Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Keith had sent a message asking if it was ok if he brought a couple of guests with him the next time he was on Earth, Lance was intrigued, and maybe a little worried. So, understandably, when he’d replied to agree- because it was Keith, who never asked for anything- he had casually asked if the guests were anyone he knew. He’d been stewing on the answer ever since.

‘No. It’s complicated. I need to explain in person.’

Seriously- what the heck did that mean? Complicated was never a good thing when someone was talking about other people. Especially not when the person saying it was Keith- one of the bluntest and ‘to the point’ people Lance had ever known.

Eventually he came to the begrudging conclusion that either the guests were Blade members that needed to stay close to Keith for some reason, or… and this possibility filled his guts with a churning storm of bad that he didn’t even want to question… Keith had somehow managed to get involved with someone (or someones, plural) seriously enough that he wanted to introduce them to his old teammates.

It was messing with his head. It had been almost a year since the last time he’d seen Keith. That was plenty of time to get really serious with someone. Sure, Keith hadn’t mentioned that he was dating anyone, but, it’s not like the guy was known for his sharing and communication skills. Brave, smart, capable, and noble he was. A talker? Not so much.

So, now he was standing in a fallow field near the farmhouse to greet Keith when he landed a ship Lance had never laid eyes on before. It was bigger than a Galran or Altean shuttle, but not massive by any means. It actually kind of reminded him of a turtle, with its high, domed roof, the protruding cockpit at the front, and the four stabilizers poking out at each corner as it settled smoothly onto the ground. Lance suspected that this thing wasn’t exactly the fastest or most maneuverable spacecraft, but it was weirdly cute.

It powered down and within a few minutes a hatch opened in the side and  he spotted Keith. “Hey,” he called, but Keith was already disappearing back into the ship. Weird. He could hear voices and some clunking, but he couldn’t make out what was happening. “Keith?” he called again, moving around to the hatch, “do you need help with something?”

“Hang on!” he called back. There was some rustling and Keith’s voice was definitely closer when he spoke again, although it was clear he wasn’t talking to Lance this time. “Just stay put. For like five doboshes. Yes. Exactly. Okay? Well then, yeah.”

“Sorry,” Keith said a minute later, hopping out of the ship with a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder. “I just wanted to give you a heads up about the… uh... guests I mentioned… Like I said, it’s complicated and I don’t have a heckuva lot of time at the moment, so quick and dirty for now, details later. Yeah? - Alright. So I was with some of the Blades and we were clearing out this old Druid installation… and I was on my own and hit a dead end- big locked doors. My Galran still isn’t that great, but you know… they have those helpful handprint interfaces, so I just hit the panel and waited for the doors to open. Except… they didn’t, so I hit the thing again and-”

He was interrupted by a shrill noise that sounded remarkably like a-

“IT WASN’T ME! NOT MY FAULT! I DIDN’T DO NUFFIN!”

Keith sighed, looking over his shoulder, “ALRIGHT, FINE!”

More rustling came from inside the ship, this time accompanied by muttering, the voice was higher pitched than any of the Blades that Lance had met, so it was probably someone new. It was almost drowned out by that shrill wail which was now identifiable.

“Keith? Is that a-”

A hovering, roughly egg-shaped thing appeared, and Keith reached in, pulling out a small, very irate, dark-haired baby. Before he had time to process that, another dark head poked out of the hatch, “I didn’t do nuffin… promise.”

“I believe you, bud,” Keith said gently, tucking the baby up against his shoulder and holding out his free hand, “come on out. It’s okay. Come meet Lance.”

“Lance?” the little voice perked up, “like, Lance from your stories? That Lance?”

“The one and only,” Lance said, finally recovering from what he was seeing. Kids. Keith’s guests were children. “And I cannot wait to find out what stories you’ve been telling about me, Mullet.”

The child grabbed Keith’s hand and rushed to his side, practically hiding behind his leg. “Sorry, he’s kind of shy,” Keith chuckled.

“Am not,” protested the little boy, “Kolivan said: proh-seed wiff caution and may-tay cover in new vi-roh-mints.”

‘Shy’ mouthed Keith in a move so much like Shiro that Lance nearly did a double take.

“Kolivan usually has the right idea,” Lance said evenly, his face plastered with a huge smile. His mood was suddenly so much better than it had been when he’d come out here. Also- who would have thought that Keith of all people would be good with kids? But, he was. The baby had settled almost the instant Keith had picked it up, and this little boy obviously felt safe with him. “But my family’s farm is pretty safe and boring as long as you don’t make one of the animals angry.”

“Austin,” Keith prodded, “this is my friend, Lance. You wanna abandon your cover long enough to shake his hand?”

“Austin?” That was a decidedly human name… but then, now that he thought about it, the little boy seemed pretty human. He hadn’t gotten a great look at his face though, and that mop of hair completely covered his ears, so he could be Puigian, or Altean.

Keith nodded, smiling brightly, and the little one crept out from behind him, sticking out one pudgey hand. Lance closed the distance between them and got down on one knee so he’d be on the kid’s level, taking his hand and shaking it. “It’s very nice to meet you, Austin. You can call me Lance… or Best Red Paladin Ever… I’ll answer to that, too.”

“Ego,” muttered Keith and Lance could actually hear the eyeroll.

“Are not!” insisted Austin, who finally tipped his face up to make eye contact, and holy crap! Lance’s eyes flew from Austin’s face to Keith’s and back again. There was no mistaking those eyes, or that angry little pout. His brain made the connection a nanosecond before he heard Austin’s stubborn declaration, “Daddy’s the best!”

“Uhhh... okay… sure…” he answered, still gaping at the kid. He was seriously like a tiny Keith. How had he not spotted that right away? It was unnerving.

Keith laughed, “you know that counts as agreeing that I hold the title of Best Red Paladin Ever, right?”

“Yeah, well… uh… he’s a kid,” Lance sputtered.

“You wanna meet Gaia?” Austin said suddenly.

“Well, that depends- is Gaia the baby?” Lance asked, acting playfully suspicious.

The little boy rolled his eyes and it was ridiculously adorable. Like, take how annoying Keith’s eyerolls were, then triple that, and convert it to cuteness. That’s how adorable it was. “Um… yeah?”

“Is Gaia as cool as you ?” he asked, looking skeptical.

Austin paused at that, visibly pondering,  “well, she doesn’t do much ‘cept cry an’poop… but she’s cute.”

It was really hard not to laugh at that, or at the affronted look on Keith’s face as he scolded the little boy. “Austin! She’s just a baby- that’s all any baby can do.”

“She sounds kinda boring,” Lance whispered conspiratorially, determined to win over this kid, no matter what it took. “I bet she can’t even play pirates,” he snorted, “pffft.”

“She can’t ,” Austin said, as if it was the biggest revelation of his life, “she can’t play nuffin ‘cept peek-a-boo.”

“Bor-ring!”

“This was a mistake,” muttered Keith. “I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming.”

“I guess I should probably meet the baby, though, huh?” Lance sighed, “I don’t want to be rude, and I bet your Daddy loves her a lot, right?”

Another eyeroll- Lance was seriously weak for this kid’s eyerolls, they were too cute- and a wry little quirk of his lip, followed by a resigned sigh, “yeah. He does. C’mon…”

Austin grabbed him, the little pudgy hand wrapping around two of his fingers and leading him over to Keith and the baby. “Thaz’Gaia,” he said, pride starting to leak into his voice, “my sister. You wanna hold her?”

He looked to Keith questioningly- he had no idea what this baby was like with new people, and he suspected that Keith would be a pretty overprotective parent. It was weird how quickly he was adjusting to this whole ‘Keith and kids’ thing, wasn’t it? He was pretty sure he should still be more freaked out.

“You can hold her,” Keith chuckled, shifting his weight so Lance could lift the baby.

He settled her into the crook of his arm with the practiced ease of a doting uncle and fiddled with the blanket until she was cozy and the corner of the trim wasn’t falling into her face. She looked to be about six months old and she was chewing on her fist. Dark, full eyebrows were drawn together over eyes that were screwed tight and a dainty little button nose. Her black hair stood up in a wispy mohawk that felt like a kitten’s fur when he brushed a thumb over the top of her head. 

Oh, she was sweet. 

She had that irresistible ‘milk and baby powder’ smell that always made him think of Niamh, Nadia and Sylvio. “Well, hello, Gaia,” he cooed softly. At the sound of his voice, she relaxed her face, blinking up at him. He shifted so the sun wasn’t in her eyes and she yawned so big she made that little squeak that babies do. These kids were stealing his heart in little chunks! Her fist found its way back to her mouth and she opened her eyes properly, watching him. “Oh. Oh wow… look at you…” He was a goner. She had huge , serious eyes, and the irises were purple. Not purply-grey like Keith’s and Austin’s but a true violet color, and they were ringed by thick, curling lashes. 

“Told’ja,” Austin said, his voice so resigned and long-suffering it made both the adults laugh.

“I’d still rather play pirates with you,” Lance said seriously, “but she is a beauty, that’s for sure. Those eyes!”

“Think you can carry her to the house?” Keith asked, “so I can focus on Austin and her carrier?”

“Yeah- absolutely I can carry this little Princess! Can’t I, Gaia? Yes I can! We’re gonna be fine on our walk, huh? Yes, we are!”

“I can’t wait to see your place,” Keith said as they started walking. The last time Keith had been here, the old stone barn that Lance was converting into a separate residence for him on his family land hadn’t been ready to live in. It had pretty much been a disaster, actually. Stripped down to the bones and ready to be rebuilt. Since then, the work had been completed, and Lance had been living there full time for several months.

“It’s still pretty basic,” Lance warned him, “I’m taking my time with the personal touches because I want all my stuff to mean something, so I’m not like buying a vase just because I need something to go on that shelf, you know? But I’ve got plenty of space for you guys- and the lack of knick knacks will make it easier to kid-proof the place for your visit.”

Keith looked chagrined, “I… uh… probably should have told you that needed to be done, huh? Sorry. I’m… still getting used to this.”

Lance waved him off, “don’t worry about it. I’ll put up anything that is breakable and get Luis and Lisa to send up some of the toys that their kids have kicking around. I’m guessing Gaia is not really able to get into stuff, so it is mostly keeping Austin occupied, right?”

“She can sit up on her own, and she does this butt-scoot thing sometimes, but she doesn’t get very far with it. They’re both pretty chill, actually,” Keith glanced over at Austin who was very industriously pushing the floating carrier, stopping every so often to huff dramatically and wipe his forehead. Keith chuckled and shook his head, leaning over to whisper to Lance, “that is a zero friction, low inertia carrier- he acts like he’s plowing a field or something.”

Lance smiled, “that’s adorable. I wonder what he is pretending to be doing.”

“I’m sure he’ll tell us all about it when we get to the house. He loves talking about his ‘ventures’.”

“My folks were talking about having everyone over tonight for dinner- I’ll tell them to dial it back. I don’t want to overwhelm him, since he’s shy.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. So far, he warms up to people pretty quickly, but he’s never really had to deal with a crowd before… and most of the people he knows are Blades.”

“So, a bunch of humans would be really, really different for him- got it. I can cook, if you like. Then maybe a couple of my siblings could drop by after the thing at my folks place? Instead of us going over there, I mean.”

“Let’s see how he does with your place and then make that decision.” Keith peeked over his shoulder at the baby, “she likes you.”

“Uh, yeah! Of course she does. The ladies love Lancey Lance,” he answered, waggling his eyebrows playfully at the baby. “You love me, don’t you Gaia? Yes, you do. You do! See? She loves me.”

“You’re still cool with us staying for a while, right?” Keith sounded unsure, “I’m starting to realise just how much of an imposition we could be now…”

“Keith, dude. My house is your house. My house is Pidge’s house. My house is Hunk’s house- you picking up what I’m putting down? The Voltron family is my family , you will always have a home with me. Plus, I love kids, so these guys are a bonus, not a hardship. Got it?”

He laughed, his relief visible, “got it. Thanks, Lance.”

He waved off the thanks, he’d meant what he’d said about the kids being a bonus. Gaia squirmed in his arms and he shifted her from a cradle hold to his shoulder, the way Keith had been holding her, and she settled down, her little fingers fiddling with his hair and ears as they walked. 

“No Kosmo this visit?”

“He’s too valuable on missions- saved more than a few lives when we’ve had to retreat. Since I’ll be more than a day or two, he stayed with Mom and Kolivan. He’ll probably appreciate the break from affectionate little fingers pulling at his fur, too.”

“Well, I’m not going to complain about missing your space wolf after a whole year if he’s out in the universe saving lives…"

Keith rolled his eyes, “I’m sure he misses the guy that sneaks him entire steaks, too Lance.”

“Good. He’d better.”

It wasn’t long before Austin came running over, still pushing the empty carrier ahead of him. “Daddy! Dad! Dad! Dad! Look!” he gushed, pointing over the low crest of the hill, “that house is made of rocks ! Look! Look! Piles of rocks! It’s soooo coool!”

“Lots of houses are made from stone,” Lance said, mildly confused.

“Not Galran houses,” chuckled Keith, “he’s really only ever seen ships, bases, and a couple of Blade outposts. We haven’t actually spent much time on the surface of ANY planet.” He scooped Austin up into his arms, “that’s Lance’s house, bud. That’s where we are going to be sleeping tonight.”

“Your house is made of rocks !” Austin announced excitedly, like Lance had not been aware of that. “Lots and lots of rocks!”

“I know!” he answered enthusiastically, “soooo cool, right?”

Austin nodded, “yeah. Soooo cool!”

“Hey Keith, my house is soooo cool,” Lance said, grinning.

“Because it is made of piles of rocks, I know!” He tickled Austin’s ribs, making the little boy squeal with laughter and squirm helplessly. Lance couldn’t help but smile at them- he couldn’t remember ever seeing Keith so happy, and Austin was an absolute treasure. Gaia apparently thought that they were just as amazing because she made the first sound Lance had heard from her since Keith had pulled her out of her carrier- a high-pitched shriek of laughter that dissolved into bubbly giggles and delighted clapping. Oh man, she got cuter ? How was that possible? These kids were the best!

The laughter continued until they reached the doorstep, by which point, the tickling had been replaced by Keith flipping Austin upside-down and carrying him by the ankles for a few minutes at a time. Gaia had discovered Lance’s Altean marks (he suspected that they’d started to glow as they walked) and kept trying to grab them off of his face. Other than a couple of minor scratches and one baby-thumb to the eye it was mostly endearing. Especially when she’d lean in close, her little mouth pursed and brows furrowed in curious confusion. “You realize that once my mother meets these guys she’s claiming them as grandkids, right?” Lance laughed, elbowing Keith lightly.

“As long as she doesn’t try to out ‘grandmother’ Krolia,” Keith replied, setting Austin down, “I suspect that competition could get pretty intense.”

“Hard to picture Krolia as the grandmotherly type,” he answered.

“Well, she’s a Blade of Marmora grandmother, so probably not what you are expecting.”

“Oh god, did she give these babies knives, Keith?”

“M’not a baby ,” Austin said suddenly, “m’ big !”

“Okay, big kid Austin, did Krolia give you a knife?” Lance asked him.

“Noooo,” Austin looked at him like he was nuts, “she jus’helps me fight!” He hopped around, flailing his little fists and kicking at nothing, his whole face twisted into a mask of concentration. Mental note, get some video of Austin’s ‘fighting’ before they left. 

Keith smiled proudly and shook his head, “bud- look at your fists and tell me what’s wrong.”

Austin stopped, holding his clenched fists in front of him and studying them, “ohhhhhh! My fumbs! Fix’em, Daddy!”

Keith crouched and gently guided Austin’s fingers into position with his thumbs outside the curled fingers. “There you go… now, be careful of your stance and try again.”

The next bout of ‘punching’ and ‘kicking’ didn’t look much different to Lance but Keith gave Austin a serious nod and a thumbs up before reaching for the baby. “Okay, munchkin, come to me so Lance can unlock the door and let us in.”

“Aww,” he sighed, relinquishing the little girl, “I could have just given you the keys.”

“I know,” Keith answered, “but I don’t want her getting overwhelmed either. She’s a pretty happy baby, but when she has had too much, she’s a nightmare to calm down.”

“Kind of intense, huh?” teased Lance, “I wonder where she gets that…”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Sharpshooter.”

“Oh man, no one has called me that in years ,” Lance mused, opening the door, “alright guys, welcome to my home. Austin, if you see something you think is cool, just ask me okay? I don’t want you getting hurt by accident.”

“Kay,” Austin said easily, walking past Lance like he owned the place.

‘Watch him,’ Keith mouthed, pointing two fingers at his own eyes for emphasis. “Shoes off at the door. Earth rules.”

Lance shot him an expression that clearly conveyed ‘you think I’m an idiot? I know kids!’ without actually saying anything. It was nice to know he and Keith could still do the whole ‘no talking on stealth missions’ thing, even after all these years.

They all peeled out of their footwear, and Austin made a break for it the second he was able to, racing around the living room and into the kitchen commenting on each and every thing that caught his attention.

“So, the bedrooms are upstairs,” Lance said cheerfully, gesturing to the stairwell, “and so is the big bathroom. This is the living room, kitchen is through there, office is under the stairs, as is the half-bath, and there is a veranda through the kitchen. Pretty simple.”

There was a bang from the kitchen, and Keith sighed, “Austin? What was that?”

“These doors are weird ,” Austin called back, “they smell funny!”

“We should… check on that…”

“They’re just normal doors,” muttered Lance, heading to the kitchen. Austin was chewing on the corner of one of his cupboard doors, “woah, bud! You aren’t a beaver!”

“They taste funny, too,” Austin chimed in helpfully, “whazza beaver?”

“A beaver is an earth animal that eats trees, bud,” Keith explained, tugging him away from the door, “don’t chew on doors. That’s a new rule, got it? No chewing on doors. Any doors.” Lance fought the urge to snicker, especially when Keith looked at him over Austin’s head, his expression obviously ‘can you believe I just had to make that a rule?!?!’.

“Don’t look like trees…”

“They are mahogany,” Lance explained, “mahogany is a kind of tree, Austin. They cut them down, and sliced them up and then they made my cupboard doors out of them. The uhhh… doors, and the stairs, and the veranda- they are all made of wood.”

“Daddy? This house is weird! It’s made of trees and rocks!”

“That’s what most houses on Earth are made out of, buddy. That’s just how it works here.”

“You’ll figure it out. We had the hardest time getting used to living in space at first. How about… you pick out which bedroom you want and then I get you a snack?” Lance suggested, “and then maybe we can go outside and play pirates for a bit. Sound good?”

“Yeah!”

“Alright! Did you know I give the best piggyback rides? Ask your Daddy, he knows! This one time, he hurt his foot and I had to piggyback him all the way to his Lion!”

“Really, Lance? The Gadbupor mission?!?!”

“Can you think of any better missions that involve my awesome piggyback rides to tell this little guy?” Lance countered, just daring Keith to suggest something.

Keith paled, “nope. That’s definitely the best example. Lance is right, bud, he is good at giving piggyback rides.”

“Better than Kolivan?” Austin asked skeptically.

“You’re going to have to tell me that. I’ve never gotten a piggyback ride from Kolivan.”

Lance crouched and Austin clambered up onto his back, clinging happily. “Okay! Go!” the little boy cheered, so he did. He led Keith upstairs and gave them a basic tour, then insisted that the best way to choose a guest room was to jump on the mattress, earning him a glare from Keith, but the sheer glee that Austin pumped out as he bounced on the beds was well worth it. 

Eventually, Austin chose the room next to the bathroom, the one with the soft blue walls and the navy and red quilt, that overlooked the juniberry fields. Keith dropped the duffle bag onto the bed with a sigh. Lance had actually forgotten he was still lugging that thing. “The dressers in all the guest rooms are empty,” Lance said, “feel free to unpack and make use of them, Keith. It’ll be easier than trying to dig out clothes for three people from one bag.”

“That’s a good idea. I can do that while Gaia naps a little later, though.”

“Fair enough,” he replied, “alright, Austin. I believe I promised you a snack, right?”

The rest of the day was a complete whirlwind. Lance had called his parents while Austin had discovered the joy of fresh, ripe mangoes and filled him in as best he could about the situation, bowing out of the big family get together. His mother had offered to send food up to them, but he’d declined. He was perfectly capable of making a meal for his guests. Then, after pretty much having to hose the sticky fruit juice off of Austin and changing him into an entirely new outfit, he’d taken the little boy outside while Keith put Gaia down for a nap and unpacked. 

Since Austin was reportedly shy and had only just met Lance, they’d stayed close to the house (and therefore Keith). Lance declared that the veranda was the pirate ship, Austin was the Captain, and they were questing for treasure in the garden. Lance had fashioned hats out of Christmas wrapping paper for them to wear, and they’d found a couple of sticks to use as swords. Eventually, Lance pretended to mutiny and a daring sword fight ensued, with Austin obviously winning. Lance staggered around the veranda for several minutes, really dragging out his over the top death scene until Austin didn’t know whether to crow triumphantly or laugh at his antics. Finally, he fell backwards onto the grass clutching the ‘sword’ (stick) in his ‘chest’ (tucked against his ribs by his arm), with one final gasp and letting his tongue loll out to one side. 

He’d rolled his ankle and knocked his head against a rock, but it was so worth it to see Austin lose his mind over the victory. The kid raced around and squealed and punched the air and jumped up and down from sheer excitement. It was quite possibly the most loveable thing Lance had ever seen aside from Sylvio, Nadia and Marco’s daughter Niamh. He was just such a happy little guy. “Okay, Captain,” Lance said at last, “we need to get started on dinner. Do you have a favorite food? And don’t say mangoes!”

He clapped his mouth shut so fast, Lance heard his teeth click together. Yup- he’d been about to say mangoes. Nailed it. His little brow furrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest exactly the same way that Keith did- it was precious. “Uuuuuuummmm,” he drawled, “I like rypirk rolls, and czanti noodles? Oh! The flat, round, bread thing that Daddy makes sometimes- peep’saws!”

“Do you mean ‘pizza’?”

“Yeah… that’s what I said. Peep’saws.” He rolled his eyes again and Lance had to stifle a laugh.

“Well, pizza is an Earth food and I have everything we need to make one. Sound good?”

“Really?” his purple-grey eyes got huge and lit up with excitement.

“Yes, really,” he laughed, “I’m going to let you in on a little secret, bud. By the time you guys leave, I’m gonna be your favorite Paladin… other than your Daddy… because I am awesome.”

“Yeah!” Austin nodded enthusiastically, “you are awesome!”

“You know it- hey has your Daddy taught you fistbumps yet?” He could tell just from Austin’s face that he hadn’t so Lance took a few minutes to show the kid how- including the explosion.

After that, the whole evening became a blur. Austin was an enthusiastic ‘helper’ who managed to make slightly less of a mess than Lance expected, but still needed a full bath after getting pizza sauce all through his hair. He was already in pjs and fighting with his father about whether his hair ‘needed’ to be brushed or not by the time Veronica and Rachel stopped by with tamales for the next day’s lunch and a basket of toys and clothes that Luis’ kids had outgrown.

Rachel wouldn’t stop melting over Gaia, who was endlessly amused by Rachel’s peek-a-boo skills. Veronica spent the time catching up with Keith, and while Austin quietly people watched, tucked up close to Keith, Lance was able to gently comb out his long hair. 

The girls headed out just as the little boy started to nod off, crawling into Keith’s lap and sticking his thumb in his mouth as he wound the other hand up in Keith’s shirt. Lance changed the baby and fed Gaia a bottle while Keith got Austin settled away, and when she dozed off, he tucked her into her egg-like carrier to sleep. 

By the time Keith returned, Lance already had a beer waiting for him. “Think he’s going to wake up?” he asked.

Keith shrugged, “hard to tell. He’s pretty beat, but new bed, no engine noises… could go either way. Gaia isn’t sleeping through the night yet, so I’ll be up at least once before morning anyway.”

“Okay, I’ve gotta say it- it is seriously weird that you are the first one with a family! My money would have been on Shiro or Hunk,” Lance smiled at the sleeping baby, “but you know what? The whole fatherhood thing? Suits you.”

Keith actually blushed, and it was weirdly cute. “Thanks. It wasn’t exactly how I pictured things going, but… they are my whole world. I can’t imagine life without them.”

“They are amazing. Austin is one of the most hilarious, adorable kids ever. Super cute, smart as a whip… and funny. He’s great. When he was showing off his fighting skills? My God,” he shook his head, laughing, “the cutest!”

“He thinks you are pretty amazing, too,” Keith replied, “told me all about being pirates. He really had fun.”

“Good. That was the whole idea.” He took a swig of his own beer, “okay- seriously though. I have theories!”

“I’m guessing you mean about the kids?”

“Yeah- did you rescue them from an alternate reality?”

Keith laughed, “no. No ‘rescuing’ them.”

“Alright then… pocket dimension?”

“Nope.”

“Are they the result of some kind of alien deity? Bob, maybe?”

“No,” he shook his head, still laughing, “you aren’t going to guess it.”

“I’m not done! This is my favorite- did you end up on another space whale with some Atlas crew member or something? Was it someone I know? Because Austin is what… four? And, dude, I saw you a year ago…”

“He’s essentially three and a half and no, I didn’t end up on a space whale. Now, do you want me to tell you? Or do you want to keep trying to guess?”

“I have other theories, but they are even more out there, so you should probably tell me.”

“Alright,” he shifted on the couch, turning to face Lance more fully, bracing his elbows on his knees and dangling his beer loosely, “remember I was telling you about the Druid installation?”

“Yeah, the door was stuck and you couldn’t get the panel to work or whatever, right?”

Keith nodded, lifting the bottle and chugging back almost half the beer. “Right. So, just as I was about to hit the thing a third time Artax showed up and stopped me. The controls weren’t for the door. It triggered something else… we were in a cloning facility… Like.. the one they used to clone Shiro. Austin… he’s a clone.”

“A clone... your clone?? What? That doesn’t even make any-... how ?”

“Not a Druid or a scientist, but from what they tell me, I guess those facilities take, like an egg, and do something to it to make it blank- genetically neutral. Then it samples the dna from the hand scanner, injects it into the egg, and force grows it in a pod.”

“Holy shit. Austin is what you were like as a kid? But he’s so… happy ?!?!”

“Hey! I was a happy kid!” He shoved Lance’s shoulder affectionately, and Lance grinned at him. “When I was Austin’s age I was really happy,” his smile faltered and Lance immediately felt like crap. 

His Dad. 

Keith had been a happy kid, and then his Dad had died and he’d ended up in the system.

“I’m sorry man, I shouldn’t have-”

“Lance, it’s okay. Really. Austin isn’t me , he’s just… got the same dna as me. Identical twins have the same dna- and they are all different from each other. He’s his own person.”

“So… you said Austin is a clone… what’s the story with Gaia?”

“Yeah.. so… it’s a two step process, right? Make the egg blank, add the new dna. So, I guess one egg was prepped… but the second time I hit the panel- it skipped the first part of the process. So, there was already dna in the egg…”

“Which means that Gaia is a mix of you and whoever’s egg that was?”

Keith nodded. “In a nutshell, yeah. Turns out Galra are a tad different from humans with the whole male dna determines physical sex thing, I guess… so… girl ! We pulled them out of the… uh… pods as soon as Gaia was ready to be on her own. I guess the rate of growth amps up the longer they are in the pods and once they’re not like, building body parts. So, even though there was only a few minutes between my tries at the door… he’s basically three years older than her, and Galra traits seem to be recessive, so she looks just as human as he does.”

“Wow,” he sat back, digesting that. “So, they have the same birthday?”

“Yeah. It’s weird. I know it’s weird. I suck at explaining it. But… they’re just my kids. I don’t care how I ended up with them, they are mine and no one comes between me and them.”

“Woah! Dude, no one is going to try to! You are a great Dad and they are obviously very loved!”

“I’m just worried… between what happened with Mom, and just… everything Shiro went through… I’m on edge.”

“Hey- anyone who wants to come between you and those kids needs to go through me, first,” he said softly. It didn’t make sense- he and Keith were hardly ever in the same place at the same time anymore so it wasn’t like he could do anything- but it was more about the sentiment. He wanted Keith to know that he had his back, no matter what. Reaching out, he gave his friend’s knee a little comforting squeeze, “nobody is getting anywhere near those babies on my watch. Cross my heart.”

That earned him a watery smile, “thanks, Lance. I knew I could count on you.”

“So… I’m guessing Shiro is still processing?”

Keith blinked at him, “Shiro doesn’t know. Outside of the Blade, you are the first person to know about them. I don’t know… how…” He groaned, rubbing at his face, “how do I tell Shiro this?”

“Keith, man, you tell him the exact same way you told me. Let him get to spend a little time with them. Let him see them as individuals. Then explain. He loves you, man, he’s going to adore those kids. He’s my stiffest competition for favorite Paladin, because he’s got that floating arm and he is going to spoil them rotten.”

“Yeah… just… I don’t want to trigger something- he’s doing so well since he got married… and it’s weird… I feel like I’ll disappoint him or something.” He huffed out a self-deprecating laugh and shook his head, “it used to be a joke between us… back when I was at the Garrison. When things would go wrong… he’d look at me and go ‘did you accidentally make a baby? No? Then we can probably fix this.’ It was a joke… but… like… I accidentally made a baby... two babies. My life is so strange.”

“All our lives are strange, so you aren’t alone there,” Lance replied, “and you are a grown ass man, who cares whether your kids were planned out ahead of time or not. What matters is that you are doing right by them. Seriously, that’s the only thing Shiro will care about… other than spoiling them rotten. Because, I know I said it already, but he is going to spoil them rotten. Remember all the shit Pidge used to get away with because she was his favorite? This will be sooo much worse!”

“Yeah… I guess,” he pulled Gaia’s carrier over and checked on her, fussing with her blanket. “I really want to be good at this… the whole parenting thing. It’s important, you know?”

“I wasn’t joking before, Keith… you are great with those kids. They are thriving. They’re lucky kids. You’re doing good, man. Really.”

Keith sighed, “I’m okay with the day to day stuff, but… I don’t know. I’m kind of already terrified of the teen years.”

“You’ll be fine. Just, plunk them smack in the middle of some Blade of Marmora base somewhere from like twelve until they are old enough to get married. Boom- good to go… because, I can tell you right now- Gaia? Yeah, she’s going to be a showstopper beauty. So, unless you want to be dealing with dating drama every minute of the day, isolate her.”

Keith laughed, “no opinions on Austin’s dating prospects?”

“Well, I figure, he’s your clone- you know what he’s going to look like. I don’t need to weigh in on that,” Lance shrugged. Nope- not weighing in on that at all . Because that would be very weird. “Although, so far, he’s definitely more charming than you are.”

“Thanks?” Keith replied, “you must be so proud of yourself for finding a way to praise my kid and drag me at the same time.”

Lance grinned, nodding, “I am, kinda, yeah. Pidge would be impressed. Oh man… Hunk is going to die over these two, you know that, right? And Coran? Forget about it! He’s a goner! But… you know… other than this whole… thing- how have you been?”

Keith went quiet, draining the rest of his beer, “well… I’ve pretty much just been dealing with this whole thing for the last six months, and before that, everything was pretty much just the same as always- relief efforts, clearing out old military bases and stuff and restructuring them. The occasional pocket of resistance. Nothing all that exciting.”

“Oh yeah, totally. Just, you know, spreading peace throughout the universe and rewriting an entire culture with your whole ‘space unicef’ thing. No biggie,” he rolled his eyes, “totally the same as just a normal life like mine- tend the crops, milk the cows, gather the eggs, make lunch, repeat.”

He laughed, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are more than welcome to help with the ‘whole space unicef thing’. You’re better with people than I am and the Paladins are still kind of a big deal. You’d be good at this stuff, Lance.”

“I know the invitation stands, and I appreciate it… I’m just… not there yet, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I miss her, too. I almost named Gaia after her.”

“Really? Why didn’t you?”

Keith rolled his shoulder in something close to a shrug, “she was my friend, my teammate… but of all of us, I was the one she was least close to. I didn’t want to… use up the name, I guess? Like- I didn’t want any of you guys to feel like you couldn’t name your kid after her when you had your own families. I’m pretty sure that Shiro will want to when he has kids- and I think that would mean more to him than it would to me. I don’t know- it just didn’t seem like the right fit. Gaia was the right fit. Once I thought of it, nothing else seemed right.”

“It’s a gorgeous name. Suits her. Where did Austin come from?” Lance asked.

“That was my Dad’s name. Everyone called him Tex or Texas, but that was because his name was Austin.”

“You gonna call him Tex, too?”

“Nah- he’s his own person. Plus, I think it might be hard on my mother- she’s…” he trailed off, “this whole thing has been kind of rough.”

“Your mother is one of the toughest people in the universe. What’s up?” A horrifying thought crept into his mind. “Does she… Keith- does she have some kind of issue with the kids? Is that why you are stressing out about Shiro? Is there some kind of thing I don’t know about?”

“You mean because of the whole cloning facility thing? No! No, nothing like that. The Blades all take that stuff in stride- they’ve seen the worst of the worst stuff that Zarkon’s empire came up with, but they know the difference between a tool and an action. They have all either just ignored the kids, or doted on them. It has nothing to do with that. Nothing to do with Gaia, either. She’s my daughter, that’s never been in question. It’s just… Austin…” He sighed, “I was just a baby when she had to leave… and she didn’t want me to grow up in a war. But… she didn’t WANT to go, she had to… and she had to leave me behind. She missed out on… everything, really… and then, there was Austin… and he was…”

“Genetically her son,” Lance finished for him, “she wanted to raise him, huh?”

Keith nodded, fiddling with his beer bottle. “I didn’t want the kids separated… and he came from me … We… uh… we fought about it. A lot.”

“That had to be… really hard, Keith. I’m sorry.” Lance could see why Krolia would see Austin as a chance to be the mother she’d wanted to be to Keith. He could even understand why that would be important to her. There was definitely an argument to be made that she should have custody of the little guy. But, Keith had a point, too. 

And Keith hadn’t said anything about it, but Lance knew the guy well enough to know that those abandonment issues he liked to ignore weren’t magically erased by Krolia coming into his life, so… it must have been terrifying to face the possibility of being ‘replaced’ like that. Add to that his worries about Shiro’s reaction… he probably hadn’t talked about any of this with anyone.

Keith hadn’t moved since he’d mentioned the fighting. Not really. He was scraping his close-clipped thumbnail over the paper label on the empty beer bottle, staring at the floor between his feet. He seemed so young all of a sudden, reminding Lance a little of the Keith that had been in his class at the Garrison. Specifically, of the few moments right before the young cadet would square his shoulders and lift his head and dig in his heels. Because, Lance had been paying attention to him back then, and he’d seen the way he’d start to crumple in on himself before the anger kicked in. He hadn’t understood it back then, but he’d seen it. He understood it better now. He understood Keith better now.

He set his own beer aside and plucked the empty out of Keith’s hands. “C’mere,” he whispered, pulling his friend into a hug. As always, Keith stiffened for a second, and then practically melted into the contact, hugging him back tightly. Lance rubbed his back gently, “you should have reached out to me. You didn’t have to deal with all that on your own. I’ve got your back, okay? No matter what. No matter who.”

He felt a nod against his shoulder and a shudder rolled through Keith. He could only imagine how much stress the guy must have been dealing with, but until now, he hadn’t seen it. It didn’t show up in any of his interactions with Austin and Gaia. That was… kind of amazing, and it spoke to the depth of resolve that Keith must have to be a good Dad. Red Paladin Keith never would have been able to keep that kind of stress from spilling over into how he dealt with people. He’d grown up a lot- they all had, but Lance suspected that the change had been most profound in Keith.

“You said it yourself, bud, Austin is his own person,” he whispered, “he could never replace you. Not to us. Definitely not to your mother. Never.”

Keith was quiet for several minutes, and when he finally spoke again, his voice was tiny. Raw. Scared. “That’s what happened with Shiro, though.”

“Heyyy… no. No, it wasn’t. Austin doesn’t have all your memories. He doesn’t think he is you. Whatever Haggar did to that clone didn’t happen to Austin… and you are still here, you are still you . It’s not even close to the same thing.”

“But-”

“No. No buts. Keith, you are you. Austin is Austin. Same dna or not. Your life shaped you. Your choices shaped you. Your Mom loves you , for who you are, for the things you’ve done together. No one can replace that, or change it.”

“But, he’s better ,” Keith insisted, “he’s not broken...”

Lance pulled back, sacrificing the hug for eye contact, because he needed Keith to see his face when he said what he was about to say. “Keith, you are not broken! I never ever want to hear that bullshit come out of your mouth again. I have known you since you were, what? Thirteen? Fourteen? You have always been the most infuriatingly stubborn, bull-headed resilient fucker I’ve ever even seen! You are not broken- because nothing has ever managed to break you. Knock you around a bit, sure, but break Keith Kogane? Impossible. You just keep getting back up. If you were broken, you’d stay down. You wouldn’t fight. You wouldn’t get mad. And you know what? It sucks that you lost your Mom when you were a baby, and your Dad when you were a kid, and it sucks that everything went down the way it did with Shiro and the Garrison, and you deserved better… buuuuut, I think that’s part of why you fought so hard for peace- because you know that every loss is felt by someone, somewhere and that nobody deserves to feel it. You know what loss is, so you appreciate things more… and so does your Mom, for the record. Austin is a three and a half year old kid. He’s awesome, sure, but he’s not you . You are awesome in a totally different way, and not even a little bit broken. You’re like… what’s that thing they do to swords? To make them stronger?”

“You mean tempering it?”

“ Yes!! You’ve been through shit, but it didn’t break you, it tempered you. You’re stronger and sharper because of it… and you know what? Anybody who doesn’t appreciate that is an idiot. Is Krolia an idiot?”

“No,” he said softly.

“Is Shiro an idiot?”

“I mean… sometimes… have you seen him try to cook?”

“Keith,” his voice was a warning.

“No,” he sighed, “Shiro’s not an idiot.”

“Right. There you go. How are things with your Mom now?”

Keith pushed his hand through his hair, “tense… but better. She helped me a lot with Gaia, and Austin loves her. But… I don’t know… she seems sad sometimes.”

“Have you talked to her? After you guys stopped fighting, I mean.”

He just shook his head, turning away to check on Gaia again. He fiddled with the blanket that was perfectly fine. Brushed hair that wasn’t in her face to one side. Rested his hand on her chest like he was making sure she was still breathing.

“Keith? Is there anything that could make you love those kids even a tiny bit less than you do right now?”

“What?!?!? Of course not!”

“And do you love Austin any less because Gaia exists?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Same stuff applies to Krolia about you, you get that, right?” he coaxed, his voice soft and gentle. “Even if she’d ended up being the one to raise Austin, that wouldn’t change.”

“Yeah… I guess.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the youngest of five , so I can tell you for a fact that parents just… find more love to give. It’s how it works. They don’t run out of love.” He pulled Keith into another hug, because Keith had like, a lifetime shortage of them. Lance was a huggy guy, in general, and while Keith didn’t start hugs, usually, they were practically magic in how much they improved his mood. Hunk had been the first one to figure that out, and was pretty quick to share his discovery with the others- so for the last few years, they’d all been making a point to hug Keith whenever they got the impulse, not that they had much opportunity given his schedule.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for some of the tension to drain out of Keith. Lance could feel him relax, feel the change in his breathing. He went still again, but this time it was a peaceful stillness, not the kind that meant you were freezing up as a way to avoid pain. Keith smelled like baby powder and the bodywash he’d used on Austin, with that hint of something undefinable that was just ‘Keith’. It was weird how your brain connected scents to people- because so many things influenced that from the food you ate, to what laundry soap you used, even where you’d been sleeping or the people you’d been near- but there was always something , under all those other layers, that didn’t seem to change. Lance suspected that he could go years without having any contact with his Voltron family and he’d still be able to recognize them from that deep down layer of how they hit his nose. It was, like, primal.

He’d missed him. He missed them all, but there was something different about how he missed Keith. He suspected it was because Keith was always a bit of an unknown. Even in the thick of things when all they had was each other in the endless expanse of space, Keith wasn’t always around. He’d left to work occasional missions with the Blades, then to be a full-time member and it had hurt . They’d all understood and supported him, but it had hurt. Lance had spent a lot of time blaming himself for it. Kicking himself for giving Keith such a hard time, for maybe making him feel unwelcome, for the conversation he’d had with him about there being more Paladins than Lions. He still kicked himself for that- what had he been thinking?!?! He’d known that Keith was unsure about his ability to lead, known that he often felt like the odd man out, known that he struggled with connecting with the others… so why had he gone to him with his worries? Why hadn’t he clued in that Keith might bolt? He’d been so sure that the solution was for him to surrender Red back to Keith, so positive that Keith would jump at the chance to be Red Paladin again. He’d been wrong, and to this day he wondered how things would have been different if he just had waited to see how things worked themselves out.

He liked to think he’d learned to be more patient over the years. Liked to think he was a better friend now- not quite as caught up in his own perspective as he was at seventeen. Right now, Keith was overwhelmed and dealing with something that Lance had no experience with. But he knew that it was harder than Keith was letting on. Even with him opening up as much as he had, Lance knew Keith well enough to know that the things he’d said were just the tip of the iceberg. Keith ran deep and it was hard for him to talk. Hard for him to open up. He was very good at acting like things were not affecting him, and putting the job above all else. As much as he clearly adored those kids, Lance suspected Keith was doing just that- focusing on the ‘job’ of being a father at his own expense.

So, he slid a little closer on the couch and shifted his arms a bit, hugging Keith a little tighter. He didn’t need to hear what exactly was going through Keith’s head to offer comfort. Hugs didn’t need words. Keith drew in a hitching breath and tucked his head into the crook of Lance’s neck. Neither of them moved for what felt like hours, until Gaia started fussing in her sleep and Keith pulled back and turned to soothe her.

“What would you have done?” Keith asked softly while he was jiggling the carrier to calm the baby before she fully woke, not looking at him, “if I’d reached out… like you said I should. If I’d messaged you and said I had two kids all of a sudden and I was fighting with my mother and trying to keep it together, what would you have done?”

Lance blinked at his back. He didn’t know? How could he not know? “Keith… I would have done the exact same thing I do when I am talking to Coran and notice that he’s got bags under his eyes and is talking around Allura instead of about her. I’d have gotten on a ship and been there , man. To help. However you needed. I’d have- I don’t know, walked the floor with a crying baby so you could shower, and helped make sure there was one hot meal a day so you didn’t try to survive on those awful Blade meal bars, and done.. Chores… or tried to talk to Krolia. Whatever.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I spent three weeks calling every damn florist in the hemisphere looking for the exact right shade of freaking peonies for the boutonnieres for Shiro’s wedding. This is way more important than tiny corsages for grown men. I know everyone thinks I’m like throwing my life away on the farm or whatever. I’m not- for the record- this is a good life, and I need something calm and nurturing right now. I won’t be here forever, but while I am I have the freedom to leave for a while. I get to be there for the people I care about when they need me, when they need a friend. If I spend two weeks with Coran on New Altea- he doesn’t feel guilty about pulling me away from scientific discoveries that could change the world, or diplomatic missions that impact millions, or the rebuilding of a culture after millenia of damage. The cows are milked, the crops are cared for, the animals are fed if I am here or not. So, yes, of course I would have thrown my shit in a bag and called in some favors to teleduv my ass to wherever the hell you were.”  

“Even if things were crazy for a lot longer than two weeks?”

Lance didn’t need to hesitate, or think about it, his answer was instant, but he knew Keith would see a too quick response as knee-jerk, so he did pause. He made himself really think. How long was too long? How much help was asking too much? He looked at his friend, still turned away from him, his face hidden from view. He took in the changes he’d gone through since they’d first met at the Garrison. Taller, broader through the shoulders, more muscle, too. Keith had been small for their age when they’d first met, thin. Even when they’d first ended up in space he’d been slight. But now he was almost as bulked up as Shiro. 

Not a kid anymore. 

He hadn’t been a kid for years- none of them had, really… not even Pidge. Not after everything they’d seen and done and lost. But beyond that, when they’d returned to Earth Keith had already grown into the weight of leadership, learned how to handle far too much responsibility for someone barely out of his teens. Lance had every faith that he could handle anything parenthood threw at him… but problems with his mother? Not being able to talk to Shiro about something this huge? Yeah, that would be hard for him. 

“Even if it meant years,” he promised, after a moment, “the Lions are gone, but I’m still your right hand whenever you need me to be, for as long as you need me to be. So, yeah… I’d stick around to make sure Gaia stayed safe and sound in the middle of that Marmora base until her wedding day if it stayed crazy that long. I’d be the best Space Uncle ever.”

“Space Uncle?” Keith half chuckled, “isn’t that what Pidge called Coran?”

“Yup- so, like… I learned from the best, right? The perfect balance of silliness and wisdom and cheerleading and ‘just what do you young people think you are doing?’ sternness.”

This time the reluctant laugh was an actual chortle, which Lance took as a good sign, “ooooh- maybe I could grow a moustache worthy of a silent movie villain? I think I’d rock a nice handlebar moustache, don’t you?”

“No, Lance,” Keith laughed, finally sitting back on the couch and turning back toward him, “I do not think you’d ‘rock a nice handlebar moustache’. You’d look ridiculous, and you know it.”

Lance pouted, “like I’d take advice on what looks good from a guy with a mullet.”

“Still with the mullet thing?” Keith sighed, reaching back to pull the ponytail holder out of his hair. He ran his fingers through the newly freed strands and shook his head, the dark hair spreading over and past his shoulders. “See? It’s not a mullet.”

 Lance had noticed the length when it was tied back- the ponytail had brushed against the lower edge of Keith’s shoulder blades- but somehow it hadn’t really connected in his head. 

Now though? 

There was no avoiding that Keith’s hair wasn’t anything even remotely resembling a mullet. It was just long. There were shorter bits framing his face, but other than his bangs and the bits at his temples, his hair was all one length. It had the slightest hint of wave- just enough to keep it from looking weighed down or wet- and it was a lot thicker than Lance would have guessed. Not a mullet. Not that he could really admit that.  “It’s the same old mullet, just way longer. Like, an even lazier mullet than you used to have. It’s like you’ve got some kind of problem with barbers or something.”

“What would you call Austin’s hair, then?” Keith countered.

“Austin has a little kid’s mop of hair.  No comparison.”

“It’s starting to get into his eyes. I keep thinking I should pin it back or maybe see about getting i-”

“DAAAAAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYY!”

“-and he’s awake,” Keith sighed, glancing into the carrier, “he’s probably disoriented… might take a bit to calm him down enough to sleep…”

“I can watch her,” Lance assured him, “if she wakes up before you get Austin settled I’ll do the standard bum change, bottle, bouncey-walk, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll bring her up to you.”

“You sure?” He looked torn, Austin’s cry had seemed more confused than anything else- but a young kid waking up alone in a strange room could get spooked very easily.

“Positive. Go. I’ve got Gaia.”

Chapter Text

Lance woke the next morning bright and early as always. Keith had never returned from dealing with Austin and Gaia had been easy to settle when she’d woken- clean diaper, full tummy, and some snuggles had sent her right back to dreamland- so when Lance had been ready to turn in he just brought her carrier upstairs with him and crept into the guest room so she was near her Dad and brother if she started to fuss. Keith had fallen asleep on top of the blankets, still in his clothes, with Austin tucked up against him. Their black hair had swept out over the pillows, and when they were still and quiet like this it had been hard to believe he’d ever thought that Austin was anything but an exact copy of his friend in appearance. The resemblance was startling. He’d shaken his head affectionately and crossed the hall to pull a quilt off of one of the other guest room beds for Keith. Quietly, careful not to disturb any of his sleeping guests, he’d draped the quilt over Keith and ducked out of the room.

The door to the occupied guest room was still closed when he passed it on his way downstairs, but he doubted the kids would sleep much longer so he decided to get a start on breakfast. Ordinarily, he’d be collecting the eggs from the coop right about now, but his family always gave him the ‘day off’ when he had guests, and Rachel had promised that since there were kids staying with him this time, his chores were covered for a week. So, instead of dealing with the chickens, Lance turned the coffee maker on and pulled out his supplies.

He wasn’t Hunk, but he was a decent hand in the kitchen, and breakfast was his favorite meal to make. After assessing his grocery situation and deciding that they definitely needed to stop by the market and stock up on kid-friendly options, he finally settled on french toast, bacon, and mango slices. He turned on some music and got to work, whisking eggs up with a little milk. He tended to prefer to put the cinnamon and sweetener directly into the egg mix, unlike Veronica who mucked around with shaking the seasoning over the dipped bread when it was in the frying pan like some kind of heathen. He also tended to like a bit of a heavy hand with the honey and cinnamon, but since he wasn’t sure how Austin and Keith preferred theirs, and it was easier to and that stuff when it was on the plate than try to remove it, he dialed it back a bit. 

The bacon was in the oven, the mangoes were sliced, the lemonade was set on the table and he was humming along to his music and frying up the last few slices of french toast when he heard Gaia start to cry. A few minutes later he heard the door open and little feet gallop down the stairs. “Lance! Lance! Lance!”

“Austin! Austin! Austin!” he answered, making the little boy stop and blink at him in confusion. “Sorry bud,” he laughed softly, “I didn’t mean to mess with your head- I’m just excited to see you, too.”

“Oh,” the little boy eyed him suspiciously for a second but apparently decided to accept his answer, his little face breaking into a grin, “kay. Daddy said that if it was nice today maybe we could go fwimmin’!”

“Actually Daddy said that might happen if it was nice and Lance wasn’t busy,” Keith said from the bottom of the stairs with Gaia settled on his hip and chewing enthusiastically on his shoulder. “Morning- it smells great down here. Coffee?”

“Well, my day is free and it looks like it is going to be a scorcher so swimming sounds like a great idea,” Lance said, pouring Keith a cup of coffee and fixing it the way he liked. “Here… and I’ll grab her for you... just let me…” He turned off the flame and moved the now empty frying pan to the back of the stove, out of reach of little hands. “Trade’ya,” he handed Keith the mug and lifted Gaia into his arms, “good morning beautiful! I bet you are hungry, huh?”

The baby patted his face with slobbery hands and he made a face, but he didn’t really mind. It was par for the course with babies. He playfully pretended to gobble up her hand when she did it again and her little laugh was the cutest thing that had happened yet that day- and that included Keith and Austin’s matching bed-head (which was far cuter than it should be).

Keith took a long sip of his coffee and sighed, “perfect, thanks. Okay, buster, let’s get you settled away and see what Lance was nice enough to make us for breakfast.”

“Can she have any of this stuff? Or should I warm up a bottle for her?” Lance asked, puttering around the kitchen. He handed Keith one each of the unbreakable plates and cups he usually brought on picnics for Austin and then a couple of plates for the adults.

Keith eyed the table, “Galra babies start foods earlier, but I think I’ll stick to the bottle and maybe I’ll help her with some mango afterwards.”

“Gotcha,” Lance nodded, “come along little Princess, let’s get you some yummy milk, huh?” He pulled one of the bottles they’d prepped up the night before out of the fridge and Gaia squealed and kicked excitedly when she saw it, making him laugh as he set it into the little countertop warmer Keith had brought with them. “Yeah, I know- I get excited about food, too! Let’s just warm it up first though, hmm? Dude- Austin, are you okay buddy?” He chuckled, the little boy was practically vibrating, his eyes huge as he watched his father cut up his french toast.

“There’s mangoes,” he squealed, unable to contain himself any longer, “for breakfast! ”

Lance laughed, “you know it, bud. That’s the last of them, though, so I need to add them to the grocery list. Actually, Keith, you should look the list over before I go- I want to be able to offer the kids stuff that’s familiar to them, too. Not just my amazing cooking.”

“Lance is the best cooker, Daddy,” Austin said, “he makes mangoes and peep’saws!”

“Actually Aus-”

“Shhh! Keith! I cook the best mangoes! Let me have this!”

“But...”

“I said, Let. Me. Have. This!”

“Fine. Sure, he cooks the best mangoes,” Keith sighed.

“The best,” Austin repeated, nodding.

“Buddy, wait until you try all the other yummy Earth fruits- like, bananas, and pineapple, and frutabomba, an-”

“Papaya,” Keith laughed, “it’s a papaya!”

Lance gasped, covering Gaia’s ears, “not in Cuba, it isn’t! In Cuba that is… umm… like… C- U- Next-Tuesday.” He rose his brows hoping against hope that Keith got the reference. “That is… not a word for children here, Keith…”

“I still don’t get why that is though…” 

Nope. He had no idea. It went right over his head. He didn’t even know why he was surprised. “You don’t need to. You just need to know that the fruit is called a frutabomba and…” he glanced at the children pointedly, “the thing you said is a rude, rude word. Austin! What’s the name of the fruit?”

“Man-goes?” Austin answered, visibly confused.

Lance blinked at him, momentarily transported back to the party on Arus and Keith’s confused bungling of the Voltron chant he’d tried to start. “Definitely your kid… Yes. Those are mangoes.”

The stove timer chimed and Lance grabbed a pot holder, pulling the bacon out of the oven and setting it on the counter one-handed, while keeping Gaia well away from any splatters. “Have you ever had bacon, bud?”

“Uummmmmmm…. Daddy? Did I have bay-comb before?”

“No, you’ve never had baCON before… but you’ve had ham. Bacon is a little like ham. You like ham.”

“Kay- I like ham, Lance.”

“That’s good to know, I’ll get some ham, too.” He pulled Gaia’s bottle out of the warmer and gave it a shake. “And this morning you get to try bacon! It’s delicious. I think you’ll like it.”

“I’ll serve it up,” Keith offered, “you sit and give Gaia her bottle.” His eyes softened and he leaned over to nuzzle his daughter’s chubby cheek. Lance got a face full of bedhead, but it was worth it to hear Keith whispering so tenderly to the baby in a language Lance didn’t know and Gaia’s happy gurgles. He could feel how stupidly fond the smile that was on his face was, and the way time slowed down for him as he watched his normally reserved former rival, former teammate coo and smile and press in close. Because… there was just something so heartwarming about the way Keith doted on his children. And then, he kissed her temple and untangled her fingers from his hair and stepped away, and time started moving normally again.

“Lance!” Austin called to him, reaching out to smack the chair next to his, “sit wiff me!”

“You got it, buddy,” he answered, dropping into the kitchen chair with Gaia, and getting her situated with the bottle, “best seat in the house- right next to the coolest kid and pirate captain I know.”

“Yeah, zaply,” Austin said, nodding seriously, his little fist wrapped tight around a fork.

Zaply? Lance glanced to Keith for clarification. 

“How, exactly, is he the best pirate captain you know?” Keith asked and Lance clued in. That’s what Austin had been trying to say.

“Well,” Lance started, “he did an excellent job running the veranda ship, and found all the best treasure-”

“Two coconups, Daddy,” Austin held up three fingers. “This many!”

Lance nodded along, practically daring Keith to correct the child. “See? The best treasure… and then…”

“There was a moopany!” Austin interjected, surging up onto his knees on the chair so fast that both adults lunged to catch him if he toppled, “Lance moopaneed! Thaz when he tried to be the boss but I was the boss and I said noooo I am da Captain and then he said arrrrrr you hafta kill me… an’then… an’then I did! I killeded him! And he fell on the floor and was all blech I ded. So I won!”

“He won,” confirmed Lance, “I was dead. It was very epic and cool.”

“We had swords!” Austin gushed.

“Stick swords,” Lance explained, accepting his plate from Keith with a smile, “they are the best kind for Veranda Pirates.”

“Yeah,” Austin nodded, spearing a bit of his french toast as Lance did the same. Lance dipped the corner of his bite in a puddle of honey, and Austin followed suit.

“Well, there you go,” Keith chuckled, “Lance is a distance fighter… he’s not great with swords. He’s a Sharpshooter… like Artax.”

“Excuse you,” Lance countered after washing his food down with some lemonade, “I can fight with a sword, too! Ohhh… wait… you never saw that, did you?”

“Saw what, exactly?”

Lance smirked, “the Altean Broadsword my bayard turned into.”

“What? When?”

“Before you got back with Krolia,” he answered levelly, “Allura and Coran helped me train with it. It hardly ever showed up,” he reached out to ruffle Austin’s hair, “but it was nice to know I had close quarters options.” He smiled sadly and set the bottle on the table, sitting Gaia on his knee and rubbing her back. She was too old to ‘need’ burping, but he needed something to do with his hands and it certainly didn’t hurt to run his hand in slow circles over the soft fabric of her onesie. 

“Thaz the rock lady, right Daddy?” Austin asked, his little face scrunching up worriedly.

“Yeah, bud. That’s who the statue is of. She was a very special person. We miss her a lot.”

“Where’d she go?”

“She… uh…” Keith glanced over to Lance, not sure how to answer.

“She’s everywhere,” Lance said, smiling at Austin, “she’s doing a very, very big job protecting the whole entire universe. So, we don’t get to hang out with her anymore, but she’s always with us.” He touched one of the marks on his face, “she gave me these to remind me that I’m never really alone.”

“Oh cooool,” he reached out to touch the mark softly before turning to his father. “Did she give you something cool, too, Daddy?”

Keith looked over at Lance, his expression apologetic, but Lance waved it off. “Yes and no,” Keith answered, “not marks like Lance’s. He was very special to her… they were special to each other. But… what she did means that I got to have you and your sister. So… I think that’s pretty cool.”

Austin slid out of his chair and crawled up into his father’s lap, snuggling into his chest, “love you Daddy.”

Keith melted. Lance could see the change in him as his son wrapped himself around him as best he could, patting his upper chest soothingly. “I love you, too, Austin,” he whispered, his voice raw with emotion. “You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Yeah,” sighed the little boy, “I know.” And just like that, the mood lifted as both Lance and Keith had to stifle laughter.

“Soooo,” said Lance, “looks like our day is food shopping and the beach?”

“What’s the bich?” Austin asked

“Beach!” yelped Keith, “Austin, it’s called the beeeeeeeeach.”

“What’s the beeeeeach?”

“The beach,” laughed Lance, dropping a kiss to the top of Gaia’s head- because Keith was right, none of them would be here without Allura’s sacrifice, and that was especially true of the children, who hadn’t even existed when Allura saved them all. “Is where the ocean hangs out with the land. It’s where we are going to go swimming.”

“Fwimmin? Really?!?!” His whole face lit up with excitement, “Daddy! Lance said we can go fwimmin!”

“I heard!” Keith answered, “but you have to finish your breakfast before we can go anywhere!”

Immediately, Austin scrambled back into his seat, determination clear in every aspect of his posture and steely resolve in those purple-grey eyes. Lance saw how Keith seemed to deflate slightly when Austin crawled out of his lap, so he stood, grabbing the bottle and his empty coffee mug. “Refill,” he said simply, handing Gaia over to her father. She cooed happily, making grabby hands at the bottle when Lance passed it to Keith. “You want one, too?”

