Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron!

A/N: This is a far-future post-war Plance family AU. Pidge and Lance got married when they were 22 and 24 respectively, started a family when Pidge was 25, and now they have four kids: Kai (9), Garett (8), Ferro (8) and Lis (6). Ferro was adopted, and he just happens to be an alien. This short story is definitely going to be a part of a big series…

Face the Day

The early morning quiet of the Alvarez-Holt household was destroyed by a delightful homemade alarm clock that sounded like a tortured trumpet playing its last high notes accompanied by its best friend, a dying foghorn. The family space dog Mulligan joined in with his melodious howling while a few of the other pets joined in with screeches, whistling, and piping.

Upstairs, Lance rolled over and tickled the back of Pidge's neck. "Go deal with your son."

"Are you talking about the dog or the kid?" she mumbled. Scooting away from him, she grabbed a couple pillows and stared to pile them on top of her head.

"Oh, no, you don't," Lance said, leaning over her and tugging at one of the pillows, "You're the one that keeps encouraging these Rube Goldberg nightmares, so you can clean up the aftermath."

Pidge pushed the pillow against Lance's face and sat up, poking him in the chest. "And you're the one that keeps bragging about your inventor son and buying the connector sets, you enabler."

Lance grinned. "He gets it from you, which means it's still your fault. So, tag, Katie, you're it." He stole a kiss from his wife, and then jumped out of bed and dashed for the bathroom before she could retaliate. Morning-time Pidge was a lot slower than regular Pidge, but her level of stubbornness never changed.

Grumbling, she flopped back against the mattress and waited for the kids to show up. It was a given under the circumstances. This time she heard them before she saw them.

"Turn it off, Kai!"

"You're murdering our ears! Especially mine. This is hearing homicide!"

"Kaaiiiii!"

The door opened, and Mulligan trotted in, Lis and Ferro rushing in right behind him. The massive dark green dog-like creature jumped up onto the mattress, making it dip under his weight. He put his head in Pidge's lap and looked at her with his pitiful indigo eyes, obviously disliking the noise as much as the kids did. Smiling, she ruffled his fur and scratched behind his short little horns.

"Mom, Kai won't turn off his alarm, and it's going to kill Ferro's ears," Lis said dramatically. She climbed up onto the head and draped herself over Mulligan's back. "And he needs his ears."

Pidge looked over at Ferro, who was holding stuffed animals to his impressively large ears. It had taken her a long time to decide on what his ears looked like, but she had come across a picture of a Townsend's big-eared bat and settled on the comparison. They were very flexible and right now he had them folded down help to muffle the noise.

"It's not going to kill his ears," Pidge said, reaching over to affectionately brush her fingers through her daughter's dark brown curls. Tiny and petite, Lis had Lance's darker skin and his family's naturally curly hair but she took after her mother in the rest of her looks. Her eyes were darker than Pidge's though, a deep, warm brown.

"Feels like ear death," Ferro said. He sprang up onto the bed and burrowed into the pillows, covering himself until only the golden puff on the end of his long tail was visible.

The alarm cut off abruptly, leaving only the sound of Garett's disgruntled pets. Still, it was so much better than the siren that Pidge, Ferro, Lis, and even Mulligan gave a collective sigh.

Ferro's teal and gold head popped out of his makeshift pillow fort, his almond-shaped maroon eyes trained on Pidge. "Is it over?" Ferro was a Kyfrin, so he looked a little different than the rest of the family. He had short teal fur that was striped with gold and dappled with white spots. He also happened to be the tallest of the kids even though he was technically the second youngest.

"Seems like it," Pidge said. She yawned and leaned into Mulligan, finding it hard to wake up even though it would be impossible to go back to sleep now that the kids were awake. Plus, she needed to have a serious talk with her and Lance's oldest about his alarm clock that had been forged in the sinister fires of family disturbance.

Now that the alarm was off, they could all hear Lance singing away in the shower. It was a Spanish pop song, and Lis immediately started humming along with her dad's honestly fantastic voice.

