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Pidge knows Keith is strong. That’s one of those facts of life she’s come to understand, and she knows he’s strong in more than just the physical sense. It’s just that at eight months pregnant, when she feels a contraction strong enough to knock the wind from her lungs and have her kneeling on the floor, gasping for air, she expects Hunk to lift her up. He’s working in the lab with her anyway, but he’s watching for how Galran technology reacts with Altean technology on the other side of the lab. No, its her fiance of nine months that sweeps into the room looking to check in on her like he does every hour or so. She’s kneeling on the floor when she feels a hand on her back.
“Pidge,” Keith’s face searches hers for any other signs of discomfort, “are you okay? Is the baby okay?” He asks again, putting a hand over hers where he feels a strong insistent kick.
“Yeah,” she breathes out before adding, “except this contraction was way worse than the others I’ve been having all day.”
“You’ve been having contractions all day?” His eyes widen to saucers and it would be hilarious if it weren’t for the searing pain in her lower abdomen. She yelps as it wracks through her body and she grabs his hand tightly enough for him to wince. “Medic wing, now.” He grits out as her face relaxes.
“You’re right,” she concedes, and she lifts a hand to edge of the table where she was working on new combinations of Galran and Altean technology before she’s shrieks as she feels herself being lifted into the air. “Keith!” She shouts. “What’re you doing?” She’s shocked that there isn’t a single tremble in his arms or a grimace as he lifts her into a bridal style position.
“You’re in pain and it’s faster this way.” The determination on his face would almost be sexy if it weren’t for the ever climbing pain in her lower regions. Instead, she latches onto his neck with her arms and nods tiredly, tucking her nose into his neck and just relishing in the way he almost runs out of the labs.
She’s known since long before they fell in bed together how strong Keith was, but experiencing it now was an entirely different knowledge. It was a primal, instinctual part of her that was pleased by the show of strength. For all her genius, she was still a woman at the heart of her, and her carnal desires had gotten the better of her three years ago when during a training session, something she and Keith started after a surprise attack on the lab had her right wrist sprained, she found herself pinning him to the mat. That same carnal, primal part of her that she rarely listened to was purring. It was almost as if she was pleased to not only know how strong her mate was, but to feel it, as he carried her and their baby to the medic wing of the base. The Galactic Alliance of Peace (“The Gap” she and Lance often snickered to each other) was seventy-two stories high with a diplomat sleeping center on the highest floors and conference rooms as well as ballrooms on the first. The lab was the least susceptible to incomers at the basement floor, and Keith mostly spent his time hovering between training galactic militia with the Blade of Marmora’s consent and speaking to other diplomats alongside Allura. Still, every hour or so, he would pass the training over to visit Pidge in the lab and check in on her. It was ritualistic at this point, and at first she found it annoying. Currently, she was relieved she wouldn’t have to take the elevator ride up to the seventy-first floor where emergency medics waited.
“It’s supposed to be painless, right?” Keith asks. They’re in the elevator and he’s been carrying her for fifteen minutes after sprinting for about ten of them. She’s ready to tell him to put her down when another contraction hits so hard she feels tears welling in her eyes. “Pidge?” He jostles her a litte. Concern paints his features more than they’ve ever before. “Do you need anything? What can I do? Katie, talk to me.”
“I’m,” she’s panting against his neck, her vision dizzy, “going to be okay, this is the hardest part. Altean tech is much more advanced than our own and the extraction process matched with the epidural will make it super fast.”
“And painless?” He insists. He’s craning his neck to look at her and she nods quickly.
“Relatively so.”
“Pidge,” he grumbles, “I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Where was that attitude when I was vomiting every night?” She snarks back.
“Outside! You said you didn’t want me to see you like that even after I begged you to open the door.”
“The door was unlocked.” She says. She had said a few times that he shouldn’t come in, too disgusted by the vision of her lunch and dinner in the toilet.
“I respect you.” He insists.
“Yeah and I could’ve used some water.” She’s just as stubborn as he is, but at their mature ages, he finds himself faster at conceding to situations. Such as now.
“I’ll remember that,” he kisses her forehead, pushing back some of her tufts of hair with his chin. The elevator dings and he lets out a sigh of relief as he quickly exits them. She holds him tighter as a pinch has her writhing in his arms. “We’re almost there, babe,” he murmurs, quickening his already fast pace. Once at the automatic doors that slide open, relief floods through him as a nurse sees either his panicked face or her pained one.
“I’m going to need a wheelchair!” The nurse calls.
It takes a full eight hours, much shorter than other Earthly labours, but then again, this baby isn't just human, Pidge thinks later on when she's cradling her and Keith's child to her chest, their family surrounding them in hushed whispers. The pain becomes overwhelming in the first hour as they tell her she isn’t in a position yet to have an epidural, instead they do tests and confirm that she is, indeed, in labour and the most they can do until she’s ready is give her a place to stay. She almost contemplates going back to the lab, except, one look from Keith at the mere suggestion has her quieting down. Though she grumbles a bit, he leaves a little to get her a tablet to monitor progress from their shared office. He never uses it and it’s mostly just a storage or napping place for her. She’s bouncing carefully on an exercise ball to help with some of the muscle tension, though she’s sitting next to the bed and holding on the railing to keep her upright when he returns. He balks at her moving and tries to get her back onto the bed.
