slipped, Laxus automatically caught him and put him on his lap. "You're sad?"
"I'm fine."
Makarov told Ivan many times during Laxus' childhood that he better clean up his act and at least try to be a father, because someday, he was going to get old and he would want to know his son.
Ivan remembered these conversations at that point.
"Son.."
"Don't call me that," Laxus snapped.
Makarov took a sip of his wine. "Well, we certainly know how to have a dinner party. The food is incredible, Lucy. Sorry the company isn't better."
Cake was eaten in silence and Laxus finally asked, "Honestly, what are you two even doing together?"
His mother thought for a moment and then said, "Laxus, we all know we made big mistakes with you. You get older, you realize you've been living for things that don't really matter. You were the best thing that ever happened to us. We don't really expect anything. We just wanted to see what you're up to."
"You're old and lonely. That's not my problem. We all made our own decisions, and we all have to live with them," Laxus answered, his voice flat and a little stale sounding. "You - either of you - being around here isn't part of my plan anymore than I was part of yours."
Lucy watched quietly and realized her husband at the age of twenty-seven was still upset at his parents for abandoning him. Then again, she occasionally felt angry at her father for dying, and that made even less sense.
Their kids were amazingly quiet and perplexed because like Lucy, they were used to Laxus being the unflappable father and calm husband that he normally was. It was strange to see him truly upset about something. Even Layla had noticed his unusual attitude and she looked upset too, as if the condition of Daddy being unhappy made her unhappy too.
Laxus went back to eating his food and was chewing a bite of pork when Ivan blurted out, "Well, Laxus. I'm dying from cancer, so it's not part of my plan either."
His son dropped the fork and swallowed a bite of half-chewed food. The first thing he did was look at Makarov, and Makarov wasn't surprised, which meant he'd already known about this.
Lucy stood up from the table. "Let me get the kids to bed. I don't want Yuri asking questions about…"
Ivan was about to utter the word 'death' but the blonde gave him a look that made him want to crawl under a rock and die right then and there.
"C'mon, son. It's getting late," she said, carrying Layla upstairs as she held Yuri by the hand.
"Ni-ni!" Yuri said.
"Ni-ni!" Layla echoed.
Laxus crossed his arms. "Is this all you wanted?"
Ivan nodded. "To have a nice dinner with my son and his family, just once."
"If you wanted us to have a nice dinner, you shouldn't have come."
Makarov said, "Laxus..."
He knew there was something weird and off about his father's scent, but now that he looked, he could tell Ivan was ill. Laxus really didn't know how to feel about that, and as he sat there and thought about all the years of crazy infighting, the plots, the schemes, the insults and the injuries, it was hard to believe that they were all really sitting there.
Laxus asked, "How long?"
"Three months, give or take. Last couple will probably be rough," Ivan said.
"What kind of cancer?"
"Pancreatic."
Laxus looked down at his food. "I heard that's a really terrible way to die." He looked up at his mother, and then back down again as she started to explain the plans they had from that point on.
Lucy didn't come back down, and Laxus was glad.
Ivan, over the course of his life, was like a bomb that exploded between Makarov and Laxus, causing damage to his father and his son. Laxus watched his grandfather carefully, and wondered what things were like when his father was little. He tried to imagine the two like he and Yuri were, but he could not.
When the guests stood to leave, Laxus walked them to the door.
"It's good to see you're doing well. I'd like to do this again if you'd have me," his mother patted his face.
Laxus shook his head once, but caved in a little. "Dinner, once a year only. Don't disrespect my wife."
Ivan stopped and picked up a picture frame from the console table by the door. He stared at the family photo for a while, and when he started to put it down, Laxus said, "You can take it if you want."
Ivan took it with a nod. "Thanks."
When Ivan stepped outside, he turned and looked at his son, and they stared at one another for a long time.
Laxus knew it was the last time he'd see his father.
They didn't say anything.
He shut the door, took a deep breath, and felt the strangest mix of emotions.
Laxus headed upstairs to find Lucy sitting on Yuri's bed, a kid squished up close to her on each side, practically climbing her as she read them a story.
"...and when he came to the place where the wild things are, they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws…"
Laxus smiled softly. "Sounds like he showed up at Fairy Tail."
Lucy laughed and he picked up his daughter and put her on his lap as he sat down beside her so Lucy could finish the story. She was the creative, imaginative, dramatic one, so watching her read a book to the kids was entertaining as hell that even he liked it sometimes. When he tried to read a story, the kids protested vehemently because he didn't 'do voices' like their mother did.
