18

Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail. Why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned something like that?

Beta Reader: volfwildman

So, Romeo was just born.

…. Ok so there's more to it but I'd rather not talk about it. Turns out its tradition for the God Uncle to be at the birth. I will never be able to look at Alexis the same way ever again. I spent years trying to repress the memories of my own birth and now I must do it again along with Romeo's too. Lovely.

Currently, I was just trying to get my mind distracted by doing some reading some random book I found on Stamp collecting while in the guild. It was not working.

Of course, though Macao was here showing off his new son to all the guild members. The female members of the guild seemed particularly interested in the cute little guy. They just keep messing with the baby's little tuff of blue hair.

"Ok ladies that's enough. The little guy is getting a bit fussy." At Macao's words, the women that surrounded him gave him disappoint awes before dispersing. The fire mage then walked over and sat down at the table I was at.

"Hey, Romeo look! It's your cool uncle." At Macao's words, the little one looks over at me and stared for a second before smiling and started to make grab motions at me. "Oh? Do you want Uncle Bishop to hold you?"

"Yaaaaa no I'm no-" Before I could finish Macao already planted Romeo into my hands before stepping back and looking proud at his handy work. I was currently busy trying to not drop the infant while said infant grabs my tie and started to pull.

"Well, you two look like you're having fun. I got something I need to do quickly. Mind looking after the little guy? Yes? Great to see you in a bit." And just like that, he was gone. I hadn't even been able to get a word in.

I let out a little sigh as I look down at the baby in my arms that was currently chewing on my tie while looking up at me. We stare at each other for about a minute before I spoke up. "I really hate your dad right now." I pause as Romeo let out a gurgle. "Yes, he is a big meanie. Be sure to punish him for me alright?" Romeo just once again let out a gurgle while chewing on my tie.

I once again found myself being in a staring contest with the infant. "Sooooooo…...you are liking the weather?" Gurgle. "Ya, it been nice if a bit dry in my opinion." Gurgle. "Well, I guess we did have that big storm about a week ago."

All that came from the baby was more gurgles.

Ok, I had no idea how to communicate with babies. There is no way I'm going to start baby talking to him and I'm not fluent in gurgles. As I was once again thinking of a topic to discuss with the zero-year-old, I heard a voice come from across the guild.

"Big Brother Bish me and Erza are back!" Shouted a happy Cana with Erza following not too far behind. It was shortly after that when they saw the baby in my arms. "Awwwwwwe who's this little guy?"

"Romeo, Macao's son. He was born while you two were on away." The two girls instantly started to coo and play with the infant much to said infant's delight. I couldn't help but be put off by their enthusiasm for the baby, especially those little stars in Erza's eyes.

Erza ended up with Jellal in the series, right? But the second I think of them being together I instantly had to keep from frowning. In fact, imaging any boy with Erza or Cana for that matter made me want to stab something.

Apparently, I'm a protective older brother. Good to know. Now to start planning how to 'take care of' Jellal.

"Hey, I'm back." Said the newly arrived Macao caring a mug with steam coming out of it. "Oh, hey girls. Playing with my little handsome boy are ya." Cana gives him a nod while Erza just keeps playing with Romeo.

"Well as much as I'd like for you all to look after him a little more." He paused to take the infant out of my arms. "Me and this little guy have got to get back to mommy. Take care now." and with that, he was off.

"I wonder what it's like to be a mother?" Said Erza out loud as she stares at the retreating form of Macao. "Well you're not figuring that out any time soon," I say in a rather firm tone.

Both girls look back at me with raised eyebrows, but I pay little attention to that as I get up and head off back home.

Need to replace my now soaking-wet tie.

I let out a little hum as I test out my new ring. As of today, I am officially 18 years old. According to the law, I am now an adult. Yaaaaaaa.

For my birthday I had bought myself a new ring. A Ring of Fire to be more precise. It would shoot out a little stream of fire once used. Really only good for starting small fires but I hope that with my developing ring magic I could use it as a weapon.