“That’d be great, Lance,” he answered. “Thank-you,” Lance could see in his eyes and the way he curled his arm around the little girl that the thanks wasn’t for the coffee. He gave Keith’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze (and holy crap, those shoulders were way beefier than Lance remembered!) before he grabbed his empty mug.

“That’s what friends are for. Anytime, man,” and he knew Keith would know that he wasn’t talking about the coffee either.

“Gaia! Gaia! Look at Daddy!” The little girl looked up from the sand and squealed, shaking her little shovel for all she was worth and Lance heard at least three clicks from Keith’s phone. Gaia laughed so hard she toppled backwards, kicking her chubby little legs in the air with delight until her father managed to sit her up again. She was wearing a little blue bucket hat printed with starfish that matched her tiny surf shirt and a swim diaper and she’d fallen in love with the beach. She’d been hot and cranky when they’d arrived, but once the sunshade was in place and the sand cooled enough for her to sit on it she’d cheered right up. It was well worth the sand she flicked around with her poorly controlled shovel to see how overjoyed she was about it.

“Can I go fwimmin now?” Austin asked, trying to to turn face Lance.

“Not just yet, bud,” Lance answered, “you said you wanted me to make sure your hair stayed out of your eyes, so you have to be patient while I braid it.”

He huffed, his little shoulders sagging, “I hate being payshemp.”

“You know,” Keith said evenly, “if you let us cut your hair yo-”

“No! No haircuts!”

“I’m almost done, bud, I promise,” Lance assured him. “Do you remember the rules?”

“Uhh… yeeeeeah! I hafta wear the fwim shoes, and I hafta hold a grown-up’s hand, and don’t fwallow the ocean, and I hafta keep the wings on, and if you or Daddy say no, I can’t argue.”

“And when we bring Gaia down to the water, no splashing her,” Lance added, “that can be really scary for a baby.”

“I’m not gonna splash her,” Austin sighed. Lance tied off the french braid. He was rusty. The line of the braid wavered a little and there were more flyaways than either of his sisters would have accepted, but it wasn’t a fashion statement, just a way to keep that black mop of hair out of his eyes. “All done?”

“All done,” Lance replied, “let’s get some sunblock on you and puff up those wings, yeah?”

“Yeah!”  Keith pulled out the sunblock and slathered Austin in it as the little boy squealed about how cold it was and how ‘tickly’ it felt. Then Keith slid the water wings onto his son’s little arms and hit the auto-inflate button. “Now? Can we go now? I’m ready, right? We can go fwimmin? Daddy?”

“Go on,” Lance laughed, “his first time in the ocean- that’s a milestone for a parent. I’ll make sandcastles with the little Princess.”

“You’re sure?” Keith asked, “I know what you are like about water…”

“Keith,” he shook his head, crawling over to the baby and drawing shapes in the sand in front of her, “go. He’s your son. You think I’m going to be the reason you miss out on that? No way. Shoo.”

“Daddy! Let’s goooooooooooo!”

“Yeah, Daddy- goooooooooooo!” he echoed.

 Keith shot him an odd look, but climbed to his feet with an eye roll. He grabbed Austin around the waist and legit tossed the kid in the air, catching him easily and running to the water as the little boy shrieked and laughed with excitement. Lance couldn’t resist smiling at them, “Gaia, sweetie, you really lucked out for a big brother and a Dad, you know that?”

“Bubububuuu,” she babbled, slapping the sand with her little fist. 

“Hmmm… excellent point,” he nodded, scooping up handfuls of sand and filling her bucket with it, “they lucked out having you, too.”

“Oh my gosh,” a feminine voice said, “she’s soooo sweet! What’s her name?”

Lance turned to the source of the voice and smiled at the pretty young tourist. “Her name is Gaia.”

“Awww,” she cooed, “pretty name! How old is she?”

“Ummm… about six months. Gaia? You gonna wave hello??” Gaia looked at him, then turned her whole torso to look at the girl, who had crouched down beside them and was holding her hair in one hand so it didn’t whip around. This was like the tenth person today who had stopped to comment on the cuteness of one (or both) of the children, so Gaia had been getting lots of waving practice. She turned back to Lance and then to the girl again and lifted the sand covered fist that wasn’t holding the shovel, opening and closing her chubby little fingers as she made a gurgling raspberry noise.

“Oh God, she’s so cute! I could die !” The girl smiled at him, “sorry, I didn’t want to intrude, but…” she gestured helplessly, “she’s just so darling! I’m Amber.”

“Hi Amber, nice to meet you. I’m Lance.” She looked to be nineteen- twenty, tops- and was definitely a tourist, the accent had confirmed his initial assessment. “Have you been in Cuba long?”

“Umm… we got here last week? It’s really beautiful. I mean, I’d seen videos and pictures and stuff but…”

“Yeah, that stuff doesn’t do it justice. It’s the light, I think… something about the light doesn’t translate.”

“Yeah! I think you are right!” she flashed him a bright smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I should… get back to my friends… I just- I saw you all together and… you have a beautiful family. You guys look so close and happy. It’s… it’s just really nice to see. Normal, you know?”

“Uh... they’re-” He stopped himself before he corrected her. He knew that look. The too bright smile that didn’t quite reach the eyes. Pair it with what she’d said and he didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d misread the situation. “Pretty awesome,” he finished instead, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

She blinked, her smile faltering for a second, “oh… yeah. Thanks. How did you…”

“I know the look.”

“Ah… yeah… I can see it now, too. Condolences.”

“Thanks,” he managed a sincere smile, “enjoy your time in Cuba. Gaia! Say bye-bye to Amber.”

Gaia ignored him, choosing to whack her shovel into the sand instead. Amber nodded, and stood, already backing away, “she’s pretty busy. Have a great day.”

He gave her a little finger wave and reached for his phone, “hey Gaia… peek-a-boo for Rachel?”

“Ba?” She looked at him, squealing when his face was obscured by the phone. He snapped a couple of pictures of her gleefully waving her little arms and kicking the sand then shifted, snapping a few of Keith and Austin splashing around in the waves laughing together. Family. Happy. Normal. Keith deserved that. More than most people did. He deserved to have a normal, happy family. His kids deserved it, too. 

He scrolled back through the pictures he’d snapped of his houseguests at the market and here at the beach. Keith and Austin making faces at the camera in the produce section. Gaia sitting in the cart, trying to chew through the packaging on a bottle of mustard. Austin riding Keith’s shoulders. A selfie of him with the baby in his arms, trying once again to ‘catch’ the marks on his cheeks. Austin with a stranger’s puppy, because he’d gotten so excited to see the puppy that he made this high-pitched keening noise until Keith finally asked the young couple if Austin could pet the little fluffball. The picture Austin made Keith take on Lance’s phone of them facing off for a ‘sword fight’ with a couple of french baguettes (that Lance made sure to buy- he’d just find some recipe that called for breadcrumbs or something, because those loaves were mangled). Keith pushing the cart and bent down to say something to the baby, their foreheads and noses touching. Keith with Gaia curled up against his chest and Austin clinging to his back as they crossed the hot sand after changing into their beachwear. Keith and Austin flaked out side by side on the blanket in the exact same position, with their left arms flung over their eyes.

The shopping had taken forever, but he couldn’t remember ever having more fun buying food in his life. It was killing him not to send all this cuteness to Hunk, but he’d never do that to Keith. He had to tell the team about the kids in his own way at his own pace. Lance wasn’t going to screw that up for him. He could, however, send the pictures to his sisters! Smiling, he fired off a few of the best pictures to Rachel, because Veronica worked with Shiro and there was a chance he’d be nearby when she opened the files.

He turned his attention back to Gaia just in time to prevent her from eating a fistful of sand. “Woah, sweetie! That’s not very yummy!” he scooped her up, grabbing some wipes out of the diaper bag to clear off her slobbery chin and sandy hands. A little more digging through the bag unearthed a soother and he popped that into her mouth to discourage further attempts at eating the actual beach and settled her into his lap.

A few minutes later his phone buzzed, Rachel had replied. 

Rache: oof! My ovaries!
Rache: Those bebes are downright edible

Rache: Their Dad’s pretty tasty too

He stared at his phone, trying to digest that last message because… what the actual hell, Rachel?!?! His stomach churned, reminding him of the way he felt waiting for Keith to land the weird little turtle ship. Something else niggled at his memory, too. Something to do with the weirdly giddy, almost panicked need he had to reply to his sister discourag- oh crap. Now he remembered. The night of his first date with Allura. Veronica. Veronica and her stupid comment about ‘putting a good word’ in for her or whatever it was she’d said. Damn it! Why did his sisters do this crap to him!?!?

Lance: No dating my friends

Lance: FORBIDDEN! No!

Lance: Don’t even THINK about it!

He scowled, it’s not like he went around policing who his sisters could spend time with. It was just… one of them dating someone from Voltron (including, Matt Holt, because he was basically the same person as Pidge) was a nightmare waiting to happen. Either things would go well and he’d end up with a weird ‘in-law’ situation, or things would go badly and he’d be stuck with a complete and total mess with choosing sides and what not.

Rache: 1- not interested in dating Keith

Rache: 2- he’s DEFINITELY not interested in dating ME

Rache: 3- if you don’t want me to comment, don’t send me ‘mom porn’

What? What the heck…

Lance: I don’t even know what that means and I already know I hate it

Rache: chill...

Rache: it’s not PORN porn

Rache: just.. Like… hot men with babies

Lance: stop calling my friends hot

Rache: you didn’t have a problem with me calling Shiro hot

Rache: but sure

Lance: Shiro is Shiro

He glared at the phone. Even he didn’t know what that last message meant. Just… Shiro was Shiro. It didn’t make any sense, but there it was. Shiro had been the Garrison poster boy. Like, he was literally on the recruiting posters for the Garrison! Lance’d had one of those posters on his wall, and had gotten used to Rachel swooning over it, before he’d ever even started there. Before he’d even met Shiro, he’d already had to accept that the guy was an actual heart-throb. So, people commenting on it now was kind of weird, because Shiro was like a real person to him now, but it was kind of background weird, because it had just always been part of who Shiro was. 

Keith was different. 

Keith was Keith. 

He was… he had a mullet! And… like, sure… the guy was in shape… really good shape... and his eyes were… weirdly pretty for a guy… and when he bothered to smile… it was… like… a good smile, or whatever… and yeah, sure… he’d clued in a few years back that his taste ran more to ‘pretty people’ than it did to  ‘pretty girls’... But…

Just…

His sister was not allowed to think Keith was hot. He couldn’t believe he even had to tell her that! It was weird. Seriously weird. 

That was all.

It was weird and he didn’t like it.

“It’s weird, Gaia,” he said out loud, “it’s weird and I don’t like it.”

The baby laughed around her soother, kicking her feet and bouncing happily.  He felt his heart melt, because she was just too sweet. Turning her around he let her grab his thumbs and kept her steady as she practiced standing. She smiled at him behind her soother, her bright purple eyes dancing with happiness. “You are completely irresistible. Yes, you are! Yes! You really, really are!” So was Austin… and as much as Lance adored kids, he was struggling to cheer up and enjoy getting to hang out with them. They’d all been having such a great day and now Rachel had wrecked his mood with her stupid ‘tasty’, and ‘mom porn’ comments!

“What’s with the face?” Keith’s voice snapped him out of his… uh… reverie (definitely not sulking. Reverie. Not sulking. Grown men don’t sulk). 

“This is just my face,” he grumbled, “sometimes I am serious. It happens.”

“You look like Gaia when she’s poopin’,” Austin added helpfully, “do you need to poop, Lance?”

“What? No!” Austin looked so concerned, and the whole thing was just taking a bizarre turn, “I was just thinking about something my sister said.”

“Did you not get the blond’s number?” Keith asked, and there was a weird edge to his voice.

“What blond?” 

“The blond that was flirting with you while you were supposed to be making sandcastles with Gaia,” Keith gestured to the castle-less sand in front of Lance and the baby.

“She was having fun smacking the ground,” Lance said, “I didn’t want to interrupt that and risk upsetting her.”

“Whazza blond?” Austin asked, stepping between them.

“A blond is someone with hair like Romelle’s- remember I showed you the video of Romelle?”

“Oh! The girl that was talkin’ to Lance and Gaia!”

“Oh, yeah… Amber! Yeah, she was blond, I guess.”

“Of course her name is Amber,” Keith muttered, scooping Gaia out of Lance’s lap. “Why does she have her soother?”

“She was trying to eat the beach,” Lance replied, “I figured if she had something to gnaw on she wouldn’t be as likely to eat sand. What do you mean ‘of course her name is Amber’?”

“I mean, she looked like someone named Amber,” Keith said, digging through the diaper bag.

“That doesn’t even make any sen- Hold on... Keith? Are you pissed at me?”

“Irritated,” Keith clarified. “If you wanna flirt with tourists, just say so. I can take care of my kids without help.”

“Woah- what?” Lance whipped around, “first of all, if I wanted to flirt with tourists I would say so, because I know you are perfectly capable of taking care of your children. Second of all, I wasn’t flirting with a tourist. She asked about Gaia and said it was nice to see such a close ‘family’ at the beach and then she left. Third of all, she was… way young. Like, just a few years older than Sylvio- so, yeah… not a creeper, thanks.”

“Are you guys fightin?” Austin asked, his voice unsure and a little scared.

“No, bud,” Lance said gently, feeling like crap for worrying the little boy, “we’re not fighting. I think we are both just a little grumpy.”

Keith took a breath, his expression softening, “even grown-ups get grumpy sometimes. I was worried that we were keeping Lance from doing something he wanted to do. That’s all.”

“But you’re not,” Lance insisted, “I want to be here, hanging out with you guys. I’m just grumpy because my sister was being a pest.”

Austin nodded, but his eyes kept darting back and forth between them, “so… you guys are still friends?”

“Yeah, bud,” Keith answered, finally finding what he was looking for in the diaper bag and setting up to change Gaia, “we’re still friends.”

“You know, a long, long, lonnnng time ago,” Lance said catching the little boy around the waist and pulling him into his lap as Austin squealed, “your Daddy and I used to get into great big fights all the time- and even then, we were still friends. Friendship is strong stuff. Way stronger than a little argument.”

“Ar-goo-ment?”

“Fighting with words,” Keith explained, “not fists and weapons.”

“Like when I don’t wanna baff and you say I gotta and I yell?”

Lance had to duck his face into Austin’s back to hide the smile the little boy’s words prompted. This kid wasn’t even trying and he was putting both the adults in their place for acting like literal toddlers.

Keith sighed, “yeah, buckaroo. Just like that.”

“Lance? Are you my friend?”

“Lance is a special kind of friend,” Keith cut in, “he’s a Paladin. That’s a friend that is kind of like family. Like the Blades.”

“Oh. Okay,” Austin smiled up at Lance and wriggled in his arms until he could give him a hug, the plastic water wings squeaking against his skin, “good.”

“I will always be your friend,” Lance whispered, squeezing the little boy tight, “you and Gaia can always always always count on me. Got it?’

“Got it,” Austin answered, “I’m firsty.”

“Yeah? Well, buddy do I have a treat for you! Remember when I bought those boxes of juice?”

“Yeah…”

“Guess what kind of juice it is?”

“Juice is juice.”

Keith chuckled, “he had juice for the first time yesterday, Lance. Up until then it was just water or milk.”

“What!?!?” Lance acted like that was the most scandalous thing he had ever heard. “Austin! Is that true!?!?”

“Uhhh,” he looked around, like he’d find the answer lying on the sand or something. “Yeah?”

“Oh man… Hang on!” Lance dug out one of the juice boxes and pulled up the little folds at the top, “okay bud, pinch right here and right here… yeah, that’s it.” He stuck the straw into the box, “okay… what does that taste like?”

“Mangoes! Daddy! It’s mangoes for when you are firsty!”

“Mango juice,” Keith laughed, “that’s called mango juice, buckaroo.”

“Man, you really love mangoes, huh?” chuckled Lance, and Austin’s eyes got big as he nodded, still sucking the juice through his straw. Keith finished up with Gaia’s diaper and threw the supplies back into the diaper bag, then pulled out a bottle for her. “I can feed her if you like,” Lance offered.

Keith shook his head, but there was no sign of his earlier pique. “It’s fine. I’m used to it just being me with them most of the time, and things are calm right now, they’re both in good moods. I’m going to make the most of that.”

“Fair enough,” Lance smiled, Keith's attention had already shifted to the little girl in his arms. It was hard to believe that it had barely been twenty-four hours since they’d arrived. Austin and Gaia had pretty much staked a place in Lance’s heart right on par with his siblings’ kids the instant he’d met them… and Keith… He was such a natural with them that it was already difficult to imagine him without kids. 

“Hi!” Lance turned to see a little boy who looked to be around five or six, standing in front of Austin, “I’m Miguel! We’re making a great big sandcastle! Wanna help?” Austin twisted around to look at his father in question. 

“Where are you building it?” Lance asked, buying time for Keith.

“Uhh… just right there,” Miguel pointed to a spot a little up the beach, but easily visible that had a couple of small kids milling around, “s’me and my sister- she’s 8- an’a couple other kids.”

“You want to?” Keith asked Austin who nodded like his head was on a spring. Keith glanced at Miguel and at the kids who had started pushing sand around. His brow furrowed and Lance could watch him debate with himself. “Alright. But- no climbing the sandcastle, no wrecking anyone else’s work, let the big kids get the water. Got it?”

“Got it,” Austin held his juice box out to Lance and hopped to his feet. 

“Hey bud,” Lance said before the little boy bolted, “you should bring the bucket and shovel. We have other toys for Gaia.”

“Kay!” he snatched them up and took off running with Miguel.

“Be careful,” Keith called after him.

“Are there many families on Marmora bases and ships?” Lance asked Keith.

He shook his head, “a few. Not many.”

“Sooo…”

“He’s had a couple of kids to play with every now and then, but not often,” Keith’s eyes were laser focused on his son.

“And they were Galra kids, right?”

“Yeah… so he was smaller, not as aggressive… but he did fine.”

“He’ll be fine here, too. Kids and sandcastles are… mainly they just make piles and try to dig moats. It’s like 90% about pretending and 10% about actually building anything. He’s a sweet kid… cooperative. He’ll have a blast.”

“Thanks,” Keith said softly, “I… worry, sometimes.”

“Oh?”

“Just… the Blade isn’t really set up for families…”

“Yeah, well it wasn’t really set up to be space unicef before you came along, either,” Lance teased, “you’ll make it work.” He finished the last few drops of the juice box and stowed the empty in their trash bag, then stretched out on the blanket, letting the sun beat down on him.

“I guess,” Keith sighed, “I’m surprised he wanted to. He’s usually slower to warm up to people.”

“He’s like twenty feet away… and kids are different than adults.” Lance pointed out, “and don’t underestimate the power of a really epic sandcastle.”

“So far, it looks like an anthill,” Keith chuckled.

“Not to them it doesn’t. To them it looks like… the Castle of Lions. Kids’ imaginations, man… powerful stuff.”

Lance expected a snort, maybe some kind of playful dig about Lance’s fanciful nature, possibly even a memory of something that Keith had imagined as a kid. If Pidge had been there, the conversation would have turned to the importance of imagination in science. If Hunk had been there, they’d have been sharing story after story of letting their imaginations get the best of them as kids. Shiro would probably have some thoughts on how imagination shapes leaders. Allura… he sighed, because he knew exactly how she would react. Allura would have listened to everyone and then pointed out that there are things in the universe so amazing that even children wouldn’t be able to dream them up. Sometimes she felt so far away and long ago that her memory was like a half-remembered dream. Other times, like now, it felt almost like he would hear her voice any second. Like she was there, just beyond his line of sight.

“She’s asleep,” Keith said, confusing him for a second before he realised he wasn’t talking about Allura. 

Gaia. Gaia was asleep. “She’s had a busy day,” Lance said, “you think we should pack up?”

“Not yet- let Austin have fun with the kids first.” Keith adjusted the baby in his arms and draped a light blanket over her to protect her from the sun. “That girl called us a close family, huh? What did she say when you corrected her?”

“I didn’t,” Lance answered, shrugging, “what would the point have been? And, technically, she said I had a beautiful family. Then she said we looked close and happy. She had that look, you know? The ‘I lost people in the occupation’ look. So… whatever… it made her smile to see us and think we were this picture perfect little family. I’m not going to take that away from her just because they aren’t my kids.”

“I-” Keith started, then went quiet for a moment. “I know the look.”

“She was completely charmed by Gaia,” he said, wanting to focus on the happier side of that interaction. “Which is not surprising, really.”

“I’m surprised at how many people comment on the kids,” Keith said.

“They are adorable kids,” Lance laughed, “people love really little ones… and Austin is such a charmer. Then there are Gaia’s eyes and she’s got that laugh. You’re just too used to the badass, stoic Blades.”

“I guess. I never really thought about how the, like, public would react to them. Every parent thinks their kids are beautiful and charming and special, right? I don’t think it ever occurred to me that anyone outside of the family would think that.”

“They are unusually cute, Keith,” Lance answered, shaking his head, “seriously. And Austin is SMART, too. He acts older than three and a half… and he picks up on stuff so quick. Your kids are awesome. No lie.”

“Thanks, Lance,” he said softly, “I can’t wait until Gaia is a little older. It’s so hard to imagine what she’s going to be like when she’s running around and talking and stuff.”

“She’s going to be something else, I’m sure. Hey- want me to get some pictures of Austin with the kids? Since your hands are full of baby and everything…”

“That would be great. You don’t mind?”

“Wouldn’t have offered if I minded, Mullet.” He grabbed his phone and crossed over to where Austin was hard at work filling his little bucket with wet sand. He snapped a couple of pictures before the little boy noticed him.

“Lance! I’m helping!” he announced as soon as he spotted him.

“I know you are, bud,” Lance answered, “are you having fun, though?”

“Yeah!” He grinned then paused, “are you gonna help?”

“Nah, bud… I’m just gonna get some pictures for your Daddy. Gaia fell asleep on him so he’s stuck.”

“More pictures?” he sighed like it was an impossible burden.

“Well, I mean… if you don’t want to have pictures to send to Krolia of you building the awes-”

“For Krolia? Okay!” He stood up and plunked his foot right on top of the bucket. He dug his little fists into his hips and smiled hugely. Lance obligingly snapped a couple of pictures. “Now a tough one!” He scowled, his whole face drawing into an expression Lance had seen far too many times on Keith’s face. God, this kid! “Take it!”

“Right… right,” he fought the urge to laugh, taking another couple of pictures. “I think your friends are waiting on that sand, bud. I can take some more while you play. Go, have fun.”

Austin trudged back to the other kids, lugging his bucket. Lance stuck around for a little bit, watching the kids work together and taking the occasional picture of Austin. It was interesting to see how he interacted with the others. He was happy and smiling, but he kept to himself unless one of the other kids called him over or spoke to him.  Once that happened he’d talk or laugh or do whatever they were asking and then sort of melt into the background again, sticking close to the little boy that had invited him to join them. It was weirdly familiar and it took a few minutes for Lance to realise that it was his shyness manifesting. The instant he made that realization, another one followed on its heels. 

Keith.

Lance thought back to their days at the Garrison and the way Keith had basically ignored everyone unless asked a direct question. He thought about the early days of Voltron and how Keith had hung back and stuck close to Shiro. Holy crap. Keith was SHY! He’d never made the connection before because Keith could be so… reckless and decisive… but it went a long way to explaining why he had resisted taking up the Black Paladin mantle, why he’d kept to himself so much… He was always someone that did what needed to be done, so he’d spoken up when it was needed, even given speeches or approached leaders… but he’d never been as at ease with it as Shiro had. 

Lance’s eyes drifted back to the little section of beach they’d staked out for themselves and he saw his old friend in a whole new light- years of interactions changing slightly when seen through the lens of someone dealing with shyness while surrounded by boisterous extroverts. Even Pidge, the quietest of the younger Paladins, was outgoing and social compared to how Keith had been. Geez, no wonder Keith had found him so grating and obnoxious! He’d won Lance’s respect years ago- Lance suspected it was even before he had managed to earn Keith’s friendship- but, that respect went up a few notches now. 

Everything Keith had accomplished was even more remarkable than he’d thought- it took a completely different kind of courage to push past that kind of discomfort then it did to fight for a cause, or to act to protect people who were in immediate danger.

By the time Austin was ready to leave the sandcastle everyone else was more than ready to leave the beach. Gaia was cranky and overstimulated and cried more on the way home from the beach than she had since they’d arrived. Halfway home, when it became obvious that the motion of the car wasn’t going to lull her in any way, Lance had to pull over so that Keith could wedge himself into the backseat between the two car seats to try to console her. He’d been planning on making dinner, but the day had gotten away from them and there was no way that Austin would go that much longer without food and not have a meltdown of his own, so Lance made the decision to take a short detour and hit up a drive-thru. The look of relief on Keith’s face when he turned into the parking lot was well worth the extra five minutes of fussing baby. 

Since Austin had no experience with fast food, Lance went a bit nuts with the ordering because he wanted to make sure that the kid had something he liked to eat. He figured he and Keith could finish off any leftovers after the kids were in bed as late night snacks. Gaia was still wailing when they parked in Lance’s driveway, but settled a bit in her father’s arms. Dinner was a very low key event. Keith paced with the baby as he ate. Austin discovered that he did not like cheeseburgers, but the nuggets were a hit and he thought fries were ‘almost as good as mangoes!’. Other than that enthusiastic review of the fries, Austin was quiet during the meal, and Lance was distracted, his mind wandering whenever his focus faltered even slightly.

Once the trash was thrown away and the leftovers were stowed in the fridge, Lance pulled Gaia out of Keith’s hands. “She’s been crying in your ear for over an hour,” he said gently, “you are going to want to put your head through a wall soon. They both need baths. Take Austin upstairs. I can wash her in the kitchen sink. She’s probably itchy from sand and sunscreen.”

“You don’t have to-”

“Keith. I’m tagging you out. Give your son a bath. I’ve got Gaia.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. The sooner we get them bathed, the sooner they will conk out- and they both need to conk out.”

Austin made such a pitiful noise when he got to the bottom of the stairs that Keith just slung him over his shoulder and carted him up to the bathroom fireman-style. Lance chuckled and peeled Gaia out of her beach clothes. She protested the water at first, but within a few minutes, she settled down, and by the time he was rinsing her hair out she was babbling happily for the first time in ages. She even laughed when he turned drying her off with a fluffy towel into a game of peek-a-boo and by the time he was zipping up her sleeper she was already nodding off. She was out like a light before she even finished her bottle. 

Lance sank onto the couch with a groan and turned on the television. He glanced over at Gaia in the swing that his family had dropped off sometime during the day to make sure the noise didn’t bother her but she didn’t even twitch. He was just turning on some dance talent competition mainly for the music when Keith snuck out of the guest room to join him on the couch and Lance opened a beer for each of them. They were both still dressed in swim trunks and tank tops, but he doubted that Keith cared any more than he did. He was wiped out and Keith looked just as exhausted.

“What’s that?” Keith asked, nodding at Gaia.

“Mmm,” Lance swallowed his mouthful of beer and pulled out his phone, “Mom scrounged up some supplies. There’s that swing, and a box up in my room with uhhh…” He tapped the screen, finding the message from his mother again, “more clothes and toys, plus some cloth diapers, some baby wash, a pack-and-play, teethers, storybooks, a stroller, a couple of slings, and some medicines and stuff.”

“Your family is amazing,” Keith breathed, “where’d they come up with all of that so fast?”

“Friends, neighbors… some of it is probably from Marco- his little girl just turned two, so a lot of the stuff she’s outgrown would work for Gaia.” Lance shrugged, “we are used to rallying on short notice and taking care of each other here. That’s part of why I love Cuba so much.”

“Yeah… It’s starting to make more sense to me,” Keith said, his voice soft and kind of far away, “why you missed this place so much…”

“There’s nowhere in the universe quite like Cuba,” he couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice even if he tried, which he absolutely did not do. “The best people are here, I swear.”

“She seems to like the swing.”

“Oh, she was already asleep when I put her in there,” Lance laughed, “she was covered in sand! Once I got her into the water, she perked right up, and promptly crashed with some food in her tummy.”

“Austin was pretty much the same,” laughed Keith, “I was starting to think there was more sand than kid!”

“We should probably shake the car seats out tomorrow, then.”

Keith turned to look at him, an expression of horror slowly spreading over his face, “oh God, Lance! Your car! It’s probably full of sand! I didn’t even think… “

Lance’s eyes bugged, “what? No! Oh God, don’t worry about that! I’ve tracked more sand into that car than you three could in a week. That car is practically beach. I vacuum it out every couple of weeks. Don’t even worry about it.”

“Desert sand is so different… I mean, it gets into everything whenever the breeze picks up, but…”

“There’s something about being close to water that makes beach sand just… coat things. It’s nuts. I’m used to it, though.” He took a swig of his beer, “Austin seemed to have a good day.”

“He had a blast. He wants to go back to the beach tomorrow. I told him we’d see what the weather was like and then decide.”

“I think we’re due for rain, but if it is nice, we can head back to the beach.”

Gaia made a little squawk in her sleep and rubbed at her face, but didn’t wake. “Is it awful that I’m hoping for rain?” Keith asked after a few minutes.

“Nope- I’m right there with you. That was exhausting! I don’t know how my parents survived bringing all five of us to the beach so often!” He shook his head, “half the time we brought friends with us, too!”

“Miguel wanted Austin’s phone number when we were leaving. He has officially made his first friend his own age.”

“Awwww good for him. That’s adorable! I’m glad I got some pictures of them palling around together. He seems like a sweet kid- that sister of his is bossy though! Reminds me of Veronica!”

“Hey- I like Veronica!”

Lance reached out and playfully shoved Keith. “You didn’t know her when she was 8!” 

They laughed together for a few minutes, being mindful of the sleeping baby in the room and relaxed into a companionable silence, half-watching the dancers on the television. When Keith finished his beer and cleared his throat, clearly about to say something ‘serious’, Lance braced for yet another version of the ‘how long are you going to waste your life’ conversation that he had with someone or another every few months or so. It was getting tedious. 

“So,” Keith said, shifting his weight on the couch. “Today… was good. Really… but…”

“But?” Lance asked on a sigh. He really didn’t want to defend his life- again.

“I know that Cuba is your home and people are used to seeing you around and you don’t get hassled… but they aren’t used to me…”

Huh? This was… not where Lance thought the conversation was going to go… what the heck was Keith stressing about now? “Okay?”

“Give me a second,” he grumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck, “former Black Paladin, prominent member of the Blade… I might… you know… attract attention. Wouldn’t be the first time the press has made things difficult.”

“Yeah… I guess… I mean, yeah, I remember seeing coverage of you and Acxa when you guys were in London a couple of years back.”

“Ugh! The whole ‘secret wedding’ rumor? What a pain in the ass that was!” He rolled his eyes, “Acxa was like 3 nosy reporters away from screaming ‘I’m a fucking lesbian!!’ at people… it was almost funny how she kept muttering it under her breath, like she was starting to doubt it or something.”

Lance snorted, “almost?!?!? That sounds hilarious! Things were not much better in the McClain household during that whole thing, let me tell you! Veronica was ready to spit nails!” 

“But… they were broken up then…”

“Oh yeah, I am aware… and then they got back together. Three guesses as to whether seeing Acxa all over the tv and having every second person ask if it was true that she was getting married had anything to do with my proud-ass sister actually apologizing to her and patching things up…”

“At least something good came out of that mess! What a headache.”

“We don’t have to leave the farm if you want to avoid people, Keith,” Lance offered, “there’s a little lake on the property that we can take the kids to for swimming, and I can run errands on my own. It’s not like I don’t trust you here without me.”

“It’s not that,” Keith took a breath, held it for a beat, and let it out. Lance was starting to get concerned. If it wasn’t that… then what was it? Because it was obviously not what he had expected to be talking about. “The kids… they look like me… if they end up getting caught on video or in pictures… and that makes it onto the news, or like, a Garrison intel report…” He trailed off with a shrug.

“Ah, Shiro. Yeah, that would be a shitty way for him to find out about them.”

Keith nodded. “I need to talk to him. In person. Soon.”

“Yeah, Samurai, you do.” There was no sense in arguing any of those points. Lance understood why Keith had been dragging his feet and all, but as far as he was concerned, the conversation with Shiro was already six months overdue. 

“Will you… be there? When I talk to him, I mean.” Keith tipped his face up to his and the expression was more than nerves. Keith was scared . He was scared to tell Shiro about the kids. Lance didn’t think he’d ever seen Keith look so frightened except when Shiro was missing.

“Whatever you need,” he promised, reaching out to catch Keith’s hand and squeeze it in reassurance, “be there… be the one to say it… claim them as my kids and passionately insist that they share zero dna with you… make up a fake secret wife that has been keeping me chained to the farm with insanely adorable children who absolutely in no way resemble you in the slightest.”

“Oh my God, you are ridiculous,” Keith muttered, shaking his head, even as he clung to Lance’s hand so tight his knuckles blanched, “how in the hell did I end up with you as a best friend?”

Best friend? He was Keith’s best friend? His best friend?!?!? That couldn’t be right! He hadn’t even seen Keith in a freaking year! “Just lucky, I guess,” he flashed Keith a cocky smile. “Seriously, though… you want me there, I’m there. No questions asked.”

“I want you there,” Keith whispered, “I think I need you there… to… keep me from spinning out.”

“You’re not going to spin out. You’re going to trip over your words and foul it up, and then he’ll make some kind of joke, and you’ll laugh and he’ll spot the kids and look at you with that face - you know the one… the ‘I’m waiting for an explanation’ face... the whole ‘Lance, why is there food goo on the ceiling’ face… I’ve seen it a lot… and you’ll introduce them and tell him how you ended up being a Dad. It will be awkward, but it will be fine.” He scooched a little closer, “it will be fine. You guys have been through way tougher shit than this… and they are exceptionally adorable kids. He’s a goner once he sees them. Introduce him to Austin as his ‘Uncle Shiro’. No way he’s resisting that!”

“You sound so sure. I wish I could be that sure.” He let out a shuddery sigh, “I just keep thinking about the whole ‘cloning facility’ thing…”

“Look, I know Shiro has… reasons to be twitchy about cloning facilities. I get that… but the only way Allura could save him from being stuck within Black forever is because he’d been cloned. I am absolutely positive that has occurred to someone who values looking at situations from all angles as much as Shiro does.” He twisted his hand in Keith’s so he could lace their fingers together, because, holy crap, he was gonna crush Lance’s hand if he kept gripping it like that. “You are psyching yourself out. It’s not going to be nearly as bad as you are afraid it will be.”

“You don’t know that.” 

He still sounded so scared that it made Lance’s heart ache for him. “I know Shiro. I know you. I know the epically Shakespearean lengths you two would go to for the other. You need to give him- and you- more credit.” Lance swore to God that if Shiro didn’t prove him right and Keith wrong, he was going to blow a gasket on the spot. He didn’t want to go off on his friend and mentor, but if he botched this and hurt Keith- or Austin- in the process… Lance just might. Because, damn it, Keith deserved to be able to be proud of his kids and be commended for what a great job he was doing with them. Keith deserved to look at Shiro, the man he most emulated, and see pride and approval and recognition. He deserved it… and if he didn’t get it… Lance very well could snap.

“But… what if…”

“Then he isn’t the man we thought he was, is he?” Lance reached out with his free hand to tip Keith’s face up so he could meet his eyes. “I mean, yeah, he might need a little time to process, but after that if he would do any of the stuff you are worried he might do, then he is not as strong, or as smart, or as kind as we know he is.”

“But-”

“Stop it. Keith. Stop. Worrying about this has kept you silent for half a year and it didn’t solve anything . You are going to tell him and then you won’t have to worry anymore.”

Keith nodded, swallowing hard, tension rolling through his entire frame. “This is… exactly why… “ he blinked owlishly, cheeks coloring, “uhh… exactly why I want you there.”

“Then I’m there. It’s that easy, Keith. You need me, I’m there. No matter what.” This time, he was the one that squeezed Keith’s hand and then… something completely unprecedented happened.

Keith made a strangled little noise. He stared at Lance for what felt like forever. Then he was moving, and before he could realize what was going on, he felt Keith’s weight slam into his. Trapping their joined hands between them, Keith’s free arm snaked around to Lance’s back and held on tight. 

A hug.

Keith had hugged him.

Not hugged him back- Keith had been the one to initiate the hug. For the first time Lance could think of, Keith had been the one to hug him. 

A little belatedly, Lance slipped his own free arm around Keith’s waist and held him tight. His hand slid up Keith’s spine to rub back and forth between his shoulder blades comfortingly. “He’s going to be so proud of you,” Lance whispered, “he should be so proud of you. I am. I am so proud that you are my friend, Keith. So proud.”

“Thank-you.” The words were small. Soft. Lance barely caught them. Barely, but he managed… and they did absolutely nothing to change his resolve to keep hugging Keith back every second that he was hugging him… because he’d be damned if he was going to end the very first hug that Keith had initiated before Keith chose to. He refused to set a precedent of rejecting something as simple and healing as a hug. Especially not after the realization he’d had about Keith at the beach.

“You’re welcome,” he murmured, “but you don’t have to thank me. I’ve always got your back, right?”

“Yeah, you always do. I can always count on you.”

“Always.”

“Can we go tomorrow?” He was still clinging to Lance, but he’d moved his head, pressing his forehead into Lance’s shoulder and speaking into the virtually nonexistent space between them. Lance could feel the little puffs of breath coast over his clavicle as Keith spoke.

“We can… or we can invite him here, if that is easier for you.”

Keith pulled back, shaking his head, and Lance immediately missed the warmth of his strong frame. “I’d rather go to him- he’s so busy… and if it goes badly, I don’t want Austin connecting that to your home. He loves it here.”

“Well yeah,” Lance answered with a smirk and an eyeroll, “I’m awesome. I’m the best cooker. My house is made of rocks and trees. What’s not to love?”

His face relaxing enough to show a hint of humor, Keith gave a weak laugh, and rolled his eyes right back at Lance, “you cook the best mangoes.”

“Mhm,” he nodded. “I cook the best mangoes.” 

Chapter Text

“Austin, bud… you gotta stop climbing the chairs, you are going to fall and Gaia won’t let me put her down, so I don’t have a free arm to catch you,” Lance sighed, pacing the floor with the baby.

“Not gonna fall off a chair,” Austin protested as he teetered precariously on the edge of the ugly military issue chairs that filled the conference room they were waiting in.

“Austin, stop it. I know you are bored. This is a boring room- trust me, I know how boring it is. But your Daddy left us here while he let them know we’d arrived, and it’s only going to take a little bit… and if you have a bruise from falling when he gets back, he’s never going to let me take care of you two alone again. Okay?” 

Austin rolled his eyes- which was not getting old and was still stupid cute- but he sat, his little legs swinging over the edge of the seat, arms crossed over his chest. “Okay.”

“Thanks, bud,” he said, making sure Austin saw his big smile, “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I know a playground with really great monkey bars. Those are made to climb on. You’ll love them.”

“Really?” his little face brightened at the thought.

“Yes, really. Have I let you down yet?”

The kid actually took a minute to think about that! What?? It had been two days and Austin had been bursting with excitement and happiness for practically every second he was awake. What was there to consider?!? “No,” he said finally. 

Lance should hope so! Tough kid to impress, apparently. “Do you remember what we are doing here?”

“We’re meetin’ Daddy’s friend,” he answered on a long-suffering sigh, “an’ I hafta be polite and don’t say nuffin til Daddy’s done talking.”

“Yup, that’s exactly it. Do you remember his name?” He shifted Gaia to his other shoulder, prying her little fist open so she didn’t yank the hair she’d grabbed right out of his head.

“Ummm… Cheerio?”

Oh man, why had he never thought of calling Shiro that!?!? “Close, bud. It’s Shiro. Cheerios are the little round things you and Gaia were snacking on on the way here.”

“Shirrrrrro,” Austin repeated, “Shiiiiiiiro…. Shirooooo… Shiro.”

“Yup. Shiro’s very busy so he might not have very much time to talk. That’s why you have to wait for Daddy to finish talking. Okay?”

He nodded seriously, “like Kolivan.”

“Yeah, exactly like Kolivan. Oh, good Lord, Gaia! What has gotten into you today? Stop trying to eat my hair, sweetie, please!”

“She’s all slobbery,” Austin made a disgusted face, “she’s always like that.”

“Maybe she’s hungry?” Lance curled his hand and tucked his index finger knuckle into the little girl’s mouth to see if she needed a bottle. She didn’t suck on it, she just gnawed at him. “Huh… I wonder.” He moved his hand, running his finger along her gums. He didn’t feel anything poking him, but there were a couple of spots that felt a little swollen. “Awww sweetie, is your little mouth hurting? Poor thing. Austin, can you get me one of her chewy toys?”

“Whaz wrong wiff her?” Hopping down off the seat, Austin dug into her diaper bag.

“I think she’s getting a new tooth, bud. It doesn’t feel very good when that happens and sometimes chewing on stuff helps.”

“This one?” Austin held up a flexible rubbery ring with bumps and ripples, the instant Gaia saw it she squealed and kicked, making grabby hands for the toy.

“Looks like that’s a good choice,” Lance chuckled, crouching down so he could hand it to his little sister. “You are an excellent big brother, did you know that bud?”

Austin shrugged one shoulder, “I guess. It’s not hard. She can’t do much, so I just gotta hand her stuff sometimes.”

“It gets trickier when you’re bigger, but you’ll be fine. I can tell. She’s lucky to have you.” Lance had no idea how close Keith had been to losing the argument with his mother about who would raise Austin, but the more time he spent with Keith’s kids, the more glad he was that Keith had stood his ground. He could see these two being as close as Matt and Pidge when they got bigger.

“Okay.” He climbed back up into his chosen chair and groaned- immediately crossing his arms, and kicking his legs, and this time adding a pout for good measure. 

Yup. 

The pout was eerily familiar, too. He’d never really noticed how much Keith pouted until he saw his little doppleganger do it. It was adorable. Uh… Austin. AUSTIN’s pout was adorable… because he was a three year old, and pouting three year olds were adorable. Keith’s pout wasn’t adorable. Not even when they’d been teens at the Garrison. It was… exactly the same as Austin’s, but it wasn’t adorable. It was just… pouty. Which was… why was he even thinking about this? It was weird. Thinking about Keith’s pout was a weird thing to be doing. How long did it take to check in, anyway? Where was he? Austin was going to lose it soon- he was too much like his father to just sit and wait. That pout was a warning sign… he’d seen it on Keith too many times. Lean against the wall, one knee bent, arms crossed, cute little pook of the bottom liiii…. Dammit! Rachel! Cute. ‘Cute’?!?!? His freaking sister with her freaking weird comments about Keith being hot was still messing with his head!

“Lance?”

“Yeah bud?” he focused his attention back where it belonged- the kids he was taking care of.

“Is Cheerio a Pladdin, too?” He turned in his seat to face Lance, his expression curious.

“Yeah, Shiro was a Paladin, too,” he decided to risk sitting down now that Gaia had something to chew on. “He was the Black Paladin before your Daddy was.”

“So, he’s a special kind of friend, too?”

“Yeah- Shiro is extra special to your Daddy. Like… even more than Kolivan or Acxa. They were friends for a long time and Shiro helped your Daddy a lot before he went to space.”

“Oh,” he kind of deflated, picking at the seat, “okay.”

“Hey, bud? What’s wrong?”

“Nuffin,” he said, scowling.

“You’re going to love Shiro, bud,” he tried, “he’s brave and smart and funny, and he loves your Daddy like a brother.”

Austin mumbled something he couldn’t make out.

“I didn't catch that, bud. Can you say it again?”

Still scowling, Austin shook his head so hard his whole torso moved with the force of it.

“Do you think… maybe you could whisper it to me? Like a secret?”

He thought about it for a moment and then climbed to his feet and leaned all his weight on Lance. “I don’wanna leave your house. I like it there… and you are my friend!”

“Awww, bud, you guys aren’t going anywhere! You’re not having a sleepover visit with Shiro!” It was seriously amazing how damn loveable this kid was!

“Are you sure?” he didn’t look convinced.

“Yeah, bud, I’m sure. No matter what, you guys are coming back to my house to sleep. I promise.” He curled the arm that was not holding Gaia around Austin’s back, reaching up to muss his soft hair.

“You promise?” Austin asked, eyes huge and pleading.

Lance nodded, “cross my heart. I promise.”

“Okay,” he said softly, “and Chee- I mean, Shiro… he’s not scary?”

“Well, he’s kind of big, but not as big as Kolivan, and he has a scar right here,” Lance unwound his arm to trace a line across Austin’s nose, “and he has a floating robot arm. So he might look a little scary at first… but he is a hero, just like your Daddy, and-”

“And you,” Austin insisted, “Daddy said you were a hero, too.”

“He did, huh?” Somehow he doubted that.

“Yeah… he said you keepeded people safe and helped him when he was scared and made sure nobody got broken inside from being too sad.”

Lance felt his cheeks flush and his peripheral vision took on a blue cast as the marks on his face glowed, “well… okay… yeah. He’s a hero like me and your Daddy. One time, he was so worried about your Daddy that he was going to fight Kolivan to keep him safe- so he is very brave.”

“Kolivan wouldn’t hurt Daddy!”

Lance felt a lurch in his chest. Austin’s insistence was sweet, but he remembered all too well the state Keith was in after the Marmora Trials, and was still very aware that Kolivan had had the power to prevent all of that damage and pain. There was no way he was going to be the one to disillusion Austin, who clearly idolized Kolivan. Besides, the trials were ages ago and Kolivan and Keith were really tight now.

“Oh, I know! We all know that now, but this was the very first time we met Kolivan. He wasn’t our friend yet, so he seemed scary.”

“Oh. Okay. But if I get scared… will you keep me safe?”

Lance pressed a kiss to Austin’s forehead, “that’s exactly what I do, bud. Just like your Daddy said. I keep people safe, and I help when they are scared. If you get scared, I’ll keep you safe.” He’d step in front of a zeiforge cannon if it protected these kids. Without a second thought.

The door swung open and Lance looked up, expecting Keith. Instead, it was Shiro. Austin squeaked and buried his face in Lance’s shoulder- which was honestly probably the best thing he could have done. Gaia couldn’t have cared less about the new person if she tried, her attention torn between her chewy toy and trying to pluck the glowing marks off of Lance’s face. 

“Lance?!?! Sam said he saw Keith come in here…” Shiro looked around, confused.

“Uhh… yeah. He did, and then he went to let your assistant know he was here,” Lance managed a small smile, “he’ll be back in a minute, I’m sure.”

“I didn’t even know he was in the solar system… what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Lance shrugged, “just… Hey, how’s Curtis?”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed, “Curtis is great… why do you have a lap full of children?”

“Kids like me?”

“Kids-”

“Shiro!” Keith burst into the room, “there you are- uh… Okay. I can explain.”

“I would really, really like someone to explain what is going on,” Shiro sighed, exasperated. 

“He’s scary,” Austin whispered to Lance.

“He’s just confused buddy, I promise,” Lance whispered back, “nothing scary is going to happen. I got you.”

“You should… umm… sit down,” Keith suggested, pointing to a chair about five feet from where Lance was sitting. Shiro sat, watching Keith expectantly. Keith dropped into the seat beside Lance, his hand wrapping tight around Lance’s wrist, since he had his hands full with babies.

“Okay, I was going to talk to you first and then do this, but… alright. New plan. Introductions first.” He took a deep breath, and scooped Gaia up smiling when she gurgled happily at him. “Shiro, this is Gaia. My daughter.”

“Your daughter?” Shiro echoed, turning his attention to Lance, “how long have you known about this?”

“Like, two days,” Keith answered for him. “We got to Cuba two days ago, got settled in and came here. I’m not done. Gaia is six months old… and Lance is holding Austin, my son. Austin? Buckaroo? Can you say hi to Shiro?”

“Hi,” Austin said into Lance’s shoulder.

“He’s… shy,” sighed Keith, obviously torn between pushing the conversation forward and comforting his son.

“Am not!” argued Austin… pretty ineffectually, given that he spoke, again, into Lance’s shoulder.

“Hey, bud?” Lance coaxed, “think you can just turn around and sit in my lap? You didn’t even look at Shiro yet. I bet you can hold your Daddy’s hand…”

Austin shook his head and clung tighter.

“Hey- remember when I said what a good big brother you are? Shiro is your Daddy’s big brother. He kept him safe and took care of him just like you do for Gaia… and he helped me with my fighting, just like Krolia helps you,” he said softly.

“An’he’s a hero?” Austin asked again.

“Yup.”

“Shiro was the one that taught me how to make the paper birds, Austin,” Keith prodded.

“The paper birds? Really?” He twisted in Lance’s arms, pressing back against his chest but at least facing the room. “You can make paper birds?”

“I can,” Shiro said softly, “I haven’t done that in a long time, though. I’d probably need help.”

“I help Daddy!”

“He picks out the paper,” Keith elaborated, “and helps make their wings flap.”

“Those are important jobs,” Shiro said, his voice kind and encouraging. It was obvious he had a million questions, but he was putting them aside until he could reassure the nervous boy. “Sounds like you are a big help.”

“I am, Daddy says so,” Austin said, starting to relax a little bit in Lance’s arms.

“He helped me make pizza the other night, too,” Lance added, “he's very helpful.”

“I like peep’saws!” Austin chimed, “an’bacon… but my favorite is mangoes!”

Keith chuckled, “mangoes have been heavily featured in our visit so far.”

“So, you’re staying with Lance?”

Keith nodded and Lance smiled, mussing Austin’s hair, “I’ve got the room, and my family is around and always ready to help.”

“You know you could have stayed with us, right?” Shiro said, his voice worried. “No matter what.”

“Lannnnce?” Austin twisted, clutching at his shirt.

“It’s okay, buddy. You’re not going anywhere. I promised, remember?” He cooed, smoothing his hand down Austin’s back, “this isn’t a sleepover visit. Shiro just wants to make sure your Daddy knows you guys can stay there another time. A different visit. Not this one.”

“Given… everything, I decided that Cuba was the best choice for this visit. The kids are still really young, and get overwhelmed…”

“I’m big, Daddy,” Austin insisted.

“You sure are,” Shiro said, sending a questioning look to Keith, “how old are you Austin?”

“Same as Gaia,” Austin answered easily, “I’m just big and she’s a baby.”

“Essentially he’s three years ‘bigger’ than Gaia,” Keith said.

“Smarter than most three and half years olds, though,” Lance pointed out, “aren’t you bud?”

“Uh-huh,” Austin’s eyes lit up proudly and he nodded. “Artax said my brain is really good!”

“Artax, huh?” Shiro glanced at Keith, “he’s still around?”

“He’s a doctor with a background in galra hybrid genetics,” Keith sounded tired, “my kids need a specialist.”

“Uh-huh,” Shiro turned his attention to Austin, and Lance caught Keith rolling his eyes. What was that about? “He said your brain was really good? That’s probably the best kind of brain.”

“Yeah,” Austin nodded sagely, “it is. Gaia’s brain is really good, too… but she’s a baby so her brain didn’t learn all the stuff mine did. Lance said she’s all slobbery because she’s maybe getting a toof!”

“What?” Keith turned Gaia to face him and lifted her, trying to see into her mouth around the chewy toy, “how can you tell that?”

“She’s fussy, extra drooly, and chewing on everything,” chuckled Lance, “and when I ran my finger along her gums there were a couple of spots I thought might be swollen. Could be ages still, but,” he shrugged, “it would make sense.”

“I’m not ready for her to have teeth yet!” Keith squawked, “she’s too little!”

Lance chuckled, “literally yesterday, on the beach you looked at me and said you couldn’t wait for her to be running around and talking. Now you are freaking out about a tooth?”

“Listen- I had heatstroke yesterday and wasn’t making any sense! She’s a baby! Look at how tiny she is! She needs to stay a baby!”

“Heatstroke?! Not likely. Stop panicking. She might not get the tooth for ages.” Lance knew what he was doing. He didn’t know if Keith knew what he was doing, but Lance definitely did. It was way easier to freak out about Gaia growing up too fast than it was to think about the information that he still had not given Shiro about how he ended up with two kids in the first place.

“Shiro?” Austin said, actually scooting forward in Lance’s lap a little, “do you wanna hold Gaia?”

“Umm… if it is okay with Kei- your Daddy,” he shot Lance a ‘that’s gonna take some getting used to’ look, but smiled at the little boy, “then yes. I would… but I’m not sure he would think this was a good time…”

“Daddy?” Austin spoke a little louder, and Keith turned to look at him instantly.

“Yeah, buckaroo?”

Keeping one hand twisted in Lance’s shirt, Austin pointed at Shiro with the other, “he wants to hold Gaia.”

“Yeah, you should let Uncle Shiro hold the baby, Keith,” Lance prodded.

“Uncle Shiro?” the Captain of the Atlas smiled slowly, his eyes going soft, and held out his hands for the baby, “Uncle Shiro. I like it.”

“She's heavier than she looks,” Keith warned as he passed her over.

Gaia gurgled happily and settled into the crook of Shiro's natural arm easily, blinking up at him.

“Well, hello Gaia,” he cooed, “aren't you a little sweetheart!”

“Keep those reading glasses out of grabbing range,” laughed Lance, “she's quick… but her aim isn't the best. I've gotten poked in the eye a few times.”

Shiro slid his glasses up onto the top of his head and beamed at the baby. “Keith, she's amazing. Look at those eyes! Purple!”

“Galra genes peeking through,” Keith explained. “She used to have more hair but she rubbed it off? I didn't know that's a thing, but I guess that’s a thing that babies do?”

“It is,” Lance said, “that’s why so many of them have that bald spot on the back of their heads.” Suggesting that Shiro hold Gaia had been an indication that Austin was starting to relax and warm up to him, but the instant Keith wasn’t holding Gaia, he went right back to clutching at Lance’s arm. 

So, that caused a bit of an issue- Keith really needed to talk to Shiro and Lance had promised to be there… but it wasn’t a conversation that Austin should be part of, and they didn’t have anyone that the kids or Keith trusted enough to remove them from the room. Not following through on his word that he would be moral support for Keith wasn’t an option. Neither was giving Austin any reason to think that he was going anywhere. 

Sometimes, the conditioning from Voltron to assess and dismiss tactical options in rapid fire succession was helpful in the most unexpected ways- he had an idea. If you can’t remove the child, you can probably distract the child.

 “Hey Austin… the grown-ups have to talk about some really… umm…” He faltered, not wanting to lie to the little boy, but not wanting to upset him, either. “Un-fun stuff. I know you don’t want to go anywhere, so… how about I let you borrow my phone and you can watch some animal videos? Like the ones you watched on the way here?”

“Wiff the pingins?” Austin asked, eyes bright.

“Sure, if you wanna watch the penguin one again, you can do that,” leaning toward his son, Keith gave Lance’s arm a squeeze, “Lance can probably cue up two or three of your favorites… so penguins, and?”

“Ummm… pingins… an’horses… and… ummm… the ones that live in the water, wiff the little hands…”

“Otters?”

“Yeah! Otters!”

“Alright, got it.” Digging out his phone, Lance made a little playlist of cute animal videos for Austin. “Penguins, and then horses, followed by otters… and I found another otter video where they all fall asleep linked together. Very, very, cute stuff. But, bud it is really important that if the video messes up you tell me right away, alright? So, I can fix it?”

Impatient, Austin was reaching for the phone before he even started nodding, “kay…”

“Let me get the ear things on you,” Keith laughed, “so you can hear the funny voices.” Within a couple of minutes, Austin was settled away and out of Lance’s lap. Happy little burbles from Gaia meant Shiro was keeping her entertained while they rearranged everything and gave Austin a moment or two to make sure he was fully engrossed. Soft, delighted giggles escaped him almost immediately and Lance had to smile at the way Keith looked at him with such blatant devotion. So help him, if Shiro took this badly and did anything to upset Austin… Lance wasn’t sure Keith would be able to hack it.

The room went oddly quiet aside from Austin’s occasional coo or laugh, even Gaia stopped babbling, her attention flitting from one adult to the next curiously. Whatever half-formed ideas of how Keith would broach the subject of how he ended up a Dad that Lance had lurking in the back of his mind, none of them were anything close to what the guy actually did.

“I accidentally made a baby,” Keith said matter-of-factly, and Shiro blinked so hard his whole head moved. “Two of them, in fact. I was on a mission with the Blade and we were in this facility and I thought that I was hitting the trigger for the door, but it was actually taking dna samples from me and-”

“Dna samples?” Shiro echoed, going very still. His face changed slightly- closing off as he went from smiling at the baby in his arms to analyzing her face. “Keith? What kind of facility were you in?”

Everything went very still and Lance was actually debating reaching out to take Gaia when Keith’s hand shot out and locked around his own, the knuckles going visibly white even against Keith’s pale skin. “It,” he started, voice shaky, “it was an abandoned Druid base. One of the… um… cloning facilities…”

It had been a long, long time since Lance had seen that dull, shocky look on Shiro’s face and he’d almost forgotten the way it made his gut lurch. Years peeled away and it felt like Lance could hear that barely perceptible but distinct drone of the castle ship. Like he could smell one of Hunk’s culinary experiments. Like any second Allura’s arrival would be heralded by the scampering of her mice. It was jarring to see, so he could only imagine what it felt like for Shiro.

“Cloning…” he breathed, “but… she…”

“I know. I was only triggering the part that added dna. There was another process for removing it from the egg first that didn’t happen…” Lance could feel the worry and embarrassment and fear rolling off of Keith.

“So, they aren’t actually clones,” Shiro concluded, visibly relieved. “Just… test tube babies. Like in vitro. Curtis and I have been looking into-”

“Shiro,” Keith said, his voice firm, “that only happened with her. The first time I triggered it, there was already an egg prepped. An actual clone. Austin… he’s genetically identical to me. He’s a clone.”

Panicked eyes darted over to the little boy who was cheerfully watching animal videos. “But…”

“Takashi,” Keith sounded so young, and Lance couldn’t remember ever hearing Keith call Shiro by his given name, “he’s my son. Just like she’s my daughter. They are mine. He’s a great kid. Just… a normal, awesome little boy.”

“But… so was…” eyes wide, he shifted his attention, “Lance! Tell him… the programming…”

“Shiro,” Lance said, keeping his voice soft and calm, “Haggar’s gone. The Druids are gone. I know what you are worried about, but that programming was in the arm … and Austin… he doesn’t have Keith’s memories. It’s not the same.”

