When they said full-time, they meant full-time... I don't know if I can keep every 5 days up but I will try to update at least weekly (I haven't even managed to write half a chapter in the past two weeks so keep your fingers crossed ':D).

pilikali, thank you so much for your review! I'm glad it's working, too, and that whatever it was won't happen again... btw, love your new profile picture; hadn't seen the lower right one yet (heart eyes).

Somnolent Sushi Roll, how do I deserve you and your super long reviews? Thank you! You make my day - you make all my days! Not a new story, just to avoid glitches should they had reoccurred... haha, the way you describe is so genius; if this was a book, I'd put your quotes up on the cover (where there seem to be only reviews and no summaries anymore) xD 'said bish is all gooey with the husband', I can't decide what's the best part about this excerpt, though the 'the husband' strikes me most right now xD

CheesyDelphox, thank you so much for your review! Character development = telling people when you had sex. Noted. xD I'm so happy to hear that you appreciate the Meredy and Jellal friendship; I'm always a little unsure whether it takes too much focus so your comment puts me at ease, thanks! :) And thank you for the typo! I do those stupid ones all the time but I often overlook them so thanks for letting me know!

Mitzy123, thank you so much for your review! Haha, how did I make it so you all think Minerva is into Erza xD Though she really does look up to her since that Avatar (or was it Tartaros; I'm never sure with those two names) incident. Erza Laxus brotp? I'll give that another thought then. Aw, and thank you for mentioning such a tiny detail like the head patting. Love to know!

Isanien, (will be a while till you read this but) thank you! I'm so glad to hear you liked the chapter; thank you for mentioning so many aspects you liked! And I, too, wish more emotion-worthy symbols were allowed to be uploaded here :D

Now I am trying to limit my Author's notes but it isn't working so far :D I just want to answer your kindness. Is it too much though? Should I try to keep this shorter in your opinion?

Jellal awoke, to his own surprise, after his beloved. He roused from the feeling of something moving on his head, realising it to be her hand. Peeling an eye open, he gazed into distant, yet content eyes.

"You're up early," he croaked, clearing his throat at the sound of his own voice. Blinking at being addressed, she met his glance. A smile formed on her lips and she gently resumed her caresses through his hair.

"It's almost lunch time," she said, still a little absently.

"It's too long isn't it?" He asked. Puzzled she tilted her head into the pillow. "My hair," he elaborated, making her smile return.

"I rather like it this way," she focused back on the way her nails pleasantly scratched his scalp, carefully pulling her closed fingers upwards to see the tips of his hair finally escape her grasp. A comfortable silence fell between them. He watched her eyes, seemingly mesmerised. "You know," she raised her voice again, "that was what I stared at you for so long when we met after Fairy Tail disbanded,"

"My hair?"

"Mhm," she shuffled a little closer, stuffing her lower hand beneath the pillow, the other rising again, this time stroking over and then up the back of his head. "I've always loved it but it was so unusual to see it having grown out… it made me realise how much time had passed…"

"Not too good of a memory…" he sighed. He wound his arm tighter around her waist, feeling the need to return the favour of her caress somehow. She was smiling again, brighter than before, less troubled, though still keeping her eyes on his hair.

"Oh, but it was so beautiful. You are," she met his gaze, lovingly erasing his tribulations like she always did. Finally returning the smile, he closed his eyes. Giving in to her touch was something he never regretted anymore, feeling like the forming of a protective wall around his doubts and anxieties, locking them in for a while, gradually shrinking them.

"With Ultear not there anymore, Meredy didn't insist so much on cutting it – they'd always done that together, made it a science," he chuckled. The room still smelled of chocolate, mild morning light slowly filtering in through the crack in the curtain.

"If you like, I can cut it for you," Erza offered. She received a vague hum in response. "I know, I know," she exhaled sharply in amusement, "you don't trust women to cut your hair,"

"Not women, just…" Jellal pulled a face, afraid to be insulting her again without meaning to.

"You think I'll mess up," she plainly said and he listened for naught to hear a hint of reproach.

