Remember Me

Chapter 10

The town was below freezing as he walked through it. Not that he was expecting much less. It was the dead of winter, after all.

His breath came out in huffs as he kept his head down. Even though it was night, he wanted to avoid anyone that he might know. He didn't have time to stop and talk or go out for a drink. He had to get home.

When he was finally up to his house, he was practically antsy about it. Which was just silly. He had been there not a week and a half before, after all. He was just excited, he figured, about getting there.

Opening the door, he found that not much had changed. Except, somehow, Haven totally had taken it upon herself to move practically every single toy she owned into the living room. At least that's what he was guessing, because that's what it looked like.

"Home."

Haven was seated in the middle of the toys and just stared in shock at him for a moment.

"Laxus home," she repeated. Then, slowly, she got to her feet and glared at him. "Home yes'erday!"

"I tried to get here yesterday, kid, but I got caught up with some stuff, huh? And I told you, those are just estimates. I don't really know when I'll be back!"

"Laxus bad!"

Growling then, he closed the door behind him. "And what have you done to the living room, Haven? Huh? Where's Mira?"

"In here," he heard her call from somewhere else in the house. Whatever.

Maneuvering the toys scattered across the floor, as he knew if he stepped on and broke one Haven would have a fit, he made his way over to his daughter. Haven, noticing that he was coming closer, only stuck her tongue out at him. She was angry at him, as he had said he'd be home the day before. He was late.

"I'm home now, ain't I, kid?"

Haven turned away from him when he was close enough. "Laxus bad."

"Stop saying that." Reaching out, he snatched her up when he got to her, making Haven giggle and try to fight him. He wouldn't let her go though. "I wasn't bad and you know it."

He nuzzled her head before dropping her back to the ground. "And you better clean these up when you're finished. Hear me, kid?"

She only growled at him which he took as a yes. Then he navigated the piles of toys over to the couch to lay down. He was hoping Haven would leave him alone some so he could rest some, but no such luck as she just as quickly crossed the room to climb up on his chest. It was her favorite spot, after all.

"What's wrong, Haven?" he asked as she moved to where they were staring one another in the eyes. "You didn't miss me, did you, kid?"

"No."

Grunt. "You want your gift then. Is that it?"

"Mmmm….yes." The three year old giggled up at him. "Yes."

"Well that's too bad. You called me bad and now I don't wanna-"

"Yes." She kissed his nose then, as if a show of good faith. Her hands were on his cheeks as she stared down at him. "Yes."

"I think you're only nice to me for those dang gifts, kid. That's how come you're mad I was late. 'cause you wanted your toy."

She only shifted then, up slightly, to lean over his eye and kiss his scar. He let her, grinning slightly at the action.

"Laxus," she giggled. "Love Laxus."

"Mmmhmm."

"Toy now?"

He sat up some, letting her slide down his chest. She only stared up at him as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"No."

That set her off into a pout, but he only held her, knowing she'd calm down eventually. Not to mention, he was kinda teasing her. He knew that the only reason he wasn't giving her the gift yet was because he was too lazy to get up. He was comfortable and didn't feel like moving.

Haven whined a little bit, but didn't slip out of his grasp. As he fell back on the couch, she only moved to cuddle against him. Though she was like him and would never admit that she missed him, she had. She always did. She loved Laxus.

"Here you are, Laxus. What are you doing? You're not hurt, are you?"

Mirajane. He glanced over at her as she walked through the living room with a lot more ease than him. What was snuggled up in her arms though was far more interesting to him than her grace.

Sitting up then, he shifted Haven to one side of his lap as Mirajane came over with their other daughter. She was still only a couple months old and, just as with Haven, Laxus was struggling with sticking around enough to form a bond with her.

"Marin missed you too, Daddy," Mirajane said, grinning at him then as she moved to hand the baby off to him. Frowning at this, Haven jumped down from his lap. They were still dealing with random bouts of jealousy from her. When Laxus first got home after being on a job was the worst.

"Laxus play now?" Haven asked as he moved to sit the baby in his lap. Haven narrowed her eyes at her sister before stomping her feet. "Laxus-"

"Come here, Haven. Let's go make Daddy some tea, huh?" Mirajane giggled, patting the little girl on the head. She was usually immune to all of Haven's fits. And she had a lot of them. She went from happy to pissed faster than anyone Laxus knew.