“When? When did this…”

“Six months ago. All the… incubators open at the same time, we had to wait for her to be safe… and they made him grow so much faster once he was full term… So, he was developmentally three when he was born.”

“And you just… no tests? How can you be sure he’s not-”

“Shiro!” 

“Okay,” Lance cut in, “this is… a lot. So, everyone take a breath. No one thinks this is easy for you to hear, Shiro. It’s not easy for Keith to tell you… and he could have lied. I thought up like six totally plausible explanations that had nothing to do with what really happened. He’s trusting you with the truth, because you deserve it. Try to remember that.”

“I think,” Keith’s voice was sad, “we should… just… go. Give you some time… space. To wrap your head around it.”

“Keith-”

“No, it’s okay. I knew this would be… awful. But it’s okay. I’m staying with Lance… for a while, I guess. So, if you have questions or you want to talk, you can find me. I think… we should just… go.”

“I-”

“Shiro, stop. It’s okay that you need time. It’s okay. We’ll be at Lance’s. Just… give me my daughter and we’ll pack up and head back to Cuba. They’re going to be hungry soon anyway.” Wordlessly, Shiro lifted Gaia and Keith let go of Lance so he could gather her to his chest, tucking his face into the tight curve of her small shoulder and rubbing her back.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance coaxed, “I’ll get the gear and Austin. You go out in the hall with her. Give yourself a minute before Austin expects you to hear all about the videos.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “yeah… I’ll… do that. Thanks.”

Worry creased his brow as he watched Keith carry Gaia out into the hall. Turning his attention to Shiro didn’t do much to alleviate it. It had been a very long time since he’d seen Shiro so conflicted and stressed out. Of all the ways he’d thought that conversation might go down, this had never crossed his mind. No resolution at all, just… pain. “Are you okay?” he asked, surprising himself, “I can call Curtis if you need me to… or Veronica, maybe?”

“Six months…” Shiro whispered, “without reaching out…”

“He was dealing with stuff, Shiro. Things… look, he didn’t give me details, but he was fighting with Krolia… like… custody fights are kind of notorious for being messy. It’s not like he had a lot of help, and he had no warning. I get that this is hard for you. I do, man. Really. But… you have to know it’s not a slight that he didn’t say anything until now…” He glanced at the door, “Shiro? Should I call your husband?”

“Is… is Keith going to be okay?”

“I’m texting Curtis.” Except… Shit! Austin had his phone. Okay… okay... “Shiro, give me your phone so I can text your husband.” Moving like he was on autopilot, Shiro unlocked his phone and handed it over. Lance sent a quick message saying that he was with Shiro, who had had a rough day and would definitely benefit from his husband taking him home from work early. He followed it up with their location so Curtis wouldn’t waste time heading to Shiro’s actual office and handed the phone back. 

“Shiro, listen… Keith’s going to be okay. He’s staying with me and I’m not going to let anything happen to him. I’ve got him. Hell, he’s even been talking to me about shit this time around. But look… talk to your husband, talk to Sam, talk to your therapist… whatever you have to do to wrap your head around this. Because I’ve spent like two and a half days with them and I can tell you right now- even with all the stress and worry… this is the best I have ever seen Keith. He’s really great with those kids, and if you miss out on being around for that? It would be a real shame… and if that…” He sighed, resting his hand on Shiro’s shoulder, “listen. I love you like family, and that’s never going to change. I have faith in you. You can deal with this. If you need to talk later, gimme a call. Things tend to settle down by eight or so. Okay?”

“Yeah… alright…” The phone buzzed and Shiro looked down, “Curtis is on his way.”

“Good. I’m going to get these guys out of here so they don’t cross paths.” Rising, he gathered up the kid paraphernalia, slinging the diaper bag over his shoulder and crouching beside Austin. Moving the headphones so the little boy could hear him he said, “hey bud- we’re all done here. You wanna walk? Or you want me to carry you so you can keep watching the videos?”

“We’re going back to your house?” His eyes were so big and trusting; Lance knew that Shiro had very valid reasons to be leery of Galran cloning tech, but it was so hard for him to understand how anyone could look at Austin and see anything other than a sweet, bright, happy, innocent little soul. 

“Yeah, we are. But we might stop somewhere for lunch first. Your Daddy’s in the hall with Gaia already, soooo? Walk or watch?”

“I wanna see the otters holdin’hands,” he answered finally, curling into Lance’s chest as he gathered him up and settling the headphones back over his ear. Overcome with fond affection, Lance kissed his forehead, making him smile. “Bye Uncle Cheerio! It was nice to meet you,” he said without looking away from the screen- which was good… because it meant he didn’t see the way Shiro flinched at the honorific.

Lance did though, and despite his faith in his former leader’s ability to find his way past his own traumas, that little movement hardened some tiny sliver of Lance to him. A big part of why Austin warmed up to Shiro in the first place was because Lance had vouched for him and encouraged Austin to trust him. If that had been a mistake and Austin ended up hurting because of it, Lance would never forgive himself. Maybe the kid had better instincts than Lance did, but he really hoped not.

With full tummies courtesy of take-out from the Garrison cafeteria, the kids both fell asleep in the shuttle on the way back home and Keith was quiet in the passenger seat. Given how the day had gone so far, Lance figured he had a lot on his mind. Besides, he was starting to appreciate the whole ‘silence is golden’ thing since the children had arrived- and Keith had always been someone who enjoyed the quiet. The radio played softly and he hummed along contentedly, letting Keith know that he was fine with the lack of conversation. 

Austin reminded him of his promise to bring him to the park with a jungle gym, and he’d offered to let Keith have some time alone by bringing Gaia with them, but his friend had insisted on coming along, too. Lance got the impression that he wasn’t ready to let them out of his sight. Which is how they ended up at the surprisingly deserted playground- with Keith pushing Gaia on the baby swings while Lance stressed out about acting as spotter to Austin, who seemed to be completely lacking in a self-preservation instinct.

“Look!” he squealed, hooking his little legs over the bar and letting go with his hands. He swung upside-down and just as Lance was breathing a sigh of relief, he unhooked one leg, dangling by a single knee. This kid was shaving years off his life. He glared at Keith, obviously this was a genetic thing- because Keith was exactly the same way.

“I see,” Lance said, fighting the urge to hover and trying to keep his voice from sounding too panicked. “That’s very cool… but remember what I said about climbing the chairs and your Daddy not letting me be in charge if you get hurt?”

“Oh… yeah,” Austin sighed, returning his leg to the bar. Breathing was immediately easier for Lance and he sent up a little prayer of thanks that Austin was such a rational kid. If that had been Sylvio, it would have turned into a huge argument, and likely resulted in a trip to the ER. “Earth is the best!”

“It is?” he chuckled, “bud, you’ve seen a little bit of Cuba and like three rooms at the Garrison. There’s a whole lot of Earth you haven’t seen yet.”

“Don’t care. I love it here! I like your house an’the beach an’your sisters an’pirates an’playgrounds…”

“And mangoes,” teased Lance.

“Uh-huh… an’Daddy is happier here…”

“He is, huh?” Sadly, he wasn’t sure how true that was anymore. “I was going to say that he’s a lot happier since you guys came along than he used to be.”

“We’re the best thing that ever happened to him,” Austin reminded him proudly.

“Yeah, bud,” he grinned, loving how certain Austin was about that, “I know. He loves you a lot.”

“Heads up,” Keith called from across the park, “I just used the last diaper we brought with us.”

“Looks like we are headed home soon,” Lance chuckled, “gonna get dark soon anyway.”

“Awww… man… I don’wanna go back yet!”

“The park isn’t going anywhere, Austin. We can come back again.”

“We can? You promise?”

“Ehhh… I’m not going to promise… because I don’t know how long you guys are staying, and the playground is only fun on nice days. But, I will try very hard to make sure you get to come back, okay?”

The little boy narrowed his eyes at him, which was weirdly cute when he was hanging upside down like that, but he finally nodded, “okay. Are we gonna have snacks when we get back?”

Laughing, he tickled Austin’s exposed belly, “we’re going to have dinner, snacks are later… and before you ask- you can only have mangoes with one or the other!”

He squealed and wriggled and when Lance switched to giving him an upside-down hug, he kicked free of the equipment, his weight falling to Lance’s shoulder and his legs dangling over his back. Honestly, Lance wasn’t sure how he didn’t have a headache from spending so much time hanging upside down, but he seemed happy enough. “Okay… let’s go home… before my sister gets stinnnnnnky.”

Dinner consisted mainly of Austin retelling the ‘plots’ of the animal videos he’d discovered that day and raving about how cool ‘pingins’ and otters were. By the third rendition of the highlights of the videos according to Austin, Lance was watching Keith instead of the little boy. He could see the marks of the stress he was under in the tightness of his mouth and fine lines around his eyes. It was obvious to Lance that he was tired- no, drained- but his focus never faltered. 

Ever since they’d arrived, Keith was never anything but attentive to Austin and Gaia. It really shouldn’t be a surprise that he tackled parenting with intensity, and that thought brought a smile to Lance’s lips, because, of course he did- he was just intense by nature.

Today had been absolutely hellish for Keith, but you would never guess it from how he interacted with the kids. Austin’s stories were greeted with genuine interest, sincere questions, smiles, and encouragement. He laughed at the clumsy little kid jokes, and stifled the chuckles when Austin was inadvertently funny. Gaia burbled happily in the hovering carrier, finished with her own food, but happily social, and Keith turned to check on her every few minutes. He made sure that she had toys within reach and would occasionally stroke her cheek with his knuckle, or make a face at her to elicit a little laugh. 

It would be such a shame if Shiro never got to be part of that little family, and Lance felt ugly things stir deep in his gut at the idea that even this many years later, Haggar’s evil could still hurt good people. The agony she was still causing people who were so good, and tried so damn hard, and deserved so much … even after years and years of therapy and peace and hard fucking work to heal. 

All because of that one person and her poison! It made him want to reach back through time and… The marks on his face burned, making him hiss, his hand snapping up to touch them and halting just before contact, because it felt like getting too close to an ember. 

He could feel searing heat radiating from his face.

“Lance!” Fear pushed Austin’s exclamation close to a yelp.

“Oh, my God! Your face!” gasped Keith, “what happened?”

“Dunno! Owww… fuuuuu-udge!” he corrected at the last possible second, “they’re burning!”

The chair clattered to the floor as Keith rushed to the sink, soaking a couple of tea towels and wringing them out before returning to the table. Startled, Gaia started to wail, but other than a quick glance to ensure she was unhurt, Keith didn’t even falter in his actions. He dropped onto the bench that was the seating on Lance’s side of the table and slid in close. Worry clouded his eyes, darkening them until the blue tones vanished into a murkier purpley-grey. It knitted his brows together and pulled his mouth into some kind of cross between a pout and a scowl as he caught Lance’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. 

Using the small contact to steer Lance’s face back and forth, Keith studied his face. “Looks almost like quintessence burns. Have your marks ever changed color before?”

“They… changed… color?” Lance barely managed to get the words out. Damn, his face really hurt.

Nodding, Keith dabbed the wet cloth to one mark, ever so gently, “they’re red now… does this hurt or help?”

“Help… it helps… like… on a sunburn.”

“Daddy? Is Lance gonna be okay?” Somehow, he hadn’t noticed that Austin had clambored out of his chair and was standing beside Gaia’s carrier, patting his little sister on the back and shushing her. Such a soft-hearted little boy.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he is,” Keith answered, pressing the second towel to the other mark. The relief was immediate, but minor. The marks still felt like he was being branded. “Can you push Gaia out to the living room and turn the tv on for you guys? I need to know you are okay so I can take care of Lance, alright?”

“But- I don’t wanna leave Lance! He looks scared!”

“I’m okay, bud,” Lance rasped, putting as much faith as possible into his words, “your Daddy is gonna take good care of me. You gotta listen to him for me, okay?”

“Ummm…” He sounded so torn, it broke Lance’s heart to think he was the reason for it. 

“Austin, I need you to be a really good big brother right now, okay?” Keith cut in, “I can’t take care of Lance and Gaia, and you are really good at helping Gaia…”

“Oh! Okay! I can do that!” 

With his head tipped back and the cloths held to his face just under his eyes, Lance couldn’t see anything much, but he heard the now-familiar sound of Austin’s sock-clad feet on the floor as he steered a whimpering and hiccuping Gaia into the living room.

“Jesus, Lance,” Keith hissed, lifting one of the cloths, “what the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know! They just… started burning!”

“How bad is it?”

“Bad… like… after the explosion, bad…”

“Never happened before?” Lance shook his head in a tiny movement. “Okay, hold those to your face for a minute. I’m calling Mela. She might know what’s up.”

Mela!?!? Who the hell was Mela?!?! He racked his brain, trying to place the name mostly as a distraction technique but came up blank. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Keith refer to a ‘Mela’ before.

“Hey! I have a question for you about Altean marks,” Keith never was one to mince words. “I’m at Lance’s, and we were eating and his marks turned red and they are… no… Yeah, they’re hurting. Well, bad enough that he admitted it to me, so… No, they glowed red and… Mela, it looks bad. Like… quintessence burns. Uh-huh… yeah, you’re right. No, I just didn’t want to unless I had to… right, because they’re a reminder. No, I will. Definitely. Uh-huh. Umm… I don’t know, it’s kind of up in the air right now. Your place is my next stop, I promise. Okay, love you, too. I know! I’m calling now! You got it.”

What.

Even.

Was.

That?!?!

Lance was well and truly distracted from his face, now. Or, at least he was as distracted as he could be, given that it felt like someone was hitting his cheekbones with a blow torch. But, seriously- who the hell was Mela!?! Obviously someone who was very very close to Keith, and who he had reason to believe knew something about Altean marks. A Blade member? That awful stomach churning ‘bad’ feeling was back, and the pain in his face had started to pulse. 

He’d told her he loved her. 

Keith had said that to Mela- whoever she was. 

He’d said the words ‘love you, too’ and Lance had never even heard him say that name before. He had kids for half a year without Lance knowing, he loved some woman named Mela, and there was this Artax person that kept getting mentioned (a doctor, and a sharpshooter, and a Blade, no less) and Shiro seemed really weird about- just how much of Keith’s life was he clueless about?

“I gotta call Coran,” Keith said softly, “I’m sorry- I know you hate worrying him.”

“S’okay… he’d be pissed if you didn’t.” He mustered up a weak smile, “call him.”

“I’m making a video call, he might need to see this.” It only took a few seconds before Coran’s face blinked onto the screen that sat just barely in Lance’s peripheral vision.

“Keith, my bo- Lance?” The larger-than-life presence of the Altean made Lance smile despite the pain. “Is something amiss?”

Keith gave Coran the same rundown of events as he’d reported to ‘Mela’ and Coran hemmed and hawed in that comfortingly familiar way of his. “I see, I see, I see… hmm… most interesting! I know I do not have to remind you that Lance’s marks are not typical. But, I do recall something… let me see his face…”

Gently, Keith coaxed Lance’s hands away from his face, taking the cloths with them. Lance hissed as the pain surged again. “Sorry, sorry,” he breathed, using the hand not maneuvering the phone to brush Lance’s hair back from his forehead. “Burns are the worst… I know…”

“Quintessence,” Coran said with finality, “every living thing possesses it. Lance, dear boy- what was happening when the pain started?”

“Nothing,” Keith insisted, “we were just eating dinner, talking.”

“I was thinking about Haggar,” Lance cut in. “About how she was still hurting people. How evi-owwww!”

“Interesting… interesting… Keith, did you see that flare, or was it a technical issue with the transmission?”

“I saw it.”

“Lance? Do me a favor and think about something you love, something that makes you happy…”

Leave it to Coran to be weird and random! How was that going to help anything? “I really don’t think-”

“It’s not going to make it worse,” Keith pointed out, sounding more agitated by the minute, “so just try it already, Lance!”

“Fine! Quiznak!” He thought of his family- Veronica’s sly smile; his mother’s warm hugs; Marco singing to his little girl; Nadia and Sylvio tripping over each other to tell him about their day; Niamh calling him ‘tee-ants’ because she couldn’t manage ‘tio Lance’; Luis and his Dad cheering as their team won the World Cup; Rachel playing peek-a-boo with Gaia, the little girl’s eyes bright and amazed as Austin let him comb out his hair, tucked up against his Dad, both of them smiling the exact same, heart-stopping smile.

“Ah-ha! Look at that!” Coran crowed, “back to blue!”

“My face still hurts, though.”

“The burns need to heal, still… but I think it was a response to you straying from your own true nature.”

“My what now?”

“I think I get it,” Keith said, smiling gently. “Lance, you’re not wired for hate. ”

“Precisely! I always knew you were smarter than you looked, number four! Lance, your quintessence rebelled against the seed of something that goes against your core self. You have a big heart, my boy; a big, forgiving heart. Grudge-holding and hatred have no place in it.”

“So… this will happen any time I get pissed off, now? I’ve been pissed off before and this didn’t happen!”

“I am not certain,” Coran twirled his moustache, “as you know, your marks are unique- the result of Allura gifting you with some of her quintessence… it could be that she was concerned that you would lose your sense of self and that worry impacts how the marks work, or that it was just a matter of you feeling the seeds of hatred about someone she believed to have redeemed themselves causing a conflict in the blended quintessence. This is new territory for any of us. I will try to do some research- see if I can find you some answers. In the meantime, if it happens again, think about whatever it was you were reflecting on when I prompted you to turn your attention to love.”

“My family,” Lance murmured, “I was thinking about my family.”

The Altean made some blustery noises of approval, “I wonder if there is anything in the new library database… There’s so much we still don’t understand about quintessence… and Allura’s alchemy was so instinctive- hmmm… Oh! Sorry, you know how my noggin is when I get a riddle! So- is there anything else you need my immediate assistance with? I trust you know how to dress quintessence burns?”

“I do.” Keith’s hand brushed his scar unconsciously, and suddenly Lance worried that he was going to have scars ringing the Altean marks. “Thank-you, Coran. Let us know if you figure anything out, but I think we’ve got it from here otherwise.”

“I will, of course I will. I hope you are feeling better, Lance?”

“Yeah. It still hurts, but I don’t feel like I’m being branded anymore at least.”

“You’re in capable hands, my boy. I hope I can find some answers for you- but in the meantime, take care of yourself, alright?”

“You got it, Coran,” he promised, “and I’ll call for a proper conversation soon. Been a bit busy here the last few days.”

“I look forward to it- and I expect you to stop by New Altea when you leave Earth, Keith.”

“Barring a crisis,” Keith replied, “I’ll let you get to work on that riddle.” Coran gave them a little two fingered salute and ended the call. Setting the phone aside, Keith turned his attention back to Lance’s face. “Lemme see…” His voice was soft, almost tender and when his fingers returned to Lance’s chin, they were feather light.

Lance let him move his face around again, “how bad it is?”

“Not bad,” Keith whispered, “the marks themselves are burned, skin around them is a little red. Probably won’t scar.”

“I already have two glowing marks on my face,” Lance pointed out, “I’m not overly concerned with my vanity. I meant, how bad are the burns?”

“There are a couple of small blisters… so, second degree. But I think just barely. You’ve probably had worse sunburns.”

“So, it’s not going to scare Austin?”

“What?”

“He was so worried, I want him to see that I’m okay.” Lance explained, “but if it looks scary, we should bandage me up first.”

“Typical Lance… more worried about everyone else…” Keith shook his head at him, his expression hard to read, “I think he’ll be okay. It’s not scary, just red, and the blisters are small. How’s the pain?”

“I can keep it together,” he managed a smile, “just make sure he doesn’t poke it.”

“He’s not going to poke it. Gaia would, Austin won’t.” Hand shifting to cup Lance’s jaw, Keith smiled, his thumb dragging under Lance’s lip. “Okay. Hang tight, I’ll get him.”

Fiddling with the damp cloths, Lance steadied his breathing. His face stung and ached, but he could deal with it and he’d be damned if he let Austin end up traumatized or something. He could only imagine how scary it must have been for him to see to Lance’s face just start to burn him. 

“Lance?” 

“Hey bud,” he smiled, patting the bench beside him. “Hop up here.”

“Daddy said you’re okay now?”

“Well, my face hurts a bit, but it’ll get better…”

Austin came closer, still visibly nervous, “all the way better?”

“Yup- all the way better,” he held his hand out to him, “and Coran helped me figure out how to stop it if it happens again…”

“He did?” His little hand grasped two of Lance’s fingers and relief washed over him as he helped the child climb up onto the bench.

“Uh-huh. See? What do they look like now?”

Large, serious, purpley-blue eyes met his own for a second and the trust he saw in them made his heart swell and he nodded his encouragement. Brows furrowing in concentration, he reached out to rest his hand on Lance’s jaw and tipped his head back and forth. “They’re not glowing,” he said after a moment, “they look sore…”

“Are they red? Like… Gaia’s shovel? Or blue, like my eyes?”

“Ummmm… mostly like your eyes? But there’s little bumps..”

“Yeah- I got burned,” he said gently, “like if I got too close to a fire, orrrrrr I didn’t wear my sunscreen at the beach… but it will get better and the bumps will go away and it will stop hurting.”

“Daddy helpeded you?”

“He sure did. Your Daddy did exactly what I needed him to do. That’s what friends do, they help each other whenever they can… and your Daddy? It’s his job, too, so he’s extra good at helping people.”

“Do they hurt really bad?”

Lying to Austin was not an option. Keeping his trust was just too important to Lance and he refused to risk getting caught in a lie. Kids were much more astute about when they were being lied to than most people gave them credit for. So, he answered seriously. “Not as bad as when it first happened, but yeah bud, they still hurt. The good news is that your Daddy is going to help me bandage them and then I’m going to take some medicine and they’ll be better in a few days.”

Austin studied him and then his little face lit up. “Want me to kiss’em better? When I get hurt, Daddy always kisses it better! It’s like magic!” 

The smile that broke out on his face was so big it made the burns crease and he nearly winced from the sudden flare of pain. “I’m a big believer in magic,” he answered, “that’s how I got these marks in the first place! So, I think it’s worth a shot… but maybe aim for right next to the marks?”

“Mmmm... good idea, Lance,” Austin said seriously. It was downright eerie how much he looked like a teeny tiny Keith when he was serious like this, and Lance couldn’t help but think it was one of the cutest things he’d ever seen in his life… and he lived on a farm- so he had regular contact with baby chicks, and lambs, and goat kids! “Ready?”

“Ready.” Apparently, Austin had decided that the best approach was to just flat out climb into Lance’s lap, so Lance ended up catching the kid around his waist so he didn’t end up with little knees in delicate spots. Still sporting that very serious expression, Austin pushed his fluffy black hair out of his face and stretched up, pressing a soft kiss to Lance’s cheek with a loud smack sound. 

“Did it help?” he asked, his little voice hopeful and proud all at once.

“Yeah,” Lance answered honestly, because he was so charmed by Austin’s sincere wish to make him feel better that the lingering pain of the burns barely even registered.

“Really?” Those purpley-blue eyes lit up and his face split into a smile that practically beamed. “Okay! I’m gonna kiss the ovver one!”

There was a soft chuckle from the archway that separated the kitchen from the living room and Lance caught a glimpse of Keith with Gaia on his hip out of the corner of his eye. Austin was too focused on what he was doing to notice his father, though, and he repeated the soft kiss with the loud smack sound on his other cheek. 

“Did that one help?” he asked excitedly.

“Of course it did!” Lance laughed, pulling the little boy into a tight hug, “you are such a great kid, Austin. You really are.”

“Augh! Stop squishing me!” he giggled, squirming even as he hugged Lance back.

“Okay, okay, amiguito, you got it! Why don’t you tell your Daddy what you did?”

“Whazza amma-gid-oh?”

“He’s just calling you his little buddy, Austin,” Keith chuckled, “Lance speaks more than one language.”

“Daddy! I kissed Lance’s owies and they feel better!”

“He did,” Lance confirmed, “he said he learned it from you.”

“Yeah- well, he is a bit of a climber… and he likes to run… and insists on ‘fighting’ with Krolia… and Kolivan.”

“It’s how I learn, Daddy,” Austin pointed out.

“I know, buckaroo, I know,” Keith mussed up his hair, “but it means you get lots of bumps and scrapes for me to kiss better.”

“You should kiss Lance’s burns better!” Austin insisted, “you’re better at it than me!”

Lance chuckled, “he’s just got more practice. I’m fine. He’s gonna help me bandage them up now so your sister doesn’t scratch them while they’re healing.”

“ No! Daddy’s kisses work good! I know! Daddy! You gotta!”

“Austin, bud, you already-”

“No! Lance is your friend! You help your friends! Right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Lance! Tell him!”

“Bud, I’m not sure Lance wants me-”

“No! He does! He said you helped him! He said that’s what friends do!”

Keith sighed, a defeated look on his face. He quirked an eyebrow questioningly at Lance. Neither of them wanted to argue with the little boy- he was so invested in making Lance feel better. 

“Go for it,” Lance said after a moment, fighting the urge to chuckle at the absurdity. “I should get Austin to take a picture. Document it so people will believe we can actually get along.”

“I can do that! I take good pictures! Daddy lets me take pictures on his phone all the time.”

Of course, he did! And of course Austin wouldn’t recognize that he was just giving Keith a hard time! This day just kept throwing him for a loop.

“I think Lance was joking…”

“Oh…” he sounded so damn crestfallen.

“Nope... “ He pulled out his phone and opened the camera, “here you go, amiguito! Get a whole bunch. Show me how good you are at taking pictures.”

Keith glared at him, but Lance couldn’t resist the grin that bloomed on his face, the whole thing was just so… absurd. Scrambling out of his lap, Austin ran to the end of the table nearly hopping from foot to foot in his excitement- all trace of his earlier fear and worry gone. “Okay Daddy! Go! ”

“Yeah, Keith… go.”

“You never change,” muttered Keith, but he turned so Gaia’s grasping little fingers were well out of range of Lance’s face and leaned in close. Lance could feel the warmth of his skin, and the soft sweep of his breath over his cheekbone an instant before his lips touched. The contact was barely there- a feather-light brush of Keith’s lips against Lance’s cheek, but he felt it all the way to his toes in a rush of sparkling awareness. 

Shit. 

This had been a mistake. 

“There,” Keith said with finality, already stepping away.

“No! You gotta do the ovver one!” Austin insisted, “or it won’t work right!”

“Yeah,” Lance managed, trying to act like everything was perfectly normal. Because it was. It was perfectly normal. Keith was his friend- they’d been friends for years. Sure, he was a good looking guy and all, but they were friends. It was just… it had been longer than Lance liked to think about since he’d had any… uhh… adult contact…. And he was probably just a bit touch starved. That’s all. Normal stuff. He turned his face, offering up the other cheek for the ‘magic’ healing. “It won’t work right.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but the exasperation of the move seemed at odds with the rest of his body language, and his cheeks were flushed. Okay. Cool. At least Lance wasn’t the only one who found this whole thing unexpectedly weird. “Fine.” Bending forward again, he repeated the impossibly gentle kiss, and this time, Lance heard a barely-there little hitch in Keith’s breathing at almost the exact instant that weird flare of… something very pleasant… raced along his skin. Preventing himself from glancing at Keith’s face was one of the hardest things he’d ever done- and he wasn’t even really sure why he was so certain he didn’t want to see it.

“Yay!” Cheered Austin and Gaia laughed and clapped, because that’s what she always did when her brother got excited like that. In a blink, everything returned to normal- more or less- and the little boy was rushing over to show off the pictures he’d taken. “Look Daddy! It worked really good! Lance’s face is happy glowing again!”

Chapter Text

After Keith had helped him patch up his face- with weird Galran bandages that were a kind of clear film that only stuck to damaged skin and let light and air through while keeping debris out and acting like a kind of cushion- they’d all hung out in the living room watching cartoons. Austin had curled up in his lap and refused to move until it was time for his bath and bedtime snack. Even then, he’d insisted that Lance be the one to read him his bedtime story.

Lance had chosen “The Princess and the Pea” which… honestly, might have been a mistake. He had failed to take into account that Austin had almost no frame of reference for Earth’s fairytales… and was a pretty logical kid. So, he’d had roughly ten gazillion questions about… basically every single aspect of the story.

“Do you do this to your father?” Lance laughed as he explained for the tenth time what a pea was. 

“Do what?” Austin yawned, rubbing his face into the soft cotton of the pillowcase.

“Ask all these questions when he reads you a story,” he replied, fussing over the blankets.

“The stories Daddy reads me make sense,” the little boy answered with a shrug. 

Of course they did. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, because he didn’t want to hurt Austin’s feelings and he definitely didn’t want to have to explain that on top of everything else. Smiling softly, he tucked a lock of that unruly black hair behind his ear, “you need to get to sleep, amiguito. You had a really busy day today.”

“Okay,” he yawned again, this time letting out a little squeak. “Lance?”

“Yeah bud?”

“How come Shir-oh,” it was so cute how carefully he said the name, “likes Gaia better than me?”

His blood froze in his veins. Oh God. “Why do you think that?”

He wouldn’t look at Lance’s face, picking at the blankets instead, “dunno… I could just tell…”

“You should talk to your Daddy about this, amiguito.”

“No! It’ll make Daddy sad again… and then he will jus’lie- like he does about Krolia.” The blankets shifted slightly as he gave a little shrug.

“You think your Daddy lies about Krolia?” he asked, shifting closer when he heard something suspiciously like a sniffle. Austin’s eyes were glossy and his breathing shook. Oh, the poor kid was really upset! “Heyyy… you know what? Sleep can wait a little bit.” He set the book aside and folded back the bedding scooping Austin up into his arms. Immediately, the little boy burrowed into his lap, his face tucking into Lance’s shoulder just like when they’d been sitting in that conference room.

Before everything went to shit.

“He does,” Austin whispered. “I can hear dem… lotsa times. Having ar-goo-ments… She got really mad last time…”

“Did you tell your Daddy that you can hear them?” He smoothed his hand over Austin’s soft hair, feeling completely out of his depth. How was he supposed to explain this to a toddler?!? Would Keith be pissed that he was even listening to this?

“Sometimes… an’then he says nobody’s mad, dey just got loud. Thazza lie .” He lifted his head to gaze up at Lance, his expression serious and vulnerable, those big eyes filled with unshed tears. “You won’t lie to me. You’re my friend.”

Lance sighed, “okay- I’m going to try to explain, but there’s stuff I can’t talk about, because your Daddy is my friend, and Shiro is my friend, and friends don’t tell secrets unless someone is in danger, okay?”

“Kay…”

“First of all- Shiro doesn’t not like you. He doesn’t know you, bud… and the little bit he got to know, he liked. Remember when he was talking about the paper birds?” He smoothed Austin’s hair back from his face, “and babies are really easy to like. They don’t really do much except be cute, right? She wasn’t even crying or smelly when Shiro met her! But, listen… some really bad things happened to Shiro a long time ago. So, sometimes, when he gets surprised, it takes him a while to figure out how he feels about it… and you guys were a really big surprise.”

“But he was okay an’then he wasn’t…”

Oh man, this was rough. He thought for a second. “Okay- you know how something can be really fun until it’s just not anymore? Like… hanging upside down, or spinning in a circle?”

“Yeah… spinning too much makes my tummy hurt.”

“Exactly- so sometimes it’s like that for Shiro with things that surprise him. So, he was really nice and interested and was trying to get to know you… and then it got to be a bit too much ‘new people’ and he needed some time by himself to think a bit. You didn’t do anything wrong, amiguito. I was there, remember? I saw you. You were kind and polite and you were very brave. Everything Shiro is thinking about happened a long time before you were ever born, alright?”

“Is that why Daddy got so sad?” Lance could practically see that clever little mind trying to make sense of all the bits and pieces of information.

“Your Daddy loves you very, very much. That is never, ever going to change. He loves Shiro very much, too… and it makes him sad when he can’t help the people he loves. He couldn’t help Shiro today, so he was sad.”

“Soooo… it was extra good that Daddy could help you !” His face brightened up, and it struck Lance again just how kind-hearted he was. 

“Yeah, I guess it was. You are very smart, did you know that?”

Austin nodded on another yawn, his earlier upset seemingly forgotten already. “Mmhmm Daddy an’Krolia tell me all the time… an’Artax says I’m ‘too smart for my own good’. But that doesn’t even make any sense... Cuz, he told me I have a really good brain.”

“You do have a really good brain… sometimes grown-ups say things that don’t make a whole lot of sense to kids. You’ll understand it better when you are bigger.” He pulled Austin into a hug, then patted the recently vacated spot on the mattress. “Okay, amiguito, you really need to go to sleep, but I want you to know that I am very glad I got to meet you. I am lucky to be your friend.”

“Me too! I love it here! I wanna stay here forever an’ever!”

“Forever is a super long time, amiguito, but you are welcome here any time your Daddy needs to be here. Alright, bud, back under the blankets! Tomorrow you meet my mama and she is going to have soooo many snacks for you to eat! You don’t wanna be grumpy!” It took a few more minutes to get him settled comfortably again, but before long, Lance was able to slip out of the room confident that if Austin wasn’t already asleep he was well on his way to drifting off.

Keith was feeding his daughter a bottle on the couch when Lance returned to the living room. “That took longer than I expected…”

“Mmm… the Princess and the Pea doesn’t make any sense to Austin.”

“Oh God- I should have warned you about Austin and new stories! He’s like that with every single one!”

“And here he told me that your stories make sense! I knew that didn’t sound right,” he teased, trying to coax a smile out of his friend. “I vote that the Holts have to be in charge of new bedtime stories until he’s 20.”

“So… which of the Holts are raising my son in this plan of yours?” Keith laughed and Lance couldn’t help but feel a little triumphant.

“No, you’re still raising him- we just get them to do bedtime stories over vid-call. He’ll be the best educated kid in the universe. Think about it! Good-night Moon leads to a comprehensive course in the night/day cycle, the layout of the milky way- all kinds of good stuff!”

“I think I’ll pass… annnnd Gaia is asleep. God, she is too cute sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Lance scooted closer to Keith, watching the sleeping baby over his shoulder and smiling at how peaceful she looked. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “That baby is too cute every minute of every day. Seriously- look at her!”

“I’m not just biased because she’s mine, right? She really is that cute?” Keith turned to look at him, his eyes as big as saucers, brows bunched up a little. He was genuinely worried ! How precious was that!?!

“She is cuter than a kitten chasing a butterfly. You aren’t just biased. They are awesome kids. I feel like I’m saying that every ten minutes, but dude- they are awesome kids!” His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he was too busy staring at Gaia to check the message right away.

“Crap! I forgot to call Mela back,” Keith muttered, glancing at the clock.

Lance felt his mood start to sour, just at the mention of the mystery woman, but he wasn’t about to let himself be a bad friend, a bad host, just because his feelings were bruised because someone he didn’t know was close to Keith, “here- I can hold Gaia if you need to step outside or whatever.”

The expression on Keith’s face was hard to read, but Lance could tell he was debating whether to take him up on his offer. “I really should call her- she’s probably worried sick about you.”

What?!?  

That made no sense. Why would a total stranger be ‘worried sick’ about him? Unless… maybe ‘Mela’ was some kind of Altean researcher? Someone studying alchemy? “I guess. I’m… um... a little confused though. I can understand curious… but why would she be so worried about me?”

His friend pivoted his whole ass body toward him-which was when he was reminded of just how close they were sitting. Gaia was practically in his lap. He could feel Keith’s breath skim along his jaw. This was… fine. 

He was fine. 

Yup. Fine.

Nothing wrong with close.

“Lance?” Keith’s voice was quiet, but incredulous, “did you seriously just ask me why Romelle would be worried about you?”

“Romelle?? You didn’t say anything about Romelle , Keith!” He’d been an uncle a long time, he’d perfected ‘whisper yelling’ around sleeping babies ages ago.

“Well, who the hell did you think Mela was?”

“I had no idea! I haven’t seen you in a year, I haven’t interacted with the Blades in what? Three years? Five? She could have been anyone. Why are you calling her Mela and not her name - I’m not the one being weird here!”

“Mela is what her parents called her when she was a kid- she asked Mom and me to call her that a couple of years ago… because she considers us family now.” He chuckled softly, “I should call Romelle because she’s probably worried about you.”

“Yeah. Okay. That’s fair.” Breathing easier because he felt a little less out of the loop, he managed a smile, “the offer to hold the lil’Princess stands, though… unless… does Romelle know about the kids?”

Looking away, Keith shook his head, “until I got here, no one but my Mom, Kolivan and the Blades that had been on that mission knew about the kids. I didn’t feel right telling people before Shiro knew…”

“You told me before Shiro knew…” 

“You’re you,” Keith answered with a half shrug, “I knew you’d love them, and you’d get it… and we were going to be staying here, so…”

“Gotcha,” he smiled, “Keith? Give me the baby and go call Romelle. She’ll be fine with me.”

“Yeah,” Keith blinked, shaking his head a little. “I won’t be long.”

“If she’s still worried- tell her to text me. I haven’t talked to her in ages.”

Keith nodded, “okay… will do…”

“Keith? Go out on the veranda. The fresh air will do you good.” He scooped Gaia into his arms. She squawked and squirmed but settled against his chest contentedly and once her thumb found its way to her mouth her little face went slack with sleep. “Go already, while she’s quiet and happy.”

“Yeah… Okay. Yeah… I’ll be right outside.” He leaned in close to kiss the top of Gaia’s head, his dark hair tickling Lance’s face.

There was something really healing about holding a sleeping baby. Like, it was just really difficult not to feel better with a tiny little person curled up over your heart and trusting you to keep them safe… plus… that whole ‘freshly bathed baby’ smell was freaking  magic. Lance could feel some of the stress of the day simply evaporate just because he was holding Gaia.

After a few minutes, he shifted his weight and pulled out his phone. The message was from Shiro. Staring at the notification, Lance let the conflicting waves of emotions from the day wash through him. He dipped his head down, basking for a moment in the soft warmth of the baby sleeping on his chest, then he opened the message.

Shiro: Thanks for your help today. I am not proud of my reaction. Is Keith okay? 

Part of him wanted to scream at Shiro. Of course Keith wasn’t okay! The person he was most counting on for support and acceptance dropped the ball! The guy already had abandonment issues and Shiro knew that better than anyone, dammit!

At the same time, Lance knew that Shiro was dealing with his own shit. He’d never hurt Keith if he could avoid it… and Shiro loved kids, he’d sooner cut off his other arm than hurt or frighten a child. Lance had no doubt that he was torn apart right now. His heart went out to him, it really did.

It was just… a mess. A mess that he’d somehow ended up right in the middle of. Shiro was one of his closest friends. He’d been a groomsman in the guy’s wedding. Shiro had been a role model, a mentor, a teammate, and a brother in arms for most of his life. When they’d lost Allura, Shiro was one of the few that he could open up to- he knew something about how to grieve someone who sacrificed themselves for the greater good. He knew what it felt like to have a love story cut short. He’d shown Lance that there was life and love after that kind of loss, just by living his own life.

But… Keith. He hadn’t done anything wrong. On the contrary- everything he had done was admirable and responsible… and sure, it had only been a few days but it was blatantly obvious that Keith was a really good father. Making Shiro proud had always been such a driving force in Keith’s life. It was especially vital when things with his mother were so… complicated. 

No matter what they’d faced in Voltron, Lance had never seen Keith scared the way he’d been by the prospect of telling Shiro about his children. That wasn’t fair. Keith loved those kids, he was proud of them. Introducing them to Shiro should have been one of the highlights of his life- not this dark splotch of fear and pain and worry.

That pissed Lance off. It made him ache for the pain that he knew Keith was going through. He was a loyal and protective friend, someone who was always ready to take on anyone who hurt or wronged one of the people who’d earned his friendship. 

So, what was he supposed to do when one friend hurt the other so badly? Even without meaning to.

He’d been so sure that Shiro would… overcome…

But he’d underestimated how afraid he would be.

That’s what killed Lance about this whole thing- Shiro hadn’t been judgey or a narrow-minded asshole, he’d been terrified. There was no denying what had made him react the way he had.

It was a fucking mess.

How the hell was he supposed to answer Shiro, now?

Sighing, Lance tapped in a reply.

Lance: he’s talking to Romelle right now

Lance: haven’t been able to talk to him yet

Lance: just got the kids to sleep

Shiro must have been staring at his phone, because the response was almost instant.

Shiro: think I should call him or wait?

Shiro: trusting your judgement here Lance

Lance: I think it depends on what you are going to say

Lance: those kids are his universe

Lance: you know how protective he gets better than anyone

Shiro: tell me the truth

Shiro: is this unfixable?

Lance: hard to say

Lance: if you can’t get past the clone thing

Lance: see Austin as his son and love him as your nephew

Lance: … 

Lance: it actually might be

Lance: I think he understands… but

Lance: Shiro, he named him after his Dad 

God, typing that had physically hurt . Keith having kids shouldn’t be like this! It should be a joyful moment- for all of them, Shiro included! Once again, dark things churned in his gut and he could feel the mostly dulled throb of the burns on his face start to flare again.

Not wired for hate. Keith’s voice echoed in his head.

Right. 

Time for him to shift focus a little, before he did more harm to himself. That wouldn’t help anybody.

He took a slow breath, dropping a soft kiss to the top of Gaia’s head. He reminded himself of his family, one by one, lingering on how much he was looking forward to his mother coming by the next day to finally meet Austin and Gaia and welcome Keith back. That , he knew, would be joyful and brimming with excited love.

Just the thought of his mother getting all choked up with happiness for Keith was enough to settle the stinging heat in the marks to the point that he trusted himself to read the messages that had come in while he was distracted.

Shiro: right

Shiro: tell him

Shiro: tell him I checked in

Shiro: and I’m dealing with my crap

Shiro: I’m trying

Lance: he knows you are trying Shiro

Lance: I know it too

Shiro: touch base with me tomorrow?

Lance: will do

He stared at the phone for a long moment, his eyes darting in the direction of the veranda and then down at Gaia.

Lance: want a pic of Keith with the kids to show Curtis?

For almost five minutes, he could see the little dots that told him that Shiro was typing, but didn’t get a response. Unlike Lance’s mother, Shiro didn’t send big blocks of text. So, he had to be second-guessing his response. Just when Lance was about to tell him to forget about it, his phone buzzed.

Shiro: if he’d be okay with that… yes

Lance: I’ll check with him when he comes in and let you know

Shiro: thanks

Shiro: glad he has you right now

Lance: he needs me- I’m there. No matter what.

Lance: I’m not going anywhere

“Is she still asleep? She didn’t finish her bottle, so I’m worried she’ll wake up…” It was downright unnerving how quietly Keith moved. Lance got used to it pretty quickly, so he didn’t end up startled every time the guy walked into a room, but it was still unnerving.

“Out like a light,” Lance answered, “how’s Romelle?”

“Good. Glad you’re alright. She sends her love. She also made me promise to apologize.”

“Apologize? For what?”

“For expecting you to recognize a nickname you’ve never used when you were in pain. She blistered my ear for being too caught up in my own head.”  

His eyes had dropped when he said that, darting away from Lance’s face. Some things hadn’t changed, Keith’s awkwardness with apologies was one of them. Lance hadn’t missed that he hadn’t actually apologized, just said he was supposed to, and why.

Still, Lance knew him well enough to know what he meant, and it wasn’t important enough to push him about, so he let it go.

Lance chuckled, choosing to focus on the very clear image he could muster of Romelle scolding Keith over the phone. “She’s so sweet and funny- somehow I always forget how… feisty… she is. Such a ‘big sister’ when she’s in a mood.”

“She’s got the older sibling lecturing down pat, that’s for sure.” Keith’s smile was fond, even if he did roll his eyes.

“Hey- speaking of older siblings… Shiro checked in.” Taking a minute to let that sink in, Lance shifted his weight, watching Keith for any signs that he should wait with the rest. He went a little pale, but one eyebrow lifted- either in curiosity or disbelief- Lance wasn’t quite sure. But it was enough to tell him to keep talking. “He wanted to make sure you were okay. Wanted me to tell you he’s quote- dealing with my crap- unquote… and that he’s trying.”

The smile on Keith’s face fizzled out and his gaze dropped back to the floor, but he nodded, “thanks.”

“Is it okay if I send him a picture of you and the kids? I was thinking of the one of you carrying them to the beach…”

“He doesn’t want that…” Keith shook his head softly, still not looking at Lance, and he looked so lost and so young that Lance almost felt like he’d flashed back in time to their first year at the Garrison. Outside of the flight sims, Keith had pretty much kept to himself, hanging back during class changes, and sitting toward the back of the class with his head down so that his hair hung in his face.

Shy.

It seemed so obvious now, but at the time it never occurred to Lance to think that the scowling prodigy who tagged around with the hero of every aspiring pilot could possibly be anything but cocky badass who thought he was better than the rest of them.

He’d been so wrong back then. Keith relied on Shiro more than he ever would have thought when they were cadets together.

“Yeah, he really does.” He slipped his phone into Keith’s hand, “look. Read the whole thing. He’s struggling, but he’s getting there, Keith. You’re too important to him not to.”

“I can’t believe she sleeps for you,” Keith said, his eyes glued to the screen of Lance’s phone. 

He did that sometimes. Lance had noticed it more and more as they’d gotten older. He had a way of splitting his focus to keep from stressing out over any one thing. It was a protective quirk, and a major tell for just how shaken he was by Shiro’s response to meeting the children. “She won’t even sleep for my Mom. Just me… and now you.”

“Well, it’s not like you are ever far off when I’m holding her,” he answered, deciding not to push Keith to focus. The guy deserved whatever comfort he could muster right now. Even just a distraction. “Plus, she’s getting older- probably starting to figure out that you’re going to come back.”

“Or maybe she just knows she can trust you,” Keith countered, more confident now, “they both do… so, just take the compliment, Lance.”

He was about to point out that the kids were most likely picking up on Keith’s trust of him when he realised that that was probably what Keith had been saying. He did that sometimes, too- for someone who was typically so blunt, sometimes, Keith could be kind of… oblique. They knew to trust him because they saw their father trust him.

“I’d never let anything happen to either of them,” he said instead.

“I know. You’d die to protect a kid- any kid… but you love them. Right away you loved them.” He handed Lance back his phone, “send the one you mentioned… and you’re wrong. They aren’t my entire universe, they’re just the center of it. It’d be easier sometimes if they were the only people I love, but they’re not.”

“I didn’t mean to say you didn’t care about anyone else,” he said softly, not really sure what to make of the mood that Keith seemed to be in. He pulled up the picture. Keith was laughing; Gaia had been looking right at Lance, her big eyes luminous in the afternoon sun; Austin was clinging to his father’s back and chattering a mile a minute about the sand and the water. It was one of his favorites from the visit so far.

It was hard to believe now that it was taken yesterday. So much had changed, so fast.

He sent it to Shiro with a thumbs up emoji in encouragement. 

“I know.” Keith stood, stretching with a soft groan, “beer?”

“Sure- this is becoming a tradition. Kids go to sleep, we have a beer. I like it.”

“It’s not terrible,” Keith chuckled, heading to the kitchen.

Lance lifted Gaia’s arm, checking to see if she was sound asleep enough to move. Her arm dropped limply and she didn’t so much as twitch. Carefully, he carried her upstairs and placed her in the pack and play they’d set up for her in the guest room then checked on Austin. The little guy was out like a light, and Lance nearly melted when he saw that he sucked his thumb in his sleep. Cutie. He brushed the black hair out of Austin’s face and dropped a little kiss to his temple before heading back downstairs. 

“All good?” Keith asked, handing him a beer.

“All good- why is this beer in a glass?”

“Because we are grown ass men in a house- not a couple of kids at a tailgate party. You have a dishwasher, Lance. Drink out of a glass.”

“Oooh- so domestic!” He teased, sipping the beer. “So- you wanna talk about today? Or you wanna kill shit on one of my retro video game systems?”

Keith took a deep breath and let it out, “I probably should talk, right?”

“Only if you want to, man. I’m your friend, not your therapist. If you want to ignore your problems for an hour and play video games, we can do that. It’s not going to be the end of the world. You’re allowed to relax sometimes- you know that, right?”

“Yeah… I do… it’s just… I haven’t really had much of a chance to take a breather since the kids…”

“Video games it is- and tomorrow? We are letting my mother take Austin and Gaia for an hour or two so you can breathe. You’re going to burn out if you keep this pace up. You know you will…”

“I don’t know. They’ve never met her before and Austin…”

“Keith- if they aren’t comfortable with her, I’m not going to say you should send them off. C’mon. But if they are- take advantage of the help while you have it. Okay? So I don’t stress myself into early wrinkles over you keeling over from exhaustion or something?”

He met Lance’s gaze, something he couldn’t identify lurking in Keith’s eyes. Finally, he nodded, “yeah. Alright.” Lance’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out again.

Shiro: great pic

Shiro: Curtis says congrats to Keith

Shiro: and that they really are beautiful kids

Shiro: he’s still laughing about Uncle Cheerio

Lance: that one is sticking

Lance: you know that right?

Shiro: so I’ve been told

“Keith?” he handed his friend the phone, “good sign, right?”

“Uncle Cheerio?” Keith went very still.

“Austin said it when we were leaving.”

“And Shiro told Curtis…” Lance watched the relief roll over Keith like a tangible wave, and before he could even say anything, Keith pulled him into a hug. He could feel the way Keith’s breathing hitched and stuttered and without thinking about it he shifted until he could set both beers down and wrapped his arms around his friend. 

He didn’t cry. There weren’t any tears. Just, these deep, heaving gasps of air as Keith let go of some of the fear he’d been lugging around for months. Lance held him tight as he clung to him and shook. He didn’t need to know exactly how that bond felt , or to perfectly understand the connection between Keith and Shiro to know how important it was to both of them. Keith would have given it up for his kids- he might still have to- but it was the last thing he ever would have chosen . Lance was starting to realize that Keith had done such a good job of bracing for the worst that he hadn’t really let himself believe that there were any other options. Now he was letting in a little bit of hope, and it was overwhelming him.

“It’s okay,” Lance cooed, swaying with him slightly, “I got you, Keith. I got you. You’re okay.”

“He doesn’t hate me,” Keith whispered, the words barely even audible.

“Of course he doesn’t,” Lance assured him, heart breaking for his friend, “he could never hate you, Keith.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes,” his voice was firm, “yes, Keith, I do know that. No matter what happened, there is no way that Takashi Shirogane could ever hate you. It’s impossible. Just like, I could never hate Veronica, and you could never hate Austin.”

“People hate family members all the time, Lance.”

“Not Shiro.” There wasn’t even a flicker of doubt in Lance’s conviction that Shiro was incapable of hating Keith.

Keith pulled away from him and tucked his arms up tight to his own chest. The posture shaved a decade or more off of his appearance. He pushed his hair back from his face, fingertips drifting to linger on the scar that marked his cheek. “You didn’t see his face… his eyes...”

“Hey! That wasn’t Shiro, Keith. He wasn’t in control. That was Haggar. It was Haggar with Shiro’s face,” he closed the distance between them again and covered Keith’s hand with his own, using the contact to tip Keith’s face back to his. “Shiro loves you. That’s not ever going to change. Things might suck for a while, because he’s got PTSD stuff to work through, but that has nothing to do with whether or not he loves you… and you are not alone . Okay? As long as it takes, whatever you need. I’m here. I mean that. I’ve got the space and the time. You’re important. I’m not going to let you try to deal with this on your own. I’ve got your back. Got it?” 

Nodding, Keith let out a shaky breath, “thanks, Lance.”

“None of that. You’ve done the same for me,” he smiled at his friend, happy to see that some of the fear was fading from his eyes. “Now, if we’re gonna keep standing in the middle of my living room like this, I should put on some music so we can slow dance like middle schoolers.”

“What?!?!”

“It was a joke, Keith. Breathe. I know you are way too badass to dance. I was at Shiro’s wedding, too, remember?” Lance grinned at him, stepping back a little. Keith grabbed his hand before he could pull away, and he tangled their fingers together, giving Keith’s hand a supportive squeeze. “C’mon, sit. Drink your beer. Let your brain sort itself out.”

Even after they’d gotten settled on the couch, Keith held on to Lance’s hand. They drank their beers in near silence- Lance wanted to give Keith tons of space and time to figure out what was going on in his head, and he knew from experience that pushing Keith just led to him lashing out and shutting down. When he was ready, he’d talk. Lance had seen enough clues that he wanted to talk over the last few days that he had no doubt that eventually, he’d open up. 

“The first day I met Shiro,” Keith said after a while, staring at the last dying bit of foam that clung to the side of his empty glass, “I stole his car.”

“You what?” Lance blinked at him, stunned. “Weren’t you, like, ten or something?”

“I was twelve… maybe thirteen. I can’t remember if it was before or after my birthday. He came to the school, doing the whole ‘join the Garrison it’s awesome’ spiel. I tried to duck out of doing the simulator test, but couldn’t. I went last. I did well.”

“No surprise there,” he said with a soft smile, “I’ve seen you in those sims, remember?”

“Yeah, well… I mostly just wanted everyone to leave me alone and for the most part, people did. But then here comes this random guy , and he’s making a fuss over how well I’m doing… and my teacher is all ‘oh no, not him , he’s awful… you should see how perfect and amazing James is with his perfect grades and his perfect family and his perfect life’ and I just… It made me mad. I didn’t want anyone paying attention to me, but it felt kind of nice to hear someone say I had talent… and for like a second I.. forgot. I forgot I was me, you know? But then, right on cue- bam, there’s the reminder that I’m just someone you get stuck with… and I got so mad … and for some reason, I blamed Shiro. Like it was his fault for making me forget that I was… me.” His fingers trembled in Lance’s grasp so Lance rubbed his thumb against Keith’s hand- a small gesture of support. “So, I predicted the best route through the sim and set the trajectory and that bought me some time. Everyone was staring at the screen, and I was… small… so it was easy to slip out… and then I just hotwired the car and bolted.”

“Wow. What did he do?” Also, mental note that if he ever ended up in some kind of funky time glitch that put him on Earth during that time, he was going to have to find that fucking teacher and have some words about being a piece of shit.

“He… uh… refused to press charges. Told me I was talented. Gave me his card and got me to come out to the Garrison. He… didn’t let me push him away. Kept telling me he believed in me. Pushed me to take responsibility for myself, to build a better life… just… he made me think I could be more than a burden, you know? More than this fucked up orphan with anger issues that no one else had any time for.”

“How have I never heard this story before? This seems like the kind of story that should have been in your speech at his wedding, or something.”

“Well, I’m not exactly proud of stealing the guy’s car because he was nice to me… and I think Shiro would see it as like… bragging?” One shoulder lifted and dropped, like a little kid who didn’t want to talk. “There’s this thing that happens with foster parents, a lot of them act like they are these amazing saviors for taking in ‘unwanted’ kids. It’s obnoxious. Foster kids hate those people. So, yeah- he wouldn’t do anything that reminded him of those assholes. He was only in the system for a couple of years, and he was already living in the dorms at the Garrison for most of the year, but… uh… it really only takes dealing with one of them to see what assholes they are.”

“Shiro was in the system?” That seemed like something he should know already… but it was really rare for Shiro to mention his family… or anything outside of life on the Garrison grounds when they all reminisced. The fact that his nosy ass never noticed said a lot about how much practice Shiro must have had at diverting the conversation.

Keith nodded, “yeah. His Dad died when he was a kid. He had the same disease Shiro used to… and then his Mom… I don’t really know exactly what happened with her. Just that she needed surgery for something and then got an infection they couldn’t get rid of. So, it wasn’t super sudden, but she wasn’t sick for a long time, either.”

“Geez… I can’t even imagine that. No wonder you guys got so close.”

“He was the only family I had for a really long time,” he answered with a shrug, sadness creeping back into his voice.

“Sounds like you were the only family he had for a long time, too,” Lance pointed out.

“Yeah… I guess. I never really thought about it that way.”

“You aren’t so alone anymore, Keith. You’ve built a strong family. It doesn’t take away how important Shiro is, I get that… but there are people who love you. Your Mom, Romelle… Acxa, somehow. I still don’t get that whole thing...”

Keith shrugged, “she’s my sister. It’s not that complicated.”

“Yeah, you say that- but… I’ve gotten to know Acxa pretty well when she’s here with Veronica. They’ve been dating for years and I am fairly certain Acxa would literally have a debate with herself before she decided to throw water on me if I was on fire. Like, when Lisa started dating Luis, she was calling me her kid brother within a few months. Acxa is not easy to get close to, but somehow she decided that you’re her brother and now you guys are thick as thieves.”

“Are you seriously expecting me to understand it? I don’t know why we are the way we are, I just accept it and move on. Like, I have no idea why Romelle decided we were her family now, but we are. So, I just go from there.”

“And now you are a Dad, ” he leaned over, bumping his shoulder against Keith’s playfully, “a really great Dad, too. It suits you. You’re good at it. They’re lucky kids.”

“Yeah,” he said drily, “super lucky. They got accidentally made in a lab by someone who was totally unprepared for parenthood and spent the first six months of their lives living on a Blade of Marmora base as secrets. How blessed they are.”

“Yeah. They are. Regardless of what your plans were, those two kids have known absolutely nothing but being loved and cared for. You put your entire life on hold to be what they needed. You adore them, and they know it. Stop it. Stop beating yourself up over things beyond your control.” He sighed, “you are not that angry kid anymore. Get yourself out of that headspace, because it’s not doing you any good.”

Keith shook his head, “it’s just so easy to second-guess everything. You know?”

“Yeah, I get it. It’s one of those things that like, redefines who you think you are. Like coming out, or being revived after you technically died, or losing someone close to you. It’s so big - you spend a lot of time trying to figure out who you are now… lots of confusion and doubts.”

“Yeah… and the stakes are weird… every individual decision seems small, but it could be the thing that makes them damaged adults. Like what if Austin hates me because he hasn’t gotten his own room yet? Or Gaia is messed up because I hold her too much?”

“Neither of those things is going to make them grow up to be damaged adults, Keith. They come from stronger stock than that.” His thumb rubbed at Keith’s hand, “kids are resilient.”

“You’re amazing,” Keith said, throwing Lance for a loop.

“What? Me?”

“Yeah. I show up with two kids and a shit ton of issues and emotional baggage, drag you into the middle of drama, and set myself up in your house indefinitely… and you just take it all in stride.”

“I love kids, so there’s that. You are welcome here anytime, for as long as you want to stay. Drama is just part of life. And, you are my friend, issues and emotional baggage is part of the deal. Plus, I have plenty of my own that you’ve been putting up with for years. Not amazing. I just care about you.” He bumped his shoulder into Keith’s, “you aren’t a burden, dude. Stop thinking you are.”

“It means a lot to me,” Keith answered, “that I can count on you, I mean.”

“I’ve always got your back. Promise.”

