Bet My Love On You
“Pidge, you’ve got approximately two dobashes to finish hacking and then we have to jet,” hissed Matt, the door digging into his back as Pidge’s fingers rained down like lightning strikes on the console, her eyes raking over the Galran code.
Thank everything holy that Lance and Hunk had succeeded in making her a visual translator from Galran to English small enough to be attached easily to her glasses or she would have probably gotten Matt sucked out into space by now. Plus, Hunk had encoded Rover with one of the destroyed sentry’s credentials into the device, so all he had to do was scan into any monitor and she could get a low enough level access for her to hack her way up. But, honestly, if they had managed to make a device that stopped time before she left, that would probably have been the most helpful.
Pidge’s teeth snapped against each other, her gloves nearly slipping off the keys as she copied a line of code before deleting it, fingers clicking in a different sequence by just a hairline. No one would notice unless Pidge gave them a reason to.
“Right,” hissed Pidge, snapping her laptop shut and tossing it to Matt before pressing a button at the edge of each glove to retract the top part of the fingers.
Somehow, seeing the familiar fingerless gloves made her feel a little closer to Keith. “Let’s move!”
Matt nodded, jerking the cord attached to the top of the air ducts down. Pidge dashed across the floor, not bothering to wait for him to make a platform with his hands for her; she knew he’d have one by the time she was there. Rover hummed along happily behind her.
Matt launched her into the air duct, and Pidge rolled just a tick before entering to slip down more easily. Well, even more easily than her new clothes allowed. And, sure, maybe she had been ready to split Lance’s head when she noticed that the black, long-sleeved shirt was tight, but given the number of times she had torn her loose one climbing through the shafts, she could hardly blame him. Plus, the short-sleeved, cropped hoodie that went over it was soft and strangely warm during the night. It was kind of like being enveloped in a big hug. And it didn’t hurt that it had a similar design to her old t-shirt, just with the Voltron symbol sewn on each sleeve. Hand-sewn, according to Matt, and Pidge was definitely not doubting his eye. The only one who could match him was Lance.
Pidge dropped out of the air duct, rolling across the floor and skidding to a stop, hand hovering over her bayard while she checked for any sentries. Matt was out a tick behind her, his extendable staff already clenched in his fist and eyes flitting to Pidge as her shoulders bunched.
“One coming down the left corridor,” replied Pidge, tapping Rover with a smirk as the robot flew beside her. “You got this guy, buddy?”
Rover beeped cheerily, flitting out into the hallway, and Pidge leaned against the wall next to Matt with a grin. Matt chuckled, yanking her hood over her head, and Pidge lightly decked his arm in retaliation.
“And this is why no one should ever mess with any of the Holts,” commented Matt with a smirk as the faint buzzing of Rover electrocuting the droid while simultaneously filing a report on the “faulty” robot filled the corridor. “One is already a force of nature…”
“And two are an intergalactic powerhouse,” finished Pidge, bumping her fist against her brother’s and sharing in his smirk.
God, could she get used to this. From the unconditional trust to the hivemind they had begun to share after only three quintants in Haggar’s ship, she could practically feel Matt’s heartbeat in time with her own at this point. And when their smiles widened, growing brighter from each other’s as they took off down the hallway, it felt almost like she had brought some of her Voltron family with her back up into space.
Like maybe their bond was starting to shift.
“Come on,” teased Pidge, amber eyes sparkling in the light as she dashed around a corner. “Last one to the hideout is a rotten egg!”
“Oh, you are on, gremlin!”
Pidge laughed as Rover darted ahead of them in a streak of light, and she dashed after her robot with a barely-suppressed whoop. It felt so good to be free again.
“Nadia, Sylvio!” Called Keith, raising his hand in a wave from where his hoverbike was parked in front of the school exactly where it had been for the last movement when the twins’ school let out. “I’m over here!”
Keith smiled as he caught sight of Lance’s kids, and he relaxed against the hoverbike again. When he had first offered to pick up Sylvio and Nadia, it had been mostly so Lance’s head wouldn’t implode from the repercussions of missing a crucial meeting with the leader of the Usarkis, and Lance stared at him like Keith had just offered him a cactus and told him to snuggle it. Keith couldn’t blame him; Lance had been picking his kids up by himself as long as he’d had them. The idea of anyone else doing it was crazier than anything they had done in the last decaphoeb together.