"Little fucking demon," he grumbled softly as Mirajane led Haven into the kitchen. Once they were gone, he looked down at the baby in his lap, who was just as happy to see him. That wasn't ground breaking though. The eight month old was usually happy to see anyone.

Leaning down, Laxus rubbed his face gently against Marin's shock of white hair, pressing a kiss against the silvery locks. Marin only giggled and reached up to pat him on the face, staring at him with just as deep blue eyes as her sister.

"Never gonna get away from those freaking eyes," he grumbled as he moved to stand, keeping Marin in his arms. He'd let Haven suffer long enough.

Making a stop at his duffle bag, he quickly headed into the kitchen. Haven was in there, standing with Mirajane at the counter as she made the little girl a snack. The tea was on, so Mira must have had to find another thing to distract her.

"Haven," Laxus called as he went to drop Marin in her high chair with a kiss to the head. "C'mere, kid."

She turned from Mira then, glancing over at him. When she saw a big stuffed animal in his hands, she rushed over.

"Laxus!" She took the stuffed dog from him with a giggle.

"Laxus, you did not buy her another-"

"I saw it and knew she'd like it, Mira," he said, grinning as Haven began kissing the stuffed dog all over. "How could I not get it for her?"

"Gee, because she has more than enough toys as it is? Have you not seen our living room?"

He only grunted before walking back over to Marin's high chair. As she looked up at him, he pulled a tiny stuffed dragon out of his pocket.

"Think I forget you?" He kissed Marin's cheek as he sat it down on the tray of the high chair. "Huh?"

"Laxus-"

"Mira, when I go somewhere, I buy them things. 'cause that's just the way it is."

"Well-"

"Laxus." Haven went to hug him then, wrapping her arms tightly around his legs. "Play now?"

"I think you're getting a snack, kid," he said, going to pick her up and drop her in one of the chairs at the table. "Then we can play whatever you-"

"Dragons," she told him. "I wanna play dragons!"

"Alright, alright. Just shut up, huh?" He headed over to Mirajane then, who was cutting Haven up some fruit for her snack. Standing behind her, he leaned down to press a kiss to her neck.

"You haven't even greeted me," he grumbled softly to her. Mira only continued chopping fruit.

"You were busy with the girls," she told him. "Besides, Laxus, it was only a week."

Grunt. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, making her snicker and turn away.

"Laxus-"

"Only a week, huh?" Turning away from her then, he went to lift Marin up. "Anyhow, I'll be in the bedroom, Haven, when you're ready to play dragons."

"Rawr!"

"Rawr," he mimicked back before walking off. Marin was a little whinny, but she was usually like that with him.

She was rather attached to Mirajane. That was probably due the fact that when he was home, Laxus spent most of his time with Haven. She was just more fun than the new baby. She was at that age where, yeah, she threw fits a lot, but she was also rather playful. Every waking moment was spent doing something. And as naptime only lasted about an hour at that point, that was a lot of moments.

Still though, Marin was his little baby too. And even though she wasn't that much fun, he still made sure to spend some time with her. It probably had a little to do with how guilty he felt over how upset he was with Mira when she first told him she was pregnant. He really, really didn't want another kid. He had thought that she was taking something for that and felt a little tricked by her. She only acted disappointed in his attitude and basically told him to go get lost for another eleven months.

It was not a very fun pregnancy.

Now though, as he laid down on the bed with Marin, he wouldn't do anything different. She was there and he was happy.

It was a lot easier with her than it had been with Haven. For Laxus at least. He was already used to diaper changes and the spit up. And the crying hardly phased him anymore. Haven had been the worst about all of those things and in comparison, Marin had been a piece of cake.

"You wanna lay down, kid?" he mumbled as he kissed Marin's head. She was sitting up though and clearly in a playful mood. "Huh? Marin?"

Reaching over, he tickled her side gently, making the baby giggle and twisting to get away. He only pulled her down to the bed then, nuzzling against her head.

"You look too much like Mira and Lisanna, kid," he told her softly. "You know that?"

Even though she was only a few months old, Marin was already so much different than Haven. She wasn't nearly as bratty. Or at least Laxus didn't think she was. He figured that she'd end up being more like Mirajane than him. Which was great. Haven was more than enough for him at the moment. Could hardly handle her at all, honestly.

