AN: This is a second part some people requested. I hope it's fun!
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Baby Girl
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Gray knocked on the door. "Go away." He heard her say.
"Come on, baby girl." Gray smiled at the nickname; every time they fought and he wanted peace, he'd call her that and Rose would stop being so angry at him. "We need to talk." When the teenager didn't answer, he sighed but knocked lightly on the door again. "Rose? I'm getting in." He waited a second and opened the door slowly, giving her time.
Rose's room was a mess and that she got from him, that was for sure, Juvia liked to keep the house as organized as possible, but the children's rooms were always messy even after his wife pressured them to clean it up.
As usual, Rose was lying on the bed, under the covers. She liked to do that when upset, just like Juvia did and coax her out would take a bit.
Gray sighed and walked towards the bed, sitting on its edge, Rose still hasn't looked from underneath the covers. "Rose?"
"I don't want to talk with you." Her voice came muffled.
Gray snorted. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed. You look so open to conversation right now." His daughter groaned in annoyance but otherwise, stayed in silence. Knowing the teenager was as bit pig headed as he was, Gray decided to speak first or they'd be there for a long time. "Since when have you an Igor been…" he almost gagged "together?"
It took Rose a few moments to answer him in a quiet voice. "Not long."
"That's not cryptic at all, I got all the answers now." Gray sighed. "Give me something, Baby Girl."
The teenager pushed the covers away and sat on the bed, huffing in annoyance. The nickname always made her talk to him. "Two weeks."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "And why didn't you say anything to your mother and me?"
Rose rolled her blue eyes. "Because I knew you'd react like a crazy man. Which you did, by the way."
"Well, excuse me if I didn't expect my daughter to be making out on my couch when I got home." He told her and Rose glared at him before lying back on the bed, covering herself.
'Great.' Gray thought. It was all he needed, to make her even angrier with him. He knew Juvia would tell him to be more sensitive, so, he tried that approach.
"Look, Rose. I was surprised. Hell, even your mother was surprised and I know you two like to gossip with each other." The Ice Mage tried with caution. "Maybe if you had told us about it before we walked in on you things would've gone differently."
Rose pushed the covers away from her face and looked at him with suspicion. "Would it?"
Gray thought about it for a moment. "Well, not that much." He admitted. "I'd still try to put my hands on Igor for putting his hands on you."
"Why?" Rose asked in frustration.
"Because you are my baby girl!" Gray answered in frustration; couldn't she see?
"I'm not a baby, Dad! I'm sixteen!" She all but yelled.
"You'll always be my baby, Rose." He told her. "When you are an old lady and I'm even older and decrepit, you'll still be a baby to me. My first child." His tone softened. "When you were an actual baby, one day I freaked out with your mother about you growing up too fast. It seems like yesterday I held you for the first time and you looked at me with those big blue eyes." Gray passed a hand through his hair. "And that moment I promised to love and protect you forever." He sighed. "But here you are, sixteen already." His shoulders slumped and he put his hand over his eyes.
He was getting so old. If he were honest to himself, he never thought he'd get to the age of forty-three, especially with how many times he almost died saving the world, and he certainly didn't think he'd married and have two children.
Marrying Juvia, having Rose and Gris were the best things he done in his life, but time was passing too quickly. Rose was sixteen and Gris was going to be twelve in a few months.
"Daddy." Rose said with a sigh and Gray perked up a bit, if he became 'Daddy' again instead of 'Dad', he was making some progress. The teenager came from underneath the covers and kneeled next to him. "You don't have to protect me forever."
"I do." He snorted. "You might become an even greater Ice Mage than me one day and even then it would be my job to keep you safe. It's what parents do."
"And what that has to do with me dating?" Rose asked, quietly.
Gray looked at her. "I don't want you to break your heart. That hurts."
"Daddy, Igor's not going to break my heart."
"How do you know?" Gray frowned.
Rose sat next to Gray. "Because we are friends first."
Gray shook his head. "I was friends with your mother before we dated and even then I hurt her feelings more times than I liked. And those are the ones I know about. I know I must've done it more times and she never told me."
"I know, she told me." Rose shrugged. "Igor is not you, Daddy. He trusts people, he's not afraid of letting me in like you did with Mom. And I am not like you either, I'm more like Mom. I was the one who kissed him first, who thought we were ready for that."
With her words, Gray had to roll his eyes. "You are like your mother."
"Look, Daddy, I can handle this. Mom did and from what she told me, you were much harder to get." Rose raised one eyebrow and Gray tilted his head in agreement. "And you know what? If I do get hurt, at least I had some good moments. I like Igor, Dad. I really do, and he likes me. I get to enjoy that."
"Argh." Gray groaned in annoyance. "Oh, god. When did you started to sound so grown up? You do sound exactly like your mother." She smiled. "Don't you smile; the world cannot handle two Juvias."
"Good thing I'm half you, then." Rose told him and Gray nodded. "So, are you alright with Igor and me dating?"
