Love all the support!

Units of time as I use them:

Astrosecond= .273 seconds

Klik= 1 minute

Joor= 3 hours

Cycle= 1 day

Breem= 1 week

Groon= 1 month

Stellar cycle= year

Meta cycle= 5 years

Deca cycle= 10 years

Orn= century

Vorn= 5 centuries

:underline:- spark twins talking

:bold:- bonded mechs talking

:italics:- comm link

Don't own Transformers!

Chapter 11

The following morning, Optimus came out of recharge to the sensation of warmth in his arms. He onlined his optics and glanced down to find Springer and Lightshow were both cuddled up against his chest plates, deep in recharge. The Prime allowed a content, loving smile to cross his lips at the sight of two of his creations snuggled up against. He hadn't thought this would happen for him. He then raised his optics to see that Ratchet was still in the berth as well, and he knew that Hot Rod was on the other side of Ratchet, most likely snuggled up against his carrier.

It had been the middle of the night when Optimus had been roused from recharge by Ratchet, who had merely motioned to the three younglings who were peering into the room at the door. Optimus hadn't cared that the younglings wanted to recharge with them and had been amazed at just how quickly the three had ran over to them and climbed into the berth as well. Optimus had been forced to release his hold on Ratchet as Springer and Lightshow immediately settled down between their creators while Hot Rod had chosen to recharge on the other side of Ratchet.

Optimus hadn't thought that he would ever be awakening to his family in the berth with him, but he was thrilled that he was experiencing that feeling for the first time. And he hoped he would be able to experience it a great deal more.

The Prime had chosen to simply lay there and enjoy the fact that his family was there with him for the time being. He could afford to remain in the berth for a while longer.

"How did you recharge?" Ratchet suddenly asked.

Optimus was surprised as he had thought that Ratchet was still in recharge. "Well, actually. Better than I have in a long time." He pursed his lips before asking, "How long have you been out of recharge?"

"About half a joor." Ratchet answered.

Optimus was a bit surprised by that. "That long?"

Ratchet chuckled. "It's not the first time, either. When you're raising three younglings, you learn to recharge as late as you can every chance you get. Once they get up, you get up."

Optimus supposed that he would learn that himself in the coming cycles. He had to admit that he was looking forward to that.

Ratchet slowly shifted until he was able to move Hot Rod out of his arms and then the medic managed to get out of the berth without rousing his son from recharge.

Optimus himself moved out of the berth, taking care to not disturb Lightshow and Springer as he did so. He watched as the three younglings seemed to cuddle up to each other with the loss of their creators' warmth.

Ratchet then left the room quietly with Optimus following him.

"Do they recharge with you often?" Optimus asked curiously.

"No. In the early days of their younglinghood they did, but not now. Mostly this came from simply being in an unfamiliar place." Ratchet smiled. "Other than that, the only time they recharge with me is when they are ill."

Optimus couldn't say he minded it. He went over to the dispenser before he got two cubes of energon and handed one of them to Ratchet. "How did you recharge?"

"Well, actually. I was rather tired from all the bots I met yesterday." Ratchet took a sip of his energon. "And I know that I am nowhere near done."

"No. I thought you could meet the rest of the family today. I'm sure your brother and sister are going to want to see that you're alive as are my creators." Optimus smiled. "And I'm certain that they would like to meet their grand-creations as well."

Ratchet smiled as well. "I suppose they will." He took another sip of his energon. "And considering the fact that they didn't want to leave yesterday, I get the feeling that I'll be seeing a lot of Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen."

"Indeed. And you'll still need to meet Hot Shot, Smokescreen's mate, and Dropkick, their sparkling. There's also Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, who Bluestreak plans to bond with."

Ratchet nodded. "Sounds like a full day."

"It will be." Optimus assured him.

It wasn't long before the three younglings had made their way out of the berth room, looking a little bleary.

Ratchet smiled at them before switching the video feed to a cartoon that all of them liked to watch and said, "Come on over here and watch your cartoons."

The three younglings instantly climbed onto the couch while Ratchet headed over to the energon dispenser. Optimus helped Ratchet get the energon. The two then handed the cubes to the three younglings.

While the three younglings drank their energon and watched their cartoons, Optimus and Ratchet talked a bit more.

"Are you going to have to work this cycle?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus chuckled. "Unless I'm needed at Senate meetings, I do all my work in my office here. On a few occasions, I go to the Iacon military base, but I remain here for the most part." He smiled. "And I think I can afford to take another cycle off."

"Are you certain? I don't want to be the reason that you get behind." Ratchet told him.

