Levy released a sigh as she straightened her posture, both hands resting on her lower back. What was once a simple task, like taking laundry out of the dryer had since become more than a chore nowadays. Inhaling deeply, she bent at the knees, picking up and awkwardly holding the basket full of clothes; she really shouldn't have filled it this full.

Waddling towards the stairs she frowned as the next trek spanned before her, with a low grumble and another deep breath she took her first step and was saved by the doorbell. Pivoting towards the door, she set down the overflowing basket and slowly made her way towards her guest.

Pulling the door open she was greeted by a smiling Skiadrum complete with a bag in each hand; the blue tissue paper carelessly hanging out the top; it wasn't hard to determine who had put these particular gifts together.

"How's my favorite daughter in-law today?" he inquired, stepping into the room as Levy shut the door behind him.

"You had better not let Yukino hear you say that," Levy admonished.

"She's not my daughter-in-law, yet, and you are; so, for the time being you hold the crown. We can have a competition after the wedding; see you two battle it out for the coveted title of favorite." His returning smile was devious.

Levy shook her head with an eye roll and waddled towards the kitchen, "Do you want something to drink?"

"Nah can't stay for very long. Just wanted to drop these off," he set the bags down and his eyes settled on the basket of laundry sitting at the foot of the stairs, "You weren't actually planning on toting that up the stairs were you? What is that useless son of mine doing making you carry heavy loads up a flight of stairs in your condition?"

Levy strolled back into the living room, "I hadn't made it very far before you arrived. And, please don't tell him. He'll fuss and I really can't handle his fussing!"

Rubbing her temples Levy reminded herself that she in fact did love her husband, but she was currently fed up with the man and it had taken all she had to finally convince him to go back to work at the gym and not be home with her all day. If he wasn't brooding about the house he was fussing at her for doing more than she should, and with her hormones out of whack at the moment he was liable to face her wrath or a cry fest if he so much as blinked in her direction.

"Well, I can do this much for you. I shall keep your secret so long as you let me carry this up the stairs. If something were to happen, I'd rather not die at the hands of my son because I could have prevented it."

Leaning down to pick the basket up Levy noticed the upturn of his mouth, following his eyes she quickly noticed a pair of underwear laying atop the mountain of clothes; her underwear.

"On second thought," she started.

"Not anything I've not seen before, in fact if my memory serves me well enough, I've seen a lot less."

Levy whined and flicked her hand, giving him the okay to haul the clothes up the stairs; she could still hear his snickering, "Just set it on the floor, I'll work on them later." She hollered up after him.

Her back was aching, she was still a good two weeks from her due date and at this point she wasn't sure if her body could handle much more. Her small frame made carrying a baby difficult, especially a Redfox baby and this little boy just loved to make things difficult for his mother.

Rubbing her belly as she sat down on the couch she spoke softly to her son, "A nap sounds really nice right doesn't it?"

Her reply came in the form of a solid kick.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that."

Her father in-law stood across the room, arms crossed over his broad chest and a smile plastered on his face. This would be his first grandchild and whereas Gajeel wasn't his biological son, he might as well be and he couldn't be happier for the family expansion. He approached Levy, still smiling and admiring the swell of her stomach.

"He's pretty active today, do you want to feel?" She offered, returning his smile with one of her own.

Gently, Skiadrum laid his hand on her belly and laughed when he felt the baby moving about.

"Have you guys decided on a name yet?"

Levy shook her head, "No, not yet. Gajeel said we'll name him once we see him. He talks to the baby every night; it's amazing to feel him react to the sound of his father's voice."

A quick contraction rolled through her, scrunching her face up in pain, Skiadrum whipped his hand away and went wide eyed.

"I didn't do it!" he quickly defended himself.

"It wasn't you!" she grunted in reply, arms wrapped around her swollen belly, "Oh," she stated simply staring down at the floor.

"I don't like 'Oh.'"

Levy lifted her gaze to the man, lips trembling, "I think my water broke."

"He's gonna kill me. I am as good as dead," the man mumbled as he paced back and forth.

Levy took a few deep breaths and grabbed him by his forearm, "I need you to take me to the hospital, but first I need you to grab the red bag sitting beside the door of Gajeel and mine's bedroom."

Skiadrum stood, still as a wall and with eyes as wide as saucers, it wasn't until Levy bellowed a pain stricken 'Go!' that he ran; hustling up the steps to grab the bag and then rushing back down to assist her to his car parked outside.

"Which hospital?" he inquired, turning the ignition over and snapping his seatbelt in place.

"Magnolia General…ughhh! Call...Gaj….oh Mavis here comes another!" Levy's face contorted as the contraction ripped through her body.

