Wow!  Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews!  RedLion2, Karenvforce, QuikerKookie, and Queen Merla…you guys are awesome!  I didn't expect so much, but I really do appreciate your thoughtful and helpful reviews.  I just hope it lives up to your expectations.

All relative disclaimers apply.

Enjoy!
Failte

*************************************************

It was still dark out when Becca woke.  She turned to look at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was four in the morning.  Looking at her watch, which was still set to Terran time, she saw it was ten in the morning in Toronto.  She shook her head, the time change was going to take some getting used to.         

Taking her time, Becca showered, dressed, and did her hair.  It was nearly five and she was feeling hungry.

"Well, Allura said to make myself at home," she mused as she crossed to the door.  It felt a little odd, the castle was so quiet, everyone at rest.

Paper crinkled under her foot when she stepped through the doorway.  Curious, Becca looked down and smiled.  A piece of paper tied to a flower resembling a Terran daisy lay on the floor just outside the door.  She reached down and picked it up.

            Becca,

Sorry about not seeing you yesterday, things were kind of hectic.  Maybe tonight we can go for a walk, catch up on things.

                                                See you around,

                                                            Pidge.

She smiled and carried the flower back into her room, a pleasant flush warming her skin.  He did want to see her.  Maybe he did like her.

With a lighter step, Becca headed down the hall toward the kitchen.  Or where she thought the kitchen was.  After a quick, impromptu tour of the floor, she found the kitchen, a little surprised to see the light on.

"You're up early," Darcy whispered.

"It's nearly eleven back home."  Becca told her.  "Is everything alright?"

Darcy nodded.  She stood beside the sink, wrapped in a robe, cradling Schuyler to her shoulder, gently swaying.  "She woke up hungry.  With all the excitement of you arriving yesterday, her nap and feeding schedules were interrupted."

"Sorry."

Darcy smiled, "It's not your fault, she's fine.  Besides everyone will be up soon anyway."

"They still have practice?"

"Yeah, some, more just to keep them in shape."

"Do you miss it?"

Darcy lowered herself onto one of the chairs at the table, careful to not disturb her daughter.  "Not as much as I thought I would.  I mean I can still fly and I might take up Keith's offer to become a flight instructor.  I don't know, I guess I just have other things to keep me busy for now."

"But you're going to be fine?"

"Yeah, it's taking me a while to build up my strength, but I'll be fine."

"Have you and Lance started looking for your own house yet?"

"We've checked out a few places.  There just isn't much right now since the town and everything in it is so new.  We're thinking of building a place of our own somewhere between the castle and Alforia."

Becca nodded, "That sounds nice.  But I think Mom and Dad are still harboring a hope that you guys will change your minds and move back to Terra."

"That's not going to happen," Darcy sighed.

"What's not going to happen?"  Lance asked, entering the kitchen.  He was obviously fresh out of the shower, his wet hair brushed back from his face.

"Us moving back to Terra."  Darcy murmured.

Lance bent and kissed her, "Good morning, is everything alright?"  He gently ran his hand over Schuyler's hair.

"Yeah, she was just hungry, but I got her back to sleep."

Lance smiled when his daughter started crying, "That's okay, I'll take her."

Darcy leaned over to Becca, "I swear at night he goes into the nursery and wakes her up just to be able to calm her down."

"That's not true," Lance said, rubbing her back and swaying.  "I can't help it if Sky likes her daddy's attention."

The door slid open and Nanny walked in, "Oh, I see we have a full kitchen this morning."

"Good morning, Nanny," the three of them chimed.

"So," Lance looked at his sister-in-law.  "Your parents sent you here in hopes of talking us into moving back?"

Becca shook her head, "No, we were just talking about your plans to move out of the castle."

He nodded, sipping from his mug, "We're working on it."

"When we go into town, I'll show you the plot of land we're thinking of buying," Darcy said.

"If we can buy it," Lance interjected.  "We have to find out if it's for sale."

"How do waffles sound?"  Nanny asked.

"Wonderful," Lance told her, bouncing Schuyler in his arm.

The door slid open again and Dante wandered in, soon followed by Hunk, then Caleb, and finally Keith and Cady.  Becca sat back and watched as the crew settled in, eating the enormous breakfast Nanny cooked.  There was talking, shouting, laughing, and babies crying.  She was loving it.

"Where's Allura?"  Lance asked.

"She's tired," Keith told him.  "I'll take her something to eat later."

"Isn't Pidge up yet?"  Caleb asked.

"I don't think he got to bed before two again," Hunk said.

Nanny shook her head, "That poor boy, he's working himself too hard."

