RedLion2 ~ Thank you so much for your support and reviews!  I'm not going to give you too many hints about my K&A story, but it will follow the series…sort of…in a way… ;-)

Bell ~ Thanks for your reviews! 

I really do appreciate all the time and effort you guys put into reading and reviewing.  This story, like my others, is taking on a life of my own and I hope you continue to enjoy it.

Enjoy!
Failte

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Keith looked down and smiled.  Cady was curled up underneath the Christmas tree, her head resting on a folded dress his mother had given her and she clutched her teddy bear, sound asleep.  Allura gently laid an afghan over her and walked over to sit beside him on the couch.

"Koran said the roads are still closed," she told him.  "We're not going to get to the orphanage today."

"When are we going to go?"  Darcy asked.

Allura shrugged, "As soon as the roads are clear, Koran is going to call the matron of the orphanage and see what she has to say.  The kids are going to be so disappointed."

Keith smiled at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "They'll be fine, this is the first Christmas in five years that we haven't been able to make it, but we'll make it up to them."

"Are you going to leave the Princess there?"  Nanny asked, shocked at what she saw as she entered the room.

"She's fine," Allura looked down at her daughter.  "I don't want to disturb her and besides, she'll love waking up by the tree."

It was mid afternoon on Christmas day.  Usually the Force would be down at the orphanage, meeting with the children and handing out small gifts, but the blizzard had them snowed-in in the castle and Hunk snowed-in with Paton and her family. 

A fire crackled and warmed the rec room where Cady slept on the floor and Keith and Allura cuddled on the couch, the boys having just been put down for a nap.  Darcy was sitting on the floor, Lance was asleep with his head in her lap, Schuyler asleep on his chest and their new, yet-to-be-named, puppy curled up next to them.  Howard and Felix sat back on the other couch talking quietly.  Nanny picked up the last plate left over from their breakfast and returned to the kitchen where she was putting the finishing touches on their dinner, with the help of Lucy, Molly, and Isabelle.  Pidge had disappeared a little while ago, followed soon after by Becca.

"Did you notice how quiet Pidge was?"  Allura asked.

"I did," Darcy said, idly combing her fingers through Lance's hair.  "He seemed rather down."

Keith sighed, "He gets like that sometimes during the holidays, he misses his family."

"Really?"  Darcy seemed surprised.  "He never really mentions them, well, except for Chip."

"He doesn't like to talk about them."

"Becca's been good for him," Allura commented.  "She'll snap him out of it."

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Becca wandered into the Observation Deck.  Pidge had slipped quietly out of the rec room and when he didn't come back after a few minutes, she went looking for him.  He wasn't in his room or Castle Control, so she found her way to the Observation Deck.

Pidge sat with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hand as he looked out the window, watching the snow blow around.

"Do you want to be alone?"  Becca whispered.

He shook his head.

She crossed over and sat on the arm of the over stuffed chair he occupied.  They sat in silence and watched the wind whip up the snow.  Becca laid her hand on his back, rubbing gentle circles.  She was dying to know what he was thinking, but wasn't sure how to get him to talk.

With a sigh, he sat back, trapping her hand between his back and the back of the chair.  She slid off the chair's arm and onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her cheek against his shoulder.  He loosely wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head so it rested on hers.

"I'm going to talk to Keith tonight."  His voice was low when he spoke.

"What about?"

"You know what."

She lifted her head and looked at him, "Are you sure?"

"I think so."

"You think so?"

He looked up at her, "I've been going over this in my mind.  I want to be with you, Rebecca."

Smiling softly, she cupped his cheek with her hand, "I want to be with you too, but I don't want you to do it at the expense of your friends and your career.  This is your home, Pidge, are you sure you want to leave it?"

"My home is where you are," he whispered.

Becca felt her heart flip and a pleasant warmth filled her.  "What would you do?  For work, I mean."

"I could apply to the Garrison and see what they have to offer or I can look around and see what I can find in the area."  He rubbed her back as she leaned against him.  "What do you think about this, Becca?  Be honest."

She chewed on her lip, choosing her words carefully.  "I want you to be happy, Pidge.  I don't want you to do this on the fly and then regret it later, end up resenting me…"

"That won't happen," he assured her.

"And, well, as much as I want you around, I will be very busy with schoolwork.  I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you, but I won't have a lot of free time.  What would you do?  Your friends are here.  I don't want you to be lonely."

He nodded and shifted his gaze back to the window.  He knew she would be busy, classes all week and studying.  The last thing he wanted was to get in the way.

