Parenthood

Chapter 30

"It was a most excellent choice, Laxus," Freed said, nodding his head slightly as the man showed off his newest purchase.

"I dunno," Bickslow said, tongue tumbling out of his mouth. "I mean, good eye on your part, boss, but I'd never buy Lisanna somethin' so flashy."

"That's because you have poor taste and don't give a real damn about your broad," Laxus grumbled as he closed the tiny box before pocketing it once more. "Besides, once Ever shows up, she'll see it and agree that it's the best of the best."

"Of course it is, Laxus," Freed agreed.

"It's pretty nice," Bickslow was quick to follow.

"Nice," his babies mimicked. "Nice."

"How are you gonna ask her?" the tattooed man asked as they sat around the boss's kitchen table, going over battle formations and things. They'd shifted, of course, onto Laxus' most recent buy rather quickly. Both he and Freed were concerned, after all, that their idol was going to be married off soon enough, leaving them both in the dust.

"Whadda you mean how am I gonna ask her?" Laxus grumbled as he looked back over the map in front of them. "I'm gonna just ask her."

"You have to make it magical, don't ya?"

"What are you blabbering about, Bickslow?" Laxus complained. "I'm just gonna ask her, she's gonna say yes, and we're gonna be done with the whole-"

"While I agree with you, of course, Laxus," Freed began.

"Just get to the point."

"Right," he said, nodding his head. "Well, you know Mirajane. She'll want it to be special."

"Special, huh," Laxus mumbled.

"Yes. And that is only the proposal," Freed went on. "I mean, Mira is going to want a dream wedding, I am sure."

"Dream wedding?" Laxus frowned. "That sounds like money."

"That is money, boss," Bickslow told him. "She's gonna want a nice venue, yeah?"

"The hell is a venue?"

"It's a-"

"And her dress," Freed added. "She's going to want a nice dress."

"I-"

"You can't forget the reception either," Bickslow went on.

Laxus growled. "Well, she ain't gettin' all that! We're eloping."

"Something tells me that Mirajane won't be too keen on that," Freed told him.

"Well, she better get keen on it."

"W-Well-"

A knocking at the front door stopped Freed from speaking. Laxus, annoyed, only barked out, "It's open, Ever," without a second thought.

"Hi," Nathan, who was seated on the kitchen floor with his toys, called out to the woman when she walked into the room.

Evergreen only nodded at the toddler, who giggled. He really liked Ever. Then again, he really liked everyone!

"You're late," the boy's father grumbled as the woman came to claim the last seat at the table.

"I didn't really think that I was needed for this," she told him stiffly. "Considering."

Since finding out that she was keeping the child, Laxus had taken Ever off the Thunder God Tribe, if only in theory.

"You're pregnant," he grumbled to her. "What would happen if you, like, lost the kid out on the job? It'd be bloody and nasty and…no. Just no."

Ever seemed to resent the child even more, if only for that reason. It didn't matter that both Freed and Laxus had assured her that after having the baby, she'd be back to business. Nope. She was upset regardless.

Although, according to Mirajane, Ever was only going to get worse, the further into her pregnancy she got.

"She'll be real moody and agitated," his girlfriend told him once.

"And what? You think that saying that is going to make me want to get you all knocked up?"

"Oh, Laxus, if I just got pregnant, you'd get it," Mira had assured him. "You'd feel all prideful and happy and Nathan would love it. It'd just be great."

He had his doubts.

But still, that wasn't the problem of the day. Oh, no.

"Boss here has something for his woman," Bickslow announced to Evergreen not soon after she sat down. The woman only frowned.

"And what would that be?" she asked as Mira's dog strode into the room to take another good sniff of all the guests. You could never be too certain, after all. No way the mutt wanted anything happening to the little master.

"Woof woof," Nathan called out to him as Bickslow's dolls cried out in fear. The dog kept trying to jump up and snatch them out of the air, thinking that they were toys or something. "Woof woof!"

"Go," Bickslow growled at the dog who only took to sniffling at Evergreen. She wasn't too thrilled about the thing either. "You filthy beast!"

"Leave him alone," Laxus sighed, being rather beat down about the dog. "He's part of the family."

That got drove home to him constantly. Whenever the dog peed on something or chewed up something or even when he'd growled at Laxus a few weeks back (in the dog's defense, Laxus was scolding Nathan about something and he thought the little master was in danger), Mirajane would just repeated those words like a mantra.

"He's part of the family, Laxus," she'd say as Nathan would go rush to go throw his arms around his dog, shielding him from his father. "And you don't kick people out of the family."

"He's not a part of my family."