"Ratchet, Fixit who is our medic in the palace will be happy as can be to learn I took a few cycles off. He hounds me constantly about the fact that I need to rest more and take more time to relax." Optimus told him.

"Ah! In other words, you need the time off." Ratchet stated.

"For more than one reason." Optimus knew that taking the cycle off would do as much good for his health as spending time with Ratchet and his creations would do for his spark.

"Sire?"

Optimus's attention shifted to Hot Rod, who had spoken to him. "Yes, Hot Rod?"

"If Swiftwind and Starlight are our grand-creators because they're carrier's creators, does that mean that your creators are our grand-creators as well?" Hot Rod asked.

Optimus was a bit surprised by the question. "Yes. They are."

"Can we meet them?" Springer asked excitedly, loving the prospect of having more grand-creators.

Optimus chuckled. "You will meet them today, Springer. I promise you that."

Ratchet smiled, knowing that they were excited at the idea of meeting more family. He was glad that he had decided to come here and be reunited with his family. It was a nice feeling to have family, even though he would always consider Breakdown and Bulkhead sons and would always consider Knock Out and Arcee family, even if some of his family would have issues with Arcee for keeping him a secret from them for so long.

There was a sudden rapid knock on their door.

Ratchet was a bit confused by that, but Optimus was far from confused. He knew without a doubt just what bot or rather mech was at the door.

"Come on in, Bluestreak." Optimus called.

The door opened, and Bluestreak came bounding into the room. "Morning!" He was extremely cheerful, even more cheerful than usual.

Optimus couldn't stop the amused smile that crossed his lips. He had a feeling that it would take a lot to bring the grey Praxian mech down at the moment. He wondered if that would even be possible. The Prime had no doubt that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were completely shocked by Bluestreak's overly cheerfulness as the grey mech had not acted this happy since they had heard of Ratchet's "death". Optimus briefly wondered if Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would revert to performing various pranks daily again since those had all but stopped since Ratchet had been thought lost.

"Morning, Grand-Carrier!" Bluestreak instantly bounded over to Ratchet to give him a big hug.

"Uh, morning." Ratchet was a bit taken off guard by Bluestreak's cheerfulness, though he felt as if this was completely normal. He accepted a comm from Optimus when it was sent.

:Bluestreak always seems to be overly cheerful, but I believe that the news that you are alive has made him even more cheerful.: Optimus explained.

:Ah. That makes sense.: Ratchet replied.

"Hi, Bluestreak!" Lightshow liked the grey Praxian a lot.

Bluestreak smiled before bounding over to the younglings.

"That will take some getting used to." Ratchet murmured.

Optimus chuckled before slipping an arm around Ratchet's waist unconsciously. "You will, and you'll learn to love that about Bluestreak."

"Bluestreak! What in the Pit is wrong with you!" an annoyed voice snapped.

Ratchet frowned, not liking the fact that that language was being used where his younglings could hear it. They didn't need to hear such at their age. Which was why he had to watch what he said when he got pissed off at Bulkhead and Breakdown in the past.

Looked like Ratchet would be meeting Sunstreaker and most likely Sideswipe earlier than Optimus had originally planned.

"What's up, Blue? Why are you coming to see Optimus so early?" Sideswipe asked as he and Sunstreaker entered the room.

Bluestreak looked up with a smile.

Sunstreaker looked plain-out annoyed, which seemed to be a permanent expression for the mech. He then noticed the three younglings. "Whose younglings?"

Sideswipe looked up and froze. He was sure that he was seeing Ratchet. He looked from the medic to the obviously at ease and happy Prime to his future mate, who was beaming and back to the medic. Once he was sure it was real, he reacted. "RATCHET!" The red and black mech then vaulted over the couches to jump at the medic and hug him tightly. "I don't believe it! You're alive!"

Sunstreaker looked on in shock, not at his twin's actions, but at the fact that Ratchet was alive. How was he alive? He was pretty sure they had been told Ratchet was dead. The broken bonds pretty much assured that.

Ratchet, while feeling a great deal of love and affection for this mech, was a bit stunned to find a wave of annoyance at the mech and felt an incredible urge to slam a wrench down into his helm. That couldn't be normal. Could it?

Lightshow tilted her helm to the side as she looked from the red and black mech to the golden mech across the room. "Who are you?"

"We're Bluestreak's-" Sunstreaker stated.

"NO!" Optimus and Bluestreak shouted in horror at the same time, fearing Sunstreaker was about to lovers. That was NOT what they needed since it would piss Ratchet off and probably have wrenches flying across the room.

