Finally! Took me weeks to finish this because boy do I not have any time.

Thanks to everyone leaving me a review on whatever chapter - you motivate me tons to at least come up with ideas :)

Without further ado, hope you'll enjoy!

"The annual Fairy Tail 24-hours Endurance Road Race!

Contestants: The entire guild!

Rules: Everything but flying magic allowed!

Initial assessment: Cooooool!" Jason was yelling into his microphone. "Only one more rule has been added this time that excludes all members from the race who are currently pregnant or nursing! Childcare – cooool!" He started jumping up and down. "24 hours of running, running, running, avoiding traps from the others and not ending up dead last to avoid," his voice lowered into frightening depths, "the punishment game… Cooooool!" He accidentally flung the microphone across the table in his excitement.

Jellal on the other hand had never been less excited. Even with shaking knees in the face of the Council's Christmas ball, he had at least had Erza in a beautiful dress to look forward to. Right now, she was neither wearing a dress, nor would she be by his side for the coming race.

And what a race – was Fairy Tail doing some crazy, impossible contest to cleverly eliminate members? Natural selection against those who wished for a healthy sleep cycle? 24 hours of running was just about the peak of insanity. In a way, it suited them well.

"Since she is taking requests and working on missions again, the lovely Mirajane will be joining the race this year!" The crowds cheered where they stood to the sides of the start line. "In other words, everyone must compete against her Satan Soul!" The cheers died down into awkwardly pitying frowns. Jellal felt they were more than justified.

Mira only smiled angelically, taking Jason's microphone when he offered it. "This year, your commentary will be graced by our two newly minted mothers – Erza and Levy!" She announced to the citizens of Magnolia. As if Erza not being beside him wasn't enough, Jellal thought to himself, but the entirety of town would watch him stumble his way up the mountain.

"Sadly, Laxus has suddenly disappeared and won't be joining – again," Jason lamented. "Buuut," he drawled dramatically, "word has reached me that Master Makarov has a special surprise this time: individual punishment! A punishment cut out only for the upcoming loser – how cooool!" His voice faded into the background as Jellal bent down to nervously retie his shoe for the third time.

He liked the guild. He liked their quirky, unconventional ways; he could appreciate how they went berserk with passion – it was what left him in awe about Erza time and again. Just when you would think it was a world gone mad, Fairy Tail raised the bar.

"Don't look so gloomy." Delicate hands appeared to overtake the task for him. A double knot. She must have seen him retie his shoes over and over as a replacement action.

Looking up, Jellal noticed how Erza must have escaped Jason in secret, as the latter was now getting last minute statements from the contestants. Natsu and Gray were already growling at one another competitively.

"It doesn't feel right; we should be celebrating," Jellal tried anew.

"And we will be celebrating," Erza assured. She held out Rosemary for emphasis. Jellal snatched her into a hug somewhat urgently. "Almost fifty days of age, can you believe it?" Erza squeezed his arm. He sighed again. "Jellal," she prodded his cheek, "it's just a race. A couple of hours of exercise and then we'll go buy her whatever toy she touches first in the shops, okay?"

"You say that as if they didn't all have it out for me."

"They don't." Erza crossed her arms. "The lacrimas track everyone. The boys will be busy knocking each other out, and since flying magic isn't allowed, you're guaranteed to cross the finish line at least before Droy and Reedus."

"You sound surprisingly relaxed about my lack of ambition." Jellal narrowed his eyes. Erza's flashed from him to the way he was slightly turning away as if to shield his baby from a potential imposter.

She let out a huff. "Well, you could try to at least be on the winners' podium."

"That's at least third place! What happened to 'not dead last'?" Jellal cried. He mellowed when Erza laughed. Reluctantly, he handed back Rosemary when Jason began the countdown.

"Win and I'll buy you a new toy too." Erza pecked his cheek, a much-saying smirk and sway of her hips as she retreated speaking volumes. Jellal swallowed. He knew he shouldn't have been worried about all the running and dodging fight-eager guildmates. The aftermath at home was possibly going to be far more straining than hasting up a mountain for an entire day and night.