"Honey," she took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.  "If this was truly what you wanted, would it really be this hard a decision to make?"

"I feel like I'm being torn in two," he whispered.  "For every reason I can come up with for going to Terra, I can come up with one for staying here."

"I hate seeing you like this," she told him, dropping her hands.  "I want you to do whatever makes you happiest."

Pidge nodded, lowering his head to her shoulder and hugging her to him.

"Maybe you should talk to Keith," Becca whispered.  "Maybe he can help you work this out."

"What about you?"  He asked her.

"This is a decision you have to make, Pidge."

"I know that, but I want your input."

"I love you so much and I want to be with you, but I don't want you to make a rash decision about something this big.  More than anything, I want you to do what makes you happy, I know that isn't what you want to hear, but I can't make this decision for you."

Pidge lifted his head and studied her, noticing the conflicted expression on her face.  "You have what, two and a half more years?"


"Then I start my residency."

"You'll do it here?"

She nodded, "I've spoken to my advisor and she said we can work it out."

"It's a lot of hard work."

Becca nodded again.

"I don't want to get in the way."

"You won't Pidge, you're very important to me.  You don't get in the way of my life, you add so much to it."

"I'm happiest here, with you."  He admitted, quietly.

She pursed her lips and looked away.

"I'm not asking you to stop attending school, I'm just being honest."

"I know."

Pidge brought his hands up and rubbed his face, "I shouldn't have said anything about this to you."

"No, Pidge," she looked at him.  "We need to be able to talk about things like this."

"But we're just going around in circles."

"When we factor in my summer vacations and the trips you're planning to Terra, two and a half years won't seem so bad."

"So you don't want me to move to Terra?"

"I think you're happy here, your friends have become your family and you love your job. I'm afraid the only reason you would come to Terra is because of me and you can't do that.  You have to make decisions like this for yourself."

He leaned back against the chair and looked up at her.  "All you do is complicate my life," he teased quietly.

Becca smiled, "Yeah, like you would have it any other way."

"No," he cupped the back of her head. "No I wouldn't."  He pulled her closer, capturing her lips with his.

"I love you," Becca whispered against his lips.  "And I will continue to, whether you live in the same town or a few million miles away."

"This distance is killing me," he said, laying his forehead against hers. 

"I know," she closed her eyes and concentrated on how good it felt to have his arms around her.

"But I can deal with it for you."

"For us," she whispered.

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"Chester."

"What?  Is he a nerd dog?"

"Max?"

"Too common."

"Buster."

"Buddy."

"Duke."

"Shadow."

"Homer."

Lance sat on the floor, watching his new puppy lay on it's back while Cady petted his stomach and listened to the various names the rest of the gang was suggesting and shooting them down.

"Well, then you come up with something," Darcy rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm thinking."

The puppy struggled to get his feet under him and stood, nipping at Cady's dress.

"Nipper."  Felix suggested.

"Nah, that's the kind of name he'd outgrow, it's cute for a puppy, but not for a full grown dog."

Darcy reached over and picked the puppy up, bringing him to eye level, studying him.  He tilted his golden head, his tongue lolling to the side.  "Hmmm," she murmured.  "Bailey?"

"We'll put that in the maybe pile," he told her.

"Is this going to be as complicated as it was when you two were coming up with a name for Schuyler?"  Keith asked.

"Hey, names are very important, whether it's your dog or your child, you can't take this responsibility too lightly," Lance retorted.

"Yeah, but how many Star Wars names can you come up with for the puppy," Darcy quipped.

Lance snapped his fingers, "That's it!"

"What?"  Allura asked.

Lance took the wriggling dog from his wife and held it up in front of him, "Chewy."

Darcy smiled, "Chewy?  As in Chewbacca?"

"Yeah, come on, it's perfect!"  Lance held the puppy in front of Schuyler who was sitting beside him, playing with the elaborate baby gym his parents had bought her and he had just finished putting together.  "Sky, should we call the puppy Chewy?"

Schuyler reached out with a little hand and bopped the dog on the nose.

"Alright, Chewy it is."  Lance announced.

"Chewbacca Collier," Darcy said, trying it out.  "You know, I had horrible visions of you naming our baby that if she had been a boy."

"No, if she had been a boy, he would have been Luke Akbar Collier."

She kissed his cheek, "Never."

"And that is why Lance is not allowed to help us name any of our children," Allura told Isabelle.

"Oh, are you having more?"  Molly asked.

"Not any time in the near future," Allura replied, picking Cady up and settling her on her lap.

Pidge and Becca walked into the room, hand in hand, and found seats on the floor.

