Practice Makes Perfect

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

September 2, x786.

The next day, Alfonzo woke up in his bed. Unsurprisingly, however, he was not alone. Instead, Elicia was lying in bed with him. And she had her arms wrapped around his torso with a content smile on her face.

"I can't believe it." Alfonzo muttered as he began combing his fingers through Elicia's hair, causing her to smile even brighter as she tightened her hug. "She actually did it."

["Yeah, I wasn't expecting her to ask for that for another year, at the very least."] Bedlam added.

["She's been waiting for decades for this."] Riot said disdainfully. ["I don't know why you two are having such a hard time believing it."]

"*Sigh* I know you're right, Riot." Alfonzo replied. "I just didn't see it coming."

===Flashback===

September 1, x786.

After the celebration meal was finished, Alfonzo invited all the guests to spend some time relaxing at his mansion. And he made sure to open up all the entertainment facilities to facilitate this relaxation.

While the guys, Alfonzo, Jet, Droy, Gray, Natsu, Elfman, Gajeel, and Edward went to the basketball court to play a game of four on four, Alphonse, Juvia, and Irene came along to watch the game. Elicia, on the other hand, had another viewing of her and Alfonzo's wedding for those who had not seen it yet.

Meanwhile, a group of the other ladies, Cana, Laki, Levy, Erza, Mirajane, Lisanna, Lucy, Tsunade, and Brandish spent their time at the grotto swimming and sunbathing.

Retsu, on the other hand, wanted to take her new motorcycle, which was painted black and white, for a spin. And Ultear, who also had a motorcycle built for herself decided to go with her. Even Winry, who Alfonzo built a motorcycle for, as well, decided to go with them, too. All three women also had additional passengers, with Lucy riding with Retsu, Marin riding with Ultear, and Sun riding with Winry. Like that, the six women spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening just joyriding between Magnolia and Hargeon.

The other guests, namely Gildarts, Ur, Wendy, and Carla returned to Ur's mansion shortly after the meal ended. Wendy and Carla had just got back from a quest and were exhausted, after all. Gildarts and Ur, on the other hand, just wanted to spend some alone time together.

Then, when everyone was ready to go to sleep, everyone, other than the residents of the mansion returned to their own places. At the same time, all the ladies living in the mansion, except for Elicia, decided they would go to bed early, and without spending the night with Alfonzo because they had all decided to take quests the next day.

With the other seven ladies having something to do the next day, Elicia made her way to Alfonzo's bedroom with a smile on her face. However, unlike her usual cheerful smile, this one had hints of nervousness mixed in as well.

*Knock!* *Knock!*

"Hey, Fonzie, are you still awake?" Elicia asked, her nervousness seeping into her tone, as well.

"Yeah, I just got out the shower." Alfonzo replied from the other side of his door. "The doors open, come on in, Lici."

Accepting Alfonzo's invitation, Elicia gripped the doorknob. Then, after taking a deep breath, she twisted it before pushing the door open.

When she entered the room, Elicia saw Alfonzo sitting on his bed while wearing a pair of white shorts and drying his hair. So, she quickly moved to the bed, as well. Then, she climbed onto it and positioned herself behind Alfonzo before taking the towel and helping him dry his hair.

"Thanks, Lici." Alfonzo said with a smile.

"Don't mention it." Elicia replied.

"So, what's up?" Alfonzo asked skeptically. "You sounded kinda nervous when you knocked on the door. Do I need to withhold any meals for what you're about to tell me?"

Rolling her eyes, Elicia started drying Alfonzo's hair more vigorously. Though, his little joke did help dispel some of her nerves.

"No, of course not." Elicia replied in a huff. "I'm not always doing bad things, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "But I thought that would help break the ice."

Once again rolling her eyes, Elicia decided to just focus on drying Alfonzo's hair.

About ten minutes later, Alfonzo's hair was as dry as it was going to be with just using a towel to dry it. So, he took the towel for Elicia as he turned to make eye contact with er.

Elicia, on the other hand, now that there was nothing to divert her mind onto, felt herself getting more nervous. However, she decided she would put an end to that before her nerves could get too out of control.

"So, Lici, what's up?" Alfonzo asked casually.

"I wanna have a baby!" Elicia said, blurting out her thoughts without giving herself too much time to over think it.

["You know, that was the first time I ever felt that speaking without thinking was a good idea."] Scylla replied.

'Not now, Scylla.' Elicia replied internally.

Naturally, Alfonzo was taken aback by Elicia's exclamation. However, he was not against it… not in the slightest. Instead, he had been waiting for Elicia to bring it up. Especially since he had already told her that he would wait until she was ready.

As a matter of fact, the only reason Elicia did not ask for a baby on their wedding night was simple. She knew he would be spending most of x786 away from home. Although she also knew he would be spending the majority of x787 away from home, as well, she decided she would accompany him for the entire duration, if it was allowed.

"Are you sure?" Alfonzo asked, knowing that he would be away from home a lot for the next few years due to the job at the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Yes." Elicia nodded resolutely. "I've wanted this for a long time. But I knew it wasn't the right time yet. But this feels right. So, I'm ready."