"Yes, he is. And he loves you. You're his daddy."

"Mirajane-"

"Look at him. He's begging you not to hurt him, Daddy."

"Daddy," Nate would pipe up. "Doggy not bad."

"No, Nate, he's not. There's no bad dogs, Laxus. Just bad owners."

"You're his owner!"

"Well."

Ugh. He went through that battle almost weekly. At the moment though, Bickslow only took to nodding his head as the dog left his dolls alone and headed over to Nathan for belly rub. The toddler happily obliged.

"I get it, boss," the seith assured him. "Just like me and my babies, huh? They're my family too!"

"Papa!" They all dove in close to him as Bickslow only grinned. Ever took to rolling her eyes before looking to Laxus.

"So what exactly is it that you have?" she asked. "Laxus?"

Producing the ring box once more from his pocket, he said, "I'm asking the demon to-"

"Ooh!" She literally filched the box from his hand. "Let me look. How are you going to do it? Is it going to be private? Can I be there? Can you do it at the guild? Or are you going to do it at dinner? Don't do it at dinner. Everyone does that and it's totally-"

"What is with you people?" Laxus grumbled. "I'm going to wait until she gets home from work tonight and-"

"Laxus, you have to put some thought behind this," Ever told him. "Oh, I know. You can serenade her and-"

"Ew, gross."

"Laxus-"

"Plus, I can't play a lick of guitar. Or any instrument," he went on. "Mirajane isn't going to care how I ask, anyhow. She just-"

"Mommy." Nathan glanced over at them then. He could hear them talking about the woman, after all. "Mommy 'n' Laxus. Ring."

Freed glanced over at the child before back at Laxus. "Incorporate the child into it."

"Into what? I'm not-"

"Yes," Ever gushed as she stared at the ring. "Nathan, come here."

"No."

"Nathan-"

"No!"

"Come here. Now."

Huffing slightly, the toddler left his doggy and toys behind to go over to the woman. Sometimes Ever was annoying.

"Here." She picked him up before moving to set him in Bickslow's lap, making the man frown slightly.

"Hey-"

"Just hold him," Ever complained as Laxus frowned. Nathan looked across the table though, at his father, and waved. Slowly, the man lifted his own hand to return the gesture.

"Now," the woman went on as she moved to grab Nathan's little face in one of her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Repeat after me. Can you do that?"

"No!"

"Nat-"

"Just start talking," Laxus sighed, wanting to get the whole thing over with. "He'll do it."

Ever glanced at the man before back at his son. Slowly, she said, "Say, Mira will you marry us?"

Nathan opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Nathan!"

Well. After Laxus scolded him a little, the boy let out a long breath.

"Mira," he repeated. "Marry?"

"You have to say it the way I said it," Evergreen told him. "Mirajane, will you marry us?"

"No."

"Nathan-"

"Hey, buddy?" Bickslow glanced down at the child in his lap. "How 'bout this? You wanna make Mira real happy, huh?"

"Mira. Yes. Mommy. Love Mommy."

"Mira would really like it if you asked her if she'd marry Laxus. Can you do that? Can you ask Mira if she wants to marry you?"

"Mira, marry me!" he demanded. Laxus couldn't help but smile slightly.

"You wanna ask her for me, buddy?"

"Uh-huh." Nathan nodded slightly before moving to jump out of Bickslow's lap. He wanted to go ask the doggy too!

"Woof woof," he called as he headed back over to his dog. "Marry me!"

"Marry me," Bickslow's dolls called as they floated around their father. "Marry me!"

"Great," Laxus groaned. "Now the kid's gonna ruin everything. Mira'll walk in and he'll ask her right off the bat."

"Marry me, Daddy," he called over to the man. "Now!"

"Nathan, behave."

The three year old only giggled, dropping down to the floor so he could get back to playing with his toys.

"This is great," Ever said as she gave Laxus back the ring then. "I mean, here I was, feeling so bad about what's going on with me, that I forgot that you and Mirajane are so…so…in love."

Laxus blinked. Then he looked off. "Yeah, well."

"And it's only been what? A year and a few months now?" Ever asked. "I think it's just great that you're so happy, Laxus."

"Uh-huh."

"We all think that, boss," Bickslow told him with a grin. "We all really like Mirajane. Don't we, guys?"

"Yes," his babies said. "Yes."

"She is very…shapely," Freed offered up. "And friendly."

"She's okay," was the best Ever was going to give. Laxus only frowned

"Shapely?" Bickslow repeated. "What's that mean?"

"What do you think it means?' Ever complained.

"I don't know, Ever, that's why I'm askin'!"