Keith was still fairly sure the only reason Lance had accepted his offer was because Allura had stormed into the room with the news that the meeting was starting a varga early (as in, right then) because Zarkon had reconquered a planet who needed reinforcements and Lance had looked two words away from passing out. Lance had turned to Keith, the sea in his eyes on the verge of tearing apart, and Keith stated he would pick up the kids, walking out before Lance could protest. And, sure, the twins had been ecstatic at spending time with their new Tío Keith (especially since he brought them chips), but it had still nearly knocked Keith over when Lance suggested he pick up the twins the next day.
Lance smiled, straightening his paperwork that would dedicate Earth’s Blade reinforcements to retaking Usalarok, and tucking it under one arm before dropping a kiss on Keith’s forehead.
“They seemed to have a lot of fun,” he commented offhandedly, as if he hadn’t just melted Keith’s brain into a tiny puddle. “Plus, if there’s anyone I’m going to trust with them, it would be you. You’re my partner after all…and I think it would be nice for them to have you in their lives. To know you before I tell them we’re a couple.”
Lance’s lips pursed, a shadow clouding his blue eyes, and Keith’s heart clenched. He snatched Lance’s hand off the table, bringing it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to those battle-hardened knuckles he knew better than anyone else.
“You can do it,” he blurted out, indigo eyes burning into Lance’s lightning-blue irises. “And when you do, I’ll be right there beside you. No matter what.”
Lance blinked, eyes flickering wide for just a tick before a smile curled across his lips. He squeezed Keith’s hand, and gave a quick, almost harsh, nod. The type he did whenever he didn’t believe what he was saying.
“Obviously!” He scoffed, smirking at Keith warmly. “I’m the master bisexual, after all! Now hurry up! Nadia and Sylvio don’t like being kept waiting!”
“Tío Keith!” Squealed Sylvio, tackling Keith back to the present with a flying hug. “Tío Keith, guess what happened today!”
Nadia dashed up behind Sylvio, brown eyes flashing over Keith once with that sharpness he had noticed so early on, and a grin shining across her face.
“Guess guess guess!” She cheered, wrapping his legs in a quick hug. “Sylvio did something awesome today, so you have to guess!”
Keith chuckled, bending down to sweep Nadia onto the hoverbike as Sylvio snuggled into him.
“Did you guys have a test today?” Asked Keith, swinging Sylvio into the bike seat Hunk had helped him add when he started taking Lance’s kids to and from school. “Or was it a gym day?”
“There was a pop quiz!” Replied Sylvio, bouncing in his seat as Nadia squirmed into her seatbelt. “And guess what I did?!”
“He got the top score in the class!” Blurted out Nadia, grinning ear-to-ear. “Mr. Edwards was super impressed! He even let Sylvio doodle during the plant lesson!”
“No, he didn’t!” Protested Sylvio, shoving his sister lightly as Keith hopped back into the driver’s seat. “He didn’t even notice! I was stealthy! And he was supposed to guess, Nadiaaaaa!”
Keith laughed, twisting in his seat and carding his fingers through Sylvio’s hair in the smooth, long strokes he had seen Lance always do. Sylvio’s pout melted away, and he leaned into the touch with a faint hum that almost sounded like a purr. Nadia’s smile grew a touch sharper, her eyes fixed on Keith’s hand, and he barely managed to bite back a giggle. Lance had raised two kittens.
“That’s really amazing, Sylvio,” he said, ruffling the boy’s hair at the last tick. “I know you’ve been working really hard, and it’s paying off. I’m proud of you.”
Sylvio’s smile engulfed his face, lighting it up like the sun, and Nadia’s hand inched closer to his silently. Keith smiled softly, turning back to the road and revving the engine extra loud; it always made Nadia squeal.
“How was the rest of the day? And, Nadia, how did the pop quiz go for you?”
By the time Keith pulled up in front of the McClain house, he knew that Leo had mispronounced see you later in Spanish for the fifth time that week, Nadia was still the undefeated champion of tree-climbing, some “Erika” had given her juice box to Sylvio after he accidentally knocked his over, and that his cheeks ached from smiling. Keith grinned as Nadia huffed about their latest soccer loss, insisting that if Henry had just passed to Leo instead of Nick, they could have won! and parked his bike.
“If I’d been on the field, I would have stolen it from Henry and kicked it to Leo myself!” Grumbled Nadia, slinging Sylvio’s backpack over her shoulder while Keith unbuckled the sleeping boy with a faint click. “Heck, I probably could have shot it from there! If I had just angled it a little towards Nick, no one would’ve been able to run far enough to block it!”