“Yeah, you do… even when my own mother and Shiro don’t.”

“Keith,” he sighed, “just because you are going through stuff with them right now doesn’t mean they don’t have your back. It doesn’t mean they don’t love you. They just have their own shit to deal with. It really sucks that it is happening when you need their help, but…” He trailed off. He hated seeing Keith hurting like this.

It made him seethe with anger- even if he understood why Shiro and Krolia were acting the way they did, it still pissed him off that when Keith needed them they weren’t there. He’d never had such a strong urge to smack Krolia or Shiro to get them to smarten the fuck up and see what they were doing to someone they both loved . 

It was so damn rare for Keith to trust anyone, and this shit wasn’t doing anything to reinforce the idea that counting on others was okay. 

He set his empty beer glass aside and rested the now free hand on Keith’s shoulder, giving the hand he was holding a little squeeze. “Look, none of that changes the fact that I’m here for you. So, let’s just focus on that. Yeah?”

Keith went quiet, watching Lance’s face. Lance could see that he was debating something. Could see his eyes moving in the way they did when he was testing out ideas in his head and discarding them. Eventually, they went still again and Keith gave him a small, relieved, smile. “Alright. We can focus on that.”

“Good. You and the kids are going to have a really great Cuban vacation, and you are going to let Krolia and Shiro work through their stuff on their own time while you guys have fun and we hang out. Then , you are going to introduce those kids to the concept of a babysitter, and  you are going to give yourself some downtime. Let me show you around all the best parts of Cuba that are not kid-friendly. Then, when you are ready, we can have Hunk and Pidge over for a barbeque or something, and they can meet the kids. It’s all going to be awesome.”

“It sounds great… are you sure you don’t mind that I don’t know how long we will be here?”

“Keith- I will convert two of those guest rooms into kids’ rooms if you want me to. This is your home until you are ready to get back into that flying turtle as far as I’m concerned.”

“The… what? Flying turtle??”

“The ship you showed up in! It looks like a flying turtle!”

“It’s a Reiphodi houseboat,” Keith laughed, “there isn’t even a critter on Reiphod that looks like a turtle!”

“A houseboat?” Lance blinked at him, “wait- a house boat? Like… Keith! Tell me you aren’t planning on raising those kids on that turtle ship !”

“Uhhh… well… not forever?” Keith cringed, “but I definitely don’t want them to grow up on Blade bases and space stations. I want us to have a home base. Even if we end up moving around a lot- something constant, you know?”

“Uh-huh, and your solution to that wasn’t ‘I’ll find a nice little apartment on Earth’ or ‘I’ll build a house on Altea’ or even ‘we can live in the Marmora headquarters on Daibazaal’? It was- ‘this weird clunky ship that looks like it moves as fast as a sloth on tranqs is perfect for children!’?? What the hell, dude?” Sometimes, Keith made no sense to him.

“I did think of all those things, but setting any of them up takes time and I need to work out how I’m going to make an income, and where the kids are going to go to school and all that. The houseboat is the starting point. That’s all. Until I figure some stuff out.” 

He looked so agitated and stressed again. “Okay, okay- fair enough. Just… don’t let my mother think for even a second that you plan on living on that ship full time with two kids. She’ll have you married off to some cute Cuban girl who knows how to cook and adores kids before you even noticed!”

“I would definitely notice if someone tried to marry me off to a woman, Lance,” he responded, his voice dry.

“Believe it or not, that’s the better option- you should see the vapid twinks she thinks I would like. I thought telling her no woman could ever compare to Allura would make her clue in and knock off the match-making. Nope, she just shifted gears. All ‘oh mijo, it makes me so sad to see you alone!’ Ugh.”

“Your mother… is fixing you up with guys?” Keith went eerily still.

“Well, she tries … it doesn’t work obviously…. But, yeah, she’s an equal-opportunity meddler, my mama.”

“Right,” he shook his head, “ obviously. ”

“Blame Veronica,” Lance laughed, “when she came out she was soooo political about it! The whole family was, like, conditioned to assume they/them pronouns and never to assume someone was het until otherwise confirmed. It has led to some really weird conversations for my mother, let me tell you… and now that she knows aliens are real? Whooo boy! You have no idea what weird match-making combos she is gonna come up with!”

He laughed, “I can only imagine.”

“She just wants everyone to be happy. That’s what I keep reminding myself when she’s driving me up the wall. It’s sweet, really… just… annoying, you know?”

“Sic her on Rachel, maybe?”

“She has five children, Keith- the woman is a master at multitasking! So, you know- maybe make up a fake significant other in the Blades somewhere or something. Actually, no, don’t do that. She’ll decide you are being neglected because you are here with the kids without them and try to find you someone better.”

“So, you’re telling me she’s going to try to fix me up with someone, no matter what?”

“Maybe? Probably… meh- hard to say, she might think you have your hands full with the kids and romance can wait a year.”

“I’ll come up with something,” Keith said, shaking his head. “Maybe distract her by suggesting that Romelle seems lonely…”

“That could work. Romelle would kill you, but it might get my mother off your back. She doesn’t know Romelle all that well, so she’d have to learn about her- that’s tougher than matchmaking for her own kids. Fair chance she’d get all caught up in that.”

“I don’t think it is even going to be an issue. She’s never once even hinted at matchmaking to me so…” He rolled his shoulder in something close to a shrug, which reminded Lance that he still had his hand resting there. 

That was weird. 

The way they were sitting was really weird. How had he not noticed how weird it was? They were holding hands- which was fine… Keith was freaked out and stressed and it was a comfort thing. 

Fine. 

Cool. 

That was a pretty normal friend thing. When Matt had been in the hospital last year Lance had spent hours sitting with Pidge and holding her hand while she freaked out. Friends did stuff like that. 

It was fine.

Cool.

Normal.

And… you know… it wasn’t like Keith’s hand was unpleasant to hold. He wasn’t like, crushing his fingers this time around, and he’d stopped wearing fingerless gloves somewhere along the way… Their hands fit decently together, and he wasn’t clammy or fidgety. So… yeah… it was fine. 

That part was... fine. 

Fine.

But the whole ‘hand on his shoulder’ thing was only supposed to be like a minute. A gesture. Not… God, how long had he been sitting here with his hand on Keith’s shoulder? Five minutes? Ten? He’d kind of kept it there because he’d half expected Keith to need a hug, and that was an easy transition… but now, Keith seemed to be doing better… and Lance was still sitting there with his hand on Keith’s shoulder for no damn reason. 

It was weird.

“Want another beer?” he said out of the blue.

“What?” Keith shook his head a little, clearly surprised, “uh… yeah… sure.”

“Cool. I’ll grab them, you find us something to watch. Give your brain a break. Sound good?”

“Sounds great.”

By the time Lance returned with the beers (in fresh glasses, because he’d forgotten the ones they’d been using and Keith seemed to really care about the whole glass thing, for some reason), Keith had moved to the big easy chair and had his feet up. He’d found some old cheesy ‘giant monster’ movie in poorly dubbed Spanish with even worse English subtitles for them to watch. 

Lance took that as his cue that the conversation portion of the night was done and so he settled onto the couch. Between the terrible translations and Keith’s knack for MST3K’ing the movie in a shockingly deadpan voice, there were several times that Lance laughed himself silent.

For the first time since Keith had arrived, hanging out together felt the way it usually did. No children needing to be tended to, no deep and stressful conversations. Just two old friends poking fun at a shitty movie and laughing together. Familiar. Comfortable. Effortless.

It was a good cap to a really rough day and after the movie, he loaded up the dishwasher with Keith’s help and turned out the lights. They climbed the stairs together and he was saying good night outside the door to Keith’s guest room when he felt warm, soft fingers on his face, cradling his jaw. Keith leaned in close, his eyes seemed more purple in the low light- closer to Gaia’s eye color. 

Expression serious, eyes intent, Keith seemed to be studying him. Time felt weird and Lance felt his breathing change. Keith shifted his weight, moved a little closer; his hand slid up, resting on Lance’s cheek softly.

“Keith?” his name was barely more than a breath, the atmosphere felt too heavy and important to risk anything more.

“The burns look good,” Keith said, smiling softly, “I think the bandages are helping. Sleep tight, Lance.”

“Oh. Yeah. Thanks… uh… you, too.” He flashed a bright smile and gave a half-hearted little wave as Keith ducked into the room housing his sleeping children. Several minutes passed before Lance realized he was staring at the closed door.

What the hell was that ?!?!

For a second there he’d thought…

Thought?

Hoped?

It kind of seemed like Keith might...

Shit.

Definitely not hoped…

This was… fine.

He was… fine.

Everything was fine.

Fine.

The next morning, Lance woke to the smell of eggs cooking. He didn’t even have to glance at the clock to know it was early… and he was a farmboy, so he was far from a late sleeper! Still yawning, still dressed in his pjs, he made his way downstairs only to be blocked from entering the kitchen by a miniscule tyrant.

“NO!” Austin barked, spread out in the archway like a starfish. His hair was tied up in the tiniest ‘man bun’ Lance had ever seen and one of his favorite aprons encased the kid from toes to shoulders. He was stinking adorable… and very very serious about halting Lance’s progress to the coffee machine. “You can’t come in! Daddy’s helpin’me make you breakfast!”

“Can I just sit at the kitchen table?” he asked.

“No! Iz’breakfast in bed ! You gotta go back to bed! Right now! Go!”

“Keith?”

“I promised him I’d help with the whole breakfast in bed thing,” Keith chuckled, “Gaia woke up like an hour ago.”

“Yeah! Go! Iz gonna be really yummy!”

“Okay, okay… I’m going! Austin!” The little boy had apparently decided he wasn’t moving fast enough and had started pushing him back towards the stairs.

“March!”

“March?” he asked over his shoulder, “really? Who taught you ‘march’?”

“Daddy- iz what he says when I’m in trouble… he goes ‘move young man! March!’ and then he makes this face.” Austin tripped up a couple of steps and when Lance helped him regain his feet he turned to scowl at him and pointed at his face. “This is the ‘you’re in big trouble mister’ face!”

“You get in trouble often?” It was so hard not to coo at the kid or laugh. He was like a little angry kitten or something. 

“March!” Austin repeated instead of answering him.

“I’m marching, I’m marching… See?” he climbed a stair, “Austin, you don’t have to herd me. I’m going. Breakfast in bed is a treat. I’m not going to wreck your plans. I promise.”

“You promise?”

He nodded, “I do.”

“Okay!” Austin lit up, rushing to rejoin his father and immediately tripping on the apron.

“Woah!” Lance lunged, catching Austin around the waist. “Be careful, amiguito! I got you!” Kissing the top of his head, he set him back on the stairs. “Okay, let’s see here…. This thing is really long, so you’ve gotta pull it up, away from your feet, okay? And NO running on the stairs!”

“Like this?” he bundled the apron into his arms. It wasn’t even close to what Lance had suggested, but it worked.

“Sure thing, kiddo.” He stayed where he was until Austin was safely off of the stairs and rushing back to the kitchen, and then he headed back to his room. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before they arrived with coffee because it was ass-crack early and those kids were up for the morning, so he was gonna need coffee. Strong coffee. Lots of strong coffee. He couldn’t even remember what he’d told Austin they’d be doing today… other than meeting his mother. Swimming? Playground? Something new?

Whatever it was, Austin was bound to remind him before they finished eating.

They must have been almost finished, because it wasn’t long before his bedroom door opened. “Surprise!” yelled the little boy, and Keith, standing behind him and carrying the tray of food and wearing Gaia on his back, laughed softly.

“Or… good morning,” Keith suggested, “good morning works, too. He’s not real solid on how ’surpise’ works yet.”

“You’re trying out one of the carriers?”

“Yeah, she would not let me put her down, and I couldn’t fry the eggs with her in my arms. She seems to like it.”

“Niamh loved that thing. She was always up on someone’s back when she was here.”

“ Breakfast !”

“Woah- okay, Austin. Calm down! I’m five feet from the bed, no one is going to forget about the food.”

Lance shuffled over on the bed, “hey amiguito, climb up here and hang out with me. Was this your idea?”

“Yeah!” Austin scrabbled up onto the bed, practically bouncing with excitement, “you maded us breakfast every day.” He had, in fact, made breakfast both of the mornings they’d been there, but it was hardly the epic undertaking Austin was making it out to be.

“He was very insistent,” Keith said, setting the tray on the bed.  “And he picked out everything on the menu.”

“ Green eggs and ham!” Austin announced, “like in the silly book!”

“Spinach omelet… and coffee.”

“And juice!”

“It sounds like a great breakfast! Excellent choices! You like green eggs and ham, huh?”

“It’s a really silly book,” Austin informed him with an enthusiastic nod. 

“It is,” he agreed, “it was one of the first books I ever read in english. I was… six, I think? Maybe seven. Rachel helped me.”

“I like Rachel,” Austin said, “she was nice to Gaia.”

“Rachel loves kids. Especially babies. Veronica does, too.”

“I like Nirvana, too…”

Nope, that one was too cute to correct.

“That’s good,” Keith said easily, “she saved my life once, you know.”

“She did?” Something close to panic clawed at Lance’s chest and his eyes darted up to Keith, “when?”

“When we were dealing with the pirates that time our transmissions were being blocked and stuff. She’s a good shot. Not as good as you, but close.”

“Not that close,” Lance countered, “I still smoke her as-ahhh-her scores everytime we go to the range together, but she’s getting there.”

“Well, she was an excellent shot that day,” Keith said with a shrug, settling onto the foot of the bed and twisting until he could maneuver Gaia out of the carrier. 

Lance smiled as he watched the usually stoic and reserved former Black Paladin make faces at his daughter and pretend to ‘attack’ her belly until she laughed herself breathless. He just couldn’t get enough of seeing Keith play with the kids and be so naturally affectionate with them. It warmed something in him to see Keith so happy.

“You gotta taste it!” Austin insisted, bringing Lance’s attention back to the food.

How long had he been zoned out, watching Keith be adorably silly with a baby? “I do, don’t I? Okay… let’s try out these green eggs! You made them, right?”

“Uh-huh! Daddy washed the spimch… no, thaz wrong… the spin-itch? Yeah, spinach and put it in the machine, but I pushed the button,” Austin explained, excitement and pride in equal measure in his voice.

“Pushing buttons is fun,” Lance answered, grinning at the double meaning that went right over the little boy’s head.

Austin nodded seriously, “and then I got to stir all the eggs and we squeezed a buncha green water out of the spinach and I mixed it all up so Daddy could cook it!”

“Wow! You practically did it all by yourself!”

“I know ! I like cooking!” He looked so astounded by this discovery that Lance chuckled, leaning over to kiss Austin’s forehead- that was becoming a habit. 

“It’s a good thing to like. Some people even do it as their job.” Lance finally got around to cutting out a bite of the omelet and tasting it. 

“Lance and I have a friend that cooks food as a way to help people who are fighting become better friends. He was one of the Paladins, too,” Keith said as Lance ate.

“Really!?!?” 

“Mmmhmm,” Lance nodded, sipping coffee to wash down the bite. “His name is Hunk, and he would be very impressed with this omelet! It is delicious, amiguito. Best breakfast in bed I’ve ever had.”

“Yay!” Austin bounced on the bed, clearly thrilled with the praise. Gaia spotted him and decided he needed a round of applause, clapping her hands and squealing happily.

“Romelle works with Hunk sometimes,” Keith supplied, shifting the baby in his arms so he could high five Austin. “You did a great job with breakfast buckaroo.”

“Am I gonna get to meet him? Like Uncle Cheerio?”

“You are- I just don’t know when, bud. Everyone is very busy… but you are going to meet him. I promise. Pidge, too.”

“Oh! Okay- I like the stories about Pidge. She’s funny!”

Lance quirked an eyebrow at Keith. Austin had mentioned hearing stories about him and Pidge. He knew who Romelle was, and had called Allura the ‘rock lady’- but he didn’t know Hunk’s name, or anything about Shiro? That was strange. If it had just been Shiro he didn’t know about, Lance would have chalked it up to Keith’s nerves- but Hunk? He really didn’t understand how Keith’s mind worked sometimes. “What’s your favorite story about Pidge?” he asked, and the conversation spun into Keith recounting various missions and casual moments with the Paladins in response to Austin’s demands for ‘the one wiff…’ and before he knew it, he’d finished eating and Gaia was slumped against her father, napping contentedly.

“We should clean up the dishes while Lance showers and gets dressed, Austin,” Keith said eventually, “just let me go put your sister down in her bed, okay?”

“Kay,” the little guy sighed. He flopped back onto Lance’s pillow dramatically as Keith left the room.

“I can hear more stories when I come downstairs,” Lance pointed out easily.

“He didn’t tell my favorite stories!” grumbled the little boy, despite the fact that every story Keith had told was in direct response to Austin asking to hear it.

“Oh? Well then, how about you tell me one of them?”

“Okay!” He scrambled down the bed until he was sitting across from Lance, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “One time, Voltron was on a mission. It was a easy one, too. Go to a planet, and talk to people in this… umm… like a big party? With games and rides? And… Pidge found a shiny hat?”

“The Clear Day Festival?” Lance guessed.

“ Yeah ! Anyways, Daddy was wiff his friend and they were talking and they were all lined up for a ride… and Daddy didn’t even know !” He looked so floored by the very idea that something had happened that his father didn’t know about that it almost broke Lance’s heart… because boy, oh boy, was this kid in for a shock when he got a bit older and realised how clueless Keith could be about some stuff.

“Woah! He didn’t?” Lance knew to act amazed by every reveal in a child’s story, and there was  no way was going to be the one to disillusion Austin about the all-knowing nature of his father.

“No,” Austin shook his head, “but they were so they had to go on the ride… but then guess what happened?”

Lance knew this story, he’d heard it from Hunk. Seriously, what the hell Keith?!? How was this Austin’s favorite story but he had no idea who Hunk was?!?! “Ummm,” he made a show of thinking about his answer, “it was the most fun ride ever?”

“Nuh-uh! It broke!” He gaped at Lance, his little hands held out in fake shock and confusion.

“Oh no!”

“Right? They were stuck and there was a song playing over an’over an’over! And thennnn… guess what happened?”

Oh man, storytime with Austin was seriously cute! “Ummmmm… your Daddy took a nap?”

His little face screwed up, “uhhhh no, Lance… there was a song playing, amember? You can’t sleep when it’s noisy!”

“Right. Right. Sorry. That was a bad guess.”

“It’s okay,” he said indulgently, patting Lance’s hand, “mistakes are how we learn stuff.”

“That’s very true, I say that all the time.”

“I know! Daddy told me, and you say ‘the ‘portant thing when you make a mistake is to go make it right’. He said you are eyes.”

“Eyes?”

“Yeah… eyes. It’s a kind of smart, Lance.”

Wise. 

Keith told his son that Lance was wise. Until a few days ago, he’d only existed for Austin in his father’s words, and maybe some pictures… but he’d known who he was. He’d said he was a hero and wise, because Keith had taught him that. Keith had told Austin that Lance had helped him when he was scared, that Lance made sure the others weren’t too sad. Austin had trusted him almost immediately, claimed him as a friend… he was good with kids, but this was different. Keith wasn’t exactly liberal with compliments and praise, and that was okay… but it seemed like he’d said an awful lot of good things about him to Austin, and often enough that the kid recited them like factoids. It was probably because he knew they’d be staying here and things would be tense with Shiro, but still… it meant a lot to Lance that he wasn’t a stranger to this little boy before they’d actually met… especially since that seemed to be the exception rather than the rule.

“I think…” Lance said gently, “that lots of people are wise in lots of different ways. But, I’m really glad your Daddy thinks I’m wise sometimes. I think he is, too.”

“Yeah, Daddy knows lots,” Austin agreed easily, nodding, the little man-bun bobbling cutely as Austin swiped a little bit of leftover ham from Lance’s plate.

“Hey amiguito?” He smiled at the way the little boy turned to him, purpley-blue eyes wide like he thought he’d gotten busted doing something wrong, his finger still in his mouth. It was mind-boggling how the kid could be so irresistibly cute while looking so much like Keith. “Thank-you for breakfast,” he said seriously, “that was a very kind thing to do and it means a lot to me.”

Austin smiled around his finger and shuffled around the tray again on his knees, half falling onto Lance to hug him as tightly as his little arms would let him.

“Sorry I took so long,” Keith said from the doorway, his face creased with worry, “she fussed whenever I tried to put her down. That’s not like her…”

“Teething? Or maybe just too many changes lately starting to catch up with her?” Lance suggested, still hugging Austin. “I vote we just hang out here today. Chores and video games and movies… maybe a little dance party later?”

“Whazza dance party?” Austin asked, words muffled by Lance’s chest.

“Keith!” he gasped, feigning scandalized outrage. “He doesn’t know what a dance party is!?”

“There’s a reason we came to Earth, Lance,” Keith sighed, sounding tired.

Lance paused, eyes flicking up to meet Keith’s. He looked serious; worried and tired. Right. Blade of Marmora bases weren’t exactly known for their love of dance parties. He gave Keith a little nod and shifted gears slightly. “Yeah! It was so I could teach them how awesome dance parties are! You came to the expert… good thinking. See Austin? Didn’t I say that your Daddy is wise?”

“You did?” Keith blinked at him.

“Yuh-huh, he did!”

“Thank-you, Austin for confirming that,” he laughed, “I knew I could count on you, buddy! So, today- I am teaching you how to have a dance party. Cool?”

“Cool!”

“C’mon bud, we need to deal with these dishes and let Lance shower, remember?” Keith came into the room to collect the tray and herd his son out the door, “Lance, be careful of those bandages- I’ll check on your burns when you come downstairs.”

Chapter Text

By the time he finished his shower, got dressed and headed back to the kitchen he was ready for another cup of coffee. The door to the guest room Keith was sharing with the kids was closed when he passed it, so Gaia had to still be asleep, and Austin was sprawled on the sheepskin rug in his living room coloring industriously with animal videos playing on a datapad that was propped up next to him, his little legs kicking up into the air happily. Unable to resist the cute , Lance snuck out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the kid when he passed him en route to the kitchen.

Keith was already holding out a mug of steaming cafe con leche to him when he entered the room. There were definitely some perks to having a houseguest that knew him so well and was comfortable making use of the kitchen. “You are a saint,” he cooed, accepting the mug, “I’m going to need so much coffee today.”

“You know you don’t have to play tour guide for us, right?” Keith said quietly, sipping his own coffee. “The kids would be happy to hang out in the house and play with the stuff from your family… and,” he trailed off with a shrug, “you know you don’t have to entertain me.”

“Yeah- I know that… but I love Cuba. I’m proud of my home, I want to share it with the people I care about. Show it off,” he smiled, “and taking the kids places helps tire them out so they sleep in the evening. So, you know… win-win.”

Keith smiled at him, the expression weirdly proud, “alright, as long as it isn’t something you feel like you have to do.”

“Keith,” he got very serious, meeting his friend’s eyes over their mugs, “if I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t. Okay?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “yeah, okay.” Keith sighed, “alright, sit. Let me check those burns.”

Rolling his eyes playfully, Lance straddled the bench that took up one side of the kitchen table. Keith mirrored him, pulling the little first aid kit that Lance was only just now noticing a little closer. “How do they feel this morning?” Keith caught his jaw gently, using his hold to move his face around as he looked at the burns. He wondered if Keith had always had such a soft touch or if it was something he’d acquired through taking care of Gaia and Austin. He never would have guessed that Keith, of all people, could be so gentle.

“Tender and a bit achey,” he answered, feeling weirdly self-conscious, “not too bad, though.”

“They’re still pretty angry looking,” he sighed, “and given how Gaia loves to grab at them, I think we should change out the bandages.”

“Sure… I mean… I don’t know anything about quintessence burns so I have to defer to you, right?” He smiled, “whatever you think is best, Keith. I trust you not to mess up my face anymore than it already is.”

Keith scowled slightly and grabbed a little spray bottle. “Close your eyes. This stuff can sting if it gets in your eyes but it makes it easier to change the bandages.” Obediently, Lance closed his eyes. He barely flinched at the sudden bursts of cold mist hitting his cheeks, and could hear rustling that told him Keith was getting things organized while whatever was on his face did whatever it was supposed to do. “That’s the second time you’ve done that,” Keith said softly.

“Done what?”

“Said something that makes it sound like you think the marks are a bad thing…”

“Oh. I was joking Keith.”

“I… wow… I don’t believe you…” He sounded so surprised, like it had never occurred to him before that Lance might ever lie about anything.  “I don’t think you were joking… Do you? Think they’re a bad thing?”

He sighed again, because this conversation was unpleasant, not because Keith touching his face was surprisingly not unpleasant for… you know… changing dressings on burns… because it felt weirdly… nice . “Not… bad , really… just… Look, I love that I carry part of her, you know? But, at the same time… it’s my face . Just- right there for everyone to see. I don’t mind the other ones as much.”

“The… other ones !?!?”

Lance laughed. He couldn’t help it, Keith just looked so shocked. It had been ages since he’d seen him that flabbergasted and flustered. “yeah, Alteans don’t just have marks on their faces, you know. Most of the time, the markings by the eyes are generally the only ones that glow, but there are others.”

“We were at the beach the other day, Lance, I didn’t see any other marks! Did they get burnt too?”

“Keith, calm down,” Lance said lightly, “no, they didn’t get burnt. I definitely would have noticed. Those burns hurt .”

“You’re sure I shouldn’t check?”

He nearly choked, his face flushing scarlet, eyes flying open, “one hundred percent sure!”

Keith blinked at him, then must have realised the implications, because his own eyes went wide and he blushed, too. “Al… alright then… okay… good to know you are okay…”

“Yup. I’m fine. No burns except on my face. All good.”

“So… uh… now I’m curious… You don’t have to show me or anything, but how many marks do Alteans have?”

“You could ask Romelle or Coran that, you know,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, but you were the one who mentioned it so…”

“Fine… Okay, I think it varies a bit, but I seem to have the same ones that Allura did. So, umm… fourteen, I think? Depends on how you are counting them, really. They kind of are paired, but yeah… if you count each individual colored area as one mark, I’m pretty sure I have fourteen.”

“ Fourteen ?!?!” 

“They aren’t exactly huge marks, Keith, and some are pretty hidden,” he sighed. “Okay, look… I’ll show you what I mean, alright?”

“You don’t have to…”

He shook his head, “it’s okay, there are a couple on my head that you’ve never seen.” He lifted his hands, parting the hair on the back of his head. There, extending up from his spine were two blue lines. “I’ve got two on the roof of my mouth, too. My dentist found those. That was fun.”

“I’ll bet,” he snorted, “that’s crazy! I always thought it was just these.” He turned Lance’s face back to him, brushing his thumb along his cheek, below the tender skin. 

“Nope... I don’t really think about them much anymore. They are just… part of me now. I just wish… I’m not the biggest fan of wearing my loss on my face, you know? It doesn’t bug me as much as it used to, but… it kind of makes something private just… not. I’m babbling.”

“No, you’re not. I get it. I mean, it’s not the same , but I know what it is like to see a reminder of something that hurts in the mirror.” He peeled the clear spongey film off of one mark and discarded it, picking up a little towelette and gently wiping the skin. “Let me know if this hurts…”

“Will do.” He watched Keith, debating whether to say anything… but they seemed to be having a rare ‘deep conversation’ moment, so… “You know, for the longest time I didn’t even know that was a scar… I thought it was a mark like Krolia has. You never really talk about it.”

“I try not to think too much about it,” Keith said quietly, “when I do I get nightmares.”

“I… uh… I know what happened,” he said quietly, fighting the sudden and strange urge to lift his hand and touch the scar. “Shiro told me once… he remembers everything that… um… the memories stayed behind…”

“He does? I didn’t know that. I mean, he’s said some stuff… but I just kind of figured it was Black, or just putting two and two together.” Not meeting his eyes, Keith shifted his attention to the other cheek and began carefully removing the remaining bandage.

“One year, I missed his birthday party, so we went out for, like, beers and darts a week or so later, and got to talking… He said it's hazy- like remembering a dream or something. He was apologizing to me- you weren’t around but, things got pretty rough for a bit. I told him it wasn’t his responsibility. He’s not accountable.”

“You’re right, but knowing Shiro that didn’t really matter,” Keith huffed, getting another towelette “you know what he’s like.”

“I do… but, the reason I mentioned it is… if you ever need to talk about it. I already know what happened. You don’t have to try to explain it or whatever. I’ll listen. That’s all.” He blinked and when his eyes opened again, his entire field of vision consisted of Keith’s eyes, all purpley-blue and filled with a million conflicting emotions. They weren’t that much like Austin’s, after all, he decided. Austin’s eyes were clear, the color was the same, the shape… but Keith’s eyes just held… so much… everything. His breath froze in his lungs and he just held his gaze, letting Keith see the sincerity there. It felt... 

Like reality held its breath.

Like that instant before he’d pull the trigger on a mission.

Like the seconds leading up to diving into the ocean.

“Okay… if I need to talk, I’ll talk to you,” he said softly, and then he turned his attention back to the task at hand.

“Good,” he answered, smiling, “I know you aren’t a big talker, but when you need to- you know where to find me.”

“Yeah, I do.” It didn’t take long to actually apply the bandages now that the old ones had been removed and the burns cleaned. It really shouldn’t surprise him that a race that prided itself on being warriors for so long had made such advances in first aid and triage care, but somehow it always did. “The burns already look a lot better than last night,” Keith said finally, the tips of his fingers brushing over Lance’s freshly bandaged cheek as he spoke- so lightly it almost tickled, little tingles radiating out from the path of the contact like ripples from a pebble dropped in still water and making Lance’s smile grow. 

“Thanks… if you hadn’t been here, God knows what Coran would have told me to do to my poor face!” Keith laughed and Lance grinned, grabbing his coffee cup again. Cold. Jesus, how long had it taken to change a couple of bandages?

“Here, I’ll warm these up,” Keith was saying, already plucking the mug from his hands and padding over to the microwave. Lance gathered up the little bits of trash from dealing with his face and tossed it, taking the opportunity to check on Austin.

“Keith,” he hissed, voice low, “c’mere… look!”

Austin was asleep, his face absolutely angelic. He’d managed to wrap himself up in the sheepskin like a little burrito. Lance felt a hand fall onto his shoulder and squeeze softly, “poor kid, Gaia woke up so early… he didn’t get enough sleep last night. It’s been… I dunno… two months? Since he stopped napping during the day. God, I miss when they would both nap at the same time. Think we should carry him upstairs?”

“And risk waking both of them? Are you nuts ?!?!” Lance shook his head, “no way! He’s fine there. I’ve taken many a nap just like that when I was a kid. You and I are going to take our coffees and go out onto the veranda, and leave the door open so we can hear them… Then we are going to just enjoy some peace and quiet on a gorgeous Cuban morning. You’ve earned a break.”

Keith glanced at Austin again, and then at the stairs, biting his lip as he debated.

“Keith, it’s another twenty feet. You’ll hear her. He’ll be able to see us as soon as he walks into the kitchen. You aren’t in a base built for warriors. This is a home. They’re safe. You can give yourself a little room to breathe. It’s okay.”

“Yeah… yeah, you’re right, okay.”

“I know I’m right,” he answered, grinning, “I’ve been told that I am very eyes.”

Keith snorted and stepped back, his hand skimming down Lance’s spine as he did so. “I think ‘very’ is pushing it a bit… can you grab the coffees? I want to send a picture of this to Mom. I don’t want her thinking I’m trying to hide him away from her.”

“Krolia wouldn’t think that, Keith. I know things are… not great… with you guys right now, but… she has to know you better than that. You’d never deprive your kids of contact with family that loved them.” Now it was his turn to give the little shoulder squeeze. It still surprised him how much bulkier Keith was than he expected him to be, but he figured it had only been a couple of days and he’d get used to it eventually- like when Matt chopped all his hair off. 

No, scratch that- he still wasn’t used to Matt’s awful short hair. It was just… so bad.

He grabbed the package of biscotti Pidge had sent him out of the cupboard, tucking it under his arm when he grabbed the coffees and headed outside. The air was warm, but it was still early enough that it hadn’t gotten uncomfortably hot yet. The breeze was coming off the water, the scent of the salt clinging to the air. He took a moment to bask in the simple joy of being home, truly home , and settled himself onto his porch swing. 

Keith joined him a few minutes later, and as he sat on the swing, Lance passed him his coffee then set the biscotti between them. “Grown-up cookies,” he chuckled, “that’s what Pidge calls biscotti. Help yourself.”

“Sounds like her,” he replied, pushing with his foot to set the swing rocking in a slow, soft rhythm, “how’s she doing?”

“Well, she’s Pidge, so… working too hard, drinking too much coffee, not getting enough sleep and terrifying pretty much everyone. You know, same as always.” He sipped his coffee, “good, though. She seems good. Settled. Focused. Happy.”

“You keep tabs on everyone, don’t you?”

“I try,” he answered, shrugging softly. “Allura- our last night on Earth...she said that we were her family, her strength. If I really carry her legacy… no, scratch that. If she was here, she’d be checking on everyone. There’s not much that she would do that I can , but I can do that. I mean, I love everyone, too… and I’ve always been… like, driven to make sure that everyone is okay, that no one gets… forgotten or pushed aside. I know how much that sucks… but it feels like a way to honor Allura, too. You know?”

“Yeah… I get it. You loved her a lot.”

“I was so young,” he sighed, “and we had hardly any time to figure ourselves out. I dunno… I did. I really did. I loved her. Part of me always will. It’s just…”

“It’s just, what, Lance?” Keith turned toward him, sending a kind of shiver through the swing.

“I don’t know… I think about what her life would have been… and I… don’t really fit in it. She loved me. I know she did… I’ll never doubt that, I can feel it- it’s hard to explain… But she wasn’t in love with me.”

“Lance-”

“No, Keith, it’s true. This isn’t self-pity. I’ve seen Allura in love. She was in love with Lotor- before… everything. She liked me. She loved me. But it wasn’t like that. We were as happy as we could have been in the middle of all… everything… but yeah… I don’t think we’d still be together now if she was here.”

Taking a breath, Lance tipped his head back, eyes drifting shut. Keith seemed to be able to tell that he wasn’t done. That he had more he needed to say. “She was alone… we never really thought about it much back then, but she was. She was so alone and I said I wanted to be her family. I was… young… and she was- well, you knew her… she was amazing… and I admired her and she was beautiful and smart and brave and a Princess and a warrior and so selfless and she made me want to be a better person and I thought that was what falling in love was. But it’s not. Not really. Being in love doesn’t make you want to be better. Real love, it makes you realize that you are enough . You don’t have to change and improve yourself. Being in love with someone shouldn’t make you feel like you aren’t good enough unless you change yourself. You know?”

“Yeah… okay… that makes sense,” Keith sounded worried, so Lance turned to smile at him, hoping to reassure him.

“She was my first love,” he said, his chest ached with the weight of missing her , but it didn’t hurt the way it used to. So he pushed on. “That’s important… first loves are important… and she was my friend, and my teammate, and my Princess, and she was right- when we were out there, we were all alone, but we were alone together and that made us a family. She was my first love, but she wasn’t my true love… and I used to think that was sad and awful… but it’s not. It’s just… the way it is… and it means that there are still good things for me. I think it would have been sad and awful if she was my true love and she was gone before I was even twenty years old. That’s… God, that’s so much life to live in mourning.”

Wordlessly, Keith leaned over and pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. “Hey,” Lance crooned, “I’m okay. Really.”

“Lance,” Keith whispered, rubbing his back with the hand that wasn’t holding a coffee mug, “you’re crying.”

He was no stranger to tears, but this was the first time in a long time that he’d started crying without realizing it. “Oh… yeah… I guess I am.” Being careful of his burns, he tucked his face into the curve of Keith’s throat and just soaked up the comfort he was being offered, “that all… kind of came out of nowhere… sorry…”

“Knock it off. Don’t apologize to me for shit like this- you take care of everyone else… you deserve to fall apart sometimes, too.” Leave it to Keith to somehow tell him off while also comforting him. Unexpectedly, that made him smile and hug Keith a little tighter… because he should have known that he’d say that. He should have known that Keith would have his back. He always did. Always had. Whenever he felt like he was losing track of who he was, Keith managed to remind him. He was good that way.

“Thanks… I’m okay though… I really am… I know it doesn’t seem like it… but I’m okay.” Even as he was reassuring Keith that he was fine, he was scooching closer, soaking up the closeness and comfort of the hug. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from him; the burden of never saying out loud that he knew that he and Allura had never been in love for all that they loved each other was gone. 

That had been a heavy truth to carry, and he was glad he’d let it go… but it brought up a lot of old feelings that he’d never really expressed, and so, even though he felt okay emotionally, he was shaking and crying in Keith’s arms. He was sure his friend must think he was completely losing his mind.

“Lance… I mean this in the nicest way possible, but shut up.” Keith leaned into him and he vaguely registered the sound of a coffee mug being set down on the top of the veranda railing, then Keith twisted and his own mug was plucked out of his fingers to join Keith’s. It was a lot of moving to be going on during a hug, but somehow Keith had managed to hang on to him the whole time. 

Without the coffee mugs making them be cautious, Keith squeezed him tight and Lance clung to his friend, his hands fisting in the soft cotton of his friend’s shirt as tears rolled down his cheeks and he shook helplessly for long moments. “I got you,” Keith said, soft and earnest like he was making some kind of sacred pledge, all while rubbing his back and smoothing his hand over Lance’s hair gently, “not goin’anywhere… promise…”

Eventually, the tears stopped, and the shaking abated, and his breathing settled down… and honestly? He felt like he could fall asleep right where he was. He couldn’t remember feeling this calm and light and safe since… before the war. 

Before the Garrison, really. 

He felt the way the air felt after a good rain. A soft, shaky sigh worked its way out of his chest, but he still didn’t move. Neither did Keith. They stayed exactly as they were, the swing still rocking gently, Keith still stroking his back, Lance still clinging to him tightly, for a few more minutes. 

Gingerly, Keith pulled back from the hug, his hands resting on Lance’s shoulders until he lifted one and ever so carefully touched the fresh bandages, checking to make sure Lance hadn’t wrecked them. “You’re okay,” he whispered, his hand settling against Lance’s jaw to cup it, his thumb stroking his cheek in the same rhythm he’d used to rub his back.

Lance nodded and the movement settled his face into Keith’s hand more solidly, almost like a nuzzle. He managed a smile, weak and watery, but genuine. Keith smiled back and he felt something swoop in his chest. “You don’t think,” he could barely form the words, “I’m… disrespecting her memory… betraying her?”

“I’m probably the worst person to ask,” Keith answered eventually, “this seems like a Shiro question… or Coran… but… I think… If I was Allura… I think, I’d want you to be honest… about what we meant to each other… I think… if I was her… I’d want you to be happy… to live your life with all the passion and potential you have in you, if I was Allura. She was selfless, and brave, and she valued honesty. She wouldn’t want you to pretend to feel something you don’t. I don’t think she’d want that, even if it hurt her… but I don’t think it would hurt her to… be your first love and not your forever. I think… Lance, I really think she’d be honored.”

“Yeah?” Some of the last , lingering shadows in his heart let go and he let Keith’s hand take more of the weight of his head, the literal support soothing something in him.

“Yeah,” Keith’s voice was still quiet, but it was more confident now, “she loved you. Even if she wasn’t in love with you, she loved you. She’d want you to be happy again.”

“I’m happy,” he insisted, “I am. I’m happy here. I probably won’t be forever- someday I’ll want to get back out to space, I think. But I really am happy.” Lifting his hand to cover Keith’s against his face, he grinned, “random crying jags aside, I mean.”

“I got the impression that one was a long time coming,” Keith answered, “and I know you are happy here. I see it… I meant… I think she would want you to be happy with someone again. That’s what we all want for the people we love right? For them to be happy?”

“Yeah,” he said softly, caught by the tenderness in Keith’s eyes. “I want the people I love to be happy.”

Keith opened his mouth to say something, and paused, “do you hear that? That’s Gaia. She’s awake.”

Right. 

The kids. 

“Looks like naptime is over,” he said, smiling. “You go get her… I’ll… make us fresh coffee. I’m not nuking these a second time.”

Lance made coffee, which was good, because Gaia woke Austin, and for the first time, Lance saw him in a bad mood. He scowled and stomped around, and nothing seemed to be able to cheer him up. Gaia wasn’t any better. She’d started teething in earnest and was absolutely miserable, clinging to her father and wailing most of the time.  With Keith’s hands full dealing with a hurting baby, Lance tried to fill the gap by keeping Austin occupied, but it was proving difficult. 

Lunch was greeted with crossed arms and an angry pout and Austin grumbled about the lack of mangoes- even though he liked frutabomba and Lance had made him grilled cheese, which Keith said he loved.

By three in the afternoon, they’d drained more coffee than he wanted to think about. Lance was ready to tear his hair out, and Keith was visibly stressed but endlessly patient with both of the kids. Lance wasn’t sure whether to be impressed by that, or worried that Keith was going to hit some kind of limit and self-destruct. Austin had his hands clamped over his ears and was glaring at his sister so hard she might actually combust from the heat of it. 

“Okay- I’m going to take Austin out to the garden for a bit, and see if some fresh air helps. When I get back, maybe we can switch?”

“Assuming she lets you take her,” Keith sighed, “I’m not sure she will though.”

“If she screams either way, then you deserve a breather, Keith. Come on amiguito, let’s go outside.”

“Nuffin to do outside,” muttered the little boy.

Lance rolled his eyes, “you aren’t doing anything in here either except giving your sister the stink eye.”

“Whazza stink eye?”

“The face you are making right now.” He mussed up the little boy’s hair, earning a fresh scowl and a pretty impressive wrist sweep for a three year old, but Austin followed him outside and sighed softly when Lance shut the door behind them.

“She’s so loud ,” he complained, rubbing at his forehead.

Lance stopped, the muffling of the air raid siren that was Gaia let his brain kick in a bit. “Hey bud? Is your head hurting?”

“Gaia’s too loud. Makes my ears feel weird… and I don’like it!”

“Huh…” He crouched down, tipping Austin’s face up to his, “do me a favor and look up? See if there are any cool looking clouds?”

Looking for all the world like Keith did when he was humoring Lance, Austin tipped his head back and trained his eyes on the sky- and flinched, “s’too bright!”

Starting to worry, Lance rested the inside of his wrist against Austin’s forehead, but there was no trace of a fever. “Anything else feel weird? Other than your ears and your eyes?”

“No,” he pouted, “just mad at Gaia.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Okay- I was gonna see if you wanted to show me more of your fighting but I think I have a better idea…” He held his arms out and waited for Austin to come to him, tucking his head against Lance’s shoulder when he did. “We’re going to sit on the swing, and I’m going to play with your hair until you feel better.”

“Play with my hair? Whaz that gonna do?”

“You have a headache, amiguito,” he cooed, settling them into the swing and setting it to sway, “it helps. I used to do it for Shiro all the time.”

“You did? Just like this?”

“Well, he’s bigger than me, so I didn’t carry him, but pretty much, yeah. He used to get lots of really bad headaches, so I would help him. I’d play with his hair and rub his scalp. Just like my mama did when I had a headache as a kid.”

“Was a’sposeda meet your mama today,” Austin whispered, his voice sad.

“You will,” Lance promised, rubbing Austin’s back, “she’s going to bring us some supper a little later.”

“Why’s Gaia so loud?” the little boy asked, sniffling.

“She’s hurting, buddy… and she doesn’t have any words to tell us… and she doesn’t understand why it hurts, so it’s scary…”

“She’s scared?”

“Yeah, probably. It’s scary when something hurts and you don’t know why.” Slowly, he started dragging his fingers through Austin’s hair, almost like he was petting his head.

“She was scared an’I was mad at her?”

“Well, her crying was hurting you, sweetie. You weren’t mean to her or anything. Sometimes we feel stuff that isn’t really fair. That’s okay. Feelings are just feelings. Buuuuut, you chose not to be mean to her or yell at her, even though you were mad. That was very grown-up of you.”

“Not a very good big brother…” 

Lance could hear the tears that were threatening to fall. Today seemed to be the day to go cry on the swing.

Stellar.

“Oh, Austin- big brothers get mad all the time.” He kept his voice soft, aiming for light but sympathetic. Soothing. “Little sisters and brothers are no fun sometimes… like when they keep screaming and hogging your Daddy when you don’t feel good. You are a very good big brother. I promise.”

“I don’like when my ears are weird…”

“I know, Austin, I know. How about we just be quiet and give your ears a rest?” He started to hum softly, his long fingers slipping through the fluffy cloud of hair that Austin had. The tiny man-bun he’d been sporting in the morning had left some odd little twists and curls in his hair that Lance had to be careful not to get tangled in, but within a few minutes he could feel Austin start to relax.

It had been years since he’d done this for anyone, but it was easy enough to fall back into the rhythm of it. He hummed old lullabies he remembered from his childhood, keeping a steady beat with the sway of the swing and gently massaging Austin’s scalp. After a while, Austin’s breathing changed and the little boy snuggled closer, starting to doze off. He smiled, turning his head to drop an affectionate kiss to his temple. 

This boy was such a little sweetheart, he’d been so worried about not being a good big brother for being upset at his sister for hurting him. Lance was pretty sure that when he was Austin’s age, he wasn’t anywhere close to so kind-hearted. That was Hunk-levels of compassion. 

He let his eyes drift to the glass door into his kitchen. Keith was pacing the floor with Gaia, patting her back and bouncing her gently as she gnawed on his shoulder and slobbered all over him. He looked exhausted, but his expression was more concerned than frustrated, and his eyes looked absolutely heartbroken that he couldn’t take his daughter’s pain away. 

He thought back to the tender way Keith had dealt with his own burns, the kindness in his voice when he’d reassured Lance that Allura would want him to be happy. He’d always known that Keith was a good man- brave and noble… but it wasn’t until this visit that he had realised how deeply kind Keith was. 

So, maybe it wasn’t Hunk-levels of compassion, after all. Maybe… maybe it was... Keith-levels. He smiled, it was nice to know that even after all these years, he could still see new facets to the remarkable people he’d fought side by side with in Voltron.

In his pocket, he felt his phone buzz and he shifted his weight so he could let go of Austin long enough to read the text.

Mullet: Is he asleep?

Lance’s smile grew and he tapped out a one-handed response.

Lance: Only just

Lance: headache

Lance: he didn’t know what it was

Lance: prolly the first one he had

Mullet: Is he sick?

Lance: doubt it

Lance: no fever

Lance: I played with his hair

Lance: used to knock Shiro out too

Mullet: ??

Lance: when he had headaches in the castle

Mullet: how do we get him up to a bed without her waking him

Lance: give us another 10 minutes

Lance: then take her out the front door and circle around to the veranda

Lance: I’ll bring him upstairs

Mullet: teamwork ftw

Lance: we do make a good team

He smiled at the reference, knowing that Keith would have the same reaction. It had taken them a while to find their footing, to figure out how to work together. But once they had, they’d been a really good team, balancing each other out well. Looked like they still were, even if now it was taking on the conflicting needs of two small children and not fighting an intergalactic war. Returning the phone to his pocket, he curled his arm back around Austin and started humming again.

When his phone buzzed a short time later, he knew it was Keith letting him know that he was heading out of the house with Gaia. Carefully, he rose with Austin tucked close to him and gingerly made his way up to the guest room- where he froze. There was no way that Gaia was going to settle down for long, and this room was the closest to the stairs. The quietest room was a guest room Austin was almost completely unfamiliar with. But his own room… it was pretty well insulated from the sounds of the lower level, and Austin had at least spent some time there. Making a decision, he turned, carrying the little dreamer to the master suite and tucking him into his own bed for the time being. 

He had no idea how long Gaia would be so unsettled, and if it kept bugging Austin’s head, Keith might have to give up on that room sharing thing for a bit. He didn’t really expect that suggestion to go over very well, though. Keith was a seriously hands on parent.

Crying was filling the house again when he exited his bedroom, so he made sure to grab some topical pain stuff and teething medicine before he descended the stairs. “Keith? Do you want to try something more medical for her? I have that teething stuff my family sent over…”

“Is it safe for Galra? When I was a kid, some of the pain meds my fosters had would make me really sick… and Gaia is more Galra than human.”

“I… uh… don’t really know? I’m sorry- I didn’t even think of that, which is shitty of me. I should have remembered that.” He sagged slightly, he just wanted to help somehow- Gaia was breaking his heart. “I don’t even know who we could ask…”

Keith jiggled his daughter- trying, and failing, to comfort her. He looked so worried and scared it made Lance wish that this was an enemy he could fight instead of a problem that he couldn’t do anything about. “I… uh… I know someone. Artax would know, but I’d have to scan the meds first, send him the actual chemical composition, not just the name…”

“I don’t have that kind of equipment…”

“I do. In my Blade suit…”

“Well, in that case, pass me the baby and I’ll walk with her while you do the scan thing.”

“I can do both, Lance.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to and if you have to split your focus, it will take longer. I’m here to help Keith. Give me the baby.”

“Your burns-”

“Are bandaged and healing… it’s fine.” He lifted Gaia out of Keith’s arms, “you deserve a breather anyway. She belts like an opera singer and you’ve been walking the floor with her all day.” The baby hiccuped and whimpered, her huge eyes fixing on Lance’s face for all of three seconds before she began to howl again. “Now now, none of that, little Princess. You like me, remember? We’re just going to dance a bit while Daddy runs upstairs to try to help you. I got you.” He snuggled her into his chest and she immediately began to gnaw on his shoulder as he swayed and patted her back. “Go, on Daddy- me holding her while she can see you isn’t exactly reassuring to her.” 

Keith blinked at him with an oddly dazed expression on his face and opened his mouth to speak before stopping himself, only to change his mind again- Lance could watch understanding wash over the other man in something close to a wave. “Right, right…” He pressed in close enough that Lance could smell his shampoo. “I’ll be right back, sweetness. Lance will take good care of you while I’m gone. Okay?”

“She can’t answer that, Keith,” he teased, “but she’ll be fine.”

“I know- I do. I know she’s safe with you… I… trust you.” Reluctantly, Keith headed up the stairs, and Lance hummed softly to Gaia as he moved around the living room. 

She cried and squirmed and soaked his shirt with drool, but he didn’t stop. The poor little thing was in pain and scared and he wasn’t Keith. He got it. As far as she was concerned the world was awful and wrong and she was always going to feel this awful and the only comfort she’d had up until now was the presence of her father… and now he was gone and she didn’t know if he was ever coming back. That was scary and awful, and she was already scared and feeling awful. 

“Shhh, Princess… he’s just upstairs… he’ll be right back, I promise,” he whispered, “I know it sucks when he disappears… but here’s what I learned years ago- Keith always comes back. Your Daddy always, always comes back. He’s trying to help you. He loves you so much… You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

He was starting to wish that he’d made a point to learn more about those Marmora suits so he’d have some idea how long it would take to analyze those two medications. He hoped it wouldn’t be too long. He didn’t have any issue with Gaia crying in his ear or trying to eat his shirt, but it broke his heart that she might be more scared because she was being held by someone she’d only known for a few days.

 Lance glanced up the stairs, feeling foolish even as he did it; Keith had barely even had time to get to the room let alone… whatever he had to do up there. He kissed the top of the baby’s head and shifted her a little higher on his shoulder. Before he knew it, he was singing softly to her and dancing around the living room. Nothing fancy, a fairly basic waltz- kind of heavy on turns- but she seemed to be crying a little less frantically when he swooped and twirled with her than when he was simply walking and at this point, if it worked, he was going to keep doing it.

Time went fuzzy, the pained cries of a baby had a way of making everything else seem very unimportant. Since he couldn’t do anything to help with the pain and discomfort of her mouth, he tried to focus on what he could do. So, he changed her diaper and fed her… then he remembered something that Marco had said about Niamh when she was teething. Kangaroo something or other had helped. He couldn’t remember what it was called exactly, but he knew how it worked. He peeled her out of her sleeper and shrugged out of his shirt, settling her against his chest. She wailed and her little nails scratched his skin, but he didn’t care. She chewed on his collarbone like Luis tackling a plate of ribs, and snotted all over his shoulder, but she was starting to settle down to a more normal sounding cry instead of the panicked, agonized screeching, so he dealt with it. He could always shower later.

“Ummmm… what is going on here?” Keith’s voice didn’t even startle him, despite not hearing him approach… he was too caught up in helping the little girl in his arms for anything else to elicit much response.

“Kanga- something… doesn’t matter what it’s called. Skin to skin contact- it comforts babies a bit. I’m trying to make up for not being you,” he shrugged and turned… and froze. He didn’t really know what he thought Keith would have to do to run the analysis, but it was definitely not ‘put on the Marmora suit’. Deja vu hit him hard- for a second he was right back on the Castle of Lions, standing with the others when Keith had popped up on the screen demanding to know where Lotor was. 

Bigger. 

Older. 

More grizzled. 

His gut lurched, he’d never really warmed up to the Blades the way some of the others had. He knew that important things had happened for Keith because he’d joined them, and that they were vital, life-saving allies, even now... but that suit… every time he saw Keith in it, it just reminded him of Keith leaving Voltron, weeks and months of no contact, not even knowing if Keith was alive or not, fighting with not-Shiro over tactical decisions, Naxzela, always feeling underfoot and unheard, the short in the radiation shield… so much awfulness.

He hadn’t been prepared, and it had thrown him for a loop… and now his brain was scrambling, trying to shift gears back to ‘responsible adult’ even though it seemed to be stuck in ‘overly emotional, hormone driven teen’ mode- because as much as those damn jumpsuits stirred up old, painful memories and pissed him off, there really was no denying that the things were flattering . Jeez- he’d seen Keith in trunks at the beach the other day and he hadn’t looked this good!

“Is it helping?” Keith asked and Lance blinked at him, trying to make sense of that comment. How would he know if the Marmora suit was helping? Helping what, anyway? He’d been down here with Gai- ohhhhh… the kangaroo thing!

“Seems to be,” he said suddenly, probably a tad too loud based on the way the baby flinched and whimpered. “A little bit anyway… expecting trouble, there, Space Ranger?”

“The suit can scan biosignals, too. I should check to make sure we are even right about what’s getting to her.”

“I mean… sure… but it’s pretty classic teething…”

“For humans… but something serious could be wrong and I want to make sure it’s not.”

Gaia finally seemed to notice that her father had returned and she reacted by freaking the heck out, screaming, thrashing and making grabby hands at Keith. “Woahhhh, Princess, you are strong! Hang on, hang on… don’t make me drop you!” 

Once she was back in Keith’s arms she settled down a bit, and Keith tucked his face down against hers, his eyes closing as he cuddled her close. It was kind of amazing how he wore his love for those kids on his sleeve. He hummed tunelessly at her, the sound close to a purr and picked up his walking again. After a moment or two, he tapped a couple of buttons on his forearm and a purple light washed over the baby. Galran writing popped up on a holoscreen and Keith visibly relaxed, “she’s fine. Four points of inflammation in her jaws. Teething. She’s okay.” He kissed her temple, “you’re okay, sweetness. You’re going to be just fine. It’s just teeth, munchkin, you’ll get through this.”

“I… uhh… I gave her a bottle and changed her bum while you were upstairs.” Lance said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Rachel’s stupid ‘mom porn’ comment kept floating through his brain. He was seriously going to have words with her over that when he saw her next. “She took a few breaks to cry, and she kept chewing on the nipple but she finished the bottle.”

“Good… good… I hate this.”

“I know you do.”

“I feel so helpless. I can’t fix it, so she just has to hurt and it’s not fair. Austin had all his teeth right from the start. I’ve never had to deal with this before.”

“You’re doing great,” Lance said softly, “if you weren’t she wouldn’t have gone berserk to get back in your arms like that. She knows. She knows you love her and want to help, so she wants to be close to you. Did you make the call? Can she take the medicine?”

“I was in such a rush… and I wanted to make sure it was teething…”

“Call now, then. The sooner we know if it is safe, the sooner she can feel better, right?”

“Yeah… right… good point,” Keith sighed, nuzzling the top of his daughter’s head, “the things I deal with sometimes because I love you.” Instead of pulling out his phone like Lance expected, he tapped his forearm again. After a few quiet beeps, a projected display appeared, revealing the image of a handsome young Galran man. “Artax,” Keith said, voice neutral.

“Keith,” the man replied, something dark lurking in his tone, “I’m guessing this has something to do with the kits?”

“It does,” Keith answered, and Lance could see the strain in his muscles from where he was standing. Gaia seemed to be picking up on it too because her crying intensified. “I just need you to look at some data from a couple of human products and tell me if it is safe to give her.”

“She sounds like she is in pain,” genuine concern crept into his voice.

“She is , that’s why I need your help. I have some medicine here, but I’m worried she might react badly.”

“How did she get hurt? You don’t let those kits take a breath without hovering.”

Hold up. 

Lance stiffened. Did that jackass just insult Keith’s parenting? Did he seriously make a dig because Keith was an attentive father? Just who the hell did he think he was?!?

“She’s teething, Artax,” Keith replied, “I don’t want to get into all this again… can’t I just send you the data without a debate?”

“I’ll look it over.”

Keith tapped a few hidden buttons and adjusted Gaia again. The jostling seemed to settle her a little, which was good, but Lance was getting more pissed by the second.

“You know,” Artax said, “teething isn’t that difficult to deal with. You just need to stop coddling them. They are Galra. Put her in a room for a cycle. Make sure she is safe, but leave her alone for a full cycle. When you go back she’ll have her teeth.”

“I’m not doing that,” Keith said, anger making his voice low and rough. Gaia didn’t like it, her crying picked up again, but she sounded… wrong.

“Yeah,” Lance echoed, “don’t do that. What kind of asshole ignores a baby that is in pain for an hour? Yikes!” He reached over and smoothed Gaia’s hair back from her face. “Let me walk with her while you talk. You’re only better at calming her when you are calm. I can at least walk and sing…”

Artax snorted, “is that Lance McClain? You went to the Red Paladin’s place? No surprise there.”

“Not now, Artax,” Keith muttered, but he kissed Gaia’s cheek and passed her over to Lance. “Thanks.”

“How is Austin?” Artax asked, effectively shifting the conversation.

“He’s fine. Napping. We’ve been busy and the fresh air is knocking him out.”

“Well, that sounds… idyllic.” Lance had no idea why, but that comment made him want to crawl through the holoscreen and deck the guy. 

“He’s happy here,” Keith answered, and there was something… smug… about the way he said that Lance couldn’t make sense of. He did his best to tune out the conversation between Keith and Artax, because he didn’t really want to eavesdrop (even though they were both fully aware that he was in the room and could see and hear everything) and because Gaia deserved to be comforted.

