When Tadashi awoke the next morning, he felt so warm and comfortable that he didn't ever want to leave the bed. In fact, he just lay there for a full five minutes before finally realizing that Fred and Hiro were no longer in the bed with him. A small part of him wondered if he should be worried, but logically he knew that there probably wasn't that much trouble that they could have gotten up to this early. And when he becomes aware of the sound of noises coming from the kitchen, he had a pretty good idea of what they were doing.

It took him another five minutes to actually get himself up and out of bed, and when he does he kind of half-stumbles to the kitchen (game night must have taken more out of him than he'd realized, he could only hope that Fred had made some coffee for him.)

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" the fanboy greets him when he sees the other man coming in the door.

"Morning…" Tadashi answers, fighting back a yawn.

"I thought you were never going to get up, and now that you have I'm still not sure you're actually awake," Fred chuckles.

"Shut up and don't talk to me until I've had my caffeine," Tadashi quietly grumbles, heading over to where the coffee pot was mercifully already plugged in and grabbing a mug.

"Okay, fair enough, I should know better than to try to talk to you before your morning coffee," Fred laughs.

"You should," Tadashi agrees, pouring the hot drink into his cup and gratefully inhaling the warm vapors coming off of it.

"Feeling better?" Fred asks once he's given his boyfriend adequate time to get some caffeine into his system.

"A bit," Tadashi answers with a slight smile, his mood slightly better now that he was more awake. "Thanks, love."

"Of course." Fred lovingly pecks his cheek.

"So, did you sleep okay last night?"

"Yeah, definitely! You?"

"Pretty good."

"You didn't have any nightmares?"

Tadashi was slightly surprised to hear Hiro asking the question-honestly he'd been so out of it that he'd almost forgotten that the little boy was there. Still, once he gets over his initial surprise, he answers, "None that I can remember." Wow, that really was progress-only two nights of nightmares after a pretty major trigger? Usually the dreams went on a lot longer than that-not that he was complaining, he hated those things with a fiery passion, but it was a bit unusual. He couldn't help but wonder if it was Hiro or maybe Fred who had caused the change-possibly a combination of the two.

"So, what have you guys been working on?" the engineer asks curiously, smelling something absolutely amazing coming from the oven.

"Blueberry muffins!" Hiro declares proudly. "Fred showed me how to make them!"

"Wow, that's amazing!" Tadashi beams at both of them. "I'm sure they're going to be delicious!"

"Of course they are-we made them!" Fred chuckles.

"Can't argue with that." Tadashi lightly pecks his lips.

"So, what are we doing today?" Hiro asks curiously a little while later as they sit around the table enjoying their breakfast.

"I hadn't really thought about that," Tadashi admits-in the excitement of the little boy activating introducing him to everyone, he hadn't really thought about the days ahead. As an inventor, he didn't really have a set schedule-he just worked on his inventions as inspiration struck him. But given Hiro was in the testing phase now and needed to be put into a number of different environments to see how he reacted to them, he probably needed to come up with some sort of schedule to help make sure that the proper amount of testing took place...

Yet again, Hiro surprised him by saying something completely unexpected. "Can we go to the park?"

"The park?" Tadashi repeats, momentarily caught off guard and not really processing what the little boy had said.

"Mm." Hiro nods, going slightly shy. "Y-You gave me memories of different places in the city… I've wanted to visit the park for a really, really long time, it looks like so much fun!"

"Well then, of course we can go to the park!" Tadashi answers, lovingly ruffling the toddler's hair-how could he turn down something as cute as that?

"Yeah?" Hiro grins hopefully up at him.

"Absolutely!" Tadashi reassures him.

"Can Fred come too?"

"If he wants to, sure! But I know he might be busy with his writing today so if he is-"

"Nope, I'm good!" Fred reassures them both. "I actually got a lot of work in yesterday before the party so I can at least afford a couple hours off to go with you guys!"

"Yay!" Hiro beams at him. "I like getting to spend time with both of you!"

"I like getting to spend time with you too, little guy," Fred answers with a grin.