"No, not… assume, just fear," he grinned awkwardly, opening his eyes again. They widened at the huge smile she beamed at him, making him wonder whether his sentence had somehow been interpretable as agreement. His breath got stuck shortly when she raked on his head, squishing him into her chest in a hug. Frowning in confusion, he waited.

"I like when you're being honest," she whispered, "thank you." Jellal felt his chest deflate in slight relief. A smile of his own stretched across his lips and he detached himself from her to scoot upwards, meeting her smile with his.

"Meredy's present is still there for you to open," Jellal reminded, nodding behind her to her nightstand.

"I can't believe she isn't up yet,"

"It's the booze," Jellal shrugged and she giggled. "Good to know what'll keep her quiet?" He rose a brow at her smirk.

"Great minds think alike," Erza grinned, then nuzzled her nose to his. "She sent me pictures from yesterday – apparently Juvia showered Gray with gifts,"

"At the guild?"

"Uhuh," Erza reached behind her, fishing out her lacrima from beneath a few more blankets that crumpled in her back. "She said he refused to kiss Juvia under the mistletoe but both mysteriously vanished not soon after," she unlocked the device, scrolling through the images he was already able to see with the screen functioning like a projected piece of glass. Turning it around, she showed him what she had apparently already regarded earlier, finally smiling through the image of the two of them on the bed the last night. "I'll have this printed next," she grinned, "if only I knew how…" her lips pursed, brows wrinkling into a thoughtful frown.

"I like the one of us on the stairs at the guild more," Jellal tugged on her waist. "The other one where you snore like a bear,"

"I don't snore," she scowled at his teasing grin. "I was just… very sleepy," she defended herself, a pout pushing through the annoyance. Smiling warmly, he kissed it until it retreated into hungrily replying lips, brushing, suckling and enclosing his until both had to part for air. "To be frank, I was a little disappointed when I couldn't find any more things to give to you," she confessed, the light pant subsiding. "But I'm glad now; it proves that we don't need material things to be happy,"

"We already are," he hugged her closer, but his smile fell when hers did.

"Jellal?" Erza's voice was small and she averted her eyes. He hummed in question, his fingers having found her hair, combing through the tips. "How long does it take to digest?" He frowned. The way her brain worked was and would probably forever be an unsolvable enigma to him.

"How long?"

"Mhm,"

"Hm," he pondered, "hours, I'd say. Not sure how many but sugary meals and meat take less time than vegetables as far as I know," he explained. It was the reason why she was always this hungry, he had concluded at some point – sweets did not last long, leaving her craving for more food more quickly than a proper meal. The fruit from the night before did have nutrients to utilise but the fructose and not least chocolate had to be gone by now.

It was unusual of her to be this hesitant, making him uneasy. She always requested breakfast when she wanted it and he never declined. And if it was not that, he was at a loss.

"More than ten hours?"

"Why do you ask?" His brows furrowed in slight concern. Another hesitation, then her hand travelled to his, retracting it from her back.

"Because…" she placed it on her slightly rounded stomach, "it's been all night and almost all morning. And I don't feel sick like I did when it was bloated last time…" she sighed. His hand stiffened above her abdominals, sweat starting to pool on his neck. Her eyes flashed up to his frightened ones, reading the question off them. "Either there really is something wrong with me or I'm gaining weight," she offered a grin, if an insecure one.

Exhaling in relief, Jellal practically deflated. His muscles did not relax, however, gaze sharp yet softening at her attempt to lighten the mood.

"Well, the second one isn't a concern," he leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead, feeling her lashes flutter against his collarbone when granting another one to the crown of her head. "Where do you usually gain weight?" He asked, drawing reassuring circles over the tiny mound that was her stomach. She frowned, so he elaborated. "Meredy once said that when she eats too much junk, she'll first notice it on her thighs,"

"Oh," Erza's mind clicked. She glanced towards the ceiling in thought. "I've never actually had that; I've never stopped training in my life," she then shrugged. "And when I wasn't training, my body was busy with healing wounds."

"So that means no more desserts,"

"No," she immediately cut in. He bit his lip as not to laugh. "I mean, I just want to be sure it's nothing serious," she clarified.