"Five!" Jason's voice echoed from the speakers.

Jellal gave one last sigh, trotting up to the very end of runners.

"Four!"

He itched to reach for his shoes, at least the other one.

"Three!"

A smile tucked at the corner of his mouth when he looked down. Where one side was tied double, the other was in a proper sailor's knot, impossible to open. His eyes darted to the podium in search of her.

"Two!"

Her eyes sparked with pride and affection when he found them.

"One!"

Jellal trained his eyes forward. The faster he was done, it dawned on him, the sooner it would be over. If he gave this his all, he could go home. Meteor was prohibited, but nothing else was.

A final glance to Rosemary.

"Gooo!" Jason shouted.

Jellal pushed off the ground to set a fast pace. Falling right away. Someone had stumbled in front of him, sending him to his hands and knees. Not just one, he then saw. The entire guild minus Jet was still there, coughing and rubbing their eyes with the amount of dust whirled up.

"And there goes Jet as always!" Jason roared over the crowds. Jellal blinked twice. As always…?

So then they all knew this; it happened every single year, and still they all lined up like a bunch of idiots right behind him? More than ever, he would have liked to just keep sitting there or go home.

"Next is— oh! Oooooh!" Jason exclaimed. "Natsu Dragneel, everyone! He's— he's catapulted himself with a reverse Fire Dragon's roar— sorry, King Fire Dragon's roar all the way across the forest and— wait, the lacrimas lost him! He definitely overtook Jet at his point! Oh, and here's our current third place making her way into the woods already – Meredy Milkovich, everyone!"

"Meredy?" Jellal's head snapped to the side. There she was. The lacrima vision showed her jogging a steady pace. A pink bracelet was glowing around her wrist. The same could be said for Jet who was followed only just so by the hovering lacrima cameras. So then she was benefitting from his adrenaline, speed and endurance. Jellal had to smile.

The crowds were going wild, and so was Fairy Tail where they gathered themselves up, cheering on their newest official guildmate.

Finally on his feet too, Jellal took after the first cluster that was leaving. He soon found out that – even though it would keep him in the race longer – staying behind a little was the way to go. At least the way to avoid traps and devious shoves or brawls. Anything was possible with these people.

He used Bind Snake twice when Droy and then Romeo tried to overtake him. He even had his fun blowing a bit of headwind behind him to keep Wakaba and Macao away. When Wendy closed up on him, he pretended to have a pebble in his shoe, waiting until she had safely passed without anyone hindering her.

For a while, he ran alongside Lucy, later Juvia and Gray, although they had to stop again soon to cool down at the creek – holding Gray's hand for longer periods made Juvia overheat.

Hours later, Jellal found that Jason hadn't exaggerated. Natsu really had outdone himself by reaching the summit so early – as was expected by the one who had defeated Acnologia. The mountain took a stupidly long time to climb. It wasn't half as straining as Jellal had assumed, but he still found himself lacking stamina. He had been sitting at home and napping with his baby for nearly three months after all.

Finally, Wyvern scale in hand, the sky a murky dark blue as night descended, Jellal made his way back. He saw multiple camps on his way through the woods, fires in the distance, someone snoring loudly under a tree. It was more than tempting to sit down and close his eyes; rest his legs, even if only for a while.

His ears perked when there was crying. Crying he would recognise anywhere.

Hastily – quicker than he had been all day during the race – Jellal leapt over a small creek, crossed a clearing and skidded down a hill until he saw it. A baby's basket. He had hardly cradled Rosemary to his chest when she stopped wailing, sniffling gladly into his shirt. The forest was quiet again, not a soul around. A note was left in the basket.

I'm not allowed to help you, but I need to ask for your help, it read. So then she hadn't been able to calm her down – again. Jellal pulled a face when he tried to imagine Erza struggling while he was at the Council. Perhaps if he went to eat lunch with her…?

He turned the note over.

I miss you.