"What do you think, Pidge?"  Lance asked, setting the puppy on the floor.  "Meet Chewbacca."

Pidge laughed.  "You named that cute little mutt, Chewbacca?"

"Or Chewy for short."

Pidge watched as Chewy tripped over his ear and stumbled forward. "Works for me."

Becca sat beside her niece and helped her feed the balls into the chute that shot them through a winding, see-through pipe.  "Can you say Chewy, Schuyler?  Chewy."

Schuyler looked up at her aunt and studied her a moment.

"Come on, Chewy. Cheeeewwwwyyy."

"Mama." 

Darcy dove across Lance's lap and kissed Schuyler's cheek, "That's my girl.  Say it again, baby, say it to me this time.  Mama.  Maaaamaaa."

"Mama."

Darcy cupped the little face in her hands and kissed her all over her face, "That's my girl!"

"Okay, honey," Lance patted her back.  "Um, this isn't very comfortable."

"Quiet, Lance, I'm bonding with my daughter, here."

In retaliation, Lance dug his fingers into her ribs, tickling her.  Darcy squirmed and laughed, pinching his leg.

"Ahem."

At the sound of her father clearing his throat, Darcy sat upright and straightened her skirt, blushing slightly.  Lance just grinned.

Nanny appeared in the doorway, "Dinner is ready."

"Oh," Isabelle stood.  "Edina, I thought you were going to come and get us so we could help you set the table."

"Bah, it's Christmas, you should be with the children."  Nanny waved her off.

"Nan!"  Cady ran to the older woman.  "Woof woof."

"Yes, I know," Nanny rolled her eyes and took the little girl's hand.  "A dog.  In the castle."

Lance set Chewy back in the large box where they had set his water bowl and rawhide bone, "Don't listen to her, Chewy, we're glad you're here."

The table was elaborately set with a huge spiral cut ham and all the trimmings.  Enough food to feed the army and half of Alforia. 

"Oh, you have out done yourself!"  Allura gasped.

"Yes, Nanny, this amazing," Keith told her.

"I had a lot of help," Nanny said.

"Alright," Lance pushed his way in.  "Enough complimenting, more eating."

"Lance!"  Molly and Darcy reprimanded.

"Oh geez, I married my mother," he muttered, falling into a chair.

Felix chuckled.

Allura settled at the head of the table with Cady to her left and Keith on her right.  She raised her glass in the air, "I wanted to thank you all for coming and sharing this wonderful holiday with us.  Christmas is so much more special when family is here to share it with us.  So here is to another year of happiness, health, and good fortune!"

"Hear, hear!"

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As night drew close, the children were put to bed and the adults went their separate ways.  Felix, Howard, and Koran had disappeared somewhere, Allura suspected it had something to do with the collection of cigars Koran had hidden in his suite of rooms.  Isabelle and Nanny had volunteered, well, they didn't really give Allura and Keith an option when they took the babies up to bed.

Darcy watched as her mother and mother-in-law left the rec room, Lucy carrying Schuyler.  She knew she was lucky that they got along so well.  Right after she and Lance had announced to their parents that they were getting married and expecting the baby, Molly called Lucy and they struck up a friendship.  Smiling, she cuddled up to Lance who was sitting beside her, playing tug-of-war with Chewy.

Still pulling on the knotted piece of rope, Lance turned his head and kissed her.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder and reaching around him to scratch Chewy's head.

"Yeah, it's been a good one, huh?"

"Mm hm," she agreed.

"Would you two get a room," Pidge teased.  He was flipping through the movie disks, trying to find a funny movie.

"Just put a movie in," Lance told him.

"A Christmas Story?"  Pidge held up a disk.

"Yeah, we haven't seen that in a while," Keith spoke up.

"Nah," Lance looked up.  "I'm in more of a Christmas Vacation kind of mood."

"Oh yes," Allura agreed.  "Christmas Vacation."

Keith smiled at her, "Honey, not all men on Terra are as insane as Clark Griswold."

"True, you live on Arus," Pidge muttered.

"I heard that, Lieutenant."

"I've never seen it," Becca spoke up from where she sat on the loveseat.

"Then you're in for a treat," Pidge told her as he crossed the room to sit next to her.  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him.  With her head on his shoulder, he breathed in the warm, vanilla scent she wore and it was a punch to his senses.  Maybe he needed to think some more about whether or not he would move to Terra.  Becca sighed contentedly and turned to wrap her arms around his middle and relaxed against him.  It just felt so right and Pidge once again found himself feeling the pull to Terra.