"So, should we get going?" Tadashi asks, honestly almost as eager as Hiro now that they had their plan in place.

"Well, let's all finish getting ready for the day and then we can go," Fred gently corrects him.

"Oh, right!" Tadashi gives an embarrassed laugh at that. "Guess we probably shouldn't go to the park in our PJ's…"

"Probably not," Fred agrees, lovingly pecking his cheek before standing up. "C'mon, let's go take care of that, and then we can start our adventure!"

It was a beautiful day outside-only a few fluffy white clouds in the bright blue sky, a soft breeze making the day pleasantly cool. If the weather hadn't been as nice, they might have driven to the park, but as it was they decided to just walk the short distance. Tadashi still couldn't help but worry a bit about Hiro getting worn out since he hadn't charged again the previous night and the little boy was used to being carried most places since the older man was so overprotective of him. But then the engineer forces himself to remember that Hiro had done just fine when they'd gone shopping for groceries and clothes the day before when he'd been on a similar amount of charge and so he would probably be fine. He'd just have to make sure to charge him when they got home (and he makes a mental note to start working on that portable charger as soon as he can.) As it was, Hiro seems to really enjoy the walk, marveling at all the unique houses and yards that they passed (it was an older neighborhood, so some of their older neighbors had very interesting ideas about decorations, like Ms. Richardson who had a lawn full of gnomes she had collected from all over the world.) And the little boy practically had a system overload when they passed someone walking their dog-he'd never met an actual animal before (Tadashi realized that he still needed to introduce him to Mochi, Aunt Cass' cat), and so encountering a big german shepherd that was as tall as he was was both awe inspiring and, admittedly, just a tiny bit terrifying him. The nice man walking the dog, though, reassured him that his furry friend (who had the unique name of "Chopper") was just a big teddy bear, even though he was a retired police dog. Hiro honestly still wasn't sure how to react to the animal, but when the dog starts playfully licking his face he can't help but giggle and smile. Soon they were happily playing with each other, and Tadashi feels like his heart was glowing watching the cuteness. Still,he knew that the other man probably had places to be and so he gently reminds the little boy of that. Hiro was sad to have to leave his new friend, but he didn't put up too much of a fuss, just hugging the dog goodbye before willingly continuing on with Fred and Tadashi to the park.

The playground was, to Tadashi's mind, fortunately pretty empty when they got there-as much as he knew socializing with other kids was probably a good thing for Hiro to be doing as an emotional companion, he didn't want him getting overwhelmed. As it was, the little boy seemed a bit nervous at first as the two older men lead him around the playground, showing him how everything worked, sticking close to Tadashi and even once hiding behind his legs if someone got too close. This was something the engineer hadn't accounted for-Hiro was perfectly at ease when interacting with adults, but when it came to children his own age apparently he was a lot less outgoing. Either that was an oversight in his design, or maybe he just took after his maker a lot more than Tadashi had intended (the older man had always been more at ease around adults than children in his own age when he was growing up too.) Still, it seemed like the other kids on the playground weren't having that-as far as Tadashi could tell, the majority were all from one family since a good number of them kept running up to one set of parents to talk to them about the million things that kids feel necessary to tell their caretakers while at the playground (that they'd skinned their knee, that their brother was picking on them, that yet another brother was trying to eat dirt because a different brother had dared them to-the fun things that children get up to.) Both parents took all of this in stride and with exceptionally good grace, making Tadashi almost envy their parenting skills-he couldn't help but wonder how they managed so many kids with such apparent ease, especially given he was pretty sure most of the kids weren't biologically theirs just based on how different they all looked. Whatever the case, all of the kids seemed really happy together, even if they were fighting like siblings often did, and all of them seemed to be showing at least some sort of interest in the shy newcomer. The one little girl in the group seemed especially curious, and eventually she makes her way across the playground and over to Hiro, an adorably determined look on her face.

"Hi!" she says when she reaches the other little boy.

"Hello…" Hiro answers shyly, one of his hands curled up in the fabric of Tadashi's jeans.

"I'm Katie, but everyone calls me Pidge," the little girl introduces herself. "What's your name?"