"AS long as you're sure." Alfonzo said as he wrapped his arms around his wife. And even if I have to, I'll drag out the job in the Village Hidden in the Leaves to stay with you for as long as I can."

"Well, if they won't let anyone come with you, that's a good plan." Elicia replied as she, too, wrapped her arms around her husband. "But if they allow it, I'll be with you the whole time. And with Marin's dad as the CEO of Sixth Sense Holdings, I won't have to worry about the Taylor Shop. The only thing I'll have to worry about is making the designs for each season."

"Speaking of Marin's dad…" Alfonzo muttered. "How is Lucy's dad?"

"Oh, him?" Elicia said with obvious distaste in her tone. "He's just as arrogant as ever. But he's still alive."

"That's good to hear, but why do you sound like that?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"It's because of what happened when Lucy and I saw him." Elicia replied.

Elicia then went on to tell Alfonzo about the quest she and Lucy took in Acalypha back in February. While they were in the town, they decided to go visit Jude Heartfilia, to see if he was able to pick himself up after everything that happened back in x784.

However, when they arrived at where Jude should have been working, they arrived just in time to see a Dark Guild attacking the merchant guild, Love & Lucky. Naturally, the two young women stopped the attack and captured the dark wizards. However, when they went to check on Jude, they found him working as a low-level employee of the guild. And when they went to speak to him, he once again demanded that Lucy give him the money to restart his business.

"So, Lucy, angered by her father's attitude, cut all ties with him right then and there." Elicia said, concluding her story.

Hearing that, Alfonzo was surprised. In the canon, Jude had regretted the way he treated Lucy. And before he was killed in that raid, he had left a letter for her to tell her how sorry he was. In this timeline, however, he held onto his resentment. On the bright side, however, he was still alive.

"That sucks." Alfonzo muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"And the worst part is that he still blames me for losing is company." Elicia said angrily. "He says it's my fault because I wouldn't sell the Taylor Shop to him."

Instead of replying verbally, Alfonzo pulled Elicia into a kiss. Then, he started combing his fingers through her hair as he broke the kiss.

"Let's not think about something so negative." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Instead, let's start working. We've got some effort to put in if we're gonna have this baby, right?"

With that, Alfonzo rolled over, pinning Elicia under him with his eyes filled with love. Then, they spent the next few hours practicing how to make a baby, without the anti-pregnancy sigil, this time. And if they were lucky, their practice would bear fruit.

===Flashback End===

"*Sigh* Never expected to hear that story before it happened, though." Alfonzo muttered as he continued to comb his fingers through Elicia's hair. "The worst part is that I was thinking about hiring him if he got his shit together."

["Well, it is what it is."] Bedlam replied with a shrug. ["Since he hasn't truly lost everything in this timeline, I guess Jude never felt it necessary to change."]

"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Alfonzo said as he shook his head.

["Fuck that guy!"] Riot shouted angrily. ["We should take a trip to Acalypha and kick his ass. How dare he blame Lici for all his problems!"

Smiling wryly at his more hot tempered [Armament Spirit], Alfonzo gently separated himself from Elicia. Then, he leaned down to whisper into her ear.

"Hey, Lici, I'm gonna get up and make breakfast." Alfonzo said in a loving tone. "And after breakfast, I'm gonna train at the guild. I wanna see how much everyone has improved while I was gone for the last couple of months. So, got any requests?"

"Pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream." Elicia replied groggily without opening her eyes.

"I saw that coming." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Anyway, are you gonna come and take a shower with me or will you do it after breakfast?"

"After…" Elicia replied as she drifted back to sleep.

Shrugging his shoulders, Alfonzo kissed Elicia on the cheek. Then, he climbed out of bed and started getting ready for the day. Meanwhile, Elicia smiled sweetly without opening her eyes as she rubbed her stomach.

About an hour and a half later, Alfonzo and the girls entered the guild hall. And when they did, there was a brawl going on, which did not surprise any of them. However, the brawl abruptly came to a stop when Natsu noticed Alfonzo enter the building.

"Alfonzo! Fight mee!" Natsu shouted as he jumped away from Macao, who he had been throwing a punch at a moment ago.

"Damn it, feeding him didn't make him forget." Alfonzo muttered.

Naturally, as the eight ladies were so close, they heard his muttering. Because of that, they all looked at him with incredulous expressions.

"Are you telling me that you did all that cooking for that celebration party just so that you wouldn't have to fight Natsu?" Cana asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "I mean, he never has anything new to show me. So, fighting him almost daily for the last nine years has gotten old, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Sun replied with a nod. "Fighting Natsu is only fun if you haven't fought him in a while."

"Yeah, but it's been two months for Fonzie." Marin pointed out. "It can't be that bad, right?"

"Unless he has something new to show me, it will be the same." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.

Meanwhile, as Alfonzo chatted with the ladies, Natsu finally reached him. However, like the day before, he did not attack Alfonzo without waiting for a response. Instead, his eyes were shining brightly. On top of that, he was wearing his [Soul Armament], which had changed in appearance since the last time Alfonzo saw it.

Seeing the new look of Natsu's gauntlets, Alfonzo smiled brightly.

"Sure." Alfonzo said, finally replying to Natsu's challenge.