Grabbing his cell, he skimmed through his contacts, found the name he was looking for and hit the call button. After completing the call he shoved the phone back in his pocket then began backing down the driveway and onto the street. He took off towards the hospital as Levy was writhing in the seat next to him one hand on her belly and the other squeezing the hell out of the armrest.

Skiadrum turned a corner, too quickly for Levy's liking and was rewarded with a few curses and more incoherent noises. In order to keep from having his first grandson in the passenger seat of his car he took the next turn with a bit more ease; it still wasn't good enough.

Thankfully his car was built for speed and a few moments later he was pulling into the hospital and parking on the curb by the main entrance. Levy was hunched over in the seat breathing deeply and moaning as Rogue opened the door.

"I have a wheelchair here, let's get you out and upstairs." he stated calmly, unclipping the seatbelt and wrapping a strong arm around his sister in-law.

"Where's Gajeel?" Levy grunted, settling herself in the chair.

Rogue flashed a look towards his father whose face blanched; which did not go unnoticed by

Levy. "I thought he was already here or with you guys when Dad called me?"

"I'm going to go park the car-"

"-YOU CALLED ROGUE AND NOT MY HUSBAND?"

Skiadrum jumped behind the wheel of his car and hurried off towards the parking lot, leaving Rogue to handle the angry little pregnant lady he had now managed to make even more enraged.

Rogue cupped Levy's shoulder, gently massaging the joint with his thumb, "Let's get you upstairs and while they get you settled I will call my brother."

Levy replied with a hum and eased back in the chair as her body finally relaxed. A nurse met them just outside the maternity ward and took over delivering Levy to her room and getting her prepped while Rogue stayed out in the hall to call Gajeel. He was just hanging up when his father rounded the corner looking rough, rode hard, and put away wet.

"Is there any specific reason you called me, the uncle, and not the actual father of the baby?"

Skiadrum dragged a hand through his salt and pepper hair, "I was scared to death and went for the contact labeled 'son' in my cell."

Rogue lifted an eyebrow and started to ask what Gajeel was labeled but at that moment the nurse stepped out of Levy's room to let them know they were welcome to join her inside.

Various cords were coming and going from Levy's body. The monitors said cords were attached to were beeping in different intervals, one monitor in particular had Levy's attention. "This one here," she pointed to a screen filled with squiggling lines, "is the baby's heartbeat and the one above it is monitoring my contractions. You can actually see when one is going to occur and the intensity."

Rogue smiled as he watched the baby's heartbeat, "Gajeel will be here soon, he was at the gym so thankfully he doesn't have to deal with the extra traffic." he answered, replying to Levy's silent question.

Roughly an hour later a flustered Gajeel barreled through the door, his body eased as he zoned in on his wife and noticed she was still very much pregnant and he hadn't missed the birth of his first child. Her smile warmed him and quite possibly saved the life of his step-father as his eyes moved towards his direction.

"Yer lucky that babe hasn't been born yet or you'd be a dead man." Gajeel's eyes roved the room, "Where's mom?"

Skiadrum's eyes vastly grew, Gajeel and Rogue shook their heads.

"You're liable to still be a dead man if you don't call her regarding the birth of her first grandchild." Levy chimed in.

Hoisting himself up from the chair he had been lounging in, he made his way over the bedside and placed a hand on Levy's shoulder, "At least I got you here. The day Gemma went into labor with Rogue? I took off for the hospital in such a hurry I left her at the house. I ran into the hospital shouting about my wife having a baby and it wasn't until someone asked me where she was that I realized I hadn't brought her with me."

"Father of the year," Rogue deadpanned.

With the wave of a single finger Skiadrum pulled open the door and disappeared into the hallway.

Sauntering over to the small sink in the corner of the room Gajeel dampened a washcloth with cool water and came to stand beside his wife. Rogue settled himself into the chair previously occupied by his father, and without leaving the room, gave the couple as much privacy as he could.

"How ya feelin, shorty?" He asked, wiping away the sweat sticking to her forehead.

"I'm hungry, really hungry. I'm not allowed to eat when in active labor and at this point I would kill for a cheeseburger."

"Gihi! We'll get ya burger as soon as yer able to eat one!" Staring up at all the monitors he was about to ask what all they were but at that moment a nurse decided to stroll into the room.

"Let's check your progress!" she practically sang.

Rogue hopped up from the chair and moved towards the door, turning his back to read the assorted materials posted to the wal, finding particular interest in one that discussed the newborn's first bath. He could hear the shuffling as the nurse lifted the sheet from Levy and snapped her purple latex free gloves against her wrists.

"Oh!" she chirped.

"Oh?" Levy echoed in question.

"Eh?" Gajeel was just lost at this point.