"Friends." Sunstreaker finished.

Bluestreak felt relief at what he said. He was sure Sunstreaker was about to die by a wrench if he had said lovers.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge before looking at the Prime. "What was that about?"

"I'll tell you later." Optimus muttered, relieved at Sunstreaker's modesty in this.

"What? It's not like he'd say we're Blue's lovers." Sideswipe stated.

Optimus and Bluestreak looked at Sideswipe in horror at what he had just dared to say in front of three younglings. Ratchet's younglings no less.

A growl escaped Ratchet's vocalizer. That was worse than the foul language.

Sideswipe grinned at Ratchet. "Sorry."

A moment later, Sideswipe found himself on the ground with an aching helm from where Ratchet had hit him in the helm with a wrench. Hard.

"See the doc all of two kliks and Sides' is already gettin' beamed in the helm." Jazz said, grinning from behind Sunstreaker at the downed mech.

Prowl sighed. "A new record, I believe."

Hot Rod looked confused. "What's a lover?"

"Nothing!" Optimus, Bluestreak, Prowl, and Jazz stated quickly.

"Hot Rod, you don't need to know about that right now. That's something only adults need to know about." Ratchet told him, glaring down at the red and black mech with a look that could kill.

Sideswipe backed up until he hit Bluestreak's legs. "Sorry." It was a squeak that would have normally humiliated the red and black mech, but at this point, all he cared about was making it out of this room in one piece.

:Idiot.: Sunstreaker muttered through their twin bond.

:I didn't think!: Sideswipe protested.

:You never do.: Sunstreaker retorted. The yellow mech acted as if he didn't care that Ratchet was back and alive when in fact he was very happy. He and Sideswipe hadn't had the kindest of creators, so the two had come to see Optimus and Ratchet as creator figures as the two treated them much better than their creators had. He was also glad because it meant Bluestreak and Prowl were going to be a lot happier now.

"Wonderful start to the cycle." Ratchet muttered.

Optimus walked over and wrapped an arm around Ratchet. "Calm down, Ratchet. It'll be fine. No bot else will make statements like that, and Sideswipe won't again." He cast a hard glance at the mech in question. "Right?"

Sideswipe nodded frantically. "Yes! Yes! No more statements like that! Promise!"

Ratchet glared at him again before putting his wrench away.

That act was a relief to everybot in the room, although they all knew that Ratchet could wipe the wrench out and have it sailing across the room within a few astroseconds. Scratch that. In less than an astrosecond.

"Uh, Grand-Carrier, this is Sideswipe," Bluestreak motioned to the mech that was at his feet, "and that's Sunstreaker." He motioned to where the gold mech was standing. He didn't need to explain their relationship since Sideswipe had done that spectacularly. And nearly died by Ratchet's wrench in the process.

"And how long have you been-friends?" Ratchet wasn't about to say lovers. That wasn't a road he wanted to travel down with his younglings. Not at their age.

"Almost two vorn." Bluestreak replied. He then smiled brightly. "We're planning our bonding celebration now. This means that you'll be able to attend!" He then bounded over to hug Ratchet tightly once more. "This is so great! I hadn't even considered that before now! I had been upset because I didn't think that you'd get to attend, but now that you're here, you'll be able to!"

Ratchet was still a bit overwhelmed by Bluestreak's cheerfulness and excitability. The rambling, which he had already figured out Bluestreak had a habit of, didn't faze him at all since Lightshow seemed to be worse than he was.

"Hope ya don't mind us comin' by." Jazz told them.

"Of course not, Jazz." Optimus had a feeling that his quarters as gong to become overflowed by all the family members that were going to constantly by coming by so that they would be able to see Ratchet. The recharge cycle was the only time that Optimus's quarters would be down to just him, Ratchet, and their younglings.

"So, who are these little guys?" Sideswipe asked as he stood up to peer over the couch down at the three younglings.

Ratchet was more than a bit surprised that the three hadn't already been in the middle of them all the way they were. "These are mine and Optimus's younglings."

Sideswipe looked back excitedly. "So the sparklings-"

"Yes. They are those very sparklings." Ratchet replied.

"I'm Springer. What do you do?" Springer asked.

"I'm a soldier in the military. So is Sunny."Sideswipe replied.

Sunstreaker growled. "Do not call me Sunny!" He hated when Sideswipe called him that in public. It was so embarrassing!

Lightshow had climbed off the couch and wandered over to Sunstreaker. "Your paint is shiny."