Laxus growled then. "Would you all shut up? I don't remember asking your opinion on my demon anyhow!"

That got them to all fall silent. After a moment though, Evergreen smiled.

"You're going to make her let me be the maid of honor, right?"

"What? Laxus frowned. "I-"

"No way." Bickslow rubbed at his chest. "Lissy's gonna be that. Since I'm the best man."

"You are not," Freed told him, sitting up taller. "I am, of course."

"What? No. I-"

"I think Elfman should be," Ever said then. Even Laxus did a double take on that one. "I mean, he is going to be your brother now."

"He is not my broth-"

"Marry me," Nathan started up again. "Marry me, Daddy! Marry me, F'eed. P'ease?"

"Buddy, if you don't stop yelling, it's going to be naptime," Laxus told him, glancing over there. "I mean it."

Evergreen rolled her eyes. "My point is that I get to be the maid of honor."

"You don't even like Mirajane," Freed pointed out, genuinely confused. "Why-"

"I don't like any women that I know," Ever told him. "But I plan to be as involved in all of their weddings as possible. Even Erza, should anyone want that hag as a wife."

Bickslow frowned. "What's so great about weddings? Other than the open bars."

"What open bar?" Laxus frowned. "There ain't gonna be one of those."

"Of course there will be, boss."

"You idiot," he said. "Don't you realize I'd be the one that had to pay for that if there was one? Which there won't be, by the way."

"Good," Ever said. "If I can't drink, none of you can."

"Whatever," Bickslow told her. "Your kid's gonna come out an alcoholic."

"I haven't been drinking, Bickslow," she hissed at him, her tone taking things further than any of the others were. She did that a lot more frequently those past few weeks. She went from zero to a hundred in a way only a pregnant woman could. "And how dare you say that? You-"

"Okay, okay," Laxus sighed, reaching out to pat the table twice. "Let's get back to the point here."

"Right." Freed was in his element once more. "About our upcoming-"

"Not that," Laxus grumbled. "I was talking about me and Mirajane. What am I going to do? If she comes home now, the kid's just going to ask her without giving me a chance to-"

"What time does Mira get off?" Ever asked.

"I dunno. She probably closes."

"Then there you go," she said. "He'll be in bed when she arrives and, in the morning, he'll probably forget about it. Until you prompt him. Just wait until you're ready and then remind him about it. You know how forgetful he is."

Laxus only sighed. "I guess so. I mean-"

There was a knock at the door again. That time though, the person didn't wait for an invite.

"Hey, Laxus? Are you here? Mirajane said that you had Nate and I-"

"Lissy!" Bickslow and his dolls perked up at the sound of her voice. They even rushed back to the living room to greet her, his babies did. If Nathan loved Mirajane, then his dolls thought the world of Lisanna. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey," she greeted as she came into the kitchen, Nathan jumping up and leaving his toys behind to rush over to her. Once he was near her though, he only stuck his tongue out.

They had a rather love-hate relationship, the two of them did. Which meant that Lisanna wholly loved him and Nathan, for the most part, just loved to hate her. Not that Lisanna wasn't great. Because she was. But she was much more fun to get all riled up.

"I just came by to pick Nathan up," she said as the boy took to giggling. Bickslow was standing then, going over to hug his girlfriend. She was more concerned with Laxus though. "Mira said that you complained the other day about being stuck wit him all the time."

"Complained is a strong word."

"And something tells me that she used it correctly," the woman responded. "And Bickslow, let me go."

He only squeezed her harder. "Where were you going to take the kid?"

"I don't know. The park or something."

"Boss." He let her go suddenly before turning to look at the kitchen table once more. "I gotta cut out of this meeting early."

Laxus frowned. "Why? Where are you going?"

"I dunno," he said with a shrug. "The park or something."

"Bickslow-"

"Marry me!" Nathan came over to hit Lisanna's leg making her frown down at him. "Marry me."

"You want me to what?" Lisanna looked down at the little boy with a frown. "Why are you-"

"I got your sister this," Laxus grumbled as Bickslow only patted Nathan on the head.

"Sorry, buddy," the seith said. "She's taken."

Lisanna went over to Laxus to take the little ring box from her. Before she even opened it, she was giddy.

"You're asking Mirajane to-"

"Yes, stupid."

"Hey! Bickslow, don't let him call me that."

"Uh, boss?" He bowed his head some then, reaching up to scratch at his cheek beneath his sallet. "Can you not be so disrespectful to the, uh, lady? She don't like it."

Laxus only snorted, leaning back in his chair. "So anyhow, Lisanna, you can take the brat if you want. But bring him back for bed. I might need in him the morning."