The nurse looked up and smiled, "Let's have a baby! You're ready!"

Gajeel's eyes bulged as his attention shifted to Levy, her eyes mirroring his. They just stared at each other, totally oblivious to the world around them; Rogue had slipped out to go wait for his mother along with his father and the nurse was chatting on her hospital cell to the doctor.

Gajeel's head was swimming with thoughts; how much he loved this woman and how absolutely wonderful she was, how had a man like him been blessed so deeply? He was going to be a father; would he even be a good father? He hadn't exactly had the best example, not considering his step-father.

"You're going to be a wonderful father."

And just like that, he was grounded.

"Did I say all that out loud?"

Levy shook her head with a smile, "No. I just know you. You're not your father, you are you and no one else and I and this little boy will love you for all of our days."

His smile was blinding and if the nurse saw his more than obvious tears she never showed any inclination when she trotted back over and happily cheered, "Get ready to push!"

…

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Axel, happy birthday to you!"

Cheers and clapping ensued as the two year old blew out the candles on his cake and shoved a handful of the dessert into his mouth. The party had been the best excuse for a long overdue reunion amongst friends and family.

Their son had been born with a heart murmur and had fought for his life for a good part of his first year of life. After a very successful surgery when he was thirteen months old, he was now a healthy toddler and well on his way to being a typical Redfox, and causing enough mischief and mayhem to make up for that first year.

"Son, you're supposed to wait until the cake is cut." Gajeel laughed as he ran a hand through his son's black hair, mussing the unruly locks he had so clearly received from his mother.

"Oh, let him be! You're only two once and as far as I'm concerned he can do whatever he damn well pleases!"

Pursing her lips and jabbing a finger in the direction of her father in-law, "Watch that language around him! He's repeating everything nowadays. Gajeel made a statement and slipped up and it has taken us nearly two weeks to get him to stop saying what he heard."

"Well now I'm curious as to what was said," Rogue chimed in.

"Yeah really, you can't just lead us on like that, Levy. You should know better." Laxus added.

The peculiar laughter from behind her came from none other than her husband who was now standing beside her with their son in his arms. "What I said was…"

Levy reached up and covered Axel's ears but the toddler was having none of it, he shoved her hands away and with a big and proud smile he shouted, "Mommy 'as a nice ass!"

Laughter erupted and with a face red as a tomato and burning with defeat, Levy gave in and joined them. "Honey, you don't say things like that!"

Skiadrum stepped forward and took the toddler from Gajeel's arms; Axel happily went with his grandfather. "He's just telling the truth and judging by the little number mommy left lying on the floor upstairs he could very well be a big brother soon!"

Levy's face went scarlet for an entirely different reason.

"Pops, are you ever going to stop sexually harassing poor Levy?" Rogue questioned.

"Nope."

As the party went on, Gajeel and Levy found themselves alone and off from the group. Gajeel stared at his family and friends and his son happily interacting with everyone around him.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?"

Levy's question made him smile because they had indeed come a very long way. He had never said it out loud but he hadn't been entirely certain Axel would ever see his second birthday and the toll their marriage had took during that first year of their son's life had been by far one of the hardest things he had ever dealt with. The fights, the tears, the lonely nights where Levy had stayed at the hospital versus being in their bed with him. For a time he had been jealous, jealous of his son, an innocent child who had simply needed his mother. But he had also needed his father and when Gajeel finally woke up and took his own needs out of the equation his wife's smile returned and his son's health suddenly improved.

Gajeel was still learning how to be a husband and now he was learning how to be a father. He was fairly certain he would spend the rest of his life doing so, but at least it was something worth learning, and he had the most wonderful reasons in the world to learn how to be the best he could be.

"You're a wonderful husband and even more wonderful father. You're doing the best you can, and we love you."

Gajeel felt her arms encircle him and he turned to wrap himself around her, burying his face in her neck and hair. "You always know. You... always know. Fuck, I love you so damn much."

"I love you too," Levy ran her fingers through his hair as he nuzzled at her, "say, while we've got the opportunity why don't we go work on that second baby?" she giggled.

For an answer, Gajeel swept her up in his arms and bounded towards the house, her laughter ringing in his ears. To hell if anyone saw them, which he wasn't stupid, they would know what they were up to. But, if anyone did happen to see them escape (everyone did) no one said a thing.

And there it is, THE END! I am now going to be focusing on Heart and Keep It On the Ice. I'm also going to be working on outlining a future story, but I'd like to get some more headway into the other two first. So please, if you've not read those yet check them out because I will be updating them soon and I've lots of amazing ideas in my head. I hope you all have enjoyed this fic, it has grown so much from the beginning. Anyway, leave me your thoughts and please check out my other works!

THANK YOU!