"Laxus!" Suddenly, the door slammed open and Haven came rushing in. In her arms was one of her big dragon stuffed animals, which they used to play sometimes. "Play now."

"Kid, you pick the worst moments." Laxus groaned as she clambered up on the bed. Marin made a noise at her sister's yelling, but Haven just went to lay on the other side of her and glance down at her. Apparently finished wit her jealous streak for the day, she stared down at her sister with grin.

"Marin's the baby," she reminded Laxus, looking across the eight month old at him then. "Huh?"

"Mmmhmm."

Haven patted her baby sister gently on the tummy before moving to crawl away. "Now we play, Laxus?"

He sighed, moving to stand. "If you want, kid. Let me go put Marin down somewhere, huh?"

After giving the baby to Mirajane, Laxus took to playing with Haven. Dragons, of course, was the game of choice. She really loved it. And the best part was when Laxus took her outside and let her run around out there, pretending to be a dragon. He was pretty much the best Laxus ever.

Then, after they finished playing, they laid down on the front lawn together. Laxus was coughing some, as his body had never fully recovered from that venom, and Haven was just laying there, sometimes reaching over to rub his tummy, because she thought it made him feel better. It made her feel better when she wasn't well and he did it.

"You tired, kid?" he asked her eventually, reaching over with his own hand to lay it over her eyes. Haven only giggled though as he peeked over at her. "Huh, little baby?"

"I'm not the baby." She shoved his arm off with a giggle.

"You're not?"

"No!" Just as quickly, she was climbing up on his chest. Then Laxus' view of the cloudless blue sky above was shattered, replaced instead with the deep blues of Haven's eyes as she stared down at him. "Marin's the baby."

"Yeah," he agreed. "She is."

"I'm si'ser."

"The big sister," he said. "Whose Mira?"

"Mommy."

"And who am I?"

"Laxus," she said making him grin. She had never taken to calling him anything, but his name. He figured it had more to do with his lack of interest in making him call her by something else. She just mimicked Mirajane, he figured, and it had stuck.

"Yeah," he mumbled as she kissed his head. "I am, aren't I?"

Haven yawned as she walked down the street, one of her hands clasped in her father's. Mira had hammered it home to her at a young age that if you walk away from the house, you held hands. Everyone. Everyone.

Even Laxus.

"Mommy gonna be there?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Marin stays home, huh? 'cause she's a baby."

"She's with Lisanna," Laxus told her. "Where you should be and would be if you hadn't-"

"No," Haven insisted, bouncing slightly as she followed him down the road. "I go to the guild too. See Gramps! And Locke."

Grunt. "Don't know what you want with them. Ain't I enough?"

She only giggled, swinging their joined hands. "You go to the guild, huh?"

"I have to speak with Freed and Bickslow, Haven. I was coming back home. Then we could have played. Now though-"

"Mmmm…go see Locke and Gramps, then go home and play."

"It don't work that way, kid."

When they got to the hall, Haven was overjoyed to see her great-grandfather up on the bar. He had his eyes closed, but heard her call out for him and jumped down to greet her almost immediately. Mirajane was happy to see Laxus though and he went to speak with her before anyone else.

"Hey, Mira." He gave her a kiss across the bar when she leaned towards him. She only grinned though.

"Something you needed?" she asked him before going to get him something to drink.

"Nah," he said, glancing around. "Not from you, anyhow."

Haven was back next to him then, tugging at his pants. When he glanced down at her though, she only said, "Thirsty."

Rolling his eyes, he turned to tell Mira to get her some juice when suddenly, she let go of him. When he looked back down at her, he found out why.

"Locke!" Haven giggled as the older child patted her rather roughly on the head. In his other hand was a juice box which, after one last sip, he held out to her. No way Laxus was allowing that.

"Hey-" he started, ready to put a stop to that, but suddenly his arm was being pulled. It was Mira as she carried a tray of beers by, grabbing him with her other hand.

"Leave them alone."

"That's nasty. That's how kids get sick."

She let him go when they were far enough away. "Oh? And rolling around in the grass yesterday was what?"

"Building her immune system."

"Laxus-"

"Now she's going to have, like, his germs or whatever."

"Oh, Laxus."