"You're asking her in the morning?"

"I might."

"How?" Lisanna asked, going to hand him the ring back. "Are you going to do something cute? Or, ooh, you should-"

"What is up with this stupid idea that I need to do more than just fucking ask her?" Laxus put his ring back in his pocket. "I mean, seriously? The woman is getting a damn ring. What more does she need?"

"Mirajane deserves a lot more than you."

Laxus blinked. Then he narrowed his eyes at Lisanna. Instead of addressing her though, he only said, 'Bickslow?"

He was scratching at his cheek again, not wanting to look at either of them. "Uh, yes, boss?"

"Tell your lady to get the fuck out of my apartment before I do more than call her names."

"Uh, yes, boss."

"Bickslow-"

"Let's go, Lissy," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "Quickly, please."

She gave Laxus the stink eye before going to pick up Nathan.

"Fine. Go get his little backpack of toys out of his room, Bickslow. But you better not screw up asking her, Dreyar," Lisanna threatened as Nathan only wiggled. He hated being carried. Especially by Lisanna. Bleh.

"Yeah, and you better hope that I don't catch you without your stupid boyfriend around," Laxus grumbled as he pocketed the ring. "Thinking you're in charge of somethin' 'cause your man's around. Brat."

"I'm not a brat! Bickslow-"

"Lissy, what do you want him to call you?" the man complained.

"Uh, gee, try something not derogative?"

Laxus only rolled his eyes though, sinking further into his chair. Nathan liked annoying Lisanna, fine, but she liked pestering his father a lot more.

"I don't know why you like him so much," Lisanna complained in her usual way to Bickslow after they left the apartment, Nathan holding tight to the man's hand. His babies, who were floating overhead, took to giggling. "He's not that great."

"You and boss just gotta learn to click," Bickslow said. "I mean, you guys are going to be siblings now, huh?"

"That man is not my brother."

"See? You're already alike!"

"What do you mean?"

"He said the same thing about Elfman."

She gave him a look at that. "We're nothing alike."

"You both love Mirajane, you both think I'm pretty snazzy, you both like pickles. I mean, the similarities are astronomical!"

That time, he got a blink. Then a sigh. "Anyways, was there something you actually wanted to do today? Or-"

"Park," Nathan told her. It was what she'd said before, anyhow. And even the mention of the place could set him off for hours. "Park, Bick'o."

Lisanna sent him a look too. He still, to that day, refused to say her name. It was actually rather annoying.

"We can go to the park, kid," he told the boy. "And maybe get some ice cream on the way, huh?"

"Bickslow-"

"Yay." Nathan looked up at him and grinned. "Yes."

"Why would you say that?" Lisanna frowned at her boyfriend. "I mean, we were home free here. He was already happy."

"Well…I wanted ice cream. So we were kinda getting it either way."

"Ice cream!" His babies were excited over this for some reason, but Lisanna couldn't figure it out. They, for obvious reasons, couldn't eat it. "Ice cream!"

So after stopping to get some cones, they were on their way to the park. Even there, Nathan was more focused on Bickslow's dolls than either of his current caretakers. Which was fine with them, as they weren't too dedicated to watching him either.

"So what are we going to do after we get rid of him?" Bickslow asked Lisanna as they sat down on a park bench, the boy only a little ways away from them, chasing after Bickslow's dolls. Randomly, the seith would force the dolls to do something, a trick or formation, that would make the toddler giggle.

He was rather attached to the little boss man, he would admit.

"You wanna go out to dinner?"

"Meh."

"We have to eat."

"What do you think this ice cream is?"

"Bickslow-"

"Is it not food? Huh?"

"You know as well as I do that in two hours, you'll be starved. So stop playing."

He laughed slightly, holding his cone over to her then, as he knew she always liked to eat not only her ice cream, but also at least half of his.

"You have a cute tongue," he said when she licked the cone. That made Lisanna blush and pull away from him.

"Shut up."

"You should think about moving your guild mark there, huh? Match me? Huh?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Eh," he said, shaking his head. "You're right. I like it right where it is, on your thigh. Nothing better than tracing it with my tongue."

She blushed at his last sentence, from the way he spoke it softly to the way he bumped her with his elbow while he was at it.

Though it had taken some time, they had recently taken off the ruse that seemed to only be fooling the two of them and no longer claimed they were just dating. Lisanna openly told people that yes, she had a boyfriend and Bickslow, well…his life didn't change much.

Except in one faction.

"Stop," she told him then, shifting away. It was a rather cool day out, but she was heating right up. "Seriously."

