Gajeel had never been so happy to see his crappy apartment in his life, but now looking around he realized just how crappy it really was. He'd been keeping it cleaner since Lily moved in, but they both had weapons laying around everywhere. There were also a few dirty magazines which Gajeel immediately threw away. He'd rather not have them than ending up having to explain them, and they didn't excite him anymore anyway.

It wasn't the ideal place to keep a kid' but it was better than an old alleyway. At any rate he could start fixing it up like he'd been meaning to.

He woke up Ira and took her to the bathroom so they could shower off and change, realizing after they were clean that she'd have to wear one of his shirts again. He was going to have to go shopping again tomorrow and it wouldn't be for just an hour. Wonderful. Maybe he could get Levy to do it? No, he didn't want to bug her, plus he intended on keeping Ira a secret for as long as possible, even from the small bluenette mage.

Lily came home after a short while, carrying a big pot of chicken soup that Mirajane had made. He set the pot down and smirked.

"Levy sends her regards." the exceed said, winking at Gajeel who growled.

"...The kitty talks." Ira squeaked, never having seen an exceed before. Lily jumped up next to her on the couch and introduced himself.

"Hello there," he smiled. "I'm Pantherlily, and I'm actually an exceed. I can fly and get as big as Gajeel when I want to." The young girl looked at him in amazement, then something clicked in her mind.

"Oh! My name is Lily too! I'm Ira Lily though." She exclaimed, not knowing he was the reason she was named that.

"Oh really? Well that's a very nice name."

"My papa gave it to me!" She smiled happily

"I see, and who's your papa?" Lily asked, wondering where this was going. He got his answer when she pointed to the large man next to them and he let out his signature "Gihi."

"Care to elaborate, Gajeel?" He couldn't help but wonder if the man had lost it and kidnapped a random child. Though why even an insane Gajeel would kidnap someone he had no idea.

"Shit just happened." Gajeel smirked, knowing his partner hated when he said that. Lily began to growl something but Gajeel cut him off.

"Ira, when you're done it's time for bed. It's through that door, I'll be in after a while." The small girl puffed up her cheeks, making it clear she didn't want to go to bed, but she gave in after getting a stern look from her papa. She wasn't afraid of him, she just didn't want to make him upset with her.

After the little girl finished her soup and disappeared into the bedroom Gajeel got serious and started talking things over with Pantherlily. He told his cat all about his mission beforehand and how afterwords he found the girl alone on the streets. Lily agreed that taking her in was the right thing to do, but still wondered why his asshole best friend in front of him would do it. They talked late into the night about what they were going to do until eventually neither one could stay awake and they climbed into bed with the snoring child.

Early the next morning Lily brought Master Makarov to the apartment like Gajeel asked. He then excused himself to leave the two men alone to talk.

"What is it, Gajeel?" the old man asked. "Usually we talk in my office."

"Yeah well this couldn't wait. Listen, I don't think I can keep up the dangerous missions anymore. Particularly Raven Tail." The man got straight to the point as usual.

"And why is that?" Makarov asked, getting slightly angry.

"I actually have someone who needs me now." He simply stated. When the master looked at him confused Gajeel got up and walked to the bedroom, only to come out a moment later carrying a child still groggy from sleep. The old man was taken aback.

"Who's this?" He asked, his anger now gone as the old man had a soft spot for children.

"Well long story short she's my kid." Gajeel stated. "She was alone on the street and I brought her home."

Master Makarov nodded, that kind of thing wasn't all that strange in his eyes as he'd done practically the same thing with Erza, Natsu, Gray, Cana, and most of the other young people in his guild.

"I'll see what I can do about Raven Tail," He said calmly, "but my son may come after you."

"That's why I want her to be a secret for now. If nobody knows about her she won't be in as much danger."

"Isn't that the same excuse you use for not getting close to Levy?" The old man laughed at the iron dragon slayer's annoyed expression and continued. "You may want to ask Alzack and Bisca to help out a bit. Their daughter is just a bit older so they could give you tips and probably some of Asuka's old clothes."

Gajeel had completely forgotten that those two had a kid. He hadn't paid much attention to them before, but now he actually could use their help. He continued to think as Ira began to giggle, trying to get out of his grasp. He set her down and she stared at the short old man in front of her.

"Hello child, I'm master Makarov." He said, all smiles. He enjoyed that the new generation of guild members was already starting. He didn't even care if the young girl was capable of magic, having children around made him feel young again.

"Hi.." Ira said sheepishly. She was still tired and a bit shy in front of the man she didn't know, but she soon warmed up to him and before Gajeel knew what was happening they were both running amuck and playing around. He yelled at the old man that he was going to find the gun mages and would be back soon. Makarov just shooed him out, enjoying playing with his new grandchild.