“I need to move,” she snaps, “sitting in a be d, arching my back and begging for the baby to come isn’t going to do any good. If you want to be helpful then walk around with me.” If it were any other day at any other time, he might pale at her demanding tone and bite back, but he’s smarter than that. He scratches at the scar on his cheek and neck begrudgingly and with one arm around her back and the other carefully tucked into his pocket where he keeps the blade his mother gave him long ago, he leads her around the room and through some of the halls. She’s on her tablet, satisfied with the way her things look, now texting their friends and family who decide to drop everything they’re doing and come to her. She tells them that she isn’t even really in labor yet, her water is far from being broken, and there’s no need for them to rush. Matt tells her to shut up and let them be there for them, and everyone likes the message before Lance replies, “Keith is probably going to need us more than you anyway. I bet he’s frantic.” Everyone laughs at this and she snickers, showing him the message. Her fiance rolls his eyes.
“As if.” Though she knows him better than this. Shiro is the first to arrive, running to them.
“How’re you guys doing?” He asks after they all embrace.
“Keith’s being Keith.” Pidge says, almost accusatory. Keith snaps his head down to her with a frown and she shrugs. All the ex-Paladins have been exposed to Keith’s dad-to-be-fits. Whether it’s chasing after him when he goes for midnight rides to clear his mind or watching the tension grow every time Pidge went through any discomfort at all whatsoever. When she was going through caffeine withdrawals and irately burying her fingers in her hands groaning about her headaches, he was at her side, barking at anyone who came by her that caused her more annoyance. He was almost constantly at his side, neglecting his duties at every turn if they were texting and she said she was craving donuts offhandedly. Shiro saw, firsthand, how protective and possessive Keith was being at a point when Pidge was talking about how this one lab technician was being frustrating in the middle of a diplomatic meeting. He left the meeting room full of alien alliances to run to the lab and shout at one guy to stop asking so many questions.
“She’s pregnant you idiot!” Is the first thing Shiro heard when he arrived fifteen minutes later. “Get out.” Keith added behind gritted teeth. Pidge was laughing into her hand, holding a sandwich and chewing into it from time to time as Hunk tried to calm him down. Apparently the lab technician wasn’t aware of Pidge’s pure genius when it came to practically everything science related.
“You can’t just tell me to leave.” The lab technician said haughtily. “Partners shouldn’t allowed in the lab setting and pregnant women especially shouldn’t be.”
“Sir,” Shiro interjected, “he’s go ing through a bit of stress, and I suggest you leave before this gets ugly. I shouldn’t have to remind you that Pidge is the head of this department and anything she says or does is law.”
“Dr. Holt is the head of this lab,” the technician said with a scowl. “And I haven’t met him yet.”
“I’m Dr. Holt.” Pidge finally interceded, a smug grin on her face, as she slid a reassuring hand into the crook of Keith’s crossed arms. “I go by Pidge Gunderson, which you would know if you showed up for your correct shifts, but since you didn’t, and since you obviously didn’t go to orientation to meet me, you missed the important fact that Mr. Shirogane just pointed out. As head of this department and this lab, everything I say and do is law. Aand,” she drew this word out, rocking back on her heels, “since we don’t work with chemicals in this setting, I’m not in any danger and all whatsoever. But you will be, if you don’t leave.” Her smug grin intensified as she put her hands on her hips.
The lab technician cowered at this as Keith’s jaw ticked as his eyes narrowed. He scuttered out and the rest high fived in relief to have the tension cut. Shiro had a stern talking to with Keith about boundaries and the necessities of a father-to-be.
Later that night, curled around Pidge, Keith’s mouth tucked into her neck as he drew soothing circles around her stomach area to help with any tension she was feeling, she added to this point.
“Shiro’s right, Keith,” she whispered lazily, drowsy from their evening lovemaking, “I don’t need you all the time and if you really keep leaving important meetings like that, we’re both going to be in trouble, ‘cos I’m going to have to start filtering out my texts to you.”
“Okay,” he murmured, kissing the crook of her neck again. He wanted to say that he loved her and he didn’t know how to help with the changes her body was going through. Some men in the office bitched and moaned about the mood swings their wives went through and how they seemed to just be completely off of sex, and he never interrupted their cringe-worthy complaining to say that their wives probably just didn’t want to have sex with them. Pidge’s mood swings always cracked Keith up anyway rather than frighten him. One minute she’s screaming at the TV about inaccurate science in Dr. Who and the next she’s crying because she knows how the season ends. Whenever she got mad at him, all he had to do was bite his tongue.
He couldn’t help with the sad sighs she had every time she forced herself to go with yoga. He would try and sit outside, and eventually, she would have to come out and shoo him away. The classes he could attend with her, he was almost tempted to take notes on, if it weren’t for the playlist of pre-parent videos Pidge made for him to watch later, still didn’t feel like enough. When he said he loved his fiancee, he meant it, and watching her struggle on her own to go through the bodily changes she was experiencing without being able to help her more. Some women fawned over how attentive he was, at some point, Pidge had to set her own boundaries and tell him there was nothing either of them could do.
“So what?” Keith mumbled. “Some women love how present I am.” He said, puffing his chest out.