Bickslow only sighed slightly. It wasn't like he had been expecting Lisanna to give it up easy or anything. He wasn't. He just wished she didn't have to be so straight-laced about the subject. The most he'd gotten to do when she spent the night at his place was makeout a little. Sheesh. He was about ready to hand her over to the Salamander, no hard feelings.

"But," Lisanna was saying then. "It does kinda look cute. On your tongue. Or whatever. It'd different. It makes you…special. Who else would think about that? You're really…cool, Bickslow."

Then she had to go and say stuff like that and, well, waiting wasn't so bad. Not really.

"Yeah, kid," he sighed as he let her steal another bit of his ice cream cone. "You're pretty dang special yourself."

"What are you all smiley about?"

"What?" Evergreen claimed her seat at Elfman's table with a slight sigh. "I'm not smiling."

"No," he agreed. Ever rarely did anything rash like that. "But you're not scowling either."

She gave him one then, just for bringing it up. "There. Happy?"

"I'm always happy."

"Of course you are."

He grinned at her then. "Where were you anyhow? We were supposed to meet here an hour ago."

She glanced around the guildhall, as if to see if there were any other people she could possibly find of interest. No such luck. Freed was still with Laxus and Bickslow and Lisanna were off with the brat.

Sigh.

"I got caught up."

"With?"

"What diff-"

"I'm just curious, Ever."

"I was over at Laxus'," she told him, glancing up as Mira walked by, poised to ask the woman to bring her a drink. Then she remembered.

Double sigh.

"Doing what?"

"Elfman, what do you care?"

He only went back to staring down at his mug of ale. Ever had brought him right back down.

The woman waited until she saw Mirajane go back up to the bar before leaning across the table to stare at her boyfriend.

"Laxus is going to propose to Mirajane and he showed me the ring," was what she whispered. Elfman choked on the ale he was about to sling back. So much so that he had to get out of his chair, coughing loudly. This worried Mirajane as much as Ever as she rushed right back over from the bar to check on him.

"Elfman." Mira came to pat him on the back. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Did Ever do something?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ever was still sitting there and only glared at the other woman. "Snake?"

Mira frowned, looking away from her brother. "What did you just call me?"

"What do you think I just-"

Elfman finally finished coughing then and only reached out to pat Mirajane on the head, making her look up at him.

"I just," he wheezed, "choked on my beer. That's all."

"Well," the barmaid said slowly, patting his chest then. "As long as you're okay."

"I am."

After Mirajane left, Elfman only reclaimed his spot at the table, still looking rather flustered. Ever only rolled her eyes.

"Nice, Elfman," she grumbled. "You are, like, the worst person under pressure."

"Hey," he complained. "You can't just spring news like that on a man."

"It couldn't have come as that big of a shock. I mean, she has been weaseling her way in with Laxus for awhile now."

Rolling his eyes, he took a much smoother drink of his ale that time, as if to calm himself some. In a low voice, as not to alert his sister again, he said, "I can't believe that he's not asking me first."

"Asking you first? What? Do all the Strausses wanna marry Laxus?"

"Ask me for her hand, Ever," he clarified. "He should do that. I'm the man that should get to pick who Mira marries."

"In what century?"

"Evergreen-"

"I don't think that you're being considered in this at all," she said. "And hey, trust me. I tried to wiggle you in there."

"What do you mean?"

She sat up taller. "I suggested that you be his best man, considering I'll be the maid of honor, but-"

"Maid of- Ever, you don't even like her."

"It's not about liking her, Elfman. It's about her being Laxus' wife."

"What diff-"

"Once she marries Laxus, it's locked in," Ever said. "It means that he's really changed and he's really with her. That means that…well… It's kinda like how I don't like children."

"No kidding."

"But I have to pretend to like his brat. Because it's Laxus' son. Once he married Mirajane, she'll be Mrs. Laxus Dreyar. You understand? I won't have much say in anything any longer."

"I don't think that you have much say as it is."

She leaned over the table and hit his arm then making the man frown, rubbing at his bicep.

"Ever-"

"This is all real now," she repeated then, staring at him. "He's really… I mean, I don't want him. Or anything. I…I'm with you. I love you. But…"

"If it makes you feel any better," Elfman sighed then as he shook his head. "I think it's been over for awhile now." When she nodded, he said, "For them anyways. Me and you? We still got a good few months in here, huh? Before the… Before we're parents. So… We should make the most of 'em. Right?"

And she hated it, the whole situation, but that was why she stuck so close to Elfman. Because even when she didn't feel like it, which was rare to begin with, he could squeeze a smile out of her.

He just had that effect.

On her at least.