In other news, my Magic core had finally slowed done on growing. I now had almost 10 times the amount I had as a 5-year-old. Enough magic storage to rival the old men of the magic council. And I could only really use Illusions with it. A least the large amount of magic was making my experiments come along faster. I was even starting to make a breakthrough with one of them.

The only other interesting piece of news was that apparently Makarov and Jose, Phantom Lord's Guild Master, ended up fighting during the most recent Guild Master conference. With Natsu and the others finally in the guild, we were starting to overtake Phantom Lord for the number one guild spot. Officially Phantom Lord was still number one, but many were wondering how long that would last.

My family seems to be giving me space on my birthday, which is rather nice. They know I dislike participating in parties or really anything that involved a lot of people. I only just barely take part in the big events at the guild and that's just mainly because all my siblings love doing them.

I really didn't have many plans for today. Other than test out my new ring a bit and have a nice little birthday dinner with my family, I really didn't have much in mind. I can't do any sword training, about two days ago Erza borrowed my saber to get a feel for the blade as she was planning to get one of her own apparently.

Can't really go to the guild since the second I enter that building their going to use my birthday as an excuse to party, happened once not going to let it happen again. In the end, I just decided to look for Mom and see when dinner will be ready, maybe help a bit with the cooking.

With that goal in mind, I made my way out of my room and proceed down the hallway. I couldn't help but notice how quiet the building was. Sure, the mansion was huge and not a lot of people live here but when you have some of the most destructive mages in Fairy Tail living here you tend to at least hear echoes in the halls.

I proceed into the kitchen only to see it empty and unused as well. Strange Mom should at least have some stuff out right now in order to prepare for dinner. Where was she? I looked around a bit more and was about to head back to the housing hallways but before I could make way over there, I saw the dining room door slightly open.

There was no noise coming from within, but it could be she was preparing the room for dinner. With that, I headed to the door and looked inside. It was rather dark, but I could see some stuff on the table, so I took a step inside the room and flipped the switch to activate the mage lights in the ceiling.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I just kept myself from jumping as I looked at the source of the loud words. Within the room was Mom, Cana, Gray, Erza, Natsu, Happy, Lisanna, Elfman, Mira, Macao and Wakaba all of whom had jumped out of a hiding place with the room. Party decorations were all about along with a table full of food and a decently large birthday cake in the middle of the feast.

I just stood there staring at them for a few seconds before Mom spoke up. "I know you don't like parties but considering your becoming an adult today I figured an exception would be ok." She said this with her usual inhumanly wide smile.

I really didn't know how to respond. This was a first for me as I had never had a surprise party before. I was slightly annoyed since I had asked for no party but then again, they did have a point that you only become an adult once. Also, kind of hard to get annoyed at people who were looking at me with such happy and hopeful expressions.

In the end, I just let out a sigh and shrug which was enough for the others to start the celebration. Even though it was still a rather small party it seemed like the party goer's enthusiasm more than made up for it.

Natsu and Gray seemed to be in full force as they ate and played some of the game's set up around the room along with Lisanna following them around and Happy just eating from a plate of fish. Elfman was showing off all the dishes he made to Mira who did seem genuinely impressed and proud of her little brother for all the amazing food he could make. Macao and Wakaba were talking to Mom about small news around town. Erza and Cana seemed to refuse to leave me alone throughout most of the party as they keep dragging me into whatever they were doing or talking about.

All in all, it wasn't so bad. Still would have preferred to just spend my time reading or gardening but if it made my family happy then it was worth it in my opinion. Eventually, after a few hours, the party winded down a bit and just as it seemed like people would leave Mom announced it was present time.

Macao gave me 10,000 jewels, Wakaba gave me a bottle of gin as 18 years of age was also the minimum age for drinking but judging by the look Mom was giving him, he would not be giving me alcohol anymore. The Strauss siblings collectively gave me a rather nice alchemy set for poison making.