“If you were on the field, they wouldn’t have gotten that last point at all,” added Keith, flashing Nadia a smile as he slid Sylvio onto his back. “You’d have stolen it from the striker before he was halfway to your goal.”
Nadia’s fingers went taut, and Keith adjusted Sylvio on his back, turning towards the house as her nails dug into her palms. The backpacks rose along with her shoulders, and she stepped forwards, her toes nearly scraping the ground in the rush, and the words that had been searing through her since she first saw Keith standing beside her Papi, hands just barely brushing, and looking at him like he was worth the entire world surging up to her lips—
The front door burst open, and Keith raised a finger to his lips in an automatic warning to Lance as he flew out of the house, his welcoming cry cut off halfway at the sight of his sleeping son. Nadia giggled as Lance puffed his cheeks out, pretending the rest of his words had been captured and were fighting to get out of his mouth. He looked like an overly ambitious chipmunk.
Keith giggled, stepping into Lance’s hug and melting at the warmth that instantly enveloped him.
“Is Hunk still in the basement?” He whispered, sneaking a kiss to Lance’s cheek when Nadia turned to adjust her backpack. “Or has Shiro taken it over to practice his latest technique?”
Lance giggled, kneeling just in time to catch his little princess in a twirling hug, and Keith barely resisted the urge to coo. He could still feel Black’s armrests biting into his armor, Lance’s hand tight around his, the memories flowing through them until he could almost hear Lance’s laughter as he swept the newly walking twins into his arms. The nights Lance stared at the stars, tracing constellations to give Nadia and Sylvio once he was back together with them, the bags of presents he had collected for his kids over the decaphoeb, the songs he skipped every time they came on……Keith had all of that memorized phoebs ago. But this warmth? This pure joy that outshone even those in his memories? This was a Lance that Keith had never seen before.
And this was a Lance that Keith had fallen in love with the tick he met him.
“Yeah, Hunk’s moved to the kitchen to start on dinner,” replied Lance, his lips pursing slightly as he settled Nadia on his back. “Shiro’s running drills with Krolia in the basement, and both Allura and Acxa are in the living room with the final details on the Olkari’s offense. We’re hoping for a report from Kuron by the end of the quintant, but…no guarantees. Connection seems unstable.”
“So you’re close to being done?” Asked Keith, holding the door open as Lance slid inside, flashing a smile at Allura’s flushed chevrons and Acxa’s glittering, silver ears.
Keith followed, locking the door behind himself, and Allura turned with Acxa to raise tired waves at the paladins. Nadia stuck out her hand and waved back vehemently, and Keith could practically see the tension ease from Lance’s shoulders. He could definitely see the bags dragging the shine out of those summer sky eyes, the exhaustion hanging over his boyfriend’s head like a thunderstorm, and the faint tremor in all of his movements.
Right, Keith was going to beat him over the head with this idea that rest was good for him until his boyfriend went the quiznak to sleep tonight!
Nadia squinted at her papi. She snuck a hand around his shoulder and gave a quick tug on his ear before snatching her arm back. Lance blinked, turning and making a face at the smaller girl as she giggled.
“You little imp,” he teased. “I’m just fine, stop trying to test my reflexes!”
“Awwwww, but Sylvio hates sleeping alone and I have homework!” She whined, her brown eyes shimmering as they grew wide as the moon, her bottom lip sliding out in a pout and her head tilting just a little to the side.
Lance clutched his chest, reeling to the side dramatically.
“Mi corazón! It cannot handle mi princesita’s cuteness!” He proclaimed, pressing a kiss to her forehead and booping her nose. “Your wish is my command! However, the little princess needs help with her homework, I do believe?”
“I’ll help!” Blurted out Keith, stepping a little closer and winking at Nadia. “The beloved prince shouldn’t sleep alone tonight!”
Nadia giggled, booping Lance’s nose and curtsying with flair at the two paladins.
“And the prince must not be awakened as his carriage bears him upstairs!” She teased, a grin glowing across her face as Lance responded with a mock offended look.
“You wound me, Your Majesty!” He replied, gingerly scooping Sylvio off of Keith’s back. “This carriage is a Black Lion of Love and Justice! It would never dream of awakening your brother!”
