Now and Forever
"Daddy! Daddy!" Dalia yelled happily as she ran to Keith, "Hey gorgeous!" Keith laughed and picked Dalia up swinging both of them in a circle. "Mornin' babe-" Keith smiled as he leaned over to kiss Lance on the lips, Lance giggled. "I have a present for you! It's the best present ever!" Dalia said loudly, "A present? What for?" Keith questioned. "Your birthday silly!" Dalia smiled, "My birthday? Is it my birthday?" Keith asked turning to Lance who sighed. "Yes Keith. You know it is, you can't avoid it. Besides, Dalia got you an amazing present." Lance responded, "come on open it!" Dalia interrupted. Keith sighed out a giggle reached for the small gift Dalia was holding. "Uh ah. What's the rules?" Lance swiftly took the gift from Dalia before Keith could grab it. "Food first, presents second." Dalia said sadly, "good girl, beside Keith won't be able to function when he sees what you got him." Lance smiled and gently pinched Dalia's cheek. "What's that supposed to mean?" Keith asked with a raised eyebrow , Lance shrugged and walked into the restaurant without a response. "Hey guys!" Hunk said happily, "hey, you guys order yet?" Lance asked as he found the end spot of the bench the group sat on. It was a small thing that Lance had to do since the incident and he had to carry a crutch around. "Not yet, we were waiting for the birthday boy." Shiro teased, "oh my god, Shiro. Stop." Keith groaned as he put Dalia down. "Daddy's going to get the best present ever!" Dalia cheered, "oh yeah, what is it?" Pidge asked. Dalia shook her head furiously, "that's a secret!" Dalia put a finger on her lips. The group laughed, "hey folks, what can I get for you today." A polite waitress asked, "A mimosa, for the birthday boy." Pidge teased devilishly. "No, no. Absolutely not." Keith argued, "just the strongest coffee you have please." Keith groaned into his hands. "I'll have a mimosa though, please." Lance spoke happily. "It's like 7:30 and you're already having alcohol... You have a problem." Pidge commented, "No, it's a solution." Lance retorted happily, "it's early and technical I'm having a breakfast drink. You know with the orange juice, the champagne just makes it classy." Lance said with a proud smile. The waitress struggled to keep her laughter down, "ok, come on keep ordering. I'm paying." Lance said as he waved his hands at the menus. "Sweet-" Pidge said with that oh so familiar devilish smile, they then proceeded to order one of the most complex sets of alterations. The rest of the group ordered and the food came quickly, several conversations were happening at the table. Anyone who looked at the table was confused by the calmness of everyone when their conversations seemed so chaotic. "Oh, sorry could I please get a mimosa for the birthday boy-" Keith asked a waiter while pointing at Lance. The waiter nodded and soon returned with a mimosa and a small cake, "Happy birthday to you-" a group of 4 workers started to sing as they placed the cake and mimosa in front of Lance. Keith started recording the entire thing, Lance however was frozen. He didn't know what to do, "blow out the candles-" an older waitress said. "Keith, Dalia care to share the honour?" Lance asked sliding the cake slightly closer to Keith. "Sure." Keith smiled, Dalia moved to sit on his leg. "Ready? 1... 2... 3..." On the count of three the trio blew out the candles, "happy birthday-" a waitress said politely before leaving with the rest of the staff. "You- are evil." Lance accused while pointing at Keith. "Can we open presents now?" Dalia asked impatiently, Lance giggled. "Yeah, why not. You guys go first." Lance looked at his friends with a smile. "This is a gift from me and Hunk, courtesy of yours truly." Pidge teased, Keith reluctantly opened the gift to see a book. "How to lead Voltron?" Keith asked, "yup! A book filled with things you actually said while we were in space. You should appreciate that, it took a stupidly long time to make." Pidge giggled. "I do. I do appreciate it... I need to punch something, brackets, looks at Lance, end bracket. (I need to punch something (looks at Lance)" Keith laughed, "did I actually say that?" Keith asked still laughing. "Yes." Lance responded plainly, his arms were crossed and he was acting defensively. "Oh, my bad. Sorry." Keith apologised before leaning over and kissing Lance's cheek. The rest of the group shared their presents, then it was Dalia's turn. "Come on hurry up!" Dalia whined impatiently, Keith looked directly at Dalia as slowed his movements. "Keith." Lance looked at Keith with his 'are you serious ' face. "Ok, fine." Keith smiled and continued to open the gift properly. "Ok, card first. Happy birthday daddy! I hope I have the best present! Signed your favourite person!" Keith read aloud, "Awe, Love you sweetheart!" Keith ruffled Dalia's hair and passed her back to Lance. Keith carefully opened the envelope he was gifted. "Dear Mr Keith Kogane- geez that sounds like I'm in trouble." Keith retorted only to get playfully slapped by Lance, "come on this is serious." Lance argued, "yeah, yeah. Dear Mr Keith Kogane, it is my greatest pleasure to congratulate you on your achievement. As of October 23rd 2018 you and Lance McClain are officially the legal guardians of Dalia Grace McClain. Congratulations." Keith recited, he said every word he read. Keith dropped the paper on the table and brought his hands to his face, he was crying. "A-a- are you serious!?" Keith turned to Lance with tears falling quickly, Lance nodded. "This was all Dalia's doing. This is what she wanted." Lance smiled, Keith cried harder. Despite Keith's childhood, he had always wanted kids. Being gay also didn't help with that, but now? His wish had been granted. He was officially a legal guardian. "I- I really don't know what to say." Keith stuttered through tears, "Happy birthday daddy!" Dalia called out happily as she embraced Keith tightly. " Did I have the best present?" Dalia asked innocently, Keith laughed through the tears. "Yes, by a long way. I don't think anything will ever be better than this!” Keith cried happily.