Eventually, it came time for the collective gift from my siblings. Erza was the one to come up to me and with a flash of her Requip magic, she now had my saber in her hands. "We not only just got it reinforced but had an enchantment put on it!" She says rather excitedly.

I raised an eyebrow at that as I took the sheathed saber into my hands and pull the blade out. It had a shine to it that I hadn't seen for a good few years and a slight purple glow that showed the proof of an enchantment. I looked up at my younger sibling with a questioning gaze.

Cana stepped forward and stood proudly as she started to talk. "We got together and went through a long list of enchantments that we thought you could use and after a few hours we-" She got interrupted by an over-excited Natsu who burst forward and shouted "It's got an Enchantment of Loyalty! Cool right!"

And just like that the arguing between Cana and Natsu began as the former yelled at the latter for ruining her moment. Gray and Erza rather than support their siblings kept their attention on me obviously wanting to see my reaction.

I looked down at the saber. Now that the enchantment was mentioned I did notice that the blade seemed to cling to my hand. I could even feel a slight connection to the blade, and I knew that if I focused hard enough, I could probably sense the magic in the blade from a good distance away.

If I remember right an Enchantment of Loyalty could also make it where an item would teleport into the owner's hand with a simple thought. The enchantment was a useful one.

It was on my list of enchantments for my saber. I had never got around to getting my saber enchanted either due to lack of funds or something else. The enchantment was very expensive. Even if they split it four ways it would still be about 100,000 jewels each. About a thousand dollars each.

They really went all out for me.

I let a smile carve its way onto my face as I got up and walked towards my arguing siblings.

They ended the argument just as I got beside them and before they could say anything, I gave them both a head rub. "I love it." With my words, the two seem to forget about their arguing and promptly rushed forward to give me a hug which also cause Gray and Erza to join in as well.

I just let out a little chuckle as I look down at them. They really had wormed their way into my heart.

The guild was in full swing as members partied. Why were they partying? Well, it's because someone just passed this year's S-class trial. To be more specific it was the red-headed 15-year-old sitting to my right.

Erza had worked insanely hard to get as strong as she is now, and all that work had finally gained her the coveted ranking of S. From the smile on her face she was very happy about it. Cana was like usual beside her as the two celebrated the Requip mage's class up. I had noticed that Cana had a bit of sad look in her eyes but considering she had also been in the S-class trials but failed it was reasonable for her to be a little saddened.

Natsu, Gray, Happy and Lisanna were off to the side playing board game I had never heard of. Natsu didn't get selected for the trials much to the pink head's anger but Gray, Happy and Lisanna had calmed him down. Now he was just happy that his older sister had been able to pass them.

"So, what was the third test? I failed the second thanks to some bad luck and ended up fighting Laxus." Apparently the second test includes choosing a random path just like in the show if I remember it right. Erza just shook her head at Cana's question. "Can't tell you. Guild Master's orders."

Cana deflated a bit at Erza's words before letting out a sigh and shrugging her shoulders. "Oh well. Hope I get better luck next time. Hey, talking about luck I'm going over to that poker game in the corner. Wish me luck!" and just like that, she was off to either steal all of their money or loss all of her's. There was no middle ground when it came to Cana.

Me and Erza sat in silence as the celebration went on all around us. Eventually, I spoke up "So how does it feel to be considered one of the best mages here?" Erza seems to shyly fidget under my words before speaking up. "I'm not sure really. I mean I just got to S-class."

I shrug and take a sip of my apple juice "Fair enough." We sat in silence for a bit more before Erza decides to break it this time. "Do…. Do you think Cana hates me?" I pause for a second at her words before shifting my gaze and gave her a questioning look.

