Our House

"Mmmm," Mirajane sighed as she and Laxus stood in the center of their new master bedroom, staring at all the empty space. "We have so much more room here. It's almost unnecessary."

"Not unnecessary, demon," he said, standing there with a very serious face. "Well deserved. We put in our dues. And after one night in this place, that dreadful apartment will be a distant memory."

That time she hummed before saying, "Well, dragon, I have to spend the night at the apartment."

"Huh?"

"Or, well, I don't have to," she corrected. "But I am. There's no furniture here other than the couch and fridge."

"And the kitchen table."

"Laxus-"

"You're not staying with me and the boys?" he asked with a frown. "Demon?"

Shaking her head, she told him, "I'm going back home to pack up some more boxes. And then tomorrow morning I'm gonna head over to Master's place and help him pack some more too. He's really being stubborn about this."

"Let's just focus on getting us moved in first, huh? His room'll be waiting for him when he finally decide he wants it," Laxus told her simply. "And tomorrow morning, Bickslow and Freed'll be coming by to move some more stuff out of the apartment. I didn't tell them that you'd be there, so they'll just use my key to get in. Just wanted you to know."

She only leaned up to press a kiss against his cheek before turning to walk off. "I'm gonna go tell the boys goodbye. See you tomorrow, dr- Dragon!"

Laxus had caught her wrist and, tugging her back towards him, about threw her off balance and forced her to the ground. Still, she found her balance and he only took to pulling her close.

"Or," he offered up in a soft whisper. "You could stay here, with me, and we could spend the night breaking in our room."

"You, mister, promised the boys that you'd be camping out in the living room with them in sleeping bags."

"I could sneak away."

"Yes, well, you don't be." Then she patted his chest. "So get over it."

"Mmmm," it was his turn to moan as she shoved him off before walking back to the door. "I like you when you're this way, demon. I like it a lot."

Oh, trust her, she knew.

She found the boys in the empty kitchen, where they were using the fact that there was no kitchen table to their advantage. Mace, her nephew, was sliding around in his socks while Nate, her oldest, took to rolling his favorite toys, his cars, around. Then there was her baby Pike who was still very much so uncertain about the new house and was seated with their faithful old mutt off in the corner, resting against the pooch as he sang his ABCs rather loudly.

"Boys," Mira called as she came in there as well, forcing all three of them to stop what they were doing, glancing up. "I'm about to go, okay?"

"Go where?" Nate asked, concerned. "We're home, right?"

"Well, I gotta go back to the apartment, baby."

"Why?" Mace stared over at his aunt with a frown. "You can share my sleeping bag."

"No, sweetie, that's not it."

Duh. If that were the situation, Nate knew without a doubt that it would be his sleeping bag the woman would want. He was, after all, her favorite person to ever walk Earth Land. She'd never exactly expressed this, but he figured the sentiment was implied. Besides, it was definitely returned.

"Go?" Pike was most worried and, leaving his doggie behind, got to his feet before rushing to his mother's side. "No."

"Baby, you'll be with Daddy." Mirajane gently smoothed back his white locks. "I have to go pack some more."

"I go with you," Pike reasoned. "P'ease?"

"No." Leaning down, she kissed his forehead. "You and Daddy are going to have so much fun with the big boys."

"No," he repeated. "Mommy, no. Stay. P'ease?"

"Baby-"

"Pike," came the very booming voice of his father as it echoed through the nearly empty house. "Are you whining?"

Uh, yeah. His mother was trying to ditch him. Was there another protocol for such situations? Because if so, Pike had never been keyed in on it.

"He's nervous, Daddy," Mirajane told him as he came to join them in the room. Nate and Mace, seeing that the conversation had nothing to do with them (and was utterly boring), got back to playing. Pike only stood there, though, staring up at his parents with his deep blue eyes.

"About what?" Laxus frowned down at his youngest. "Huh?"

"Staying in the house for the first time," Mira told him. "It's scary."

Reaching down, the man easily lifted the boy into his arms. It was beginning to be something that he and Mirajane were waning the boy away from as he was only continuing to get older. Though he'd like to blame it all on his wife, Laxus would have to admit that he had quite the problem with babying his, well, baby at times.

