"Astro… you have to go."

"I don't want to…"

"It's an important meeting. You have to attend."

"It's one meeting. It's fine."

"Asterossa…"

Maria and Amber both frowned towards their husband, who was hovering over Dorado and Lacerta's crib. The two boys were fast asleep, and their father was looking down at them rather intently. There was a smile on his face however, and his expression was a large mixture of both happiness and pride.

Ever since Maria and Amber had gotten pregnant, Astro had gone into full father mode. He looked over the two women like a hawk, tended to their every need, and made sure not to leave their side unless it was absolutely necessary. When he was away from them, one could tell they were all he was thinking about. He concluded whatever business he was up to as quickly as possible, and then got back to the castle.

Both of the queens thought it was sweet, though a little smothering at times. But they were told it was natural. Monsters, especially titans, had an instinct to protect their family at all cost. This went double when it came to their young. It wasn't like they hadn't been expecting it though.

Typhon and Python had apparently done the same with their own children, and Morel had also been oddly clingy when Corona had gotten pregnant. Gadfly hardly even let anyone get near Scylla when she was pregnant, and even Bloom had been hesitant about letting others hold Wisteria for a while.

Of course when Dorado and Lars had actually been born, the attention had shifted from them to the babies themselves. And while the boys seemed to enjoy the attention, it was kind of hard for Astro to focus on all of his duties as king when he refused to leave their side. "It's just a party, they won't miss me…"

"You're supposed to be honoring the warriors of the Waterfolk guard. You HAVE to be there," Maria argued. "I know you don't exactly care to be there, and I know want to be away from the boys but-"

"What if something happens?" he asked, turning towards her. "The Waterfolk kingdom is so far away. If somebody ends up attacking then..."

"Then you'll only be a scissor swipe away," Amber said, trying to reassure him. "And even if you weren't, I'll be here, Maria will be here, and all of the guard. You know nobody would let a single thing happen to them while you're gone."

Astro knew she was right. He knew he was overreacting. He knew he was being silly. But there was just some part of him that couldn't help but scream for him to stay by their side. He reached down and patted them both on the head. They just barely moved, letting out two little yawns that brought another smile to his face.

"It's no use talking sense to him right now."

Both Amber and Maria jumped at the voice that came from the window. Typhon made his way inside, and towards Astro, a smirk on his face. "Typhon. It's nice to see you," Maria said smiling towards him. "Here to visit the kids again?" He had become quite the doting grandfather since they were born. Likely to make up for all the time he missed with his own son as a child.

"That, and to give a reason for the boy not to be so concerned during his little outing," he said as he reached down and patted Astro on the head.

The king scowled and looked up towards his father. "I'm not a boy anymore…"

"When you hit a thousand, you'll be considered a man in my eyes. Until then, you're just a boy, boy," he said chuckling. "You don't need to fret about leaving. I'll stay here with them. Nobody will so much as lay a finger on them with us around."

"Us?" Amber asked.

Typhon pointed up upwards. "You know how my brother is. He doesn't want to show it, but he wants to dote over his little grandnephews as much as I do," he said. It was no secret that both he and Typhon were happy to see more titans around. Especially ones of their own blood. And he certainly didn't want to take any chances of history repeating.

Astro grunted. He again, he knew the boys would be more thans afe with both his father and uncle around. But still… "I'm not sure."

"Of course you aren't. You just had newborns, and considering everything that's happened in this family I don't blame you for being clingy. I still remember when your mother took you to earth. It was unbearable." Every year, day, and second he had been separated from them had been dread. So he wasn't going to tell Astro not be worried or concerned. "But you can't hover over them forever. No matter how much you want to."

Astro grunted once more, knowing he was right, but not wanting to admit it. Sighed before turning around to face them. "Alright, I'll go. But if anything happens-"

"Nothing will, but if it does we'll call you right away," Maria assured. "Tell my brother that I said hello. And please try and be nice."

"I can't promise that…"

Both Maria and Amber gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then he reluctantly began to make his way off. Leaving his sons behind to go play nice with his brother-in-law… what a trade off.

"You could at least pretend to be paying attention…"

Astro sighed as he sat beside Hody in Topaz, a very stern expression on his face. The head of the waterfolk guard was giving a speech to the newly appointed knights, but he honestly hadn't been listening to a word they said. He didn't even know why he still kept attending these things.

Since becoming king, he had tended to take a less formal route with things like this. But a lot of the kingdoms and noble houses still insisted on keeping up certain traditions, and to keep in good faith with them he went along with most of it. "I don't want to be here," Astro stated bluntly.

Topaz scowled towards him as Turq sat with a disinterested look on his face. He had been happily playing with his uncle until all the bigger people started talking. "No shit, but a lot of people worked hard to get here. The least you could do is act like there isn't a stick up your ass," she said.

Astro grit his teeth. "My boys are at home…"

"What?" Topaz asked, confused. "You mean that's what you're worried about. Look, I get you have baby fever or whatever, but Amber and Maria are with them, it's fine."