"He just won't take a break.  But everything should be ready to go by now."  Keith poured some dry cereal on the tray of Cady's highchair.  "I'm hoping he'll take a couple of days off now."

"Everything seemed clear last night.  We sat through the virus scan twice and could find nothing wrong."  Dante spoke up.

The door slid open and everyone looked up to see Pidge stumble in.

"You're allowed to sleep in after such a late night," Keith told him.

"Old habits die hard," he mumbled as he fell into a chair beside Hunk.

Becca looked up and locked eyes with Pidge, he gave her a half-hearted smile, "How was your flight?"

"Fine, long, but fine."  She felt the heat rise to her face and hoped no one noticed.

"That is one hell of a long trip," Dante commented.

"Here, eat," Nanny set a full plate down in front of Pidge.  "You've been working so hard, you need to build up your strength."

"I'm fine, Nanny," he muttered.

"You are all pushing yourselves too hard.  There is no more Doom, no more Lotor, you need to take it easy."  Nanny continued to putter around the kitchen.

Keith and Lance exchanged looks, but kept quiet.  There were times Nanny forgot just what went into running and protecting a planet. 

"Alright, after practice, I want everyone in the conference room for a quick meeting."  Keith started putting a tray together to take to Allura.  "I want to make sure you all understand the new system.  Pidge, can you have all the information and codes ready by then?"

"Yeah, I have them, I just have to make copies."  Pidge poked at his waffle.

Darcy set a cup of coffee down in front of him, "Eat, Pidge, you look like death warmed over."

"Thanks, Mom."

She ruffled his hair, "Don't sass me young man, eat."

"Don't you have your own kid to bug?"

"This is what happens when they have kids," Keith said.  "They turn into everyone's mother."

Darcy sighed dramatically and fell into the chair beside Lance, "I'm just trying to look out for my boys."

"You can look out for me," Lance whispered to her.

"You don't give me much of a choice," she whispered back.

"Like you'd have it any other way," he leaned in and kissed her.

"Come on!  Some of us are trying to eat here!"  Caleb groaned.

In response, Lance cupped the back of Darcy's head and held her in place while he deepened the kiss.

Dante walked past and poured a cup of water over their heads.

Darcy jumped back and pushed her now wet hair out of her face, "Dante!"

"If I had a hose I'd've turned it on you," Dante sat down across from them.  "Get a room."

Becca looked up and locked eyes with Pidge again, this time they were both grinning.

"Alright!  All of you, if you're done eating, get out of my kitchen!"  Nanny stood by the stove, brandishing a wooden spoon.

Keith stood by the door, holding Cady with one arm and balancing a tray with his other, "Be ready for practice in ten minutes guys."

"Here, go see Aunt Becca," Darcy handed Schuyler to her sister.  "I want to get a shower, the shops don't open for a while yet so you can have some special niece/aunt time."

As soon as Schuyler was settled in Becca's arms, she began screaming.

"Here," Lance repositioned his daughter in Becca's arms.  "Thatta girl."  He dropped a kiss on the baby's head.  "Just don't drop her."

"I'll try and keep that in mind," Becca said dryly.

"Want to take a walk to Castle Control?"  Pidge asked her.

"Huh?" 

"I need to make copies of the codes and information for everyone."

"Uh, yeah," Becca shifted Schuyler on her hip and followed him out of the kitchen.

"I, uh, I want to apologize for not being around yesterday," Pidge muttered as they made their way down the hall.

"Oh, don't worry about it, you've been busy, it's alright."  She assured him.

"How was graduation?"

"It was great, I brought pictures of the ceremony and the party."

"I wish I could've been there, but, well, you know."

"Yeah, it's alright.  You can be at my med school graduation."

Pidge stepped aside and let her in Castle Control, "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Lieutenant."  Cpl. Cheyen saluted.

"At ease, Corporal, how're things going?"

"Fine, sir."

"We'll be starting practice soon," Pidge told him, walking over to the printer.  "What do you have planned for the day?"  He asked Becca.

"Well, I think Darcy and I are going to go into town, do a little shopping."

Pidge nodded, not lifting his gaze from the printer as he entered in the amount of copies he needed.  "Maybe, uh, maybe we could get together tonight.  Catch up."

"Yeah," Becca smiled down at her niece.  "That would be fun."

Pidge looked up at her and flashed a tired smile, "It's a date then."

Becca smiled back, "You're on."

They both jumped when someone behind them cleared his throat.

"Uh, yes, Koran, what is it?"  Pidge asked.

"I was just wondering how things were going."  The older man asked, tickling Schuyler under her chin.  "I was told the update was completed last night."

"Yes, around one o'clock this morning.  Keith is going to have a meeting after practice to go over everything."

