Starscream awoke again to a ray of sunlight shining through his window. Stardust was sleeping in her crib, and the twins were still in Thundercracker's bed, snoozing away. Skywarp was in the bathroom—probably just having his morning time again, Starscream thought."Well, good morning," Megatron said, smiling. "I thought you were never going to wake up."
"Megatron?" Starscream stared at Megatron, who was sitting by the side of the bed in a chair, holding Sapphire and rocking the little femme gently. She was wearing the giant blue bow Starscream's mother had knitted for her, and Megatron had swaddled her in her matching knit blue blanket (yes, also a gift from her grandmother).
"I thought I would take care of Sapphire this morning," Megatron explained. "I fed her a bottle, and now she's sleeping."
"What caused this change of spark?" Starscream asked.
"Well, I was thinking," said Megatron, "and now I know that I haven't been appreciating you as much as I should be."
"W-What do you...?" Starscream was shocked, but Megatron wasn't done.
"So that's why I've decided to give you the whole day off," Megatron continued. "I've even booked you an appointment to get a good wing-buffing. Go flying with Skywarp and Thundercracker, go shopping, work in your science lab, I really don't care. You just can't do any work."
"But who will take care of the sparklings?" Starscream asked, feeling worried.
"I was just getting to that," Megatron replied. "I turned my Decepticon leader duties over to Soundwave today, and I'm going to spend the whole day with the kids. They need more time with their daddy."
"Oh, Megatron." Starscream felt his spark in his throat. "You have no idea how much that means to me."
"Starscream, your job is much harder than mine," said Megatron, remembering his crazy dream. How Starscream had not lost his marbles yet, Megatron did not know.
"Don't be silly," said Starscream, smiling weakly and gesturing to Sapphire. "Look who my boss is."
"Seriously, though," said Megatron. "Taking care of three younglings is no walk in the park."
"N-No, Megatron. I used to want to lead the Decepticons, but..." Starscream laughed. Even though he now knew it had only been a dream, he could still almost feel that cramp from the training session. "Now I'm not so sure."
"It sounds so exciting and prestigious," Megatron agreed. "But being the Decepticon leader is actually pretty boring."
"And hard!" Starscream told him. "I don't feel like facing Optimus Prime head-on just yet, especially since I realized I'm not exactly in tip-top shape anymore."
"You'll always be perfect, Starscream," said Megatron, wrapping his arms around his Seeker. Starscream loved the feeling of Megatron's strength protecting him instead of hurting him. Now he knew how Megatron got that strong! Once they had separated, Starscream became a little more serious, recalling what he had told Skywarp last night.
"Listen, Megatron," Starscream said. "It's no secret that we both have a ton of stress in our lives. But...but I think it's a problem when we take it out on each other."
"Well, that's what married couples do," said Megatron, smiling slightly.
"We're not married," said Starscream, giving Megatron a weird look.
"You might want to check your finger," said Megatron, nodding his head in the direction of Starscream's hand.
Starscream held up his left hand and stared in shock. On his finger was a beautiful ring, colored deep blue, gleaming in the early morning sunlight.
"You're shitting me," Starscream whispered, his voice hoarse.
"I shit you not." Megatron held Starscream's hand and sighed. "That's why I've been so exhausted lately. I'm having the Constructicons build a gazebo type-thing for the festivities, and of course they can't do anything right. I've been working almost triple-time to get enough energon cubes to pay for everything, and Shockwave isn't always so reliable on sending supplies all the way from Cybertron. You ever tried interstellar banking? And I don't know how many guests we'll need, and it's been so hard to keep it a secret, I just..."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Megatron?" Starscream asked, still staring at his ring. It was all he could do to get the words out.
"Will you marry me?" Megatron asked, bending down and staring into Starscream's eyes.
Starscream returned the gaze, and he had to let out a quiet chuckle. Megatron did look exhausted, almost fatigued, but still hopeful as his eyes drifted over to the deep-blue ring. Silly Megatron, working so hard. Just for him.
"Of course I will, Megatron," Starscream laughed, wiping away tears as his shock and amazement suddenly burst open and gave way to happiness and the kind of slap-happy, giggly euphoria that you only get when life throws something truly amazing your way. They both had awakened from nightmares to enter a dream that the two of them shared. "I-I love you, big guy."
"I love you too," Megatron whispered. "So much."
"And this ring is amazing," Starscream continued, pulling away for a little and looking at the engagement ring. Then his eyes squinted, and he looked a little closer. "Is this...is this sapphire?"
"Yes," Megatron told him gently. "You see, that was my mother's engagement ring. My father got it custom-made. When she was on her deathbed, she was too weak to take it off her finger, so I did so for her. I remember she told me, 'Keep this ring. Keep it until you meet someone who means as much to you as you do to me.'"
"And then what?" Starscream breathed.
"And then she died," Megatron told him. "Of course I never pawned the ring, even when I really needed money, because it was all I had left of her. But I honestly thought I would never find someone to give it to."
"Your mother said to keep it until you found someone worthy," Starscream told him quietly. "And...and you chose to give it to me?"
"I think she'd agree with my choice," Megatron replied, and that was when Starscream truly started bawling. Megatron was surprised at first when Starscream threw his arms around his fiancé's neck, but then he broke into a grin as he stroked the back of Starscream's helmet, trying to comfort him just a little bit. That was one thing he had always liked about Starscream; no matter what he was feeling, he would always display such a show of raw expression. Megatron supposed that was characteristic of most Seekers in general, but Starscream was one of the few Seekers he could tolerate. Sapphire, fast asleep, was cradled in one of Megatron's arms, while Starscream was squirming in the other, still sobbing deliriously.
Can this be happening? Starscream was thinking to himself. This is happening. This is real. I've never felt so alive!That was when he felt someone tap him on the back.
"Mommy?" It was Stars, hovering in the air, with Megs standing on the bed right behind him. It seemed they had woken up and noticed Starscream's waterworks.
"We'll make it all better, Mommy," Megs said, looking concerned. "Don't be sad."
"Sad." Starscream pulled both squirming, bewildered toddlers into his arms and started crying all over again, this time laughing through his tears. "Oh, honey, I've never felt so happy in all my life."
-the end-