“So, I finished the analysis- there’s nothing here that should have an adverse effect. I have to say though, my official medical recommendation is that you handle this traditionally and leave her alone for a cycle. Her self-preservation instincts will trigger, force the teeth through and she’ll be over it. Without that it could take several movements before all four teeth come in.”

“That tradition didn’t start until after Zarkon’s war,” Keith hissed, “it’s cruel. I’m not doing it.”

“The pain isn’t that bad-”

“I’m not leaving her to get so scared that it triggers a physical shift as a last ditch effort to survive, Artax. Stop telling me to!”

“Wait- what !?!?” Lance whipped around, “she’s a baby ! She can’t even crawl !”

“Which is unusual and likely because he never challenged her to!” Artax snapped back, “he coddles her and Austin both- like they are some sort of weak, snivelling prey species instead of strong Galra warriors! He’s going to make them we-”

“ Thank-you for the information, Artax,” Keith cut in, ‘Black Paladin Voice’ in full effect. “Good-bye.” He disconnected the comm link, “she can take the medicine. Let’s help her out.”

“What the fuck is up with that guy?” Lance snarled, “how the fuck do you ‘challenge’ a baby to crawl??”

“You put them on the floor and walk away from them then ignore them until they come to you.” Keith said, his voice cold and level- carefully matter-of-fact.

“You… He wants you to teach Gaia that you’ll leave her behind if she doesn’t figure out how to chase you?” He actually flinched at the thought, cradling her closer, even as she sobbed. “Why!?!? Why would you torture a baby like that!?!?”

“He, and a lot of Galra, think it makes them stronger. Better warriors. It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing it. That’s all that matters.” 

“Good!” He clung to the little girl like someone was going to try to pull her out of his arms. Just the thought of her little face crumpling in confusion and fear if Keith had done that was enough to make him ready to go wage war again. “No one is ever going to make you scared like that on purpose, Princess. Not ever,” he whispered to her, “not. Ever. I promise.”

“How bad does this stuff taste?” Keith muttered, holding a dropper of milky-looking liquid.

“It’s supposed to taste like cherries? I don’t know- I’ve never sampled it,” he offered what he hoped was a supportive smile, despite the outrage that was simmering in him. He had so many questions! Was Artax typical of the way Keith had been treated on the Marmora base? Did Krolia feel the same way? Oh god- did Krolia do that to Ke ith ?!?! He should have called Lance, reached out. He shouldn’t have been so alone. Lance should have been there, to help. Keith must have felt so alone. He must have been second-guessing himself all the time. 

Lance should have been there. 

He would have been there. 

“Yeah… she doesn’t know what cherries are supposed to taste like anyw- what?” Keith stopped what he was doing and leaned closer, “what’s with the face?"

“You said… a lot of Galra… does that include your mother?”

“What are you talking about?” Keith’s eyebrows drew together in confusion.

“The… crawling thing…”

“The crawling thin- oh! “ He shook his head, cupping Gaia’s jaw firmly and making faces at her as he slipped the little dropper along her gum and squeezed its contents down her throat. She sputtered and flailed, letting out an outraged shriek, but settled down to her baseline crying almost immediately. “You mean with me?  No… she told me she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She liked the way my father tried to get me to crawl better. I never did though. I skipped it, I guess.”

“Oh, thank God… it just seems… so mean, you know?” He relaxed a little, “and you guys didn’t have a lot of time together to begin with.” 

“The crawling thing bugs me, but it is easy enough to ignore. The teething bit just pisses me off. I can’t believe he is pushing so hard for it. He acts like I’m some kind of…” He trailed off into a growl, “I’m not leaving my little girl alone in a room with no food and a dirty diaper for a whole day! That doesn’t make me weak !”

“A fucking what now?” He gaped at Keith, “I know, I know… language, but Austin’s not here, so…. Whatever… did you say a day ?!?”

“One complete day/night cycle,” Keith said, “like a quintant, you know… a space day.”

“I hate that guy,” Lance snarled, his grip tightening on Gaia, “that’s… outrageous! It’s neglect!”

“It’s pretty much how they were all raised,” Keith sighed, “so, if I say stuff like that, most of the Blades think I’m insulting their parents… which doesn’t go over well. So, I basically just point out that the tradition is less than ten thousand years old- most of the harsher stuff is, actually. Before that, the Galran culture was different. I mean, they were still warriors and stuff… but families? They operated differently. She’s not crying… the medicine works fast…”

“Either that is something specific to part-Galra kids, or it isn’t the medicine,” Lance said, relaxing his grip a little to get a better look at her. Almost immediately, she started to wail again. So… he hugged her tighter… and she hiccuped and shuddered and curled into his chest, settling down. “Holy crap! She just wants bear hugs! Weak, my ass!”

“She must be so exhausted, poor thing,” Keith cooed, “maybe that’s why she liked the carrier thing? Because it’s so tight?”

“Maybe… I mean, people do the swaddle thing with newborns… but she’s older so I never thought about trying it…”

“Swaddle? Oh! You mean wrapping her up like a burrito? She used to love that!” Their eyes met and they both broke into huge smiles.

“She did? Get a freaking blanket! Let’s try that!” Lance gushed, “hurry! Before she starts wailing again or my arms cramp up!”

The next several minutes were a buzz of activity, but they got Gaia all wrapped up, rubbed some of the topical pain medication on her gums, and grabbed a frozen chewie toy for her. Now that she wasn’t fighting to breathe between shrieks of pain, she could actually gnaw on the soothing cold toy long enough for it to help her. She whimpered and whined, but stayed calm enough for Lance to hold her while Keith ran upstairs to change out of his Marmora suit and returned in low slung pyjama pants and a tank top. He scooped his daughter up and kissed her forehead and whispered something to her in Galran that Lance didn’t catch before he sat, patting her back and holding the toy for her to chew.

“Oh my god,” whispered Lance as he dropped onto the couch beside Keith, who was cradling Gaia against him like a tiny newborn. “Burrito baby isn’t crying… the house is so quiet all of a sudden!”

“She’s barely keeping her eyes open, look!” Keith whispered back. 

Lance scooted closer, half-lying on Keith to get a glimpse of the baby. She blinked drowsily, scrunching her nose as she attempted to smile around the frozen toy. “Awww… preciosa niña… it’s only been a couple of hours, but I’ve missed that little smile. You want some food? I figure we should take advantage of the chance to eat before she starts howling again.”

“Yeah…” Keith paused, “holy crow- I am so hungry! I didn’t even notice until you said something.”

“I’ll throw together some sandwiches for us. When Austin wakes up I can make him a frozen pizza or something.”

“Sounds great. You make better sandwiches than Hunk- just don’t tell him that or I will deny it.”

Lance laughed, dragging himself up off the couch, “well, I’m Cuban- our sandwiches are kind of a thing … and Hunk’s ego could handle hearing that. Sandwiches aren’t exactly cooking, they are like… assembly. Not the same thing at all.” He grabbed his shirt and was about to pull it on again when he noticed just how soggy the shoulder was. Gross. Nope. Not wearing that. He’d rather do without- and he was grilling sandwiches, not frying bacon so it was fine. 

Digging through the fridge, he pulled out cold cut ham and leftover roasted mojo pork from his mother, mustard, pickles and cheese. He carefully sliced the bread and started the plancha, letting it warm up as he put the sandwiches together. “Keith?? You want regular yellow mustard, spicy yellow mustard, or the sweet stuff?”

“Whatever you are having is fine, Lance… I’m not picky about mustard.”

Spicy it was then. He stacked hefty amounts of the meats, cheese. and pickles onto the sandwich and brushed the bread with olive oil. Perfect. Just needed to be grilled. He actually couldn’t remember the last time he’d made himself a good Cubano- although, to be fair, his favorite way to have them was after they’d been wrapped in foil and tucked up close to a bonfire on the beach, not grilled in his kitchen.

He was just setting the sandwiches in the plancha and pulling the lid down when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Shiro: How is Keith today?

Shiro: and the children?

Lance: today has been rough

Lance: Gaia is teething

Lance: she is miserable and making sure everyone knows

Shiro: teething is kind of notorious for being difficult

Lance: things are calmer now

Lance: gave her medicine

Lance: Keith had to check with Artax to make sure it was safe

Shiro: Artax?

Shiro: how did that go?

Lance: okay I guess

Lance: he answered the question so that’s good

Lance: I hate that fucker though

Shiro: that does not surprise me at all

Lance: he wanted Keith to put Gaia in a room and ignore her for a full DAY!

Shiro: WHAT!?!?!

Lance: said it would trigger a shift and bring in her teeth

Shiro: do you have any idea how upset she would have to be to shift like that??

Lance: nope- but I’m more concerned about the whole don’t feed or change a 6 month old for 24 hours thing

Lance: also the let a baby think that no one cares about them thing

Shiro: I’ve seen Keith shift

Shiro: once

Shiro: and it wasn’t really me that saw it

Lance: shit

Lance: okay… I didn’t think it was possible but I hate that guy more now

Lance: Keith refused

Lance: not that you would think he’d agree to that

Lance: but… that’s not how he ‘dads’

Shiro: I got that impression

Shiro: this whole thing has been hard on him hasn’t it?

Lance: yeah

Lance: but he’s got this

Lance: he is great with those kids

Lance: they are happy

Lance: HE is happy

Lance: I know you are trying… but… you REALLY don’t want to miss out on this

Shiro: I really don’t

Shiro: but I also really don’t want to get triggered and do damage either

Shiro: I think that would be worse

Shiro: I’m glad he has you right now

Lance: of course

Lance: you guys can always count on me

He checked on the sandwiches, shifting them around a little with a set of tongs and closing the lid again because they weren’t quite ready.

Shiro: not what I meant

Shiro: you are good for him

Shiro: better than Artax was

Shiro: I’m glad you guys finally figured that out

Shiro: you work really well together

Lance stared at his phone. It wasn’t the first time that someone assumed he and Keith were a couple. He was just an affectionate guy and he was especially close to the other Paladins. At one point or another, someone had mistakenly assumed that he was involved with each of them. Hunk most often, Pidge least often- it still happened though, especially when Matt had been in the hospital and she’d been so stressed and frightened.

It was, however, the first time one of the ‘team’ had assumed he was with Keith like that. For it to be Shiro was especially jarring- because while Lance was affectionate and physically open, Keith was not… and Shiro knew Keith better than almost anyone. Still, Keith had been clinging to his hand like a lifeline, so it wasn’t so weird that even Shiro might misread things given how rare it was for Keith to do stuff like that.

Lance: he was just really stressed out

Lance: introducing you to the kids had him pretty freaked

Shiro: I know

Shiro: I wish it had gone better

Shiro: at least he was going home with someone he loves

Someone he what ? He set the phone down, trying to process that last message. 

Home. 

Loves. 

What?!?! 

Moving on autopilot, he slid the sandwiches onto plates and unplugged the plancha, trying to figure out what to say to Shiro. Because he was way off base.

Lance: that’s not the situation

Lance: I think some wires got crossed somewhere

Lance: Keith needs a friend right now

Lance: friendship is something I am good at

Shiro: well that is very true

Shiro: sorry for the misunderstanding

Lance: don’t worry about it

Lance: Keith was acting out of character

Lance: he’s not usually the hand holding kind of friend

Shiro: he was really that worried?

Lance: it’s been a tough six months

Lance: if you want more details you should talk to him

Lance: I get it if you aren’t ready to do that though

Shiro: understood

Shiro: what’s Austin like?

Lance: oh man, that kid

Lance: he’s shy at first but once he is comfortable with you he’s a little firecracker

Lance: he’s hilarious

Lance: very soft-hearted and protective 

Lance: smart… like SCARY smart

Lance: he can be a bit bossy

Lance: usually because he is trying to do something nice

Lance: he’s a really great kid

Shiro: he’s really won you over :)

Lance: never had to

Lance: I love those kids

Lance: have since the minute I met them

Lance: just like I’ll love your kids and Hunk’s and Pidge’s

Lance: oh God! Can you imagine Pidge with kids?!?!

Lance: officially weirded myself out

Shiro: you’ve got a big heart Lance

Shiro: always have

Lance: Thanks

Lance: gotta eat while things are quiet

Lance: I’m here but I might be slow

Slipping his phone into his pocket, he grabbed the plates and a couple of cans of soda and returned to the living room. Keith was sprawled over half of the couch, Gaia sound asleep on his chest. He looked completely wrung out. “Can you even eat with her like that?” Lance asked.

“I did it for the first month I had her,” Keith answered, holding out a hand for the plate, “so I’m gonna go with yes.”

“You should have reached out to me,” Lance muttered, “you needed more help.”

“I had help. Mom helped with Gaia. We were fighting about Austin, but she was still there doing the hands on stuff. Gaia just… wouldn’t sleep unless she could hear my heart. Had to be mine, too… somehow she could tell the difference… so… this...”

“It’s the smell,” Lance said.

“What?”

“That’s why it had to be you- she knows your smell. The first time Marco had Niamh overnight, he had to wear her mother’s sweatshirt. She needed to be able to smell her to feel safe. I’m betting it’s even more important for Galra babies.”

“Kits,” Keith said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Huh?”

“Galra call their children kits.”

“Yeah? That’s kind of cute. You want me to open your drink for you?” Keith nodded, so he popped the tab and passed it over.

“Hey- how old is Niamh now? You’ve mentioned her a few times, but I can’t remember if it was last visit or the one before when she was visiting…”

“She’s two, had her birthday last month- we all went to Ireland for a few days to celebrate. She’s adorable. She loves to sing and she thinks she knows the words but it is just nonsense. Same thing when she tries to speak Spanish… pure gibberish, but the cutest gibberish you’ve ever heard…. Her little lilt is precious.. So even when she’s trying to speak Spanish she’s got this like… almost a melody, I guess? This melody to her voice that is soooo Irish. Man, it cracks me up. She should be calling in a couple of days. She likes to get on a vid-call and just yammer at me. Like ‘Tee Ants! Tee Ants! Bigadab bu me? An gibldee fe mu nama gee?’ and I’m like nodding along and going ‘ really !?!?’ and ‘ Whoah !’ and she laughs her ass off. It’s a whole thing. Her mother can usually translate whatever it is she’s saying, though. So, it’s all good.” He took a swig of his own drink, “I’m her favorite.”

“Doesn’t hurt that you look like her father,” Keith observed.

“Excuse you! I don’t look anything like you and I’m Austin’s favorite! I’m just awesome and kids love me. I’m always the favorite Uncle.”

“You’re not Austin’s uncle… you’re his friend.”

“Which is a high honor. I can tell. The way he says ‘friend’ it’s like some kind of magic for him. Better than being his favorite uncle.”

Keith laughed softly, “of course it is. Who are you even competing with? Why do you turn everything into a competition?!?! This sandwich is amazing, by the way.”

“It’s a classic,” Lance chuckled, “and because it helps me focus… the competition thing, I mean. When I was a kid, I had a really hard time… like… staying on task, I guess? Especially with stuff that was… tedious. Anyway, Rachel used to turn it into a race or bet that she could get a higher mark or whatever. It helped. Then… when I went away to the Garrison, I was so homesick… competing made me feel a little closer to her. Plus, it’s fun. I like to challenge myself like that.” He shrugged, “but yeah- that’s why… helps me stay focused, reminds me of my sister.”

“How did I not know that before now?”

“Same way I never knew you were shy until I saw Austin at the beach. Just never came up in conversation. I like it though- it’s nice to still be surprised by people you’ve known so long.”

“I’m not shy,” Keith muttered, “you sound like Shiro.”

“And you sound like Austin, who also insists he’s not shy.” Lance fought the urge to smirk, but he suspected he failed in his attempt. “Speaking of… Shiro checked in… when I was in the kitchen. He wanted to know how you were doing.”

“He could have asked me .”

“I know… but I think that he might be embarrassed… I know he’s worried about screwing up and hurting you or the kids. Just- give him some space. He’s working through it. He obviously still cares and wants to make sure you are okay- Shiro and I don’t usually have daily chats over texts. This is definitely about needing to know you are alright. He wants to stay in your life, Keith, he wants to know your kids… let him figure out how to do that.”

“I guess… that’s a good sign, right?”

“It’s definitely a good sign. He does not like that Artax guy- we bonded over that… because, in case I wasn’t clear earlier… I hate that guy!”

“Yeah,” Keith chuckled, “you made that pretty clear when you were squishing Gaia like he was going to come through the com link and grab her.”

“I’d like to see him try,” Lance growled, leaning over to trace a fingertip along Gaia’s velvety cheek as she slept on Keith’s chest, “just try to lay one hand on either of them!”

“He’s their doctor,” Keith pointed out.

“Only until you find someone better,” Lance answered easily. “There’s gotta be plenty of other people who know about mixed Galra kids and some of them definitely don’t think leaving a baby alone for a full ‘cycle’ is better than caring for them for a few weeks.”

“I’m not so sure-”

“Be sure. Find them. You shouldn’t have to defend being kind to your children to their doctor. Find someone better. Talk to other mixed Galra, talk to Coran, talk to Sam, to Hunk… whatever it takes. Seriously. You don’t need anyone undermining you.” He stifled a yawn and shifted on the couch, settling beside Keith. “God- she’s like a little angel when she’s sleeping, isn’t she? Why are sleeping babies so fascinating? She’s not doing anything- it shouldn’t be so interesting to watch her.”

“I love when they dream,” Keith said softly, “Gaia will, like, laugh in her sleep sometimes and it is the sweetest thing. Or Austin will, like, mutter and move his hands around like he does when he talks. One time he just sat straight up and went ‘pfffffft no, Krolia!’ and then just fell back onto the pillows. It was hilarious and adorable.”

“They are such cute kids,” he mumbled. “You’re so lucky.”

Keith went still, “you’re the first one who said that… I mean… I think I’m lucky… but… everyone else kind of acts like… I’m making the best of it or something. Even Mom. I know she loves them, but there’s this like… I don’t know… like if I could go back and… undo it, I would. But I wouldn’t. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I would do everything exactly the same so I could have them.”

“Then they’re lucky, too.”

Chapter Text

“Oof.” Blearily, Lance cracked open one eye, trying to figure out why he was being slowly punched in the gut, and what the heck that weird noise was. He was greeted with a view of his television and a very sore neck. Seriously- ow!

Bit by bit his brain was kicking in. He was on the couch. The noise was… nope, still couldn’t tell. Rubbing his face he tried to sit up more, only to discover that his shoulder and arm were pinned.

“Shhh!” Austin’s face appeared before him, “Daddy an’Gaia’s sleeping!”

Oh! Right! He and Keith must have conked out when she’d settled down. “Hey bud,” he whispered. “When’d you wake up?”

“Ages an’ages ago,” Austin replied and Lance’s blood turned to ice water. How long had the three year old been unsupervised?!?! “Mama Clean’s here.”

“McClain, lindo,” Lance heard his mother correct gently. “Not Clean. Mc-Clain.”

“Mama Mc-Clain is here,” he said carefully, crawling over Lance and helping him identify that the slo-mo gut punches were actually Austin’s knees. “She made me a peepsaw!”

“Just call her abuela, buddy,” Lance chuckled softly. “That’s what she really wants anyway.”

“Lance,” she tsked, “he doesn’t have to… but if you want to, lindo, you can do that… Now, you- let me see these burns you mentioned...” She leaned  in close, inspecting his face, “how did this happen again?”

“Not really sure,” Lance answered, “Coran is looking into it. Keith is making sure I take care of them though.”

“I kissed them better and then Daddy did, too! That helped a lot,” Austin supplied helpfully before leaning over to whisper to Lance. “What’s ahb-whale-ah mean?”

“He did, did he?” His mother confirmed, smirking and earning a warning glare from Lance.

“It means grandmother… like Krolia,” He explained, finally managing to drag his arm free from where Keith had pinned it to the back of the couch and moving Austin so he was sitting in his lap properly. He loved the kid, but he did not need toddler knees in his intestines at the moment. “She’s my Mom, but your Daddy calls her Mama McClain, too.”

“Cuz Voltron is like family?” Austin guessed, smiling when Lance nodded, “is she gonna help me with my fighting, too?”

Lance chuckled at the affronted huff his mother made, “probably not- buuuut, I bet she can teach you how to make cookies.”

The little boy’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, “really?!?!”

Lance nodded, “mmhmm, that’s the kind of things abuelas do around here.”

Immediately, Austin scrambled out of his lap, racing over to his mother. “Ahb-whale-ah,” he said carefully, “can you show me how to make cookies?”

She flashed Lance a smile and crouched down, “well, not here … all my baking things are at my house, but maybe tomorrow or the next day you can visit and we’ll make cookies. How does that sound?”

“Really?” he was nearly hopping in place with excitement, “a’morrow?”

“You have to check with your Daddy first, but if he says it’s okay…”

“He will,” Austin nodded like a bobble head, absolutely certain that Keith would let him make cookies. “Daddy likes cookies!”

Lance stretched and the movement seemed to trigger something because Keith also moved- rolling to curl into Lance’s side and wrap his arms around him snugly. He was trying to figure out what to do with his own arms when Keith lifted his head, blinking at him in confusion. “Where’s….”

“Daddy!” Austin ran over, pulling on Keith’s sleeve, “can I make cookies with ahb-whale-ah amorrow? Can I? Can I?”

“Uhhhh…” Keith screwed up his face like a little kid, clearly struggling to transition to the waking world. It was almost adorable. “Ahb-wah?”

“My mother,” Lance whispered, taking pity on him, “she said that if it was okay with you, she’d do some baking with him tomorrow.”

“Mama McClain? Mmmhmm… yeah… sure… ‘course…” He nodded, already drifting back asleep, his head falling to Lance’s chest again. Poor guy must be completely exhausted.

“Kay!” The little boy darted across the room again, “he said yes!”

“Wonderful! Now, you should get back to your picture so I can bring it home to give to Rachel when I leave…”

“Oh! Yeah! She’s gonna love the pingins!” He headed into the kitchen and Lance could only just barely see him climbing up onto the bench and settling in to draw. Man, that kid loved animals!

Pained little whimpers came from the other side of Keith and Lance looked over to see Gaia starting to stir in the floating carrier she was dozing in. She was chewing on a soother and tossing her head back and forth… and her little whine was the noise he couldn’t identify earlier. He tried to reach out to her only to be thwarted by the weight of the man sleeping on him.

“I’ve got her,” cooed his mother, sweeping in to scoop up the baby with the practiced ease of an expert. 

“Thanks, mama,” Lance said quietly, “when did you get here?”

“A few hours ago… you three were asleep on the couch, so I tucked her somewhere safe and gathered up the dishes for you. The little one came downstairs about half an hour later and we’ve been getting to know each other. Bright boy.”

“Yeah, he’s great. Thank-you… today has been… just… ugh.”

“Teething, I know. Austin told me all about it. Which tooth is it?”

“Four teeth,” he answered through a yawn, “all at once.”

“Awww… chica,” she cooed, “no wonder you are so miserable…”

“Yeah, she was screaming for hours… her throat is probably raw, too.”

His mother glanced at the clock, “you gave her pain meds? She’s probably due for another dose… and a bottle. You were like this. My sweet, smiley boy, and then your teeth all came in in pairs and you were so miserable. Broke my heart everytime… even when you had your front teeth and kept biting everyone.”

“I did?” He wanted to help. Get Gaia a bottle or change her or something… but he couldn’t budge without disturbing Keith and Keith had earned some sleep.

“Mmhmmm… Marco still has a scar on his hand from when your molars were coming in.” She bounced and patted the baby, but he could tell it wouldn’t work for long.

“She’s usually pretty happy and quiet, but… whew… today was something else. Keith was pacing with her forever until we figured out the swaddle thing.”

“Well then,” she said definitively, “no farm chores for you until these teeth come in. It’s not fair to Keith and Austin. She’s going to need so much attention- you need to be here, Lance.”

“Mama, I can bring Austin with me for chores…”

She shook her head and waved him off, “I’m just glad he got here first… everyone is right on top of each other in those ships and bases… what a nightmare a teething baby would be!”

He looked down at Keith and, for the first time, thought about what it would have been like for him if his trip had been a week later. Stuck on that weird little turtle ship with Gaia and Austin. No space. No help. Or worse, on the base with everyone but his mother telling him to ignore his daughter. Yeah, Lance agreed with his mama. He swept some of Keith’s long hair out of his face from where it had fallen out of the ponytail he was sporting, “me, too, Mama. She has bottles in the fridge- Austin can show you how to heat them up. I’d go, but-”

“Poor, worn out, boy… you two looked so sweet curled up with her. You are so good with children… and you are not getting any younger.”

“Mama,” he drawled, “I’m helping take care of a teething baby- do you really think this is the best time to push for more grandkids? As adorable as she is… she’s not really selling me on single parenthood today. Look how tired he is!” He pointed at Keith, “he’s using me as a body pillow! That is one exhausted Keith!”

“It is worth it, though,” she insisted.

“I know, mama, I know… but if she starts to cry, he. will. wake up, so…”

“Yes, of course… come along chica, let's get you some food.”

Lance smiled, watching his mother head to the kitchen. She hadn’t really done much, but just keeping Austin occupied so he and Keith could get a little sleep was amazing. Keith needed more sleep. The kids kept him moving every minute they were awake, and Gaia wasn’t sleeping through the night yet… and Keith was sleeping with all three of them in one room. That probably made a lot of sense when it was just him and them- but if her crying kept bothering Austin’s head- Lance just couldn’t see how the current arrangements would keep working. He had the space for them to spread out. He’d have to suggest that to him. When he woke.

He glanced down to where Keith was wrapped around him, head pillowed on his chest. His ponytail was a total disaster, half the hair already pulled out of the tie. Since he was stuck on the couch for the time being, Lance set about trying to fix that whole mess. Gingerly, he pulled the little elastic thing out of Keith’s hair and began to carefully work out the worst of the tangles with his fingers. It wasn’t like he could be helpful in any other way at the moment. 

He was just tying off the braid he’d put in Keith’s (stupidly soft) hair when Austin came running over to him, waving a piece of paper in the air. “Ooooh,” he crooned, “is that for me?”

Austin skidded to a stop, his smile faltering and eyes going wide. He looked around, like he’d find the answer lying around somewhere and sort of wilted. “Ummm…”

Crap! He’d been drawing a picture for Rachel. Lance had known that. Dammit… now Austin thought he was disappointing him or something. The little guy was such a softie! “Because, you know- I’m here all the time and you really should make Rachel’s picture first .”

“It… ummm… it is Rachel’s picture,” he answered cautiously.

“Perfect! You are so smart, Austin. It takes some people a really long time to learn how to prioritize like that. I bet you were smart enough to not even start my picture until Rachel’s was all done and perfect, weren’t you?”

There was that proud little smile! Lance patted the couch beside him and helped Austin up. “I drawed her pingins,” Austin explained, keeping his voice soft. He smoothed the paper out on his lap and pointed to one of the black and white blobs, “that’s the Daddy pingin… and that’s a fish he catched-ed? Catched?”

“Caught, bud. He caught the fish.”

“Yeah! That’s a fish he caught to feed to his baby pingins. Baby pingins look different- deys all puffy and not black. See? Those are the baby pingins.”

“This is a really great picture, amiguito,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around the little boy in a side hug, “Rachel is going to love it. You’re very talented.”

“I like making pictures… When I get big, maybe I will draw as good as Daddy.”

Keith drew? Or was that just one of those things where little kids thought their parents could do anything? He’d have to ask sleeping beauty when he woke up. “I think if you keep practicing you will get really good,” he encouraged, “you gotta really put the time in though. That’s how you get good at stuff. Lots and lots of practice.”

“Mmhmm… like fighting. Lance?”

“Yeah bud?”

“How come I woked up in your bed?”

“Remember when we were outside and your head hurt? You fell asleep and Gaia was still being really loud. My bedroom was quieter, so I put you in there.  Were you scared?”

He shook his head so hard Lance thought he might topple over, “no! Smelled like you, so I was okay.”

“Have you ever slept by yourself in a big bed before?”

“Yeah… naps an’stuff… I’m not a baby!”

“No, I know you’re big… but sometimes people just don’t like to sleep by themselves, and I know you are used to being in the same room with your Daddy and Gaia at bedtime.”

“Kay… you really think Rachel will like it?” He blinked up at Lance, his expression unsure.

“Listen, I have known Rachel since I was littler than Gaia! I’m a Rachel expert! She is going to love this picture. It will go right on her fridge with the pictures from Niamh. Sylvio and Nadia think they are too grown up to make us pictures anymore.”

“She likes pingins?”

“Everybody likes penguins, bud. They are super cute!”

“Okay,” he sighed in relief, “good.” 

“I’m sorry we were asleep when you woke up and my mother was here,” Lance said softly, “that was probably pretty weird, huh?”

Austin shrugged, “I was okay… climbed up with you an’Daddy. Then she made me peepsaw, an’sang that song you sing… an…” He trailed off, shrugging again.

“You decided she was probably okay?” Lance guessed.

Austin nodded, “Kolivan says I have good imstimps.”

“You sure do, amiguito.”

The temporary reprieve from Gaia’s teething came to an abrupt halt, full bodied shrieks echoing from the kitchen. Keith jumped up like he’d been shot, instantly alert and looking for his daughter. “Mama has her,” Lance said, rubbing the red patch left by Keith’s five o’clock shadow scraping over his bare skin.

“Oh man,” sighed Austin, covering his ears, “again?”

“Sorry bud… Gaia’s going to be hurting for a few days, at least.”

“ Days !?!” He looked so horrified, “you needa help her !”

“We are, bud, I promise. There’s just… not a whole lot we can do to make her feel better.” He ruffled the little boy’s hair, “listen, right now, Gaia feels best when your Daddy is holding her, so he’s gonna be pretty busy, so I need you to make me a promise, okay?”

“Mayyyyyyybe?”

“I need you to promise me that if your ears feel funny like before, or your head hurts, you’ll tell me so I can help you. Okay?”

“Kay… I promise,” he nodded seriously and Lance dropped a little kiss to the top of his head. “Okay, you should go give that picture to abuela so she can bring it to Rachel, and I should give your Daddy a hand with screamy Gaia, maybe?”

“Yeah,” Austin nodded at him, his eyes huge, “he needs help.”

The next who-knew-how-many days were a blur of screaming and pacing and diapers and medications and swaddling- all interspersed with trying to make sure that the little boy with the sensitive ears and the big heart was fed and washed and rested and played with and didn’t feel forgotten.

Holy shit, this was hard! How did people go through this once and then sign up for a repeat performance? A teething baby was like… the universe’s best birth control as far as Lance was concerned. It was like a heartbreaking nightmare.

Somehow, in two minute bursts of conversation over the course of a day, they’d agreed that Austin needed to sleep in a different room until Gaia was coping better. He ended up choosing the smallest room, because it was furthest from the one they’d been sharing and the stairs, and because he liked the yellow walls. Remembering what he’d said about not being scared when he woke up in Lance’s bed because he could smell him, they’d swapped all the pillows from the shared guest room and Austin’s new room. The first morning, Lance had woken up to a little boy curled up on his chest, but after that, things had gone pretty smoothly.

The whole thing was so much better to cope with when Austin had gotten enough sleep and wasn’t battling a headache- which they discovered they could stave off with judicious use of Lance’s massive noise cancelling headphones and... just…. sooooo many cute animal videos.

After a while, Gaia would let Lance take care of her once she’d been medicated and strapped into a carrier on his back, nice and snug. Once he was confident she’d be happy for at least an hour, he kicked Keith and Austin out of the house. Keith had tried to protest, but Lance reminded him that there was a little boy who needed some undivided attention from his father and they both needed to get some fresh air and get out of the house for a while. Finally, Keith agreed to introduce Austin to Kaltenecker, who still lived on Lance’s family’s farm and, frankly, was spoiled rotten- because she had earned it, that’s why.

He was actually being productive- he’d made up a full day’s worth of bottles for Gaia, and had prepped no less than five ‘grab a snack’ bowls for Austin and was getting both the pressure cooker and the slow cooker making meals that he and Keith could grab quickly… because as delicious as Cuban sandwiches were, if he had to eat another one or another bowl of dry cereal, he was going to scream. They needed real food, so pressure cooker  stew and slow cooker chili it was. He was chopping veggies and singing to Gaia when he got the alert for an incoming vid-call. Niamh. Oh, his little niece was going to lose her tiny red-headed mind when she saw Gaia!

“Accept call on kitchen holoprojector,” he called out to his comm system, “how’s Tio Lance’s little clover?”

“Uhhhhh… Lance?” Hunk’s voice startled Gaia, making her drop her chewie toy and she started that little hiccupy noise that meant she was gearing up for a full on wail.

“Crap! Crapcrapcrapcrap… where’d it... You know what? Don’t care. New one!” He jiggle-walked over to the freezer and pulled out another frozen toy, passing it back to the little girl, “look what Lancey’s got for Gaia!” 

“BAH!” she chirped happily, kicking and bouncing.

“Sorry ‘bout that, bud,” he said turning to flash a smile at the projection of his oldest friend as he got back to the food prep. “So… hi! What’s up?”

“You… have a baby…” Hunk’s eyes narrowed, “Lance? Did you steal a baby from the beach?”

“What?!?! No! I didn’t ‘steal a baby from the beach’! I’m just watching her for a bit. Gaia? Can you wave to Hunk? Say hi, Princess!”

“Princess? Did you just call her Princess?”

“Umm… yeah, I guess I did. I call her that all the time.  C’mon cutie, give Hunk a wave! Say hi! Hunk I think you need to say hi to her first.”

“Uhh… alright…” His face morphed from puzzled to alert and animated in an instant, “hi Gaia!”

“Bababababa!” She babbled, and Lance could tell she was doing that little one handed grabby hands that meant she was waving. 

“Ohmigod! She’s the cutest thing ever ,” Hunk gushed, “look at you! Wiff your chubby little cheeks and your sticky-up hair! I wish I wasn’t on my phone! You guys look all orange!”

“She’s a lil’beauty alright,” Lance cooed, “she’s been a grump lately, though. Poor thing is cutting teeth, so I’m giving her Dad a breather before he loses his mind.”

“Awww, that’s sweet. You’re such a good friend. You’d do anything for your friends… right?” Hunk cleared his throat, “that’s why I’m calling, actually.”

“Oh? What do you need, bud?” 

“So… Ryan’s cousin is visiting… and he’s a great guy- he really is! But… he’s kinda shy… and so he’s been tagging along with Ryan all the time… and you know what Ry is like about family… and I was wondering… are you free next weekend? For like a double date?”

“You want me to go on a blind date?” he confirmed, “with Kinkade’s cousin?”

“He’s a really great guy,” Hunk rushed to repeat, “nothing too intense… just like a movie, maybe pizza after?”

“You haven’t even told me this guy’s name… or anything about him…” He swept the chopped onions into the pressure cooker and grabbed some carrots.

“Well, that’s easy enough to fix! His name is Nathan, he’s a teacher. Fifth grade. Loves kids. Big movie guy, bit of a bookworm. Tall… looks a bit like Ryan, but not a creepy amount. Not as quiet as him though. He’s funny.”

“Sounds like it should be easy enough to find him a date right there on the ship, Hunk.”

“I really think you’d like him, Lance. When was the last time you went on a date?”

“Not sure that’s any of your business, bud.”

“Which means not since Gryphon. Lance! That was like… eight months ago! You promised!”

“I promised I wouldn’t be a hermit and avoid people, not that I’d start dating on some kind of weird timetable.” Hunk meant well, he knew that, but he was sick of people trying to match-make him. “I’m not avoiding people. I’m going out. I’m just not really dating. The thing with Gryphon was a mess and you know it.”

“Yeah, but this is different… double dates are less pressure- and I’ll be there and you like Ryan…”

“Hunk…. C’mon.”

“Look- he’s been here for two weeks and he’s not leaving for another month! Who visits for that long!?!? I just… I miss my boyfriend, okay? I hardly get to see him because he’s playing host- and when I do see him, it’s me and him and Nathan… and I like Nathan, I do… but… Please Lance?”

“How is going on a double-date going to mean more one on one time with Ry-ohhhh… I get it! You’re hoping we’ll hit it off and this Nathan guy will start spending all his time with me, right?”

“Buh!?!?” Gaia sounded outraged on his behalf and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“See? Even the baby thinks that’s a bad plan Hunk.”

“I just… I don’t like seeing you so alone, Lance,” he sighed, “it’s been years and you’ve barely shown any interest in anyone. I thought… after you came out… things would be different… like you were… starting to get interest in people again.”

“I wasn’t not dating because I was closeted, Hunk! I wasn’t dating because I didn’t want to date anyone. If I had been interested in someone I would have-” He cut himself off, not wanting to get into this with him right now, “it’s all moot anyway. Next weekend is no good for me. Actually, the next couple of weeks are bad for me. Kidding season is coming up, and Rachel’s dance school has the recital at the end of next month and I’m helping with that… and Sylvio’s birthday… it’s kind of nuts right now.”

“Promise me it isn’t because of Gryphon?”

“I promise you, it’s not because of Gryphon. I am genuinely busy, and I genuinely don’t want to go on a blind date with Kinkade’s cousin… and I genuinely want you to stop trying to fix me up with people.”

“I will promise to stop fixing you up with people when you start getting your own dates! More than two a year!”

“Hey now! I got my own date with Gryphon!”

“He asked you out!”

“Because I was flirting, and I was about to ask him- none of which matters, because it wasn’t a fix-up. The whole Gryphon thing had nothing to do with you or anyone else trying to pair me off.”

“Allura-”

“Don’t.”

“Fine.  Just… please promise me that you will start going on more dates? Just, like casual ones? Even if it is just one coffee date every couple of months.”

Lance sighed, “fine, I promise I won’t go more than three months without asking someone out on a date. Fair?”

“Okay, fair. You know I love you, right? I just want you to be happy.” Hunk sounded so worried and sad it was hard to be too irritated with him, even though he hated how people acted like his life wasn’t good enough or something. He liked his life!

“I know… and I promise I am happy here.”

“Maybe you should try again with Gryphon. You seemed to really like him.”

“Nope- too weird. Won’t work. He’s a great guy, just not a great guy for me.”

“Alright. Fine. Okay, I should go… there’s an event tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah- go spread peace through the universe one menu at a time. Gaia! Wave bye-bye to Hunk!”

“Bye-bye Gaia! God, she’s cute!”

“Bah-bah!”

“Bye, Hunk.” The projection blinked out and Lance crouched down when he spotted the dropped toy, grabbing it and tossing it into the sink to be washed. He turned to add the carrots to the pot and nearly squealed in fright when he saw Keith standing in the entrance to the kitchen. He was stock still and pale as a ghost, “oh hey- don’t worry, I just told Hunk I was watching a friend’s kid. I didn’t tell him Gaia was yours. I didn’t even mention that you were here. I wouldn’t betray your trust like that… uhhh… Keith? Are you okay?”

“You… dated… Griffin ?!?!” Keith demanded.

“Wha? Wait! Where’s Austin?” He’d expected Austin to come barrelling in to tell him all about the cows when they got back. Not a pale,shocky-looking, lone Keith.

“We ran into your mother, she’s making cookies with him. She’s going to bring him back when they are done. I did hear that right, though, right? You dated Griffon ?”

“Yeah- oh… wait… No ! Not James Griffin! Oh my God, no! That would be… weird.” He laughed, feeling awkward all of a sudden. Like he’d gotten busted doing something wrong. “Nononono… James is… yeah, no. This was someone else. First name Gryphon. Last name Miles. Gryphon Miles.”

“Sooo… not James Griffin, MFE pilot who you’ve known for years. A different Gryphon. Gryphon Miles… just… some random… guy?”

He hadn’t thought that Keith would jump onto the matchmaking bandwagon, but maybe he knew something Lance didn’t. Still… there was something… unsettling about that. It… kind of hurt , even. “Yeah- that’s what I said. You’re being weird. Do you think I should date James Griffin or something?”

“No!” Keith rocked back on his feet, his expression reminding Lance of a cat that just got disciplined with a spray bottle. “I mean, date who you want… but I’m not trying to set you up with him or anything!”

“Then what’s with the fac- ohhhh… crap. You were on a mission and then it had been so long, I didn’t think. Shit. I’m sorry. I’m bi. I figured it out a few years back.”

“Years,” Keith repeated, his expression odd as he moved closer, eyes glued on Lance’s face until he twisted slightly and pulled Gaia up and out of the carrier. “I’m taking Gaia out for a bit of fresh air while she’s in a good mood.”

He was pissed. Which, okay…. That was fair. Lance was the first one he’d told about the kids and he just found out that there was a whole facet to Lance that he’d been in the dark about for years. If the tables were turned, Lance would be pissed, too. He’d known Keith long enough, and well enough to know when to push and when to back-off… uhh… most of the time he knew when to push and when to back off, anyway. This felt like a ‘back off’ situation.

He finished chopping up the vegetables and, since they’d gotten a bit of a reprieve, he decided to sear the goat meat before adding it to the pressure cooker. He was just adding the deglazing liquid to the stew when he heard Gaia crying, signalling Keith’s return. Damn… that hadn’t been long. He finished up the seasoning and clamped the lid on the machine, getting it started. 

The big muslin sheet that worked best for swaddling her was draped over the back of one of the kitchen chairs, so he grabbed it and brought it out to Keith. “Here,” he said, offering it up, “you want me to get you something to drink while you wrap her up?”

Without saying anything, Keith took the soft fabric and glanced his way, nodding before he turned his attention back to his daughter. By the time Lance returned, Gaia was whimpering, big tears rolling over her cheeks, but the actual sobbing had stopped. He cooed some comfort to her in Spanish, handing Keith a beer.

“I hope she gets those teeth soon,” Keith sighed, “this is…”

“Oh yeah, I know,” Lance answered, “I am so glad that Mama realised how tough this would be and basically forbade me from doing farm chores until all four teeth are through. I was stupidly thinking that me taking Austin with me to tag around the farm would be enough of a help.”

“I could do this on my own,” Keith insisted, “if I had to.”

“Would you quit doing that?” He was getting really exasperated with Keith reacting to any mention of help by bristling. “I know you could . If you had to, you could do it. You’d drive yourself into the ground to take care of your kids if you had to. You are a great Dad… I have never thought anything else. But… you don’t have to. You have help. I am glad I can help. You don’t have to keep reminding me that I’m… superfluous. I am aware that you don’t need me. I just… never mind. It’s not important.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith sighed, “I don’t mean to… It’s just really important to me that I don’t need help. I’m not… trying to prove it to you, I know you think I can do it. It’s… I don’t even know what it is.”

“Keith, don’t worry about it. Seriously. It’s not a big deal. We’re just both… so tired.”

“I do appreciate your help. I know I’m a pain in the ass about showing that, but I really do- especially since she started teething. You’ve been so great with Austin and everything… It means a lot to me. I don’t mean to sound… ungrateful.”

“That’s what friends do. You were there for me when we lost Allura.” He stroked his hand over Gaia’s hair, “so did you see how thoroughly she charmed Hunk with her waving?”

“She is a charmer, when she’s not screaming her head off, anyway… and Hunk loves kids, so I’m not really surprised.”

“True. The real test will be Pidge. She’s more of a puppies person than a babies person… but I think even she will be powerless to resist our little Princess here.”

“She calms right down for you now, I’m still not used to it.”

“How many times do I have to remind you that kids love me? I mean,” he gestured to the baby.

“What’s that saying about kids and dogs being good judges of character?”

“That they are?” He guessed, “seems kind of obvious… dogs love me, too. Kosmo loves me. I’m his favorite.”

“Here we go again with the needless competition…”

“Nothing wrong with competition!” They both laughed, startling Gaia into a short-lived cry. “Awww, chica, I’m sorry… You, too, Keith.”

“Stop. Coming out… it’s something personal. You have to do it at your own pace. I get it. As long as you didn’t stay quiet because you thought I’d be an asshole about it…”

“What? No! Of course not. I just… hated having all the awkward conversations, and then everyone started playing matchmaker and… it wasn’t so much that I forgot to tell you as  it was that by the time I saw you face to face, I was just… so done with those conversations and I don’t know… I kinda forgot you didn’t know. I’m surprised no one else mentioned it, actually. Romelle had… a disturbing number of very detailed questions. It was awkward as hell!”

Keith laughed again, this time managing to avoid startling the baby. “I am familiar with Romelle’s disturbingly personal questions.”

“So- we’re good?”

“Yeah,” Keith smiled at him, “we’re good. What are you cooking? Smells amazing.”

“I wanna be your family.” That’s what he’d said to Allura- at all of eighteen, still caught up in fighting a war, after only just having been reunited with his own family. He’d meant it, at the time. But that didn’t change the fact that he’d had no idea what he was talking about. No real grasp on what he was feeling or why. So young, so scared, so infatuated- and she’d been hurting and scared in a way he’d never seen her. Beautiful and vulnerable and strong and… lost and in pain. His heart had swelled and in that moment she was everything and he would have done anything to make her feel less alone. Even practically propose in the middle of their first date. Yup, impulsive, romantic Lancey Lance- it was exactly the kind of thing he did back then.

Things had been good between them, in those precious moments when they weren’t dealing with a crisis. He and Allura- they’d been important to each other. He loved her. He had. Just… not the way he thought he did at the time. She burned so bright- it was so easy to ignore the shadows, to lose himself a little in her radiance.

He’d offered himself up as family so easily, because his only experience of family had been as a kid brother, an uncle, a son- and he’d been innocent enough to think that he knew what he was talking about. He still really had only experienced family as a brother, uncle, son- but now he was old enough to see that he was far from an expert. He’d seen the way Luis and Lisa worked to make sure that their marriage was solid, how they stuck with it and put the effort in to get through the rough patches and come out stronger on the other side. He’d seen the way that Marco had to sacrifice and evaluate every aspect of his life to be the best father possible to a little girl that lived halfway around the world. He’d seen how his own parents worried and stressed about their kids and grandkids- even though their kids were all adults now. He’d seen his family members screw up and fall short and then pull themselves up and try to fix it.

Family was hard . 

He hadn’t realized that at eighteen, and the arrogance of thinking, even for a second, that he could somehow fill the gap left by, not only her parents, but her entire culture for Allura blew his mind now. Maybe, they would have figured it out. Maybe they would have grown together, like the trees in the stories his grandfather used to tell about making a living willow fence. 

It was possible. 

He didn’t think that would have happened though. 

He knew Allura would have been driven to lead, to rebuild Altean culture, to play a major role in the Coalition… and he would have followed her… and burnt out. He thought that he’d have turned bitter and resentful- probably have some kind of self-destructive sexuality crisis and blow up the relationship. Or maybe they would have just gotten so busy with the very important work they were doing that they didn’t put the kind of time and effort into their relationship that he knew now it would have needed, until they were practically strangers. Maybe there would have been kids caught in the mess that their relationship almost certainly would have become.

He’d loved her. 

She’d loved him. 

Their time together was cut short, and that hurt.

It still hurt. He thought it might always hurt. But it also meant that they never had time to hurt each other in ways that couldn’t be undone or healed or moved past. For a long time, he felt awful for thinking about that. It had felt like… cheating on her memory or something. Saying it outloud to Keith had been hard, but it took a lot of the pain out of it, too. People weren’t perfect, so relationships between them couldn’t possibly be, either. 

It wasn’t respecting Allura’s memory to pretend she wasn’t flawed and real. It wasn’t loving her to pretend that they had an epic, fairytale, love story- they were just a couple of kids, who had more responsibility than they should, facing things no kid should have to face. 

They loved each other, sure, but not that differently than any other teenagers did. Looking back now, he liked that. He liked that in the midst of such high stakes, he and Allura had found something normal . They were basically high school sweethearts in the middle of saving the universe, and that was kind of magical.

The last little while, helping Keith with his kids; getting to know Austin and Gaia and trying to figure out how to make sure they both got what they needed had done more to teach him just what being someone’s family entailed than anything in his life had done. Back then, when he’d offered to be Allura’s family, he wasn’t thinking of stuff like this. 

Stuff like standing at the kitchen sink at three in the morning getting cleaned up because Gaia’s stomach was upset by the teething and the medicine and all the drool and she’d had a truly epic diaper blow-out that managed to leave all three of them in need of bathing and clean clothes. 

Stuff like weathering Austin having a full-blown meltdown because he was bored and lonely and sick to death of hearing his sister cry so much and so loudly that she kept giving him headaches and he just couldn’t cope any longer. 

Stuff like walking the floor until he developed actual blisters with either a screeching baby, or a clinging toddler who couldn’t sleep. 

Stuff like waking up from a knee to the groin because Austin had had a bad dream and was afraid to wake his sister if he crawled into bed with Keith.

He never would have been able to do, at eighteen, what Keith had done when a routine mission had left him a new Dad to two very special kids. Keith had completely rewritten his life. He’d fought his mother, faced his fears of being left behind or abandoned. He’d stood his ground against a culture that had made him feel like he belonged after a childhood of never feeling like he fit in. He’d risked his relationship with Shiro. He’d found a well of strength and patience and determination within him to be what those kids needed him to be. What Keith had done for his son and daughter shone a spotlight on just how idiotic Lance’s offer of family to Allura had been- not because he hadn’t meant it, but because he’d had no idea what he was committing to.

By his calculations, at this point, Gaia was inconsolable roughly half the time. The medicine took almost an hour to work, wore off about an hour before they could give her a new dose, and was given every four hours. While she was screaming one of them had to be holding her and walking the floor or she’d cry herself breathless and purple (the human kind of purple, not the pretty Galra kind of purple)- which was horrifying and heartbreaking at the same time, and, except in the dead of night or the rare occasions that Lance’s mother had him, the other had to be dealing with Austin, because he was really struggling with being 100% over the noise and the headaches, while simultaneously worrying about his little sister.

During those quiet times, they had to do everything else- eat, sleep, shower, make food, do laundry, run errands… it was grueling. Lance had a whole new appreciation for parents. He hadn't been this wrung out and exhausted  since his paladin days. Time had started to blur, the days running together. Twice now, he’d fallen asleep standing up! At some point, Shiro had started texting Keith directly instead of checking in via Lance, and that one change had eased enough of Keith’s stress that Lance could see the difference in his face, and the way he moved. Thank goodness, because the last thing either of them needed was additional stress.

“Lance?” 

He blinked, stifling a yawn, “mmhmm? What do you need? Bottle? Diaper stuff? Coffee?”

“Go to bed,” Keith squeezed his shoulder, “we should sleep while she’s quiet.”

“Oh, my God, she’s quiet!” He leaned into Keith’s frame, checking on Gaia. She wasn’t asleep, but she was well on her way to dozing off. “What time is it- oh God… Austin’s going to be awake in like an hour!”

“So, we’ll sleep for an hour.”

“Right. This is tempror… no… tem-por-ary. Quiznak, my brain is goo…”

“Sleep. C’mon…” Keith gave him a little shove and they shuffled towards the stairs together.

“I hate these stairs,” Lance muttered, “why are there sooooo many of them?”

“You wanted high ceilings,” Keith chuckled.

“I’m an idiot. Next time I build a house, make sure I build a bungalow! No stairs. Stairs suck.”

“Gotcha- stairs suck... Night, Lance… see you in an hour or so.” Keith ducked into the guest room with Gaia and Lance stumbled to his own room, not even bothering to get changed before he fell onto the bed. He was asleep before the mattress stopped bouncing.

He stared into his coffee like it was a crystal ball. Austin had slept in… a whole extra hour and a half. As bone tired as he was, he couldn’t even muster the energy to be sarcastic about it. He was just so damn grateful for those extra ninety minutes. 

“Lance?” Austin asked and his head snapped up like he’d been dozing off, even though he hadn’t- he was just… twitchy. 

“Yeah, amiguito?” He managed to ruffle the little guy’s hair.

“If is nice out, can we go to the park today?” He looked so… cautious… it broke Lance’s heart.

“You know what? Even if Gaia is a complete grump, we are going to make sure that if the weather is good, you get to go to the playground. Okay?”

Austin’s entire face transformed and Lance felt a little burst of joy in his chest. There wasn’t a whole lot they could do to make Gaia feel good, but they could still give Austin a great day. It might even chase away the last dregs of the dream that kept drifting over into reality and messing with Lance’s head.

Sex dreams he could handle. He’d been on a ship with half a dozen other people and under extreme stress as a teen- and his hormone-soaked brain had served up some spectacularly weird and awkward sex dreams during that time and in the years since. Those were nothing. He could shrug them off as weird synapses firing in no particular pattern- a mental slot machine of random images and concepts in bizarre combinations.

This though? This was throwing him for a loop. It had taken him like five solid minutes when he woke up to realise that it even had been a dream. His own bed. Dark hair spilling over his chest. The rasp of morning stubble on his shoulder. Warm body beside him. The sound of little feet running to the bathroom. A baby crying. Fingers running through his hair. Kiss on the cheek. A familiar voice whispering, ‘sleep love… I got this…’ His own arms, tightening into a hug around a strong back, ‘don’t go… two more minutes… Keeeeeith...’

It had felt so real . That was disconcerting enough… but… when he’d realised it was just a dream. It hadn’t been relief or amusement that he’d felt. It had… hurt. Like a deep, hollow, ache in his chest.

“Helloooo? Earth to Lance?” Keith laughed and he nearly jumped out of his skin, “yeah okay- you are definitely getting a nap this morning. You’re barely functioning!”

“I’ll be okay… I just need… coffee.” He lifted his mug, blinking when he realised it was empty. When had he finished it? “Uhh… more coffee…” Shaking his head at himself, he moved to stand, only to feel a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back into his seat.

“Sit. I got this,” Keith said, stirring the dream up again and messing with his head. “Maybe we should see if your mother can bring Austin to the playground?”

“Yeah… maybe. Sorry- I’m just… out of it this morning.”

“Did you have bad dreams, Lance?” Austin asked, patting his hand, “cuz, you can come in wiff me if you get scary dreams.”

“No, bud… not bad dreams.” Good dreams. Too good to be true dreams. 

Oh… 

Oh no…

Keith set a fresh mug of coffee in front of him and he nearly scalded himself in his rush to drink it. “Actually… I think… what I need is a shower.” He nodded, “yup… as soon as I finish breakfast, I’m gonna go take a nice, refreshing shower and then I’ll be fine.”

“Good plan, but if you are headed to the shower, you should let me take a look at those…” Keith nodded at him. Right. The freaking burns. They were healing, just not as quickly as anyone had thought. Probably because he was practically a zombie, he was so exhausted- but regardless, Keith had been dutifully checking their progress before he showered every day. 

He sighed, tipping his face up to Keith’s inspection. “Fine. Knock yourself out.” Keith set his own mug down and straddled the bench, sliding close. Gently, he cupped Lance’s jaw, holding his face steady- and, oh, this was definitely a mistake. He’d blanked on how impossibly soft a touch Keith had until those fingers were on his skin… and awesome, now he was noticing how nice Keith’s hands were. They were fine-boned, graceful, the almost porcelain look to the fingers contrasting with the little, faded scars that criss-crossed some areas and peppered his knuckles. A little on the small side, but not quite dainty, and they were surprisingly strong. Lance’s life had been saved more than once by the strength in the hands tending to him so fastidiously now. Strong enough to pull him out of a venting airlock. He smiled at the memory.

“What? Don’t tell me you are so tired it’s making you high,” Keith said conversationally. His free hand lifted to prod gingerly at the skin surrounding the marks, and he caught his bottom lip between his teeth as he concentrated. Great. Lance could never unsee that now that he’d noticed it!

“Just thinking about the time we thought the castle was haunted.” He chuckled quietly, “man, we seriously went to ‘haunted’ as our first explanation of what was going on.”

“We’d just found out magic and aliens were real- why not ghosts, too?”

“Ghosts are real ?” Austin asked, awe lacing his voice.

“I don’t think so, buckaroo,” Keith replied easily, completely oblivious to the way Lance was slowly crumbling under his touch, “we were wrong about the ghosts. The computers were broken and making the Castle do weird things.”

“Yup,” he managed, wetting his lips, “we fixed the computers and no more weird stuff.” Keith’s fingers skimmed lightly over his skin, tracing just outside the marks. He should be used to this by now- yesterday he would have said he was! Stupid dream.

Switching hands and repeating his inspection on the other mark, Keith leaned in even closer. Why was he so close? Did he need glasses or something? “Blisters are gone on this one,” he said after a moment. “Skin is still fragile though so-”

“Put some of that ointment on it after my shower. I know.”

“It’s slow going, but they really are healing well. I don’t think they’ll scar, at all,” Keith smiled. He was tired and pale, with bags under his eyes and his hair was a disaster, but that smile was- dammit! This was ridiculous! Lance was going nuts from sleep deprivation or something! 

He was not falling for Keith ! No!

“Aww,” he pouted playfully, “I don’t get to join the anime facial scar club?”

“The… what !?!?” Keith blinked at him, confused.

“You, Shiro, Matt… even Hunk- although his story isn’t nearly as badass. He opened a cupboard door into his face and split open his eyebrow. Ruined the souffle he was working on. Very tragic. You guys have almost a complete set of the facial scars they put on the tragic heroes in animes! I feel very left out. Excluded.”

“Holy crow you are impossible,” Keith muttered, shaking his head. “I thought you weren’t going to be vain about this?”

“How is wanting a scar being vain?”

“Because you seem to think the scar would be some kind of improvement? Which, by the way, is really messed up!”

“Scars are badass.”

“Avoiding scars is more badass.”

“Whaz badass mean?”

They froze, both of them turning to look at Austin. Shit. How had they forgotten that the kids were present? “Uhhhh…” His gaze darted back to Keith’s face.

“It’s… umm… a kind of grown up way to say really, really, tough,” Keith explained.

“Yup, it’s a word for grown-ups.”

“I’m big!”

“Not big enough to say that,” Lance cut in, “especially not around abuela!”

“Yeah, Mama McClain doesn’t even like it when we say it,” Keith agreed.

“Oh… okay,” Austin shrugged and went back to eating.

“I should… go shower… before everything descends into chaos again…” Lance stood, reaching out to ruffle Austin’s hair, “I won’t be long.”

Chapter Text

Turned out, Keith hadn’t been joking about making sure Lance napped. He’d arranged for Austin to spend the entire day with Lance’s parents- including an outing to the playground with all the climbing equipment. He’d also declared chores off-limits. For the entire day when Gaia slept, they both crashed out- taking turns near the dozing infant. When she was awake but comfortable, they ate or chatted. It was still stressful and hard, but by the time Keith was chasing a laughing,  post-bath, and very naked Austin around the house, playfully bemoaning how impossible it was to get the little boy into his pyjamas, they were all in much better shape. Eventually, Keith ‘caught’ his son and got him dressed for bed while Lance walked the floor with Gaia.

The baby girl dozed off sometime during her brother’s bedtime story, still clutching Lance’s shirt in a little deathgrip. “I’m not going anywhere, Princess,” he promised her, rubbing her back soothingly. “No matter what, I will always be here when you need me.”