When he glanced back at his daughter, he found that she was following the dark headed boy around the guild as they played some sort of game. It was too late to save her. She had drunk the juice.

"Hello, Laxus," Freed greeted a moment later as he joined him at one of the tables. Bickslow stuck his tongue out in welcoming. "I fear Ever is not around. Apparently she and Elfman have begun taking jobs together."

"Lucky her," he remarked dryly. His eyes were still following his daughter, who was climbing up onto one of the stools at the bar, Locke helping her up there slightly before climbing on one himself. Kinana immediately took to fawning over them while Laxus watched. Then, suddenly, a mug of something was placed in front of him and a voice brushed his ear.

"You can't be her only friend, Laxus."

Grunt. Mirajane only patted him on the head. Besides, he decided then, Locke was better than Natsu's kid. 'cause that girl was just the last person he ever wanted Haven to be friends with.

Ever.

When they finally left the guildhall that day, it was with Locke in tow. He was coming over to play (Mira's idea) and possibly spend the night (not happening). At the very least, it gave Laxus some reprieve from playing with Haven. In fact, when they got home, he found that she didn't want to play with him at all. She wanted Locke to play dragons with her. Yeah. Locke.

"You hungry, Laxus?" Lisanna asked as he came into the kitchen. "I just put dinner on."

Grunt. Coming into the kitchen, he found Marin in her high chair, which he immediately freed her from. Taking her over to the table with him, he sat her on his lap as he glared into the living room at Haven.

What was so great about having friends your own age anyhow? Huh? Huh?

When Marin made a noise, he looked down at her, immediately taking to snuggling her to get the baby to giggle. He'd gone wrong with Haven, maybe, but Marin was just fine.

"You look down," Lisanna remarked when she joined him at the table.

Grunt.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you wanted something else for dinner."

"Chicken's fine," he grumbled. "I'm just annoyed that I got fucking Gajeel's kid over here."

"Why? He comes over to play all the time."

"That's the problem," he grumbled. "Haven thinks it's okay, you know? To promise to play a game with someone and then decide that no, you'd rather play with someone-"

"Laxus," Lisanna said slowly, looking him dead in the eyes. "Listen to yourself for a moment, huh? And then leave the house. When you come back, I want my brother to come back in. Not…this."

That got her the stink eye before Laxus stood, taking his baby with him.

"Shut up, Lisanna," he grumbled. "What do you know?"

"I know that you're acting crazy."

He left the kitchen, having to go through the living room then to get to his own room. Haven and Locke were playing with her toy dragons, making them fly around and crash into each other. Her stuffed dragon was on the ground too as well as the new stuffed dog he bought her. Haven did call out hi to him when he passed, but other than that, she was unconcerned with him. She was playing their game with someone else, after all.

"You know, kid, I think that it's about time you and me became better friends," Laxus grumbled to his youngest as they laid out on the bed in his room. "I mean, now that Haven's gone crazy. Not that you're backup or anything. So don't ever feel that way. You just don't…do much. You understand?"

Marin was more concerned at the moment with grabbing her feet while looking around the room. When her eyes landed on her father, she giggled and let go of one of her feet to reach for him. He gave her one of his fingers, but she wasn't like Haven. She'd never seemed interested in putting them anywhere near her mouth. She just liked to hold them, it seemed. She wasn't Haven at all.

"That's okay though," he assured his baby who only stared at him. When he leaned over to give her a kiss, she giggled. "You're just as good. Promise."

A few weeks later had Laxus hanging out with Haven before he took off on another job. He would be gone when she woke up that morning, so she was trying to stay up for as long as possible, to keep him there longer. He played along with the ruse, telling her she could stay up as late as she wanted, just that once, so long as she promised not to be a brat for Mirajane in the morning. He knew she would be, but sometimes you just had to let your kids lie to you. Or at least that's what he had decided.

"You getting sleepy, Haven?" Laxus asked as they sat out on the front porch, watching the snow come down. It was just a few flakes and she was all bundled up in her winter coat. He thought it would be boring enough to lull her off to sleep, but no such luck so far. She just sat in his lap, his jacket opened as he wrapped her up in it as well.

"No," she told him through a yawn. Laxus just looked down at her and smiled.

"Well, you like the snow?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

Haven shifted then, cuddling back against him. Frowning, he looked down at her before snuggling her slightly making the three year old laugh.