“You’re obsessed,” Shiro groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, but smiling fondly. Pidge was struck with another contraction and Keith’s arm held her up as she bent a little to help her breathing. “You alright, Pidge?”
“She’s in a lot of pain and they can’t give her the epidural yet,” Keith said, looking more put-off than ever.
“They have to administer IV-fluid first, and I’m not far enough into labor for that.” She rubbed her elongated stomach. “Though, it definitely feels like I am.” Irritation colored her face and Keith’s lip pushed outward.
“Um,” Shiro said uncomfortably, “did you guys bring the overnight bag?”
The couple’s heads jerked to look at each other in shock as they paled.
“Shit!” Keith shouted, running his hands down his face as he groaned. “I can’t believe we forgot.”
“You can go home and get it,” Pidge sagely murmurs. “Really, there’s plenty of time before things get going.” Keith bites his lower lip as he mentally calculates the time it’s going to take him to drive back to their apartment twenty minutes from the base and back.
“I don’t know.” Just as he’s contemplating the forty-minute trip, Lance and Hunk arrive, panting breathlessly. Lance is sporting a bullet proof vest that lets them know he was in a training simulator, probably helping new recruits with the shooting portion of the test they were going to need to take eventually. He’s also sporting a large grin as he rushes over.
“Pidge!” He shouts, she grins and opens her arms for him to hold her tightly and Keith panics for a moment when her eyes widen as she grips onto the back of his shirt, wincing. “Ow.” Lance whines as he pulls away.
“Are you okay?” Keith asks, detangling them and searching her features.
“Hi, everyone can stop asking me that now.” She grumbles, rubbing her gut again. “I’m going into labor, I’m going to be in pain until I get an epidural, so just let them come and go, and I promise once I’m holding my baby, I’m going to be better than okay.” Keith frowns, but says nothing else.
“Yeah, besides, she’s the Green Paladin.” Hunk says, throwing an arm around his tiny science buddy. “She can endure.” He holds up his left fist to reveal his wedding ring. There’s such a proud grin on his face it reminds them all of when they were younger. “By the way, I had an intern come in and observe your project.”
“Oh!” Pidge exclaims reaching for her tablet in one of Keith’s hands, he hands it to her easily, and she opens the video feed from the lab. Confusion and frustration contorts her expression. “Ugh, Hunk, I don’t think he’s doing it right.”
They argue in terms that the other three men don’t understand for a full five minutes before Lance loops an arm around Keith’s arms, and leads him away while Shiro watches fascinated. He made the mistake of asking what was going on and was no suffering Pidge’s hurried explanation.
“So,” he says, grinning, “I know you’re probably freaking out-,” he interrupts him.
“I am not!”
“But,” Lance’s voice raises a volume to cover him, “this is a joyous day, my friend. In fact,” he digs with his free hand into the pocket of his vest, “I bought Cuban cigars to celebrate the occasion.”
“That’s usually for after,” Keith notes, frowning now as he checks over his shoulder to see Pidge cringing again. Keith tries to break free, but Lance tightens his hold.
“Oh my god, relax, Keithy, Keithy, Keithy,” Lance drones, “she already said she was fine, just take her word for it, and let her go through the most natural, beautiful process on Earth.”
“You clearly don’t know a thing about childbirth.” Lance’s face turns deadpan.
“I have four siblings and maybe, bare minimum thirty nieces and nephews all together on both sides of my family,” Lance rolls his eyes, “I definitely know more than you.”
“We are not doing this now.” Keith insists his jaw tensing. Although he’s relieved more people are here, he’s still stressed. The birthing process is definitely easy now than it was before, but there are still complications, and Keith, out of pure curiosity, researched some of the worst ones only to reveal some truly horrific things. A lot of his anxiety came from the prospect of losing his family, again. Yes, he had his mother and his dog, the Paladins and the Blade of Marmora as well, but Pidge was in a different category than the rest of them. She was carrying the future of his family, the promise of hope, and it was growing in her day by day until finally, today, apparently, was the day everything was going to come to fruition. He just wanted things to go smoothly.
“How about we go grab some tea or something to calm you down, huh, buddy? I think you could use it. What about a tequila shot?” His eyes lit up.
“No.” Keith said, jerking his head side to side.
“Oh c’mon, it’s a McClain tradition.”
“On whose side?” He’d met Lance’s mom, and she was sweet and tame in comparison to Lance’s siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts.
Lance just gives him a look that says, “c’mon now.”
“Yeah, no.” He’d also met Lance’s dad and experienced their rowdiness first hand. Despite his best intentions to keep Pidge away when they found out she was pregnant, she was insistent that talking to other women who had been pregnant before would help her so they’d been to a few parties every now and then. Keith practically had an aneurysm during month six when she almost toppled over due to one of his nephews playing tag with none other than Lance.
“Be a team player,” Lance grins, “this is a great day! Pidge isn’t going to be pregnant anymore, you’re not going to be worried anymore, and you’re gonna have a little Keithy Jr. soon enough.”
“Keithy Jr.?” Keith’s mind roved over the possible names they’d gone over. “That was an immediate no.”
“Yeah it doesn’t have a really nice ring to it, now,” Lance waggles his brows, “Lance the Second, that has a really sick sound to it.”
“Shut up.” Keith mumbled, rolling his eyes. He doesn’t want to admit it, but not watching Pidge crumble or cringe every now and then, has really easened him up. And maybe, in like five or six years, he’ll confess that his little conversation with Lance has helped.