Nadia stuffed her hands over her mouth to hide her laughter as Lance made his stately way upstairs, Keith’s giggles, Acxa’s soft smile, and Allura’s queenly waves following his ascent to the second floor. Allura smirked at Keith, sliding the remaining papers under the basket of fruit on the table, and sliding over to hip-check him, one hand still twined with Acxa’s.
“Well, with our local drama queen finally resting,” she said with a yawn, taking Acxa gingerly by the arm, loose enough that the general could pull away if she wanted to. “I believe I shall sleep as well. Please ensure that he does not so much as touch those documents without me by his side?”
“You got it,” promised Keith, giving her a fond hug. “Sleep well, Allura. Keep her safe, Acxa.”
Allura’s Altean marks lit up a tulip pink, and Acxa’s splutters were eclipsed by the glow off her ears as Keith chuckled. Allura just returned the hug with a bone-cracking squeeze, and sighed as Nadia slipped past them. Her cerulean eyes flitted from the smaller girl to Keith, who looked ticks away from leaping beside her to make sure she wasn’t struggling with her homework, and Lance’s words from barely a quintant ago thundered through her ears……
“Allura, don’t fall asleep on me,” muttered Keith, barely managing to keep from rolling his eyes as Nadia cackled at the drooling space princess. “Geez, like brother, like sister.”
Acxa just giggled, scooping Allura into her arms, and smiling at Keith.
“I shall help her to bed,” she promised. “Which room is hers?”
Keith just arched an eyebrow.
“Don’t underestimate the weird layout of this house just because it isn’t the Castle of Lions,” he replied, turning to flash a sheepish smile at Nadia. “You going to be okay for a few dobashes—er, minutes—while I put the last of our resident workaholics to sleep?”
Though, if Pidge were still here, that would be an entirely different battle. Keith’s teeth sank into his lip at the thought, and he barely registered Nadia’s nod before turning away, as if to escape the gaping hole in all of their lives. It was a hole they were all trying to fill in their own way, the gap of someone they loved and lived with being gone, however temporary, and in danger at all times. The hole of knowing that they might never see their little sister again, and there was nothing they could do to protect her.
After well over a decaphoeb of fighting, living, laughing, growing, and loving together, to not have Pidge around felt…wrong, on every single level. They had all made this life for themselves together. It wasn’t a life meant for eight; it was meant for all ten of them. It was a life with Hunk and Pidge goofing off over their latest breakthroughs in their own techie language, not one with Hunk trying to drown his fears for his best friend by rotating between work and cooking. It was a life with Lance cartwheeling through wires and gadgets to get to Pidge, throwing her out to Matt, and spiralling his way out to get the gremlin to sleep. It wasn’t a life where Lance’s face crumpled whenever nighttime came and the green blankets in the room remained untouched. Pidge hated it whenever anyone messed with her things.
It was a life where Adam would go down to the lab and antagonize Pidge, the two comparing knowledge and combining it to create the most nightmarish pranks the universe had ever seen, not one where Adam coded himself to tears trying to safely contact the Holt siblings. It was a life where Shiro whined as Pidge teased him endlessly for how long it had taken him to decide to propose to Adam again, not one where he fought invisible enemies alone in the basement. It was one where Allura would challenge Pidge to video game tournaments that could be heard throughout the entire Castleship, not one where she fell asleep everytime she blinked a little too long. It was a life where Coran hopped around looking for Pidge to help him with the Castle’s inner workings and she found the craziest places to scamper away to in order to continue her own work (it became their own version of hide-and-seek). It wasn’t a life where Coran did it all himself with the occasional chirp and greeting weighed down with the potential loss of another child.
And Matt. God, the gap he left behind, especially in Shiro, Lance, and Allura’s lives, that was irreplaceable. Keith had loved the guy, but seeing the way those three would swivel with a joke on their lips, the light in their eyes dissipating and a piece of their heart audibly breaking……it was something more for them. Shiro had known Matt for ages; he was his best friend. Keith knew better than almost anyone how much it hurt to lose that. They didn’t even need to speak, their organized chaos could be communicated with a smirk and nothing else. Keith honestly hadn’t noticed how close Allura and Lance were to Matt, the way that the three of them seemed to have this code (particularly Matt and Lance) when it came to those they loved, and the unspoken understanding of what each of them needed. No matter the question, those three could solve it as long as they were together, particularly when it came to one another.