Pike was just so...tiny. Not in a weak way, as, though he could be a tad sensitive at (all) times, he could hold his own when Nate and Mace got a tad too rough in their rough housing. More over, Pike was just short. Which wasn't unusual. He was only four. But already he was much smaller than Nate had been at his age as well as Mace. Laxus blamed it on those dang Strauss genes, but given the size of Elfman and, according to Mirajane, her father, he was fearful it had more to do with the Dreyar side.

Not to mention, Laxus hadn't been involved in Nate's baby phase and might have found himself overdoing it at times with Pike. Soaking up all the little moments became something that Laxus overly indulged in. He just… He hadn't had a relationship with Nate's mother, who'd ditched the boy all too many years ago, but he did with Pike's. Mirajane was his wife and, honestly, his woman. His only woman. He didn't want that to play a factor in the way that he treated his boys, but sometimes, and he hated it, but it did rear its ugly head at times. He was there with Pike, from conception to right then, as he staring at the whining boy with disdain, and that just made him feel...something. He wasn't sure what.

"Daddy and you are," he was saying then as Pike only stared at him, "are gonna spend the night sleeping on the couch. Okay? And you're gonna get to snuggle up real close to me and be very safe. Has Daddy ever let anything get you?"

"No," Pike said once more, though that time it was more sorrowful. "Daddy."

"That's right. I'd never let anything happen to you. You know that."

Meh.

"I wan' Mommy," Pike explained then, ignoring the fact that the woman was right there.

"Well, I know," the man said, finally losing some of the darkness in his stare. "We all will."

"I'll miss Mommy the most though," Nathan said, not looking up from his toys. "Just to be clear."

"I miss you, Aunt Mira," Mace said, coming to a sliding stop in front of the three Dreyars, grinning up at the one by marriage. "A lot."

"Not," Nate complained from where he was off, by himself, still playing, "as much as me."

Giggling, Mirajane grinned at them before saying, "You know that I'll miss you all too."

"She's going to be gone for, at most, twelve hours," Laxus complained, his frown winding up back up on his face as he glanced around at the three children. "I leave for jobs for a month and don't' get as much as a kiss goodbye."

Uh, yeah, because he was Daddy. Not Mommy.

Duh.

"Awe, dragon," Mirajane whispered. "Do I need to give you a kiss?"

"No." Then he paused. "Well, you can, but-"

"Don't be a big baby, Pike," his brother spoke up then, lifting his head from his toys to frown at the younger boy. "Mommy'll be back in the morning. She has to. To make us breakfast."

Mirajane started to protest, but then just shrugged. It was true enough.

"She'll always be back," Laxus told his youngest son who only glanced at the woman before, slowly, nodding his head. He could stay with Daddy. Mirajane worked a lot, after all, and was frequently gone when he went to bed. If his daddy was there, he definitely could deal.

At his real home. His only home. In the apartment.

In this new place though? With completely unmapped territories? And a potty that definitely wasn't his and might, like, suck him down if he got too close when flushing because, trust him, Nate had told him about such things happening and why would he ever doubt his big bubba? Huh?

He would just have to force daddy or the doggy to go to the bathroom with him, he decided, as Mirajane went around, giving a kiss to all of her boys (including her mutt), before she departed for the night, Laxus calling out for her to be careful out there, considering it was already dark.

Of course he knew that it would take something massive and overwhelmingly powerful to take down the she-devil, but sometimes he liked to pretend. You know, pretend like his wife needed him. He was nearly certain she didn't.

His boys, however, well, they were just walking disasters. His nephew too. No, they definitely were in need of their daddy/uncle. Sometimes they just didn't seem to remember.

With Mira gone, Laxus left the older boys alone in the kitchen, under the agreement that they wouldn't mess anything (with nothing in the house, he wasn't sure what they could mess up, but hey; he wasn't giving them a chance to figure it out) before taking Pike with him.

"See this, buddy?" he asked as they arrived in what would be Nate's bedroom. "This is a bunk bed. Err, well, it will be, when I get it put together. You wanna help Daddy with that?"