“In all seriousness,” Lance started, and his smile is so genuine, Keith really believes he’s being sincere, “congratulations. You must be feeling excited.”
In truth, he’s terrified. Yes, the hope and joy at having a new member to his rapidly grown in family are fantastic feelings, but most days, he feels worried about what he’s going to do. It’s so easy to just ruin a kid’s life, and yes, he loves his father, and while he was alive he was a great man, but there was a real discrepancy in father figures he had at the time. He just wants to do right by this kid.
“I don’t know.” Keith opts for the truth. “I didn’t have a lot of time with my father, what if I can’t be the one this baby needs?”
“Keith,” Lance murmurs. His face shifts into one of concern as he frowns slightly. “You can’t think like that, man. I have the best father in the world, no - scratch that- the universe, and that doesn’t change the fact that there were some mess-ups here and then.” Keith’s bewildered expression signals for him to get to the point. “But, he loves me, and I felt that. That’s all that matters at the end of the day right? There’s like hundred of songs about it and I swear, as long as you love this baby, you’re going to do right by him or her or them.”
Keith can’t deny the way he felt the first time he felt when he felt the baby kick under Pidge’s skin. It was in the fifth month that he felt solid movement even though Pidge had been feeling it for a full month. They were lying on the couch, Keith’s arms wrapped tight around his fiancee, when he pressed a hand to his stomach, and he felt it. His eyes widened and he moved immediately to kneel before it.
“No way!” Pidge squealed, her eyes lit up. “Did you feel it?”
“Yeah,” Keith whispered. Awe colored his face as he ran his hands over her abdomen.
“Talk to it,” she encouraged him, “you can go under my shirt, you’ve been there enough times.”
“Pidge.” Keith admonished, flushing. He looked at her and she nodded expectantly. “Okay, well,” he said, awkward as ever, “hi baby, it’s me. Your dad.” He added after a second. “And I’m, well, really happy you’re here.” He whispered, and pressed a kiss to just above her swollen navel. It’s there that he felt another tiny movement, like a little punch this time. “Oh my god,” he looked up at Pidge, tears shining in his eyes. “Did you, oh, wow,” he whispered. It felt real during the first month when they saw the sonogram, but now, it was almost like he was already meeting his baby. No, he thought as Pidge’s hands scrambled to his shoulders to pull him into a kiss, our baby.
Thinking about that moment, he smiled a little.
“Yeah, I already love Bumpy Boo,” he murmurs, almost forgetting Lance was even there.
“Hold up,” like a record scratch to ruin the perfect moment for Keith, there was a crushing reality, “Bumpy Boo?” He flushes at how silly it sounds in Lance’s mouth, but it was something him and Pidge used to refer to the baby rather than it or the numerous genders it could be. “Holy shit, who came up with that ?”
“Pidge.” He says, too fast, and his lie is caught immediately. Lance falls into a fit of immediate laughter and Keith groans into his hands. Just as Lance is about to shout it aloud, the elevator opens to reveal none other than Allura, Coran, and Matt.
“Keith!” She exclaims, joy overwhelming her features. “Quiznak you must be ecstatic.” She takes his hands in her own and grins as the others greet each other.
“Ah yes,” Coran smiles bengingly as he finishes his embrace with Lance, “the father-to-be,” he offers Keith a hand to shake heartily, “impending fatherhood suits you, my old friend. I remember when King Alfor and Queen Laluia were expecting the Princess- err- Queen, her father was quite a mess!”
“Yeah, and Keith’s no different.” Lance snickers.
“Oh my god,” Keith frowns as he glances at his Cuban friend, who merely shrugs.
“Hey man,” Matt greets finally, and they lock into a friendly bro-hug, “how’s she doing?” That’s when Keith glances over their heads to see the hallway empty and his eyes widen in panic. Completely ignoring Lance’s chuckle and the other three’s knowing looks shared between them, he walks as fast as he can over the hospital room.
“Oh, you must be dad.” The nurse says, he’s smiling happily. He finds Pidge sitting on the bed, looking surprised to see him as Hunk and Shiro sitting in the corner giving him thumbs up. “Sorry folks, gonna have to ask you guys to leave now. This is mom and dad time.”
“Good luck, guys,” Hunk says, clapping a hand onto Keith’s shoulder. Keith gives them both a small smile as he takes Pidge’s hand in his, standing by the bed. The door closes behind their friends and it’s just them. Keith, still sentimental from remembering the first time he felt his glorious Bumpy Boo move for the first time, is overwhelmed when he meets Katie’s eyes. He gives her one of his rare gentle smiles, and feeling a need to touch her, he pushes her bangs back from her face, her trademark honey hair, and presses a kiss to her forehead. The nurse lets out a small “aw” at the movement, which is enough to make Keith cough and push away, but he stays in place when Pidge’s hands cup his, still on her face.
“Well, as cute as this is,” the nurse begins to say, “I do have to say, it’s time to hook mom up to the IV’s to prep her for her epidural. It’ll be coming eventually, but we just want to get her started already.” He walks them through how the rest of the process as they broach the third hour of labor. Of course they don’t know when precisely the actual event is going to take place, but for the time being, Pidge can’t deny her excitement at the idea of alleviating some of the pain she’s been going through. The nurse sets them up with ease, and Keith says nothing, just watching her get hooked into the system.