They tucked the kids in, turned out the lights, and got ready for bed.
Once they got to the bedroom, Laxus started to undress and Lucy opened a dresser drawer, looking for a nightgown.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
If she'd been anyone else in the whole world, he would have insisted he was fine, but she was his wife. Even if he did lie, she would call bullshit, initiate sex, and he'd end up spilling the beans in the ten to fifteen minutes after orgasm when he was would divulge any information she wanted.
"I don't know. Kind of a shit move, don't you think? He wasted his life on the most pointless things and now he's dying and he thinks he can come around and make peace with his past."
Lucy looked over her shoulder. "Are you sad?"
"Not really. Most people watch their parents die at some point. We're married, so this was going to happen eventually. My mother will die eventually too."
The blonde nodded. "When my dad died, I felt confused. I was angry he died, and sad that he was gone, and relieved he couldn't hurt me anymore."
Her husband flopped down on the bed in his boxers and rubbed his face. "My family is a pain in the ass. Sorry. I was sure you'd take off my head when you realized Charlotte was my mother. I've only seen her five times before tonight. It's strange for me."
Lucy put on a silky pink nightie and turned out the lights before she crawled into bed beside him. "I was thinking we should get a dog."
"A dog?"
"Mhm. That way, we can get a dog house and when you decide to lie to me for years, you'll have a place to sleep."
Laxus sighed. "I'm sorry, Babe."
She didn't really have a mind to give him a hard time about lying because he was obviously having far too many thoughts about things that were distressing. Since she knew what it was like to be an adult with daddy problems, she as a wife knew it was her job to have and to hold him, especially in times like these.
Her fingers slid under the waistband of his boxers and she pulled downward slowly.
When he felt her mouth on him, he gasped and pushed his head deeper into the pillow. After years together, Lucy had giving head down to an art form. She was really an over-achiever as a wife, but who was he to complain?
Lucy took her time, and she handled him properly. She drove every thought from his brain except a desperate need for her, and then she kept him there, writhing and begging.
And then:
"...I'm sorry about the markers…" he mumbled.
Lucy let him slip out of her mouth and burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. "Baby, what is going on inside of your mind?"
"Nothing. Please continue."
She kissed his thigh. "I can forgive you because they were washable. Now then," she said as she climbed on top of him and took him in hand, giving him a little squeeze as she guided him into her. Lucy leaned down to kiss him and rolled her hips with practiced ease.
His eyes traced over her body, from her hips up to her breasts and then to that pretty face he'd been crazy in love with for so long. As Lucy grew into her twenties, she was getting even more beautiful. Motherhood looked especially good on her and she was so wonderful to him.
Once their romp came to its inevitable conclusion, Lucy went to sleep having spent most of the day cooking and cleaning while her husband 'watched' the kids.
While appreciative for his wife and all her many wonders, his mind went right back to his family and he got out of bed and looked in on his daughter first, then his son.
As he watched his son sleep, he pondered on the idea that someday, he'd probably die on Yuri too. That was the natural and normal thing, and honestly, Laxus didn't want to live in a universe where he outlived any of his babies. He wondered if Yuri would go to his funeral and how he would feel and what kind of relationship they'd have when Yuri was his age. He wondered if he'd ever have to look him in the eyes and tell him that he was going to die.
He wondered if his parents ever were excited and happy about him. Did Ivan feel him kick in the womb? Was he happy or sad about that? Did he experience the joy of becoming a father or had it always meant nothing to him?
Laxus laid down on the bed next to him and listened to the rhythmic sound of his son's breathing, his heartbeat, the way he was almost making a snoring sound as he slept with his mouth open.
After a few minutes, he nodded off and Lucy found them snuggled up in the little toddler bed, her husband's feet hanging off the end of the bed. She threw a blanket over both of her boys and gave each a gentle kiss before she headed back to bed.
The next morning, Laxus awoke with a monstrous back ache because he was a six and a half foot tall man who spent the night in a bed meant for people under three feet tall.
"You're a monster in bed. You can't just take up all the space in the bed," he complained in the morning.
Yuri sat up and looked down at him. "This my bed."
"So you think you can just sleep in the middle with your legs and arms all spread out?"
"Yeah!"
Laxus glared. "And you stole the blanket."
"This my bed!"
"And, you kick and roll around. No girl is going to want to share a bed with you."
Yuri seemed to think very hard about this comment, and then said, "Good."
Laxus laughed a little. "You know I love you, right?"