"Hiro…" Hiro replies quietly.

"Do you want to play with me?" Pidge asks-apparently she was extremely direct with what she wanted (she almost reminded Tadashi of GoGo a little bit.)

"Um…" Hiro turns to the two older men standing behind him for guidance.

"Hey, you should go-have fun, make some new friends!" Fred says encouragingly.

"Dashi?" Hiro looks to the engineer for confirmation.

"If you want to play, you can definitely go play," Tadashi reassures him.

"O-Okay…" Hiro still looked a bit uncertain, but by now Pidge was eagerly tugging on his hand and so he follows her across the playground to where all of the kids that were assumedly her siblings were waiting for the two to join them. Almost as soon as the pair reached them, the other children took no time in introducing themselves and then inviting Hiro to play tag with them. The little robot seemed nervous when he admitted that he didn't really know how to play, and Tadashi couldn't help but be worried that the others might make fun of him for lacking in what was to them probably very basic knowledge. But, to his great relief and almost amazement, instead of reacting negatively, the other kids actually seem excited to get to teach Hiro the rules of the game, and within minutes they were all playing it together, several of the kids pairing up with the newcomer to make sure that he didn't get tagged "it" right away and feel frustrated.

"See?" Fred says to his boyfriend standing next to him, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. "He's doing fine-you can breathe now, love."

"Sorry." Tadashi flashes him an apologetic smile. "But can you blame me for being a bit worried about him?"

"No, and it's sweet," Fred reassures him. "Just try to relax-it's a beautiful day, he's happy, we should be enjoying this."

"You're right," Tadashi sighs, forcing himself to take a deep breath before gently curling his hand around his boyfriend's.

"Of course I'm right," Fred answers playfully. "I'm always right!"

"Not always," Tadashi replies, rolling his eyes slightly, "but most of the time."

"I would argue that, but I'll take what I can get!" Fred laughs.

"A wise decision," Tadashi chuckles, lovingly pecking him on the cheek before going back to happily watching Hiro. He got so caught up in watching the little boy that he didn't notice the woman standing near him and Fred, also watching the children on the playground with a warm smile, until she finally turns to him and says,

"I'll take it the little one in the blue t-shirt is yours?"

"What? Oh, yes," Tadashi answers-it took him a moment to realize that she was actually talking to him, but once he did he knew that he needed to be polite, even if he wasn't much better at talking to strangers around his own age than Hiro was.

"He's certainly cute," the woman says with a warm smile.

"Thank you!" Tadashi grins back at her-despite his social awkwardness, any compliment about the little boy was sure to get someone on his good side.

"Is one of those little guys yours?" Fred asks curiously, looking out at the children on the playground.

"Oh, no," the woman replies with a quiet sigh, a wistful look on her face. "My husband and I have tried, but thanks to an injury I sustained back when I was flying planes in the air force, it's just… not possible for us to have a child of our own."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Tadashi gasps, eyes going wide.

"Don't be." the woman hurries to reassure him. "It's the sort of risk that comes with being in the service. I'm grateful for everything I was able to do to help innocent people stay safe during my time in the air force, and I couldn't be prouder of my husband for being willing to go out every day and help protect this city as on officer. If some sacrifices had to be made, well… it's not the end of the world. We've talked about adoption, and we both like the idea of maybe giving a deserving kid a good home. We haven't found a place that feels 'right' just yet, but we're still hopeful."

"You should be!" Fred says with a warm smile. "That's amazing-both about both of you being in the service and wanting to adopt! You are two seriously incredible people!"

"Oh, no, we're not, we're just doing what we think is right," the woman answers, looking slightly embarrassed by the praise.

"It's still amazing!" Fred declares.

"Thank you…" The woman flashes him a small smile before glancing back out at the playground, smiling as she sees Hiro, who was now It, chasing happily after the other children.

"If you don't mind my asking…" she says slowly, "Did you two… adopt your son? I'm sorry if that's prying in any way! It would just be nice to have someone to talk to who's already been through the process."