“If you guys need anything, let me know,” the nurse says in parting as he gives them a little wave out the door. Once the door closes, Pidge turns to Keith with a small smile.
“Were you able to pick up the overnight bag?” She asks and he pales. Except, the tiny grin she gives him alerts him to the idea that clearly, she already anticipated that. “My mom says she’s going to stop by and pick it up, the spare key is where it should be, right?”
“Yeah,” Keith mumbles, tightening his grip on his fiancee’s small hand. Looking at her with an IV in her body, sitting on the bed, one tablet in her hand, the other in his, looking up at him with such a tender expression, he feels love fill his chest again. He wants to say that the day on the mat was the best decision they ever made, and that he wanted to be with her long before then. He’s always admired her intelligence and appreciated her quiet courage. She was never outwardly brave, but the things she did, her actions always outshone anything she could have said. She was more capable than anyone he knew, and he admired her for that.
To say he loved her from the get go would be a lie, but he always wanted to be apart of the quiet, wondrous world she lived in. Years ago, when their lips first met, he wished he’d done it sooner. They’d both dated very different people, and yet, things didn’t work out. For Pidge, it was just a matter of differences in opinion: she saw the world through numbers and many people, and some aliens, couldn’t comprehend it. They didn’t even attempt to try and be apart of her world the way she needed a permanent person to. For Keith, it came down to a matter of work-to-life ratio: when he wasn’t training recruits, he was on missions for sometimes months at a time for the Blade. A lot of partners didn’t have the patience to deal with that, so eventually, things ended. Keith wasn’t in a rush to find love or to even look for it, and there it was the whole time just waiting in the lab.
“You’re not worried are you?” Pidge says suddenly. “I’m going to be okay, the baby’s going to be okay, and we’re both very healthy according to our last prenatal check-up.” She smiles and nudges his knee with her foot. “You made me take all my vitamins and you came to all the check-ups, so you know things are progressing normally. It’s a lot earlier than usual, I know, but that’s not too out of the ordinary considering the baby’s so healthy.”
“Good genes,” he mumbles, leaning in to just tuck her under his chin. She grew maybe three max from when they were teenagers, but was still exponentially smaller than anyone he knew. When they first found out she was pregnant, that was his biggest concern. Her height and her weight was so petite, it seemed unlikely that it could grow so much. It made her potbelly in the first few months funny to her, but worrisome to him. He tried to get her to increase her nutritional intake while the doctor ensured them so long as she stuck to a strict diet on a regimented schedule, she would be more than fine. Keith made sure she stuck to said schedule with said proper food, to Pidge’s dismay. He would pop-in when she was in the bathroom washing her face to tell her she needed to eat before she headed to work, and she would scream in sheer surprise at his disruption to her normal ritual.
She rumbles happily as her fingers from her free hand clasp into his, over his chest where his heart is beating for the life they’ve brought into the world. They stay in this quiet, happy moment for a while. They aren’t the loudest, most energetic people, despite Pidge’s excited fits whenever she makes a breakthrough every now and then, and so this is fitting to their personalities. They’re different in so many ways, but similar in more, and even when they’re at their wits ends with each other, they find a way to collaborate to find a solution that meets both their needs. Keith pulls back to lean down, bending his knees, and kiss his fiancee tenderly.
“I’m glad I’m marrying you.” Pidge whispers, detaching herself, to smile up at him goofily.
“It wouldn’t be anyone else,” he mumbles. It’s shier than he means it to be, but it’s makes her heart warm in affection. She loves Keith, there’s no denying that, and she was more than overjoyed to be sharing in this part of her life with him. He tucks her hair behind her ears and is about to kiss her again, when a knock pulls them away.
“Hey,” Matt says, peeking his head in. Pidge’s grin is so wide as she waves her free hand happily. He steps in to take said hand in his. “How’re you feeling, Katherine?” She groans and rolls her eyes at the nickname. He snorts and Keith smiles at the little sibling moment.
“Little bit of pain,” she shrugs as she says this.
“Little bit? Really? What’re you,” he does his best Italian accent, “some kinda tough guy now?” They chortle a little over their inside joke. “Really, Katie, how’re you feeling?”
“It hurts, like a lot,” she admits finally, loosening her grip to let it fall to his lap, “but I miss pants.”
“You can still wear them, can’t you?”
“She can.” Keith interrupts.
“But not without Keith’s help.” She mumbles, rolling her eyes. It’s true. By the sixth month, he got tired of waiting for her to pull her maternity leggings up, and just started jerking them up her legs. She’d said he was going to be absolutely great at dressing their child, but she most definitely was not a child and did not want to feel like that.
“Think he’s gonna hover?” Matt quirks a brow and Pidge just gives him a look. They’re speaking without opening their mouths like they do every now and then, and Keith just frowns, not knowing the feeling. He has a feeling they’re talking about.
“Hey, so the party’s in here, huh?” Lance says, stepping in. “I was just telling the rest about Bumpy Boo.”
“Aw,” Pidge’s grin grows, “you told them about your wittle nickname.”
“It’s sweet.” Shiro says, coming up behind Lance just as Allura, Hunk, and Coran crowd in. Keith frowns a little at the teasing lilt in his voice.