“I still can’t believe she sleeps for you,” Keith said gently from the stairs.

“She loves me,” Lance answered, grinning. “Plus, the poor little thing is exhausted.”

“They both do,” Keith answered.

“Kids, man… they all love Lancey Lance! Hey- I think I felt one of Gaia’s teeth earlier! I couldn’t see anything, but it felt like it was… just… right. There. So… we might be almost through this!”

Keith blinked at him, “quiznak! I think I almost forgot that this would end eventually!”

“Right? Me, too! Like some part of my brain was like ‘welcome to the rest of your life- it’s just… this… forever’ and I had just… accepted that.” He shook his head, “I mean, it’s just one of four, so who knows how long it might take… but there is actual progress happening! It’s exciting!”

“I can’t wait to have my happy little munchkin back,” Keith sighed, standing behind Lance so he could watch Gaia over his shoulder. “I hate how miserable she’s been.”

“Mmhmm… our little Princess here deserves a break.”

“So… umm… I was talking to Shiro earlier…”

“Yeah?” Lance turned, because he wanted to see Keith’s face- things had been so touchy with Shiro and he’d gotten pretty good at reading Keith’s expressions when it came to this subject.

“I think I’m going to start working at the Garrison.”

“The Garrison?!?” That was… definitely not what Lance was expecting Keith to say.

“Yeah- as a liaison between the Blades and the Coalition. Mostly desk work, but it means fairly stable hours, and it doesn’t have to be permanent… if I hate it, I haven’t, like, cut ties with anyone…”

“No, no… it makes sense. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense, Keith. I think it’s a great idea. Umm… when… would you start?”

“Not for a bit yet. There are still a ton of details to work out for the job itself… and Gaia is…”

“Right,” he nodded, holding her a little more tightly, “of course.” The Garrison. That meant Keith and the kids would be staying on Earth at least… but it also meant that he’d be looking for a place for them to settle permanently. Somewhere close to work. Close to Shiro and Curtis. Maybe even quarters on the Atlas, itself. That was awesome. It really was. Lance was thrilled for Keith, for the kids. It was a great solution.

“So… it looks like our visit might last longer than I thought,” Keith said, sounding almost shy. “You really don’t mind us staying, here, right? I just… I don’t want to hit the kids with too many changes all at once… and...”

“I don’t mind!” It all came out in a rush. Too fast. Too loud. Gaia startled in his arms, blinking blearily up at him and for an instant he thought she was going to start wailing again, but she just yawned and let her head fall back against his chest with a tiny wobble.

“You’re sure?” Keith whispered, reaching around Lance to smooth his daughter’s hair.

“Stop double checking,” he answered, being much more careful about his volume this time around. “I’m getting sick of repeating myself. As far as I’m concerned, this is just as much your home, and their home, as it is mine. Stay for a month, a year, a decade… whatever you need. I love having you guys here… and I’m saying that in the middle of dealing with a teething baby- so it’s not like I’m clueless about how hard it can get. Seriously, Keith. Stay .”

“You mean that?”

Lance couldn’t stop the exasperated glare if he’d tried… and he really hadn’t tried. “Seriously?!?”

“Okay, okay… Fine! I believe you. You mean that.”

“Quiznak, it’s about damn time!"

“Sorry- it’s just… we’re a lot. I don’t want to overstay our welcome…”

“Keith have I ever, in the history of our knowing each other, struggled with telling you when you are being a pain in the ass?”

“Ummmm…” he glanced around, “no?”

“Oh, wow. That was spookily like Austin! Weird… but, yeah… never. I have never missed the chance to tell you when you were annoying me. So, please believe me that when and if you do, you’ll hear about it long, long before you overstay your welcome.” Keith had never done that before. He’d seen lots of things that Austin did just like Keith, but he’d known Keith a long time, and that looking around thing was not one of his mannerisms. That was pure Austin. It was the first time he’d spotted something that Keith had picked up from his son and not the other way around… and it was stupid-cute. Like, it was an adorable thing that Austin did, and the fact that Keith had started doing that thing, specifically, made it even cuter. Lance grinned, affection welling up in his chest.

Keith nodded, “okay, that settles that. I’ll send a message off to Artax in the-”

“Artax? Why are you sending a message to Artax?” He’d figured Krolia, or maybe Kolivan. But Artax !?!?  His gut wrenched, he really fucking hated that guy! Unbidden, a memory of something Shiro had said to him in a text bubbled up to the forefront of his mind. ‘You are good for him,’ he’d said, ‘better than Artax was.’ Some kind of switch in his brain flipped. The whole world shifted slightly and memories flooded him, slotting into place and taking on a focus they’d never had before.

The dream.

Tending the burns.

‘Kiss it better.’ 

The hurt he’d felt when he'd found out that Keith hadn’t reached out to him for help.

How quickly he’d insisted that have done anything Keith needed… even go back to space… even if it meant years…

The way he’d been turning himself inside out over the unnamed ‘guests’ Keith was bringing. More and more and more… occasional comments from the others… from Veronica... the lack of surprise from- pretty much everyone when he came out… even further back… 

He couldn’t breathe. 

Keith was talking, but he had no idea what he was saying… because all he could think about was how the last night before they left on the Atlas had gone. The night of his first date with Allura. Shiro’s words were to spend the time with the people you loved… and he’d very nearly killed himself searching the entire Garrison grounds and then scaling the Black Lion to find... Keith.

Why had it been so important to him to talk to Keith?

Why hadn’t he been spending that time getting ready for his date with the girl of his dreams?

What drove him to scale the Black Lion instead of just calling the guy?

He’d needed to see him, talk to him face to face… but why ?!?

Oh.

Oh God.

Oh no.

He wasn’t ‘ falling for Keith’...

“Hey,” he interrupted, voice squeaking, “can you do me a favor and take her? I… uhh… really gotta pee.”

“Um… okay,” Keith looked at him like he had suddenly sprouted wings, but he carefully lifted Gaia out of Lance’s arms. “Sure thing.”

He practically ran up the stairs, pulling out his phone the instant the bathroom door shut behind him. 

Lance: How fucking long have you known I was in love with Keith and figured it would be funny to NOT FUCKING TELL ME!?!?!

Veronica: Excuse you!

Veronica: I’ve been trying to tell you for YEARS!

Veronica: Not my fault you are a moron!

Lance: Name ONE time you tried to tell me!

Veronica: I mentioned that you were acting like a little kid pulling the pigtails of a girl he liked with that whole dumbass ‘rivalry’ bullshit like 3 weeks after you got to the Garrison!

Lance: Doesn’t count.

Veronica: The bazillion times I commented on how alike he and Acxa are and how alike you and I are

Veronica: The wedding

Lance: I don’t know what you think you said at the wedding, because you were trashed and all I heard was ‘awwww baby bruvver’ as you petted my face and then puked on me

Veronica: Regardless. I tried. Hunk tried. RACHEL tried. You are a blind moron

Lance: oh my god

Lance: I’m in love with Keith

Veronica: there it is

Veronica: five

What the fuck was with the countdown, now? His sister was so annoying! She always did this when she thought he was missing something obvious. But- hello?!? He had just figured out the big thing. He was in love with Keith.

Fuck!

He was in love with Keith !!

Things were going to be so weird now! It wasn’t like he had any reason to think… oh… wait… 

Veronica: four

The conversation with Shiro. The way he’d reacted to finding out Lance was bi. The sudden distance Keith would put between them sometimes… 

Veronica: three

The way Austin knew so much about him… how Keith had come to him when he didn’t think he could count on Shiro or his mother… the way he’d been clinging to his hand...

Veronica: two

Those times Keith got pissy when he was being social… Keith’s pale face after the vid-call with Hunk. The way Keith had reacted at the beach… had that been… jealousy!?!? 

Veronica: one

Lance: holy shit

Veronica: figured it out yet?

Lance: Keith

Veronica: there’s a lot of words that could follow that one Lance

Veronica: come on

Veronica: I have faith in you

Lance: he feels the same way?

Veronica: FUCKING FINALLY!

He sagged back against the counter, relieved and terrified in equal measure. He reread that conversation at least five times. Then he pulled up the message logs from his conversations with Shiro. God, he’d been so clueless! Shiro hadn’t misunderstood anything except how incredibly blind Lance was. 

He’d known. 

He’d probably known for years. 

He felt like he’d been knocked off his surfboard, bowled under by a wave and was just breaking the surface of the water. Like he could breathe again for the first time in what felt like forever- it burned and stung and ached, but it just felt so good to breathe air. 

‘At least he was going home with someone he loves.’ That’s what Shiro had said. Lance traced his finger over the words. ‘Home with someone he loves.’

Home.

Keith was right downstairs. With Gaia. Austin was sleeping just down the hall. Lance loved those kids. Adored them. He had from the moment he’d met them. 

He’d love Hunk’s kids, and Shiro’s kids, and Pidge’s kids, too. He knew that… but it was more than that with Austin and Gaia. It always had been. It wasn’t that they were like Keith, even though they were. It wasn’t even that they shared genetics with him. It was that they made him so happy . They brought joy to Keith’s life- purpose and family and pride and so many other things that Keith had been missing. Things that left Keith hurting because they were lacking from his life.

He slipped out of the bathroom and padded down the stairs, smiling when he spotted Keith fussing over the swing that held Gaia. He was soothing her so she didn’t wake all the way. “You want a beer?” he asked quietly, because they hadn’t shared a post-tuck-in-beer in a while and he’d really liked that little habit they’d been building.

“Yeah,” Keith answered, moving to sit on the couch, “bottles are fine.”

After a moment, Lance returned with two beers- in glasses, because he was a grown ass man with a house and a dishwasher, just like Keith had pointed out to him. He passed one to Keith and sat beside him on the couch.

“I love your kids,” he said after a few minutes, “I really do. You know that. They’re family. That’s not ever going to change.”

“Yeah,” Keith nodded, “I know. I knew you would. That’s why I brought them here.”

“No, I mean… no matter what happens- even if we hate each other, even if I go years without seeing them, even if they do something stupid or awful… no matter what- if they show up on my doorstep, or reach out to me in anyway… I’m there for them. They are my family and I will always love them.”

“Yeah,” Keith looked confused, “I know how you work, Lance. I know what family means to you.”

“Okay,” he nodded, taking a swig of his beer and gathering up his courage. “Because… with Allura… I said that I wanted to be her family… and I’ll never know whether she was with me because of that or… and I don’t want that. I don’t want that doubt… now…”

“You’re not really making much sense, Lance,” Keith whispered, “maybe you should go to bed? Let me deal with Gaia tonight so you can get some uninterrupted sleep?” 

“It’ll make sense… just… gimme a minute… I promise it will make sense.” He took a breath, shifting to face Keith. “I wanted to make sure you knew that Gaia and Austin… they are their own people to me. Like… they aren’t just your kids. Because… I don’t want to have that doubt, but, more importantly, I don’t want you to have that kind of doubt… when I say this next bit- because this next bit… it has nothing to do with your kids.”

“Lance?”

“I’m an idiot.”

“What?!” Keith actually reached out and pressed his wrist to Lance’s forehead, like he thought he had a fever.

“I’m an idiot… an absolute moron. Literally the last person to make sense of my own feelings. I just…” He shook his head, “I don’t even have an excuse beyond the fact that I was stupidly stubborn when I was younger and dug my heels in on something I never should have and then didn’t look back.”

“I… am very confused right now Lance… what’s going on?”

“I love you.”

“Voltron is family,” Keith whispered, but this time, Lance didn’t miss the hurt that tinged his voice when he said that. Had that always been there? How many times had he hurt Keith when he’d said that, trying to be reassuring?

“Yeah, it is… but I love you, Keith. I have… for an embarrassingly long time and I just… I’m an idiot. Such an idiot. I am so sorry I was so clueless. I’m in love with you.”

“Lance,” Keith pulled back, “what’s going on?”

“Umm… I think what’s going on is that I’m making a horrible mess of trying to confess to you?” Lance set his beer aside and rubbed at his face, scooting closer.

“This… isn’t funny… I don’t know where you got the idea for this prank but-”  He trailed off as Lance rested one hand on his shoulder and tugged him closer.

The other hand threaded through Keith’s hair, “Keith. It’s not a joke. It’s not a prank. I’m in love with you. I have been for so long, and I just… didn’t see it for what it was. Do you remember what I said to you when I found you on the Black Lion our last night on Earth before… everything?”

“Something like ‘you’re a tough guy to find’, I think,” Keith whispered, putting his beer down on the coffee table.

Lance nodded, “I’d looked everywhere for you. All through the Atlas, the grounds, if you hadn’t been on Black, I was going to head out to your little shack in the desert…”

“You were going to drive out to the middle of the desert with a bucket on your head?”

“If I had to. I just… I needed to see you… and it was because of Shiro’s speech… He’d said we should spend time-”

“-with the people we loved,” Keith finished for him. “But you were heading to a date with Allura…”

He nodded, “yeah… but I don’t think I should have been… and I think… part of me knew that. The part that made me climb that huge robot- which was not easy, by the way! The part that was already gone on you.”

“You’re serious.”

“Mmmhmmm… completely serious and I’m done with being an idiot. I… think you… feel the same way… about me… I think you have for a long time… I think we should be done with this whole… ‘being apart’ thing…”

“I don’t understand what happened...”

“It was a lot of little things… I’ve been kind of cluing in for a while… but… I really hate Artax…”

“Yeah, you’ve made that pretty clear. You don’t want him anywhere near the kids…”

“Or you … Like… I really, really hate Artax… and it started before you called him that time. It started when we went to see Shiro. The way he reacted to his name… I could tell… there was... something and I hated it. I was jealous, I just didn’t clue in that I was jealous until tonight.”

“When I said I had to call him…” Keith gave a little half-laugh, “for their medical records. I had to call him to tell him to send their records to me. He’s their doctor.”

“He’s an asshole.” Lance insisted, “who tried to make you feel like shit for how you are raising your kids… and who I think might have been… special to you… and I hate him. Like, a lot.”

This time, Keith’s laugh was full-bodied and genuine, “you being jealous shouldn’t be this cute. You never make any sense. It drives me nuts. But… when things happen… you are the first person I want to share them with. You are the only person I can ask for help without feeling like I failed somehow. You’re the only one I can let my guard down with. When I’m stumped with how to handle my kids, you are the person I try to emulate. You… you’ve been my North Star for so long, and you never had a clue. And now… here you are… telling me…”

“That I’m in love with you,” Lance repeated, “and I’ve trusted you in a way that I don’t trust anyone else for a… very long time. It’s weird that you think I don’t make sense,  because you are the one who can always make me find my way when I’m losing myself in doubts and fears. We make a good team. When I was talking about love… about how Allura wasn’t my true love… when I would think about what true love would actually be like… what it should be… I didn’t even know I was describing you and me, but I was. That’s exactly what you are to me. You don’t make me want to be better. You make me remember who I am and know that I’m good enough, just as I am.”

“Yeah,” Keith breathed, “you’re the only person that I don’t feel broken with.”

“You’re not broken, Keith,” he leaned closer, “you’re amazing. You’re tempered… like a sword… and I love you so much.” Keith’s gaze settled on his lips, watching him speak. He took that as a good sign. “I’m so sorry I was an idiot.”

“Stop calling yourself names,” Keith whispered, “you’re not an idiot.”

“I’m so mad at myself right now,” he countered, smiling at Keith, “I wasted so much time…”

“We needed the time, Lance. You needed to heal. We both needed to grow up. I needed to know I could take care of my kids on my own. We needed that time. It wasn’t wasted. It got us here.”

He made it sound so easy. So obvious. So simple. Lance leaned closer, letting his nose bump against Keith’s. Their eyes met and Keith whispered his name. Softly, Lance settled his lips against Keith’s and it felt like touching a torch to tinder. How could such a chaste little kiss make him burn so bright? He gasped and Keith pressed forward, licking into his mouth and closing the tiny distance between them with a little growl. The sound was such a contrast to the gentle way Keith’s lips were moving against his, the soft brush of Keith’s fingers over the back of his neck, it made him shiver. 

It was so hard not to rush the kiss. So hard not to crawl over Keith and pin him to the couch with hungry kisses and eager hands. Lance wanted to throw himself into the way his blood sang and his heart raced and his skin tingled- because, damn, he’d never reacted like this to a kiss before- but he wanted to do this right. He didn’t want to ruin it by rushing. Keith wasn’t a hook-up. He was already in love with the man in his arms and he wanted to build a life with him, and that meant being careful with this transition from friendship to something deeper.

Still, now that it had been tapped, the undercurrent of attraction between them was powerful, and it had been a long time since he’d been intimate with someone, so when Keith pulled back a little, Lance chased the kiss. “Lance,” Keith breathed in the fraction of a second their lips were parted, and somehow his name, in that tone, from this man, was the sexiest thing Lance had ever heard. He sucked Keith’s bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling it softly before sweeping his own tongue out to explore. Keith's breathing hitched and he made a little hungry noise that spiked Lance’s heart rate and made him clutch at Keith’s shoulder.

God, he’d missed kissing. He loved the push and pull of it; the way it messed with the perception of time. He loved learning the little noises and reactions. Loved being held and holding someone. Loved figuring out how to make the person he was kissing melt; being coaxed into a puddle of desire himself. Kissing Keith took all that to a whole new level. Soon, they were both trembling and breathing raggedly as they slowly drifted back from the sweet, gentle kisses. “I’m seriously pissed at myself for wasting time that could have been spent doing that,” Lance said, his expression dazed and smitten, voice husky and playful.

“I love you,” Keith said, looking so happy that Lance thought it might have added a few years to his life, “and I agree- we should be done with this whole ‘being apart’ thing. I don’t want to be apart anymore.”

“I don’t want to mess this up,” Lance whispered, kissing him again, just a little brush of contact. “You’re too important to me… I want to do this right.”

“Okay,” Keith said, voice low. It almost felt like if they spoke at full volume it would break this little spell they’d cast over each other. “What does that look like? How do we ‘do this right’, Lance?”

“I think… it means we go slow… and I think we should try to keep things pretty much the same as they have been around Austin.” 

“Pretty much the same? Not exactly the same?”

“Mmm… Austin’s a smart kid, observant. I think he’ll notice something is different, and if we try too hard to act like nothing’s changed, it will worry him.”

Keith smiled at him, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck and making him sigh. “I love how well you know him already.”

“He’s pretty easy to get to know,” Lance answered, “easier than you were.”

“I still love it. You treat him like his own person, not some kind of mini-me.”

Lance leaned in to kiss him softly, “you and Austin are a lot alike, but he’s not you. Our lives shape us. I get that.”

“So.. slow… and acting pretty much the same around my son. Anything else?”

“You have to talk to me,” Lance answered, “and- to be fair, you’ve been doing more of that. I know you have… but you tend to clam up when you are stressed or upset and that’s gotta change. I need to know what’s going on in your head.”

“I talk! I just… need to turn things over in my own head first. I need that time. You have to trust me when I say that I’m not ready to talk about something. I need you to be able to trust that I will talk when I am ready to.”

He sighed, reminding himself that compromise worked both ways. “Alright. I can work with that… anything else?”

“The kids… I know you love them, but they are my kids. I need to have final say.”

“Yeah, well obviously! Keith- I don’t want to undermine you with them. I might disagree with some of your decisions or whatever, and I’ll tell you if I do… but it will be just like it has been. I’ll tell you what I think, in private, but you are their father, and you are a great father! I have complete faith in you to put your kids first.” He brushed his nose against Keith’s, “I’m here to help with the kids. I’ll be your sounding board and your cheerleader and an extra pair of hands. But you are the Dad , I know that.”

Keith nodded, “okay… yeah… that’s good. I think we’ve been doing really good with that stuff so far, I just… needed to say it out loud.”

“I know… and given everything with your Mom and the Blades… and the asshole… It makes total sense that you want to make that very clear. I get it.”

“See? This is why I love you.”

“You love me because I get that you want to have clear boundaries about your parenting?”

“I love you because instead of getting insulted that I am cautious about it, you understand where it is coming from. Because you tell me it makes sense, not that I’m being paranoid. Because most people would react in a way that makes me feel broken, but you make me feel like a good Dad and a normal person for needing to say that.”

“Keith,” he breathed, “you are a good Dad and a normal person… well… as normal as any of us are. All of us Paladins are a bit weird. Voltron made us all kind of weird… and, uh… speaking of Voltron- how do you want to handle that?”

“I don’t?” Keith sighed, letting his shoulders sag, “I don’t want to lie or hide anything… and I know they’ll all be supportive and stuff... but...it feels like… a lot of pressure…”

“Yeah, I feel that. But, I don’t think you realize how much they push me to date more,” Lance answered, “mostly Hunk… but Pidge and Shiro do, too. Just hoping it doesn’t come up in conversation isn’t going to work. They will ask if I’m seeing anyone, if I’m interested in anyone- and I’ll lie and dodge if you think we should- but… I’d rather not.”

“Then we won’t,” his purpley-grey eyes were kind, understanding, “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do… and if we can’t handle the pressure of our friends wanting things to work out, then we shouldn’t be together in the first place.”

“Together,” Lance echoed, blushing happily. “We’re together.” Everything took on a blue tint from how bright the marks on his cheeks were glowing and he felt like he might float away from the sheer number of butterflies he had in his stomach. “So… what do we tell our friends? Families? We should decide on that.”

“Maybe just stick to saying we’ve gotten closer and we want to see where that takes us?”

“I like that, but Pidge will definitely want more information.”

“So will Romelle and Shiro, now that you mention it.” Keith made a face, letting out a shaky breath.

“How about… we’re seeing each other and figuring out if we work?”

“And if they push?”

“Just…” Lance shrugged, “tell the truth? It’s new, we don’t know exactly where it’s going, we are trying to be grown-ups about it, going slow, focused on the kids right now… all that stuff.”

“The kids that most of them still don’t know about… damn…”

“Yeah- you need to tell them, Keith. Things are better with Shiro now, right? Better enough to tell the others?”

“Yeah… I think so. I’ll mention it to him tomorrow, offer to give him more time…”

“He thought we were together… when he met the kids… he was happy for us until I told him he misunderstood the situation. So… you don’t have to worry about his reaction to… this… us…”

“I know,” Keith blushed and it really shouldn’t have been as adorable as it was. “He… uh… he apologized to me about it.”

“God, I was so clueless… how did I not see-” He didn’t get a chance to finish what he was saying, because Keith was kissing him again.

Lance made a little squeak of surprise and then yielded to the kiss. Keith’s mouth fused to his, their tongues tangling together. He felt a surge of arousal sweep through him. His fingers tightened on Keith’s shoulder, and he let Keith push him down into the soft cushions of the couch. A moan rumbled through him as Keith’s weight settled over him, strong and solid and real.

The kiss was hungry and demanding, but Keith’s hands were gentle as they stroked over his face and down his sides. Warm fingers slipped under Lance’s shirt and splayed out just above his hip bones. Tingling waves radiated out from the small contact, making Lance want to squirm and writhe to get more of his touch. 

It ended as abruptly as it began and then Keith was gazing down at him from a few inches above his face looking like some kind of dark angel. “Don’t put yourself down,” he scolded gently, “you weren’t ready to see it. We needed the time. Okay?”

“God, I love you,” Lance replied, “did you? See it, I mean…”

“Depends on what you are asking, Sharpshooter… I knew I loved you. I never really hid it and sometimes… I thought I saw that you might… and I saw that we kind of acted like we were already a thing…” He dusted kisses across Lance’s cheekbones and the bridge of his nose, being careful to avoid the burns, “but I didn’t really see this coming. I thought I was pining after a straight guy until very recently.”

“I’m sorry.” Now it was his turn to pepper sweet little kisses over Keith’s face, “I’m so sorry for anything I did that hurt you… confused you…”

“I know. I do. It was pretty obvious that you had no idea you were sending out mixed signals… You just… have such a big heart, and you love your friends… and you just can’t help flirting. But you don’t toy with people. I’ve always known that.” He caught Lance’s lips in another quick kiss, “hard to believe that this is real.”

“It’s real. I promise, Keith- this is very real. I love you,” he smiled, “and we’re together- finally.”

“I love you, too… kiss me…”

Smirking, Lance pulled Keith down into a kiss, reveling in the fact that this was something that they did now. It was hard to kiss properly when they were both smiling so much, but they found a way. The hand above his hip stayed put, but Keith dragged his thumb back and forth over the skin and Lance was acutely aware of the little caress, so soft he was surprised it didn’t tickle. His own hands buried themselves in Keith’s hair, completely wrecking his ponytail-not that Lance cared much about that.

“You need to shave,” he chuckled when the kiss broke, and Keith pressed kisses along his jaw.

“So do you,” Keith answered, nibbling on his earlobe, “should I stop?”

“Mmmm, uh-uh… don’t you dare,” he shivered, craning his head back to bare his throat to Keith’s lips. 

He felt Keith’s little chuckle more than he heard it, “thaz’what I thought…”

“Holy shit… that feels… so-ohhhhhh…” He trailed off into a shivery sigh, fingers clenching in Keith’s hair as lips and teeth and tongue worked to unravel him. He couldn’t get enough of the hot little bursts of pleasure, the feel of that soft hair in his hands, that strong frame fitted against him.

“Lannnce,” Keith crooned between kisses, making his head swim. Until he heard the distinct noise of Gaia stirring, anyway. She gave a couple of grumbley little huffs in warning and then resumed her shrieks with vigor. Keith pulled away to glance over at her, then growled in frustration and dropped his head to Lance’s shoulder. “I hate teething…”

“She’s a gifted chaperone,” Lance laughed, “I see a bright future for her… and we did say we should take this slow…”

“I wasn’t expecting this slow,” muttered Keith as he crawled off Lance and stood. “Okay, Munchkin,” he said, his voice falling into a familiar sing-song, “Daddy’s here… you’re okay…”

“I’ll… ummm… make sure she didn’t wake Austin and grab her meds.” He stood and stretched, “be right back…”

“Thanks,” Keith settled Gaia against his shoulder and patted her back as she cried. His hair was a disaster. The ponytail had come completely undone, and the long black strands looked deliciously bed-mussed… which was pretty close to the truth come to think of it. “What?”

“I think I’m starting to understand the whole ‘mom-porn’ thing…”

“The what !?!”

“Nothing, nothing,” he laughed, “just something Rachel said once. I’m going to check on the little guy…” He headed back up the stairs and looked in on Austin- who was still sound asleep. He fixed the bedding and kissed the top of the little boy’s head, smiling the whole time.

He loved Keith. He loved Keith. He’d been in love with him for years; the emotion simmering away in the back of his mind, deep in his soul, growing stronger with every visit, every conversation. He had no idea how he’d managed to deny it for so long, because now it felt like he was filled to bursting with it. 

Smiling to himself he got Gaia’s medicine and headed back downstairs. Keith was still trying to comfort his daughter, impossibly patient with the distraught baby. “You’ve got bed head,” he teased, handing over the numbing gel.

“Looks like someone likes my hair more than he admits,” Keith countered, grinning at him.

“The mullet? Not likely,” he ran his hand over Gaia’s hair gently, “I’ll hold her while you rub the stuff on her gums.”

Keith settled the baby into his arms and kissed him quickly, “you like my hair.”

“It’s… tolerable,” he replied, “right Princess? We can tolerate your Daddy’s hair.”

“Gaia loves my hair- she’s always grabbing at it. That’s why I started tying it back all the time.” He squeezed some of the numbing gunk onto his finger and rubbed it into Gaia’s gums, repeating the process with all four tender spots. Her shrieks of pain settled down to much more manageable volumes and intensities. “Poor little munchkin… teething is the worst.”

“It won’t last much longer… and then we’ll get to see those little pearly whites!”

“I hope it is worth all this… maybe Artax was right about this being worse…”

“Nope! No. No way. Uh-uh. Impossible! That guy is an asshole! There is no way ignoring Gaia for a full cycle is better than this!” Fury bubbled inside of Lance, “you are teaching her that she can trust you, Keith. That’s the most important thing she can learn. That even when it hurts and it is scary and everything feels terrible, her Dad loves her and is there to help. There is nothing more important than that.”

“He’s a doctor-”

“-Stop! Trust your instincts, Keith. You’ve got this. Don’t second guess yourself.”

Keith scooped Gaia up, kissing her cheek and smiling at her despite her tears. “Daddy loves you, munchkin,” he whispered, “and I’m right here.”

The next day was warm and sunny, and while they couldn’t really hit the beach while Gaia was still so out of sorts and loud, Lance could set up a sprinkler in the garden for Austin to play in. It wasn’t anything fancy- a few oscillating nozzles sending up thin, curving arcs of cool, refreshing water- but Austin loved it. He squealed and laughed as he darted in and out of the spray, running around on the grass in his bare feet. Lance was having a blast, too. The little boy’s glee was too contagious not to, and it reminded him of doing the same thing with his siblings when he was a kid.

The fresh air was doing Lance a world of good, too. He wasn’t used to spending so much time indoors, and just being outside was working wonders on his stress levels… or maybe that was just the result of the rush of a brand new relationship flooding his brain with happy chemicals. They hadn’t exactly managed to figure out exactly how they were going to handle things, but he was confident that they would.

Austin barrelled into his legs, knocking him off-balance and sending them both tumbling to the wet grass. “Gotcha!” Austin’s voice was bursting with joy and pride.

“Ohhhh noooo!” Lance cried in mock horror, “all is losssst! Whatever shall I do?!?!” His expression turned impish, and he let out an over-the-top evil cackle. Still laughing, he flipped the little boy onto the grass and began tickling him. 

He squealed and shrieked, wriggling away. Lance let him, he knew how much it sucked to be tickled after it stopped being fun. Luis had always had a hard time telling when his baby brother went from having a great time to feeling trapped and helpless during tickle fights. Lance wanted to build trust with Austin, not undermine it.

“Vrepit sa!” Austin cried, leaping onto Lance’s back and retaliating with tickles of his own. Thankfully, the little boy was missing most of his ticklish spots, but he didn’t let Austin know that. He laughed and pretended to thrash for several minutes, being careful not to hurt the little guy.

“Okay! Okay! You win!” Austin scrambled off him and hopped around, hooting and hollering in triumph. Chuckling at the little boy’s antics, Lance rolled up onto his feet and darted through the spray of water again. Austin followed, his laughing squeals echoing through the yard.

He’d needed this. Lance could see the tightness that had been showing up around Austin’s eyes letting go. The kid had been cooped up too much and handed off to people he barely knew too often lately. Not that he’d known Lance for all that long, but they’d gotten close quickly and Austin saw him as a friend, an actual friend, not just someone his Daddy trusted.

“Almost time to head in for lunch, bud,” he reminded the little guy.

“Can we do this again later? I like the pringler!” His eyes were so huge and hopeful, peering up at him. His fluffy black hair was plastered to his shoulders and down his back, a rare glimpse of just how long the soft cloud of it really was. Water streamed down his face but it didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest. It almost broke Lance’s heart to answer him.

“Sorry bud, after lunch I’ve gotta take my turn with our little Princess. I think your Daddy misses hanging out with you.”

“Ugh! Teething is the worst! ” He kicked at the wet grass, “was way more fun here ‘afore Gaia cried all the time!”

“Yeah… I know… but it’s not forever and we still find ways to have fun… just… you know… not all of us at the same time. Your sister is scared and hurting. She doesn’t want to be crying all the time, either.”

Arms crossing over his chest in a move so like Keith it made Lance’s heart skip a little, Austin scowled. His good mood dropped at how unhappy the child looked and Lance was ready to kick himself for spoiling the fun. He suspected that it would have gone very badly if he’d skipped the warning and tried to drag Austin inside when it was actually lunch time without giving him a heads up, though. So, he crouched down until he was eye level, “hey- I have to run errands tomorrow. How about you come with me and we see if we can’t find some fun stuff for your room?”

“My room?”

“Yeah, the room you are staying in. It’s kinda boring for a kid, I bet. We can get you some posters or a rug you like or new blankets…”

“Really!?!” His whole face changed, a bright smile bursting into being.

“Yes,” Lance laughed, “really. So, even if you sleep in the same room as your Daddy and Gaia when she’s better, that room can be your space for when you want some privacy, or if your head is bugging you. Okay?”

“Just mine?”

“Well, if I get a bunch of visitors all at once, you might have to share, but yeah. It’ll be your home base. Sound good?”

“Yeah!” He was hopping from one foot to the other in excitement; his day completely saved from the awful prospect of lunch and not returning to the garden to splash around. “I gotta tell Daddy!” He spun, taking off for the veranda as fast as his little legs would carry him.

“Hey! Wait for me to dry you off before you go inside!” Lance called after him as he headed to the tap to shut the water off. He was still chuckling when he glanced over his shoulder and felt his stomach drop. Austin was too close to the flower beds, and Lance knew from experience that the ground dipped slightly, getting water logged and spongey faster than the rest of the lawn. He couldn’t even call out a warning before Austin’s foot slipped, his ankle rolling and sending him tumbling. For the space of two heartbearts, the air was quiet and still. Lance braced for a wail. Instead, he heard a tiny, quiet whimper. 

So much worse.

Anyone who spent any time with kids knew that the big wails after a fall meant they’d gotten scared, maybe scraped up a little. The small sounds of distress meant a real injury. He was moving before he was even aware of it, dropping to the ground beside the little boy. “Heyyyy bud,” he cooed, “you okay? Did you hurt your foot?”

“Mmmmhmmm,” sniffled Austin, sticking his leg out. Gingerly, Lance cupped his heel and his knee to take a look and froze. A long, thin, jagged slice ran up the side of Austin’s calf, bleeding freely and covered in muddy soil from the flowers. 

“Oh wow, I bet that stings, huh?” he did his best to keep his voice calm and upbeat, not wanting to scare Austin.

“I… I… I want… I want… mmmmmmy Daaaaaddyyyyy,” he sobbed, falling apart the instant those purple eyes spotted the blood.

“You got it, bud. One sec…” Lance grabbed the towels from where they hung on the railing and quickly wiped himself off then wrapped Austin up, carefully supporting the injured leg as he scooped him into his arms. Instantly, Austin clung to him, still crying. “Okay… I got you amiguito,” he pressed a kiss to Austin’s temple, “let’s go.”

It took virtually no time to get him into the house and Lance made a beeline to the kitchen sink. “Keith!” He pushed the empty drainboard out of the way and sat Austin on the counter with his legs in the sink. “You stay put for a second, okay? I’m getting that first aid kit your Daddy uses for my burns.”

Austin whimpered, rubbing at his eyes, but he nodded, “kay… Where’s Daddy?”

“I’ll get Daddy, too.”

“You promise?”

“Of course I promise,” he whispered, kissing his forehead before he tucked the towel more securely around him. “Do not move!”

Where the heck had Keith left the first aid kit? Lance had his own, but it was nowhere close to as advanced as the one Keith had. He rushed into the living room. “Keith!” He didn’t want to be so loud that he woke Gaia if she was sleeping, but Austin needed his Dad. The cut didn’t look deep, but Lance hadn’t exactly gotten the best look at it, and regardless, Austin was scared and wanted Keith. 

Ah-ha! 

There! 

Beside Gaia’s diaper bag! Snatching up the first aid kit, Lance hurried back to the kitchen.

“Laaaaannnnnce!” Austin sobbed holding his arms out for a hug. Poor little guy looked so scared it broke Lance’s heart. He took a second to hold him close and kiss the top of his head, shushing him softly. “Where’s Daddy?”

“I think he’s tucking Gaia in, buddy,” he whispered, praying that Keith hadn’t conked out for a nap of his own. “Let’s get this cleaned and wrapped up and we’ll go find him together, okay?”

He sniffed and wiped at his face, his eyes huge and watery with tears, “ummm… okay… hurrrts...”

“I know, amiguito, I know… and this next part is gonna suck, but then it will feel better…” He turned on the faucet, adjusting the temperature until it was warm enough to clean the cut, but not so hot that it would burn the little boy. He soaped up his own hands and rinsed them, then gently washed the dirt and grit off Austin’s leg. The cut was still bleeding, which Lance knew was a good thing, but was probably also scary for the child clinging to his arm. “I know, bud, but we gotta get all the dirt and germs out… and then I can get a good look at it.”

“An’ then you can fix it?” Austin asked hopefully, a slight waver to his voice.

He sighed, “I don’t know yet, bud. I need to see it without all the muck first. You might need to see a doctor… but I’m gonna try my very best, okay?”

Austin took a deep, shaky breath and nodded, “kay, Lance.”

“You are every bit as brave as your Daddy, you know that?” Lance said gently, turning the water off and carefully blotting Austin’s calf dry with a clean paper towel, “as brave as a Paladin.”

“Brave as a Paladin?” he echoed and Lance could hear the awe in his voice. 

“Mmmhmm,” he nodded. As gently as he could manage, he lifted Austin’s leg and got a good look at the cut. Not as bad as he feared. Depending on what was in Keith’s first aid kit, they could probably avoid stitches. It might not even scar. “Alright sweetheart, all clean. You are doing so good! Gimme a second…” He dried his hands and opened the first aid kit, rummaging around until he found a little bottle of blue powder that he recognized. “Yes! No doctor for you, amiguito! This will do the job nicely. It won’t even sting.”

“It won’t?”

“Nope. See this stuff? It’s really great for long, zig-zaggy cuts… and it turns owies into tickles. Really weird, but it won’t hurt- just don’t squirm, I don’t want to spill too much.”

“What’s going on?” Keith’s voice cut through the room like a gunshot.

“Daddy! I hurt my leg!” Austin wailed, his bravery failing him now that he saw his father.

“What happened?” Keith asked, rushing over. He was in his Blade suit, apparently on a vid-call.

“Huh… looks like planet life isn’t as idyllic as you’d led me to believe, kitling. Would you like me to give a visual assessment?” Artax. Because of fucking course it was Artax. Lance fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“Don’t call me that,” Keith said distractedly, crowding close enough to hug Austin. “What happened, buckaroo?”

“I-I-I-I f-f-f-fallllleded down!” Austin sobbed.

“Turned his ankle and cut his calf,” Lance explained quietly, making a point to ignore Artax, because (and this bore repeating) he hated that guy, “slipped on the grass and tumbled into a flower bed. I cleaned it and was just about to use Yrmic powder and then ice the ankle.”

“Yeah… okay… that sounds good.” Keith flashed him a weak smile.

“I got this,” Lance assured him, “he’s been very brave. Tougher than you were on the  Gadbupor mission when you slashed your leg open.”

“Why didn’t you get me?”

“He triiiieeed,” Austin whimpered, “you didn’t he-he-he-heeeearrrr him…”

“I didn’t want to be too loud and risk waking her. That wouldn’t have helped the situation. We were gonna come find you as soon as I got him patched up, right buddy?”

The little boy nodded, his eyes seeming impossibly large, “uh-huh.”

“I’m here now,” Keith whispered, catching Austin’s hands in his own, “and Lance took good care of you, right?”

“Mmmhmmm… he’s my friend…. Said I was brave as a Paladin…”

“You should still give him a bioscan,” Artax said loudly, “he is unfamiliar with the bacteria in the soil there.”

“It was bleeding pretty good, but a bioscan isn’t a bad idea.” Lance might hate the guy, but he loved Austin and making sure he was okay was more important than his personal opinion on the Galran jackass on the vid-call. “I’m more concerned about the ankle than the cut,” he added. The bleeding had slowed down considerably, but it hadn’t stopped completely, so he took a moment to clean it up again using the paper towel to blot away the blood.

“Yeah” Keith nodded, “yeah, okay… I can do that. It’ll just take a second.” He tapped a couple of the almost invisible buttons on his forearm and a purple light washed over Austin’s leg.

“The cut is superficial,” Artax said, because apparently the scan results showed up for him, too. Awesome. “No potentially dangerous microbes. A couple of minor tears in the musculature of the ankle. Nothing serious.”

“So, I can go ahead and use this?” Lance confirmed, holding up the Yrmic powder.

“Of course you can Red Paladin ,” Artax answered, somehow making the supposed honorific feel smarmy. Lance’s opinion of this guy just. Kept. Dropping.

While Keith kept Austin distracted, Lance gingerly sprinkled the blue powder over the cut. Almost instantly, Austin giggled and squirmed. Lance smiled, taking comfort in the fact that the powder was helping. “All done! Now we just need to wrap the ankle and give you some medicine for the pain and get you set up on the couch for the day. You need to let that ankle heal up, amiguito.”

“No med’cine!” Austin squawked.

“Austin,” sighed Keith, “it’s not the same medicine as we had with the Blades. This is the stuff we give Gaia for her mouth.”

“It’s made special for kids,” Lance offered, “so it doesn’t taste bad.”

“I drink it?” He asked, a little fearful tremor in his voice.

“Yeah, buckaroo,” Keith soothed, gently drying Austin’s hair with the towel he had been wrapped in, “you drink it.”

“No needles? You promise?” Lance had never heard Austin sound so frightened.

“I promise. You’ve seen Gaia take it. You see how much better she feels, right?”

A dismissive snort came from the holo-projected image of the Galran man and Lance’s focus shifted just in time to see him open his mouth to say something. “Hey Artax,” he said, his voice steely, loud enough to make both Keith and Austin startle, “you are probably really busy. We shouldn’t keep you. Everything is under control here, so if you could just, like send Keith the medical files for his kids sometime in the next few vargas, that would be great.”

“The medical files? Why woul-”

“Yeah, so he doesn’t have to keep bothering you for simple stuff like this. We’ve got doctors here on Earth, you know.”

“But the kits are-”

“Thanks so much for understanding,” Lance cut him off, “I’m sure it means a lot to him that you understand how important it is for him to be able to share their medical history with doctors here if there is an emergency. Clearly the kids are important to you and you don’t want to endanger them… so yeah, anytime in the next few vargas is great!”

“Yes,” echoed Keith, “I know how busy you are, so if it takes a few vargas, that’s fine.” Artax spluttered, but it didn’t seem to faze Keith, “now, I’ve got to go, my son has earned a little coddling , I think. Vrepit sa.” He tapped his forearm and the vid-call disconnected. “Thanks, Lance,” he said softly.

“You definitely do not have to thank me for that,” he answered with a grin. “Okay Austin, bud… Do you want to watch a movie, or tv shows?”

“A movie,” he answered, starting to sound a little more like himself again.

“Sounds good,” Lance replied easily, “I’ll get the couch all set up and find a good movie for you, and your Daddy can help you get into some dry, cozy clothes and give you the medicine. If you want, since your hair is wet, I could braid it for you again… If it dries in a braid, it’ll be all wavy like Rachel’s hair when we take it out again!”

The little boy narrowed those purpley-grey eyes at him suspiciously, “how?”

“Well, it’s because… uhhh… huh. Actually, I don’t know how that works. It just does. Wanna try it out? The waves will come out as soon as you wash your hair again if you hate how they look.”

“Umm,” he sniffled, still recovering from the fright and the pain. “Yeah, okay.”

“Then it’s a plan.” He tapped the little boy’s nose in playful affection, which prompted him to screw up his face, but he was smiling. “You did really great, amiguito. I know that was scary and it hurt, but you were so tough and brave… and even more important- you didn’t pretend you weren’t scared and hurting. Sometimes people think they won’t be tough if they let the people that love them know that they are hurting, or that being brave means pretending not to be scared. But that’s not true, and you are so smart to already know that. Okay?”

Austin studied his face for a moment, seemingly trying to decide if he was telling the truth. Whatever he saw there must have satisfied him, because he just nodded and cuddled into his father’s arms.

It didn’t take long to get Austin situated. He ended up in the reclining chair instead of the couch because Lance realised at the last minute that they kind of needed the space on the couch to deal with Gaia and that the recliner would make it a lot easier to keep Austin’s foot elevated. Once he’d been dosed, and dried off and changed; his hair braided, and ankle iced; wrapped in a soft blanket, wearing the noise cancelling headphones and with a selection of snacks and small toys within reach; Lance could see how close he was to conking out- the stress and medicine working together to lull him into a midday nap. In all honesty, Lance felt ready for a nap himself. 

He stretched, sighing as he felt several pops and snaps in his back that released tension he didn’t know he’d been carrying. Keith was sitting at the kitchen table, no longer in the Blade suit. He’d changed when Austin had, opting for a pair of light jeans and a tank top. Lance was still in his board shorts, but the light-weight material was completely dry by now and he was comfortable enough.

“Hungry?” he asked as he took a seat beside Keith, reaching over to give his hand a supportive squeeze.

“Uh,” Keith shook himself out of his thoughts, pushing a hand through his hair, “yeah. Yeah, I could eat.”

“Alright. Lemme see what we’ve got in the fridge.” He stood, pausing when Keith grabbed his wrist and tugged.

His eyes darted to the archway that separated them from the living room and he smiled, the expression soft and shy. “C’mere,” he whispered, tipping his face up to meet Lance’s eyes.

Oh.

Ohhhh… 

The night before came back to him in a rush, sparking a blush and a level of butterflies he hadn’t felt since high school. Keith’s smile turned bashful, and it was unfair how adorable it was. Heart in his throat, Lance leaned down, brushing his lips against Keith’s in a shy, tentative kiss. Keith craned up, increasing the pressure of the kiss, and Lance sighed, smiling into the contact.

He felt like a lovestruck kid again, all nerves and giddy joy. His free hand slipped into Keith’s long hair to cradle his head as he took his time with the kiss. It was soft and sweet. A way to connect with each other after the stress of Austin getting hurt; but it still made his heart ache in his chest and his whole body tingle.

When he lifted his head again, Keith’s eyes were dewy and tender and Lance had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He smiled up at Lance, a light flush across his cheekbones, lips parted slightly, and those eyes… looking like… “God, you are so gorgeous,” Lance whispered, tracing his thumb along Keith’s jaw reverently, “I’ve been so blind… but.. Uh… food. Right. I was finding us something for lunch.” He stepped back and Keith let out a soft laugh, that flush morphing to a genuine blush, and somehow even that made Lance’s heart skip a beat. 

“Lunch?” chuckled Keith, making Lance realise that he’d just been standing there, staring.

“Oh God!” he yelped, turning on his heel and pulling open the fridge as Keith laughed softly. Hopefully, the cool air would keep his face from freaking igniting, because it sure felt like it was about to. “Okay… ummm… we’ve got… coleslaw and potato salad… a couple of leftover chicken wings… Oh! We’ve got the burger patties Mama dropped off! Burgers and cold salads sound good?”

“Sure, sounds great,” Keith answered. His voice sounded far away, distracted.

“Everything okay?” Lance asked, turning to face him as soon as he set the food on the counter.

“What?” Keith blinked, shaking his head. “Yes. Yeah… just thinking.” He shrugged, “just my life always seems to turn on a dime. Like… compared to not even a year ago, everything is different.”

“I think that everyone feels that way six months into parenthood, Keith,” Lance said softly.

“It’s more than just that though,” he rolled his shoulder. “I mean, sure, a lot of it is because I’m a Dad now, but… everything with Mom, and Shiro; and now I’m changing jobs, moving back to Earth… and… umm… you…”

“If… this,” he gestured between them with his finger,  “like… me and you… if it is too much right now, I understand. I’m not going anywhere. What I feel isn’t going anywhere… this can wait. I can wait.”

“No!” He stood, closing the distance between them, his hands settling on Lance’s hips... and his closeness, just that simple touch sent Lance’s whole body into chaos. “No, I don’t want that. I wasn’t complaining about the changes. I don’t want this to wait. I am done waiting.”

“I just… I meant what I said about doing this right,” Lance breathed, running the flat of his hands up Keith’s arms to rest on his shoulders. “I don’t want to fuck this up… so, if the timing isn’t right…”

“That’s not what I was saying,” Keith insisted, leaning into him and resting their foreheads together, “not even close.”

“So, we’re good?” The words were barely more than a breath, so soft and tentative. His heart was pounding so hard it was difficult to hear anything else. He meant everything he was saying, but God, staying away from Keith now would be torture. Just the thought of stepping aside and waiting in the wings for better timing felt like it was shredding something that had only just healed.

“You… this…” Keith’s eyes locked on his, burning with sincerity, “it’s like… coming home, when I didn’t even know I had a home to come back to in the first place.”

“Coming home?” He took a shaky breath, “Keith… this will always be your home… even if we aren’t-”

Keith kissed him, capturing the rest of his words with his lips. A soft, plaintive sound caught in the back of Lance’s throat and he felt his eyes burn. Those strong arms wrapped around him. Those scarred, steady hands slid over his back, the touch sure and gentle. He melted into the kiss, parting in invitation, pressing closer and catching Keith’s face between his hands. Everything fell away. All he could think about was this kiss, this man, this swell of emotion that threatened to pull him under like a riptide.

“I’m not some lost kid anymore,” Keith whispered, breaking the kiss. “I know who I am, I have for a long time. My life is good. Full. I have a family I love. I have a job that I am good at, that I am proud of, and I can come back to if the transfer doesn’t work out. I have a place in the universe, a purpose. This isn’t about me trying to fill a hole in my life. I’m not lacking anything. Neither are you. You say no one sees it, but I do. I know you have a good life here. I know you’re not hiding or wasting away. We don’t need each other to be content. But, you make my life richer. Being with you is the difference between being content and being happy ... and I want that. I love you. I’m not giving you up or waiting for things to be less chaotic to be with you. That’s not what I was trying to say. Got it?”

Oh God, Keith had a romantic streak! Lance was a goner. Dead. Could he possibly get. Any. More. Perfect? 

That was… sappy movie levels of romantic speeches! Like, something out of a sweeping epic love story! He was smiling so big and sappy his face hurt. The stinging in his eyes that had started during the kiss had spilled over into actual. Fucking. Tears. And he had a nearly overwhelming urge to squeal .

“Lance?” Keith dragged his thumb across Lance’s cheek, just below his glowing marks. Wiping away the tears.

“Got it,” he squeaked. Seriously!?! Clearing his throat and ignoring the fact that Keith was laughing softly at the crimson blush he just knew he had, he tried again. “Yeah, I got it.”

“You’re so quiznaking adorable,” Keith whispered, his own smile turning sappy and lovestruck… and wasn’t that just the best look?

“Sexy would be better, but I’ll accept adorable,” he joked, trying for a cocky smirk.

“That, too,” Keith answered, kissing him again and Lance had no idea how such sweet, gentle kisses could pack such a punch, but they did. His whole body felt like it had goosebumps.

“Mmm… lunch,” he reminded himself when they came up for air, who knows how long later. “Before the baby wakes up…”

Chapter Text

Since Austin was stuck surfing the couch for a few days, and had been making do with little to no one on one time with his father since the whole teething ordeal had begun, Lance decided he was going to make a habit of taking the screaming Princess for a long afternoon walk. That way both Keith and Austin got a bit of a breather from the noise, and could have some bonding time. He was going a tad stir-crazy, too. He wasn’t used to spending so much time kicking around his house, and as much as he loved his houseguests, he could really use the fresh air and the chance to stretch his legs. 

He had Gaia cinched in tight against his chest in one of the carriers his family had dropped off, and a well-stocked diaper bag slung over his shoulder. There was a little roadside market within walking distance, and his kitchen was getting a tad sparse on fruits and veggies thanks to too many days of everyone existing on grab and go foods like carrot sticks and fruit. The other day, Keith had eaten an entire cucumber like it was a banana and that had seriously messed with Lance’s head. 

Just how sleep deprived did you have to be to think slicing up a cucumber was too much effort to bother with??

“Your Daddy is starting to go a bit bonkers, Princess,” he cooed cheerfully to Gaia, who seemed to be enjoying the change of scenery as long as she was tightly bundled and well medicated, “we’re all starting to go a bit bonkers. I bet nobody is as impatient for those teeth to come in as you are, though, huh?”

She babbled at him, practicing the raspberry noise that seemed to be her current favorite when she wasn’t howling in pain, and bounced lightly in the carrier. “God, you are cute,” he chuckled, shaking his head, “extra cute when you’re happy. Yes, you are!”

It took roughly an hour to get to the little market and, unsurprisingly, Gaia attracted a lot of attention. He chatted and when some of the people who stopped to coo over the baby flirted with him, he responded in kind, but he was quick to correct anyone who assumed that she was his child. The first couple of times he said, “oh, no, she’s my boyfriend’s daughter, we’re just taking a walk together,” he very nearly giggled. 

Like, he had to force a cough to keep from tittering like a songbird. 

Not that he’d admit that if anyone asked. Still, there was something about saying that out loud that made him feel like a middle school kid with a crush.

It was just so new. Everything about it was so new. Just a couple of days ago, he’d have insisted that he and Keith were just old friends and anyone who thought differently was way off base, and now… He sighed, and he was damn glad no one he knew was around to hear it, because even he could tell it was decidedly ‘dreamy’. 

Enjoying the change of scenery, he took his time going through the carts and baskets, slowly picking out a selection of produce to bring home. The food all got bundled into the diaper bag and slung back over his shoulder and so many people crooned their good-byes to Gaia that she was still babbling and making her grabby hand wave a solid five minutes later. If he’d timed it right, he could dose her with the numbing gel before the oral meds wore off and she might even nap for part of the walk home. 

It occurred to him that this was probably the longest Gaia had been away from Keith in her entire life, right about the same time as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and heard the theme song for the Voltron tv show, which meant a vid-call. “Your Daddy is a worrywort,” he whispered to the baby, “but we love him anyway.” He dropped a kiss to the top of her head as he grabbed the phone, connecting the call. “Hey handsome! She’s fine. Relax… See? Say hi, Gaia! We’re… uhh… oh… Hey Hunk!”

“Lance?” Hunk looked concerned, “is that the same…. That is the same baby! I recognize her sticky-uppy hair! Seriously… I promise I won’t freak out. Did you steal a baby from the beach?”

“Oh, for the love of- No Hunk! I didn’t steal a baby! I would never! I’m just babysitting. Again. It happens.” He smiled, shifting the camera so Hunk had a better view of the little girl, “she’s still teething, and I’m helping out. Her Dad is hanging out with her brother. I took her with me to the little market. Gaia! Say hi to Hunk!”

Hunk waved, switching to a sing-song cadence and higher pitch, “it’s not like you to babysit so much, Lance! No, it’s not! Not even for a cutie like this! Hi Gaia!” She tried to twist around in the carrier, blowing raspberries the whole time but never really figuring out where the voice was coming from.

“I’m just helping out, Hunk,” he chuckled.

“You were helping out the last time I called, too,” his friend pointed out. “Which reminds me… about Ryan’s cousin.”

“I’m not going on a double date with you guys. I’m not going out with Ryan’s cousin. I don’t need you to play matchmaker. You said you’d stop this.”

“I know, I know… and I will, I promise. It’s just… it’s been months, and Nathan really is a great guy…”

“I’m sure he’s awesome. I’m sure you can find plenty of people on the ship that agree. I’m not going out with him.”

“I really hate seein- wait a sec… You didn’t know it was me calling. You were surprised it was me.”

“Yeah- I thought Gaia’s Dad was checking in… you know, because I’m babysitting his little girl.”

“Right- but you answered all flirty!”

Crap! Crapcrapcrapcrap… “I was just being friendly, Hunk, don’t blow it out of proportion.”

“Lie! That was a lie! You just lied to me!” Hunk gasped, “you know I can always tell!”

“It’s not a big deal, Hunk,” he tried, skimming his hand over Gaia’s back through the carrier to keep her from getting bored.

“Another one! Stop it! What’s going on?”

He stopped walking, switching the phone to his other hand and adjusting the baby. Lying to Hunk wasn’t going to work- clearly. So, he was going to have to take another approach. “Okay, don’t freak out,” he said, “and you have to promise you won’t press for details. Do you promise?”

“Of course I promise! This is me!”

“Okay- so it is brand new and I don’t want to jinx it or turn it into a big thing...” Even though it was definitely a ‘big thing’, it was the biggest thing to happen to him in years. He just couldn’t let Hunk know that just yet- especially not without talking to Keith first! “And, when I say brand new, I mean brand new! Buuut…”

“Are you sleeping with Gaia’s Dad?” Hunk asked in a rush, looking like he was going to burst right out of his skin.

“What?!?!” He felt himself blush so hard his face hurt, “no! I’m not sleeping with anyone! How the heck do you define ‘brand new’, Hunk?!?”

“Sorry! Sorry... I got caught up in the moment. But… I was right that there’s something going on between you and Gaia’s Dad, right?”

“Yeah- But! Like I said, brand new… and we are taking it slow. I don’t want to wreck this, and there are kids involved… so very slow, very new, very careful.”

“Do I get a name?”

“No, absolutely not!” Lance shook his head for emphasis. Keith would kill him! Okay… maybe not kill him, but it would be bad. They’d agreed not to dodge questions, but there was no way that Lance was going to be the one to tell Hunk that Keith had kids. That was Keith’s news to deliver… and he deserved to get to announce it to someone who was going to be excited and thrilled for him after all the stress with Shiro.

“Tell me you at least get along with the baby mama,” Hunk sighed.

“It’s not that kind of situation, Hunk. There’s no baby mama… and before you ask- yes, his son likes me, too.”

“I wasn’t going to ask that. I was just gonna ask if you’ve known him for long.”

Lance nodded, “yeah. We go way back…”

“And… like I know you said it is brand new and all that… but you really like him? More than Gryphon?”

“Way, way more than Gryphon.” He sighed, thinking about Keith’s unexpected romantic streak, how playful and engaged he was with the children, their nightly post-tuck-in beer. “This is… it’s so much, Hunk. I can’t even… just so much.”

“Oh… wow… I haven’t heard you talk like this since-”

“Don’t say Allura,” Lance cut in, “just don’t. This is- it’s not like Allura. This is different. It’s like a whole new thing.”

“I was going to say since you were a kid, Lance,” Hunk said, his expression sad. “I know better than to compare people like that.”

“Sorry,” he sighed, rubbing at his face, “I’m sorry. I know that. I know you do, bud… it’s just… she’s been on my mind a lot lately, that’s all.”

“Me, too, actually. Ryan and I were talking about that night that we tried to teach her poker, remember?”

“Oh wow, yeah! She accused Rivazi of cheating and they nearly got into a fight,” he laughed, he’d forgotten all about that night on the Atlas.

Hunk was chuckling along with him, “and then James got in between them and, like, scolded her?”

“Oh my God, and he was all prissy and, like, ‘that’s not very Princess-y, now is it?’ and she made that face.... And then you yelled-”

“Oh! Umm… yeah! ‘Lance, she’s gonna throw him!’” Hunk giggled.

“She was totally gonna throw him,” he agreed, “it’s a good thing Ryan’s so fast! I don’t think Griffin would have bounced like Lotor did.”

“Man, she was intense sometimes, huh?” Hunk said on a sigh, “I miss her.”