"Right," she whispered, fighting the grin to the best of her ability. But even the woman of stone couldn't deny that her beast looked pretty cute when he was trying to make her feel better. "You're so right, Elf."

They left eventually, to get back on schedule with their original plans for the day, which was moving some more of her stuff into his house, Elfman gong to hug the crap out of Mirajane before he took off. Which she found a little odd, but put it out of her mind quickly, as she had a whole night left of bartending to do.

When she got home that night, the last thing she wanted to do was anything real. She just wanted to relax.

Laxus had that all taken care of.

"Mmmm. What sort of stuff did you put in the bath, dragon?"

"I dunno," he said as he sunk down into the tub first. "I just went out and bought some stuff in bottles that said they smelled good."

"And bubbles," Mirajane giggled as she quickly climbed in with him.

"Of course."

"Mmmm," she moaned as he began to knead at her shoulders. "What'd you do?"

"Whaddya mean? I didn't do-"

"You had to have done something." She sighed as he released her shoulders before moving to reach around her and pull her hair tie out so that her bangs fell down. She only giggled, never rightly getting why he liked them down so much. Most guys didn't. It made her look more…innocent with them up.

Then again, that alone was probably why Laxus preferred them the other way. She wasn't naïve with him. Not anything close to innocent. Just a demon. A very, very naughty demon.

"Can't I just treat you sometimes?"

"This is a treat?"

"The money those stupid aroma shits cost? This is a treat."

"Taking me out to eat? To, like, a steak dinner? That's a treat. This is something you should do more often."

"I-"

"And not just because Nate's taking his nap. Those don't count."

"They don't?"

"Nope."

"Hmmm."

"So you better be planning some sort of steak dinner soon, dragon. I'm use to a higher-class of men, you know."

"I'm as high as you get, babe."

"Right."

"I am."

"You know who I was talking to today?"

"No," Laxus grumbled. "Why would I know who-"

"Makarov."

He paused. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Considering he don't do nothing anymore, but sit around the guild, that ain't surprising."

"You know what he told you?"

"Again, how could I possibly know-"

"Behave."

"Mira, this might come to a shock to you, little demon, but the last thing I want to think about when I'm naked with my girlfriend is my grandfather. I know, you're astounded, but-"

"He let it slip that you're making a big change in your life," Mirajane said, those words alone making Laxus pale.

"Uh, Mira-"

"And that he's so proud of you and that you're really a man now."

"…Is that all he said?" Laxus was really sweating it then. What if the old coot had ruined his-

"Mmmhmm," she said then. "But I know what he was talking about."

Considering it was Mirajane, Laxus figured he had better figure out what she thought it meant before he jumped to any conclusions.

"What?"

"That you're ready to have another baby!"

His eyes widened as she cocked her head back to stare up at him. "M-Mira, I don't-"

"I'm so happy, Laxus, that you've decided this. I mean, gosh, what if we get pregnant real fast? And then our baby's born right after Elf's? That would be, like, the best thing ever! And-"

"Mira, I really don't-

"Mira!" they heard then from the other room. It was loud. Nathan. He was calling out for her. "Mira!"

"Oh-"

"Wait," Laxus groaned, holding her down when she tried to get up. "He probably just heard your little outburst right then. You did practically scream it."

"But-"

"He's fine. He's a big boy. He- Oh, no," Laxus groaned when he heard the sound of the little boy's bedroom door opening with a bang, no doubt smacking against the wall behind it. "Nathan! I told you to stop slamming things open!"

"It was your fault," Mira told him softly. "You leave doors cracked all the time."

It was true. The same could be said about their bedroom door, which banged open then, as well as the master bathroom door, which came next.

"Mommy."

Mirajane only sunk lower in the water as Nathan came into the room. Laxus, trying to be sweet, had lit candles (even though he hated the way they smelled) allowing them to forgo the overhead light. Nathan didn't like the dark much though and only rushed over to the side of the tub to stare in at them.

"Bath?" He looked to Laxus then. "Laxus?"

"Buddy, go back to bed," he ordered as Mira hid beneath the bubbles. Nathan was just like her though and thought bubbles were the best. He started to climb into the tub as well, jammies and all.

"Nathan, no." Laxus quickly moved to push the boy back. "You-"

"Mira." Nathan looked to her, wanting her to let him play in the bubbles. She only smiled at him slightly, which seemed to set off a chain reaction in his head. "Mira! Marry me."

"What?" The little boy had quite the problem with enunciation and, as Mira had never heard him say the word marry, only frowned. "You can't get in the bath, baby, so-"

"Nathan," Laxus hissed, sitting up then. "Go to bed. Mira and I are-"

"Marry me." He was back to peeking into the tub, staring at Mirajane. "Mommy. Marry me."