Keith only had to turn to Shiro, to glance at the older man to instantly understand his mood, his wants, his needs, everything that came with his mind in that instant, whether it was I-need-this-ship-to-not-blow-up-so-I-don’t-lose-everyone-I-love or I-want-Doritos-quiznak, Keith was always one step ahead of the others (minus Adam) when it came to his brother. Siblings were truly something to be feared. And, somewhere along the way, Matt had become more than just their sister’s brother, an honorary member of the family; he had become Lance and Allura’s brother.
Keith slid Allura into the bed, covering her tenderly with the sheets, and tucked a curl out of her face. Maybe, someday, he might be able to claim the same thing with Matt.
He hoped so.
Nadia tapped her pencil against her chin, studying the worksheet off-handedly. Her problem had nothing to do with math; she could ace that in a second if she wanted to. But there were things that mattered a tiny bit more than the fact that 7 + 19 = 26 like, oh just for example, her family that she had just gotten back after being told for over a year that her papi wasn’t even alive!
Nadia sighed, dropping her pencil onto the table and taking to flicking it with her fingers as the faint wooden creak of the stairs behind her warned Nadia that someone was coming downstairs. She could practically hear Keith wince at each tiny noise he made, despite the fact that Hunk was clattering away in the kitchen, and Nadia tried not to think too hard about why silent movement seemed so pivotal to all of the paladins. Even Papi, who had once jumped on all the creakiest parts of the stairs to make a little good morning song for the twins, now moved silently even in his clunkiest boots.
Nadia bit her lip, twisting around to look at Keith as he approached the couch, his movements halting and rough. Huh. He kind of reminded her of Sylvio whenever he was trying to do a new gymnastics move.
“Do you need any help?” Asked Keith, gesturing to the papers on the table while his thumb rubbed over his forefinger, his purple mark bobbing as he spoke.
Just like her papi’s weird blue tattoos. She wondered if she could get some without having to go to space…
“Nah, all this is easy,” promised Nadia, but she scooted over anyway. “But, uh, Tío Keith?”
“Mmm?”
Keith slid next to her, his back ramrod straight, and he turned to face her head-on, his indigo eyes glued to her with undivided attention. Nadia wondered if maybe that was her favorite thing about him, the way he didn’t look at her with any sort of condescension, with any mockery, with any less respect than he did anyone else. When he listened, he listened. He could tell her the same story almost word for word quintants later, a faint smile on his lips, and eyes so much like her papi’s whenever he looked at her that it hurt—
“Sylvio’s really good at drawing!” Blurted out Nadia, heart nearly tearing through her chest as Keith’s eyes remained fixed on her, now crinkled with that familiar confusion.
“Uh—”
“He’s really really good,” stressed Nadia, her grip tightening around the innocent pencil. “And-and he’s fast too! I bet he could try for track and field in middle school! He’s good at math too, even if he doesn’t like it, and-uh-he’s the best thumb wrestler I know! He can cut out perfect paper ribbons too, like the kind you win from soccer matches! And he’s the sweetest guy ever! Sylvio always helps everyone at school, even if they’re mean to him, and-and-and he’s the best! He’s the best brother ever!”
Keith nodded, a smile blooming across his lips and curling up into his eyes, but not a mocking or laughing one. It was soft, similarly eager at the compliments to her family and almost…wistful, maybe?
Nadia wasn’t sure, her heart pounding too loud for any thought to get much focus from her right then. “And did you know that Papi’s makes the best cherry pie ever?! He, uh, he can carry all of us and our clothes upstairs, and he even balances things on his head! Plus, Papi has the best singing voice in the universe!” She cried, hands flying wide apart as if trying to encompass her papi’s entire vocal range in one movement. “He can sing suuuuuuper high and it’s really pretty! He can even finish a Rubik’s Cube in two minutes! He’s really, really smart! He’s always there if we need him, and he has the best games ever and, uh, he’s good! He’s the best father ever! In the whole universe! Papi chose us when no one else would, and he loved us when no one else could!”
Keith cringed, his father’s strong back blocking out all the adults whispering and pointing at him as unlovable clouding over his eyes. Nadia’s words tripped in her throat at the hesitation.