"I love you too, Daddy. Let's eat cereal, kay?"
The boy carefully selected some toys and went downstairs while Laxus went to the restroom and brushed his teeth. He woke his daughter up, and came down as Yuri climbed on a chair to demand his cereal. By this point in his life, Laxus was amazed Yuri didn't bleed Cheerios instead of blood.
It was Lucy's turn to go on a job, so he was on baby duty for a few days. He wanted her to sleep in since she might have to fight before the day was over.
The last time Lucy had gone on a job, she'd come back with a black eye and their son had become absolutely enraged when she explained to him someone hit her. The idea of a man hitting his mother in the face caused Yuri to feel the highest anger that is emotionally available to toddlers.
Laxus fed the kids and was reading the newspaper when he looked up and found Yuri had his dinosaurs, and Layla had her doll.
Layla didn't seem particularly interested in playing dinosaurs, but Yuri kept bringing his dinosaurs to her baby doll's face.
"He's biting her!" Yuri said.
Layla got annoyed pretty quickly and Laxus warned, "Son, you better give it a rest."
But he didn't.
"Rawrrr rawrrrrrrrrr. He's biting her and she's crying," Yuri said.
"Stop! Daddy!" Layla whined.
Laxus put the newspaper down. "Yuri."
Yuri continued with his growls and suddenly, Layla smacked him so hard upside the head with her doll that he fell over. Then she smashed his dinosaur with her doll, sat down, and hugged her doll.
Yuri reached for the dinosaur, and she hit him with the doll again.
"Stoop!" she squealed.
He pulled his hand back. "I sowwy!"
Layla hit him with the doll again just because, and then sat down and went back to her own business.
Laxus picked his newspaper back up with a smirk. Generally, he and Lucy didn't intervene with their occasional misunderstandings because if left alone, they'd usually work it out. They adored one another, so when it was over, they were always the best of friends.
It wasn't long before Layla came around with the big red ball, and they sat on the floor and rolled the ball around. "Sowwwy, Yuwi."
"S'okay."
The stark difference between boys and girls even at their age was interesting to Laxus. He honestly hadn't been trying to raise her with dolls and too much cutesy stuff, but that's what she seemed to prefer. And Yuri...Yuri ate worms and played in the dirt and pretty much constantly had skinned knees because he was crazy as all hell when it came to running and climbing.
Lucy came down with her bag. "You okay with me going?"
Laxus nodded. "Peachy. I'm going to take the kids grocery shopping earlier so I can watch Layla throw a temper tantrum in the candy aisle. I'll see how long she can hold her breath this time. The people who have never had a toddler will pass by and judge us. Also, we need milk."
His wife kissed him gently. "I love you."
"Love you too," he answered.
Lucy kissed the babies, but she didn't say goodbye because if they realized she was leaving, it would be a more dramatic ordeal than the candy aisle promised to be.
The blonde was headed down the path when Laxus followed her out of the house and grabbed her by the hand.
"What is it? Did I forget something?" Lucy took a mental inventory because toddlers tended to interfere with packing and it wasn't fun to end up somewhere with a handful of toy soldiers and no underwear.
Laxus pulled her into a tight embrace. "I just wanted to say thanks, that's all."
She relaxed in his arms. "I'm here for you, you know."
"You're a good wife. Is there anything you want? Just name it, and I'll make it happen."
His wife grinned a little. "I want to take the kids on a little vacation. North. Let them play in snow a little bit. We'll build a snowman together and have snowball fights. Drink hot cocoa and have some quality time. We could take Chelia and so we can have a little grownup time too. We haven't left Magnolia at the same time since I got pregnant with Yuri."
"Ah, it has been that long, huh. Sorry. I didn't even notice. What kind of shit husband doesn't take his wife on a vacation for three years?"
Lucy smiled. "It's okay. We have two toddlers. I walked around all day on Thursday and my shirt was inside out. Layla's walking now so this is the first time since we've been married that I'm not pregnant and we don't have a little baby."
Her husband grinned a little. "So what you're saying is you want to go on vacation and make a baby?"
"I can never tell if you're serious or not. Do you actually want to keep me pregnant all the time?"
"Is this a trick question?"
"I'm going to punch you in the stomach if you say yes."
"Why do you want to cause me pain?" he asked.
Lucy put her hands on her hips. "Says the guy who wants me to give birth again. I have to go, but I love you. I'm looking forward to putting snow down your pants."
"Put snow on my crotch and I'll put thunder in yours."
"Sounds like a date!"
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