“Pidge!” Allura shouts, moving in with Coran to embrace the smaller woman best she can. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother.” The brunette just flushes and nods in assurement.
“Want a water?” Matt says, “it’s getting a little cramped in here.”
“Yes please.” Pidge gives him a little thumbs up. He exits the room, and the Paladins are left with the happy couple. Hunk is the first one to say something after Matt's departure.
“13 years,” he says, “it’s been thirteen years since we all first met.”
“I knew you two way before that.” Lance says, he’s made it his place to sit next to Pidge on the bed.
“For what, like five months?” Pidge asks, quirking a brow.
“You didn’t know me,” Keith grins smugly, “you idolized me.”
“Not even close, pretty boy!” Lance exclaims. He stands up immediately.
“What so now you’re gonna flirt with me right in front of my future wife?” Keith makes a clicking noise, though the smug pride doesn’t leave. Pidge is laughing into her closed fist.
“And his baby,” Hunk adds.
“That’s highly inappropriate etiquette, Number Four,” Coran raises a finger. “It’s a day for celebrating the fruit of labor born of a true love that tested the trials of time, space, and everything in between.” His eyes are glowing with tears of joy and the rest of the Paladins just cringe and shake their heads at their antics. Allura, on the other hand, is nodding in sheer agreement.
“It really is a splendid time for you two,” she says.
“It’s kinda big for all of us, if you think about it,” Hunk chimes in, “this is the first baby post-Voltron, post-Zarkon, post-Earth return.” The more they all think about it, the more correct it is. After everything they’ve been through, after the long time they all spent recovering and readjusting to life after being out of the atmosphere for so long, the normalcy that’s returning to their bones, a child, a new journey is a promise that life really is getting better. Keith’s eyes meet Pidge’s and the warmth shared between them is very real and very happy.
“The first of hopefully many,” Allura beams. Hope was a name on Keith’s list of baby girl names, but Pidge wanted a name that encapsulated their cultures. They all sit in an awed silence at the prospect when a nurse pops their head in. This one is definitely not as happy or cheery as the other one, instead he wears a frown.
“It is way too crowded in here and Dr. Holt’s doctor is on her way, I suggest you clear out and into the hallway since we don’t really have a waiting room.” He says curtly before moving out.
“Buzzkill,” Lance comments, and Shiro actually nods in agreement.
“If you guys need anything, Keith can grab us from around the elevators,” Shiro says, being the first one to leave. The couple know that he’s the first one that’ll jump to help in anyway he can, especially considering the large work that Pidge put into his prosthetic arm. One by one they all left, giving parting smiles, and promising to be right around the corner if they needed anything.
They’d been with the doctor long enough that she did comment on how it wasn’t surprising the baby was almost a month before its due date. Things went as standard as they could and the couple endured a couple more hours of movement, with decreasing time between her contractions, to Keith’s concern and fear. If not for the other Paladins coming in to check-in on Pidge to comfort or ease his tension, he may have just blew up. It wasn’t until Krolia came running in that he felt any real relaxation.
“Mom,” he breathed out when she entered the door. They were on hour six and Pidge was reduced to lying flat on her back, clutching the handrail and practicing the breathing techniques they’d been assigned.
“Keith,” she took him into her arms and they hugged tightly. She pressed her fingers into his cheeks in what he felt to be a soothing touch. “Your father would be so proud if he could see you now.”
“Thanks,” he whispered. Krolia looked over his shoulder and dropped her hands from his face to take both of Pidge’s, careful of the IV in her arm.
“And my daughter,” she murmured, when Pidge’s eyes met hers there was a tenderness, a softness in her eyes, “you’re carrying the child of my child, I don’t know if you can comprehend how beautiful that is to me, or how much it means.”
“I’m honored, Krolia,” she replied, her own smile so wide, “I’m proud to be apart of your family.”
“And I yours,” she said, leaning to kiss her forehead.
Krolia and Pidge’s relationship was as familial as possible. From the moment Keith introduced her as his girlfriend, Krolia took a moment to puzzle over the prospect, before nodding and saying something about how she was surprised it was the smart Paladin.
“The Olkari are fond of this one, are they not?” She asked. Her fingers grasped at Pidge’s cheeks in curiosity, and Pidge just flushed and nodded quickly. “Then she’s of good blood. She’ll make a good mother someday, even though she is smaller than other warriors.”
“Mom!” Keith groaned. Pidge buried her face in her hands and blushed further. Krolia just shrugged as if it was normal thing to say. Krolia made it her mission to, whenever she was on Earth, spend time with Pidge by prodding around the lab asking questions, making suggestions. Keith distinctly remembers Pidge rushing into their office where he was filling out a report for the Blade of Marmora, a broad grin on her face, with Krolia in tow.
“Look at what your mom showed me!” She withdrew a blade that transformed into a bow and arrow when she pressed her thumb into the gem on it. Krolia grinned proudly, her hands on Pidge’s shoulders.
“Of course, I’ll be the one teaching her how to shoot it.” Keith’s nodded in approval, not bothering to ask how it was done, knowing that Pidge would explain it later when she was done tinkering.