“Papi gives the best hugs too!” She managed, fists squeezing and releasing as tears began to build behind her eyes. “He’s creative too! He makes us the best costumes for Halloween, and, uh, he’s always on time to pick us up! Like you! He-he’s the best papi! And, uh, I won the jump rope contest this spring for double unders! I can kind of cook a little bit, and…oh! I can do my times tables early because Papi taught me with gummy bears! I can climb super high too, and, uh, I got an A on my book report recently! I’m-I’m a good fighter, but I don’t start fights! I just don’t like it when other kids get hit and are too scared to hit back! But, uh, I don’t like fighting—”
Nadia’s visions blurred, her voice hiccuping in her chest, and Keith’s hand settled carefully on her shoulder, like a butterfly. Like a promise that he wanted to hear what she had to say. That he cared.
“I’m good!” She finally cried. “Syl is too! And-and Papi is! I just—I—we—we’re a family! Me, Papi, Sylvio, we’re a family, and we’re a good one! And-and Tío Marco, Tía Veronica, Tío Luis, and Tía Rachel are all great! Abuela is amazing too, and we-we’re all a family, but…but-but Papi, Sylvio and I, we’re a family,” she tried to explain, leaning back into Keith’s steady touch on her shoulder. “And whenever anyone else came in, especially when Papi…vanished, they would leave again after, like, a week. They’d come home for the holidays and help us a little, and then they’d leave again, and it would just be Sylvio and I. Abuela made us lunches, but we were…alone. But now, Papi’s back. He’s home, and…and I’m sick of people leaving!” She burst out, tears finally free to roll down her cheeks as she clenched her fists tightly. “I’m tired of them leaving Sylvio and I to pick up the pieces! It’s not fair! And I can’t watch Sylvio go through that again! He trusts so easily, and he loves so much. I can’t—I can’t—!”
Nadia’s words were consumed by the flood of tears cascading down her cheeks, and Tío Keith rubbed her shoulder silently, nodding for her to continue whenever she was ready. Nadia gave a hiccuping gasp for air. “Look, if you’re going to leave us, just leave!” She yelled, slamming her fist into the couch even though that’s not what she wanted to say, why was she doing this, why was she pushing him away? “Don’t play games or mess around with us, just go away and don’t pretend to be our family if you can’t stay with us! We don’t need people who don’t want us!”
No, no no no nonono! That’s not it! That’s not why!
She spun, turning her streaming brown eyes on him, teeth bared as if to guard her family, and Tío Keith looked back at her steadily, a faint smile on his lips.
“Walk out!” She shouted. “If you want to go, then just go already!”
…Before I love you more than I can bear.
Keith swallowed, holding himself so still he could practically hear Lance teasing him about not being able to do that during meetings. He was used to this. To being yelled at, to being ordered to get out, to feeling like he was messing everything up, that he broke whatever he touched, useless, unlovable, run out before they run out on y—
“…You know, I see a lot of myself in you.”
Nadia blinked, almost jerking in the process at the soft reply, the familiar, affectionate smile on Tío Keith’s lips. He looked almost nostalgic, except that if nostalgia were clouds, this would be a thunderstorm. “My mom abandoned me right after I was born,” he admitted, the words spilling from his lips like acid. “I found out later that it was because she wanted to protect me, but I grew up thinking it was because she never wanted me. Then Dad died, and I got bounced around families that were never able to love me.”
Keith winced, the stupid insults they had made out of his last name bouncing around in his ears. Nadia caught his hand, squeezing it almost instinctively, and Keith flashed her a quick smile. “I didn’t think anyone would ever stay in my life,” he continued, softer this time. “Not until I met Shiro. Well, uh, maybe after he didn’t give up on me despite the fact that I had stolen his car, kind of accidentally nearly compromised his reputation, and got in a ton of fights…”
Nadia snickered, and Keith tousled her hair with a chuckle. “Yeah, I was a mess. And he never gave up on me. That was the first time I think I really understood what it meant to be part of a family. It meant not walking out, especially when those you love need you the most.”
Keith sighed, his Blade suddenly seeming heavier in his pocket. “I wasn’t great at it, to be honest. Not until I met your Papi.”
Nadia’s eyes widened, and Keith giggled, offering her a tissue. “Yeah, your Papi showed me that I could stay too. That people wanted me to stay. So, I got good at it, because I never wanted to be the one who walked out on their family. I never want to put other people through what I went through, to make them wonder if there’s something…wrong with them.”
