No prompt for this one. Not really, at least. I just wanted to write something somewhat fluffy/sweet for gsut/Ellery's birthday. And, well, she single handedly made me adore this ship, so it was kind of an excuse to write more Mineel.
Morning Cuddles
At 6:30 a.m. sharp, Minerva silently out of bed to slip her feet into her fluffy rainbow slippers and creep out into the hall as soundlessly as possible, making her way to the twins' room. Both girls were up and holding onto the bars in their cribs when Minerva walked in and turned the light on, and she couldn't keep herself from smiling brightly at them, cooing softly at them as she leant down to press kisses to each of their heads. "Good morning, my little munchkins!"
"Mama! Mama!"
Minerva laughed quietly at them reaching for her within their cribs right next to each other. She caved, deciding she needed her morning cuddles from her daughters, and pushed the railings down on each crib to take the two-year-olds out one at a time. "Come on, cuddle time for Mama," she said, giggling when she sat cross-legged on the floor and hauled both of them up into her lap to wrap her arms around them as they proceeded to almost strangle her with their tiny arms and press lots of little toddler kisses on her cheeks. Minerva wasn't sure how they'd ended up so affectionate, especially when herself and their father weren't overly affectionate themselves (at least not in front of the children all that much), but she loved it nonetheless. Her girls were total sweethearts.
"Papa birthday?" one of them asked then.
"Yes, it is Papa's birthday! You remembered!" Then again, she had been letting the twins help her with the cake decorating the night before (or, one of the cakes at least. She couldn't very well let her husband's only birthday cake be one that was decorated by a two-year-old), as well as shopping for last minute gifts throughout the week and even helping the raven-haired spawn craft their own little present for their father (they'd insisted on it, although Minerva still wasn't sure if the guy was going to appreciate all the glitter they'd used in the making of their gift). But, it was their Papa's birthday, and that was really the only reason Minerva was up so early at all. "Do you want to go see Papa now?"
The twins nodded their heads quickly, shouting, "Go see Papa!" as they picked themselves up and waddled out into the hall to go wake up their father. Minerva could only roll her eyes as she pulled herself up from the floor and followed them back into her room, just in time to see the two of them climb up onto the bed and pounce on the sleeping human.
And it was to the sound of giggling and the feel of tiny fingers being shoved in his nose, sloppy toddler kisses to his mouth and his cheeks, and his hair being pulled (and not in the way he liked) that Gajeel was, unfortunately, waking up. He groaned and fought the urge to just hide his face in the pillow and pull the covers over his head. Sleepy time was precious, damn it.
But…
His kids were slightly more precious that his beauty sleep, so instead of hiding and ignoring them pawing at his face (he'd already had to take out half of his piercings after their grabby little paws had ripped some of them out multiple times), Gajeel sighed and carefully rolled onto his back, opening his eyes up slowly and wincing at the harsh light until he could clearly see the precious faces of his demon spawn hovering above him.
"Papa!" They launched themselves at him and threw their arms around his neck, and Gajeel couldn't help but laugh quietly. "It your birthday, Papa!" one of them announced happily.
"Didn't I have a birthday last year?" he mused.
The other twin shook her head. "Silly Papa," she said. "Birthday every year!"
"Huh. I guess you're right." Gajeel paused only for a moment, glancing between the two giggling girls leaning on his chest on either side of him. And then, with a devilish smirk curling the corner of his mouth, he was quickly wrapping his arms around the twins, pulling them tightly into his chest and squeezing them (gently) together. "Ah, come 'ere you two. Love ya, my little demons."
Minerva smiled fondly at the scene before her eyes. It was always one of her favourites, and her daughters' bright laughter and squealing from Gajeel tickling them was like music to her ears. The only downside was that their sweet little moment wasn't going to last as long as Minerva liked, since it was still a weekday and they each had to go to work soon.
For now though, they could just enjoy it for a little while longer before getting everyone ready for work or daycare. And so, she was kicking her soft slippers off and climbing back into bed beside the rest of her happy family, only leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her husband's temple and whispering, "Happy birthday, Gaj."
Unfortunately, that was when the tables turned, and it was Minerva who found herself being sat on by two giggling toddlers and an uncharacteristically affectionate husband. But she would survive.