"You sure you're not cold?" he asked.

"No."

"No you're not sure or no you're not cold? 'cause I think you're just trying to wait me out, kid. And just so you know, I can go without sleep a lot longer than you, so don't test me."

Haven only giggled then and turned her head upwards to kiss his chin. "Laxus."

"You know no matter what, Haven, that I have to go in the morning, huh? Even if you stay up all night, I'm leaving." He sighed slightly. "It's what I do. I'm a wizard, kid. But I always come back, huh?"

Haven started giggling then, when he nuzzled her head. She always liked that.

"Laxus." The front door opened and he heard Mira pad out onto the porch. "It's getting late. Maybe-"

"Did you miss the part, Mira, where I said she could stay up all night?"

"Well," she began slowly. "It's cold out here. So-"

"We're fine," he grumbled, not turning around to look at her. "Ain't we, kid?"

"Yes," Haven giggled.

"The baby's in bed, Laxus, so when Haven finally goes in there, don't wake her. And I'm in bed too, so when you come to bed-"

"I won't be. Told you, I'm leaving in a few hours."

"Then I guess this is goodbye. See you when you get back. And Haven, if Mommy's asleep, that means you have to be quiet, huh?"

Giggles. Still, Mira went to kiss the child's head before heading off back into the house. Then it was just Laxus and his little laugh machine. It took a whole nother hour for her to get tired. And even then, when he tried to take her to her bedroom, she woke up and complained. Not wanting to wake Marin or Mira, he took her then to the kitchen.

Besides, he was a bit peckish.

"You know, kid, I ain't much one for sentiments, but if this is your way of telling me you'll miss me, don't worry about it. Seriously. Three weeks isn't that long."

Haven only sat at the table though as he made himself a few sandwiches and her a slice of peanut butter bread. She was clearly trying to keep from nodding off, but it was hard.

"And when I come back, why, it'll probably have snowed a lot more. And then we can do all sorts of cool winter stuff. Like make snowmen and igloos. Kid, you're finally old enough for a real snowball fight. Won't that be fun?"

When she didn't answer him, he turned to look at her. She just looked so sad. Shaking his head, he put all his sandwich stuff away before carrying the plate over to the table with him. Setting it down, he then moved to stand before Haven's chair and get down on his knees in front of it, to talk to her more on her level.

"I know you don't like it, kid. You never have. But you'll get it eventually. 'cause you're gonna be just like me. When I become the master, because believe me, I am, you're gonna be my number two, huh? Help me like Mira helps Gramps?" Then he wagged his finger at her. "But you won't be serving drinks. Or dressing provocatively to get tips. And don't even think about that modeling stuff. No. You're gonna be a real wizard. Nothing against the woman, I love her, but Mira-"

Then, hardly looking at him, Haven reached out one of her hands and laid it against his scarred eye. Staring into the other eye, she said, "I go bed now?"

He blinked. Then he grinned and stood. "Yeah. C'mere, kid."

So he carried her off, leaving his sandwiches behind, to her bedroom. And after tucking her in and making sure she had all her favorite stuffed animals, he went over to the crib in the room to peek in at Marin. Sound asleep. Good.

"Night, girls," he whispered then as Haven fell asleep too. He brushed a kiss against each of their heads. "I'll see you both when I get back. First thing. Promise."

Then he went back to eat his sandwiches because, well, hungry. Duh. Next though was telling Mirajane goodbye.

She was in their bed, already asleep when he walked in. He just went around the room, preparing his tiny bag of things he'd take with him. She used to do it for him, back before Haven and Marin, but since then she usually found herself too tired for such things. When she wasn't working up at the guild, she was struggling to keep up at home. He couldn't feel too bad for her, as he had warned her numerous of times about having children would ruin their schedules.

"Laxus?" she whispered eventually when he went to lean down by her side of the bed and push some of her hair out of her face. She was laying on her side and peeked an eye open at his touch. He only grunted making her giggle sleepily. "Saying goodbye?"

"Yeah," he whispered before leaning forwards to give her head a kiss. "I am."

"Bye," she whispered, grinning up at him. He only kissed her lips then, though he didn't move away from the bed.

"Take care of them for me, huh? Haven and Marin?"

"I'll do my best," she mumbled as her eyes fell shut once more. "But you know, Haven's not exactly a walk in the park."