It looked like a mess of wooden parts and screws and just...not at all what Pike wanted to do. Rather, it was getting a bit late. He'd already been put in his jammies after dinner and, well, Laxus could tell he was getting sleepy, so he went and got one of the couch pillows from the living room and laid it down, as well as a blanket they'd brought over before setting the boy up in the corner to rest a bit. He figured that it would be a long night anyhow. Three boys and a dog against him? Laxus could handle it, but not without some snags, he was certain.

The decisions to get the Nate a bunk bed rode on many things, actually. A big one was, well, even though they were a bit strapped for cash with the new house and the looming thought of buying some extra pieces of furniture to, well, furnish the place, Bickslow and Lisanna offered to help out. Which was odd, considering the two of them were mostly just scrapping by, wasting the rest of their jewels on frivolous things that only served to junk up their tiny apartment. However, recently Bickslow had, quite literally, fallen into some money.

It was while he was out on a job and, somehow, while rooting around in an abandoned building, fell through some rotted out flooring and down to a hidden basement level, where apparently the old owners had died leaving quite the treasure trove of different knickknacks that, quite honestly, were mostly trash. And the mayor of the town said that no one had owned that building in years and if Bickslow wanted the junk, he could have it; they'd be demolishing the building soon enough.

There was only one thing he wanted though. This old antique clock that he just knew that Lissy would love. And she did. However, he also brought her back this creepy as hell painting that she made him get rid of. Seriously, it was just scary. It was also scary valuable as, upon going to a pawn shop, Bickslow found out that it was actually worth quite a bit. Enoguh to not only cover their rent for three months (and their back rent for those other two months), but also enough to reward Mirajane and Laxus for helping them with their bills so often (which the slayer had no idea his wife was doing to begin with) by saying they would buy them something. And only the week ebfore Mirajane had mentioned to her sister that Nate wanted bunk beds for his room and, since it would finally be his own room again, she kinda wanted to make it special for him, but there just wasn't funding for it at the time.

Hehe. Arose from that not only the best pretend uncle/father's friend/(step)-aunt's boyfriend by supplying such a thing, but also Laxus' new favorite. Freed and Ever were so jealous. Iit was great. And also saved Bickslow's hide after Laxus found out just how much Mirajane was giving him and Lisanna to stay afloat.

Another big factor though, in getting the thing, wasn't just that Bickslow and Lisanna offered or that Nate wanted it, but also that, though Pike seemed to be excited about the idea of having his own bedroom, they also knew that, well, he'd never been without his big bubba. He would no doubt have some nights were the darkness was just a shade or two too dark and he'd have to go crawl into the bottom bunk for comfort. And then there was Mace, who spent the night with them more times than could be counted and would no doubt continue that trend. It would be nice to give him his own bed.

And, another big plus, was that Mirajane and Laxus really were in a weird point in their life where they were flirting around the idea of a third baby and possibly more and, well, those bunk beds might come in handy some day. Something good to have.

Laxus just had to figure out how to get them put together first.

He worked diligently at it for a bit. Though he wasn't a handy man by any account, he did take care of the plumbing at Mira's old house (currently Elfman's) and anything else that went wrong around their apartment. He wasn't the type to bother a super. How hard could putting together some bunk beds be?

Too hard. He fell asleep eventually, on accident, among the wood and his youngest son, who was already snoring softly. The pair might have stayed like that for the rest of the night, had they not been bothered by Nate and Mace.

"Are you asleep?" came the complaint of his oldest son. "Come on! Get up!"

"Yeah, Uncle Laxus," Mace insisted, coming to shake his shoulder. "Without Aunt Mira, we can stay up forever!"

Try no. Laxus only grumbled, shoving at them as they both shook the man. "Knock it off."

"No. You gotta get up," Nate insisted before frowning over at his brother. "You too, Pike. You're not allowed to sleep in my room! Only I can first!"

"This house has been here for ages," Laxus grumbled as Mace continued to shove him. "Many people have slept in here."

"Not when it was ours though."

"It's not ours, you brat." Slowly, Laxus rose, making Mace giggle and run off, fearful of getting in trouble for bothering the man. "It's mine and Mirajane's. You're just lucky we're letting you stay here."