Keith smiled wistfully think of this memory, a handful more just like that, though some weapons coming more dangerous than others. He ran a hand through his hair as he watched Krolia ask how Pidge was faring, and when they began exchanging pregnancy stories and Pidge’s eyes widened in fascination over the differences between Galran and human pregnancies were, he began to tune out again. He knew his mother wished she could have been around for the full pregnancy, but another mission took her away for the majority. Krolia had her own division for stealth missions that Shiro was apart of and Allura sometimes accompanied them on when she wasn’t dealing with resettling the remaining Altean population. She took pride in her work, except, it was difficult for her to get away when she wanted to. She comm’d them whenever she could, and her and she taught Pidge Glaran whenever she could to help Pidge translate and program a de-coder for certain texts that were on loan from the Blade of Marmora.
“Keith?” Pidge asked, tilting his head, “could you call my mom and dad?” She rubbed a hand over her stomach, “I think I’m almost fully dilated now.” He nodded and withdrew his rarely used phone to call his future-in-laws, who considered him just as much their son as Matt these days.
“Is my grandbaby okay?” Sam shouted, taking the phone from Colleen.
“Yes, Sam,” Colleen answered, “give the phone back.”
“Oh god, it’s really happening.” Was what Keith heard from Sam on the other line. “This is so awesome.”
“Just tell Pidge that we had some trouble getting here and finding the spare key, Sam insisted it was in the pot, but I remember you told me it was under the third brick in the fourth wall,” Colleen explained, “and we thought Pidge could use more things, too,” she added.
Krolia took her leave, saying she was going to go over her latest mission with Shiro, and promising she had the next six months off, giving a kiss to both their cheeks before leaving.
“Sounds like my dad,” Pidge said, shaking her head. Though they were well into their older years, the activity Sam exercised in his fifties and Colleen’s work as well, kept them well fit. They were more excited than the couple to become grandparents, their house full of toys, clothes, and diapers. They fully expected to have their grandchild over quite often. “You ready to become one?” Her grin turned sly. “Daddy?”
“Stop,” he groaned, rolling his eyes, and he settled onto the bed next to her. Her contractions were still killer, but she was coping with it better, just breathing and clutching the cloth of the blanket desperately whenever she needed to. “I’m as ready as I can be, I think.”
“Me too,” she said, “I know I’ve said it before, but I really do th ink you’re gonna do fantastic. I mean you’ve got me, right?”
“I do,” he said, looping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to her forehead, “I really do.”
When the Holts arrived, it was a flurry of joyous chattering. Somehow, Sam and Pidge got into a conversation about the possibility of making a device to lessen the muscle pain from contractions and the semantics surrounding it.
“I know,” Colleen started, sidling up to Keith, “you’ve been a bit of a worry-wart over how Pidge is doing, so today must be tough for you,” she chuckled a little, her arms crossed over her torso, “I remember when Matt was coming, Sam was absolutely frantic, so in comparison, you’re the picture of composure.” Keith smiled gratefully for the compliment. Colleen had been ecstatic to hear that her family was growing when they announced their engagement, Sam on the other hand, went into an overprotective mode none of them were aware that existed. Matt was even surprised when Sam insisted Keith take the Holt’s out to dinner to try and accommodate Keith to their family. About a month later, the tables turned completely, and Colleen was the one worried about how a new baby was going to fit into the picture. She introduced Krolia to baby-proofing, and before long, Pidge had to physically have Keith remove Krolia from the lab and trying to baby-proof the hard corners and beakers.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Keith confesses, “I don’t like seeing her hurting.”
“Get used to it,” she said, turning her head up to look at her future-son-in-law with a sharpness he wasn’t aware she had, “when this baby has their first fall, or their first heartbreak, you can’t just go around beating them up. That’s probably the hardest part of parenting.”
“Not being able to beat people up?” Keith asked, not sure to what she was cryptically alluding to, and in response, she shook her head.
“No, not being able to do everything for them. At some point, you have to step back and say “Okay, I’ve done all I can, now it’s up to them,” and sometimes, they’ll make that decision before you’re ready to let them go,” she looks pointedly at her daughter and they share a small laugh at her expanse.
“I guess so,” Keith says, “I’ll be alright, I think, when that day comes, I mean, I have Pidge.” The unspoken words, What more would I need? Come with it. Of course, there’s also that promise him and Pidge made to have at least another baby some point.
“Oh!” Pidge shouts, and all eyes turn to her. Dripping down her leg is blood and pooling at the foot of the bed is what Keith assumes to be amniotic fluid. “My water just broke!”
“Oh my god,” Sam started to chant as Colleen popped her head out the door to flag down a nurse.
“We’re gonna get out of your hair now,” she said, sagely taking her husband forcefully by the elbow and leading him out. “Good luck, darling!” She blew a kiss to her daughter, who threw a pained face nodded and gave her a thumbs up before Keith rushed to her side and griped her arm.
The next two hours went by in a flurry of people coming and out, and Keith was instructed by a screeching Pidge not to look below the curtain, and only look at her. He’d been changed into scrubs, and kept his hand in hers, grimacing everytime her grip tightened and her mouth let out scream after scream. She was crying and panting, and all he could do was smooth her hair back from her face, mindless to the sweat and whisper how she was doing a good job and to just breathe.
“I-I can’t push anymore,” she whimpered, her fingers now holding onto the rail, as she panted heavily, tears wetting her cheek.
