Megatron woke up yet again to Sapphire's screaming. She was more annoying sometimes than her mommy could ever hope to be.
"Starscream," said Megatron, shaking his spark-mate. "Starscream!"
"Whuh?" Starscream mumbled, rolling onto his back but not waking up at first. But finally Sapphire's scream was loud enough that he woke up.
"Our daughter is awake again," said Megatron. "And we have to quiet her down or she's going to wake up the..."
"Mommy! Daddy!" Stars flew into the room with Megs running behind him. "Sapphire's crying! Is she hurt?"
"No, honey..." Starscream climbed out of bed yet again, looking tired. "She's probably just hungry. Or needs her diapie changed again."
"Thank goodness you two are out of diapers," said Megatron, still not leaving the bed. "Go on, Starscream, see what's wrong with Sapphire. I'll watch over the twins."
Starscream gave Megatron a scowl and went into the nursery while the twins got into the bed with Megatron. They looked so worried. Megatron knew they didn't understand why Sapphire didn't sleep through the night, even though Starscream had tried to explain that there was nothing wrong with her and that they used to do the same thing.
"Daddy, make her stop crying," said Megs, crawling onto Megatron with tears in his eyes. "I'm scared!"
"There's nothing to be scared about," Megatron told them tiredly. "I've got an idea. How about some energon goodies?"
"Mommy said no energon goodies before bedtime," said Stars. (There was a reason for this; energon goodies always made the two of them extremely hyperactive, the last thing their parents needed at night!)
"Well, I won't tell him if you won't." Megatron picked up both of them and they left.
...
Starscream was in the nursery, sitting on Megatron's office chair, watching Sapphire as she nursed contentedly. Of course, he was glad to have his new daughter, but honestly, he did need his sleep. She often woke the twins at night, too, so Megatron had to watch over them while Starscream tried to get their newborn to fall back asleep. Being a mommy was so much work sometimes.
Not to mention, the majority of the work fell on him during the day. Megatron was still the Chief Commanding Officer of the Decepticons, and he had many responsibilities. Starscream knew that he didn't just do it for the Decepticon cause anymore; now, he also did it for his family. Megatron did provide for his family, very much so. And yet...
It wasn't like Starscream sat around doing nothing all day! Ever since he'd given birth to Stars and Megs, his role as a warrior had been replaced by his role as a mother. Now it was easy for him to cable-feed and change a diaper at the same time (even though this wasn't really needed when you only had one newborn). Picking up toys, fixing meals, changing diapies, playing games, cleaning up messes...it had become a part of his life, a part of his life he liked. And it gave him more time to be a scientist, too; Megatron had the Constructicons build Starscream a mini science lab where he could work from home when the sparklings were taking their naps or were otherwise preoccupied. Starscream thought he was in a better place now than he had been in since...well...forever.
But he wished Megatron would help out with the sparklings more, sometimes. Megatron did a lot, he knew, and he had his family's best interests in mind. But why did he never change Sapphire's diapies? When was the last time he fed her a bottle? Why was it always Starscream who came to the rescue when the kids got boo-boos? Why did he never prepare dinner every once in awhile? All he fed them was junk food! "Oh, the mission was a killer," he would say. "I'm too low on fuel," he would say. "I have an important and hard job," he would say. Well, guess what? Starscream's job was important too, and hard!
Sapphire was breathing softly, no longer sucking, and Starscream figured she'd fallen asleep with the cable in her mouth again. Just to be sure, he rocked her for a few minutes, then detached her and set her back in her crib. What a beautiful sparkling.
Starscream watched her for a little, then walked back into his and Megatron's room; his spark-mate and the toddlers were gone. Oh NO...what did that idiot think he was doing now?!
...
Megatron sat on the couch, watching his twins in the kitchen, snacking on energon goodies. What was Starscream complaining about, anyway? All you had to do to keep these twins in line was feed them energon goodies! Starscream had always insisted that Megatron "did nothing." That was so far from the truth! Being the Decepticon leader, he needed to go to battle and fight the Autobots and collect energon rations and train himself vigorously and go through battle plans and reports and try to keep track of all the morons that infested his army! Starscream was in charge of three younglings; Megatron was in charge of over thirty adults who acted like younglings.
