A/N: Hello again! I decided to post Chapter 1 for you as well! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the FT characters...but I do own my OCs!

Chapter 1: Confetti Cannons and Blueberry Pancakes

Bam bam!

"Happy birthday!" a female voice called into her dreams cheerfully. Cornelia slowly opened her sleepy eyes to reveal her aunt Levy hovering over her holding something big and black. She had woken up to the sound of a confetti cannon going off, one of their old family traditions.

"H-hey aunt Levy. G-good morning..." Cornelia slowly sits up, rubbing her eyes drowsily. Levy wasn't really her blood family, only her mother's best friend. When her mother died, the Redfoxes got full custody of the twins and became their aunt and uncle. "It's a little early to be firing the confetti cannon, isn't it?"

Cornelia glanced at her sleek black digital alarm clock, which read 7:00 am. Her blonde hair with the occasional pink streak was messed up and tangled in a bush on her head. A strand of pink hair stood out as she turned her head.

"Never too early to celebrate your 15th birthday, Cornelia!" Aunt Levy smiles brightly and sits on the edge of my bed. The mattress sags a little with the extra weight. "Now let's go downstairs and make some of you and Elliot's favorite breakfast: blueberry pancakes!"

In the adjourning bedroom, Elliot Dragneel sleeps soundly and deeply, his head in dream land. He had his black and white checkered scarf on him as he slept, never once taking it off ever since he received it from his father. Snoring softly, the blonde was not expecting Gajeel to be creeping up next to him with a giant multi colored confetti cannon.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!" Gajeel shouts, startling the young, spiky haired boy.

"W-what's going on?" Elliot murmurs softly, confused.

"Hehe, wake up El! It's your birthday! A big blue bucket full of water hovered over Elliot's head before splashing all over his face. Gajeel followed the family tradition of firing confetti cannons on the morning of the kids' birthdays, but he added his own personal twist.

"Hey!" Elliot's eyes were now wide open and awake, his head rearing up in alarm.

"Happy Birthday, kid." Gajeel says to the protesting blonde in front of him.

"Did you really have to do that, Uncle Gajeel? You do that every year!" Elliot says defiantly, annoyed at this memorable but icy cold family tradition.

"It just comes with the whole Redfox family package!" Gajeel snickers at this, and pats the blonde on his head. "Now that you're soaked to the bone, let's go downstairs for breakfast."

Elliot smelled the delicious, aromatic smell of his favorite breakfast upon setting one foot out of his fire themed room. He liked fire, and most of that was due to his magical ability to summon any kind of fire. Normal red burning flames, purple fire, and even smelly yellow gassy fire were the few types of fire he could conjure up. Elliot stands there for a few seconds, taking in the delicious smell of fresh pancakes being made.

"You coming or what?" Gajeel says gruffly, looking back on the kid standing on the top of the stairs. Elliot nods and the two walk down to the kitchen. Here, this close to their cream and mahogany wood themed kitchen, the delicious smell of his favorite homemade blueberry pancakes wafted up to his nostrils. It was also family tradition to have their favorite breakfast on the morning of their birthday.

"Happy birthday Elliot!" his aunt Levy said cheerfully, flipping two pancakes on the stove.

"Morning Aunt Levy!" Elliot replied, eager to dig into the savory stack of pancakes set right in front of him. He grabbed a fork and dug in.

"Oi Elliot, chill out. Stop being such a barbarian and eat slower. You're going to choke if you keep up this pace." Cornelia scolded her twin, taking a small bite out of her own freshly made pancake.

Elliott paused for second, looking down on his plate where he had already finished five pancakes in the record time of 15 seconds.

"Sorry Cornelia..." he mumbled. "I'm just really hungry and I love blueberry pancakes, especially ones right off the stove!" Elliot make sure he ate the rest of his breakfast in controlled bites, making sure he wouldn't choke on his birthday.

"I see Cornelia's lecturing you again." A gruff voice was heard from the top of the stairs. Everybody downstairs turned their heads.

"Oh, good morning Sawyer!" Levy piped, happy that her raven haired son was awake. On any other day, Sawyer Redfox would've woken up around 10 am, though today he got up extra early since it was his cousins' birthday.