"What are you trying to say, huh?"

"Just that it's hard," she said softly, though there was grin masquerading in the tone. "Raising a dragon."

He blinked then before righting himself. With a snort, he went to grab his bag.

"Hell yeah it is," he grumbled. "Lot harder raising a demon though."

"Mmmm." She rolled onto her back then. "Though one thing is still bothering me."

He was almost to the door. "Which is?"

"I still haven't gotten my matching set."

That got him to pause. "You don't say."

"Mmmhmm. And now that we have two girls-"

"Mira-"

"It would only be fair, Laxus, that we had two boys. Balance and everything."

"Tough luck, chick," he said then, glancing over his shoulder at her. "This shop's closed. Permanently."

"That's what you think."

"Mirajane-"

"Bye, Laxus. Love you," she called softly with a slight giggle. "And hurry back. I want to get started on this next baby thing as soon as possible."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, heading out the door with a shake of his head. As he crossed back through the living room, he mumbled, "Stupid demon."

'cause it might be hard raising a demon, but being married to one was multiplying that by a thousand.

Not that he could complain. He was sure that Mira said the same thing about dragons.

There were probably very few things better than going up to the guild with Mommy. Haven got to do everything there. Other than her mother and father's friends who were frequently floating around, like Lucy or Max or Erza or Warren, there were tons of other guild members too. And if Gramps was there, he'd let her ride up on his shoulders and tell her how amazing she was going to be at magic. He could just tell.

Then, of course, there was the swimming pool. Not that she could swim, so it wasn't that great, but it sure looked fun. And then there was the souvenir shop, where one time, Laxus bought her an action figure of him. Mommy said that it was self-centered of him to think she would want that, but she did. It was in her toy box at home.

Most of her fun though came from when Locke was around. He would play with her all the time. They did all sorts of fun things together. His daddy wasn't as much fun as hers though. He growled a lot and complained whenever he had to babysit them, but Levy was pretty nice. Whenever she stayed over at their house, the solid script mage made them cookies and would read lots of stories to them.

At the moment though, Locke wasn't around. Even Natsu wasn't around, who was also pretty fun. Mommy was making her sit up at the bar, and spend precious play time doing nothing. She'd given her some crayons and paper, but she had long since tired of coloring. Maybe she should have just stayed home with Elf and Ever, who were babysitting Marin that day.

"What's wrong, baby?" Mirajane asked her at one point when she noticed the little girl laying with her head down on the cool surface of the bar, not coloring at all. Makarov, who was sitting next to her, though he was actually on top of the bar, looked down.

"You're not sick, are you child?" he asked, concerned.

"Want Laxus," was all she said after some prompting. Mirajane only giggled and gave her a kiss on the head, telling her that it would be another three days before there was even a chance of him coming home, before getting back to work. She needed to refill a few beers.

"Don't be so down, Haven," Makarov told her softly then as he leaned down to look at her. When she turned to glance up at him, he said, "Pretty soon, your daddy won't be going on any jobs as all. It's not something a master does, after all. But shhh. Don't let him know that."

She couldn't. Mainly because what he had said meant nothing to her. Laying her head down again, she tried some coloring, but it was no good. Not that her pictures ever were quite masterpieces (except to Mommy who always thought they were amazing and Laxus who would swear he could make out every single thing she drew), but the feeling just wasn't there.

She was resting with her face flat against the bar for a few minutes when, suddenly, she felt someone ruffle her hair.

"Don't look so sad all the time, kid. Anger's the emotion to go for. Contempt. Not sadness. Alright?"

When she lifted her head, she finally began to grin. "Laxus!"

He only grunted, taking a seat next to her. That was no problem for Haven who immediately moved to climb into his lap.

"You're back early," Makarov observed, though he didn't glance at his grandson.

"And you're alive late. Die already, old man." Laxus was looking around then until he spotted his wife coming over.

"Laxus." She was just as happy as their daughter, coming to a stop when she got to him. "You're back-"

"Been through this with him already. I work fast, okay?" He only nodded over at the line of whiskey bottles behind her head. "Something strong, please."

"Ooh. Please is new," she said, reaching over to poke his nose. "But welcome."

"Just get me a damn drink!"

"Now that's more like it."