“She really was… and I do, too. I think we all do.” Gaia whimpered in his arms, and he turned his attention to soothing her. “I should probably go, her pain medicine is starting to wear off and she’s gonna get real loud, real soon.”

“Okay, man… you go- Hey… this new guy? You think she’d like him… for you, I mean?”

“Definitely. Without a doubt,” Lance answered, smiling softly as he disconnected the call, because he realised that it was true. Allura knew what a remarkable guy Keith was, and she often talked about how ‘compatible’ the two of them were once they started working together and not picking at each other. Actually, looking back now on some of their conversations, he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d seen what Veronica had seen and just opted to give him the time and space to figure it out for himself. She certainly was far less ‘traditionally minded’ about relationships than he’d been expecting her to be!

The marks she’d gifted him tingled, the almost healed burns on his face itching in addition to the weird sensation. That had never happened before, but he took it as a good sign. “Okay Princ- ohhh... Wow. No wonder Hunk was so surprised! Hey, Gaia! Did you know that you are the very first person I’ve called Princess since Allura saved everything?” He bounced lightly, trying to keep Gaia amused as he dug under the produce in her diaper bag for the numbing gel. “That’s how very special you are. Mmmhmmm… You are going to be amazing- just like her. I just know it. Ah-ha!” He waggled the tube of gunk in front of Gaia and she immediately made grabby hands. “Yeah, you know what this stuff does, don’t you, cutie? You are so smart! Yes, you are. So smart!” 

He cooed and babbled at her as he rubbed the slimy stuff onto the sore gums, letting her gnaw on his finger for a bit. “We should get home, huh? Before your Daddy sends out search parties… orrrrr… just throws Austin on his shoulders and comes looking for us himself,” he sighed… because that was exactly what Keith had done. Lance could see them just cresting the hill now. Impatient, impulsive, over-protective… He shook his head, trying really, really hard to be irritated, when all he actually felt was butterflies and excited and happy. 

He’d missed Keith. 

Oh, hell. 

They’d been apart like two hours, three max, and he’d missed Keith. That was… yup… like when he was just a kid. Dammit, Hunk knew him way too well.

“Lance!” hollered Austin, waving like a little maniac. Lance felt warmth flood him at how excited the kid was to see him. These kids, seriously. The two of them had taken up permanent residence in his heart, pretty much from the instant he’d laid eyes on them. Gaia squirmed in the carrier, trying to spot her brother.

“Yeah, you know who that is, huh? Guess who’s with him… Daddy! Wanna go see Daddy?”

“Dadadadadadadaa,” she babbled and he froze. Had she just…? No… no way. That was just… baby talk. He was just gonna pretend he hadn’t heard her switch up her usual ‘bababa’ babble and let Keith ‘discover’ it for himself.

He’d never really noticed how tall that hill was until he was walking up it and Keith was walking down. It was kind of awkward, in a very strange way, to be strolling toward each other like that. Normally, he looked around, lost in his own thoughts, but he felt like he should be watching Keith and Austin… but then when he did that, it felt oddly stalkerish and borderline creepy. It made him realise why movies did this kind of thing with a short distance, and maybe a run… or they filled the time with some kind of musical flashback montage or something… because this whole ‘slowly walking toward each other on a mostly deserted road’ thing was… weird… it was just weird. There was no other way to describe it.

“Lance! Lance! Lance!” Austin gushed as soon as he got within ten feet of them, “guess what?”

“Ummmm… you figured out how to fly?” he guessed, triggering the little boy to scowl at him.

“No, a real guess!”

“Okay, okay… ummm… Rachel is gonna come hang out with us tonight?” 

“No,” he shook his head, the braid Lance had put in his hair whipping back and forth, “I was talkin’ to Krolia!”

“Wow! Really?” He fell into step beside Keith, all of them heading back to the house. Within a few paces, he felt Keith’s fingers brush the back of his hand. Then Keith hooked their pinkies together, and the small touch was so sweet and potent that he couldn’t help but smile at Keith, nose crinkling. “What was Krolia saying?”

“Um… um… she liked the pictures we sent… an’she misses us… an’she is glad we’re havin’fun… and I hafta give Gaia thiiiiiiiiis many kisses,” he held up both hands, his fingers spread out like starfish, “from her and Daddy hadta give me all the same ones from her… an’Kolivan said he missed me and called me ‘the littlest Blade’ cuz I fight good. Um… umm… oh! Krolia never tasted mangoes!”

“What?” Lance acted horrified, fighting the urge to grin, “well, the next time Krolia comes to visit we’ll have to make sure we have plenty of mangoes to share, right?”

“Yeah! An’she tol’me that Daddy cried an’cried an’cried like Gaia when he was gettin’teef, too!” He shook his head, obviously flabbergasted at the idea that Keith cried about anything, ever. It was so stinking cute.

“Did you have a good walk?” Keith asked now that Austin had given him a chance to speak.

“Mmmhmmm… everyone fell in love with Gaia, as always. I got some staples, and one of the women gave me a jar of homemade guava marmalade- wouldn’t let me pay for it - when she heard that Gaia had a big brother with a sore leg. Everything okay at home?”

“Yeah, it was fine. He just got so excited after Mom’s call…” Keith trailed off and his smile drooped. 

Lance shifted his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing softly, “you okay?”

Nodding, Keith smiled at him, “yeah. I’m okay. She… she’s happy for us. Said to give you her love.”

“Oooh hoo! I get love from Krolia now? That’s a high honor! I’m touched.”

“Yeah, well don’t be an ass-uh.. I mean a brat about it,” he grumbled, but his smile was brightening again.

“I was talking to Hunk,” Lance said, sensing that Keith needed to think about something other than his mother, “once you introduce him to the kids, he’ll know… I know we said we wouldn’t dodge questions, but… that wasn’t about the kids. So, I hedged a bit.”

“Hedged how?” He rubbed his thumb against the back of Lance’s hand, the little movement sending out ripples of awareness.

“Mmm… I can’t lie to Hunk - he can always tell. When I answered the call… I thought it was you checking up on us and something about the way I answered… I dunno, I told him I was expecting it to be Gaia’s Dad… he said it was flirty… and I tried to brush it off, but no luck.”

“So, you told him,” Keith guessed, “you just didn’t say that Gaia’s Dad is me.”

“Exactly. As far as I know, he has no idea you are even in this system, let alone crashing at my place.”

“We need to fix that. I want the kids to meet Hunk and Pidge… and Kinkade, too, I guess.”

“I can have a barbeque if you want,” he offered.

“Whazza barbeque?” Austin asked, leaning over Keith’s head.

“It’s cooking over fire,” Lance answered.

“That metal thing on Lance’s veranda is a barbeque, buster. You use it instead of the stove or the slow cooker or whatever.”

“Oh, okay. Cool,” Austin answered, apparently deciding the conversation between the grown-ups was boring because he shifted focus completely. “Gaia! Gaia! Look at this!”

Lance glanced up to see him making faces at his sister and chuckled when she squealed excitedly. “I think he missed her,” he whispered to Keith. “They are so cute together.”

“I hope they stay close, like Matt and Pidge,” Keith said softly.

“Mmmm… I’m sure they’ll love each other, but… Keith, man, Matt and Pidge are not typical siblings. Plus, they’re your kids and… no offense, but you aren’t the easiest person in the world to get along with. They are probably going to fight a lot for… like a long time.”

“Did you fight a lot with your siblings?”

“Ummm… well, I was the baby, so I got away with more… but yeah. Mostly with Rachel. Veronica scared me when I was really little, she seemed so much more grown-up than Rachel. My brothers were older, so it was mostly yelling and threats… Marco used to sit on me when I annoyed him. Luis would hang me upside down by my feet.”

“I can’t imagine Austin doing any of that stuff to her!”

“Yeah, well she’s not really old enough to be a pain in the butt yet,” Lance laughed. “But, I don’t know... Austin is really soft-hearted-”

“Lance? Are you guys talking ‘bout me?”

“We sure are, amiguito,” Lance replied easily, “I was just telling your Daddy that you are a real sweetheart.”

“Is that good? Like brave?”

“Ummm… it means different things than brave, but yes buddy, being a sweetheart is a good thing. It means you are kind and thoughtful. We were talking about what a good big brother you are.”

“Oh! Okay. Gaia’s kinda boring, but I like making her laugh.”

“She won’t be boring forever,” Keith assured him, “once she starts crawling, she’ll be chasing after you.”

“It’s nice to hear her laugh, though,” Lance added with a tired sigh, making a face at Gaia who was peering up at him from the carrier. She smiled at him and bounced happily, chewing on her hand and practicing her babble. The numbing gel seemed to be helping more than it usually did and Lance sent up a little prayer that they were starting to leave the teething nightmare behind them. “Especially since she’s been crying so much lately. How’s your leg feeling?”

“Ummmmm…” The little boy kicked his leg out, craning to see the bandage. “S’okay… just don’t poke it!”

Lance laughed, “I’m not going to poke it, bud! I promise!”

“Why would he poke it?” Keith asked, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“I dunno! You poke his face when you check it!” 

“He’s got a point there,” teased Lance, “you do kinda poke at my face.”

“That’s because those are quintessence burns and I need to see how the skin moves to be able to tell how it’s healing!”

“Mmmhmm… likely story…” Smirking, he gave Keith’s hand a playful squeeze and winked at him. Keith’s face flushed and the smile he graced him with was tender, making Lance’s heart actually ache with happiness. 

It occurred to him then, that this might actually become his life. Not just a visit. Not just playing host to Keith and his kids. If things worked out for this brand new relationship of theirs, eventually, this would be his family. Walking back from the little roadside market with some fresh produce and a jar of guava marmalade, hand in hand with Keith, each of them carrying one of the kids could become mundane- just another errand. The thought filled him with warmth and hope.

“You’re impossible,” Keith muttered, rolling his eyes.

“He says that to me alllll the time,” sighed Austin, “but… I’m right here! I can’t be impossible!”

“Yeah, I’m right here, too! Maybe your Daddy doesn’t know what that word means.”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!”  laughed Keith.

“Impossible means sumfin that can’t happen, Daddy,” explained Austin patiently, “like… made up stories an’stuff. I’m real. Lance is real. We’re not impossible!”

Keith’s increasingly flustered attempts to explain to Austin what he meant when he called them impossible kept Lance entertained all the way home.

Dinner was a joint project between Keith and Austin while Lance tried and failed to console an increasingly upset Gaia out in the garden. “Aww Princess, you were so happy earlier!” He sat her on the grass across from him, trying to distract her from the pain in her face. “Gaia,” he sighed, kissing the top of her head, “sweetheart, you poor little Princess! When are those nasty little teeth going to come through, huh?”

“Lance!” Austin gingerly made his way down the steps, giving the flower bed a very impressive glare as he skirted around the spot where he’d fallen that morning, “Daddy said she can have more med’cin now and he made a bottle… I checked, it’s good.”

“You checked, huh?” Lance took the bottle and smiled at the little boy who was patting Gaia’s back gently and making shushing noises. 

“Uh-huh… tastes gross, but it’s not too hot.” The baby wailed, twisting toward her brother suddenly and knocking them both over. His arms snapped around Gaia and he held her tightly as they tumbled. It was so sweetly protective that Lance actually cooed. Out loud. “Lance! She’s heavy!”

“I gotcha, I gotcha,” he reassured the kid as he untangled the baby. “Okay precious, let’s let Austin up, huh? How’s your leg, amiguito? Didn’t hurt it again, did you?”

Austin shook his head, but there was something about his face that didn’t seem right. “You need to tell me if it hurts more, buddy… I can’t help you if I don’t know you’re hurt…”

“Gaia,” he gulped, “she squished it… an’an’an’...” He was pulling in deep gulps of air, tears threatening to spill over. Stellar day at Casa Lance for kids crying.

“Okay,” he said very seriously, “little Princess, you are just going to have to wait for a few more minutes while I check on your brother.” He plopped her back in the grass in front of him and handed her her bottle before he scooped Austin up, settling him against his chest. “You are so brave and tough,” he whispered softly, “just like your Daddy… but it’s okay to tell us when something hurts. We love you, bud… we want to help you. Everybody needs help sometimes.”

“Like when your face got hurt?” Austin whispered back, his little voice wavering.

“Yeah… and like how we try to help Gaia feel better.” Carefully, he checked to make sure that the cut on Austin’s leg hadn’t re-opened, before rewrapping his ankle. “One time, a really long time ago, I was on a mission with Shiro and Pidge and Hunk and Allura- your Daddy was working with Kolivan, so Shiro was in the Black Lion. Pidge isn’t very big now, and she was even smaller back then- but she’s like you. She’s tough, and brave and really, really smart. So, Shiro was supposed to be helping her and protecting her while she worked on fixing something super important. But then , his head started to hurt really, really, bad. Remember I told you how he used to get bad headaches? This was an extra bad one. So,  except for Allura, Shiro is the oldest, he’s the most grown-up, he’s super strong, and really brave, and he has a cool robot arm, and Pidge is kinda little. But, guess what? She ended up saving him, and protecting him, and doing her job.” 

Lance secured the bandage and pressed a little kiss to the top of Austin’s head. “Everybody needs help sometimes - and being big or little doesn’t really matter. We just have to take care of the people we love.”

“An’you love Pidge and Uncle Cheerio?” Austin asked, scrubbing at his eyes.

Lance nodded, “I do. Voltron is a family. We love each other and watch out for each other… and not just each other - I care about Pidge’s Mom and Dad and her brother, I watch out for Hunk’s boyfriend, one time when I got sick at Uncle Cheerio’s house, his husband took care of me.” Okay, so technically all Curtis had done was help Lance nurse a hangover, but it counted. “So, Voltron is kinda your family, too.”

“But you’re my friend,” Austin insisted.

“Guess what? I can be both!” He made a gesture like his mind was blown. “That’s the cool thing about Voltron - we can be friends and teammates and family all at the same time.”

“Just friends and teemmapes and family?” Austin asked, his purpley-grey eyes studying Lance’s face seriously.

He took a breath, letting it out in a sigh, “what’s going on in your noggin buddy?”

“Krolia called,” Austin said carefully, “an’ she talked to me and then Daddy said he needed’a talk to her alone.”

“Okay,” he had a sneaking suspicion he knew where this was going.

“I could hear’em… an’Daddy… he said that you are his boyfriend now. Didja know that?”

Lance sighed again, smiling this time, “alright - we should always try to tell our friends the truth, and you are my friend. So… yes, I knew that. Your Daddy and I just decided that last night so it’s still brand new and we weren’t trying to keep secrets. It’s just been a really busy day. But still, I guess that was a surprise for you, huh?”

He shook his head, “nuh-uh… I kinda knowed it. You guys look like your Mama and Pop-pop.”

“We… what?” Lance blinked, trying to wrap his head around what Austin was saying.

“You get the mushy face,” the little boy explained, his voice patient. “Like how Ahb-whale-ah looks at Pop-Pop, an’how Kolivan looks at Krolia…”

“The… mushy… face,” echoed Lance. “You are so, so, so smart, buddy. I can’t believe you figured that out on your own. So, how do you feel about me being your Daddy’s boyfriend? It’s okay if you don’t know, or if you don’t like it…”

“Daddy smiles more here,” he shrugged, “an’he makes your face glow. So, that’s cool… an’I like it here… an’you’re still gonna be my friend, right?”

“I will always be your friend, amiguito,” he promised, “even if your Daddy and I decide that we shouldn’t be boyfriends anymore. I’m your friend because you are awesome, not because he’s your Daddy.”

“Gaia, too?” Now he looked worried, his eyes darting over to where his sister had flopped onto her back while she drank her bottle. Lance could almost see his thoughts, the worry that Lance might say no.

“Gaia, too. She’s my little Princess, just like you are my amiguito. I love you guys.”

“Cuz’a Voltron?”

“Voltron is family,” he said carefully, “so it’s your family, too… but that’s not why I am your friend. I just think you, and Gaia, are awesome and I’m really lucky to be your friend.”

The little boy went still as he thought about Lance’s answers, “kay… don’t make Daddy cry. I don’wanna hafta fight you.”

“I definitely don’t want to fight the littlest Blade,” he agreed, keeping his voice and expression serious and suitably intimidated, “so I will try really really hard not to make your Daddy cry. Deal?”

Austin nodded so hard his braid bounced, “deal.”

Lance grinned at him. “Good. So, fist bump?”

“Yeah!” 

He held out his fist, “cool - here we go! Potatoes!”

Austin mimicked him and they tapped their fists together then splayed their fingers as Austin yelled "fries!” so loud it made Gaia startle and start to cry again.

“Oops! Maybe a little too loud… and I should probably help her with that bottle. You need help to go back inside?”

“I can walk, Lance,” he rolled his eyes and climbed out of Lance’s lap, “s’just a little owie - M’not a baby!”

“I know, I know - you’re big,” he agreed, picking up Gaia and cuddling her close. She immediately started chewing on his shoulder, but the cries tapered off a bit,  “you should tell your Daddy you heard him, and that we talked. So he doesn’t worry about how to tell you.”

“Good idea! He thinks too hard!”

Even hobbling slightly from his sore leg, it didn’t take long for Austin to climb the few steps of the veranda, but Lance watched him, just in case his ankle was bothering him more than it had been earlier and he needed help. As soon as the door slid closed behind him, Lance turned his attention back to Gaia. He had the diaper bag still, so he pulled out the pain medication and gave her a dose, then held the bottle for her. “If you are half as smart as your brother, your Daddy is really gonna have his hands full, Princess.”

“Shiro said to go ahead and tell Pidge and Hunk about the kids,” Keith said as he took the beer from Lance. Gaia had conked out early, and Austin hadn’t been far behind her so their post-bedtime-beer was happening a bit ahead of schedule, too.

“Awesome,” he answered, settling onto the couch beside Keith, “do you know how you want to tell them? Like, in person, or…”

Keith nodded, “yeah… I just… wanna do a group vidchat. Can we do that?”

“Sure- whatever you want… when?”

“Uhhh… now? Before Gaia wakes up again,” he took a swig of his beer. “I don’t like that you had to fudge to Hunk, and Shiro said Sam was asking about me the other day and this was never meant to be something other people had to hide… If we wait any longer, Hunk and Pidge are going to be hurt and I don’t want that… God, I’m so nervous? Why am I so nervous?”

“Because your kids are important to you, and so are Hunk and Pidge… and so far, telling people about the kids has been rocky. But look- they love you and they want you to be happy, and you are happier since you’ve become a Dad. Keith, it is so obvious that you are happier. They don’t have the kind of baggage that Shiro and your Mom do. They are going to react the way my family did and it will be fine. Regardless, I’m gonna be right here, and if you need to, you can squeeze the crap out of my hand again. Alright?”

“Yeah. Alright. Okay.” He took another swig of his beer, making no move to start the call. “This is going to be fine.”

“It’s going to be great… and hey, they’ll probably get really distracted as soon as Hunk hears your daughter’s name.”  Lance nudged him playfully and was rewarded with a small laugh and a smile. “Did you want to loop Shiro in, too?”

“No- he’s out with Curtis tonight and I think that might be a bit… too much.” He squared his shoulders, “After we tell them, I’m sending messages to Mela, Acxa, and Coran.”

“Your kids are gonna be sooooo spoiled,” Lance let out a low whistle at the thought of how Coran would dote on them and shower them in gifts. The gifts wouldn’t make any sense, most likely, but there would be a lot of them.

“Okay… can you… like start the call and just like… tell them I’m here?” Keith turned to him, chewing at his lip the way he did when he was concentrating, his eyes pleading.

“Awww, Keith,” he cooed, leaning in to kiss him softly, “it’s going to be great. Relax. It’ll be awesome… and yes, I’ll start the call.” He tapped the little interface set into the coffee table, adjusting the camera angle until he got a thumbs up from Keith and then sent out the ping. Pidge was the first to answer, popping up on a holoscreen almost immediately. Lance could make out the familiar backdrop of her office, but she’d already tied back her hair, so they must have caught her just as she was leaving for the night. Hunk answered barely a tick later.

“Twice in one day,” Hunk laughed, “been awhile since that happened- oh! Hey Pidge!”

“Hi guys,” Pidge waved, “listen, do either of you guys know what’s going on with Shiro? Dad mentioned that he seemed off lately…”

“Ahhh… yeah… kinda. Let’s circle back to that in a minute,” Lance chuckled, “so… Hiiiiii… God, it’s really been ages since we did one of these, hasn’t it? Wow. Okay, so… I have a houseguest that wants to say hi, hence the call. Tada!-Keith’s here!”

“Keeeeeeith!” Pidge crooned, “get in the frame already! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Holy crow!” Hunk shook his head, “I was just thinking today that I should ask Romelle when you were going to be near Earth again!”

Lance shifted over so that Keith could squeeze into the image. “Hey guys! I’m… uh… I’m going to be around a lot more. I’m taking a job at the Garrison- just, temporarily for now… but, if it works, I’ll probably stick it out.”

“The Garrison?” Hunk sounded worried, “I thought you were doing great with the Blades…”

“What’s the new job?” Pidge asked at the same time.

“I’ll still be working with the Blade, just, from here. Liaising between the Garrison and The Blade of Marmora- trying to streamline things, in terms of command and stuff.” He took a deep breath, glancing at Lance before continuing, “I can’t keep going on long term missions- at least not for a while. I’ve got… new responsibilities that are more important. Two of them… and… I…. uhhh…” 

There was another deep breath, eyes wide and darting as he pushed through last second doubts, but Keith was never someone to shy away from doing the tough thing, so Lance didn’t worry. Sure enough, he squared his shoulders and cleared his throat. 

“I want to raise my kids on Earth,” Keith said, steady and confident. Once the words were out, he sagged a little and Lance could feel the relief rolling off him, “I’ve got kids. Two kids.”

“Two. Kids.” Hunk said slowly, his gaze shifting from Keith to Lance and lingering.

“What the quiznak, Keith?!?!? You have kids?!?!? Since when??”

“Since… a mission, few months back. That’s not the important thing. The important thing is that I want you guys to know about them, and meet them and stuff. Lance? Can you send some pictures?”

“On it,” Lance grinned, pulling out his phone and sending off a few images to them both. “Same one I sent Uncle Cheerio, and a couple from food shopping.”

“Uncle Cheerio?!?! Why didn’t I ever think of calling him Cheerio?!?” Pidge groaned, fiddling with her phone, “Cheerio is perfect…”

“Right?!?!” Lance shook his head, “that is exactly what I said!”

“So, the bigger one is Austin,” Keith was saying, pride replacing his nerves, “and the baby is-”

“Gaia!” Hunk yelped, “that’s Gaia! Lance!!! That is a picture of Gaia! I know that hair!”

“Yeah, that’s my daughter, Gaia.” Keith confirmed.

“Why are you yelling at Lance?” Pidge asked Hunk, not even glancing up from her screen. “Oh my God, that kid looks. Just. Like. You. Keith! I was thinking you adopted a couple of refugee kids or something, but he is...not a refugee… and he’s like a kid kid! Who is this kid’s mother?”

“I’m going to kill you, Lance. I cannot believe you didn’t tell me… that is definitely Gaia. Keith is Gaia’s Dad. Oh my God! Keith is Gaia’s Dad!!”

“Yeah Hunk, that’s been established… the whole ‘who is the Mom’ thing is the current question.”

“Hunk, my man. I couldn’t tell you! Keith had to be the one to tell you about his kids! Otherwise, I swear I would have told you. You know that right?”

“Wait- what am I missing?” Pidge leaned in, “you guys know how much I hate when other people have secrets! What’s going on??”

Lance and Keith exchanged a glance and Lance sighed, “go ahead Hunk. You can tell her.”

“They’re together,” Hunk hissed, “Lance and Keith- they’re a couple. I was talking to Lance today and he was watching the baby- Gaia- told me he was dating her Dad.”

“He’s dati- Keith is Gaia’s Dad! Oh my God! Since when?!?”

“Chill out Pidge…” Lance laughed.

“Since last night.” Keith interjected, smiling hugely and catching Lance’s hand in his own. “It’s new. Hardly anyone knows. Hardly anyone knows about the kids either.”

“He wanted to give Shiro some time to adjust,” Lance added, “and he wanted to tell him in person.”

“So that’s why Shiro’s been off!” Pidge grinned, “so, once more-  Keith! Who is the Mom??”

“They don’t… uh… have a mom,” Keith said, “not really. It was… an alien… tech… mishap, is I guess the best way to describe it…”

“Keith still can’t read Galran,” Lance pointed out, “so, you know… things are going to happen when they leave him unsupervised.”

“I can read Galran!” Keith turned to glare at him, holding his hands out in the universal expression of ‘wtf, man?’

Pidge snorted, “even if your reading comprehension of Galran is twice as good as your ability to write it, that’s pretty shitty. I’ve seen your reports. They’re bad Keith. Really bad.”

“He has a point, Keith,” Hunk laughed, “you should really learn to read Galran.”

“Counterpoint!” Dropping Lance’s hand, Keith crossed his arms over his chest, his expression smug. “If I was better at reading Galran, I wouldn’t have my amazing kids! So… I win.”

“You win? You win?? What do you win?? What’s the competition?” Lance was cracking up, “you guys are seeing this right? Keith, not me declaring himself the winner of some nonsense competition for no reason at all!”

“The competition for best kids,” Keith laughed, “obviously. I have the best kids. You’ve said it yourself!”

“They kind of are the best,” he conceded, “the best non-McClain kids, at least. Hard to top my niblings.”

“Lance?? Daddy? Whyz it so loud? My leg hurts…” Austin stood at the top of the stairs, rubbing at his eyes, “can I have some med’cin?”

“Is that him?” Pidge asked, perking up, “I wanna say hi!”

“I’ll get him,” Keith answered, his laughter settling down as he stood.

“I’ve got the medicine over here in the diaper bag,” Lance supplied. “He might be a bit grumpy- he hurt his leg this morning and it woke him… or we did. I didn’t think we were being loud, though…”

“Who’re they?” Austin sounded sleepy, but not all that grumpy, so Lance relaxed a little. 

“The rest of Voltron,” Keith answered quietly, “Hunk and Pidge.”

“Like from the stories!?!”

Lance chuckled, “he said the same thing when he met me. He takes a bit to warm up to people in person- I haven’t seen how he does on a vid-call, though.”

Keith sat on the couch beside Lance, Austin curled up against his chest, pressing close so they could all be in the frame. “So, this is my son, Austin-”

“-The Littlest Blade,” Lance supplied, making Austin giggle into Keith’s shoulder.

“Thaz what Kolivan calls me- cuz I fight good.”

“As I was saying,” Keith continued pointedly, “this is Austin. Austin, this is Hunk, the Yellow Paladin, and that is Pidge, the Green Paladin.”

“Voltron is family,” Austin whispered to Lance, eyes wide and still a little bleary from sleep, “right?”

“Exactly,” he kissed the top of Austin’s head, right on the braid that he still hadn’t taken out, “they’re really excited to say hi, amiguito. You wanna wave or something while I get your medicine ready? Show them you’re as brave as a Paladin?”

“Family,” he repeated, “zaply. Brave as a Paladin. Zaply.” He gave his father a little squeeze and turned to face the screens. “Hi…”

“Awww… it’s a tiny little Keith,” cooed Hunk, “look at that braid! It’s so long! Heya bud!”

“No,” Austin’s face screwed up, “I am me. Not Daddy.” He looked up at Keith’s face and Lance couldn’t see his expression, but he saw the way Keith’s faltered. “Right, Daddy?”

“They know that, buckaroo,” soothed Keith, “Hunk just means that we look alike. That’s all.”

“Hey,” Pidge turned to grab something off her desk, “sometimes people in families look a lot alike. Look! This is a picture of me and my brother- see? I look almost as much like him as you look like your Dad.”

“Oh,” Austin squinted at the fuzzy image, “you have a big brother?”

“I do,” she confirmed, nodding.

“I have a little sister. She’s pretty boring cuz she’s just a baby… and she cries a lot now- she’s gettin’ teef!”

“Ohh.. he told you about Gaia- that’s the Austin seal of approval.” Lance held out the dropper of pain medication for Keith, who took it readily. “He’s really protective of Gaia, so if he’s telling you about her, that’s a good sign, right bud?”

“S’my job to help keep Gaia safe, Lance. You know that.” The kid was looking at him like he was nuts again, and the more Lance saw that expression, the more endearing it got.

“Of course I do,” he tapped Austin’s nose, “you’re an excellent big brother, even when she’s hurting your head… Your Dad’s got your medicine. You should take that now- how about I tell them what your favorite Voltron story is?”

“Kay,” Austin leaned over, giving him a sleepy hug, “the one I tolded you, right?”

“That’s the one,” he kissed the top of Austin’s head again, to a chorus of coos. “Not the time, guys,” he grumbled, worried that they’d make Austin self-conscious. “So, Austin’s favorite Voltron story is the broken ride at Clear Day.”

“Man,” sighed Hunk, “that Clear Day song was so catchy.” He started singing it softly, bouncing to the beat and waving his fingers back and forth.

“No,” Keith said sternly, wiping his thumb across Austin’s lip to catch any medicine drips, “no singing that song. It was stuck in my head for phebes after that!”

“If it is really that catchy, that would at least explain why you cut yourself out of the ride with your bayard,” Pidge teased. “Your Daddy could get really grumpy back then, Austin.”

“He got grumpy at the bich, too,” Austin nodded, making Hunk gasp and Pidge smirk.

“The beach!” Keith blurted out, shaking his head, “he’s talking about when we were at the beach.”

“Oh. Yeah. The beach. Him and Lance both got grumpy,” he shrugged, “but they was okay after and I helped make a sand castle!”

“Oh man, I love making sandcastles,” Hunk sighed, smiling fondly, “remember the one we made with the working drawbridge? That was epic, wasn’t it, Lance?”

“It sure was,” he agreed, “if we have a beach day the next time you are here, maybe you can teach Austin.”

“Really? Yeah!” Austin bounced excitedly, “whazza drawbridge?”

“It’s a door that lowers like the ramp on our ship, buckaroo,” Keith answered, smiling indulgently.

Austin made an awed noise, his eyes as round as saucers. Lance could watch Hunk melt. The kid was winning everyone over and Lance grinned at how effortless it was for him. He caught Keith’s gaze out of the corner of his eye and his smile changed. Keith was so proud of the little guy, so happy that things were going well with Pidge and Hunk. Everything he was feeling was right there in his eyes and Lance felt a swell of love that threatened to pull him under.

“See? Thaz the mushy face! Like when Kolivan looks at Krolia! Mushy face!”

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed, “that is a very mushy face. I haven’t seen that mushy face in a long, long, time. Just ignore them when they get gross, bud. Trust me, here. So! Other than the beach, what’s your favorite thing about Cuba?”

“Ummmm… Lance’s house is made from rocks and trees! An’ the pringler is lots of fun… an’I maded green eggs an’ham wif Daddy for Lance… and there’s cows ... an’ umm… I maded cookies with ahb-whale-ah… an’Pop-pop pulled me in a wagon… an’ Oh! Oh! Mangoes!”

Keith laughed and Lance snapped back to reality, his cheeks burning as he realized just how distracted he’d gotten. “Yeah… mangoes… very popular with young Mr. Kogane here,” he confirmed.

“Lannnce… my name is Austin! Mr. Kogane is Daddy!”

“Oh my  God!” Pidge cackled, “he’s right! Keith! Keefy! Emo boy! Edge lord McAngsty! You are Mr. Kogane now!”

“I… uh… yeah… I guess I am, aren’t I?”

“You’re a Dad, man,” Hunk said, his voice filled with love and admiration. “Like, a for real parent . Not ‘my pets are my kids’ like the rest of us slackers!”

“Uh-oh,” Lance teased, “I suspect Ryan is in for an earful about the cuteness of babies and little kids and the joys of family life.”

“Listen, his cousin is still here so ‘family’ is not something we are lacking at the moment!”

Austin curled into Lance’s side and tugged at his shirt. He looked down to see a very concerned expression on his face. “What is it, amiguito?”

“Um….” his expressive eyes darted around, “can I whisper?”

“You sure can,” he scooped him up, being careful of his leg, as he settled the little boy high on his chest, “hit me with it.”

“Is family bad? Hunk said...” He heard a shaky breath, “he wants to be our family, right?”

“Ohhh… buddy,” he gave him a hug and made a big deal of whispering his answer back, “family isn’t bad. Hunk loves having a big family. He’s just saying he doesn’t want to be a Daddy yet. He loves being an uncle- like me.”

“But… whazza cousin?”

“A cousin is when… uh… okay. When you and Gaia grow up, if you have kids, your kids will be cousins with her kids. Cousins are when the moms or dads are brothers or sisters. Hunk’s boyfriend has been spending lots of time with his cousin and Hunk misses him, that’s all.”

“Okay… so… he likes me?”

“Oh yeah, buddy. Hunk definitely likes you! He loves kids, and you are one awesome kid!”

“Promise?”

“Absolutely. Paladin promise. That’s an extra important promise.”

Chewing at his lip the way Keith did, Austin studied his face for a moment before nodding, “kay.”

“Everything okay?” Keith asked, concerned.

“Yeah, Daddy… s’best friend stuff.”

“Yeah, you heard him. Best friend stuff,” he echoed, beaming. “I’m Austin’s best friend.”

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance, but stayed quiet while Hunk cooed at them and Pidge laughed. 

“Just you wait until the first tour of the cool robot labs and see if you keep that title McClain,” she teased. “Austin- I make robots!”

“Really?? Like curibee droids and training bots?” Austin was noticeably impressed, which would not do, at all. First thing in the morning, Lance decided, he was breaking out the big guns. He lived on a farm and Austin loved animals. It was time he got to meet the chicks in the hatchery! No way could Pidge top that!

Pidge took a few minutes to tell Austin about the different kinds of robotic projects she was working on and while she talked Keith shifted so he could tangle their hands together behind Austin. Lance shot him a supportive smile, drinking in how happy and proud and relieved Keith looked. Good. He deserved to have people be happy and excited to meet his kids. He deserved to have the people he cared about be proud of him being a Dad. It was long overdue and Lance was so glad that his gut had been right about Pidge and Hunk’s reactions.

Austin was being his usual charming self, regaling them with some story about fighting training bots with Krolia. It was so damn cute. Lance was sure that Krolia had gone above and beyond to make sure Austin felt like a superhero based on how excited he was getting just from telling the story. He went so far as to demonstrate his ‘awesome’ punching technique, his little face scrunching up in his version of fierce concentration.

“Oh, Holy crow,” Pidge gushed, “Keith! How is someone who looks so much like you so adorable?? Look at him!”

“I dunno,” Keith answered, mischief glinting in his eyes, “what do you tell people when they ask you that about Matt?”

She gasped in mock outrage, “what?!?! How dare y- okay yeah… Matt is definitely the adorable one. The dork.”

“Daddy’s adorable!” Austin protested, tugging at Lance’s shirt, “tell’em!”

“Okay, bud,” he assured him, “you got it. I have to agree with the kiddo here. Keith is very adorable with his kids. Top notch cuteness.”

“Oh, I am not,” Keith shook his head.

“Ummm… I have sooo many pictures that prove you wrong, babe,” Lance laughed, “and they don’t even do justice to when you are making Gaia laugh.”

“You are a very cute Daddy,” Austin insisted, his voice serious and reassuring.

Lance smirked at Keith, because he knew that there was no way that Keith was going to contradict his son when Austin was taking it so seriously.

“Okay,” Hunk interrupted, “Keith was right, he has the best kids.”

“I really do,” Keith agreed easily, tugging Austin’s braid playfully and earning a scowl from the little boy, “and they should both be asleep right now, so it’s time for buckaroo here to say good-night.”

“Awww but I wanna keep talkin,” Austin protested, “dey’s family Daddy!”

“No arguing, bud,” calm as ever, Keith just gathered his son close, “if you stay up any later you aren’t going to feel up to helping me make breakfast in the morning.”

“Can we make green eggs and ham?” Austin’s voice was hopeful, excitement lacing the words.

“If we have all the stuff we can. If not, we can try out Lance’s waffle maker… but only if you wake up early enough.”

“Oh! Okay!” He lurched out of Keith’s hold, falling onto Lance, who caught him easily. “Night Lance!”

Lance hugged him and kissed his forehead, “sweet dreams, amiguito… don’t forget we are going shopping tomorrow!”

“For stuff for my room! I did forget! Daddy! Lance is taking me to get stuff for my room!”

“He is?” Keith shot him an inquisitive look.

Lance shrugged, “I figured he’d like some posters and maybe a bed in a bag… and a chance to get out of the house for a bit.”

“Well, it sounds like you have a busy day tomorrow,” chuckling, Pidge waved at them through the screen, “good-night Austin! It was really nice to meet you!”

“Yeah… I can’t wait to make sandcastles with you!” Hunk leaned in conspiratorially, “tell your Daddy to call me tomorrow so you can tell me all about helping with breakfast. I love cooking!”

“Okay! Yeah! It was nice to meet you guys, too! Night Aunt Pidge! Night Uncle Hunk!” Austin waved at them, “I said that right, right Daddy?”

“You sure did,” Keith assured, picking him up again. “I’ll be right back guys.”

Lance waved to Austin as Keith headed up the stairs with him, “yeah- so we need to have a barbeque and beach day here soon so you guys can meet the kids properly.”

“I cannot believe you and Keith are a thing!” 

“Oh man, Lance, I haven’t seen you like this in years!”

“We’re back on this?” he laughed, “alright… I guess it is probably pretty weird for you guys.”

“I mean…” Hunk fidgeted, “yes and no…”

“Honestly… he’s kinnnnda the reason no one was all that shocked when you came out, dude,” Pidge added, “I think we all just assumed that you figured out you were in love with him and that was what made you clue in that you weren’t straight… and then… like… nothing happened, sooo…” She trailed off, shrugging, “and I mean, he’s Keith… he ain’t slick…”

“I was just oblivious,” Lance finished for her, holding up his hand when it looked like Hunk was about to protest, “no- I was. I was completely oblivious. I had… a blind spot… but I clued in eventually… even if that was like… yesterday. God, that was just yesterday!”

“Busy day?” Pidge teased.

“Well, yeah… but also… Teething is a nightmare you guys. Gaia is so upset, just all the time and she breaks my heart. We are so sleep-deprived and time… it goes all… wonky.” He rubbed at his face, being careful not to bump the still-healing burns, “I don’t know how people deal with this and work. I really don’t. I’m just helping out and I am so tired.”

“They just push through, man,” Hunk said, “it’s temporary, right? So, they just do what you guys are doing until it is done.”

“Yeah,” agreed Pidge, “it’s not like you can just lock her in a room and ignore her!”

“Actually,” irritation welled up within him and he was ready to start ranting when he heard a shrill cry cut through the house, “uhhh… guys? That’s Gaia, and Keith is still in with Austin…”

“Go! Go! Deal with the baby… we’ll check in tomorrow!” Hunk made a shooing motion with his hands and then cut the connection, blinking out of sight.

“Yeah, what he said… and give Keith our love… just… don’t be gross about it, okay?” Pidge winked and waved and then she was gone, too, and Lance hurried up the stairs to get the little girl. 

Keith’s head poked out of Austin’s room just as Lance hit the second floor. “I got her- you stay with Austin. He’s had a big day. Me and the Princess will be fine.”

The look of relief on Keith’s face more than made up for anything that Gaia could throw at him. By the time he’d changed her, dosed her, fed her, bundled her up like a burrito, and moved on to pacing the floor with her, Keith was coming down the stairs.

“Austin asleep?” Lance asked, over the wailing of the baby in his arms.

Keith nodded and scooped Gaia up, settling her against his shoulder, and rubbing her back, “he told me about his conversation with you out in the garden.”

“The one where we talked about shopping? Or the other one?”

“The other one… the one about you being my boyfriend.”

“Ahhh,” he grinned. He couldn’t help it. He just liked hearing that outloud. He was Keith’s boyfriend. Keith was his boyfriend. They were boyfriends. It made him feel… so young and hopeful and happy that the marks on his face tingled. “I hope I didn’t overstep… I don’t want him to think he can’t talk to me about stuff. Kids need people they can confide in that will take them seriously.”

“You didn’t overstep,” Keith answered, “I don’t know if he would have said anything to me… so I’m glad you could reassure him.”

It was weird how comfortable they’d gotten with talking around Gaia’s distress. Keith didn’t falter in his slow circuit of the kitchen, he didn’t miss a beat in rubbing her back, never stopped giving her affectionate little nuzzles or kissing her temple- all the tiny tokens of comfort that let her know she wasn’t being ignored or forgotten. Despite the tears, they both knew there was nothing more that could be done to help her, and so they’d reached a point where they could kind of function around it while still dealing with it. “I’m glad I could, too. Oh! Pidge sends her love and Hunk is gonna call tomorrow.”

“That went well, right?”

“Absolutely! They are so happy for you! And they adore Austin, and he warmed up to them right away. Couldn’t ask for better reactions.”

“It was… nice,” Keith said, glancing at his daughter, “better than nice… to have them be excited and not ask a million questions and just be like ‘yay kids!’ I don’t think I realized how much I needed that… from someone other than you…”

“Heyyy! What am I, chopped liver?”

“No… just,” Keith lifted his eyes to meet his own, and the way he looked at him made Lance lose his breath. “I knew you’d be happy for me. I knew you’d love them. Because you’re you. Because… you always have my back. I was… less certain about everyone else.”

“You have so much faith in me,” Lance whispered, leaning in to kiss Keith’s cheek softly.

“No more than you have in me,” Keith countered, tipping his face so that their foreheads pressed together. “And you’ve earned it… countless times over…” Gaia hiccuped and started blowing raspberries again, the wet sounds broken up by her babbling.

“She’s not crying,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around Keith and Gaia, one hand stroking over her hair before settling high on Keith’s back, the other sliding around his waist to pull them closer. 

“Medicine must have kicked in,” Keith sighed, “s’nice… the quiet… hearing her happy for a bit…”

“Mmhmm… it is… Hey- when she’s through this and we all catch up on our sleep… I wanna take you out.” He smiled at Keith, bumping their noses together, “my folks will watch the kids… you need a break, and as much as I love your kids, I wanna have you to myself for a bit.”

“You mean, like a date?”

“Yeah, Mullet, like a date. I’d like to take my boyfriend out on a date. Preferably one for grown-ups only… but I know we might have a little Princess acting as a chaperone. Dinner… at a place that doesn’t have a drive-thru or a ballpit. Maybe a moonlit walk on the beach. What do you think? Will you go on a date with me?”

“Yeah…” Oh God, Keith was blushing! How was that so adorable? He bit his lip and nodded, a tiny little movement that made it absolutely impossible for Lance to resist the urge to kiss him. 

Soft.

Sweet.

Kissing Keith was still so new. Every time, it was still just such a surprise to him. Quiet and tender- not at all what he would have expected given the way they’d clashed and sparked for so long- but so… emotional. Keith let out a shivery little noise and Lance was so there for it, deepening the kiss immediately. He licked into Keith’s mouth with a low growl, needing to taste him. He shifted in the circle of Lance’s arms, one hand lifting to tangle in Lance’s hair, tugging sharply to change the angle so he could ramp the kiss up even more… and God, how was kissing this good?

“Dadadadada… bababaaa… Dadadadada… dadadad!” A small, slobbery hand slapped at their faces and Gaia giggled loudly, blew another raspberry and resumed her babbling. “Dada… dada… dadadadad!”

The kiss broke, immediately, which was understandable because.

“Oh my God!” Keith’s whole face lit up and Lance didn’t think he’d ever seen him happier, “did she just… say what I think she said?”

“Dadadada!” she shrieked, dissolving into giggles.

“Lance! She called me Dada! You’re hearing this, right??”

“I’m hearing it!” He was almost as excited as Keith was, digging his phone out of his pocket and pulling up the camera. “Get her to do it again! I’ll record it for you!”

“Gaia! What are you saying, munchkin? What did you call Daddy?” He bounced her in his arms a little, trying to bring her attention back to him.

She blew a raspberry and laughed at her own hilarity.

“Gaia!” Lance tried, “who’s that?”

“Ba?” She noticed the phone and reached out, making grabby hands.

Keith laughed, tickling her side and kissing her nose as she squealed with laughter. 

“I have an idea… let’s trade!” Handing Keith the phone, Lance plucked Gaia out of his arms and turned her away from her father.

“Ba!” protested Gaia, squirming in his arms, “Dada! Dadadada! Eeeeeeeee! Dada!”

“That was on purpose! That was definitely on purpose! It wasn’t just babbling a new noise. She called me Dada! Lance! She’s calling me Dada!”

“Dada! Dada! Ahhhhh… Dada!”

“Oh yeah, she is definitely calling you Dada!” Lance answered, grinning like a fool, “she wants her Dada! You want to go back to your Daddy, Princess? Hmm? You got that, babe?”

“I got it! You have to send me that video!” He handed Lance back his phone and collected his daughter. “You are so smart, munchkin! She’s so smart!”

“She is,” Lance agreed, his heart feeling like it might actually burst. Good Lord, he loved this man so much! Seeing Keith so happy and excited was almost more than he could handle. “I don’t know how early Galra babies say their first words, but she’s ahead of the crowd for human babies.”

“Galra babies tend to do the physical stuff early and verbal stuff late compared to human babies,” he answered, “she’s a genius! Gaia! You are sooo smart!”

“Okay… sending you the video now… want me to send it to Cheerio, Pidge and Hunk, too?”

“Yes! Absolutely! Send it to them… and your family!” Keith barely even glanced at him, which was… pretty darn adorable, actually. Proud, bragging, over-the-top parent suited his boyfriend more than he ever would have expected. “I’ll send it to my Mom and Kolivan. Lance! She called me Dada!”

“I know. It’s exciting!”

“That’s her first word! Her first word was Dada!”

“Mmhmm,” he nodded. Damn, his face hurt he was smiling so big as he forwarded the video to his family and the other Paladins. “What was Austin’s first word?”

“Austin’s first word was ‘hello’,” Keith answered, “they were sleeping when the pods opened. Sedated. We were checking Gaia over when he woke up, and he said ‘hello? What’s going on?’ Not exactly a typical situation.”

“Yeah.. that’s true… man, that must have been so weird.” He’d never really given much thought to what those first few days must have been like. It must have been so strange to have a newborn who was functionally a toddler.

“Everything about that time was weird… but I didn’t really have anything to compare it to, and I was so busy and stressed… it didn’t really sink in, you know? I just hopped from one crisis to the next, and before I knew it, a month had passed and these guys were my whole world.” He pressed a kiss to Gaia’s temple, bouncing her in his arms lightly, “we were a team, weren’t we, precious?”

“Dadadada,” Gaia babbled, blowing a raspberry.

“She’s not falling back to sleep anytime soon,” chuckled Lance. Not that he minded. He would happily watch Keith being cute with a cheerful Gaia for hours- easy. It was stupidly loveable. In his pocket, his phone buzzed several times in quick succession and he pulled it out to check the messages. “Hunk sent a series of gifs of people fainting or otherwise falling down with hearts surrounding them… so safe to say he thinks it is adorable… Ummm… Pidge predicts an IQ of 280, which I know for a fact is impossible. So… you know, they liked the video.”

“Uh-huh,” Keith answered, distracted by Gaia and her babbling. It was so adorable Lance couldn’t resist the impulse to snap a picture… or ten… of the happy reprieve from the hell of teething- however temporary it might be.

Top notch cuteness.

Chapter Text

Breakfast had been delayed until Lance managed to find a carrier in the bin of stuff from his family that was sturdy enough to fit Austin, and thankfully, it was just a plain navy blue one with white anchors printed on the straps so the little boy deemed it acceptable for a ‘big kid’ like him to use. It had still taken some convincing though, and Lance had been pretty much ready to throw in the towel on the whole idea when Keith had a stroke of brilliance. 

“It’s really just a way for you to get piggy-back rides all day,” he’d reasoned and Austin’s eyes had gone round as saucers.

“Yup,” Lance agreed quickly, “I just strap this on and you can hop in and we’ll be good for hours! You can even have snacks or toys because you don’t have to hang on!”

“Snacks like… mangoes??” he’d asked, awestruck.

“Well, mangoes are a little messy-” Keith started.

“-but you can definitely have a mango juice box,” finished Lance with a subtle elbow to Keith’s ribs. Austin’s ankle was swollen, the cut was tender and some bruising had set in. It needed to be rested, but Austin was stubborn and insisted on trying to walk on it. The limping made him clumsy and he kept making pained little whimpers, even after taking medication.

It wasn’t until Keith had spotted him crawling instead of walking the few feet to the box of toys they’d stuck in the corner of the living room that it really sank in just how uncomfortable the poor kid was. Obviously, if they didn’t find some way to keep him off his feet he was going to be miserable, or worse, he was going to aggravate the injury, or get hurt again. 

And when they finally had a solution within their grasp, Keith was going to risk losing it over mess?!?!

Not on Lance’s watch!

“You like mango juice boxes,” Keith covered, with barely any awkwardness. Over the years, he had (thankfully) gotten better at picking up cues like that.

Austin’s expression grew serious and everyone went quiet except for Gaia, who was making the soft whining noises that were like an early warning system for the full-bodied shrieks that would soon follow. After a moment the young boy nodded, seeming to have reached a decision. “Okay,” he said, nodding again and pointing one pudgy finger at his father, “buuuuuuut no mushy-face kissy stuff.”

Lance gasped dramatically, but Keith just snorted and rolled his eyes. “Deal.”

“What?!?! Wait! No. No deal,” spluttered Lance, “I’m not cool with this deal! The mushy face isn’t on purpose! It just… happens! I don’t control the mushy face!!” It had been like two days! Two days with very little kissing due to, just, being busy with the kids! When had Austin even seen any ‘kissy stuff’?!?!

“Daddy?” sighed Austin, sounding far more done with the world than he had any right to be, “I think Lance wants you to kiss him.”

“That wasn’t my point!” Lance squawked, indignant.

“Does that mean you don’t want a kiss,” asked Keith, his expression deadpan, but mischief glinting, plain as day, in his eyes. 

This was so unfair. He glared at Keith for a second, because was it really so hard for him to have backed Lance up on the mushy-face issue? Seriously! A simple, ‘I agree with Lance’ was too much to ask?!?

Still… if he was going to be wearing Austin on his back for most of the day…

“I never said that,” he pointed out. Depending on how well Austin coped with not being able to tear around the house and yard like a little speed demon, this might be his only chance to get a kiss at all until both kids were asleep that evening. 

“You’re impossible,” teased Keith.

“This again?” Austin said on another sigh, shaking his head, “Daddy… Lance is right there, he's not impossible!”

“Yeah, I’m right here… not doing any mushy-face kissy stuff.”

He laughed then, one of those rare full-bodied laughs that seemed to fill the room and made Lance’s heart trip all over itself.

“Ugh mushy-face,” groaned Austin, “just kiss’em already, Daddy!”

They kept it chaste, because they were being chaperoned by a toddler who was very vocal in his disapproval, but even so, when Keith lifted his head and smiled gently at him, Lance could still feel his marks tingle.

“Alright, amiguito,” Lance said, giving the carrier a little shake, “are you pumped for the most epic piggyback ride ever after breakfast?”

“Yeah!” he cheered.

With a plan for Austin’s day settled, Lance made waffles for everyone. Gaia’s double-fisted attempt to eat the one she stole from her father’s plate was so cute that he took a good half dozen pictures. She whined and squirmed and even growled, stuffing the waffle into her mouth and twisting away from him as Keith tried to pry it out of her little fists. Austin thought the whole thing was hilarious, and cheered his sister on, which earned a warning scowl from Keith that did absolutely nothing to deter the kid’s enthusiasm. 

According to her father and brother, she’d had waffles before with no issue, it was mainly the theft of the food from Keith’s plate, and the fact that it was a whole waffle, not baby-friendly pieces that was causing such an uproar. So, Lance didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about opting to take pictures instead of helping his boyfriend wrestle food away from an infant. 

The adorable conflict ended with both father and daughter in dire need of cleaning up, so while Keith dealt with that, Lance put animal videos on the tv in the living room for Austin. Even if it only worked out to being like ten productive minutes, Lance knew he’d regret it later if he didn’t take the chance to tidy and dust. Housework had been a low priority in comparison to the demands of teething, and that was fine for a short period, but it had been going on long enough now that Lance was trying to make more of an effort to clean when he got the chance to.

Teething and keeping Austin from getting bored had become his new normal. Having Keith and the kids in the house was starting to feel like the way it had always been. The morning was the only real lull they got, once Gaia’s mouth started bothering her again, they couldn’t seem to find her any relief. The afternoon was a blur of screaming baby, complaining toddler, endless pacing, and commiserating looks between him and Keith. It was loud and stressful and exhausting, but Lance was starting to have a hard time remembering how he’d filled his days when it was just him in this huge, empty house.

The shopping trip was postponed. There was just no way that was going to work with Gaia having such a hard time. Keith needed the extra pair of hands, and besides that, Austin wasn’t even coping with being in the garden while his Dad was in the house. His leg was bothering him and Lance suspected he was a little frightened because of the lingering pain. Every so often he would ask if he was going to need a shot if his leg kept hurting.

He kept dozing off against Lance’s back, too. Lance could always tell because the weight of him in the carrier felt different… and because he tended to drool.

That was less than fun, but sleep was important to healing, so there was no way he was going to complain. Especially not once he noticed how often Gaia was grabbing fistfuls of her father’s hair and yanking in her distress.

That looked decidedly ‘less than fun’, too.

Austin was asleep in the carrier with the headphones on, and he had Gaia in his arms crying fitfully when he heard the knock on his door and opened it to discover Rachel on his front step loaded down with bags and a large picnic basket.

“Awww don’t you look domestic,” she cooed, shifting the basket she was carrying to one arm so she could pinch his cheek like he was five. “So adorable!”

“Rache,” he groaned in warning. “Don’t.”

She rolled her eyes, “sheesh, grumpy much? I brought you food! Where’s Keith?”

“Bathroom.” Stepping aside, he let her into the house, “Gaia exploded all over him. He needed an emergency shower and a change of clothes. You brought food?”

“Mmhmmm… remember my friend Angela? Her little one had colic the same time her toddler had to have his tonsils out last year… I figured you guys were about as stressed and busy as she and her wife were. So, food and a fresh face.” She smiled at him and headed straight to the kitchen, barely pausing to kick off her shoes. “And a few other things I thought would be helpful.”

He watched in awe as she unloaded a stack of coloring books, crayons, washable markers and colored pencils. Those were followed by a few stuffed toys, tags still on them, and a bag of assorted hair supplies. After that, it was food. The kind of stuff his mother would cluck her tongue disapprovingly over in the grocery stores, but was a godsend at the moment. Frozen lasagna, microwavable meals, canned chili and soups, hot dogs, muffins, premade salads- easy stuff that just needed to be heated up or thrown together with no prepwork.

“You are amazing,” he breathed, emotion choking his voice. “This puts you in the lead for favorite sibling.”

“Yeah. Obviously,” she answered without missing a beat. “I thought the kids deserved some new stuff that’s not hand-me-downs... annnnd… I brought you beer!”

“Thus securing your spot as best sister!”

“I’m not even done,” she laughed, plucking Gaia out of his arms. The baby wailed for all of five seconds before Rachel had her totally distracted with a bright new teething ring and a slow, swaying walk. “Check out the picnic basket.”

He lifted one wicker flap and nearly moaned as the fragrant steam wafted out. “Is that…? Oh my God… it is!” The basket was filled with an entire, home cooked, meal. Pernil Asado con Mojo, Frijoles Negros, steamed yuca, and sauteed veggies were all neatly packed in dishes that were wrapped in foil and dishcloths along with a small bottle of wine, and a box from Lance’s favorite bakery. “ Real food! That I didn’t have to cook!”

“Never claim I don’t do anything for you,” she scolded playfully. “The idea was that you guys could have a picnic out in the garden and I’d feed the little ones. Give you both a bit of a break.”

“This is incredible, Rache! Seriously!” He was honestly in danger of crying. Not only was it a hearty, homemade feast, she’d made them one of his favorite meals! “Thank-you so much!”

“You’re welcome, Lance,” she answered, “this is just what family does… even if you didn’t bother to tell me about you and Keith. I had to hear about it from Roni …”

“Oops?” Cringing, he shrugged, “can I claim sleep deprivation??”

“I get the next big announcement first, and we’re cool.”

“Oooh… that’s easy enough! Deal.”

“Lance? Who are you talking t-oh! Hey Rachel! I can take her-” Keith padded into the kitchen and immediately moved to reach for Gaia only to have his hand swatted away.

“Nope,” quipped Rachel, “she’s quiet with me right now. You should take this opportunity to eat.”

“She brought hot food,” Lance gushed, “with vegetables!”

“Is that what smells so good?” Keith asked, slipping his hand around Lance’s waist as he leaned over to peek in the basket. Even that small contact sent ripples of reaction radiating through Lance’s whole body. “This is amazing!”

“It’s just a meal, Keith. I didn’t pull off a miracle!”

“Gaia isn’t screaming,” Keith pointed out, “I’m pretty sure you did pull off a miracle! She’s not having a good day.”

“She just likes the new teething ring.”

“Babies love Rachel,” Lance reflected, “she’s got the magic touch. Like Mama.”

“I work with kids, it’s just practice… not some kind of magic, guys! But seriously- you two should eat.”

“What do you think?” he asked Keith, voice soft, “picnic in the garden?”

“I dunno how she’ll react if she sees me leave the house.” His eyes darted over Lance’s shoulder at Austin and he chewed at his lip, debating. “You think he’ll wake up if you try to take that thing off?”

“Ummm… yeah- probably. The change in temp and all the jostling would probably be too much. He’s pretty cozy in there.”

“Let’s just eat in here.”

“Are you guys sure? The whole idea was to give you both a break from the kids…”

“I’d really rather not mess up them both being quiet at the same time,” Keith answered, “besides… it’ll be nice to hang out with another adult for a bit.”

So, they unpacked the food and invited Rachel to join them. Everything was still piping hot. She must have left the house as soon as it was done cooking. The wine was crisp and refreshing, cutting through the richness of the food perfectly. 

Conversation was quiet and sporadic- interrupted by the needs of the baby and falling into comfortable lulls as they ate. It was nice not to eat a meal in the weird pattern of a few frantically wolfed down bites every half hour or so, each time noticeably colder than the last, that they had fallen into. But still, it was foolish to assume that they could have a leisurely dinner, so they were pretty focused on the eating part of the meal. The conversation wasn’t time sensitive, after all.