"Of course it is. I make sure to wax every morning." Sunstreaker retorted.

Ratchet frowned at his haughtiness.

Optimus squeezed Ratchet. "You'll learn that that's just Sunstreaker's personality. He's like that to everybot."

Lightshow tilted her helm to the side as she looked up at Sunstreaker. "You look a lot like the sun."

Sunstreaker looked down at her incredulously. "I look like what?"

Most every bot in the room managed to hide their snickers and smirks at that statement. All except for Jazz who was grinning like an idiot.

Lightshow then smiled brightly. "I know! I can call you Sunshine!"

"WHAT!" Sunstreaker looked horrified at that very thought.

Jazz fell onto his aft he laughed so hard at both the nickname Lightshow had come up with and the way Sunstreaker had reacted. The saboteur so wished he could have seen Sunstreaker's faceplates at that moment.

Sideswipe saw them and laughed so hard he fell back down at the expression on his twin's face. It was a look of utter horror that Sideswipe knew he would never forget.

Bluestreak couldn't stop the laughs that were escaping him, although he actually managed to stay on his feet.

Prowl smirked at that fact, loving just how uncomfortable the gold mech really was. It was so satisfying after all the grief Sunstreaker had given him over the vorns he had known the mech.

Optimus couldn't stop his own chuckles at that.

"That's Lightshow, Sunstreaker." Bluestreak managed. He smiled. "And I love that nickname."

"No! No! No! You are not calling me that!" Sunstreaker protested. He'd never live this down, and his reputation would be utterly ruined.

Hot Rod watched Sunstreaker curiously. "What's wrong with Sunshine?"

Sunstreaker looked absolutely horrified at that. "Stop calling me that!"

Ratchet had to cover his mouth. He wondered if he should mention to Sunstreaker that when Lightshow came up with a nickname, she tended to call them that.

Prowl finally made his way around the rest of his family and over to his carrier. "Now that you have met my future pains-in-law."

"Oh, come on, Prowl!" Sideswipe grinned at the black and white Praxian. "You know that you love us!"

Prowl glanced at the mech in question. "I tolerate you." He then turned his focus back to Ratchet, who appeared thoughtful.

"Should I be concerned that I have this overwhelming urge to constantly have a wrench in my hand to throw at those two?" Ratchet asked.

"No. You always did before." Prowl answered.

"Used it more often than not." Optimus added. He chuckled. "Only bot I know that could hit two bots in the helm with the same wrench in one throw."

"He was given plenty of chances to perfect it." Jazz added.

So it seemed that throwing wrenches was simply a part of his personality. Ratchet was glad to learn that about himself.

"How are you adjusting to being here?" Prowl asked.

"It's different than what I am used to." Ratchet admitted. He most certainly wasn't used to the opulence of the palace of the Prime. "I'll take some time to get used to this place, but I think I'll manage."

Prowl couldn't help but notice that his sire seemed to remain close to Ratchet, which wasn't unusual given the length of time they had all spent believing that Ratchet was dead. What caught the Praxian's attention was the fact that Optimus was standing so close to Ratchet that their EM fields would have most certainly mixed. And Optimus seemed to keep his arm around Ratchet, a signal that there was much more than a simple understanding about the situation between them. That was something Prowl would broach them on later.

Elita and Wheeljack had both been rather surprised when they received a comm from Optimus that afternoon asking them to come to his quarters as there was something that he wished to speak to them about. The two couldn't imagine what it was that the Prime wished to talk to them about, but the two had gone toward the Prime's quarters anyway.

"So, any idea what this is about 'Lita?" Wheeljack asked as he walked beside his sister toward Optimus's quarters.

"I don't have a clue, Wheeljack. I know about as much as you do." The pink femme frowned. "I just don't understand why Optimus would want just the two of us there."

"Maybe he's learned something else involving Ratchet." Wheeljack suggested. The mech felt a pain in his spark as he thought of his lost brother. He missed Ratchet a great deal. He even missed Ratchet yelling at him every time he had an invention that backfired on him. And, oddly enough, Wheeljack missed the wrenches to the helm he'd always get when he tried to say that he had been sure that whatever project he had been working on would work. He wasn't a masochist on any level, but he missed that simply because it was something that only Ratchet would do. And he missed his brother a great deal.

"I doubt it. I'm sure that Optimus would have told us with our creators if something was going on." Elita knew that, in addition to that reason, she also knew that she would be informed when Optimus told Galvatron and Megatron what was going on since all three would need to be told because of the hierarchy of command.