Every day Megatron did his best to keep his family afloat. Sure, Starscream took care of them when he was going to battles and missions that often lasted all day. But did Starscream know how much was placed upon Megatron's shoulders? When was the last time Starscream had helped him come up with a battle plan? When was the last time Starscream had volunteered to help him try out a new weapon or invention? When Megatron came home at night, exhausted, Starscream didn't give him a hug and fill him with a hot meal.
Instead, Megatron would come home to his toddlers running over to him at full speed, and Starscream would complain about something or other, and they would have to eat leftovers for dinner. Didn't Starscream know how much Megatron wanted to help with the sparklings? But he was exhausted and extremely stressed out. So many people wanted his job. They didn't know that it was an actual JOB. Being the boss didn't just mean that you got to order everyone around all day. It meant that you were in charge of everything and quite often needed to do everything. With great power comes great responsibility, after all. That was just the way things were.
"MEGATRON, YOU GET IN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Starscream screeched, tearing Megatron out of his thoughts. The Decepticon Commander grabbed his toddlers and made his way to the quarters he shared with Starscream, where he confronted a fuming Starscream.
"WHAT?!" Megatron yelled.
"Where were you?!" Starscream demanded. "I came into the room to discover that you were gone! What were you doing?"
"They were just getting a snack!" Megatron defended himself. "Maybe they didn't want to listen to you and your complaining!"
"Maybe their dipshit father was feeding them garbage again!" Starscream snapped back.
"Don't call me names, Starscream!" Megatron warned him.
"I've got a good mind to, you lazy-aft slagtard!" said Starscream, shoving Megatron in the chest.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Megatron hollered, grabbing Starscream aggressively by the wing.
"LET GO OF MY WING!" Starscream screeched, slapping Megatron hard and squirming out of the way. Only then did he look down at Stars and Megs, who were crying, frightened by their parents' fighting. Starscream felt his spark break.
"Starscream—" Megatron began, but Starscream just shoved him out of the way.
"C'mon, you two, we're sleeping in Uncle Skywarp's room tonight." Starscream picked up the twins and tried to soothe them, fighting back tears himself as he left the room.
When they reached the Seekers' room, where Skywarp and Stardust lived, Starscream slammed the door open and shut, dumped Stars and Megs onto Skywarp's bed, and collapsed onto his old one, sobbing hysterically.
Skywarp awoke immediately. "What's wrong, Starscream?!"
"Everything," Starscream wept. Stars and Megs were still crying. Starscream hated hearing them cry; it made him feel like he'd failed as a parent.
"Don't cry, Starscream," said Skywarp, approaching Starscream's bed and sitting next to him. "It's okay."
"No, it's not okay!" Starscream sat up and looked into Skywarp's concerned eyes. "And look—now I upset them."
"Uncle Skywarp!" Stars cried, his small wings drooping. "Mommy and Daddy hate each other!"
"Wha—?" Skywarp looked at Starscream in confusion.
"Megatron and I got into such a fight." Starscream pulled his knees up against his chest and sniffed. "I-I hate it when we fight. We…we have so much stress and—and we take it out on each other."
"Please don't cry, Mommy!" Megs looked so scared. Starscream let out another stifled sob.
"Listen, everything's going to be okay," Skywarp told the twins. "Just because your mommy and daddy fight doesn't mean they don't love each other. You two fight all the time, but I know you still love each other."
"But I just want them to be happy," Stars whimpered. "Why do they fight? Is it because of us?"
"No, of course not," Skywarp said with emphasis. "They love you both so much. But sometimes they just feel angry, and when you're angry you sometimes say things you don't mean."
"But crying is what you do when you're sad." Megs buried his face in Skywarp's helm. "Not angry."
"Sometimes everybody needs to cry," Skywarp whispered, snuggling them close in a comforting way. "Crying is good for you. It's just a way to let the sad feelings out. Why don't we go give your mommy a hug?"
Skywarp carried the twins over to Starscream's bed, and Skywarp wrapped his arms around Starscream in a comforting hug. Starscream took his twins into his arms and snuggled them close to his spark.
"I'm sorry," he told them shakily. "Everything's okay. Mommy's here."
"You two can share the empty bed, how 'bout that?" said Skywarp, picking the twins up and placing them onto Thundercracker's old bed. "When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be better, you'll see."