"And don't run off too far, or I'll put the harness back on you!" Shiro shouted as Lance ran up ahead of the others, still eating his ice cream. He had been holding the boy back all day. He knew the kid needed to blow off some steam so he decided to let him go in an area he knew Lance knows well.
"Dad, I'm 8. I don't need the harness to begin with." He said with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
"I'll believe that when you stop disappearing on me." Shiro said, ruffling the boy's hair. The park was quiet this time of the day. He lifted Pidge from his shoulders and carefully set her down in the sandbox before taking a seat on a nearby bench from which he could easily keep an eye on his kids.
Except for Lance.
Shit.
"It's okay, kitty. I'm not gonna hurt you." Lance said as he slowly reached for the cat with hands that were still sticky from the ice cream. The cat didn't seem to be the least bit worried, almost immediately nuzzling into Lance's hand. Lance carefully picked the cat up, keeping one arm around her torso and the other under her legs and ran back to the playground in the park. The cat had short, thick fur that seemed to have a blue sheen over it and bright, yellow eyes that followed him everywhere. "Dad! Look what I found!" Oops… Lance's face fell as soon as he saw the expression on his dad's face.
"Lance, what did I tell you about running off without telling me?"
"That I shouldn't do it…" Lance pouted.
"Then why did you do it?"
"I heard this cat… It was stuck under a box with a brick on top of it! I felt so bad for it, so I set it free. I think it likes me! Can we take it home, dad? Pleeeeaaaaaase?"
Shiro let out a deep sigh "okay, fine. But because Katie can't stay with us all the time, the three of you will have to take care of it on your own. Understood?"
"Understood!"
And that's how it was for the next two days. Lance, Keith and Hunk took care of Blue together and Pidge played with her as she came and went. She seemed to calm the boys down a lot, making Shiro's job a lot easier. Things were finally looking up for the Shirogane household until Hunk showed up at the dinner table.
"Has anyone seen Blue?" he asked.
"No," said Keith, "but I saw an open window in the living room. Maybe she escaped through there."
"Can we go look for her, dad? Please?" Hunk pleaded.
"I'm not sure, guys… Dinner is almost ready. Can't we wait?" Shiro asked, hopeful they would say yes.
"No!" the smallest of the four piped up, "The longer she's out there, the further she can wander." Pidge crossed her arms sternly, "Besides, I opened the window. I'm sorry I let the cat escape…" She then looked up to Shiro with the biggest, cutest doe eyes she could muster, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance.
Shiro sighed and turned off the stove. "Okay. Let's go."
It took them about half an hour to come back to the exact same alley where Lance initially found Blue. With Shiro's permission the kids split up, looking for her in the surrounding alleys. Lance stayed there to search through the boxes and trash cans. "Heeeere, kitty, kitty, kitty. C'mon, Blue, give me a sign!"
Then he heard it, a shrill meow, followed by very content purring. Lance whipped around to find his cat in the arms of a beautiful woman with electric blue eyes, smooth, dark skin and wavy, pearly white hair, probably only one or two years younger than Shiro.
"Have you been taking care of Blue while she was away?" She asked. Lance could only nod, completely taken by her beauty and friendliness. "Don't you think it's funny we both gave her the same name?" When she giggled, Lance could feel his heart jump in his chest. He was so sure. He knew she was the one. Without any hesitation, he sprinted toward the alley he knew Shiro was searching in.
"Dad! Dad, you need to come with me, right now." Lance said, pulling on his arm, taking him back to the white haired woman. By the time they made it there, the others had already arrived. The woman left Blue in the careful arms of Hunk, who allowed Pidge and Keith to pet her too, and looked up at Shiro.
"I'm, uh, sorry. We didn't know Blue was your cat." Shiro said, scratching behind his ear. "If we'd known she belonged to anyone we wouldn't have taken her home."
"No!" she said "If anything, I'm glad you and your family took care of her these last few days. My neighbor, he doesn't exactly like my cats because they always play in his flower bed, so sometimes he sets up traps for them around the neighborhood. If your son hadn't found her, I don't know what would have become of her. I'd like to thank you."
"That won't be necessary—"
"My uncle always cooks far too much for dinner. It's 6:30, and you look like you haven't eaten yet. I insist."
The woman introduced herself as Allura. A very fitting name, Shiro thought, for this woman who appeared to be a Lady in every single possible way.
"Uncle Coran, I'm home! I brought some friends over for dinner."
"Friends?" a head poked through the doorway to the kitchen. The man was probably in his late forties, but despite that there wasn't a single gray hair to be found on his head or in his thick mustache. He smiled brightly at this strange new man and the children surrounding him and ushered them into the kitchen. "Go on, pick a seat! Make yourselves at home. You're lucky I made extra. We're having macaroni bolognese."
"Great!" Hunk said as he hopped into a chair at the dinner table "I'm starving."
"It's been ages since we last had pasta too." Keith added.
Shiro turned to the man he earlier heard Allura call Coran as the kids chattered away at the dinner table. "I'm really sorry for intruding like this, but your niece was very persistent." He said with a sheepish smile on his face.
"Don't worry about it, son. It doesn't happen every day that she brings home a nice, responsible young man like yourself. Name's Coran, by the way." The mustachioed man said with a wide grin on his face.
Shiro frowned slightly, but that did little about the blush growing on his face "I really don't think she brought us here because of that. I'm Takashi. Or Shiro. That's what everyone calls me anyway."
Coran chuckled, "I'm sorry. Maybe I went a little over board there. Though, if I'm completely honest, she could use a friend like you." They watched Allura serving the kids their dinner.
"You know, Coran…" Shiro said as he looked at Allura having fun with his kids "I think I could use a friend like her too." And with that, he sat down at the table and joined the conversation, not noticing Coran smiling fondly at him.
You can read more about how I'm using the show's characters here! u/106342194/single%20dad%
I'm planning to write more for this AU after this intro fic! I have a few abstract ideas, but you can always message me with suggestions or ideas right here, on my tumblr (surfingthewavesoffeminism), DeviantART (hat-and-goggles) or twitter (hatandgoggles)!
Next chapter: the quest for Allura's cats!