"Huh. Can't imagine what it is." Wheeljack murmured.

Elita couldn't be sure what it was either. All she knew was that if the Prime had decided to give in and court one of the senators' daughters, she was going to take her blaster to the mech's helm. There was no way she was going to allow the Senate to roughshod the Prime into doing something, or in this case, courting somebot that he really didn't want anything to do with. It was why she had remained with him so long, and she wasn't going to let the Prime do that to himself.

The two arrived at their brother-in-law's quarters, and Elita knocked on the door to let the Prime know that they were there.

A moment later, the door to the room opened. Optimus stood there with a smile on his face. "Wheeljack. Elita. Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Uh, no problem." Wheeljack was a little uneasy due to the fact that he could feel such joy and contentment radiating from the Prime's EM field. It was something that he had not felt from the red and blue mech since before Ratchet was captured by the Quintessons.

Elita was also shocked at the change in the Prime's demeanor. He had been nowhere near this happy or content when she had moved out of the Prime's quarters. In fact, he had still radiated pain, grief, anger, and loss. What could have changed in such a short amount of time to make him like this? The pink femme had thought that the Prime would never be this happy ever again.

"Please, come in." Optimus stepped aside to let them enter his quarters. He knew that they, much like all the others, were shocked by his change in demeanor. He also knew that that question would be answered the moment that they stepped into the room.

Elita and Wheeljack made their way into the Prime's quarters only to freeze the moment that they saw the white and orange mech standing in the room in front of them. Both had known that their brother had been killed by Shadowstrike, so how in the Pit was it that he was standing in front of them alive and well?

"RATCHET!" Wheeljack's helm fins lit up bright white in his shock as he stared at his very much alive spark twin. A spark twin that he could not even feel in his spark.

Ratchet looked at the mech and instantly knew, without a doubt, that this was his spark twin. He smiled at the mech before saying, "Hello, Wheeljack. I believe that it has been quite some time since we last saw each other."

Wheeljack stood stock still for all of half an astroseconds before he made it across the room to his brother, grabbing Ratchet in a tight hug. "Ratchet! I don't believe this! I thought you were dead!" He held his brother in a rather tight grip for a few a kliks before he pulled back to look at the medic in the faceplates. "Ratchet, how is this possible?"

"That is a bit of a story." Ratchet told him.

Having seen her brother standing in front of her and hearing him speak, it solidified in Elita's processors that this mech standing in front of her was her brother. Ratchet was alive! A smile spread across Elita's face as she rushed over to her brother and hugged Ratchet as well. "Ratchet! You're alive! Oh thank Primus you're alive!" It was an answer to prayers that she didn't think any of them had prayed, but she knew that they were all thanking Primus for the fact that Ratchet was alive.

Ratchet smiled at the pink femme as he wrapped an arm around his sister. "It's good to see you, too, Elita." He could feel from his spark's reaction that he loved his siblings very much, and he had a feeling that they were all very close.

Optimus smiled as he watched his mate's reunion with his siblings. He had known that Elita and Wheeljack would be greatly relieved to learn that Ratchet was alive. He had known that this was something that they, much like himself, had thought would never happen.

After a few moments, Wheeljack asked his question once more. "As much as I am thrilled that you are alive, Ratchet, how is it possible that you are alive? We all thought that you were dead."

"So I've been told." Ratchet let go of his siblings. "All right. This is what happened." He then told them everything from what Arcee had told him about the attack up until his return to Iacon with Arcee and Bulkhead.

"So, Arcee ended up saving your life." Wheeljack said.

"Ultimately, yes. Her actions did save my life. And she has been a great help to me this last orn." Ratchet told him honestly.

Elita decided then and there that she was going to do something nice for Arcee. The pink and blue femme had saved her brother's life and had helped take care of him while he had amnesia this last orn, which meant a lot to Elita. She wished that Ratchet would have been brought back to them sooner, but that couldn't be helped. And she did understand things from Arcee's perspective. Which meant that Elita was very much indebted to Arcee for what she had done for them all.

"You really can't remember us, though?" Wheeljack asked.

"No. I'm afraid I don't. Although I will admit that my spark seems to remember all of you." Ratchet replied.

Elita laughed. "Before you and Optimus got together, you would have never mentioned that. You would have said that the spark doesn't have memories, therefore it can't remember anything."

"So I was wrong." Ratchet retorted.

"Said that, too." Wheeljack stated, retracting his face mask and revealing his smiling faceplates.

"I know that you two wondered why I seemed so happy." Optimus said as he came up to stand beside Ratchet. "This is why."

