Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Uncle Cosmos, what doing?”

Cosmos turned away from his mixing bowl to look at Bumper, who was standing in the door rubbing his eyes sleepily. His hair was standing up on one side from his nap and the afghan from the couch was clutched tightly in one hand--and dragging on the floor behind him.

Neither of his siblings were anywhere in sight, but if Bumper had the afghan, they'd wake up soon enough.

“Making cupcakes. What are you doing?”

“Wanna ‘nack.”

“A snack,” Cosmos corrected gently. “You can have a cupcake, after they're baked.”

“Wanna ‘nack now.” Bumper stuck his lip out, hoping to get his way by pouting. It made him look so much like Bumblebee had at that age that Cosmos was overwhelmed with nostalgic affection for a moment.

“It’s not fair to Glyph and Rook if you get a snack and they don’t, is it?”

“No.” Bumper stuck his lip out further.

“We have to be fair, Bumper.” Cosmos wiped his hands on a towel and put it on the counter. Then he crossed the room to crouch down in front of his nephew. “Wouldn’t you be sad if Glyph got a cupcake and you didn’t?”

Bumper nodded.

“So would I. And it’s not nice to make people sad just because we want something right away. We have to be fair and wait, so that no one gets sad.” Cosmos hoped that Bumper would actually understand what he was saying and not start crying instead. He still didn’t quite know what to do with a crying three year old.

“Can have ‘nack inna lil bit?” His nephew’s pout didn’t retreat, but he seemed less like he was about to cry or have a tantrum, and that was good enough for cosmos.

“Yes. You can have a snack once everyone is awake.”

“Okay.” Bumper sighed loudly.

Cosmos sighed too. He was going to have to distract him, if he wanted to get anything done. “You want to help make the cupcakes?”

His nephew’s eyes lit up and Cosmos knew he’d asked the right question. “Yesplease!”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Bee! We made you some lunch.” Cosmos smiled as Glyph held up the brown bag triumphantly. He might have made the bread, but his niece had assembled the sandwich and was feeling very grown up about it. “I made some new bread and thought you’d like to try it.”

“Oh, it better be better than that sourdough.” Bumblebee made a face. “That was awful.”

Cosmos laughed. “Everyone made sure I had the right spoon this time, even Beachcomber. And I got those ones with the raised numbers that I can see better, remember?”

“I remember. But I also remember how bad that bread was.” Bee reached out and took the bag from her daughter. “What did you put on it?”

“Lettuce and mustard and turkey and tomatoes and pink sauce,” Glyph replied with a grin.

“...Pink sauce?” Bumblebee looked slowly from her daughter to her brother.

“Cranberry honey mustard. The last of that stuff Beachy’s ex brought for the Festival of Primus.”

“Oh!” Bee chuckled. “Okay. Pink sauce. I think I liked that, but I can’t remember.”

“It’s yummy,” Glyph told her. “But Bumper made a face.”

“More for you, then, right?” She winked at the girl before opening the bag and looking in. “Oh! Cosmos, this is too much!”

“Sis. It’s less than I give your kids in a day, and you need it just as much as they do.”

“You put fresh peaches in here! Two fresh peaches!”

“Yeah. You like peaches.”

“Cosmos. It’s December. I know how much these cost!”

“And I can afford it. Just let yourself enjoy them.” Cosmos stepped close enough to hug his sister. “I know I can’t fix everything, so just let me feed you, okay?”

Bumblebee sniffled a few times before finally nodding against his shoulder. “Fine, but don’t make a habit of bringing me peaches in December! You must have spent ten shanix on those!”

“Nah, It wasn’t that bad.” He kissed her on the forehead and stepped back. “We better let you get back to work, huh? Let me know what you think of the bread, okay?”

“I will.” Bee gave him a watery smile, and he knew he was right to wrap up their visit before she started crying. Bumblebee hated crying in front of the kids.

“We’re going to the store next, do you want anything special for dinner, mama?” Glyph smiled brightly. “Uncle Cosmos said he’ll make anything we want!”

“I’m fine, sweetheart. Uncle Cosmos already spoiled me enough today.”

“No I didn’t.” Cosmos winked his good eye at his sister, then turned to open the door to the convenience store. “See you at dinner, sis.”