Keith bent down, tilting his chin until his iron eyes locked with Nadia’s, and he spoke loudly and carefully. “Because there is no one in this entire universe who is unlovable or undeserving of love. Look, Nadia, I’ve spent nearly the last four phoebs staying with my family through the best and worst moments of our lives. We haven’t walked through fire together, no, we’ve walked through lava, through ice, through lightning and earthquakes and lasers, and some things beyond description. But we’ve also walked through joy and love together. Your Papi is amazing; he’s a hero. He’s a killer sharpshooter, he’s a great diplomat and fighter, and he’s one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen. But he’s more than that. He’s smart and creative and funny, he’s sweet and brave and loyal, he’s…everything good in this universe rolled into one, So I know he deserves the best. And I know you and your brother do too, regardless of your abilities, because you’re Nadia and Sylvio.”
Keith sighed, wiping Nadia’s leftover tears on his sleeve tenderly, keeping his eyes fixed on hers even as he wondered how Lance could ever think she wouldn’t accept her father for who he was. “You want to push people away before they push you away; I know that feeling all too well. Just remember that, sometimes, people won’t know you want them to stay unless you ask. I’m, uh, still kind of getting used to the idea that people want me around, so…look, just, if you ever want me to stay, or just to come, no matter the time…tell me. I’ll be there, no matter what, because I am never giving up on you, Nadia.”
He smiled, booping her nose gently and relishing in the warmth of Shiro’s words washing over him once more as he passed them on to someone else. “But, more importantly, you can’t give up on yourself. You are worth people staying. Try to remember that, okay? And I know how hard it is to learn,” he admitted, placing a hand on her back, “so I’ll make sure I’m always around to remind you that you’re worth it.”
Nadia stared, tremors passing through her body and shaking her lower lip, and fresh tears blooming in her eyes. Keith jerked back, pure panic flashing through his eyes like a lightning bolt because quiznak, he messed it up again, this was why he wasn’t the one who handled messy things like emotions, that was Lance’s job his specialty quiznak quiznak quiznak he made a kid cry he made Nadia cry—
Nadia lunged after him, her skinny arms wrapping around his stomach and clinging onto him like he was her lifeline as she buried her face in his stomach and let out a scream of pain that instantly shattered Keith’s heart. His arms were moving before he could think, encircling the smaller girl and curling him close to her as if to protect her from the world, from anyone who could possibly hurt her.
Keith held tight to Nadia as the girl let out a hiccuping sob, clutching his jacket and raising her streaked face to meet his eyes, head-on just as he had met her, and utter a single, broken plea.
“Stay.”
Lance’s crouched on the stairs, Nadia’s screams sending him rocketing out of bed and down the hall in half a tick. Sylvio was cradled close to his chest, face buried in his shirt despite the boy’s insistence on remaining near his sister, Acxa’s concerned presence hovering behind the group on the stairs, and Allura’s hand was pressed against his back as Nadia’s breathless, shattered plea filled the air. Lance’s breath hitched out a tap dance in his throat, and Allura’s fingers tightened around his jacket as if scared of the air singing her, two sets of flowering blue eyes locked on her brother. Allura’s muscles locked, liquid fear boiling up her throat as Keith remained motionless. Lance’s smile was washing away, flecking off as if drowning under a downpour, and his words from yesterday were still deafening her, spiralling through her mind on repeat……
“He’s so cute, ‘Lura! It’s not fair!” Whined Lance, clinging to Allura as his head bonked against her shoulder rhythmically. “He literally just! Let Sylvio swing from his arm! And twirled Nadia out the door! Like a quiznaking king! ‘Luraaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Allura let out a tinkling giggle as she patted his head without turning around, her free hand stabbing coordinates into the map.
“I’m aware, Lance; I was there,” she replied, eyes flickering in a light circle and lips curling up at the corners. “I thought you were going to go into cardiac arrest.”
“Yeah! Me too!” Complained Lance, popping his chin up over her shoulder and arms going tight around her waist as he exhaled. “I was thinking about how good he was with kids and then somehow I couldn’t help thinking that he was really good with my kids and how much they loved him and how comfortable they were around—”
“Around their future father?”
It could be teasing, a light remark that Lance could smack her arm for and laugh off if he wanted. Something he could dismiss, or blush and hide from, or shriek her ear off for. Allura didn’t understand the intrinsic dancing around and bad flirting and absurd amounts of glowing blushes that seemed to come with Earthen courtships, but she saw the Altean ideal of family in everything that Lance said. She knew that being parents together was a big deal. Lance had only been officially dating Keith for close to three movements, even if they had been practically a couple for three phoebs before that. Letting Keith into his kids’ lives was a whole other step.
