Chapter Thirteen:
Married
"I love being married. It's so great to find one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." –Rita Rudner
"You grumpy old fart."
Ratchet paused in his movements to slowly lift his gaze from the datapad in his hands to shoot a glare in my direction. I leaned against the doorframe with my arms crossed and a slight smile on my lips. Mocking Ratchet always seemed to lighten my mood. I'm sure if he were his true size though this would be a different story. He scoffed, with a shake of his head, and then began to mumble under his breath in Cybertronian.
I groaned, "I have managed to convince everyone, even Grimlock, to go downstairs for a bath and you're giving me a hard time? I expected this behavior from Megsy."
"The only reason Grimlock is down there is because you lied to him-"
"I didn't lie." I argued with a slight grimace, "I…stretched the truth."
Ratchet pointed at me with the datapad in his hand, "The moment he finds out you plan to wash him he'll go on a rampage."
The statement wasn't false and it definitely wasn't something I was exactly looking forward to when I got back downstairs. I made my bed though so I'd lay in it when the time came.
"I can pick you up." I said firmly, "This is me trying to preserve your dignity, Ratch." He didn't reply and instead let his eyes dart back down to the information in his hands. I sighed, "Why are you-"
Ratchet shushed me, "I'm busy. I'll come down in a moment."
"You better." I replied and began to leave, "Fragging little shit-"
"Language!"
The sound of boys laughing drifted from the living room as I stepped into the foyer. I took a detour from the kitchen to check on how they were doing. For some reason, maybe it was because they had stationed themselves in the makeshift base of the red-eyed little monsters; Peter and Tyler were washing most of the decepticons. Peter was rinsing Thundercracker under the tub's faucet while Tyler stood on a step stool and covered Wheeljack in soap in the sink. Standing by the doorway waiting was an eager Bluestreak, an impatient Skywarp, a distracted Prowl who had his attention on a datapad in his hand, a blank faced Soundwave, and a pissed off Megatron.
"Everything going alright in here?" I questioned.
"Fantastic!" Wheeljack answered as Tyler whipped around to give me a wide, excited grin.
My eyes darted down to Megatron who hadn't been happy when I forced him down here, but now he looked nearly livid. I used my foot to push him slightly to the left and the guy basically growled, "Who kicked your puppy?"
Megatron glared up at me and Bluestreak stopped bouncing in place to narrow his eyes in confusion, "Wait, a puppy? Aren't puppies the babies of dogs? Who would kick a puppy? They're so adorable and so defenseless. It'd be like kicking a sparkling and-"
"It's just a saying, Blue." Peter chuckled, "No one kicked any puppies." He used his elbow to try and push his glasses further up his nose and then spoke to me, "Starscream went first. He's already clean."
Tyler nodded, "Barricade too!"
"Well that explains-"
"Femme!" Sunstreaker roared from the kitchen, "Will you get your aft in here already!?"
I turned to yell back at him when Tyler snickered under his breath. Peter smiled, "It sounds like your customers aren't too happy, Aj."
"Are you sassing me?" I replied with a growing smile of my own. It did my heart good to hear Peter joking around and just being light hearted in general. The two of us had come a long way since my first day in this house.
"Femme!"
"I'm coming, you jumbo sized lemon!"
The guys in the small bathroom got a laugh out of the newest nickname and I jogged back over to the kitchen. It probably wasn't safe to leave Grimlock in there waiting on me for too long anyways. As I entered the kitchen Sunstreaker glaring at me from on top of the kitchen island greeted me.
"Get it?" I grinned and pointed at him, "Because you're yellow like a lemon and your attitude is just as sour."
"I get it, Aj!" Taylor giggled from the sink. She had already finished watching Bumblebee who was still sitting on the counter beside her happily and was now soaping up a very content T-Rex.
My eyes widened in shock and then shot around the room to see if anyone else was seeing what I was seeing. Sideswipe was lying on his back by his brother moaning about it not being his turn, Jazz was on the counter like Bumblebee but on the opposite side, and Optimus was standing on the counter leaning against the fridge. Optimus and Jazz both seemed amused at the very least at the sight of Taylor washing up the usually irate, metal lizard.
"Grimlock!" I called making the T-Rex unhappily open his eyes. Bright white optics glared at me.
He grumbled under his breath and lifted his head so Taylor could get the creases there, "What you Aj want?"
"I thought it was going to be World War III to get you washed. Hel-ck", I caught my language again, "You basically threatened to bite my hand off when I told you it was bath time!"
Grimlock shifted and allowed Taylor to get his back, "You Aj demand. Femme sparkling ask."
"But I thought we had something, Grimlock?" I questioned jokingly. Honestly, I was just happy he was being washed without that much of a fight, "Aren't I an honorary dinobot or something?"
Grimlock narrowed his eyes like I had said the stupidest thing, "You dinobot pet. Dinobot pet not tell dinobots what to do."
I ignored the laughter filling the room at Grimlock's statement and bit back a deadpanned chuckle myself. His answer didn't surprise me all that much in the end. Taylor glanced over her shoulder and gave me a happy smile. Sometimes it was so easy to make these kids happy. The smallest things would make their day and I wished it wasn't always like that. I was glad they were happy, but it felt like I wasn't giving them enough. They were happy with what I had, but what I had was useless. They deserved the world.
"Come on, OP. Let's get you shiny again."
"What?" Sideswipe sat up, "Aj!"
"Don't 'Aj' me." I shot back, "You're lucky I'm not dismantling you for that stunt earlier. You'll be last."
Sideswipe groaned even louder and fell back onto the counter with a 'clunk'. Optimus chuckled to himself and came over. Taylor and I stood side by side at the sink, her on a My Little Pony stool, washing and rinsing the bots. By time I began to rinse off OP she was already starting on Sunstreaker. I had expected the yellow pain to whine and moan about a human child touching his paint, but he seemed rather pleased at the work Taylor was doing. That meant he probably noticed the same thing I noticed about the little girl.
All three kids had their own little quirks. Peter was smart as a whip and ever since he started hanging out with the more scientific Cybertronians he would randomly begin talking about things that were well above my pay grade. Stuff I had no idea how a ten year old could even begin to comprehend. Tyler was an active kid who not only had barrels full of energy, but he also had a good amount of talent in the athletic sense. More than just that, the kid was competitive as hell. Taylor, on the other hand, was an artist. I had figured that out early on, but it wasn't just putting pictures on paper or whatever. She had an eye for detail. Even at six years old, she noticed the littlest things and paid attention to things I probably wouldn't.
All in all, these kids never ceased to amaze me and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that they'd go places in this world.
"Alrighty, who's next?" I asked as Optimus used a hand towel to try and dry off the beads of water on his armor. Sideswipe jumped up again but I shook my head, "Didn't I say you were going last?"
"Oh come on!"
