"Mommy, Keith took my cookies!"
"Lance started it first!"
"No I didn't, you did!"
Allura sighed and gestured to Shiro to take care of the two. She herself was sitting on the couch, too tired and exhausted to get up and help. Blame that the eight months old baby on her stomach.
"Come on, guys, cut it off," Shiro said, smiling. "Hunk will help us make some more, right, Hunk?"
"Yeah!" The five and a half years old smiled enthusiasticly, bringing out more eggs into the kitchen counter.
"You might want to be careful there, Bud," Shiro reminded him. "Keith, Lance, why don't you help Hunk? I'm going to get Matt."
"Okay daddy," The twins said in unison, racing to the kitchen to help their brother.
Shiro walked upstairs to he rooms, where he found Matt in the new baby's room, Pidge. The room was on construction, since the baby was new, but it was already painted in green and had a few baby toys laying around.
"Hey, buddy, whatcha up to?" he approached the nine years old, who was putting glowing stars on the walls.
"Hi daddy," Matt smiled. "I'm putting glowing stars on Pidge's room. Maybe she'll like space too!"
"That's great kiddo. We're making cookies downstairs, wanna come?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there daddy. I'm just going to finish putting these on," he said.
"Okay. Be right there, yeah?" Shiro said before going out of little Pidge's room. "Your brothers need you."
"Okay daddy."
Shiro made his way back downstairs, thankfully not finding the kitchen on fire. Allura was still on the couch, supervising the boys.
"Hey baby," He sat down and gave her a small kiss, in which she pushed his chest away.
"Not in front of the kids," Allura whispered desperately, but she fell for it anyway.
"You guys good?" Shiro asked the kids over to the kitchen.
"Yeah daddy!" the three exclaimed.
"Okay, good." he settled in to cuddle with Allura.
"Where's Matt?" Allura asked him as she placed her head on his chest.
"Decorating Pidge's room." He replied, playing with Allura's hair. "How you feeling?"
"Getting more kicks than usual." She smiled, patting her stomach lovingly. "She'll be okay with her brothers. Might even be better than Matt at kicking."
"First girl in the family. Would she be-"
At the same time, a loud thump could be heard from upstairs, startling the two parents.
"What was that?" Lance asked.
"Matt? Matt!" Allura attempted to rush over to her firstborn, but with the weight in her stomach, she had to slow down. Shiro rushed over before she did, leaving her behind to find his boy.
"Matt! You alright buddy?" He yelled, running over to Pidge's room.
"I'm okay daddy!" Matt assured him. He was laying on the ground, but he had a thumbs up for Shiro as a sign that he was fine.
"Oh, god, be careful, okay? does anything hurt? did you hit your head?" Shiro asked, checking every inch of his son's body to make sure he was alright.
"Daddy, I'm okay," Matt whined. "I'm just trying to put on some more stars up there." He pointed to the high section of the wall.
"You might want some help there kiddo." Shiro lifted Matt on his arms so he could put on more stars on the ceiling.
"Is he alright?" Allura asked from downstairs. Apparently she couldn't make it through the stairs without his help.
"Yeah, he's fine." Shiro replied. They decorated the room some more before another call from Allura came in.
"Sh-Shiro? You might want to come downstairs for a little bit," She called.
"Okay, just a sec," He responded, still busy with Matt and the stars. It wasn't long until a few panicked calls were heard downstairs.
"Allura? You okay baby?" Shiro asked, still in Pidge's room upstairs. He looked at Matt, who had a worried expression on his face.
"Daddy! Daddy come quick! Mommy's hurting!" Lance cried, making Shiro rush downstairs as fast as he can, with Matt behind him.
"Allura, you alright? What's wrong?" He asked, finding the three boys huddling around their mother. Allura herself was wheezing sharply, an arm around her stomach as the other gripped the couch.
"I- I don't know, I was going to rush to Matt, and then there was this pain- Oh god, Shiro Pidge is coming," Allura said betweem her short breaths.
"Wh- Pidge is coming? I thought- I thought she wasn't due until a few more weeks-"
"I don't know, I thought so too but I guess she won't wait-"
"But it's far too early-"
"Well she's clearly not waiting! The baby wants it now!" Allura was getting thin on her patience now.
"Oh, god, yeah we should seriously go to the hospital, I- I have to go get supplies," Shiro began to panic. "Wait here, sweetie, I'll be right back."
Allura groaned as Shiro ran upstairs to gather supplies.
"Mommy, are you going to be okay?" Hunk asked in a small voice.
"I'll be alright sweetheart. Help me out, yeah? Matt, can you take your brothers to the car? Don't forget to put on your windbreaker, it's cold outside," Allura said, in which the four boys nodded.
They finally got into their black nine-seated SUV, where Shiro had troubles driving. Allura had to curse four times, aloud, not to mention in front of the kids, so that Shiro could drive a bit more safely.