"Morning everyone. Happy birthday Cornelia and Elliot." he said. Sawyer took after Gajeel's gruff attitude and cold demeanor. As a result, the two were usually stuck together. Levy, on the other hand, was cheerful and friendly; the total opposite of her husband and son. The only person in their family who was anywhere close to Levy's cheerful attitude was Cornelia, who was a social butterfly and polite to everyone she encountered. Elliot, on the other hand, looked up to the other two men in the family and always took the chance to toughen up around them.

Sawyer took a plate of pancakes and sat down at the wooden dinner table next to his father and across from his cousins. Levy joined the others as soon as she flipped the last pancake onto her porcelain plate and sat down with her family.

Eating breakfast as a family was one thing, but spending the rest of the day with each other was too much for any of the members of the Redfox family. As soon as breakfast was finished and the family chatted for a while about the party later that evening, Cornelia grabbed her leather shoulder bag and dashed out the door to meet her best friend Mindy Fullbuster at the Magnolia Mall. Mindy was the only daughter of Juvia Lockser and Gray Fullbuster, who were both close friends with Levy and Gajeel, as well as with the twins' parents Natsu and Lucy. They were going to go shopping at every boutique until they found the perfect outfit for her birthday party and the fancy restaurant, as well as the birthday photos later that night. Cornelia and Elliot were each allowed to bring a friend with them to the prestigious Sunset Rose Restaurant they would later eat at for dinner.

Once he finished all his pancakes, Elliot decided to go to his friend Ryan Fernandes' house to play video games and hang out before they had to go to the restaurant for dinner. Ryan was the son of Erza Scarlet and Jellal Fernandes, and had Jellal's bright blue hair to prove it.

Gajeel and Sawyer had planned a few days in advance to go to the motorcycle show in town. They had bolted out the door at 9 am to make it there in time for the show, which started at 10 am. The show was held at a city half an hour away from Magnolia. The two had also considered the amount of traffic and people that would be there for the show. It was nothing that Gajeel couldn't pound through with his iron dragon fist, but then the family would have to pay for property damage, which they did not want to do again after the last time Gajeel got impatient and used his magic.

(Flashback)

It had been a few years back when Gajeel was driving Sawyer to soccer practice. The two had been a bit held up at Magnolia High School talking to Sawyer's magic history teacher, and as a result, was 10 minutes later than they would've wanted. Once they hit the road at 5:25, the traffic really started to jam up, causing the road quickly fill up. Gajeel waited for a few minutes hoping the traffic would soon clear up, but it was as congested as ever. Losing all patience, Gajeel used his iron dragon slayer magic to create iron beams that lifted their newly purchased red truck 15 feet in the air. Using the beams, Gajeel directed them towards the sidewalk to bypass the traffic, but had trampled numerous roadside stands and mini shops that had the fortune to stand in his way. Pedestrians and cars scurried in every which way to avoid the thick iron beams. Chaos erupted in the middle of Main Street and the police were called to the scene. The Magnolia police billed the property damage, which skyrocketed to a grand total of one million jewel, to the Redfox family. After Gajeel sorted everything out with the police, it had become 6:10; too late for Sawyer to make it to practice, which started at 5:30. He wouldn't have been able to do anything more than join in on the last game of the day only to be told to sit on the bleachers as a backup player.

(End of flashback)

Levy had decided to stay home, watching Food Network and various other cooking shows. She also had a few books on hand to read during the commercials and when she bored of watching the shows. Though Levy was fascinated and was great at cooking, surprisingly Gajeel was just as talented. He had taken cooking classes during college in his spare time and had gotten quite proficient at cooking a few restaurant worthy dishes.

Levy would have baked the cake for the birthday party later that day, but she remembered what she and Gajeel discussed weeks before. She would have offered to bake a 3 layered cake complete with layers of chocolate and vanilla inside, topped with icing, fresh fruit, and chocolate shavings. It would have been the best 15th birthday cake ever, but she knew it would be better going to Chocolate and Icing for the intricately designed cake they had in mind.

A/N: That's it for Chapter 1! Please review :)