With a smile to himself and a hum for Rosemary, he sank down to sit. Tipping his head back, he leant against a root growing down the slope. If it were up to Erza, it would certainly not stay at a mere lunch hour. He blushed lightly when remembering that Era, at least the mansion there, held certain traditions for them – traditions Erza would surely want to uphold. But with the baby around…?

Jellal closed his eyes. He wasn't sure whether he was ready for all of these new challenges, but at least he knew one thing: Erza might not have been allowed to help him, but she wouldn't have to keep on missing him for long. She had made a mistake, perhaps deliberately. She could be as sneaky as she wanted, but he would see her.

No one could take Rosemary from his arms without him noticing.

"And here comes Jellal Fernandes, everyone! Oh, the crowds are cheering! What is your opinion on that?"

Aah, Rosemary made the speakers echo as she stubbed her hand on the microphone. Jellal snorted to himself, breaking his running rhythm. It didn't matter anymore; there were hardly 100 metres to go.

"A secret source told me that you are the reason for this massive delay of the former Wizard Saint – is that true?" Jason asked for everyone to hear. The spectators to both sides of the racetrack fell silent for an instant. Erza held Rosemary closer to the microphone.

Mm, it somewhat boomed across Magnolia with not even a centimetre from Rosemary's mouth to the microphone. A few people had to cover their ears but most of them laughed. The laughter reigned victorious when Rosemary suddenly became excited, having spotted blue hair coming towards the finish line. Excitement became restlessness very soon however, turning heads to the scene.

"And here come Gajeel and Reedus. They both look very tired, and I doubt they will catch up with— Oh, oh! He stopped! He stopped, ladies and gentlemen and the young lady next to me is not amused, I can tell you, but—" Rosemary cooed impatiently. "Jellal just interrupted the race to pick up a child's pacifier that fell onto the track! Kindness over competitiveness – coooool!

"Gajeel crossed the finish line! So then that leaves only—" Jason inhaled until his lungs almost burst when Jellal finally arrived as well. "And that concludes this year's 24-hours Endurance Race! Cooool!"

Jellal froze at that. He turned back. The town was chattering excitedly, some leaving. No one was looking down the road towards the forest anymore. Somewhat spinning around, Jellal began counting guild members. Master Makarov wheeled out from between them, over to where Jason had jumped down from the podium.

"Didn't you say that there was no way Droy wouldn't make last place?" Jellal scoffed at Erza once she joined him. Rosemary scrambled and squirmed until he took her into his arms.

Erza tapped her chin pensively. "I was surprised too, but when he tucks in his arms and legs downhill…"

"Erza!" Jellal fumed mildly. He sighed sharply when Gajeel's gleeful laughter drew close. "Also why were you so far behind?" Jellal accused.

Gajeel only grinned. "Dude, that was the calmest night I've had in months, like hell I was getting up in time." He shrugged.

Jellal could hardly imagine. No crying at night, fine, but how could Gajeel sleep, knowing his sons were far away? Well, not far but also not within reach. Jellal knew that he himself would not have slept for even a minute if Rosemary hadn't nodded off peacefully in his arms.

"… third place goes to…" Jason drawled, still shouting into the microphone, "Elfman Strauss! What endurance!"

"Impressive." Erza nodded approvingly.

"How can you be this calm?" Jellal asked, exasperated. They had all preached that the 'punishment game' was nothing to be joked about – and if this tormenting 24 hours of running and dodging traps (with the public watching!) was the fun part of the event…

"Jellal." Meredy came skipping over. Her name hadn't sounded from the speakers, but from the crowds all the more. She beamed at him when his eyes fell to her neck. "Gray made it for me." She proudly held up a medal made of ice, reading 6th place. "Cools you down," she raved at the ice chain around her neck. "Also I didn't know you were that desperate for attention that you'd pretend to lose." Her innocent grin grew exponentially when he shot her a glare.

"… for the announcement of this year's punishment! Coool!"