Elita smiled. "Agreed. This is enough to make anybot happy." She then realized something. "Do our creators know you're alive?"

"Yes. I saw them last night and this morning." Ratchet answered.

"Yeah. Carrier ain't goin' a cycle without seeing ya now." Wheeljack remarked.

"That I believe." Ratchet agreed.

Elita then realized that Ratchet might think that she and Optimus were together or that she might have held an attraction for Optimus. She was going to have to set Ratchet straight on that fairly quickly. She wouldn't risk Optimus's chance of having a relationship with Ratchet again because of her.

Wheeljack's optics lit you. "You are going to have to meet Skyfire! And Jetfire and Jetstorm!" The inventor was thrilled that his sons were going to be able to get to know their uncle now. It was something that he thought would never happen.

"Yes. I am also looking forward to meeting my nephews. Optimus has told me about them." Ratchet smiled. "And I'm certain that they're going to love to meet Lightshow, Springer, and Hot Rod more than they are going to love meeting me."

"Who?" Elita had never heard those designations before.

"They are our younglings." Optimus answered happily.

"You mean the sparklings were fine?" Elita asked excitedly.

"Yes. Lightshow and Hot Rod came out of it all fine. No damage to them at all." Ratchet answered.

"Oh thank Primus!" Wheeljack was glad to hear that his niece and nephew were fine. And Jetfire and Jetstorm were going to get to meet their cousins and have playmates who were their age. "Who's Springer?"

"I adopted him as a sparkling. I've raised him as if he was my own." Ratchet replied.

"And Springer isn't aware of the fact that he's adopted so, keep it quiet." Optimus told them.

"Not a problem." Elita could see her brother adopting a sparkling who really needed him. And she could also see Optimus taking the youngling as his own. He did that with Prowl and Smokescreen. "Where are they?"

Ratchet motioned to one of the rooms. "In there taking a nap. Prowl, Smokescreen, Jazz, Bluestreak, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker were here this morning and then our creators came. Those three are exhausted and needed the rest."

"Do you think we could see them if we don't disturb them?" Elita asked. She really wanted to see her niece and nephews with her own optics.

Ratchet nodded. "Just try not to bring them out of recharge."

The two nodded before going over and opening the door. They could see that all three younglings were curled up together on the berth with Lightshow between her two brothers.

Quietly, Elita and Wheeljack closed the door and made their way back over to Ratchet and Optimus.

"They are just too cute! I can't wait to meet them." Elita said.

Wheeljack grinned. "Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker are going to be begging you to let them teach Lightshow to fly."

Ratchet frowned. "I know who Starscream is, but who are the others two?"

"Starscream's trine and brothers. They are all Seekers, meaning we'll probably need them to teach Lightshow to fly." Optimus added.

"That is true." Ratchet agreed.

"Well, I know one thing. We're all glad to have you back, Ratchet." Elita said.

Ratchet smiled. "I'm glad to be here, Elita."

Optimus was glad to hear that. Now that all of Ratchet's family knew, it was time to let his family know that Ratchet and their younglings were alive and well.

Nemesis Prime, Alpha Trion, Galvatron, Megatron, and Starscream were a little surprised when Optimus asked if they would meet him in the lounge near the younger Prime's quarters. It was completely unexpected and out of blue. Of course, they all met there.

"So, where is our little brother? He's the one who asked us to meet him here." Galvatron muttered from where he saw leaning against the wall.

"Calm yourself, Galvatron. I am certain that Orion will be here shortly. He is the Prime, so it could be work that has held him up." Nemesis told his son.

"Doubtful, Sire." Megatron was seated on one of the couches beside his mate. "Orion took this cycle off from his work. As far as I know, he hasn't set pede in his office. And I know he hasn't left the palace."

"Orion will be here soon." Alpha Trion told them. The archivist wondered what it was that his youngest wished to speak with them about. It had certainly been unexpected to be asked this since family get-to-togethers like this were usually planned a few cycles in advance to accommodate all their schedules. Such an impromptu gathering was rare for Optimus.

"Did he give any indication what this was about?" Starscream asked.

"None. He just said that there was something he needed to speak with us about." Nemesis replied.

Before another word could be said, the door to the lounge opened, and Optimus entered the room.

"About time, Orion." Galvatron stated.

"Galvatron!" Alpha Trion reprimanded.

"No, Carrier. I am late, and I'm sorry about that." Optimus told them.