I glanced over at Jazz and raised an eyebrow at him. He chuckled and shook his head, "I can wait. Let 'im go 'fore he has a spark attack."
Sideswipe beamed, but the happiness was short lived as Ratchet came into the kitchen. I grinned, "Just in time, Ratchet, it's your turn."
"Aj!"
"Jazz said you could go before him, but I'm still punishing you, you cretin." I replied and scooped Ratchet off the ground. The medic complained about being picked up in that manner, but I ignored him entirely and began soaping him up.
Washing the bots didn't take as long as I thought it was going to and they didn't raise hell like I thought they would either. It got even easier when Taylor finished Sunstreaker and started on the tomato red loudmouth. As I helped Ratchet dry off, which mainly consisted of him drying himself off and whacking my fingers when they got near him, sounds of laughter could be heard from the living room. Tyler and Peter had apparently finished their jobs and one of the boys had turned on Netflix. This made Taylor go faster and Sideswipe complain louder as she quickly rinsed him off, shouted a quick apology, and then raced into the living room with an excited Bumblebee in her arms.
"Stop whining, you scrap for processors." Ratchet snapped, "Aj told me about the mech at the door and you nearly blowing our cover!"
"Oh come on, Hatchet." Sideswipe began to dry off with a rag as large as him. His eyes darted to Sunstreaker in a pleading fashion, but the yellow bot was too busy shining his arm with a smaller rag from his own subspace to notice his brother's dilemma.
Ratchet growled and pointed at him, "Don't Hatchet me. Prowl's waiting for you upstairs." Sideswipe groaned loudly, but Ratchet forced his gaze toward me, "Get me down now."
"Only because you asked so nicely." I replied and helped the medic bot down to the kitchen floor. Sideswipe gave me a wide grin when my eyes darted to him. From the look on his face he expected me to help him down as well. I gave him a brief smile before bumping him off the counter with the back of my hand. He fell a short bit before his jetpack kicked in and he landed on his feet. The bot mumbled something under his breath, but stopped as Ratchet began to yell at him in Cybertronian. A sigh slipped my lips as I ignored Sunstreaker who had sat down to shine his legs and looked to Jazz who was smirking at me, "Ready, Jazz?"
"Born ready, sweetspark."
Something had to be said about the visored mech's patience. Although, I was beginning to think he had only decided to go last because then he got to sit back and be amused by the antics of all the others. Then again Jazz was a really hard mech to get a read on. I wasn't about to lose sleep trying to figure him out when I was content with what I did know.
A stray thought crossed my mind as I washed a spot in the middle of his back, "Isn't this weird for y'all?" The question wasn't meant for Jazz alone, but something told me Sunstreaker wasn't going to be answering me anytime soon. "I wouldn't be comfortable with someone giving me a bath."
"You help the younglings with their bath." Sunstreaker spat.
"The twins are only six. It's different. They need my help occasionally." I shrugged, "You guys aren't children though despite how you sometimes act."
Jazz chuckled, "It's differen' with us." He used his own hands to rub soap across his chest as I continued with his back, "We rarely wash alone. Pit, we need the help too. We ain't as flexible as you humans."
As if to prove his point, Jazz reached his arm back, but he wasn't able to touch his back let alone lather it with soap. I nodded. It made sense and I scolded myself for not thinking of the answer on my own. The look Sunstreaker was shooting made me think he was also questioning my intelligence.
"Plus, we're all in armor." Jazz shrugged, "Ain't like we stripped down to our protoforms."
That was a term I did remember from an earlier conversation. It was their equivalent, or as close to it, to humans being naked. Late night conversations with Ratchet never were exactly the most normal in the world. Sunstreaker stood and walked to the edge of the counter. I rinsed the soap off my hand, tried pathetically to dry it against my damp shirt, and held it out to him, "Need some help?"
"Don't touch me, squishy." He snapped and jumped off the counter. He landed on his feet easily and began to stalk out of the kitchen.
"Love you too, Tulip."
"Frag off."
Jazz whistled, "You like makin' an enemy outta 'im?"
"What can I say?" I shrugged with a smile, "It's a hobby of mine."
The bot chuckled, "You're a reckless one."
There was a pause before I replied, "Well, after hearing my sob story this morning you would know."
Jazz's smile faltered slightly. The look on his face grew a tad bit somber, but his visor made it hard to really read his features. He wasn't like Bluestreak or Bumblebee who were ridiculously easy to read. Jazz was worse than stone-faced Prowl in some ways. Prowl was hard to read because he didn't really show much emotion as far as I saw. Jazz showed all kinds of emotions, but his emotions were easily forged.
"Sorry about that." He accent disappeared for the short apology.
"Not a big deal." I shrugged and began to rinse off the saboteur, "As long as the kids don't know, I don't care. Hell, y'all will be gone in less than two months." Jazz didn't reply and an afterthought occurred to me, "I should check with Jackie and Screamer. See how things are progressing."
"Slowly." Jazz answered.
The kitchen air had an almost awkward tinge to it that didn't sit well with me. I took a deep breath and decided to change the topic, "So…"
"So?"
Jazz shook his arms sending a spray of droplets around the sink. I grabbed the driest rag on the counter and began to help him wipe the water droplets away. His visor glowed a faint blue, "Are you ever going to let me see what color your eyes are or am I going to die clueless?"
The bot apparently hadn't expected that question and let out a bark of laughter. A smug smile grew on my features as I reveled in my success in changing topics. Jazz shook his head, "I would tell ya femme, but…"
"But?" I questioned with an amused tone. The smirk on Jazz's face told me his answer would be interesting in the least.
"If I told ya, I'd have ta offline ya."
It was my turn to let out a quick, surprised laugh. I moved toward the fridge still chuckling as Jazz continued to dry himself off. It was nearing lunchtime and I needed to see what we had to eat, "Come on. Does everything about you have to be secretive?"
"It's one of mah charms." Jazz argued, "I'm mysterious."
"Someone has to know what color your optics are." I closed the fridge after realizing there was nothing in there that would work for lunch, unless of course the kids wanted to eat just plain cheese. Actually, Tyler probably would if I let him.
Jazz shrugged, "A few. Ratchet knows. He kinda has to bein' the docbot and all."
"Are they a weird color? Do you have like rainbow eyes or something?" I questioned then snapped my fingers, "Brown? That's unique for Cybertronians."
"If a mech or femme has brown eyes somethin' is seriously wrong." Jazz chuckled. "But now I got a question for you."
I rolled my eyes in good nature, "Oh Lord, here we go."
Jazz grinned and tossed the rag to the side. He strolled across the counter and leaned against the fridge to look at me, "Don't you have anyone back home missin' ya?"
"Nope." I replied simply.
Jazz didn't seem to like my blunt answer, "No one? Friends? Neighbors? Do you have a sparkmate? Or the human equivalent?"
"Jazz, are you asking if I'm single?" I joked.