"Right." Makarov took the microphone. His eyes met Jellal's. The latter swallowed. His feet stuck to the spot for another moment, urging him to flee. Hesitatingly, reluctantly, he eventually dared following the unspoken order. "As Guild Master, it is a pleasure to act out the new rule and impose this avidly awaited, individual punishment." He paused dramatically. Jellal felt the eyes of everyone – Erza, the guild, half the town – burn into his back. He didn't dare peek at the faces around Master that watched his with anticipation.

"The poor man…" Lucy whispered to Cana.

"I wonder what Master came up with," Wendy mumbled to herself.

So much for 'just a bit of jogging and it would be over again', Jellal thought to himself. He briefly closed his eyes when the microphone crackled again.

"You will have to surrender your daughter to me for the entire day!" Master yelled, pointing right at Rosemary. Jellal flinched. Erza was as if paralysed too for a moment, her mind visibly blank. Jellal's wasn't. He clutched Rosemary tighter. It made Makarov cackle. "You may carry her back to the guild, but then she'll be mine," he kept on laughing.

"But…" Jason edged over, more than disappointed, "I thought the loser had to do a photoshoot…"

"And he has to do a photoshoot."

"What?" Jellal recoiled.

"Coooool!" Jason's enthusiasm shot right back up through the roof. "Cool, cool, cool!"

"Master," Jellal pleaded but the latter only handed the microphone back and started for the guild. He was a little too quick for his age; he must have come up with the idea spontaneously and fallen for it just as suddenly.

Once arrived, he eagerly took Rosemary to his office. Mira politely snuck in to deposit Rosemary's bag, but apart from that, Master shooed everyone away.

"I've never seen him do correspondence so diligently. He won't stop reading it to her," she laughed.

"Well, I suppose that I won't have to do it any time soon then." Erza shrugged.

Jellal's shoulders fell, eyes glued to Makarov's office door. "So… now what?"

"Another day off – feels odd."

"Another date then?" he proposed.

"I think I have a pretty good idea on how to spend the day," Erza's voice took a detour into a for the public dangerous territory. She smirked, sliding her hands into his back pockets. After nearly 24 hours apart (except from her picking up Rosemary), Jellal surprised her with his lack of restraint, winding his arms around her waist.

"I know exactly what you mean…" he purred.

Mira's face glowed, eyes sparkling with excitement. The entire team blushed awkwardly where they had meant to gather around for a laugh or two at the robbed couple's faces. Lucy's hands hovered over Wendy's ears to cover them in time.

"The oven," Erza and Jellal said in unison.

It was everyone else's turn to be dumbfounded.

"I've been waiting for a free minute to finally scrape off that cheese I burnt," Erza sighed.

"That was cheese?" Jellal pulled a face, though not without a hint of amusement. "I always wondered where those black crusts came from… would you mind if I left you to that while I take care of the drains?"

"Oh, would you? I know it's mostly my hair that gets stuck."

"Of course, my love."

"We could even ventilate the entire house," Erza's tone picked up with keenness.

"And paint that corner while we're at it."

"I love you so much." She murmured against his lips and he gave a squeeze in return.

Gajeel groaned from where he had listened. "I can't be the only one who had his mind in the gutters, right?"

Everyone nodded, still staring.

"Coooool! Domestic work!" Jason butted in from the side, taking a close-up of Erza's hands still in Jellal's back pockets. "The readers will love it! Can we get a shot in aprons?!" He started hyperventilating.

"No." Jellal frowned fiercely as he swatted the camera away. "One photo – and Erza isn't obliged to be on it," he reminded.

At that, Jason clashed to his knees. Hands clasped in prayer, eyes squinting shut to the point where Jellal feared tears to gush out any second, Jason wordlessly – pantingly – implored Erza. She raised a single brow.

Before she would answer, however, Jellal had grabbed the camera around Jason's neck, pulling him along. "Let's just get it over with." He wasn't happy with it, but he was a good sport. He was of Fairy Tail now; they had a reputation to uphold. And they were all completely nuts.