All five then noticed that the red and blue Prime appeared to be in a rather upbeat and happy mood. It was a mood that they hadn't seen him in for quite some time. The change was incredible, especially since there wasn't a trace of pain or grief radiating from him, and that was something that had been a constant for the last orn. What had changed? And what could have made this kind of a difference?

"So, why did you ask us to meet you here?" Galvatron asked.

"There was somebot that I thought you would like to see." Optimus stepped aside so that his family could see the orange and white mech behind him.

The five mechs in the room were shocked to see Ratchet standing there in front of them, as they, like all the others, had grieved for Ratchet.

"Isn't he supposed to be dead?" Galvatron asked.

Somehow, that response from Galvatron did not surprise Optimus.

Alpha Trion, on the other hand, had a reaction that did surprise the Prime. The archivist had jumped up from his seat and rushed over to hug the white and orange mech. "This is a miracle!"

Ratchet was a bit stunned by this as Optimus had told him not to expect an overly emotional reaction from his family, especially his brothers.

Optimus himself was surprised. While the Prime knew that his carrier loved Ratchet a great deal, he had never seen his carrier act like this with Ratchet. Perhaps the affect that Ratchet's "death" had had on his carrier was much more profound than Optimus had realized. Or perhaps Alpha Trion had simply not allowed his creation to know how much losing Ratchet had affected him.

Ratchet hadn't really planned for this type of reaction from his in-laws, so he had simply decided to go with the flow. Not much more that he could do at the moment. "I'm glad to see you, too."

Nemesis looked from his youngest son to his mate and Ratchet and back to his son. Well, at least that explains the change in Optimus's demeanor.

Alpha Trion pulled away from Ratchet. "How is this possible? How are you alive, Ratchet? And where have you been for the last orn?"

Ratchet started to answer, but never got the chance.

"Hey! You look kinda like me!"

All optics ended up on the small red and blue femme Seekerling who was currently looking up at Starscream with bright blue optics.

Starscream stared down in shock. He loved sparklings and younglings, which was common with Seekers and Seeker-kin. Starscream loved Seeker sparklings and younglings a great deal for the simple fact he was able to teach them about being a Seeker. So he instantly fell in love with the small femme, who held his brother-in-law's colors, the Seeker realized. He reached down and picked her up. "And just who are you?"

"I'm Lightshow! Who are you?" The femme looked at him curiously.

"My designation is Starscream." Starscream replied.

Galvatron remembered that Ratchet and Optimus were supposed to have a femme Seekerling and a mech grounder when Ratchet was sparked. So this meant that- The purple mech turned to look at his brother. "Yours, I assume."

"Yes." Optimus hadn't even realized she had made it into the room.

Megatron then noticed that there were two mechlings, both grounders, peering into the room from behind Ratchet. "Them as well?"

"Yes. They are." Ratchet figured that explanations would just have to wait. "Come out, you two."

Hot Rod and Springer came out from behind their carrier to look at the other mechs that were in the room.

Springer immediately noticed the cannon attached to Megatron's arm and became fascinated by that. He bounded over to him. "That is a cool gun!"

Megatron smiled down at the mechling. "Yes. It is impressive, isn't it? Perhaps you'll have one some cycle."

"Not for a long time." Ratchet muttered under his breath.

Alpha Trion heard the mutter and smile. "That cycle will come much too soon for you. It came too soon for my taste with Megatron and Galvatron."

Hot Rod glanced back and forth between his sire and Nemesis Prime. He noticed that the tw looked exactly the same. The only difference was the fact that their colors were completely different. "You look like sire." He was looking at Nemesis when he spoke.

Nemesis chuckled. "Yes. We do look alike. That would be because I'm his sire."

Hot Rod instantly brightened. "So, you're my Grand-Sire?"

"Yes. I am." Nemesis answered, thrilled to finally have a grand-creation that he would be able to spoil.

Lightshow and Springer both heard this and made their way over.

"And this would be your Grand-Carrier." Optimus motioned to his carrier, glad to finally be able to introduce his family to them. Explanations could wait. Family reunions couldn't.

"That's great!" Lightshow instantly jumped into Alpha Trion's arms, startling the older mech. "I'm so glad to finally meet you! We met Carrier's creators yesterday, and now we get to meet you!"

Nemesis glanced at his son. "Yesterday?"

"We've had a busy few cycles." Optimus replied. He smiled. "Ratchet's family first."

That was understandable, Nemesis mused. He had seen just how much pain Ratchet's family had suffered and knew that they needed to know first. Though the question remained how any of this was possible. Not that the former Prime was going to question the fact that his son's mate and younglings were alive. Plus one youngling. Which would be explained later.