He shook his head with a smile, "I'm serious, Aj. How come you don't have someone in your life?"
It was weird to hear Jazz go from his usual accent to his voice without it, but it definitely got his point across. I couldn't help but take the unaccented Jazz seriously, "We talked about this before. I'm bad at making friends. I've never actually met my neighbors except the one time they knocked on my door asking me if they've seen their pet anaconda." I cringed at the memory and ignored Jazz's look of curiosity, "Anyways, don't even get me started on boyfriends." I began to check the cabinets hoping that by making my hands busy this would be easier to talk about. It wasn't. "The last guy I considered being in a relationship with stole my money, sold me out, and then moved to Europe."
"You need people in your life. You can't go it alone."
"Words of wisdom from Jazz." I shut the cupboard and moved to the next one, "Inspirational."
Jazz shrugged off the sharp comment and forced a grin, his accent slipped back into place, "Ah try."
"You know, if you show me your eyes I'll consider you a friend. Then I technically wont be alone in life, right?"
Jazz held a hand to his chest in mock hurt, "An' here I thought we were already friends."
I knelt down to check the lower cabinets and Jazz sat down on the counter with his legs hanging off the edge in response. There probably wasn't anything in the cabinets that could be served as lunch, but now I was just taking stock of everything we had considering I would be grocery shopping soon. As I pulled open the cabinet I watched as the hinges fell apart and the wooden door slipped from my hand and fell to the floor. Jazz snickered and I bit back a groan. It was bad enough he broke stuff, but Wheeljack had a gift at making things look like things were fine until I touched them.
"Wheeljack!" I barked and picked up the wooden cabinet. A sigh slipped my lips as I leaned it against the opening and stood back up. Jazz remained sitting with an amused look on his features.
He snapped his fingers, which I wasn't aware he could do, and then motioned toward me, "I got it."
"Got what? An answer to keep Wheeljack from tearing this house down screw by screw?"
"Primus don't even have a solution to keep Jackie from tinkering." Jazz replied, "I have a solution to your 'boyfriend' problems."
"Oh, this should be good." I replied dryly.
"'Til you find someone.. I'll play the role." He crossed his arms.
The sound that came out of my mouth didn't sound human and it ranged somewhere between shock and laughter, "You'll play the role? You'll be my boyfriend?"
"Mechfriend." Jazz corrected and jokingly added, "I'll love and protect ya, sweetspark."
"My knight in shining armor." I replied sarcastically. A chuckle escaped my throat, "Honestly speaking though, you're still probably better than half the guys I've dated." Jazz held his arms out in a 'See?' motion and I rolled my eyes. There was a giggle in the doorway that made me turn to see Taylor standing there looking smug for a six year old. I nodded toward her, "What's up, sweetie?"
Taylor glanced from Jazz and then back to me, "Nothing. You called for Wheeljack, but he was busy so I came."
"Well I can't exactly tell you what I was going to tell him." I said sheepishly. Most of the things I planned to tell Wheeljack were R-rated. Hell, a part of me just planned to throttle the foot tall alien. "You hungry?" Taylor nodded quickly and I continued, "Go get cleaned up. Tell Peter and Tyler to clean up too. We're gonna head out for lunch."
"Can-"
"The bots and cons are gonna stay here." I interrupted her before she could even finish her obvious question. My eyes darted over to Jazz mockingly, "Hope you don't mind, honey."
Jazz grinned and stood up, "Not at all. Family time is important time."
I had to once again resist the urge to roll my eyes. Taylor giggled again before running off. "Hey", I said as I helped the mech down to the floor, "Tell Wheeljack the cabinet better be fixed by time I get home."
Jazz gave me a mock salute before wandering off. My mind briefly thought over the past conversation before I shook my head and headed upstairs with the plans to get ready myself. Here I thought conversations with Ratchet were weird.
"No fire."
"I give you my word. We shall be on our best behavior." Optimus reassured the jumpy human femme. Aj bit her lower lip before sighing and giving the crowd of Cybertronians a quick nod. She hustled the younglings out of the house and closed the door behind her.
"I've said this before, but… She's real paranoid about the fire thing. Like, Red Alert paranoid." Sideswipe commented as he leaned against the wall.
"Can you blame her?" Thundercracker muttered under his breath before leaving the foyer. Ratchet let his optics wander from each mech before they settled on Wheeljack who was happily strolling into the kitchen. The medic bot was well aware that the kitchen was the very last place Wheeljack needed to spend his time. Especially if the main goal was to avoid a fire.
"What the slag do you think you're doing?" Ratchet spat as he followed the walking safety hazard into the spacious area.
Wheeljack jumped at the sound of Ratchet's voice and spun around. His fins glowed a bright blue, "Oh, Ratchet. What brings you in here?"
"Prowl's in charge of keeping the Unicron spawned twins from wreaking havoc and my job is to keep you from burning the human's dwelling to the ground." Ratchet snapped. On one servo, he was entirely overjoyed that he wasn't the one put in charge of making sure the twins stayed in line, yet he still couldn't feel joy at the prospect of sparkling sitting his mad scientist of a friend.
Wheeljack chuckled good-naturedly, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm only in here to repair the cabinet door. Jazz told me Aj wants it done before she gets back. It should be an easy fix."
"Just put back the screws you took."
He tilted his head, "Well, technically speaking, the screws I took don't exactly exist anymore so…"
Ratchet resisted the urge to cradle his helm between his servos. 'It could be worse' he reminded himself. Flashbacks of explosions and missing limbs danced through his processors. Those memories were only the ones caused by Wheeljack in the Ark too. It didn't even take into consideration the many wounds caused by the sheer stupidity of some of his other comrades. He watched with wary optics as Wheeljack pushed the cabinet door where it belonged and began work on the hinges. The sound of revving engines filled the foyer, followed by tires squealing against the wood floor, but Ratchet let the noise fall into the background.
It was strange to see Autobots residing in the same area as the Decepticons without engaging in a full out war, but it was stranger to see both sides uncomfortable in their boredom. There wasn't a long list of errands to complete or tasks to be done. As Aj had said early on, this was a vacation for both the bots and cons and neither side truly knew what to do with it. Ratchet kept himself busy by continually checking the status of everyone in the house, even the humans, but the lack of stress was almost unnerving. He could admire his newly found quiet time, but there was a portion of it that put him on edge. He felt like something was bound to happen because something always did happen.
Wheeljack and Starscream were still relatively busy with the project to get everyone back to their own universe, but there was only so much progress they could make with what they had. At the moment they were trying to gather more data on the relative location. Wheeljack's first invention had done its job well, if you don't count the pulse that nearly ended Wheeljack's life, but it didn't hurt to have more information on their location. One mistake and they'd end up who the frag knows where.