"That's… Kind of a long story," Tadashi answers slowly, knowing that the answer was complicated for more than one reason-number one being that Hiro was a robot and he wasn't sure how exactly to just bring that up in the conversation, and number two being that it sounded like she thought he and Fred were married (an easy assumption to make, given they were at the park with a child, but still something he wasn't sure how to address because a) he didn't want to make her feel bad for making an honest mistake, and b) he honestly had no idea where Fred was standing on the whole marriage thing right now and he didn't want to say anything that might make things awkward between them by talking about the slightly unstable current state of their relationship.)

Just as his brain was about to combust from trying to come up with a half decent answer, Hiro came to his rescue-although this time it seemed less planned than just a lucky coincidence. The little boy came up to him, his eyelids drooping slightly, and gently tugs on the leg of the older man's pants, saying softly, "Dashi? I'm really tired…"

"Oh my gosh, Hiro, are you okay?" Tadashi asks, instantly concerned, crouching down to the little boy's level and taking his tiny hands in his own.

"Mm…" Hiro nods slowly. "Just sleepy…"

"Aw, poor little guy." Fred gently ruffles the toddler's hair before turning the woman standing next to him and saying quickly by way of explanation, "Guess he must have played a little too hard out there-probably needs to go get in a good nap."

"Oh, of course!" The woman smiles sympathetically down at the little boy. "I'm sorry if I took up too much of your time, I should let you go so you can get him home."

"No, no, don't feel bad, we had a great time talking to you!" Tadashi answers quickly, his main focus on wanting to take care of Hiro but also finding a small idea starting to form in the back of his brain. "Would it be too much to ask if maybe I could get your phone number? I know you have some questions about Hiro that we didn't get a chance to talk about, and it would be nice to get to actually know some of my neighbors if you actually live in the area…"

"That would be great, actually!" The woman grins at him and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a business card that read "Hera Syndulla-Jarrus". "This has my home and cell number."

"Wonderful!" Tadashi quickly tucks her card into his pocket before handing her one of his own.

"Hopefully we can talk again soon," he says as he scoops the now extremely sleepy looking Hiro up into his arms.

"I definitely look forward to hearing from you!" Hera answers, waving as the two men start to make their way away from the playground and back towards home.

"Can I ask what all of that was about?" Fred asks softly as they walk away. "I mean, as much as I'm all for making new friends, I don't know if we should get her hopes up about talking about adoption if we honestly have no experience with that…"

"I honestly wasn't thinking about adoption," Tadashi admits.

"So, what? You're thinking of making them a HIRO too?" Fred says, meaning it as a joke, only for his eyes to go wide as the truth dawns on him. "Oh my gosh… You're thinking about making them a HIRO, aren't you?"

"The idea crossed my mind, yeah," Tadashi admits. "I mean, they've both been in the service-just going by what she said about her injury, I can almost guarantee at least one of them could benefit from having an emotional companion. I need to test the HIRO design out in more than one home environment, and it might do both of them some good… I definitely won't force it on them if it's not something they want, but it couldn't hurt to at least make the offer, right? ...What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You," Fred answers, leaning over and lovingly pecking his forehead, "are incredible, you know that?"

"W-What makes you say that?" Tadashi flushes bright pink at the praise.

"Are you kidding me? You just met someone maybe ten minutes ago who you think is in need of help, and you're already thinking of investing a bunch of time and energy into making something just to make their lives better? How is that not incredible?!" Fred cries.

"I-In all fairness, it won't be as hard the second time around since I already built one HIRO and worked out the bugs in his system, and I do need people to test out different HIRO's…" Tadashi mumbles.

"You are amazing and even if you can't see it, I do, and I don't want anyone trying to talking down my boyfriend, not even-no, especially not himself," Fred declares firmly.

"O-Okay," Tadashi finally agrees, still blushing but gently nuzzling up against his boyfriend as they make their way down the sidewalk, Hiro safely curled up in his arms. "I won't, then."

"Good!" Fred grins and pecks his cheek. "I love you insanely much, you know that?"

"Yeah," Tadashi answers, happily pecking him back. "I do."