"Me too," his hand wandered from her stomach to her back once more, encircling it to draw her near again. Her eyes shut the moment their foreheads met. She must have known he would not mind her gaining weight, giving way to a greater concern; telling him how there was more to it she felt than just a change in appearance. The first thing coming to his mind was Grand Chariot, guilt immediately plaguing him, knowing her to have been tired and strained over the past weeks, dreading to have overdone it by aiding her in turning part of a mountain into rubble.

"Maybe she can tell me more about allergies as well," Erza mumbled, her breath warm on his cheeks.

"She? Porlyusica?" He asked and she heard the worry in his tone. Fairy Tail's Medicinal Advisor was only meant to treat injuries or grave illnesses, not commonly consulted for a mild, merely potential malaise. Still, it was as troubling as it was soothing, her expertise guaranteed to find the cause behind his beloved's state.

"Just to be sure," Erza assured, tightening her hug around his back. He exhaled strongly, then nodded into her shoulder.

"Just to be sure."

"What do you mean, you didn't? It's bloody Christmas; grow a pair!"

"I can't believe you missed that chance. You probably don't even have a ring,"

"Of course, I have a ring," Jellal snarled at the nagging of his former guildmates. Shooing them away, he sauntered into the bathroom. For some reason, they seemed to assume he wanted to be followed, on his heels, clustering in the doorway of the kitchen. He gave them a look, marching down the hall alone after receiving a couple of huffs and grunts.

His hand smelled of washing powder by the time he had found the little bag he had hidden the box in, taking it out to find it perfectly clean and not 'orange blossom' scented. Shaking the powder off his arm, he went back, slapping the box onto the table as evidence.

Three pairs of hands groped for the small in green velvet covered object, opening it to find a thin, shinily polished titanium ring, the ends curling around a small white diamond.

"Silver?" Sawyer looked dubious. With an exasperated sigh, Jellal slumped back into his chair.

"Her favourite earrings are silver," he explained, "her armour is silver, her swords are silver, need I go on?" He dropped his face into his hands when they began making fun of his apparently feminine fashion sense. This was a crowd you could never please – prove them wrong and they would use it against you. Keep quiet and they twisted your unspoken words around to their advantage. He wondered why he had let them in to begin with. Some holiday visitors they were, smuggling themselves in under the pretence of Christmas only to pick on him. Living with Erza and Meredy already scarred his ego sufficiently.

"I can't believe Meredy's not yet talked him into it – maybe we shoulder appoint a new babysitter," they started discussing amongst themselves as if he was not in the same room, never failing to make that vein on the Heavenly Body Mage's temple bulge.

"She's probably overchallenged with the sheer stupidity. What if we ask someone from the guild?"

"I heard Mirajane is-"

"No," Jellal interrupted, "no involvements. Especially not Mira," he snarled. Decisive nods were exchanged. Trust them to only come to conclusions if he denied something – it was like an invitation to them. It cost him more than just a few threats to get them to drop the idea, though he did not succeed in distracting off their previous topic.

"You gotta make your move," Sawyer compelled.

"I don't have a plan yet and I'm not barging into this without having come up with the perfect setting," Jellal drily reminded.

"Then get to work, man,"

"Really, Jellal, you're lacking wit. You have the chance you've practically waited for your entire life and you haven't even thought about it?" Macbeth shook his head in disappointment.

"I've thought about it night and day, you p- brick." Jellal clenched his jaw. "It's just never enough…"

"Then what would be?" Erik, curiously the only one who was currently not verbally beating him to a pulp, raised a brow from where he sat opposite of him, his ankle nonchalantly resting over his knee.

"Anything, I think," Jellal had to chuckle, if a tad bitterly. "It's not even her expectation, it's mine," he did not look at them as he spoke. "She once thought I was asking her right after waking up, still in bed,"

"How did she react?" Erik's casually dangling hand over his leg tensed slightly as he leaned over the table. Jellal smiled to himself, resting his forehead on his folded hands.

"She wanted to change clothes for the occasion…"

"Dude, she was so going to say 'yes'!" Sawyer nearly burst. He was gripping the table, leaning over it even more than the Poison Dragon Slayer.