"Do you think that'll hold?" Wheeljack questioned with his servos planted on his hips. Ratchet lifted his optics to study the loose hinges and watched as they began to shift from the weight of the wood. He reached forward, grabbed Wheeljack by the shoulder and shoved him aside roughly before sidestepping himself. The cabinet door's hinges broke and the door fell with a thud in front of them. Wheeljack nodded, "Right. I can fix this."
"Of course you can." Ratchet said in a tone that made his words sound not so encouraging. Wheeljack was used to said tone and barely paid any mind to it whatsoever.
Wheeljack struggled to pick the cabinet door back up and Ratchet didn't move an inch toward him. He got himself into this slagging situation; he could get himself out of it.
Ever since they had arrived their systems hadn't been at 100%. Radar, GPS, commlinks, and so on were still there but inactive for the most part. It was more than a nuisance, it was basically a handicap, but most of the bots and cons had adjusted to it. However, it led them to rely solely on their senses. This is why Ratchet could hear the approaching footsteps coming from halfway down the stairs. Wheeljack seemed to have noticed as well, but was too preoccupied with the door to give it much time. Ratchet narrowed his optics trying to place the footsteps. It wasn't the twins, one set of footsteps was too heavy and both were going too slow. It wasn't Jazz considering Ratchet probably wouldn't hear the special ops mech coming. Before he could fully narrow down his list of possibilities two faces turned the corner.
Ratchet tensed as Megatron and Soundwave stopped in the doorway. Their optics lazily glanced from the fallen cabinet door to both Ratchet and Wheeljack. The engineer had paused in what he was doing to stand beside Ratchet and hold his ground. Regardless of whatever truce had been drawn up for the time being, things had still remained tense between the Autobots and Decepticons. They hid the tense edge from the humans for the human's own good, but a miracle hadn't occurred between the two warring sides.
Hopeful Optimus thought perhaps this temporary truce could blossom into an understanding, but deep down in the sparks of every Cybertronian here they knew the chances of this war ending in a servo shake was slim to none.
Another few moments passed and not a single mech in the kitchen moved. Megatron's slips curved slightly into a small smirk and Ratchet could feel his entire body grow rigid. Wheeljack stiffened beside him as well as both bots mentally prepared for the possibility of a fight. Without any humans in the house, it was entirely possible the war would continue. Aj and the younglings were still entirely unaware that occasionally during the night a brawl would break out. It was always hand to hand and it only caused Aj to stir, not wake up, but it still happened.
New footsteps approached from behind Ratchet and Wheeljack and before Ratchet could even begin to worry that the new footsteps would belong to more Decepticons he recognized the pace and weight of each step. How could he not considering the many times he heard them running around the Ark causing mayhem?
Ratchet couldn't see them, he wouldn't take his eyes off Megatron and Soundwave, but he heard the footsteps stop in the doorway on the other end of the kitchen.
"Would you look at this, Sunny?"
"Would you stop with that fragging name?"
"They're looking like they're gonna start a fight." Sideswipe crossed the room to stand on the other side of Ratchet as Sunstreaker came to stand on the other side of Wheeljack, "And you mechs didn't invite us? Rude."
The twins were both the best mechs to have here at the moment and also the worst. Their fighting experience and talent alone would give the four Autobots in the kitchen the upper edge at the moment, but their energon lust could vary well push this tense situation into the fight alone. Ratchet did not want to start a fight.
Megatron chuckled lightly before turning on his heel and striding away with Soundwave by his side. Wheeljack made a sound very similar to a human sigh of relief, "Good timing. That would not have been very fun."
"Yeah, bet you've never been so happy to see us before, Hatchet?" Sideswipe beamed at the medic.
Ratchet scoffed, "I'm never happy to see you glitches."
Wheeljack chuckled and turned back to the cabinet. His fins lit up, "Oh! While the two of you are here, can you hold this door up while I fix the hinges?"
"Sure thing, Jackie. As long as you promise to put in a good word for me with Aj." Sideswipe replied and clapped his brother on the back. Sunstreaker swung his arm out to punch him in the back of the helm, but Sideswipe ducked and moved to grab the cabinet door, "She got Prowl to yell at me for crying out loud."
Sideswipe picked up one side of the door and Ratchet recognized the twins having an internal argument before Sunstreaker cursed under his breath and went to pick up the other side.
"When isn't Prowl yelling at you?" Ratchet replied.
"Well, it's not as bad here." Sideswipe shrugged, "Though something tells me he's keeping tack of everything and just waiting till we get back."
Ratchet chuckled to himself because he knew Sideswipe was completely right. Pit, Ratchet had seen the growing list himself. Wheeljack nodded and moved to work on the hinges as the twins pushed the door into place, "I'll let her know you helped me fix the cabinet door."
"If you really think that alone will get you on her good side then you're stupider than I thought." Ratchet spoke up.
Sideswipe turned and leaned against the door so his back was holding the wood rather than his servos. He crossed his arms, "Good point. I should talk to Jazz. She's pretty close to him, right?" His optics darted to Sunstreaker as the two shared thoughts once again. Sideswipe grinned, "I could show her a few moves. I'm sure something would be able to translate over into human fighting."
"No." Ratchet snapped. None of the three mechs there jumped at Ratchet's sharp tone because all three mechs were very used to being yelled at in the same tone. Sideswipe turned an innocent look toward the medic who narrowed his optics at him, "The last thing we need to do is encourage her fighting habit."
"Why not?" Sideswipe questioned.
Ratchet stumbled over his words from the sheer shock of the red moron asking such a ridiculous statement, "Because it's going to get her fragging offlined, you slagging glitch ridden terror!"
Sideswipe made a humming sound, "Words are hurtful you know that, Hatchet?"
The medic stepped toward the red mech threatingly and Sideswipe flinched with a sheepish smile on his faceplates. Sunstreaker shrugged, "She took care of the human filth that showed up at her door."
"She kicked that one male's aft." Sideswipe nodded.
"And the other nearly knocked her into stasis with a weapon." Ratchet growled, "Primus. He could've just shot her!"
Sideswipe tilted his helm slightly, "Ok. I see your point."
The amount of self-control it took to not lunge forward and strangle the red frontliner was immense. Ratchet honestly deserved an award for the many times he resisted the urge to maim the morons he found himself looking after.
"If I find out anyone is encouraging her fighting habits I'll beat them into the ground with their own fragging limbs." Ratchet warned. It was a warning he planned to blast to every bot or con in the household, but he knew the terror twins needed to hear it first considering they were probably, once again, going to be the main issue.
"You got it, Ratch!" Wheeljack replied cheerily without much thought behind his words. He was too busy focusing on the task at hand. Besides, why would he ever feel the need to push Aj toward fighting?
Sideswipe held his hand up and grinned, "Autobot's honor."
Sunstreaker didn't reply, but his facial plates gave off the vibe that he could care less about the situation. It was usually the red terror that dragged Sunstreaker into things anyways. Ratchet shook his head and began to march out of the kitchen with plans to head back to his temporary medbay.