"I should be home with them…"

Topaz sighed. It was hard for her to be rough on him about this considering that she was the same way. She hated being away from Turq for any reason, and so did Hody. Still, she didn't want him here if he was going to just be such a sour puss this whole time. "If you want to go, then go."

Both Topaz and Astro looked over towards Hody surprised. He had his arms crossed and an even expression on his face. "What?" Astro asked.

"I said go. It's not as if I really wanted you here in the first place. Your presence here is a formality, and if you're going to spend it whining about your children I'd rather you not be here to bring the mood down."

Astro scowled towards him. Of course he wouldn't miss the chance to sling an insult at him. He was about to say something back towards him, but then the captain of the guard called them both up. "And now our squires will have the honor of being knighted before both King Hody, and King Asterossa. If you would both please step forward."

Topaz raised an eyebrow towards the two of them, and Astro was just silent for a moment. Hody had told him he could leave, but… it hardly felt appropriate now. And Maria could give him hell for it later. He sighed and then stood up along with Hody, making his way to the forward.

It honestly felt odd not having to do the knighting himself. Why in the world did they have to stand here and just watch? It was weird. "Out of curiosity, how many extra guards did you order to stay behind to watch over your spawn?" Hody asked, muttering low enough for just Astro to hear.

"Do you think me worrying about my children is funny?" Astro asked, feeling more than a little irritated. He could tell the boys were fine right now. There was some kind of unseen link between titans who shared blood. A way to tell if they were in trouble. But that could change at any second.

"I didn't say it was funny," Hody stared.

"But you think it is…"

"Don't presume to know what I think."

"Go fuck yourself."

Hody sighed and shook his head. "I'm not making fun of you. For all of the many, many things I can fault in you over, caring about your children isn't one of them," he said. "In fact, it might be the one thing that I regretfully sympathize with you over."

That… had actually caught Astro off guard. It was as if Hody was actually trying to be reassuring. It felt unnatural. "I miss them. I need to be there," Astro said, tightening his grip on his arm. "They need me…"

"No, they don't," Hody said simply. "I know how you feel. Thinking that you need to be there every second of every day or else something terrible might happen. And even knowing your being ridiculous doesn't make you feel any better. But my sister is more than capable of watching after your little cretins while your here."

"But what if-"

"It won't."

"But-"

"It. Won't."

"How do you know?"

Hody gestured over towards his own son. "Because of experience," he said simply. "If you want to go home to be sure, then go. I'll come up with something to say to the others. But if you're going to stay, at the very least try and compose yourself. Then you can rush back right after for all I care."

Astro looked down for a moment, and then sighed. "This is hard…"

"If you thought it'd be easy, you were a fool."

"You almost had it. Crashed and burned and the landing."

"Just because I'm being sympathetic doesn't mean I'm going to coddle you."

For whatever reason, Astro seemed to have calmed down just a bit after his talk with Hody. Of course after the ceremony had ended, he said his brief goodbyes and made his way back home. The second he came through the doors, he was nearly knocked off of his feet by a blur of red.

"Whoa there!" Astro said, stumbling back as he caught Lacerta. "I see somebody is lively after their nap. Have you been behaving for your mommies?" Lacerta laughed and flailed his arms about wildly, in response.

"Of course he hasn't," Maria said as she walked over towards them. Lacerta had gone scrambling out of her arms the moment he sensed Astro coming home. "He got up to trouble the moment he woke up. But his grandpa and grand-uncle managed to burn off most of that energy he built up."

"This one missed you too," Amber said, bringing Dorado over towards him. The boy was holding his arms out towards his father, who happily scooped him up. "By the way, if you're wondering why the kitchen table is cut in half, your father let him get his hands on a kitchen knife."

Astro smirked as Dorado looked up a thim proudly. "Couldn't help yourself huh? You're just destined for the blade," he said nuzzling his face. Dorado laughed, and Lacerta leapt up and bit down on his horn.

"So, how was the knighting?"

"It was fine. Honestly I didn't really pay that much attention. But… your brother was slightly more tolerable this time around."

Maria and Amber both looked surprised. "Wow, really? Huh…"

"I'm sorry for overreacting earlier. I know the boys would have been fine even if my father hadn't been here. I was being overprotective, but… I just can't help but want to be around them," he said chuckling as Dorado reached up and tugged on his cheek.

Amber walked over and patted the side of his face. "Oh, it's fine. I know if I could I'd spend all day with them too. And honestly it's kind of cute to see you like this," she said as Dorado made his way back into her arms.

"Besides, we got to see your uncles making faces at Lacerta. That was well worth it."

"Uncle Python made a face? Your kidding?! Did you record it?"

"I most certainly did. Would you like to see it?"

A/N: Astro was a helicopter-papa lol. He absolutely hated being away from his kids when they were little. The times he did all he thought about was getting back to them. Those titan genes really push them to protect their young.