"It's just…. She really wanted to pass the trials, but she didn't, and I did. I notice she was a bit off while talking to her." Oh, she had notice Cana's sadness. I let out a sigh and proceed to rub Erza's head a little much to her happiness. Natsu and Gray didn't care much for head rubs while Cana and Erza seemed to love them with the only difference being that Cana is always trying to get me to give her one while Erza is just content to let me do them of my own accord. Should really see about stopping them soon, it was getting a bit weird now that they were starting to look like grown-ups.

"I'm sure she's a bit upset but she would never hold it against you. The best sister she could ever ask for. Besides this is Cana were talking about give it an hour or two and she'll either be sad about losing all her money or happy about leaving some innocent guild members moneyless."

Erza seemed to calm down at my words as she looked towards the table with Cana with a smile on her face before turning back to me. "And you're the best brother I could ever ask for. Love you, Bish."

"Love you too little sis." Still felt weird saying that but I was slowly getting used to saying the L-word.

And yet again I found myself at another party. Another one that the guild was throwing, this one for the going away of Gildarts as he went on his 100 years quest. Oh, right ya Gildarts was a thing. I never really interacted with him and only ever talked to him through Natsu who a big fan of the guy was.

The guild as throwing a big party for him before he left on the big quest. Natsu and Gray appeared to be chattering with the powerful mage. Erza was in competition with Mira and Cana was sitting down at the table with me instead of cheering her little sister on.

I couldn't help the side looks I was giving the Card mage as she just sat there looking a bit depressed. I didn't know why she was depressed, and it annoyed me since I feel like I should know. My memory of the series was nearly gone, and the only thing left was a few major plot points I had written down and stored in my hammerspace.

In the end, I just let out a sigh as I scratch my soul patch on my chin. Oh, right I had facial hair now. I haven't grown any in my previous life but apparently my new life felt I should have some. I really wasn't sure what to do with it and for the longest time I just shaved it all off but recently I decided to experiment with it and see if there was a style I liked. In the end, I just went with a simple soul patch on my chin.

"Friends I have something I want to say!" The shout came from the center of the guild, more precisely it came from a drunken Gildarts who was now standing on a table. "I might be leaving but I will be back! I don't care if this is a 100 or even 1,000 years quest! Give me a few years and I'll be back to get drunk with you all again!"

And with those words, he downed another mug of beer as the guild cheered him on. I just roll my eyes as I sip from my own nonalcoholic drink. I once again give Cana a side look and find her laying on the table with her head lying on her arms as she stares at Gildarts with a very depressed face. I look back between Gildarts and Cana as I try to remember what relationship they had in the show.

Suddenly it hits me. He's her biological dad. Fuck.

Ya now I remember. She never quite got the courage to reveal that to him and if I remember correctly, she told herself she would tell him when she became an S-class mage. Kind of helped explain why she seemed more sad than usual after failing the S-class trials.

Great now what do I do. I can't really talk to her about it since I'm not supposed to know. But I couldn't just let her wallow in misery, could I?

In the end, I just slide the chair closer to her and decided to try the tired old method of the head rub. She was startled a bit by the head rub but quickly started to relax as I rubbed her hair. She did give me a look, probably waiting for me to ask what was wrong.

In the end, I didn't say anything. If she wanted to tell me then she would tell me. I wasn't going to force her. But I was going to be here for her. That's what older brothers do after all.

AN: Starting to feel partied out right now. Fun fact each section of this chapter takes place in a different year. The first section is late x778, the second is x779, the third is x780 and the last one is early x781. Kinda feels like a waste to me for just skipping so much time but nothing really happen in those years besides Erza becoming S-class. Besides I need to start speeding up to the beginning of the show.

Thanks once again to volfwildman for being a Beta. An extra thank you to zubhanwc3 for his review and messages and as well as the rest of you for leaving a review.

...What?...Why are you reading this shoo...Are you expecting a joke/skit about reviewing? Sorry dude there's not one this week...It's hard coming up with a new one every week alright!... Fine here's something then. Leave a review...Oh, what I got to put in a joke don't I...What's with that Airplane food! Am I right?... Fuck this I got some Chinese food with my name on it.

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