“Yes you can,” Keith insisted, he took her face in his hands, “you’ve gotten so far, and we’re almost there, Pidge, we’re almost there, just a couple more times, and we’ll be holding our baby.” She shakily grabbed the collar of his shirt and kissed him forcefully. She pulled away to let out another groan as she forced her body to do that which she couldn’t.
“God if I didn’t love you so much, I’d kill you on site,” she grumbled, and he smiled. He pressed another kiss to her lips.
“I love you too.” He whispered against them. Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed, almost forgetting the moment at hand. They weren’t the type to constantly shower each other in sweet words, and he certainly wasn’t the type to say “I Love You” every day, so whenever she heard it, she relished the words and the weight behind them. “And I love this baby, and we’re going to be parents in a couple of minutes, just you wait.”
They didn’t need to. By the end of the hour, there was a loud noise, a moment of silence and then a loud cry piercing through the air. Keith took his eyes off his fiancee’s face to stare in awe at the little baby being lifted into the air.
“Oh my god,” Pidge breathed as the doctor laid the baby, tears of a different kind filling her eyes.
“Congratulations, it’s a girl,” the doctor said, “now we just wait for the placenta, clean your baby up in a jiffy, and that’s all for now. You’ll be released in two to three days depending on how you’re feeling.”
“Oh wow,” Keith said as he got a closer look at the little baby. No, his little baby girl. His throat felt tight as he reached a hand out to the little curly baby. She was pinkish and squirmy, and her eyes were still fluttering between being open and closed, but he could see the coloration of his hair decorating her head in wet little tufts. He could also the faint lines of his mother’s side on her cheeks, just like the one he had. He also noted the faint fur on her ears with their triangular and not circular shape, matted to her skin. He wanted to ask the doctor, but he was too enraptured by the curling and uncurling of her fist.
“Since she is part-Galran, she does have the marks and she may have some more traits, but the sun will cover her cheeks and her ears will probably be masked by her hair when it grows out.” The doctor said. “All-in-all, her Galran side is probably what made this a quick labor and early birth, it’s probably what’s keeping her alive too.”
“She’s beautiful and perfect,” Keith said, his hand reaching out to brush against her ears, “oh my god, Pidge she’s perfect.”
“I know right?” She breathlessly responded, her arms were tight around the baby, but she moved a hand off the still feeding baby to touch his hand. “And she’s all ours.”
After the placenta was removed and the baby as well as Pidge were cleaned up, Keith went out into the hall where their family, well they went far beyond friends at this point to him, were sitting, standing and lying. Lance was sleeping loudly against Hunk’s shoulder, Krolia and Colleen were going over the possibilities of another one, Shiro and Sam were looking at the little possible outfits they’d both bought the couple, Allura and Coran were explaining mating rituals of eternity to Matt, but the moment he popped his head out save for Lance they all turned to him.
“It’s a girl.” He breathed out, grinning widely. He’d wiped away the tears after he left his small family of two, and was just standing there, breathless and excited to introduce the rest of his family to the little part that was his very own.
Shouts of joy and excitement filled the hall and before long they were crowding the room, just looking at a Pidge cradling a little bundle to her chest.
“You look much better than I did, darling,” Colleen noted, smiling proudly as she perched herself on the bed.
“Oh my god,” Lance squealed, “you made such a beautiful baby.”
“Well duh,” Pidge countered, “with Keith and I’s genes, the likelihood this baby was going to be perfect was like,” Hunk stepped in.
“99.8%,” he finished, they shared a proud smile.
“Any names?” Shiro said, his own eyes filled with tea rs.
“Zorkaulef means beautiful, strong maiden in my language,” Krolia noted, causing the other Alteans to frown.
“In Galran, in Altean it means lame one,” Allura pouted, “what about Fausteila? It was my mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s name.”
“Yes! Queen Fausteila was renowned for her ethereal beauty and brilliance.” Coran added. Krolia frowned.
“Queen Fausteila caused the Revolution of the Sixth Age,” Coran and Allura frowned at Krolia’s note, but conceded to it being true.
“As nice as those both are,” Pidge interjected, shaking her head at Keith’s look of utter disbelief and disgust at the ideas, “we’ve gone with something a little more Earthly.”
“Really?” Sam perked up. Not that he didn’t love the new technology they were being introduced to or the alien species they were associated with, but the names were just a mouthful and no fun at all.
“Yeah,” Keith said, “her names Alessandra,” he looked over at his mother, “Alessandra Shirogane, it means defender of mankind.”
“Just like Voltron,” Allura sighed.
“Wait, everyone,” Lance shouted, he took out his phone, “we need a picture!” They all squeezed around Pidge’s bed best they could, Keith half-sitting on it with Colleen and Sam, with an arm around his fiancee and his baby girl, the rest filling in. “Say cheese baby Alessandra!”
In a magical moment, as if hearing her name was more than enough, her eyes fluttered open to reveal yellow corneas with bright ember irises, and her parents in the picture’s awestruck and surprised faces were captured perfectly in the selfie Lance took. It was the beginning picture to the scrapbook Lance would make for them, with many others of her growing out of some of her Galran features, though not losing her ears and her marks merely receding to just be kissing her cheeks. In the back of the album was her very first sonogram, and on the other side, the sonogram for her little brother almost four years after she was born.