Ratchet didn't spend much time wondering why he was so determined to keep that insufferable femme in working order. It was probably the same reason why Bluestreak and Bumblebee kept watch on the twin younglings at all times and why Prowl mostly did his work in an area where he could keep an optic on Peter. Protecting the innocent from Decepticons came naturally for nearly any Autobot. It was basically hardwired into their systems at this point, and most times once they began to protect someone it became difficult for them to ever even consider not protecting them, whether the threat comes from Decepticons or some other outside force.
As far as Ratchet was concerned, these humans were his patients for the time being and like slag he was going to let them become injured. The younglings were fairly good at staying out of harm's way, but that fragging femme managed to get herself into problems nearly as often as the frontliner twins that plagued his life. Ratchet was more than determined to keep this femme from offlining herself. He'd protect her from harm even if that harm came from herself.
"Wow", I held carried the word out for longer than it was supposed to be held, "Those chicken nuggets sound delicious."
Peter snickered from the seat beside me. My eyes drifted to the rear view mirror where I could see both Tyler and Taylor sitting in the back with a Wendy's to-go bag sandwiched between them. Taylor was too busy sucking down her soda to catch my joke and Tyler, the kid who was smacking on his food like a cow, only smiled. It looked like he considered replying, but decided instead to shove another chicken nugget into his mouth.
"Thanks for Wendy's, Aj." Peter smiled. He had finished his burger already and had crumpled up his trash. It now rested in his lap as he waited for a trash can to become available.
I shrugged and began to press down on the brakes as the light ahead turned red, "Don't mention it, kid."
"We're going to Wal-Mart, right?" Peter asked.
"For groceries, yeah. Speaking of which, what do you guys want to eat for Christmas dinner?" I glanced over my shoulder at the twins and then let my gaze carry over to Peter before settling back onto the road.
Tyler decided to take a break from inhaling his food to answer, "I want ham! Lots of ham, and corn on the cob!"
"Can we have the mashed potatoes with marshmallows on top?" Taylor questioned.
Before I could reply with a question of my own, Peter clarified, "Sweet Potato Casserole. Mom makes it sometimes."
"Oh. Uh, why not?" I replied and the twins cheered. Oh God, I had just figured out how not to burn the pancakes in the morning and now I had to make some fancy casserole? I was in desperate need of a Christmas miracle. "What about you, Pete?"
Peter didn't reply immediately as he thought to himself. The light turned green and I pressed my foot against the accelerator. Peter grinned, "Can we have peach cobbler?"
"Heck yeah. Let's eat some peach cobbler too." I announced and the twins cheered some more as Peter grinned. Never mind that it wasn't exactly prime peach season. Canned peaches would do the trick, right? Technically I was allergic to peaches. Slightly. It didn't stop me from ever eating the fruit. I'd enjoy the peach and spend the next hour or so complaining about an itchy tongue, but that wouldn't be a problem. Probably. Honestly, I was still more worried about cooking a damn ham and making a casserole.
I parked the car in the mess that was a Wal-Mart parking lot and began to walk in with the kids. Taylor and Tyler held both my hands as we walked through the crowded lot and I kept Peter walking a few steps in front of me where I could see him. He slowed his steps and turned to talk as we walked, "Hey, Aj?"
"Yeah, kiddo?"
"Can we buy Christmas gifts for the Cybertronians?"
His question didn't get an immediate response, but seconds after the words left his mouth the twins began to jump up and down in excitement. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but it was something along the lines of begging me to say yes.
I chuckled, "Sure. Why not? Good idea, Pete."
Peter beamed at my praise and jogged to get a buggy for me. Christmas gifts for the Autobots and Decepticons, huh? I didn't have the slightest idea what to get for them. If anything I could name a few who deserved coal.
"Thanks." I said and let go of the kids' hands to push the buggy. Taylor hopped onto the end of the buggy so she was facing me and riding the cart at the same time. Peter walked beside me and Tyler bounced around to different things he saw that were interesting but stayed in sight. The Christmas shopping was done first because I didn't want to grab the groceries and let the cold stuff get warm as we searched Wal-Mart for presents.
Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. It turned out that the kids were chockfull with ideas for what to get our newest housemates. The few bots and cons they got stuck on I managed to come up with something that would work. I grabbed extra wrapping paper, labels, and bows before moving into the grocery section.
'What the fuck do you put into a sweet potato casserole?' I texted Aubrey in hopes that she would get it. Sometimes she called using the hospital phone and other times she used her cell. Hopefully today she had her cellphone on her.
Peter and Tyler were arguing over which gummy snacks to buy as Taylor leaned against my hip with a silly smile. I glanced down at her and chuckled, "Why are you so happy?"
Taylor clasped her hands together and began to twist her body so her hair swayed around her petite features, "Aj, can I be your flower girl?"
My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, "Flower girl?"
"Yeah! At your wedding!"
"I wasn't aware I was going to get married." I chuckled back and called out for Peter and Tyler to hurry up and pick one.
Taylor's smile faltered slightly as confusion filled her own features, "But I heard you and Jazz talking. He said he was your boyfriend. Girlfriends and boyfriends get married."
What? It took a moment for my mind to connect the dots and then it took everything in me not to burst into laughter. Hell, the only reason I didn't burst into laughter was because I didn't want the poor little girl to think I was making fun of her. No wonder she was giggling earlier in the kitchen. I knelt down slightly so we were face to face, "Sweetie, Jazz and I aren't actually dating. He was joking."
Taylor pouted, "But why?"
"Well, we can't date." I tried to explain, "We aren't…the same."
Taylor crossed her arms and a look of determination crossed her features, "Are too! Both of you are really funny and good and you play nice together."
There was a brief sense of pride that filled my heart at the young girl's words. Some people couldn't even see past couples of different skin color and yet here Taylor was claiming that my soul mate was a foot tall metal alien. Way to not see race, honey, or species. Actually, I should seriously clear this up.
"He's not human, Tay, and I am human." I chuckled.
Taylor sighed, "But I want you two to get married."
"Why?"
"If you get married to Jazz then he has to stay here and if he stays here then the other bots will stay too. I don't want any of them to leave."
My heart dropped at her words. The last thing I wanted to talk to the kids about was the bots and cons departure date. I knew it was coming and I was prepared to handle it when it did, but I had no idea how the kids were going to take it. Well, that wasn't true. I knew exactly how they were going to take it. Badly.
"So please get married?" She begged with wide, pleading eyes.
Shit. Slag. Ugh. I couldn't ever say no to a face like that, but the girl wasn't exactly asking to stay up an extra hour or for a puppy. Hell, it would be easier to get her a puppy. I racked my brain for something to say, "Er well, see Taylor…He didn't get me a ring."
"What?" Her eyebrows scrunched together.
I nodded quickly and continued with my reasoning, "Jazz didn't buy me a ring. You can't get married without a ring, right?"