"Mmmm...mine and Mira's," Nathan corrected.

"No."

"I'll just as Mommy then," he decided. "And see what she says."

"You will not, you little- Oh, Pike, I'm sorry, buddy. Did we wake you?"

Yes! That was how come he was whining.

"Good," his older brother decided. "You can't stay in here until I say so. And I won't say so until I get to sleep alone in my top bunk. Then you can have the bottom one whenever. Whenever I say, I mean."

Of course.

Pike only sniffled some before saying, "Mon'ey."

Which, of course, was the name of his favorite stuffed animal that his Aunt Lisanna got him which was a monkey. Laxus wasn't stupid. They'd brought it along. They couldn't make it through the night without it.

"He's in the living room," Nathan told his brother who only got to his feet before taking his big bubba's hand. "No, Pike. You go get it on your own."

And risk that frighteningly dark hallway? No way. He tugged Nathan along behind him.

Laxus was just going to sit there, on the floor, among the mess of the half made bunk bed, when he heard his boys scream. Err, well, Pike. It startled his father thoguh, who stumbled to his own feet.

"It's just Mace, you big baby," Nathan grumbled as Pike sobbed. "That wasn't nice."

"I's just trying to scare you," their cousin said as Laxus could only surmise that he'd popped out from behind a corner or something after running off and hiding. Sounded like him. "I'm sorry, Pike. Look. Here's Money."

Money the monkey was ragged after years of abuse at the hands of the three boys, but Pike ignored his chewed up tail and crooked right eye as he went to pick him up from the pile of stuff in front of the couch in the otherwise empty living room.

Money was his best friend.

Other than the doggy. And Mommy. And Daddy. And Gramps. But as far as inanimate objects went, Money was his go to guy.

"Here you guys are," Laxus grumbled as he joined them in the room, going to hit the light switch. "What was all that yelling? Huh?"

But they all ignored him as Pike was busy snuggling Money and Nate and Mace took off running, both still in their socks, slipping around on the wooden flooring that existed in most of the house, save the tiles of the bathrooms, and the carpet in all, but the master bedroom. It would be great for Nate's toy cars, he was certain.

Horrible for the poor doggy though who was still adjusting, but he was so old that he mostly just plopped down in one place and stayed there for the whole day. Such was true about the kitchen, which he was currently placed for the rest of the night and into the next morning.

You know, unless he got a funny urge to go poop in some remote part off the house that Laxus wouldn't find for days and would stink the whole place up.

Unless that.

He might look into doing that.

Hmmm.

"Alright, boys," Laxus called out as the two ran off. "You woke me up for some play time, I'm assuming, so run if you want. It just makes it that much more fun when I catch you!"

And there were loud giggles then from both of them as they stumbled over one another, hoping to get in a better hiding place than the other. And Laxus gave them twenty seconds, in which he went to pick up Pike and set him on his shoulders (which meant Money was going as well), before setting out to find the older kids. Pike hunkered down, as the house was still dark and scary, snuggling Money with one hand and leaving the other atop Laxus' head.

They must have spent another hour just doing that, even Pike eventually getting down from the slayer's shoulders so he could get in on the fun. Though that was quite the detriment to Mace, who the boy only took to tailing at a much lower speed, frequently getting them found before Nate. Mace was a good cousin though and didn't complain...much.

After that got boring, the boys demanded snacks which Laxus, in preparation for staying the entire night there, definitely had. He'd had Bickslow and Lisanna hit up a store and get them tons of chips and drinks before the two departed for the night, leaving it for him and the boys. Not the demon though since apparently she was too hoity-toity to split a couch with him for a night.

Bah.

Bah!

So as Nate, Mace, and Pike got covered in crumbs and the remnants of artificially flavored junk that Mirajane mostly kept them away from (for their own good, she claimed, but they all three had their doubts), Laxus took the couch, where he put on his headphones and tuned them out for a bit.

That was why he missed one of the conversations the boys had.

"Bubba?" Pike asked, Money in his lap as he watched the older two boys argue over who got the last cookie.