Gaia almost dozed off in Rachel’s arms a couple of times, She’d yawn and make that little humming noise she did when she was sleepy and rub at her face with her fist. Her blinks would slow right down and her head would wobble…. And then she’d jolt awake with a whine. After the fourth or fifth startle awake, she reached her limit, leaning toward Keith with arms outstretched, her little fists opening and closing as if she could will him to her with the gesture. “Dadadadadada! Dada! Da-daaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Even exhausted and interrupted mid-bite, Keith couldn’t hide the proud, lovestruck gleam in his eyes when he heard that… and Lance couldn’t help but sigh at the sheer tenderness of the moment when Keith plucked his daughter out of Rachel’s arms and she made a happy little noise and curled into her father’s chest, eyes already drooping sleepily.

“McClains are some kinda magic,” muttered Keith, “she was almost asleep for you! She won’t even sleep for my mother!”

“She sleeps for me,” Lance chimed in. He was proud of that, dammit! It meant she trusted him, felt safe with him… and she was half Kogane (and three quarters Galra- a notoriously suspicious bunch!) so cagey distrust was like baked into her genetic code.

“Well, you are pretty dull,” Rachel teased, “so that doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“Hey!” Playfully offended, he tossed a crumpled up napkin at his sister. 

Lance could feel Austin shift and stretch against his back as he woke. “Whaz’happ’nin’?” he asked, voice sleepily confused. “Uh-oh! Daddy! I gotta go pee!”

Panic slammed into Lance, the very last thing he wanted to deal with was the kid having an accident while strapped to Lance’s back. 

Nope.

Not on his watch.

“On it!” he yelped, practically leaping up from the table. He totally abandoned the idea of running up the stairs, beelining it to the little half-bath off of his office. It didn’t have the clip-in potty seat or step-stool that was in the master bath, but time was of the essence, so they could make it work.

He was already undoing the clips and instructing Austin to ‘cling like a monkey’ so he could save time unhooking the carrier before he even crossed the threshold. Thankfully, Austin’s jungle gym skills held true and they managed to avoid a disaster.

He was definitely favoring his injured leg as he washed his hands though. After the third or fourth little whimper, Lance hoisted him up to sit on the counter while he used way too much of the foaming hand soap and smeared the suds all the way to his elbows.

Whatever.

He wasn’t going to complain about the kid being clean.

While Austin was distracted, Lance took the opportunity to check that cut and the sprain to make sure they hadn’t missed something, but everything looked fine. “We’re going to give you some more medicine for your leg before you eat, amiguito.”

“I don’need it,” he insisted with a little scowl. “I’m tough.”

“I know you are tough, buddy. I promise. But, if your Daddy had a cut on his leg and a puffy ankle I’d make him take medicine, too. He made me take medicine when my face got burned, remember? I think I’m pretty tough!”

“You are so tough! You’re a Pladdin!” Austin looked so scandalized at the very suggestion that anyone might think Lance wasn’t tough that it warmed his heart.

“Even Kolivan takes medicine when he gets injured, Austin. It helps you heal and feel better. That’s all. No one wants you to be hurting buddy.”

“Like Gaia’s teef?”

“Yeah, exactly like Gaia’s teeth. It’s hard to see someone you love hurting, right?”

He went quiet for a minute, thinking. Then he nodded and patted the center of his chest… with a suds-covered hand, “when she cries and cries and cries it makes my head feel funny… and it makes me sad… in here.”

Sighing, Lance wiped at the t-shirt with a face cloth, clearing off most of the soap. “Yeah, I know, bud. Makes my heart sad that we can’t help her, too. Your Dad, too… he worries about both of you guys hurting.”

“Okay… I’ll take the med’cin,” Austin said, nodding resolutely. “I don’wanna make Daddy’s heart sad.” 

“You are such a kind kid,” Lance said, shaking his head before reaching out to muss up the little boy’s hair. “I’m glad you’re my friend.”

“Me too!” beamed Austin, holding up his arms for Lance to dry off with the hand towel. 

When they returned to the table, there was a plate of food waiting for Austin right beside Rachel’s. “I saved you a seat!” she said cheerfully, patting the bench beside her.

“Oh.” Little hands tightened in Lance’s shirt and Austin tucked his head into the curve of Lance’s shoulder, “okay.”

“You feeling alright, buckaroo?” Worry laced Keith’s voice and he shifted, ready to jump up if something was wrong. “Do you have a headache?”

“Nuh-uh,” he mumbled into Lance’s collar.

“We’re just going to get Austin some medicine for his leg… and maybe a pillow to sit on since kneeling isn’t very fun right now.”

“You can sit in my lap if you want,” offered Rachel, “that way you can prop your leg up and I can get some Austin cuddles! I feel like it’s been ages since I got a hug!”

“I can sit on a pillow,” Austin insisted, still hiding his face in Lance’s shoulder. Keith cocked his head to one side, a mix of curiosity and worry on his face and Lance frowned at him to indicate that he had no idea what was going on with the kid either.

“How about we deal with the medicine first and then we figure out the seating?” Austin nodded against him and Lance had to give Keith a thumbs up to keep him in his seat.

What did the guy think he was going to be able to do with a sleeping Gaia in his arms that Lance couldn’t?!?!? They weren’t even going to be leaving Keith’s line of sight! The medicine was sitting on the counter next to the kitchen sink for God’s sake!

“Rachel cooked dinner for us,” Lance said quietly as he sat Austin on the kitchen counter and readied the dose of pain reliever. “Wasn’t that thoughtful of her? You’re going to get to try some of my favorite foods!”

“What is it?”

“The meat is called Pernil Asado con Mojo. I think you’ll like it. Then the black stuff is just beans- you like beans… and she made steamed yuca, which is kinda like potatoes, and just some veggies in butter. All very yummy stuff, just like Abuela taught us to make.”

“Is it better than peep’saws?” the little boy asked, obviously skeptical.

“Oooh… that’s a tough call! I think so… but I love cheeseburgers and you like nuggets better. It’s a different kind of yummy. You’re just going to have to try it for yourself and tell me what you think. Deal?”

“Deal,” he answered, opening his mouth for the medicine and making a face as he swallowed. “Can I have mango after?”

“I brought goodies from the bakery, bud,” Rachel laughed, “even better than mangoes!”

“Pretty sure that is not possible in Austin’s eyes,” Keith countered, “but we’ll see. He does love cookies…”

“Did you bring cookies?”

Rachel hemmed and hawed, making a show of tapping her chin and scratching her head like she was struggling to remember. Austin’s eyes kept getting bigger and he started making the little high-pitched noise Lance remembered from when he’d spotted the puppy at the market. The kid was going to implode if she kept that up much longer.

“Yeah,” she said finally, nodding once, “I definitely bought cookies. Chocolate chip. Snickerdoodles, because Lance would cry if I forgot those...”

“Hey!” he protested, only to have Rachel shake her head at him.

“They’re his favorite,” she explained, “and I got lemon squares… and for you, Keith… red velvet brownies.”

“You remembered that I like red velvet?” Keith asked, clearly surprised.

“How could I forget? I was one of the people that tried, and failed, to teach Acxa how to make them… red food dye everywhere! It looked like the final scene of a horror movie. Thank God we were at my place, not Mama’s kitchen!”

“Why were you teaching Acxa?”

“For your birthday, doofus,” she laughed, “that's the kind of thing that siblings do for each other.”

“I don't know how to make cookies for Gaia!” Austin yelped. “I only helpeded Ahb-whale-ah! I didn’t learn yet!!”

“Woah! Amiguito, there’s no rush! She’s just a baby!” Lance soothed.

“She can’t even eat regular cookies yet, buckaroo,” added Keith.

“But! Rachel said!”

“I said,” Rachel cut in, “that making cookies for someone’s birthday is a sibling thing to do. There’s lots of time before Gaia’s birthday, right?”

“Ummmm…” Austin looked to his father, who nodded. “I guess…”

“Okay… then how does this sound? Two days before Gaia’s birthday, I will come get you and bring you to my house and we will make cookies for Gaia together! I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

The little guy sagged with relief, his whole face beaming, “good… tha’sounds good!”

“Shortbread is a good first cookie,” she replied. Lance suspected it was more for Keith’s benefit than Austin’s given the way he looked kind of ill at the thought of Gaia eating cookies, but Rachel was talking to Austin. “Butter, flour, sugar, vanilla. Not too sticky or chewy. We can roll them out and cut them into fun shapes, and then we can even put icing and sprinkles on the ones for everybody else.”

“Ummm… the pringler is for when you can’t go fwimmin’Rachel…”

“The pringler?” she echoed, glancing to Keith for clarification.

“Sprinkles that go on cookies are different from the sprinkler that sprays water,” explained Keith. “They are… like little colorful candies.”

Rachel nodded, understanding the little boy’s confusion now. “The names sound the same because the candies are like the little drops of water the sprinkler makes, they get sprinkled on the cookies the way the water gets sprinkled on the ground.”

“Ohhhhh… okay! So we can make some plain cookies for Gaia an’some fancy ones for errybody else?”

“We sure can. It’ll be lots of fun. I can’t wait!”

“Sounds like a great plan to me,” Lance said, picking Austin back up again and setting him in the chair beside Rachel’s. “I’m just gonna grab you a pillow to sit on, amiguito, hang tight.”

He could hear Austin ask about the toys and art supplies that were still sitting on one end of the long table as he left the room. Austin’s excited response wasn’t loud enough to wake Gaia, but carried easily to where Lance was snagging a throw pillow off of the couch. 

When he returned, he was greeted with the sight of the little boy hugging one of the plushes tightly, both Rachel and Keith grinning at him as he wriggled with joy. “Lance! Look! Rachel got me a pingin!! A squishy one!”

“I can see that,” he chuckled fondly.

“When I saw it I thought ‘this is the perfect way to show Austin how much I loved that picture he made me’. I’m so glad you like it!” Rachel reached out to boop his nose playfully and he scrunched up his face as he giggled.

“I think it would be a good idea to put it somewhere safe from spilled juice and food splatters though,” Keith pointed out gently, “stuffed toys don’t like baths very much.”

“I can be careful!” protested Austin, his little brow furrowing and bottom lip jutting out in an affronted pout.

He looked so much like Keith when he did that. Lance had to fight the impulse to coo at him.

“Of course you can, buckaroo… but it’s going to be hard to be careful about spills and eat your dinner if you are hugging your new toy the whole time,” reasoned his father. “How about Lance just puts him on the counter to wait for you to finish eating? That way you can see him the whole time.”

“Ummm…”

“We can come up with a name for him while we eat,” Lance suggested, helping Austin get situated on the pillow and pushing the chair closer to the table. “Plus, you can check out all those art supplies!”

“No one is going to take your penguin away, bud. I promise. Has Daddy ever broken a promise to you before?”

Austin took a moment to think about that before answering. It was nice to know that when he’d done that to Lance it wasn’t personal- he was just a pretty literal kid who cared about making sure his answers were right. “No. Never broked a promise. Okay… Lance? Can you?” He held out the stuffed toy and judging by the worry in his eyes, you'd swear he was entrusting an actual child to Lance’s care.

Finding just the right spot for the penguin on the counter took longer than Lance expected. Austin kept twisting and turning, leaning forward and back to make sure he could always see it. It was completely unacceptable if his line of sight was obscured at all. Eventually, they found a perch that met Austin’s exacting standards and Lance returned to the table, sliding along the bench seating until he was close enough to Keith that he could rest his hand on Keith’s knee, but far enough away not to crowd him or get in the way of soothing Gaia if she woke.

Keith smiled at him, his expression fond and leaned over to kiss his cheek, “thanks.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” he replied, returning the smile and feeling his cheeks heat. He still wasn’t used to Keith being all… boyfriend-y! It was potent stuff!

Rachel let out an over the top sigh and fanned herself playfully while Austin screwed up his nose and mumbled something about ‘mushy face’. Keith rolled his eyes at their antics, and turned his attention back to his son. “What do you say to Lance for helping you?”

“Oh! Right! Fank-you Lance!”

“So polite,” Rachel said brightly, “good job remembering your manners! Now… what are we going to name the penguin?”

“Umm… pingin?” Austin answered with a shrug, poking at the steamed yuca suspiciously with his spork.

“That’s no fun,” she laughed. “Penguin isn’t a name! That’s like calling me ‘human’!”

“Oh… I don’t know what kind of names pingins have… but dey’s from Earth, so… a Earth name.”

“That’s an excellent starting point,” Rachel said, her expression serious. 

Grinning at the two of them, Lance took advantage of their monetary distraction to slip his arm around Keith’s waist and tug him a little closer in a half-hug. Keith took the hint and leaned into him. It wasn’t much, in terms of cuddling or PDAs, but it was still something new to them, and Lance basked in it. 

Every part of him that was in contact with Keith tingled. His vision took on a blue cast from the way his cheek marks had lit up and he had the urge to fucking giggle. All because he had his arm around his boyfriend at the dinner table!

Keith seemed to be in pretty much the same boat, too. His pale skin bloomed pink over those perfect cheekbones of his and he caught his bottom lip between his teeth like a kid with a crush.

God, he was beautiful! How had Lance ever been blind to just how heart-stoppingly gorgeous Keith was?

He couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer power of denial that had been at play for so long! 

For years, he’d managed to ignore or explain away so much, but now that he’d accepted the truth of how he felt about Keith, it seemed impossible that he’d ever been able to ignore his emotional reality.

He tried to remind himself of what Keith had said about them needing all that time to get to a point where they could actually work. Because… he was right. Lance knew that. Had they gotten together sooner, who knows what might have happened? 

Maybe they’d have crashed and burned because Lance was still getting comfortable in his own skin after realising he was bi. Maybe he would have pushed himself to return to space, to work with Keith in the Blade as a way to be together, before he was ready. Maybe Keith would have looked into taking that position at the Garrison a couple of years earlier. 

Maybe Keith wouldn’t have been on that mission to the Druid base. Wouldn’t have encountered the cloning tech. Wouldn’t have his kids.

Just the thought made his gut lurch like he was in freefall and his blood run cold. 

No, as much as he hated the idea that he’d wasted time that could have been spent with the man he loved, he knew that things had to happen the way they’d happened. Austin and Gaia might not exist if he’d realised that he was in love with Keith even a year ago. 

Being a father brought Keith so much happiness. Having a family was so good for him… and those kids were… beyond precious. 

Being with Keith now meant that he got to have Austin and Gaia as part of his life, too. That far, far outweighed anything he might have missed out on.

“You okay?” whispered Keith, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Your face is… I dunno…”

“Yeah,” he answered, tipping his head so it rested atop Keith’s. “Just thinking about how lucky I am, and how close I came to missing out on… all this. On us.”

Keith shifted his hold on Gaia to lace his fingers with Lance’s under the table, giving him a little squeeze. The small gesture said so much. Without a word, Keith let him know that he understood, that he felt the same way, that they were on the same page. It was an ‘I love you’ that could stay private, even with others in the room.

“Aww… somehow, I didn’t expect you guys to be so cute,” Rachel teased. “But, honestly? It suits you. Ready to hear the name announcement?”

“Absolutely,” laughed Lance at the same time that Keith said “of course!”

Under the table, Keith squeezed his hand once more before untangling their fingers. For a moment, they’d felt like the only two people on the planet, but it had passed and they were back in reality again, surrounded by family and food and love.

“Okay! I’ll give you a drumroll,” Rachel’s eyes darted to the sleeping baby, “a very quiet drumroll… and you can tell everyone the name you picked. Sound good?”

“Yeah!” Austin looked like he was about to burst with excitement… and he’d somehow managed to get yuca in his hair and butter all over his shirt. How?!?! They couldn’t have been distracted for more than a minute or two and Rachel was right there?!?!

Rachel tapped lightly on the edge of the table with two of her fingers. The soft pats made for a terrible drumroll but Austin was nearly shaking with excitement, so it was probably every bit as thrilling as a proper one to him.

“Tux!” blurted out Austin, “cuz pingins look like they have fancy clothes an’Rachel says it’s called a tuxeebo… no… a… umm… tux-he-lo? Thaz not right either…”

“A tuxedo,” Keith corrected gently.

“Yeah… but that’s too hard to say!”

“I think Tux is the perfect name,” Lance said, nodding his head approvingly. 

“You are very good at naming stuffed toys, buckaroo. Do you want to name Gaia’s duckling? Since she’s too little to talk and can’t do it herself.”

“Okay!” Turning his attention to the fluffy yellow plush toy that was set on top of the now-empty picnic basket, Austin made a little humming noise as he thought. “Umm… Oh! I know! Jhut!”

“Jhut?” echoed Rachel, confused.

“It’s galran,” Lance explained.

“It’s a flower- kind of like a giant dandelion. Yellow and round and fluffy… just like this lil’guy!” Keith grinned at his son, “good choice!”

“Oh, that’s perfect, then! Austin, you are so good at naming things!” Rachel reached over to boop him on the nose again and Austin made a noise that was halfway between a squeal and a giggle.

“I’m good at lotsa stuff,” Austin announced, somehow managing to sound both surprised and proud of himself all at once.

“You sure are, buckaroo,” Keith assured him. “I need you to be really good at listening to Lance and Rachel for a few minutes though, okay? Gaia will sleep better upstairs and we want her to get as much sleep as she can.”

“It’s cuz’a her teef,” Austin explained to Rachel, “they are soooooo sloooooow!”

“I know. Poor Gaia, huh? But nice strong teeth are an important part of growing- think of all the foods you couldn't eat without them!”

Lance pretty much tuned out the conversation at that point, turning his attention to the best meal he’d eaten in ages. He and all of his siblings had learned how to cook at their mother’s side growing up, but Rachel had a real knack for it. Her meals never needed salt like Veronica’s tended to, and they were never too spicy like Marco’s, or too mild like Luis’... Although, to be fair, most of the times that Lance had eaten Luis’ cooking, he was feeding the kids, too… which probably meant he made it extra mild for young tastebuds.

His own struggles with cooking had more to do with timing than anything else. There was an art to making sure every dish was ready to serve at the same time… and it turned out, Lance was not an artist. It was why he loved his ‘set it and forget it’ appliances so much! Dump everything into the slow cooker, or the pressure cooker, set the dial, seal it up and come back to a hearty meal when the timer chimed. Perfect.

Once Keith returned, Lance was treated to the sight of Keith and Austin both geeking out over the art supplies. Somehow, even though Austin had said he hoped he’d someday draw as well as Keith, it hadn’t occurred to him that Keith had to have taught Austin how to draw and color. He seriously doubted that drawing and coloring supplies were plentiful on Blade bases, so… he must had been using his own supplies. Clearly, Keith had interests and talents that Lance didn’t know about, even after all these years. 

That made him smile. As much as he loved that he and Keith knew each other so well and had such a strong foundation of trust before they got together, he was also excited that there were still discoveries to be made. 

Plus, it was so cute to see how animated Keith got when he was hyping Austin up about the coloring books, pencils and crayons. So sweet to see him teaching his son about something called ‘the tooth’ and how to pinch a sheet of the paper in the drawing pad to tell what kind of ‘tooth’ it had. Based on context clues, Lance was pretty sure it was something about the texture of the paper and it might influence what kind of stuff you should use on it. He’d always been more of a musical kid than an artsy one. 

Rachel seemed to know what the hell he was talking about… but then, Rachel was a kids’ dance teacher, and had been a camp counsellor for like five summers in a row, so that made sense.

He cleared away the plates as people finished up with their meal, wrapping up the leftovers and stowing them in the fridge for later. The goodies from the bakery smelled amazing and rather than let Austin see just how many cookies there were, he put a selection on a plate and set it on the table. He topped up his own wine glass, and Keith’s, but when he moved to pour more for Rachel, she covered the glass with her hand.

“I need to head out soon, and I’ve already had a glass. Anymore will make me sleepy while I’m driving.” 

“Safety first,” Lance agreed, smiling at her. 

“You two should go get some fresh air while things are quiet,” she coaxed.

Keith looked torn, his gaze darting back and forth between the door to the veranda and his son.

“Austin and I will be fine,” she insisted, “we’ll eat cookies and draw together. It’ll be fun! Right, Austin?”

“Huh?” the little boy asked, finally tearing his eyes away from the big pack of crayons. “Oh! Cookies!”

“I was saying that you and I will be fine if your Daddy and Lance go outside for a little bit. Right?”

“Go outside where though?” He asked, suspicious, “the playground? The beach?”

Keith chuckled and shook his head, “not that far, buckaroo… just out on the swing, or maybe in the garden. Still here at Lance’s house.”

“Ummm…” he chewed his lip, going quiet and peering up at Rachel through his yuca-streaked bangs. “Not the garden,” he said after a moment, “just on the vernamda. By the windows!”

“Smart call,” Lance chimed in, nodding solemnly. It was obvious that Austin’s shyness was getting the better of him. Even though he liked Rachel, he wasn’t comfortable enough with her to let Keith out of his sight for long. “Gotta keep an eye on your Daddy, who knows what kind of trouble he might get into otherwise!”

“Me?!?!” Keith gaped at him, “you’re the one who kept ending up in some kind of pickle!”

“A pickle?!?! I don’t like pickles! Too sting-y on my tongue! How’d you get in a pickle, Lance?!?!”

“It’s just a saying, amiguito,” Lance laughed, “it just means… umm…” He’d never had to try to explain that particular expression, let alone to a nervous child! 

“It means that Lance is good at making mischief and needing help from his friends to sort it out,” Rachel answered for him. “Lance was lucky to have your Daddy and the other Paladins to help keep him safe when his big brothers and sisters weren’t around.”

“You helpeded keep Lance safe?” Austin asked, wide-eyed with awe, “but Daddy said Lance was a hero!”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed, “Keith said I was a hero!”

“Oh, for the love of- I knew I’d regret that eventually…”

“Oh, he is,” Rachel said, nodding, “but even heroes need help sometimes. So… if your Daddy and Lance stay on the veranda, by the windows, do you think you and I can draw together?”

“An’eat cookies?”

“Yes,” sighed Keith, “and eat cookies. It won’t be for long. Rachel needs to get home and you still need to have a bath before bed.”

For a second it looked like Austin was going to protest the bath, despite the fact that he was wearing a portion of his dinner. Ultimately though, he just peered at Rachel for a minute or so before nodding with a little half-shrug. “Kay.”

“We’ll be right outside, bud.” Keith pressed a kiss to the top of Austin’s head and grabbed his wine glass, following Lance outside.

It was a nice evening. The sun was still up, but the sky had started to take on the pinks and ambers of sunset, and the breeze had picked up a little. Lance could taste rain in the air. By midnight, the skies would cloud over and open up. If they were lucky, the showers would die down before morning.

“Your family really is amazing,” Keith said softly, watching Austin and Rachel through the window over Lance’s shoulder.

“They are pretty great,” he agreed easily, catching Keith’s free hand in his own, “which is why you are going to stop stressing out and trust Rachel to keep Austin happy for ten minutes while Gaia sleeps. You need a break, babe. I know you know that.”

“I do… just…” Visibly frustrated with himself Keith let out a little growl. “Nope. Not going to be the kind of parent that sees threats everywhere.”

“One of the reasons you didn’t want to raise them among the Blade full-time?” guessed Lance. When Keith just nodded, his brows furrowing in worry, Lance set his wine glass on the lid of the barbeque and leaned against the wall beside the window. “C’mere.”

It took only the slightest tug on Keith’s hand to get him to set aside his own drink and settle into Lance’s arms. They both let out a soft sigh, and then chuckled at themselves. He felt Keith hook his thumbs through the belt loops on Lance’s jeans, reminding him of high school sweethearts in movies.

For a second he let himself indulge in a little fantasy about what that might have looked like- he and Keith, sweethearts in a regular high school rather than the Garrison. Jeans and backpacks and letterman jackets- he’d have been on the swim team… Keith? Maybe track? Gymnastics? Did high schools let you letter in martial arts?- or maybe Keith would have avoided school activities like sports altogether and been more of a leather jacket, bad boy type. 

He wondered what that would have been like- he and Keith as teens without the competition for flight standings, or the pressure and adrenaline of fighting a war side by side. Would they have still found a way to each other? Would he have figured out his sexuality earlier? Would he have still created a rivalry out of thin air to avoid thinking too long or too deeply about why Keith captured so much of his atten-

“Earth to Lance,” Keith whispered, close enough that Lance could feel the words along his jaw. His gaze settled on those handsome features and he felt his heart swell. Just from looking at Keith, all close and relaxed and intimate. “Mmm… there you are… lost you for a minute.”

“Just… zoned out a bit,” he answered. The answers to his ponderings weren’t important. What was important was that he and Keith were together now and had been given a precious opportunity for privacy. 

More or less.

“Getting so bored of my company that your mind is wandering?”

“Not even close,” he replied, slipping his arms around Keith’s waist and leaning in to kiss him.

Instantly, he was flooded with sparkling, tingling awareness. His pulse kicked up and his marks practically fizzed. Keith made a little purr-like noise and tipped his head, his tongue sweeping out to trace the seam of Lance’s lips. Parting for him, Lance let Keith take the lead on the kiss.

Would he ever stop being surprised by how gentle Keith’s kisses were?

They were positively electric and passionately hungry… but gentle. So, so gentle. He’d never experienced anything like it… but he loved it. Heat pooled in his gut and he groaned, wanting more. 

Keith leaned forward, pinning Lance to the wall and tugging him even closer with his grip on Lance’s belt loops. Deepening the kiss, Lance shifted his hold on Keith. One arm swept upwards, his hand trailing appreciatively over all those gorgeous muscles. The other headed south to palm and knead Keith’s butt.

God, the guy had a great butt!

The rest of the world just… faded away until there was nothing but the two of them and the way they could make each other feel.

He had no idea how long they’d been caught up in that endless kiss, only that when Keith lifted his head to smile at him, he looked as dazed as Lance felt. “Been wanting to do that all damn day…”

“Ever since Austin banned kissing? Me, too.” He dipped his head to press little nibbling kisses down Keith’s throat, being careful not to leave marks. 

As much as he’d probably love seeing little reminders that they were together dark against the pale skin of Keith’s throat, he did not want to prompt any questions from Austin. Still, the tender attention made Keith tremble slightly and let out breathless little noises that sounded really good.

Letting go of Lance’s jeans, Keith slid one hand into Lance’s hair. Short, blunt nails scratched at the nape of his neck and held his head to Keith’s throat in silent encouragement.

Necking.

Despite being fully grown men, they were necking against the side of Lance’s house like a couple of teenagers.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so damn hot.

If Keith wasn’t so damn tempting.

If they had more than thirty seconds of actual privacy at a time in the run of a day.

But, the kids came first, so they didn’t, and Lance wasn’t about to let the opportunity to kiss and touch and hold Keith go to waste.

“Love you.” It was barely even words, so soft and airy and fleeting, but Lance heard it. Lance felt it. The phrase ignited something in him and he gasped, abandoning Keith’s throat to kiss him again. 

This kiss was not gentle. 

It was rough.

Desperate.

It was the slowly smoldering embers of years of missed chances and studiously ignored attraction flaring into a raging flame in response to finally, finally being given free rein.

Lance plundered Keith’s mouth. Feasted on the kiss.

He took his fill and gave back in equal measure, showing Keith, without words, just how much he meant to Lance. 

Hands tightened. Roamed. Left trails of molten heat in their wake.

Once again, the rest of the world fell away.

This time, when Keith broke the kiss it was with a frustrated sound, and he stepped fully away from Lance. One second, Lance had been caught up in a maelstrom of… just… Keith … and the next…

“Are you okay?” 

Keith let out a little huff of laughter and shook his head before smiling at Lance. “Yeah.” He reached out to drag his thumb along the bottom of Lance’s lip, making Lance realize just how kiss swollen it was. “Just…” His gaze drifted meaningfully over Lance’s shoulder, one eyebrow rising. “Austin didn’t want me out of sight…”

“Oh! Oh God… right!” Cheeks burning, Lance reached for his wine, taking a large gulp. “Need to keep things family friendly. Got it.”

“You are very distracting,” he pointed out, like he was trying to smooth things over. Nothing needed to be smoothed over. Lance wasn’t angry. Or hurt.

He understood.

He was just a little embarrassed that he’d forgotten about their privacy being little more than an illusion.

“Mmhmm,” he nodded, “you, too.”

“The blush is really cute,” Keith said after a moment, smirking at him.

“Oh my God,” he groaned, “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Glaring, he finished the last of his wine. Keith was still smirking, but there was something in his eyes… something that tugged at Lance. “No,” he agreed finally, “I don’t. I love you.”

There. Whatever it was he was seeing in Keith’s eyes was… gone… and some tension he hadn’t even noticed bled out of his boyfriend’s frame.

Right.

Mental note: still too soon to tease Keith about hating him when he was being a shit.

Things were still new. Lance had every faith they’d figure it out sooner rather than later. “I do, you know,” he repeated, catching Keith’s hand in his own and rubbing his thumb over the knuckles. “I’m so in love with you.”

“I know,” answered Keith.

It was his turn to blush, his cheeks and the tips of his ears going pink. Lance, though, was a considerate boyfriend and didn’t say a peep about it. Instead, he inwardly swooned at the sheer adorableness of it and leaned in to kiss Keith’s cheek softly. “Finish your wine before this little bubble of calm breaks and we have to go back to dealing with the kids.”

“Good plan… we can pick up where we left off after the kids are tucked in for the night.”

Chapter Text

Because of the lingering tenderness of Austin’s ankle, it was another week before they could go on the promised errand to get some stuff to make the guest room into his ‘home base’. Even bolstered by supplies (and the occasional visit) from Rachel, with one kid still teething and the other one unable to burn off energy by running around, that week was a whole new level of stressful.

Shopping one on one with Austin was… an experience, to say the least. It had been so long since the kid had been around new people that Lance had somehow managed to forget that he was shy. Ten minutes inside the bustling department store was all it took for him to remember, and to realize just how heavily Austin relied on his father’s presence for his own confidence.

The little guy clung to him, trembling, with his face buried into the curve of Lance’s neck. But whenever Lance offered to leave and come back to shop another time, with Keith, Austin refused. He insisted he wasn’t scared and no matter how much Lance reassured him that it was okay to be a little afraid of new situations and that no one would get mad if he wanted to go home, it didn’t seem to make a dent in his stubborn insistence on finishing what they’d planned.

Eventually, Lance spied one of the ‘quiet rooms’ that Siobhan had used to feed Niamh when she was really little and ducked inside. “Okay bud, it’s just us for now. Let’s take a few minutes to chill out and adjust, yeah?”

“Where are we?” Austin whimpered, lifting his head.

The room was dimly lit and decorated in soft, soothing colors. One wall held an electric kettle, sink, microwave, and small freezer equipped with disposable chiller packs. A door in the far wall led to a restroom geared for parents and small children. Other than that, the place was pretty sparse- a couple of rocking chairs, a soft rug, a couple of activity tables for toddlers, and a bluetooth speaker.

The whole point was that it wasn’t overwhelming or distracting to curious or overstimulated babies that needed soothing. 

“This is a quiet room,” he explained, “it is for… families that need to take a minute. We can’t stay long, because people use it to feed babies, too. But we are allowed to be in here.”

“M’not scared,” insisted Austin for the millionth time. “I’m big! Not a baby!”

“I know that, buddy. I know you are very brave. This is just… new, so it feels weird, right?”

“Mhmm,” he nodded, sniffling.

“And you probably miss your Daddy, too, huh?” Running his fingers through Austin’s hair, he sat in one of the rockers and got his young companion situated on his lap comfortably. Austin clung to his shirt like a koala. “It’s not the same as hanging out with Krolia, or going to Abeula and Pop-pop’s house. I know.”

“The lights make a funny noise,” Austin complained, “an’ the people are loud.”

“Is your head hurting, bud? Like when Gaia cries for a long time?” He knew fluorescent lighting was a common headache trigger and was kicking himself for not preparing Austin better for the reality of their outing. With a pained noise, Austin shook his head against his chest. “Okay… here’s what we are going to do, then. We’ll hang out here for a little bit and then we’re going to go try again, but if it is still too noisy and too crowded, we can go home and come back on a different day. This is supposed to be fun, buddy.”

“I don’wanna go home! I like Cuba! I like your house!”

“Ohhhh amiguito,” he cooed, rocking with him, “I didn’t mean go back to space. I meant my house.”

“Oh… Kay…” Slowly, Austin began to relax his grip on Lance’s shirt. The quiet and the low lighting seemed to be helping and Lance just kept up with the steady pace of the rocking chair and cuddling the kid. Austin was so bright and so verbal that it was very easy to forget how young and sheltered he really was. 

He was developmentally three and a half, maybe more, but Austin didn’t have three and a half years of life experience. He was actually no older than Gaia. His entire life, he’d never been this far from his father. Keith had been a constant for Austin in a way that most children never experienced and Lance felt awful for not thinking to take that into account when he made the plans for their day out. “Do you want to call your Daddy and Gaia? Would that help?”

He wasn’t surprised that Austin shook his head, nor was he surprised by the stubborn jut of his chin. Sometimes, he was so very much like his father that it almost felt like Lance could read his mind. Austin had decided that he had something to prove on this outing and there was no way he was going to let anything get in the way of that. Lance was just going to have to make sure he paid close attention to how Austin was coping.

“Okay. Okay. We don’t have to, but if you change your mind, we can, alright? Even if you just want to show them something cool that you see.”

Sniffling, Austin nodded, relaxing a little more, “yeah… okay.”

After about fifteen minutes, Austin took a deep breath and announced that he was ‘all better’ and they could return to their shopping. He insisted on walking because he was ‘big’ but they didn’t get far before he was pressing close enough to make Lance trip over him.

“Hey, amiguito?” Lance asked, stopping to crouch down to Austin’s level, “is it okay if I carry you again? It’ll be a bit faster and I have a surprise I’m excited to show you.”

“A surprise?” If Lance had learned anything from being an uncle, it was that the words ‘surprise’ and ‘special’ were powerful tools when dealing with little kids. Sure enough, Austin stuck his arms up in the air. “Kay!”

Lance settled him on his hip and made a beeline for the shopping carts. He found one that was meant for older kids who might balk at being asked to ride in the ‘baby seat’. It was kind of massive, but it was designed to look like a retro firetruck with a bright red cab. There was a seat with straps in the ‘cab’ and a pull tab ‘horn’ that set off little blinking lights instead of a noise to keep kids distracted. But it also had the classic seat facing him in case Austin got overwhelmed or shy.

Austin had taken one look at it and let out a little gasp. “What is it?”

Kids and firetrucks. A timeless combo.

“It’s made to look like special Earth vehicles that we use to help put out fires,” he explained, opening the door. “You can ride up here, or sit in the fold-out seat up by me.”

“Ummm…” His eyes darted back and forth between the two spots, “do I hafta pick?”

“You mean, are you allowed to change your mind later? Absolutely. This is our cart for all our shopping. You can try out both and see which you like better.” 

“Okay… I wanna be by you!”

“Great choice!” Lance closed the door on the cart again and helped Austin get situated and secured in the fold-out seat. “It’s wayyy easier for us to talk like this.” 

“Zaply,” nodded Austin, “I like talkin’ to you!”

“I like talking to you, too, amiguito.” Steering the cumbersome cart took a little getting used to, but by the time Lance had made a quick detour to buy Austin a Voltron ball cap with little fold-down, noise-cancelling flaps that covered his ears and a pair of sunglasses to help stave off any headaches from the fluorescent lights, he’d gotten the hang of it. “Alright, first stop: bedding!”

“Yeah! What’s bedding?”

“What’s b- of course you don’t know what bedding is. You’re not from here.” Honestly, it was kind of a weird thing to call the stuff you put on a bed. It sounded like a verb. An action. 

Wait. 

It was a verb. An old-fashioned term for sex. 

Annnnd now he was remembering just how long it had been since he’d done any ‘bedding’ of his own… and just how hot his boyfriend was. 

Awesome.

That was the last thing he needed to be thinking about!

“I’m from space,” Austin agreed, bringing Lance’s attention back to the present.

“You sure are!” Lance said in a rush. “Uh... bedding. Right. Bedding is the word for pillows and blankets and sheets. All the stuff in my house is kind of for grown-ups, so we are getting you some cool, fun stuff.”

“For my home base! I amember!” He looked so cute! All excited now that he’d adjusted to the strange place, grinning up at Lance from under the bill of the hat he was wearing. “Let’s go!”

He chatted with Austin as they maneuvered through the mall. Mainly, Lance was giving the little guy some ideas of what kinds of patterns, themes, and colors he might see- trying to get a gauge on what he’d be likely to choose. Lance suspected they’d end up buying either something with animals or some kind of space-themed stuff.

He was trying to get Austin to come up with his own ideas when a little boy with curly red hair ran up to him.

“Umm… esscuze me,” the little boy said, bouncing with excitement.

“Are you lost?” Lance asked, worriedly scanning the store for signs of a parent looking for a child. The kid looked to be about ten, so it was possible that he’d been allowed to wander a bit further than a smaller child would have been.

“Umm… no? I just… I saw you and…”

“Kyle!” A woman with the same riotous curls hissed from nearby. She must have been obscured by a display, because Lance would’ve definitely noticed that coppery hair! “I told you to leave him alone! Come here!” Turning her attention to Lance, she flashed a sheepish, apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry he bothered you!”

Ah. He got it now. The pair of them screamed ‘tourist’.

Lance had grown up here in Varadero. His family had lived in the area for generations and it was huge. To locals, he was just ‘one of the McClain kids’ or ‘so-and-so’s cousin’. He’d gotten stopped a lot when he’d first returned to the family farm, but in the years since, his presence out and about was just… normal to the locals again.

It was one of the many reasons he loved his home.

Tourists were a different story. There were only five living Paladins (one of whom was rarely on Earth) and while he looked a lot like his other family members, the Altean marks on his cheeks were very distinctive.

“It’s no bother,” he assured her. “I’m always happy to say hi.” Thank God this had happened after he’d made his first purchases- which inadvertently meant that Austin was effectively incognito. “Hey, amiguito, this will just be a minute, okay?”

Austin cocked his head to one side, curious, but nodded. 

“I’m guessing your name is Kyle annnnnd you are a big Voltron fan?” 

He nodded and then turned to his mother. “See Mom?? Told’ja he was nice!” 

“Lance is super nice!” insisted Austin, ready to jump to his defence. “He’s my friend!”

“It’s okay, Austin. Nobody said anything mean about me.” God, he hoped Austin didn’t out himself as the son of the Black Paladin… or let slip that Lance was Keith’s boyfriend! It wasn’t like he could tell him not to say anything though, so his best bet was to end this interaction quickly. “Did you have a question for me? Or did you want an autograph or maybe a picture?”

“A picture!?!” Kyle’s eyes bugged out and he flapped his hand at his mother, clearly trying to tell her to pull out her phone. “That would be awesome!!”

“You’re absolutely certain you don’t mind?” the mother fretted.

“One hundred percent,” he assured them. “I’m happy to do it. Alright, Kyle… you stand here… and then I’ll just…” He crouched down onto one knee, draping his arm over Kyle’s shoulder and smiling brightly, “and now your mom can take three pictures- just in case. Ready?”

“Say cheese!” she prompted.

“Cheeeeese!” Even Austin chimed in, despite Lance being very careful to ensure that there was no way he could end up in the shot.

“Okay. Take a look and make sure everything is in focus and no one is halfway through a blink??”

“No… they look great,” the Mom assured him. “Thank-you so much! We won’t keep you any longer. What do you say, Kyle?”

“You’re my favorite Paladin,” Kyle said immediately.

“Kyle!”

“Awww thanks. I really appreciate that… but I don’t think that’s what she meant.”

“Oh! Oh right!! Sorry! Thank-you, Mr. McClai… uh… Paladin Lanc.. ummm...Paladin McClain?”

“You’re welcome… and just Lance is fine,” he chuckled, “I’m retired… and Mr. McClain makes me feel old.”

“Alright! Thank-you, Lance!” Kyle said again.

“You’re very welcome,” Lance replied with a smile and a little wave. “Enjoy your time in Cuba! Be careful not to get a sunburn.” So far, it seemed like Niamh was a bit more resilient to the sun than most redheads, but Lance clearly remembered how much sunblock that kid and her mother went through when they were here… and sunburns could ruin an otherwise awesome vacation.

Kyle laughed as his mother herded him away, she looked back over her shoulder to give him a little nod and mouthed another thank-you and then they passed behind a display and were gone.

“Alright, amiguito… what were we doing before we met Kyle?”

“Umm…” Austin pushed up his sunglasses, “going to bed.”

“Bedding,” he laughed, “right!”

They’d barely gone ten feet when Austin reached out to squeeze Lance’s wrist. “How come Kyle wanted a picture of you an’him? Is he your friend, too?”

“Uh… no.” Poor kid probably had no idea what ‘fame’ and ‘fans’ were… and given the multitude of questions a fairy tale generated, Lance suspected this would take a while. “Did you know that there is a show on tv that is about Voltron? It’s not real, just pretend stories about Voltron keeping Earth and other planets safe.”

“Why?”

“Because… people like stories about heroes, even if they are made up. You like hearing stories about Voltron, right?”

“ Real stories about real Voltron… not lies!” Austin looked horrified at the thought.

“It’s not really lies, bud… just… make believe. Like when we pretended to be pirates, or when your Daddy pretends to be a monster and chases you around. It’s just a way to have fun.”

“Are you on the tv show? Thazzhow Kyle knowed you?”

“Well… no. I’m not on the show. The show is pretend. Someone pretends to be me… that’s their job- to pretend to be me and help tell the story.” He smiled at Austin, “but the show means that people don’t forget I used to be a Paladin, and so when they see me… sometimes they want to say hi, or get a picture. Because I was a Paladin of Voltron.”

“You can have a job pretending!?!?!” Austin gaped at him, obviously side-tracked by this revelation, “coooool! I wanna do that!”

“It’s called being an actor,” Lance laughed, “when you get a little bigger maybe you can take acting lessons and see if it is as fun as it sounds.” He decided it was probably not a great idea to mention that the spying and undercover work that was so intrinsic to the origins of the Blade was also a way to ‘have a job pretending’. That felt like a conversation for Keith to have with the kid… when he was older. But, he was going to tuck that little nugget into the back of his mind in case any of Austin’s more badass loved ones took umbrage with the concept of the kid being an actor.

Austin’s excited (and very inaccurate) imaginings of what being an actor would be like carried them all the way to their destination. The children’s bedroom department was a weird mix of chaos and dollhouse-like sterility. So many bright colors and different styles each crammed into close proximity to other tiny mock-ups of bedrooms. 

The little boy’s ramblings trailed off when he noticed where they were. “Why are all the beds little and sideways?”

“Hmm?” Lance let his gaze follow the line of Austin’s pointed finger to one of the displays. “Oh! That’s because there isn’t enough space to have whole beds here in the store… and because they don’t want people to try to nap here.”

“Who wants to nap??” asked Austin, horrified at the thought, “naps are no fun!

“Excellent point.” Personally, Lance loved naps, but he’d heard enough stories from his family to know that hadn’t always been the case. “More like… they don’t want people to try to lie down on the displays, but they want them to get a better idea of what the blankets look like on a bed.”

“Earth is strange,” the little boy concluded, taking more of an interest in their surroundings as he spoke. 

Lance wasn’t all that surprised that none of the sets on display closest to them caught Austin’s attention since they were designed to be used in cribs and toddler beds… and Austin was so adamant about being ‘big’. Going quiet, he twisted and turned in the cart, checking out the displays and the aisles of bedding sets in clear plastic packaging.

“It’s definitely very different from living in space,” Lance agreed. “Buuut, it means that we have lots of room for people to spread out… and that means that my house is big enough for you to take a whole room and decorate it just the way you like.”

“My home base?” Austin confirmed hopefully.

“Exactly,” laughed Lance. “Okay, how’s your leg? Do you want to keep hanging out in the cart, or get down so you can explore?”

“Uhhh… ‘splore!” Lance could hear the way that excitement was overriding any lingering discomfort Austin was feeling- he was getting louder, and he was replying without looking around first. “I wanna see all of the every things!”

“All of the every things, you got it!” He helped Austin out of the cart, expecting him to race off so he could explore the department. Instead, Austin tucked himself between Lance’s legs and the cart, one hand grabbing a fistful of Lance’s jeans right beside his knee. “You okay, amiguito?”

“Mmhmm,” he nodded. Between the angle, the sunglasses and the bill of the hat, it was hard for Lance to get a good look at his expressive face. So it was a challenge to gauge Austin’s emotional state. “Kolivan says ‘proh-seed wiff caution and may-tay cover in new vi-roh-mints.’ This is a new vi-roh-mints.”

“That it is,” Lance agreed, nodding with relief. “Kolivan gives very good tactical advice.” 

It took a few minutes for Austin to decide it was safe to start moving again, and even then he stuck close to Lance. Surprisingly, the first couple of things they picked out were for Gaia. Austin had stopped by an oval crib and let out a little awed noise. “Dis is made out of trees, right?”

“Yeah, bud, it’s a wooden crib.”

The little boy poked at it for a moment and then circled the display with wide eyes. It was a pretty impressive crib- and very different from anything Austin would have seen off-planet. The slats were carved to look like branches, giving it a rustic look without sacrificing safety. There was a removable arm, made to look like a sturdy bough that curved over the mattress and spread out, once again showcasing the ‘tree aesthetic’. The mobile was high enough to be out of reach of even the most determined baby. Instead of bears or planets or cartoon characters that spun in a slow circle, this mobile dangled little leaves like the canopy of a tree. They didn’t move, but glowed softly and cycled from green to a rich umber before blinking out and starting over. 

“Gaia has a bed,” Austin sighed, obviously disappointed, “an’she mostly sleeps wiff Daddy anyway.”

“That’s true. Your Daddy likes to keep you guys close when he’s sleeping. So Gaia really only needs a bed for naps and stuff. The crib we borrowed works for that.”

“Yeah.” He reached out to trace one pudgy finger over a slat. “Sooo pretty…”

“You know what?” Lance blurted out, surprising himself, “I think this bed would make Gaia smile… an’she’s been a real grump lately. We should try to make her smile.”

“Really? But she has a bed!”

“She’s using Niamh’s crib, amiguito,” he pointed out, “and when Niamh comes to see her Papa, she’s going to need it back. Marco was super nice to share, but I think Gaia should get her very own bed… for naps.”

“Yay! Austin clapped excitedly… and tried to push the crib toward the cart.

“Woah!” laughed Lance, “that’s not how we buy big things like beds! Here!” He grabbed the little scanner that clipped to the side of the cart and crouched down to show Austin how to use it. “See that stripey sticker right there? You want to touch this part to the sticker and push this button with your thumb. When it works, you’ll hear a happy beep, and then the computers know we want to buy a crib just like this!”

“Cool!” Face scrunched up in concentration, Austin followed his instructions and let out an excited little squeal when he heard the beep.

After that, shopping became kind of a blur.

For as massive as it had seemed when he’d selected it, the cart filled up with smaller items shockingly fast, and Lance was sure he’d be hearing that beep in his dreams.

All told, for Gaia, they found a changing table that matched the crib, bedding in soft browns and greens, an inflatable kiddie pool with a little sprinkler/fountain deal in the middle for the garden, a jumper thing to attach to a doorway, gates for the top and bottom of the stairs, some clothes, bottles, sippy cups, and an awesome carrier that he was able to get customized while they shopped. 

It was the same kind that she seemed to prefer from the assorted hand-me-downs, but instead of the bright pink fabric festooned with daisies, this one was black, printed with throwing stars. Much more Keith-appropriate… especially once Lance got the removable drool pads embroidered with ‘Badass Dad; Badass Baby’.

There was also the truly obscene amount of toys they found for her… because Lance refused to give up hope that any day now, she’d be done teething and able to happily amuse herself with toys for five or ten minutes at a time.

Any.

Day.

Now.

(Please God!)

Austin ended up with way more stuff than Lance had initially intended, too. He’d expected the kid to gravitate to bedding with animals, or space themes. Something that he could easily match to the existing decor, but no… not Austin. He’d shrugged half-heartedly at pretty much everything until he spotted the ‘tween’ section and fallen in love with the most random bedding Lance had ever seen.

It was inky black, to start. 

Honestly, when Lance had caught up to the kid and saw him hugging a corner of the display, all he’d seen was the black and his first thought was ‘huh, emo is genetic’... and then he’d taken a couple more steps and gotten a proper look at it. 

It was printed to look like glowing neon lights! 

Vibrant rainbows and hearts and words like ‘magic’ and ‘wishes’ surrounded a cartoonish outline of a unicorn.

“Lance! Lance!” Austin nearly screamed when he saw him, “I love this!”

“I can tell,” he answered, grinning at the little guy. “You want to look at the rest of th-”

“-No! I want diss’one!”

“Alright, alright! This one it is… that’s a bed-in-a-bag, so it will be on the shelf… and we’ll find some stuff to go with it.” Because nothing Lance currently owned would look good with… uh… all that.

It came with bedsheets, but they weren’t pure cotton and Lance knew from experience that microfiber sheets were a bad idea when dealing with the heat and humidity that was so common in Cuba, so he’d promised Austin they’d turn the sheets into curtains, and the pillowcase into a laundry bag, and let him pick out a few sets of cotton sheets instead.

The rainbows seemed to Lance to be the element of the design that had the most ‘staying power’ (and was the most ‘hand-me-down friendly’), so he’d leaned into that when choosing nightlights, lamps, and throw rugs. A bulletin board that Austin could use to showcase his drawings and any postcards or photos he wanted to, and a toybox for the bedroom joined the ever-growing list of purchases that would be getting delivered because there was absolutely no way they’d fit everything into his car.

He wasn’t even sure they’d be able to cram all the ‘small’ stuff into his car, actually. The smaller toys would probably work, along with the two play rugs- one printed with roads for toy cars and the other with a galaxy for toy spaceships, the lap desk, the art supplies, and the heaps of new clothes that were just too adorable to resist. The balance bike, skateboard, safety gear, unbreakable dish set with safari animals, bed tent, and larger stuffed toys would just have to go on the delivery truck.

Lance hadn’t bought this much stuff in one trip since he finished the renos on his house!

Thankfully, once the young woman woeking their check-out counter coaxed him out of his bout of shyness, Austin managed to charm her with his enthusiastic chatter and she helped them sort out what was going in the truck and what was staying with them. She even made a point to put a sticker on the tag of the stuffed shark that Austin was clinging to so it was clearly marked as already paid for and he didn’t have to leave it in the bags that filled the cart.

Over-filled the cart, really.

They'd bought so much stuff.

Lance couldn’t even bring himself to look at the total when he signed off on the charges. 

It didn’t matter.

He had plenty of money at his disposal and Keith’s kids needed to stop living out of a duffel bag. Besides, it was fun to spoil them a little… uh… a lot … and maybe it would keep Keith from worrying so much about overstaying their welcome or being a burden if he saw Lance excited to actually make the space feel more like their home.

“I’m guessing you really like Voltron, huh?” the cashier asked Austin, pointing to his hat while the miles-long receipt printed out.

Lance froze, bracing for Austin to proudly inform her that his Daddy was the best Paladin ever and scrambling for a way to cover for him.

“The Pladdins are my friends,” Austin said instead, surprising him. “Lance is my best friend! His house is made of trees and rocks!”

“His family has been living off-planet,” Lance explained with a soft laugh.

“I’m from space!”

“Wow! That’s very exciting! No wonder you needed so much new stuff!” She shifted her focus to Lance and explained, “I asked because there was a promotion last month and there are a few posters leftover from it, if you want one. They’re free.”

Twisting in the cart to peer up at him through the sunglasses Austin chewed his lip, his little eyebrows furrowed.

He remembered that promo- it had something to do with a special episode arc of the tv show. “A poster is just a picture to put on your wall, buddy. It’s a picture of the Lions and the logo. If you want it, we can put it up on your door, maybe? Under the sign with your name on it?”

“Yeah! Kay!” Nodding like a bobblehead, the little guy turned his attention back to the cashier. “Yes, please! Daddy tells me lotsa stories about Voltron!”

“I bet your best friend has some great Voltron stories, too,” the cashier replied as she handed Lance a rolled up poster.

Austin gasped, and Lance could practically see the lightbulb going on in his head as he realized that that was true. In the weeks they’d been staying with Lance, he’d talked about the others, but he’d never really told any stories about their time as Paladins- he was sure that Austin wouldn’t count hearing about how Lance helped Shiro with his headaches as a ‘Voltron story’.

It was unfair how cute Austin could be. Seriously unfair. Lance was already trying to cope with all the stupid-adorable eyerolls, and the cute pouts and scowls- not to mention his mispronounciations. The kid was just so expressive! 

The whole ‘puppy dog eyes’ thing that he was giving Lance now was too much!

No one could resist that!

This did not bode well for the future. Not at all.

He was the baby of the family- he was well aware of the havoc a kid could get away with if they perfected the puppy dog eyes.

Sighing, he shook his head a little but smiled to make sure Austin didn’t think he was mad or something. “How about I tell you some Voltron stories in the car on the way back?”

“Yeah! Kay! Are we going now?”

“I think you need to say something to the nice lady about your poster first, amiguito,” he coaxed.

“Oh! Right! Fank-you for being nice,” Austin said brightly. It wasn’t quite what Lance was expecting, but the kid wasn’t wrong either. Offering the poster had been a nice gesture, as was all the help she’d given them with sorting stuff out. For once, Lance was actually going to go online to fill in the survey on his receipt because she deserved it!

“You’re welcome,” she answered, giving them a little wave as Lance tucked the rolled poster into the cart, being careful that it wouldn’t get smooshed or creased. “I hope you have fun here in Cuba!”

“I love Cuba! Iss’so much fun!!” 

“Thank-you again,” Lance added, maneuvering the cart away from the check-out line. Austin was grinning from ear to ear and hadn’t shown any signs of getting overwhelmed or cranky since he’d gotten past his initial unease, so Lance decided that he could follow through with the reason he’d picked this particular mall in the first place. “Are you hungry, bud? There are places to buy food here and it’s kind of a long car trip home when you’re hungry. We can eat here before we leave if you like, or we can pick up something for you to snack on in the car…”

“Can we get mangoes?”

Honestly, he should have expected that.

Like, he really should have expected that.

“If there’s nothing else you want to get, then yes, we can get mangoes.”

“Yay!” Austin wriggled excitedly.

Lance steered them through the store, towards the food court and fought the urge to coo at the sheer preciousness of it when Austin started singing the word ‘mangoes’ quietly to himself.

When he’d first started classes at the Garrison, he’d been so busy with the workload and meeting all his new classmates and getting settled into the dorms that he hadn’t really had time to get homesick. Having Veronica nearby had done a lot to help stave it off for a while, too. But still, a few weeks in, after the dust had settled, but before the shine had worn off getting one step closer to his dream of going to space, his sister had signed him off base and taken him into the nearby city. It wasn’t until she pulled up to a little food truck and he smelled Cuban food that the homesickness really hit, just in time for it to also be alleviated with a hearty meal and some one on one time with his sister. 

Food was such a powerful connection to home.

Austin was a remarkably easy-going kid when it came to trying new foods, and he had his Dad and his sister with him, and regular contact via vid-calls with Krolia and Kolivan. So, Lance wasn’t too worried about homesickness… but he did think that the kid would enjoy getting something familiar on his plate.

And that was the reason that Lance had chosen this spot for their shopping outlet, even though there was a mall closer to home that would have had a completely adequate selection of bedding for the kid to choose from. He’d run this by Keith, and gotten his blessing to make any explanations that Lance felt were needed and honestly, he couldn’t wait to see the look on Austin’s face. “Hey bud,” he said once he spotted the big banner and the balloons announcing the grand opening of the little take-out spot. “I’m not seeing a mango stand… how would you feel about something different? If I remember right you like rypirk rolls and czanti noodles, right?”

“Thaz space food, Lance,” Austin said patiently, patting Lance’s hand. “Galra stuff.”

“Oh… right,” he grinned, “then I guess we are really lucky that there is a Galra restaurant here, then huh?” Turning the cart he crowded close to Austin and pointed to the sign between the balloons, Galran lettering glowing a familiar purple, “do you know what that word says?”

“Umm… Yes! It says vrepit!! I knowed that one! Lance!! I knowed that word!!! Issa Galra word!!” Austin was practically shrieking, he was so excited.

“It sure is, bud! That’s Vrepit Sal’s!”

“Vrepit Sal’s,” the little guy giggled, his whole face scrunching up adorably, “thazza funny name!”

“Yup, it sure is! There are Vrepit Sals alllll over the universe, just like that one. In fact! Guess who actually worked at a Vrepit Sal’s for a day? Hunk! Sal is a friend of the Paladins, now. You want to meet him?” 

“He’s here? Really?”

Nodding, Lance chuckled and pushed the cart closer, “he sure is! I called and checked before we left my house. He travels a lot, but he’s always around when a new Vrepit Sal’s opens up!”

“Yay! A new pladdin friend!” Austin hugged the shark plushie so tightly that Lance wouldn’t be surprised if it was completely misshapen by the time they got home. Like almost everything they’d bought, it was an impulse purchase, but unlike the other toys, Austin had had the thing in a stranglehold ever since Lance had mentioned that he loved sharks.

He suspected it was going to be as well loved as Tux the penguin had already become… and Austin had gotten so attached to that toy that Keith had surreptitiously asked Rachel to buy a couple of back-ups in case it got lost or damaged!

“We made lots of friends when we were with Voltron,” Lance said, “from all over the universe- even from a different reality!”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm,” Lance nodded.

Austin went still, his forehead furrowing the way Keith’s did when he was trying to puzzle something out. He’d bet dollars to donuts that he was about to be bombarded with questions any second now.

Sure enough, just as they got into the line-up Austin took a long breath and tipped his face up to Lance’s. He braced for the kind of randomness that only a child could come up with.

“I dunno what that means, Lance,” Austin said, surprising him. “I dunno what a re-lall-itty is! Whazza re-lall-itty?”

“That’s… a really good question.” That he had no clue how to answer. Shit. “Pidge can explain it better than me, so we can vid-call her later and learn all about it, but for now… you know how some things are pretend and some things are real, right?”

“Yeahhh…” He trailed up on the end like that was a question… which didn’t really bode well for this conversation. 

“Okay… so… umm… oh! Okay! You have a bookshelf, at my house, right? And you have a whole bunch of story books. So, all of the books have words and pictures inside them- they are made of the same stuff, but they tell different stories, right?”

“Uh-huh…” Austin was looking at him like he was nuts, but he nodded, so Lance just went with it.

“So, our world is like one really, really big story book. All the planets, and all of space, and all of the everythings are the words and pictures.” ‘ All of the everythings’? Great. He was picking up toddler speak from Keith’s kids, now? Peachy. “Every real thing, all together makes our reality. That’s like one giant, giant book.”

“One big pretend book? Cuz, fire is real and fire can’t be in a real book, Lance… it would burn up into smoke.”