Taylor tore her eyes away and gazed off into nothing as she let this last statement process through her mind. I slowly watched as realization dawned across the little girl's face as she accepted my 'from the hip' excuse.
"Aj! Can we bake a cake?"
"Yes." I blurted and stood up. That conversation was beyond over, "Taylor, how about you pick the icing flavor with your brothers?"
Taylor nodded and bounced over to where her brothers were looking over a variety of icing flavors. Thank God for six-year-old attention spans. I still had two months to figure out how to get the kids to handle the bots and cons leaving and I planned to wait until the very last moment. It didn't help matters that in two months I'd have to leave too. My mind had thought about what it'd be like to stay for longer, but after what happened with Kyle and Boss' money I knew that was no longer an option.
The fact that I said yes to make a cake didn't actually hit me until the kids ran back over with cake mix, icing, and sprinkles. Damn it, I've never made a cake before. It couldn't be too hard, right? I mean the cake mix came out of a freaking box for crying out loud.
My phone buzzed and I was relieved to see Aubrey had texted me casserole ingredients. By the end of these two months I was going to be a certified chef. Well, maybe not, but I wouldn't be as kitchen handicapped as I used to be.
"We're home!" Tyler yelled loudly into the foyer. I chuckled and continued to carry the many bags of food and Christmas goodies into the kitchen. Peter helped me set most of the bags down.
"We'll put the food away. You can go wrap the bots and cons gifts." Peter said in hushed tones.
"I wanna wrap the gifts too!" Tyler cried loudly and his brother shushed him.
"We'll go and help her after we put food away." Peter reassured him.
I laughed, "Guys, I'll just help put food-"
"No!" The kids argued. Taylor shook her head, "They might see what we got them! You have to go now!"
"But-"
The reply given to me was Peter and the twins pushing me out of the kitchen with the bags of knick-knacks hanging from my arms. Skywarp and Thundercracker came around the corner and looked confused at what was happening.
"What is this?" Skywarp questioned.
"Mutiny." I replied and bit back a grin. Peter motioned for me to go and I shook my head before jogging upstairs toward my room. It amused me to no end that the kids planned to put away all the food while I wrapped gifts. Although the more I thought about it the more I worried. Did they even know where the stuff went? Could they reach the top shelf of the fridge? I shook my head. They had stools and Peter was fully capable of kicking my ass at checkers and chess. They could manage.
I pushed open my room door and paused to see Ratchet and Grimlock in the room. Their presence wasn't too surprising.
"Finally, you human back." Grimlock stomped over, "What you human have?"
"It's a surprise."
"For me Grimlock?"
"Yes, for you Grimlock and for every other bot and con here." I replied.
Grimlock took another step toward me, but I took one back and held the bags higher, "Nuh uh. Not until Christmas."
"But me Grimlock want it now!"
"Too bad." I grinned then glanced over to Ratchet who seemed confused, "Now both of you need to get out."
Ratchet's confusion turned to annoyance, "I will not be bossed around my medbay."
"Your medbay, my room." I replied, "Now seriously, get out."
He scoffed, "Think again, youngling."
I pressed my lips together. Ratchet was the only one who referred to me as a youngling and as a 26-year-old woman I didn't take it too well. I rolled my eyes, "Really, Ratchet? We talked about this earlier. I'm three times your size right now. I could just pick you up and throw you out. You're lucky I'm allowing you to walk out on your own."
"Oh, I'm lucky, am I?" Ratchet replied sharply.
"Yeah! We both know who's gonna win this argument!" I said stubbornly.
Needless to say, ten minutes later I was sitting in Aubrey's room with the door shut wrapping up gifts while cursing the wrench-wielding medic under my breath.
When I had first come in, there were some bots and cons that tried to follow. I spent the first six minutes kicking out the condiment twins, yelling at Skywarp to not warp in here while I was wrapping, and scolding Jazz for trying to waltz in like he owned the place. Genius had struck me around the seventh minute though and I told Grimlock that if any bot or con tried to sneak in and see the surprise he wouldn't get his. Now the robot dinosaur stood guard outside and there wasn't a spark in this house that even wanted to attempt getting by him and his white-hot glare.
So far I had wrapped six presents. For Grimlock we got him an assortment of dog toys, which sounded strange, but I could already picture Grimlock playing with the multicolored rope and bright orange ball. He could chew on these instead of the couch now. The seekers were hard to shop for, but Taylor managed to find mini pillows in the same color scheme of each flying con so we bought those. They could put them on top of the entertainment system and sleep on them. It didn't seem like enough though so Peter also suggested giving them these 'Flying Coupons'. Taylor was going to draw and color them but it basically meant I was going to let them go outside to fly for an hour or so. God help the world on Christmas morning when I hand those out. The fifth gift I had already wrapped was for Megatron. Unsurprisingly, it was hard to shop for the evil overlord but Peter managed to pull through for the win. The kid had found a Starscream plushy, but this Starscream didn't look anything like the one flying around the house. The kids said it was the Starscream from the Transformers: Prime cartoon rather than G1. At least, that's what I think they said. Either way, Megatron could beat the shit out of this plushy and none of us would have to hear Starscream's whiny cries of pain. It was a win-win for all. I also threw in some Glitter Remover because I like to flirt with danger. Optimus, much like Megatron, was a really hard bot to shop for. I had drawn a total blank on what to buy the mech, but the kids finally settled on getting him a sweater. A Christmas sweater that was technically the size to fit a small dog, but it would work for his size as well. I questioned it, but the kids insisted that they wanted to buy the Autobot leader a sweater.
"No one come in!" Grimlock roared from outside the door.
"But Grimlock we already know the surprise!" Tyler cried.
"They can come in, Grimlock!" I yelled in hopes that the metal lizard would hear me. Seconds passed before the door opened and all three kids rushed in happily.
Tyler bounced in place, "Can I wrap up Blue's?"
"I wanna wrap Bee's!" Taylor cried in agreement. Luckily, I had saved those two gifts for the twins to wrap. Did I know my niece and nephew or did I know them? I handed the racing obstacle course for Bumblebee to Taylor and the shooting targets for Bluestreak to Tyler along with a good sized chunk of wrapping paper for them to use. Then I did the same with Prowl's gift, one of those grow your own crystal things, for Peter.
"You know what?" I stood up, "I have an idea for Prowl. Just something to add, maybe. Hang on."
I could feel the kids eyes on my briefly, but I continued out of the room. I closed the door behind me and then knelt down to scratch Grimlock's neck, "Make sure no one but me comes in now, ok?"
He gave a grunt of confirmation and I moved down the hall back toward my room. I stepped in and Ratchet scoffed, "Back to argue more?"