"What?" Nate glanced at him after winning the argument by snatching the cookie and licking it on all sides. "Pike?"

"Mmmm...I don't like new house," he told him, glancing around. "It's scary."

"How?" Mace asked him, though he was still glaring at his older cousin. "It's just a house."

That alone was scary. Everything was scary. Life was scary. Pike mostly just liked to sit around in his father's lap, with his mother at his side, and not move a muscle. That was a perfect day to him.

Other than, like, if there was a chance that they could play pirates. He liked that a lot too.

"It's scary," was the only way that Pike knew how to describe it. And it was. Very scary. "Don't like it. Wanna go home."

"Don't be a baby," Nate said, though he did go ahead and break off half the cookie and gave it to the little boy. Germs, surprisingly, were not scary to Pike. At all. So he ate the spit soaked cookie without a second thought. It did nothing to absolve his fears though. "Pike."

"Wan' Mommy."

Well, Nate couldn't complain about that. Getting stuck with stinky ol' Laxus wasn't exactly ideal. Mirajane was the best. Everyone knew that.

"You'll see her when you wake up," Mace informed the boy. He went through such strife as well, though it was his own mother he missed. Evergreen and Elfman took jobs constantly, as it was very easy to just push him off on Mirajane, who was almost always home and had to either watch her boys or find them a sitter. Lumping Mace on top of that wasn't hard and she and Laxus just put up with it. No one ever thought the pair would be good parents, after all.

Not that it didn't make Mace upset at times. He really liked his mother, regardless of her obvious aversion to openly returning this sentiment. And his father, well, he thought of the man as the best man that there was around! After all, it had only been shoved down his throat since he was a newborn. They both seemed to love him as well, in their very different ways (Elfman showing it overly so and Ever not at all other than some extremely subtle ways), but never seemed to notice what their constant absences did to him.

Not like they had a lot of time to notice when they were home anyways. The two had never gotten out of the bickering phase (honestly, it would be scary for them to do so, as it was the basis of their entire relationship and any absolution from it would surely lead to an inevitable divorce) and spent most of their time around one another doing so. That left little time for anyone else's problems. Besides, they both just assumed that Mace loved his aunt and uncle and that he wanted to be with his cousins.

Which he did, of course, but still…

"No," Pike said, shaking his head. "I wan' her now!"

Frowning, Nate reached over to roughly pat the younger boy on the head. Pike sat there and took it with a slight glare.

"Be a big boy," was all his brother said as he continued to ruffle his hair. "Not a big baby."

He tried. Honest, he did. But...he had to go rush over to his father after a bit for some comfort.

"Wh- Pike," Laxus complained as he forced his way into his lap, taking Money along for the ride. "What's wrong? Huh?"

Everything. Life. The house. Mirajane not being there. The fact that he'd kinda just eaten his brother's spit covered cookie.

Not death though. That was one thing Pike hadn't learned to fear yet.

But he would. In the coming years. And it would be nearly crippling to him. At the moment though, just everything, but death.

Heh.

"Go home," he sobbed, all of the world just crumbling in on him at once. It might actually have more to due with the fact that his bedtime was hours ago and he was cranky, but whatever. "Daddy! I go home."

"Pike," the man groaned, pulling his headphones out as he stared down at his little buddy. His big buddy was staring over in concern. Frowning, the slayer grumbled, "Did you do this, Nate?"

"No," the boy complained. "I didn't."

Mace only scratched his brown hair. "Maybe it was that cookie."

"What cookies?" Laxus complained as Nate glared at his cousin. "And hey! You guys weren't supposed to eat all of that! You're all going to be sick!"

Oh, most definitely. But it had been a great ride.

Pike only buried his head in his father's chest and moan. Life was so unfair. Even Money couldn't make him feel better, fake eyes staring blankly at him, battered tail all, but missing all its stuffing. Only his mother could fix him when he was that dismayed. Only her snuggling him and telling him to be a big boy, that she loved him when he was a big boy. Please be a big boy, Pike. Please just-

And there it was. A loud bark in the darkness that was the kitchen without its light on before the running of their pooch could be heard as he headed straight for the littlest master, slipping and sliding across those horrible wooden floors that Mirajane just adored all the way to the couch, which he had no problem jumping atop the other half the couch. Laxus yelled at him, but he didn't care. He had to take care of Pike.