"M-Marry? Whose talking about getting married?" She looked up at Laxus. "Ooh, is it Elfman and Evergreen?"

"N-"

"Marry me," Nathan repeated. "'n' Daddy."

Laxus growled. The little brat. When did he think it was so great to tack that on the end? Huh? It was almost like he planned it.

"You want… Laxus." Mirajane moved to shift away from him then, glancing over his shoulder. "Are you-"

"Well, damn it, kid." He was getting out of the tub then, bubbles sticking to his body. Bleh. He hated the things. Going to grab a towel, he added, "You always ruin everything."

With Laxus gone, Nathan clambered right into the tub, Mira, in her shock, not moving fast enough to stop him.

"Nathan!"

He only giggled though. It was just like swimming!

"Bubbas."

"You little brat," Laxus grumbled. "You don't even care, do you? That you just ruined my proposal?"

Mira looked up from Nathan then, who was in heaven with the bubbles, to stare at her boyfriend. "A-Are you? Proposing? Or-"

"It was supposed to be a damn surprise."

"I'm pretty surprised," she told him, still only staring with wide eyes. Nathan splashed some water at her.

"Marry me!"

"Okay, you're out." Mirajane moved to gather him up and set him back outside of the tub. He only stuck his tongue out at her before running out of the room, the two adults too concerned with one another to worry about the watery/bubbly trail he left behind. When she got out of the tub as well, Laxus was quick to wrap her up in a towel, pressing a kiss to her cheek as well.

"So how about it then, demon?" he was saying as she only stared up at him. "You wanna marry us?"

"I…I… I really wish I wasn't naked right now," she said, blushing slightly.

"Oh, no, I prefer it."

"Laxus."

He winked at her before, after making sure his towel was secure around his waist, moving to cup her cheeks and press a kiss against her lips.

"Be my wife, Mirajane," he whispered after, his breath hot against her ear as he bowed his head. "I need one if I'm gonna keep dealing with that."

As if on cue, Nathan came running back into the room, still just as soaked as before, but with the dog on his heels. The boy had no doubt gone and woken the mutt up to join in the fun.

"Bubbles!"

"No." Laxus turned away from Mirajane then to grab his son as he tried to run by and back over to the tub. "It's tile in here, kid. You could slip and fall. Stop running. What if you got hurt? Huh? Then what? You don't think, Nathan."

He only tilted his head back up at his father before sticking his tongue out. When Laxus sent him a look, he only giggled before ordering, "Marry me, Daddy!"

It was then though that it started. Mirajane turned away form the two of them then, almost dropping her towel as she brought a hand up to her eyes, tears welling there from the start.

"Uh, d-demon, I'll clean up the mess he made if that's what's-"

"No, it's just…" She sniffled. "I'm happy because… You're being a father. All worried and stuff. And you just asked me too… I need a second."

He blinked. Then he nodded and looked down at Nathan.

"Come on. We both need to get into something dry."

"Marry me!"

Laxus shocked the little boy when he pressed a kiss against his head. He shocked himself, honestly.

"Shuddup," he told his son then who only giggled and snuggled closer. "You little brat."

"Lil' b'at," he mimicked. "Marry me."

He got another kiss as Laxus turned to walk out of the room. "Sorry, kid, but I ain't on the table."

Mira thought that she was alone in the bathroom once they were gone, but she was quickly reminded that she wasn't when she felt a cold nose press against the hand that wasn't wiping at her tears.

"Oh," she sighed when she glanced down at her stray, err, dog. "You're still here?"

He licked her hand then as Mira only moved to scratch behind his ears. Then, after a moment, she leaned down to press a kiss against his head.

"Whoever thought we'd get to this point, huh? I… You're mommy's getting married."

She only got another lick before the dog turned to walk out and find out exactly what Laxus was doing to the little master. Nothing too bad, he hoped.

Then Mira was left to get dressed, hurriedly. She too wanted to know where the boys were.

When she left the bathroom though, she found them to be coming back into the bedroom, Nathan all clean and Laxus in a pair of boxers.

"He's too wound up to sleep in his own-"

"Where's the ring?"

Laxus smiled at Mirajane then, in the darkness of their bedroom, before going to drop the toddler down on the bed. Then he turned on the light and went to grab his discarded pants from earlier that day.

"Here you are, demon. Before you flip, I didn't pay too much. Just enough, I think. I mean, I know how you-"

The second she saw it, she launched herself into his arms. And Laxus only caught her because, well, she'd caught him enough in the past year. It was his turn to return the favor.