"She will," the latter agreed. Jellal gave a sigh. He glanced at the ajar box, the sparkle of the stone having caught his eye. It twinkled almost persuasively, at the same time sending terrified currents of adrenaline through his body.

"I… think she might," he finally said.

"'Think'?" Sawyer groaned wholeheartedly. "You don't actually think she'd turn you down if that had been enough?" He gestured helplessly with his arms, then turned to Erik. "Please tell me he doesn't actually think that," his shoulders dropped. Erik shrugged.

"It's complete havoc in there – please don't ask me to spell it all out," he raised his brows at the sinister look Jellal threw him. For someone having to catch his train in not even half an hour, he was by far too relaxed – he was welcome to leave earlier, Jellal thought to himself. "But anyway, with the girls out of the house," the Poison Dragon Slayer propped his arm onto the table, shoving the ring back under its owner's nose, "let's get planning," he grinned a wickedly delighted smile, the others gathering around closely while Jellal rolled his eyes.

Nonetheless, it almost felt comforting to be picked on this way, his cowardice starting to feel preposterous.

Erik slammed his palm onto the table, drawing a half circle as he began.

"We'll start with dinner, dessert and then the most gorgeous sunset…"

"…so I thought it was an allergy – which it apparently was, because I- ouch!" Erza winced at the needle that penetrated her skin without warning. Scoffing, Porlyusica unwaveringly drew some blood from the now more prominently appearing vein in the crook of the Requip Mage's arm. Bright red liquid flowed into the syringe. Pulling it out as briskly as she had stabbed it in, the elderly woman removed the vessel, prodding a piece of cotton into Erza's lap.

"Hold it down firmly," she instructed in a scratchy voice. Doing as she was told, Erza watched her guild's healer stomp back over to the laboratory section of her desk, shielding any procedures with herself. Gazing down at the blood that slowly seeped into the cotton, she tried to remember what had bothered her besides nausea throughout the past weeks.

Luckily, she was as stubborn as they came, having stood her ground after repeatedly being sent away and even swatted with the bristles of a broom. Another thing aiding was her magic, allowing her to change out of her heavy winter garments quickly, not giving any more reasons for not being let in, quickly changing out of the warming layers. With only her long-sleeved shirt now, she could see the bulge outline where it had always been flat and toned.

"I don't feel nauseous like I did back then, neither a change in energy; no sign of my body feeling unwell with a higher amount of fat," she continued. It felt as if talking to herself, never even a grunt of acknowledgement directed at her but she knew how to handle the feisty, human-hating woman, going on about her diet, frequent naps and missions, reciting every previous symptom again as a comparison to the present.

"Sounds to me as if only a complete moron wouldn't know," Porlyusica grumbled. Erza frowned unhappily.

"It's not that; it can't be,"

"Why not?" The healer now growled, feeling attacked. And utterly annoyed as usual. It was obvious by the practised ease of her movements that analysing blood was her most frequented method, probably bringing the quickest and most reliable results. The flask glowed in her hand, changeing colour but Erza had no idea what it could mean.

"I took these," she rummaged her pocket for her pills, shoving the key to the house aside. "Every day,"

"Every day?" Porlyusica narrowed her eyes. With an overly irritated sigh, she turned from her tests to inspect the medication. Her forehead wrinkled further.

"They're not harmful – they only affected me when poisoned by thorns," Erza explained, trying to draw the blame away from the pills. They had never given her trouble before – she did not need another discussion about something she was sure of. She opened her mouth to describe them but the old woman waved a dismissive hand, shushing her. One could only hope for answers and did not come for sympathy, the Queen of the Fairies reminded herself. And it could not be what was being implied, could it?

"I hope it's not too serious – we are going on a mission at Mount Hakobe next week-"

"Then my hope for you is that that is your honeymoon, young lady," the pharmacist turned to give her a glare. Erza blinked in confusion.

"Why would I-"

"You are over four months pregnant," Porlyusica declared. Erza felt as if her eyes had fallen out of their sockets. Her heart stopped. Then it hammered wildly, crushing against her ribcage so much it hurt. …pregnant?