He also still had to answer to the Council. Plan their trip to Era, how to manage being apart during workhours and how to handle… the mansion. If they hurried now, he would still have the time to ask Erza about the hint she had just dropped – because as dutiful as Erza was when it came to helping him get chores done, she never refused a date. Something was up. And Jellal was almost sure what it was about.

"Okay, okay," Jason caught his breath, "here." He set down a chair against the wall. Jellal's frown returned.

"But that's…" He sank into it only reluctantly, stiffly. "That's so fake; why ever would you catch me sitting here to the side?"

"It's not made to look incidental." Mira smiled sweetly from behind Jason. "You're a model now."

"Great…" Jellal had the urge to pull a hood all the way down his face.

"Also, you're too tense." Erza strolled right into the frame. Her clothes glowed, then traded. On high heels, she closed in on him, the flowing blue dress from the Council's gala making his eyes dart from the low V-shaped cleavage to her artistically pinned up hair.

Jason was spinning in circles with excitement.

Erza nudged Jellal's legs apart, planting her knee right between them on the seating surface. The slit up to her thigh fell open as she leaned in. Gently but intently, she shoved Jellal into the backrest. He knew the remaining sweat from the run that dampened his shirt wasn't doing them any favours. Or perhaps it was to Erza, he speculated by the way she snuck a hand beneath the hem of his shirt. "No domestic harmony," Erza lowered her head until her lashes tickled his own, "only love."

"You're impossible," Jellal whispered. Her smirk softened affectionately when he reached out, plucking the end of her braid loose where it had been wound around her bun, enjoying how it tumbled down his shoulder.

She was protecting them, he knew. In the most Erza way of course. The Council would not be amused to see him suggestively almost-kiss his wife on what was bound to be the front page of the Sorcerer Weekly, but it would be worth it. Anything to keep the family – Rosemary – out of the spotlight until she would be old enough to decide for herself.

Jason was wheezing. "C-c-coooooooool!" He managed to somehow take pictures despite repeatedly punching the air in his excitement. He dashed around the Guildhall then, interviewing everyone and his dog about the race, and, so Jellal thought he heard once, about their opinion on the photo just then. Mira was of course first in line to retell her point of view, followed closely by Evergreen and Cana.

Gratefully, proudly, Erza pecked Jellal's cheek before changing clothes again and putting a stop to Natsu punching Jason through the ceiling when the interview interrupted his giant victory meal.

"Looks like someone's happy." Meredy nudged Jellal's side. He followed her gaze to Erza. Despite butting Gray's and Natsu's head together as a reprimand – making Jellal wonder what poor Gray had to do with anything – she looked deliriously happy. And scheming. "You could wear something nicer for the next shoot though – do you even have any suits apart from your wedding one?"

Jellal's eyes sparked up at that. So then she was in on it.

"I think I'll just go pick up Rosemary and then get our tickets to Era." Jellal said just as nonchalantly.

"You can't leave now," Meredy said a tad too immediately. He narrowed his eyes at the way she watched their guild mates brawl rather than meeting his gaze. "We're celebrating," she lamely excused. "Also I doubt Master will give her away any time soon, and it's my turn to babysit tonight."

"Is it?" Jellal pressed. She clamped her lips shut, looking caught. It was almost hilarious how much of a bad liar she was – even worse than him. He wondered for the split of a second if she was perhaps leaving him hints on purpose since Erza was trying so hard not to. "Did Erza ask you to do that?"

Meredy hesitated. She scanned the crowd to Erza, but there was no help coming. "I can't answer that," she finally said.

"That's all I needed to know." Jellal grabbed the lacrima in her hand.

"Hey!" Meredy protested but made no move to take it back. She watched his brow furrow as he swiftly scrolled through her contacts.

"Insufficient." He briskly handed it back. In the same motion, with his other hand, he took out Erza's that he had kept during the race for emergencies. He would just have to keep her away from it for a little longer.

"You're in full Council detective mode," Meredy snickered. She was astonished when he stopped swiping to make a call, leaving for the upstairs. A smile stretched across her lips. So then he had figured it out…