“Mm-hm,” murmured Lance, his hug tightening and forehead dropping onto her shoulder. “Mmm-hmm. But that doesn’t mean Keith wants that.”
“He wants all of you, Lance,” shot back Allura, one of her hands sneaking down to cover his as well. “Including Nadia and Sylvio’s Papi. Keith is not stupid; he knew what he was agreeing to when he chose you as his partner. You two are in this together, through thick and thin.”
“I hope so. I just—”
“Lance, the map is short-circuiting, what do I do?!”
“Other wire, Allura, other wire!”
“This one?!”
“That one wasn’t even there before! The blue one, Ally! Blue one!”
The dais nearly fell over as Allura grappled with it, Lance shrieking behind her, and all the reassurances on the tip of her tongue crushed under the responsibilities that flowed from her brother’s. Because of course Keith wanted that, of course he knew that he had also signed up for taking care of Lance’s kids, of course he understood and loved Nadia and Sylvio because he had signed up for them to be his kids—
Because of course Keith knew what it meant to be Lance’s family.
All the breath left Keith, blown out of him by Nadia’s honest, shattered plea, and he tucked her close to him again, pressing a tentative kiss to her forehead.
“It’s a promise, Nadia.”
Nadia curled further into him, burrowing her head into his stomach as tears wracked her shoulders. Keith bit his lip. What Lance would say right now…?
“Uh, plus, I already know too many McClain secrets to back out now?”
Nadia cackled through her tears, and Sylvio gave a whoop from the stairs that nearly sent Keith catapulting off the couch with Nadia still in his arms. Sylvio dashed down the stairs, tackling Keith in another hug as their laughter danced across the room, transforming Lance’s eyes into pools of pure light. Allura just shook her head with a fond, slow laugh as she threaded her fingers through Lance’s hair and dropped her voice just barely low enough for him to hear.
“V thbl fxd ux.”
Lance shoved her shoulder with a butterfly laugh bubbling forth from his lips before gliding down the stairs to join his family, and Allura spun back up the stairs with a stream of silent giggles, catching Acxa’s hand in her own and swinging it gaily. Her brother was in good hands. And, finally, so were his children.
Lance grinned, squeezing onto the couch and running a hand through Nadia’s hair as he tucked himself around his family with a soft, contented sigh.
“Welcome to the family, Keith,” he murmured, resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder as his eyes drooped shut. “Love you.”
Keith chuckled, running a hand along Nadia’s back as the girl finally relaxed into him, her breaths evening out. Sylvio giggled, squirming into a more comfortable position, and Keith fought down a yawn as his family wrapped him in a cocoon of warmth and love. He finally, truly, had a place to call home. He had a family to stay with.
And that forever that had seemed so impossible to find as a kid? Well, they were snuggled around him now.
“Goodnight, Nadia, Sylvio, Lance,” he whispered, dropping kisses on all three of their foreheads. “I love you.”
“Love you, Tío Keith,” murmured Sylvio, snuggling in, already half-lost in dreamland.
“Sweet dreams,” whispered Lance, tangling his fingers in Nadia’s hair a little more as he slid into Spanish. “¿Estás bien, mi princesita?”
Nadia cuddled against them, blowing out a shaky breath, and turned her large, shining brown eyes on Keith and Lance.
“Stay,” she begged. “Please, stay.”
Keith brushed a lock of hair out of her face, and Lance curled down an impressive amount to press a kiss to her nose.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he promised.
Keith smiled as Nadia’s eyes began to droop, fixing on him desperately as she began to slide into sleep.
“I’ll always be here,” swore Keith, swallowing back tears as the words he had always wanted to be able to say were finally, finally the ones that someone else wanted to hear from him. “I’ll stay.”
Nadia smiled, melting into the hug, and Lance went limp behind Keith with a happy hum.
“Thank you, Keith,” he breathed.
“Huh?”
“…For staying.”
Keith twisted, pressing his lips to Lance’s softly, and pulling back to smile at his half-asleep boyfriend.
“Thank you for wanting me to stay.”
And if Shiro came up to check on dinner half a varga later to find the tiny family passed out on the couch, snuggled around each other like they were already living their greatest dream together, well, there may have been a few pictures left waiting for them to see when they woke up.
After all, family moments were best commemorated.