"No." I mumbled and stuck my tongue out at him when he turned his back to me. Wheeljack who was sitting on the desk beside him chuckled to himself and I moved over to my suitcase of crap. Kyle had packed a bunch of random stuff. He brought the clothes I needed and some other essentials, but then he also threw in stuff I hadn't used for years. For example, as I dug through my suitcase for the first time I found a dress I hadn't worn since freshman year of college and the pile of junk mail I had left on my kitchen counter and never thrown away. To think I used to consider his scatterbrain traits adorable. Now I just wanted to claw his eyes out. Go figure.
"What are you looking for?" Wheeljack asked. I glanced over to see him craning his neck to try and look into my suitcase from where he sat, but he wasn't curious enough to stand up and step down from the desk. A smirk grew on my lips as I shifted to block his gaze.
"It's a surprise for Prowl." I replied and continued digging through my junk looking for an old book of mine. I distinctly remember spotting the book as I was putting my jeans away.
Ratchet scoffed, "All these surprises, what even is the point-"
"Nobody likes a scrooge, Ratchet." I interrupted and threw aside a stained T-shirt. "Aha!"
The book was worn down on the edges because I hadn't taken the best care of it. I had thrown it around some and shoved it into far too many purses and book bags, but it was still in decent enough condition that Prowl wouldn't have to worry about it falling apart on him as long as he didn't let Grimlock chew on it.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. The book had been assigned reading to me in an old Literature class I took. The only reason I still had it was because I tended to keep all the books I actually paid for. It had been lying under a pile of crap on my desk back home and Kyle must have shoved it into my suitcase for some random reason. I flipped through the pages and glanced over all the handwritten notes I had taken. Prowl seemed like the kind of guy who'd enjoy this read. Any of the autobots or decepticons could enjoy it actually, but Prowl seemed to be one of the few Cybertronians who would actually read it.
"What is that?" Ratchet demanded.
I shoved the book under my shirt and stood to leave, "Nothing."
Ratchet narrowed his eyes at me and I only smiled innocently in response. Wheeljack snickered to himself and I gave them both a brief wave before rushing out. Grimlock was still doing a fantastic job of keeping the others at bay and I gave him another pat before walking back into the room.
"We did it, Aj!" Taylor held up what she had wrapped. Both the twins had indeed wrapped the gifts, but it definitely looked like a six year old had wrapped it.
Peter pointed to the pile, "I waited for you to wrap Prowl's. So I wrapped Wheeljack's instead."
The model airplane and tool kit we bought for Wheeljack was wrapped as nicely as a ten year old could. They had even written names down on labels so we could tell what went to whom.
"Good job guys. I grabbed this for Prowl." I held up the book, "I thought he might like it."
"Cool. Can I wrap Sideswipe's gift now?" Tyler was already moving onto the next task. I chuckled and handed Peter the book so he could finish wrapping all of Prowl's stuff. Taylor beamed, "If he wraps Sideswipe's can I wrap Sunstreaker's gift?"
"Sure." I answered and began to cut them out more wrapping paper to use. The twins had apparently been easy to shop for and the kids knew exactly what they wanted to get them. For Sunstreaker we bought actual art stuff. I wasn't entirely sure if he'd be able to even use the sketchpad, paints, and fancy pencils we grabbed, but here's to hoping. Sideswipe was even easier. The kids picked him out what looked like a bunch of gag gifts. There was a yo-yo, a whoopee cushion, a mini joke book, and an electric hand buzzer. Peter had explained Sideswipe's pranking tendencies to me in the store and I was beyond relieved he hadn't shown that side of himself yet. There was almost a sense of dread that filled me as I watched Tyler wrap Sideswipe's gift. Giving him pranking materials was like opening Pandora's box.
As the kids worked hard on their wrapping, I managed to wrap up Jazz's and Ratchet's gift. The kids didn't know what to get the grumpy medic so I suggested a little light reading. I had managed to find a small booklet that was filled with emergency treatments for first aid situations. The anatomy book he was flipping through now had information about the human body, but he was always questioning me about what to do in specific scenarios. Now with this book he wouldn't have to ask. The kids had said Jazz was a big music fan so I figured why not give him a taste of Earth music for Christmas? We bought him an iTunes card and on Christmas he could use it to buy whatever he wanted on my old iPod touch. Speaking of which, I needed to find and charge that electronic device up. I had received it as a gift years ago, but I usually only used it when I was working out.
"I'm gonna wrap Soundwave's now." Peter said as he set Prowl's gifts aside. Soundwave's gift made the least sense to me. The kids had told me to grab a book about languages and the only one I could find in our nearby Wal-Mart was a medium sized book talking about the English language, dialects, slang, and other aspects. It seemed like a really dry read, but the kids claimed the Communications Officer might enjoy it.
"Go ahead, Pete." I replied.
I took it upon myself to wrap the last gift, which was to none other than Barricade. The kids wouldn't let me buy the fragger a bucket of coal like I originally wanted to so I had to settle for my second idea which only came to me when I accidentally walked through the office supply aisle. Wal-Mart had this 'desk punching bag' on sale, which was exactly what it sounded like. It looked just like the type I've used in the gym except this one you left on your desk for decoration and stress relief. I figured he could beat the hell out of this thing instead of my feet.
"Can we put them under the tree?" Tyler asked.
"Um, how about we wait until Christmas Eve?" I replied. The less time these gifts spent under the tree the higher the chance they would make it to Christmas. Tyler frowned but he didn't complain. They helped me hide all the gifts in Aubrey's closet before rushing out of the room.
As I stepped out I took notice of Skywarp leaning against the wall with a wide grin as Grimlock continued to stand guard considering I hadn't told him otherwise yet.
"You even think about coming in here Skywarp-"
"And you'll what?" Skywarp replied with a smug smile.
I grinned and nodded toward Grimlock, "I'll let Grimlock eat you." Grimlock glanced up at me at the sound of his name, "You don't get your surprise until Christmas and if anyone sneaks a peek…"
"Me Grimlock rip them apart." Grimlock growled.
Skywarp's smile went from smug to sheepish in record time. He transformed into a jet and warped away, but his warp didn't end as planned. It could have been his rush to get away or maybe it was just Skywarp being Skywarp, but the jet misjudged the distance he was supposed to go and ended up warping right into the hallway wall.
"Frag!" He cried before tumbling in the air slightly and zooming away.
I began to laugh to myself at the sight of it all. It still amazed me that Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp were grouped together like they were. They all seemed so vastly different that the combination didn't seem like it could possibly meld together well.
Sideswipe stopped at the top of the staircase in front of me and shot me a grin. I expected him to question why I was laughing, but he just stared at me instead. I gave Grimlock a quick thanks and smile and moved to walk down the stairs past Sideswipe.
"See you later, babe."
I came to a rocking stop with one foot still stuck in the air from the step I was going to take. Rather than continue down the stairs, I began to backpedal up the top few steps so I stood in front of the smiling Sideswipe, "What did you just call me?"