"Good, good, that's one less thing for us to worry about."  Koran said.

Pidge furrowed his brow, "Is there a lot for us to worry about?"

"No, no more than usual."

The door slid open and Hunk, Dante, and Caleb walked in.

"Could you please hold on to these for now?"  Pidge held the copies out to Koran.  "We'll go over everything after practice."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

The door opened again and Lance swept in, making a beeline for his sister-in-law.  "How's my little Sky?"

"She's just fine," Becca said.

Lance lifted his daughter into his arms, "You going to hang around and watch practice?"

"Yeah, I think I will."  Becca told him.

"Good, Sky likes watching the Lions."

"And her favorite is Yellow, isn't it little Sky?"  Hunk tickled her stomach.

Lance snorted, "Hardly.  Can you say 'Yellow Sucks'?  Come on, Sky, I know you can."

"Can we try for a little maturity here," Keith walked in.  "Let's try and show a little team loyalty here Lance."

"I'm plenty loyal to the team, but Sky prefers Red to all the others."

Keith rolled his eyes, "To your Lions, boys."

Lance kissed Schuyler on the cheek and handed her back to Becca, "Watch for Red, Sky, she's the most powerful and best Lion."

When Darcy walked into Castle Control fifteen minutes later, she found Becca and Schuyler standing by the main console with Caleb and Koran.

"They're incredible," Becca said, watching the Lions in formation.

"The most powerful machines in the Universe," Koran said proudly.

"Maybe you can take a ride later," Darcy said.

Schuyler leaned towards her mother and whimpered.

"I've been trying not to take this personally, but I'm beginning to think she doesn't like me."  Becca muttered.

"Oh, she likes you, she just doesn't know you," Darcy lifted the baby into her arms.  "By the time you go back to Terra she'll be crying for you."

**************************************

"So he wants to get together tonight, huh?"  Darcy asked as they walked into town.

"Yeah, it's nothing really, he just said he wanted to catch up on stuff."

"He left you a flower outside your door, Bec, there's more to this than just catching up."

Becca smiled foolishly, "Yeah."

"What are you going to wear?"

"What?"

"It's a date, Rebecca, what are you going to wear?"

"I didn't really bring any date clothes.  I wasn't planning for anything like this."

Darcy laughed, "Who are you trying to fool?  You came here with every intention of impressing Pidge, what did you bring to wear?"

"Am I really that obvious?"  Becca blushed.

"You never were subtle."

"Honestly, Darcy, am I making a total ass out of myself?"

Darcy stopped and turned to face her sister, "No, Bec, you're not.  It's alright to have feelings for Pidge, he's a great guy."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

Darcy started walking again, pushing the stroller in front of her.  "There is always a chance of that, you won't know unless you talk to him.  But I think he feels something for you."

Becca sighed, exasperated, "Then why did he blow me off last night?"

"I don't think he blew you off.  Pidge is a very focused person, he was so into what he was doing he didn't notice the time."

"How did you get Lance to notice you?"

Darcy threw her head back and laughed, "You are talking about two totally different people, Becs.  Lance is not the least bit shy, he knew what he wanted and he went for it.  He was confident and cocky enough to think that I would melt when he smiled at me."

"And you did."

"No, I blew him off."

Becca stared at her sister, openmouthed, "You what?"

"I shot him down.  I thought he was a self-centered, shallow, cocky flyboy who just wanted to get me into bed."

"What happened?"

"He proved to be a self-centered, shallow, cocky flyboy who just wanted to get me into bed."

"Darcy."

She smiled fondly down at her daughter, "He pursued me, charmed me, wore me down.  I got to know him and I fell madly in love with him.  I had been hurt, Bec, by Jesse McCormick, and I wasn't ready to trust a man again, at least not yet.  Lance was so patient and sweet, he eventually broke through my self-imposed barriers."

Becca groaned, "How do you do it?  How do you get a man to fall madly in love with you?"

"Be yourself, Becs, you are a great person.  Tell you what, we'll see if we can find a store in town that sells self-confidence, we'll stock you up, and send you on your date with Pidge."

"You're hysterical, Darcy.  I ask for some sisterly advice and I get picked on."

"I'm not picking on you, Rebecca, I'm trying to help you.  Just be yourself.  You and Pidge have a great friendship, he likes you for who you are, that's all you need."

Becca nodded.

"That and a short skirt.  You're going to show a little leg tonight."

"Darcy!"  Becca exclaimed incredulously.  "I thought you always said it was what's on the inside that counts."

"That is what counts, but it doesn't hurt if the package looks nice too.  Come with me," Darcy led her sister into a boutique.  "Tonight, we're going to make Pidge forget computers and programs and how to breathe."