He just had to.

And his huge tongue was right there, on Pike's tear stained cheeks, lapping up the saline as he tried his darnedest to right whatever wrong the others had forced upon the baby master. Poor, little Pike. Poor baby Pike.

Nuzzling against his doggy, he tried to keep crying, but it was just so hard. Because where Money failed, the doggy succeeded. He was real and could provide the most comfort of all.

It took a lot of hiccups and sniffling, but eventually, Pike was just sitting there, cuddling his doggy, as Laxus watched with clear disdain.

It was definitely time for bed.

That took some sort on the older boys' parts as they protested quite heavily. They didn't wanna go to sleep. They wanted to stray up forever!

So Laxus cut them a deal; they could sit on their sleeping bags and talk. Pike, who had his own sleeping bag, took up residence on the couch with his daddy, the dog sleeping beneath the couch then, planning on that then to be his spot to not leave until morning.

You know, unless that poop thing popped back into his head. At the moment, he was only worried about keeping the baby master from crying again.

Nate and Mace, despite their protests, actually only stayed up for another twenty minutes before conking out. After all, they might be a tad older than Pike, but not like a lot; it was past their bedtime too.

Laxus fell asleep for a bit as well, with Pike on his chest, snoozing comfortably for some time. When awoke though around four in the morning, he knew what he needed.

Some pizza.

They'd had one for dinner and put the leftovers in the then empty fridge (Mirajane had made them empty it out before moving it) and, gently shifting Pike off him and back on the couch as he got up, Laxus headed off to get some.

He was in there, in practical darkness, save the light of the fridge that he'd opened, rooting through the two pizza boxes in there, looking for the one that he wanted. It was while he was doing so that he heard something behind him and turned, glaring over his shoulder at the sound of clicking.

It was just the dog though who barked at him, there in the doorway, seemingly glaring at him. Laxus returned it just as heavily.

"What? You want water or somethin'?" He abandoned the pizza to go fill the dog's bowl that they'd brought over. "You worthless mutt."

That worthless mutt sure was keeping his attention though as, when he went to get his drink, Laxus only stood over the bowl staring.

"Don't you pee in my house," Laxus warned. "Else I'll chain you up in the backyard."

No, he wouldn't. Mira would be sure of that. Not that the pooch had any fear of the man anyways.

And besides, him peeing somewhere would be Laxus getting off easy. Extremely.

Snagging his pizza then, Laxus left the mutt alone in the darkness before heading back to the living room. Mace and Pike were gone, but he could see a light on down the hall, in the bathroom, and knew that one of them had had to pee and, in fear of that toilet monster, had woken the other.

"Are you eating?"

Laxus frowned down at Nate, who was laying there in his sleeping bag, blinking sleepily.

"What of it, brat?"

He only rolled onto his tummy, Nathan did, before asking, "Can I have some?"

"You're still hungry?"

Always.

"Yes."

"Well here." Laxus moved to hand him one of his slices. "Don't get your sleeping bag dirty though, huh? It's mine, you know."

Oh, he knew. That's why he liked to use it.

Not that he'd ever admit that, of course. Loving your father? Gross. Extremely.

Nate finished before the other two boys got back, Mace and Pike both rushing to get into their sleeping bags as the younger one forgot that he'd been sleeping atop his daddy before. Laxus was glad for this though, as it gave him the ability to just stretch out on the couch and sleep until the morning, when the demon would wake him up and inform him that the dog had pooped in the kitchen. Not out of sight thoguh, which would be good, if Laxus would take the time to recognize that, but he wouldn't.

The dog got no thanks. None.

Unbelievable.

At that moment though, Laxus was just content, there with his boys, in what would be their new home, a sempiternal amount of possibilities before them in what he was sure would be a good portion of their journey through life and, sadly, also the last for his grandfather.

It would definitely be an experience however and Laxus couldn't wait for it to truly begin.

Just more bridging to whatever the next story for the Parenthood series will be. Not sure what'll be next, but I kinda like the in between stuff.