"We've been through this three times, god's sake, Shiro calm yourself!" Allura exclaimed.
"Well when Matt came Coran was there so it doesn't count, and there was Romelle when Hunk arrived so-"
"Just drive right, Shirogane."
"Okay."
Turns out, it was a false alarm.
Shiro was thankful, since he wasn't ready for the lack sleep for a year and the exhaustion of having a newborn baby, which Allura had also agreed. But Allura had to stay for a small bit of time in the hospital, because she'll be getting a lot of bad cramps and contractions lately.
"I'll be here for a while, Romelle will take care of the boys. Sounds good?" Shiro said when they had settled in the hospital room.
"Yeah, sounds good. Ready for another round of exhaustion, Takashi?" Allura teased.
"You?"
"Nope."
"Me neither, then."
Shiro had stayed for a little while, waiting for Coran, who was out of town. The kind old man had agreed to take care of his niece Allura for the night, meanwhile Shiro went home to take care of his boys because Romelle couldn't babysit for a whole night.
Coran had finally arrived at around nine, so it should be pretty late when he got back home.
The two story house was definetly recognized to be kid-friendly. The front yard was littered with toys all over the place. There was family members' handprints on the front door, with their names written below it.
Shiro sighed. She had wanted a big family since so long, and this was it. First came Matt, their perfectly planned firstborn, then Lance, with Keith as their unplanned adoptive son, then Hunk, and now Katie- or Pidge, as what Matt called him at first- who had unexpectedly turned out to be a girl.
His family was a blessing.
As Shiro stepped into the house, Romelle was holding a fast sleeping Hunk in her arms, Lance on the other, and then Matt, who was sleeping by the table with a lot of papers, crayons and drawings. Romelle herself was also fast asleep. Shiro wanted to wake the bunch up, but he hesitated as he saw no signs to be in a hurry.
But where was Keith?
"Romelle, hey." He whispered softly, careful to not wake up the kids. "Hey, sorry to wake you up. Where's Keith?"
"I- Keith's, he's... I don't know, he's been acting weird after we came home, then he and Lance bickered and he blew up, locking himself inside the bathroom." Romelle explained in a hushed tone. "I've tried talking to him. He said he needed some time."
"Must've been quite a while now, huh," Shiro muttered. "I hope he's feeling okay. Lets get the kids to bed first, yeah?"
"Sure."
Shirp helped to carry Matt and Lance to bed while Romelle carried Hunk. Lance and Keith was placed in the same room and had a bigger one, since they were supposedly twins.
"Daddy? can you please tell Keith I'm sorry? I was joking, and I really didn't mean to hurt his feelings," Lance said when he was about to tuck him to bed.
"Sure thing, buddy." Shiro smiled and ruffled his hair, proud to have a kind-hearted son.
"But daddy, he's been a little bit off since from the hospital," the boy added. "I want to know if he's okay."
"He'll be fine, buddy, there's no need to worry," Shiro assured. "I'll talk to him and let you know you're sorry."
"Thanks dad."
"Welcome, sweetheart. Go to sleep now." He kissed his forehead and turned the lamps off.
He walked out of Lance's room, going to the main bathroom, to where Romelle is standing.
"Will he be okay?" Romelle asked him worriedly.
"He'll be fine. I'll solve this thing, no problem." Shiro assured. "You should get going, it's late."
"You're right. Tell him I love him, yeah?" She asked.
"Sure thing." He smiled, watching as his sister-in-law walked down the stairs. "Thanks, Romelle."
"Anytime!" she exclaimed from downstairs before the door shut behind her.
"Keith?" Shiro knocked softly. "Are you alright, buddy?"
no answer.
"Keith, buddy, It's daddy. Can you please open the door?" He tried again. "Look, I know you're upset. I need to know how you're doing, yeah? Open the door for me?"
"I'm okay, daddy." Keith said, obviously lying.
"I know you're not, Keith. Look, mommy's not home, she's in the hospital, so can you help me out, bud? please?"
The door finally clicked open, revealing the black haired boy.
"Hey, buddy, what's up, huh?" Shiro asked, kneeling in front of him.
"I-I'm okay, dad. Just getting a little emotional." Keith shrugged. Shiro knew he wasn't being honest, but he would deal with that later. Right now, he just wanted Keith to feel better.
"Okay then, bud. Lance says he's really sorry," He told him.
"Yeah. I know, dad. Tell him I'm sorry too." Keith said.
Why don't you tell him that yourself, huh? He's really worried about you, you know? Aunt Romelle says I love you to you too, before she left." Shiro said. "There are a lot of people who loves you, Keith. You should remember that."
"Dp you think baby Pidge will like me too?" Keith asked.
"Sure she will. You'll be a great big brother, Just like the rest of your brothers." He smiled. "Now come give daddy a hug."
"I love you, daddy." Keith smiled while Shiro wrapped his arms around his small body.
"I love you too, Keith. "