"But I took-"

"These are admittedly reliable, which can only mean that you've forgotten sometime," Fairy Tail's Medicinal Advisor tossed the pills back at her. They hit her shoulder, dropping onto the floor where they rolled another half a metre. She could not react. Her brain was on fire. Like a hurricane, events were blowing through at such a drastic speed in desperate search her fatal mistake that there was no way to grasp one individually.

But… mistake?

"You should have noticed months ago when there was no bleeding." Porlyusica scolded mercilessly.

No bleeding. Of course, Erza thought, there had been none. She had taken her pills every day; they were supposed to pretend to her body to be pregnant, and to her, that included no bleeding once a month. She should have read the instructions more closely. Only then, there would have been a week of leaving them out and not being able to…

"You're lucky you're a wizard; taking these while carrying a child can be dangerous to a human's immune system in regular cases. You might get away with a runny nose or weaker condition," Porlyusica went on but Erza did not hear.

Her head was spinning by now. Madly running in circles, making her dizzy. She scanned every recollection of their hot nights and sometimes days together, starting at the very beginning. She remembered them all and well. There had even been a morning-

She halted at that thought. It came rushing in so heftily, she felt a shiver along her entire body as it bolted down her spine. Their hunter. His assault. Their rescue at the abandoned mansion. The sleepover at the inn. The night after and then the morning, all in a hurry, forgetting themselves and the time, hasting to the guild right after to report. That had to be it.

Then… then it was true.

Suddenly, Erza felt extremely warm.

She was pregnant. She was carrying his child. Her child. Their child. The child she had only just begun to think she wanted – that she now really wanted. Her very own.

All of her merely grazed upon scenarios of motherhood spiralled through her mind. She would be a mother. The word got stuck, her brain repeating and repeating and repeating it. Her heart was leaping, giddy and excited and overjoyed and scared. Because next came all the happenings of the past weeks and months – her dangerous quests and injuries and vexations.

Weeks and months. Porlyusica – who was at that point already holding her broom to smack the one who was ignoring her – had mentioned months. Four. More than four months. Perhaps more than half the time already. Meaning there was only half the time to go until her baby would arrive – hardly enough time to get used to the situation, to savour it and…

Erza swallowed hard.

She would have to tell him. And soon. She broke a sweat. Everything was hot and cold at the same time.

Jellal did not want this. He had made it perfectly clear not to be fond of what she had started to long for so dearly. He would be angry. Disappointed. It was her fault, she knew that. She was the one who had had to pay attention and she had not done so properly. She was the one to cause him trouble – as usual – only this time, it was by far worse than burning the kitchen. This was not a material item to be repaired or replaced, it was a living, breathing human being. Their human being.

"…rza! Erza! Child!" Porlyusica shouted, barely able to get her out of her trance. Erza blinked several times, her vision clearing only slowly, realising to be shaken heftily by the old woman. For the split of a second, she felt the reflex in her to slap her away, to protect her baby from any harm but then her vision blurred again. She was crying.

Carefully, she reached up to her left eye, finding tears to be gushing out of their own accord.

"Breathe, will you?!" Porlyusica once more tore her away from her own world. Erza took a deep breath, her lungs and throat aching, she only now noticed. The air rasped for a few in- and exhales more, but slowly, her surroundings were coming back to her. "Can't have you suffocating here – you care for two now, so you'd better be responsible, you hear?" The healer went on with reproving her.

The words hit hard, and for a moment, Erza thought she would throw up. And if she already felt this overchallenged, what about Jellal…?
"What? Think he won't like it?" Porlyusica struck with a marksman's precision, though she was most likely rather aiming for the implication of there being a 'him' – for Erza not to be alone or not knowing the father. Following that thread, she came to the conclusion that she might actually end up alone. Worst case – sadly not most unrealistic one. Knowing Jellal and his self-punishment, his incapability of approving of himself as worthy, the chances were rather high.

There was no time to cry or even linger on that possibility of raising the child on her own. There was no time at all. She would have to tell him. And soon.

To those who called it (most likely everyone), congrats, you called it :D