The sound of scuffling drifted into the room, clashing with the song, and Pidge guessed that Kai and Garett were wrestling their way up their stairs. Sure enough, the two of them tumbled into the room, rolling across the carpet as Kai tried to put Garett into an headlock.

"Get him, Garett!" Ferro cheered, jumping up to stand on the mattress.

"Dumb," Lis said, not bothering to move from her comfy spot against Mulligan's back.

"Break it up, this isn't a wrestling ring," Pidge said, "We haven't even sold tickets." They bumped into the dresser, almost knocking off a lamp. She picked up a pillow and tossed it at her sons, catching Kai in the side. The two of them broke apart and Garett snatched up the pillow to hit Kai a second time.

"I'm going to break something, like that stupid alarm clock," Garett said, frowning at his brother, "You woke up every animal I have! And the Reastruis needs to rest during the day, it just went to sleep!"

"Then your weird bird can go right back to sleep," Kai said, waving away his brother's concerns. A huge grin scrawled across his face as he looked at his mom. "It's awesome, look, it got everyone awake! And it started breakfast."

"Wait, that thing started the coffee pot?" Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," Kai said proudly. Tall and lanky for his age, Kai had messy brown hair with a slightly red tint to it, a charming crooked smile, and dark blue eyes. His skin tone was somewhere directly between Pidge and Lance's, but he had a nice smattering of freckles across his nose and arms.

Pidge glanced over at Garett. "Sorry, kiddo, you're not allowed to destroy it just yet."

"That's not fair, using Mom's weakness," Garett snapped at Kai.

A little shorter than his brother, Garett had wavy light brown hair, Lance's blue eyes, and a skin tone that was a few shades darker than Kai's but not quite the same color as Lis'. He had a few band-aids on his arms and legs from encounters with wild animals, and he had a scar on his right cheek from a gouge he had gotten from a grumpy clawed critter a few months ago.

"If it catches the kitchen on fire, then we'll talk," Pidge said.

Now that the sparring match was over, Ferro sat down beside her and leaned into her side. She looped an arm around him, giving him a hug. Ferro had been affection-starved when they adopted him three years ago, so they all did their best to make him feel extra loved.

Garett and Kai continued to bicker even as they climbed up onto the bed and settled in beside their siblings, mom, and space dog. Ferro added in his own opinions on the alarm clock, ones that Kai didn't want to hear, and Lis dropped off asleep again, showing off her skill in the I-Can-Sleep-Anywhere-Anytime area.

The door to the bathroom flew open, letting out a cloud of steam that wafted out, heralding Lance in a pair of jeans but currently shirtless. He had a towel wrapped around his head, and he was whistling. The fact that all the kids and the dog were piled on the bed didn't faze him, even when Garett and Kai both started fussing all over again now that they had a new and potentially sympathetic audience.

"Dad, tell Kai that he can't have that stupid alarm clock."

"Dad, tell Garett that he's a Luddite!"

"Kai, don't use that word in this house," Pidge scolded, as if calling someone anti-technology was worse than any actual curse word.

"Besides, it's too early for SAT word insults," Lance said, "So shush your faces."

Grabbing a shirt from the floor, he yanked it on before dropping down beside Pidge, gathering her to him as he settled against the headboard. He pressed a kiss to her neck and then leaned forward to grab Ferro. He plunked his son down on his other side then snagged Lis. He gently tugged her closer, making sure to not wake her up, before pulling both Garett and Kai over by their ankles. Once he was properly surrounded, he smiled and let his head rest against Pidge's. "This is better."

For a blissful moment, everyone sunk into the comfort of their family. Sure, sometimes they fought and argued, sometimes they had bad days, but they were still close-knit and loved each other.

"You guys do know it's almost eight o'clock, right?" Kai said.

And the peaceful moment exploded as Lance and Pidge realized that it was Monday, not Sunday, and they were running behind by thirty minutes and everyone was going to be late.

So much for a lazy morning.