"I love it, I love you, I love this, I love Nate, I love our life, and I… Laxus."

He only bent his head, burying his nose in her white locks. "I love you too. And Nate and I just want you. And…and I guess the dog too. But mostly just you and Nate. And… I don't ever wanna be alone again, Mirajane."

"You won't be."

"And neither will you."

When she pulled back, he only moved to take the ring box from her so that he could slip it on her finger.

"Marry Mira?" Nathan had crawled over to the edge of the bed and was staring up at them. "Me?"

She was tearing up once more, staring at the boy's father for a long moment, before looking to him. Going over to the bed, she only bent down to kiss his blond head, making the toddler giggle.

"I'll marry you, Nate. Okay? I love you."

"Love Mommy," he agreed as she only moved to kiss both his cheeks then. "Love Mira."

"We love you too, buddy." Laxus spoke up then, glancing over at his son. "But this tracking water stuff everywhere was not cool. I-"

"Oh, Laxus, don't ruin this." Mirajane was stroking the boy's hair then as he only stared up at her with a grin. "Please."

It took some time to get all the water and deteriorating bubbles cleaned up, but they got it done. Laxus had been hoping that by the time they did, Nate would be wound down and they could put him in his bed so he could, well, finish off their special night.

No such luck.

"Mmmm. You feel that, Lax?"

"What?"

"Nostalgia."

"You can't be nostalgic about something that's only a year old."

"The heck I can't," Mirajane said as she sat down on their big bed, Nathan, his stuffed animals, dog, and father up there as well. "Who makes the rules then, about nostalgia? No one I know."

He only gave her a look though as he laid out on the bed. It used to feel so big and empty when he was alone. With a kid (nightmare), girlfriend (fiancée), a mutt (terror), and a whole bunch of stuffed animals (wasted money), he was lucky if he could even get comfortable.

Not that he hated it. It wasn't too bad. Not too bad at all.

"Just hurry up and get to the third song, huh? So I can make my requests?"

"Don't get over eager over there, Daddy," Mirajane said, holding back a yawn as she began to strum on her guitar. "We have all night."

"We have the rest of our lives," he corrected.

"And gee, the lifespan off a demon is…eternity? And a dragon is…next to eternity? So you can wait."

He only shut his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

"Mommy sing," Nathan told his stuffed animals and dog, the former all inanimate and the latter being passed out at the foot of the bed. Not that it made a lick of difference to him. In his mind, no one could sleep while Mira was performing. Except for him. After the third song.

It was kinda their thing.

And even though it wasn't the night that Laxus had planned or the proposal Mirajane had always envisioned, neither could remember a time that they'd been happier. Especially when, after an hour, everyone was ready for bed and Mira, after hitting the lights and putting her guitar up, snuggled up to the snoozing Nate while staring at her brand new fiancé.

"I love you," she whispered softly. "I-"

"I'm ready, Mira."

"Laxus, gross. Ew. He's sleeping right here. I'm not-"

"What? No. Ew. No. I…" He sat up some, staring over at his repulsed fiancée, who looked about ready to slap him. "Mira…I'm ready to…try. For a baby."

"Huh?"

"Gramps wasn't talking about it, obviously he meant me proposing, but… I wanna give you everything you want." Laxus swallowed. "And you know how they say getting two dogs will calm down a rambunctious puppy? Well, I'm hoping the same thing happens with kids, because Nate-"

"Wait, you wanna… Really?"

"Yeah, demon. If you are, then I am." He smiled at her slightly. "Besides, the little dragon needs a little demon to boss around."

She grinned before moving to press a kiss to Nate's head. "I think he's more of a demon that you know, Laxus. I didn't have demon blood before I became one, after all. And he doesn't need mine to be mine."

"No," Laxus agreed softly. "He doesn't."

It was only once they were both lay there though, still and about to drift off, putting an end to their wonderful day, when Mira spoke again, exhaustion laced in her tone.

"Hey, Lax?"

"Mmmm?"

"…So about this second dog-"

"Go to bed, demon," he told her as he only reached over to pat Nate gently on the head. "We're already parents two times over. Soon to be, what? Three? Let's just leave it at that for now, huh? Wife?"

"Mmmm. Sure, husband." She giggled. "I love you."

Closing his eyes then, he let out a slow breath before saying, "Yeah, demon. I love you too."

So that's the end of this then. I'm thinking of either doing a 5-10 chapter follow up to this, just something real short, or doing one-shots like how I've done with my Remember Me series. Probably the first and if so, it'll be up in the next few days, but we'll see.