Haven was still only staring up at her father though, waiting for him to acknowledge her again. When he looked down at her, she only grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, you missed me, kid. I get it. I understand. I am the best fucking thing in the world, after all." He nuzzled the top of her head, unconcerned with the fact that they were out in public. Giggling, Haven swatted at his face, trying to push him away. "Used to get so excited when you'd remember me. Now it just seems like there's nothing I can do to make you forget."

"Laxus." Reaching up, she patted his scarred eye, always a favorite of hers. He only turned his head though, so he could kiss her hand and make her shriek before jerking it away. Marin had never seemed too interested in it, but Haven still loved it, all those years later. Maybe it would just be their thing.

When they got home that day, Laxus immediately sent Ever and Elfman off, so he could be alone with his girls. They didn't do much. Haven had been without a nap the entire day and was rather cranky. Then Marin just wanted to sleep the entire time, so bonding with her was out. When it was finally bedtime, Laxus was more than glad. Since Mira would be working the late shift, he just took both girls into their bedroom with him, along with a few of Haven's stuffed animals (including her new stuffed cat he picked up for her that shared a scary resemblance to Happy).

It was one of the most comfortable feelings in the world, Marin all snuggled up on his chest and Haven cuddled to his side. It relaxed him, knowing they were both safe.

"You stink," Haven told him flatly not soon after they laid down.

"I stink, huh? How do you know it's not you, kid? Huh?"

"Laxus stink."

"No way."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

He thumped her head with the hand that wasn't stroking Marin's back. The little baby was sleeping as far as he could tell, but it was apparently going to take more to get Haven down. When didn't it?

"Hey, kid," he said at one point as she took to chewing on the tail of one of her stuffed toys. "Let me ask you something."

When Haven looked up at him, he said, "You wanna learn lightening magic when you get older?"

He'd never asked her before. He'd more or less just decided from her close resemblance to him that she'd want to be whatever he was. And her enjoyment of dragons had only furthered that.

Haven only grinned at him then before holding one hand out and making a zap noise.

"Why?" he asked then. Only being three, he reasoning was actually rather simplistic.

"Laxus s'ayer." She made the zap noise again. "Me s'ayer. Huh?"

"You can be anything you want, kid," he assured her then. "But it'd be cool, if you were my protégé. I definitely need one. You can't let all this go to waste, after all."

That all meant nothing to her though and she only snuggled closer. Even if he did stink, he was still her Laxus and she loved him.

"It'll be a good way to remember me too," he whispered then, as she started to drift off. Glancing down at Marin, he added, "For both of you. If anything happens. 'cause then I'll be apart of one of you. Forever. And you'll always have each other. I just know you will."

He was wrong though, about that complete feeling. It wasn't truly absolute until Mirajane joined them sometime later, on the opposite side as Haven, cuddling up to him as well.

"You will not believe my night," Mira gushed as she slid in next to him. "To start with, Arik was cheating on Lisanna."

"I'll kill him."

"Laxus."

"Then what did you want me to say? Fine. I don't care."

"Are those the only two options? Two extremes?"

"Always, babe. Always." He glanced at her in the darkness. "And shhh. Don't wake them."

She only leaned up to give him a kiss. "I take it this was the only way to get them to go to sleep? To be in here? Is that your excuse?"

"I need no excuse. I just wanted them. They're mine. I can take them wherever I want."

"You're so cute."

"Mira-"

"Well, you are." She reached out to stroke Marin's white locks. "How was your job? You got back early."

"Easy," he said softly as his hand played with Haven's hair. "They all are though, for someone as great as me."

"You're always so full of it." She shifted slightly, so that her head was pressed into his ribs, like Haven on the opposite side. "Love you."

"Love you too."

"And don't think that I forgot about the baby thing."

Groan. "Mirajane-"

"Hear me out. I-"

"Babe, have you ever heard of being happy with what you got?"

"Says the man that pray for his grandfather's death so he can be master."

"…Pray is a strong word."

"Laxus-"

"Mira, I'm happy with my girls. I'm content. If not slightly overwhelmed. So-"

"But think of how much fun having a boy-"

"Yeah, getting pissed on when you change his diaper. So much fun."

"That wouldn't-"

"I'm not naïve. Don't lie to me."