For now, Optimus's family was more than happy to get to know the three younglings. And quickly learned that Lightshow loved to ramble.

The three younglings had been put into their berth for the night and had fallen into recharge almost as soon as they were in the berth. They had had a long cycle of meeting new bots and playing with their newfound family members. It had worn them out, as much as the three loved the fact that they were meeting their family for the first time.

Optimus smiled at his creations as he shut the door to their berth room for the night. He then turned and headed for his own berth room, where Ratchet was already lying on the berth. The red and blue mech joined Ratchet in the berth, wrapping his arms around his mate. "Well, my family handled the news rather well. Much better than I had expected." He nuzzled the back of Ratchet's neck. "You'll have to get used to Megatron and Galvatron. They have never been overly emotional mechs. The greatest show of emotion that they normally have is anger."

"That I can see believe just from meeting them." Ratchet chuckled. "You were wrong about how your carrier would react, though."

"Agreed. I did not think my carrier would react in that way. Apparently, you two were closer than I was aware of." Optimus tightened his arms around Ratchet slightly. "I wonder if I should be worried about the fact that my mate and my carrier were so close."

"No need to worry about it now. Not like I can remember anything that he might have told me before." Ratchet replied.

"True." Optimus wished that Ratchet could remember his past though. "At least my family took everything we had to tell them in stride." Though the Prime was rather certain that he was going to hear about just how pissed off his brothers really were about how long Ratchet had been kept from them.

Ratchet turned to face his mate. "Why is it that no bot seems surprised by the fact that I adopted Springer? I thought it would have been more shocking."

Optimus smiled. "Because it's something that we all knew you would do." He reached out and caressed Ratchet's cheek. "While we never officially adopted any sparklings or younglings, there are those who we unofficially adopted. Jazz is an example. He had lost his creators not long after entering adolescence. When he became involved with Prowl, we unofficially adopted him. He looks at us as creators now. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are another set. They weren't raised by good creators, so we became creator figures to them as well. This was actually before they met Bluestreak. You came across them in their late youngling years. They were rough around the edges and had been abandoned. We took them in and raised them. We were different from how their creators had treated them, and I think they instantly grew attached to us, you especially."

"So, we're known for raising other sparklings or younglings." Ratchet stated.

"We never raised a sparkling, but younglings, yes. Hot Shot, Smokescreen's mate, sees us as creator figures even though his creators are still alive. There are quite a few others, who I am certain are going to be coming to the palace once they learn you are alive." Optimus stated.

"I believe I understand why no bot was shocked about Springer, then." Ratchet smiled. "I suppose that makes things a bit easier, though I dare say that there are a lot that I will be meeting."

"Not as many as you think, actually. There are six who would be coming here to meet you once they learn you are alive." Optimus stated.

"So, about ten in all." Ratchet mused.

"Yes. More that we had an influence on, but who we didn't actually aid in raising or caring for in any way. Regardless, we are known for raising other younglings. Springer's the first that you adopted." Optimus stated.

"What about you?" Ratchet asked.

"Even though we did not bond until after I became Prime, I did adopt Smokescreen and Prowl when they were still young. And I will legally adopt Springer, too." Optimus told him.

That spoke volumes to Ratchet. And made him feel more at ease. "Thank you."

Optimus leaned forward and kissed Ratchet gently. "You don't have to. I love you Ratchet, and I swore I'd go through life's journey with you. And Springer is a welcome part of that." He chuckled. "And I hope that, in time, we will add to the family."

Ratchet smiled. "Later, yes."

"Good." Optimus was glad to hear that.

"Considering you will have to, when are you telling the Senate I am alive?" Ratchet asked.

Optimus sighed. "As much as I would love for them not to know, I know they have to. Grindor, the head of the Senate, is actually one I trust. I'll inform him first. Something I plan to do tomorrow."

Ratchet nodded.

"You'll be meeting our friends tomorrow, but your family and mine will be sticking close to you." Optimus told him.

"I don't doubt that." Ratchet replied.

"And I'll try to spend time with all of you tomorrow." Optimus said.

"You have duties that you have to attend to, and I understand that. Hot Rod, Springer, and Lightshow are just going to have to get used to that as well." Ratchet said.

Optimus knew that that was true. "Regardless, I will make time."

Ratchet was glad of that.

The two mechs then settled down in the berth to get some recharge. They themselves had had a busy cycle and needed to get some recharge themselves.

It hadn't taken either of them long to fall into recharge.

Let me know what you thought!