"Oh, hell no." Gray scoffed. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that. You are my baby girl, no boy in the world deserves you. But," he stopped for a second "aside from groping you" he gave her a hard look and Rose had the decency to blush "he is an alright kid. And I know where he lives, so he can't very well run from me."
"Daddy!" The teenager complained.
"Hey, let me have at least the threats."
"I guess." She huffed in annoyance just like Juvia did and Gray had to smother a smile. "Fine. But just threats."
"I'll come up with some rules for this whole thing."
"Oh no. Not you on your own!" Rose complained. "You'll make me talk to him via lachryma and that's it."
"It is a good idea." Gray shrugged.
"Nope." Rose shook her head. "You and Mom can decide the rules. She'll be more reasonable with this than you."
Gray was reluctant, but agreed. "Fine. But there is one rule that I will not give up." He narrowed his eyes in her direction. "If Igor comes over, the bedroom door stays open. All the time. And if your Mom and I are not here, Gris will be in charge of keep an eye on you."
"Dad!" Rose whined in annoyance. "Having my little brother around all the time will be a buzzkill."
"That's the plan." Gray looked proud of himself. "That one not even your Mom with all the bribes she can give me will make me change my mind; and trust me baby girl, your Mom is great at bribing me. But I won't be swayed this time." He smirked a bit when Rose made disgusted face; she was feeling a bit like he did when he walked in the living room. Good, a bit of payback. "And if you even think about bribing your brother, I'll double the offer and I'll make sure he knows that."
"What if I offer him-"
Gray cut her off. "Double. It. Don't play this game with me, Rose. I am a very motivated father trying to keep his daughter from a horny teenager. Don't try me. I'm already being way more generous than I thought I would be."
Rose rolled her blue eyes and threw some of her long black hair over her shoulder. "Dad, it's been two weeks. Igor and I are seeing where this is going yet. I'm nowhere near ready to have se-"
"Alright!" Gray said loud, almost screaming, and cutting her off again. "That's a thing I really don't want to know. Remember when I was talking about you being an old lady? In my mind, you're still virgin then. Sorry, this is where I draw the line in this conversation." He got up from the bed.
"Dad-"
"Nope. I can't handle that yet." Gray started to take off his shirt without realizing. He was getting nervous. "Your Mom went to get Gris and she'll come here to talk to you about this. Just remember, 'no' means 'no'."
"Dad!" It was Rose's turn to almost yell and get embarrassed.
"Just…" He hesitated. "Don't hide things like that again."
Rose stared at him for a moment. "Alright. I'm sorry I didn't speak with you."
"And I'm sorry that I acted like crazy." Gray was well aware of his actions when he arrived home.
"So… I'm not grounded until I'm a hundred?" Rose teased, a smirk on her lips. Oh, that she got from him.
"I can lower it to ninety-five if you follow the rules." Gray told her in a serious tone and Rose snorted. "I'll go start making dinner."
"Can I call Igor and tell him he does not need to leave Magnolia and change his name?" Rose asked.
"If you must." Gray shrugged. "I will need to have a conversation with Lucy and Natsu, though, if Igor doesn't." Rose opened her mouth to protest but he didn't let her. "Do you really want them to know about this like your mother and I did?"
Rose shook her head. "I'll talk to him."
"Good." Gray nodded and took a few steps towards the door and then turned to face her again. "And the lachryma is not to be used for what you young people are using it for these days." When Rose frowned, Gray clarified. "You know, nudes or whatever."
"Oh my god, Dad! Get out." Rose's face became so red Gray almost laughed. "I am not- It's not- Argh! Just leave! You are going to kill me with embarrassment!"
"I love you too, Baby Girl!" Gray told her in a mocking tone and closed the door the moment a pillow hit it and he smiled. Juvia would be so proud of him he might even get a treat later that night. The bright side was that he could find a hundred ways to make Igor's life miserable for thinking to do nasty things with his baby girl.
Gray looked at the closed door and he remembered when the moved in to that house, Rose was a little over five and Gris not even a year old yet. Rose had ran inside and proclaimed that room as hers and she wanted purple with flowers on the wall. She also wanted him to kiss her goodnight every time he was not in a mission. He missed that. He even missed the time when she made him wear a princess crown to her tea party and the other time she pretended to be a pirate captain and he was her formidable foe.
She was growing up, of course. She enjoyed going out with her friends, like to read and go to some missions. She liked to style her hair in different ways and to train to get stronger.
Rose was growing up, sure, but she would always be his baby girl.
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AN: So, here it is! I hope it was alright!
Thanks to: GuestsDontTwerkTheyRead, gilamonsterx3, dalala, GreenNinja23, Guest, AliceMitch09, rockbabyval, Blue Star, morninwarri0r, Armageddon Angel, endingsarenotalwaysbad, fyriagita, njdaphne, Guest, P. FullbusterBelieve, bookwurm247, Anya, SpudyPotato, Guest, cybercorpsesnake, Le Faible Gaillard, rebekfanai06, alley198, DemigodOnFire, Beautiful but dangerousand knockondeathsdoor, who reviewed! You are amazing!
06/16/2016 ~ BonneyQ