"Nothing." Sideswipe replied innocently. His smile took on the edge of a smirk and one of his eyes blinked in a wink like fashion, "Babe." A reply formed in my mind, but instead of letting it fall from my lips I scooped him up without warning. "Whoa. I know I'm irresistible, but I can still walk on my own, femme."
I walked down the hall back to my room and ignored all Sideswipe's curious questions. The only other person in the room was Ratchet who looked up as I came in. His eyes darted from me to Sideswipe and he sighed irritably, "Now what?"
"Sideswipe hit his head or something and now he's broken."
"What?" Sideswipe cried, "That is not true!"
Ratchet held a bored look on his features, "Are you certain you're not confusing being broken with his personality?"
"Hey!" Sideswipe complained, "I resent that."
"You represent that." I replied and set the red bot down, "And you're most certainly broken if you think you can continue calling me babe."
He shrugged, "You let Jazz call you sweetspark."
It suddenly occurred to me that he was right. I had noticed it of course, but it wasn't the same thing. At least, it didn't feel the same. I rolled my eyes, "Where did you even hear the word babe?"
"Internet." He grinned.
"Of course." I mumbled. "Listen, I already warned Skywarp, but I want you and your brother to stay the hell-"
"Language." Ratchet snapped.
Curse the day Ratchet started recognizing Earth curse words. I took a deep breath, "Stay the heck away from the surprises. They're your Christmas gifts and if I found out you peeked I'll murder you."
"If I promise not to peek will you let me call you babe?" Sideswipe nudged my shin with his elbow.
"Sure, whatever." I nodded then scrunched my face up, "Why would you even want to call me babe?"
Sideswipe shrugged and began to leave the room, "So we can be best friends, duh."
"But why-" Before I could question him further he was gone.
I turned my attention to Ratchet who shook his head, "I'll never understand what goes through his virus riddled processors. I'll tell you this though, he's planning something, Primus help us."
"Fantastic." I said dryly when the phone began to ring. The house phone was downstairs in the kitchen last I saw it. I rushed down the stairs, but slowed when I heard Peter answer the phone.
"Hello?"
I peeked my head into the kitchen. Peter smiled at me and pointed at the phone, "Hi mom! How are you?"
"Mama!" Tyler yelled from the living room. I glanced over my shoulder to see Taylor and Tyler speed out of the living room to run into the kitchen. With an amused shake of my head I headed toward the living room to relax and wait for my turn on the phone.
The kids took turns talking to their mom over the phone as I flipped through the different movie options on Netflix. I had only been alone on the couch for a few minutes before others began to join me. The first had been Thundercracker, then Jazz, then Bumblebee, Bluestreak came next, and the last to join on us on the couch was Prowl.
"How 'bout that one?" Jazz pointed to another movie.
I glanced over at him, "That is the third scary movie you picked out. You're a horror flick junkie aren't you?"
He just shrugged his shoulders and then rested his hands behind his head in a resting position. I set down the remote when I heard Tyler run in with the phone, "Here you go, Aj!"
"Thanks buddy." I took the phone and Tyler grabbed the remote as his sister ran in. "Aubrey?"
"Hey Aimee." She replied cheerfully.
"How do you feel?" I asked and let my eyes glance down at the twins who were shooting through movie options.
"Good. I feel good. Everything is going fine." She answered, "I told you about the things coming in tomorrow right?"
Tomorrow I was supposed to receive the Christmas gifts from Aubrey to the kids, "Yup. I'm ready for it."
"Alright, well on Tuesday you should be getting their bigger gifts. The ones from Santa."
Tyler began to tug on my sleeve, "Aj! Aj! Can we watch this?"
"Tuesday?" I spoke to Aubrey and turned to look at what the kid was pointing out. He had selected The Walking Dead of all things. I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head.
"But Aj! Please?" Taylor begged with her brother.
Aubrey had been speaking but I interrupted her, "Hang on, Aubs." I pressed the phone against the crook of my shoulder and shook my head at the kids, "That's a scary TV show. You don't need to watch it."
"My friend at school says he watches it with his brother!" Tyler replied, "Please, Aj! We won't be scared!"
"Guys." I sighed. Personally, I had seen all of the episodes of the show. It was one of the only things I watched on TV, which is why I knew there were things they didn't need to be seeing in it. "Can't you watch something else?"
"We won't be scared!" Taylor repeated what her brother said, "We'll leave the lights on and we have Thundercracker here and Jazz and Prowl and Bee and Blue and-"
"Please Aj?" Tyler finished.
I sighed and shook my head, "Just- Just watch the first episode. That's it. Got it?"
The twins cheered and I left the room to finish talking to Aubrey. The first episode wasn't too bad was it? Did they even show walkers in the first episode? The kids would probably grow bored of the drama in it.
"What was that about?" Aubrey questioned.
"Nothing." I replied quickly, "So Tuesday?"
"Santa is bringing them something good this year."
The weirdest feeling in the world came from being woken up without a sound. It was a situation where the person didn't touch you or say a word, they just stared at you until you came out of slumber.
My eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the dark. Ratchet wasn't in here tonight, something about a meeting, so the lamp on my desk wasn't on. After a second of realizing where I was I glanced over and nearly jumped out of my skin when I spotted Tyler standing by my bed clutching Bluestreak to his chest.
"Fuc- Shit." I replied and groggily realized I had replaced my curse word with just another curse word. "Tyler?"
"Aj, we're scared."
The twins had watched the entire first episode of The Walking Dead and loved it. They said they weren't scared at all. However, as I got them into bed I could tell they were a bit on edge, but both the twins and the bots that stayed with them through the night assured me they'd make it to morning.
"Walkers aren't real, right Aj?" Bluestreak questioned quickly, "I told Tyler they weren't real, but then again I don't actually know myself and then I started thinking-"
"Walkers aren't real." I said sleepily and glanced over to see it was 2 in the morning. It was silent for a minute as Tyler shifted his weight and held on tighter to Bluestreak who was staring at me with his wide, glowing eyes. "How about you guys stay with me tonight, hm?"
Tyler nodded and basically jumped into my bed. He crawled over me and cuddled into the pillow and sheets without a word. Bluestreak laid with him. I tiredly chuckled and laid my head back down. I fell asleep for a total of five more minutes before the same feeling washed over me.
"Taylor?"
"Aj, can Bee and I sleep with you too?"
Yay. Another one out quick as a whip, and it's looooong. I owed you guys this. Thanks for the continued reviews (I fucking love you all). TO THOSE OF YOU WHO I OWE DRABBLES: I'm still mega grateful for you giving me ideas on the TFs gifts. I have all the drabbles planned, but I haven't written them out yet. I kinda want to focus on the main storyline for this first. Sorry!
Let me know what you think about this one too, ok? Also I had a question (just to satisfy my own curiosity): If the Transformers were human what actors would you pick to play them? I have my own ideas on which actors would fit certain Transformers, but I'd love to hear some other opinions. Thanks again!