"…You don't have to change the diapers. I-"

"Nope. Been there, done that. Baby contracts with you only end up with me caring for, loving, and raising the children that we make."

"Gee, you sound like such a great father right now."

"Mira-"

"One more."

"No."

"Lax-"

"I said no."

"But don't you want a son?"

"I didn't even want the kids I had, Mira. So no, I don't."

"That's a really rude-"

"You knew that I didn't. In fact, the last one, you tricked me and trapped me-"

"You are so rude, Laxus. That is not how it happened and you know it."

"All I know is that the two I have now are more than enough. You got a demon and you got a dragon. What more do you need?"

"A boy."

"Mira-"

"But what if Elfman and Evergreen have a boy and a girl, huh? Huh? Then what?"

"I don't know, Mirajane, because that has nothing to do with us."

"It has everything to do with us! Or what if Erza has-"

"You are going to have to get over this Erza stuff. I mean, seriously. It's not healthy, babe. And for the record, I don't think Evergreen even wants a baby. At all. So-"

"Who doesn't want babies, Laxus? I mean, me and you need at least two more, if not more."

"More?"

"Well, what if we don't get two boys next time?" she asked, sounding far too serious for his taste. "Then we'd have to keep going until we even out-"

"What is up with you a balance? Huh? You, Elfman, and Lisanna aren't balanced."

"And I would have loved another brother. But fate didn't-"

"And we are balanced right now. Aren't we? Two girls? Who needs boys? At all?"

"Us. Or did you miss the matching set portion of this?"

Groan. "Mirajane-"

"I don't understand why you don't want a son, Laxus. I thought this was, like, a man thing."

"If I had no other kids? Maybe. But I do. And I'm very happy as we are now. So maybe you could cool off some-"

"Fine," she gave in. There was no arguing with him. Only tricking him. And she knew that she'd have to be very sneaky the next time. "Let's get back to Arik, because if you only knew the details-"

"Alright. Fine. Tell me them." Maybe they'd lull him to sleep. At the very least, it'd keep her baby craze to a minimum.

They must have laid there for an hour with Mirajane reciting every detail. Or at least it felt that long to Laxus. It was torture. The only thing that saved him was Marin needing her diaper changed. As Mirajane rushed off with her to go take care of that, Laxus was left with Haven. Perfect.

Turning onto his side then, he faced her, scooting down some so that their faces were even.

"I know you're awake, kid," he whispered softly making the little girl giggle, opening her eyes. She only giggled though before leaning up to pat his scarred eye.

"Laxus go s'eep," she complained to him. "Night-night time."

"Yeah, it is, ain't it? You wanna listen to some music until Mommy gets back?"

So he reached over to grab his Sound Pod off the night stand, hooking one of the earphones onto Haven's tiny ear and the other on his. Then, at its softest volume, he played some of his more mellow music. Between Mira and Laxus, there was no way that their kids would ever be without music in some form.

"No fair, Daddy. You're over here cuddling with her. What about me?"

"What'd you do with Marin?" Laxus asked softly as Mira climbed back into bed, that time on the other side of Haven, boxing her in. They must really be going to sleep then.

"I put her to bed finally."

"Mmmm." He only stared down at Haven though, who was once again drifting off. Mira turned to give the little girl a gentle kiss on her head before curling up with her back to them. Laxus only laid there for awhile before whispering,

"Hey, Mira?"

"Mmmm?" She didn't move n the slightest and was clearly drifting off.

"I'm real glad that you're my wife," he told her softly then, randomly. And even though she wasn't facing him, he knew that she was grinning too.

"Me too," she said softly. And he thought that that was the end of it. But oh no. He had opened the can of worms, after all, not her.

"You know though, that you could just as easily love a son-"

"Mira."

"Sorry. Had to try it."

He rolled his eyes before shutting them and snuggling Haven closer to him. He had a feeling that she would never forget him again, fine, but that wasn't his trouble anymore. His new problem lied in the fact that Mirajane seemed rather keyed in on that third baby and he didn't think there was anything he could do to stop her from forgetting it.

"Long as you and your sister remember me," Laxus mumbled as he pressed a kiss against Haven's head, "I guess I'll be fine."

I didn't know where to end this and I guess it shows. Oh well, at least you guys got a few more paragraphs out of it, huh? Anyhow, that's it for Remember Me. Now I need to start another story I guess…