Hi All!

Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate them all!

T.F. Kit – Thanks for the review! As always, I am eagerly awaiting the next chapter in your story!

RL2 – What can I say…thank you so much for your support and reviews! I hope you enjoy the little twist on the traditional bachelor party I did. Keith just seems to me as the kind of guy who just isn't interested in a hardcore party :-) I'm sorry to hear about your computer and I hope you can get it fixed soon!

Me- Thank you for your reviews, I am so glad to hear you are enjoying the story. To be perfectly honest, I don't know now many more chapters there are going to be. Every time I think I am nearing the end, another idea hits. As for the children, you'll have to read my other stories for that. This is actually the fifth story in my series. The first one, New Arrivals, takes place two months after Keith and Allura's wedding. Then it's Home Sweet Home, Of Love and Bugs, and Holiday on Arus. Not all the stories revolve entirely around K&A, the first two are mainly about Lance and Darcy, the third one about Pidge and Becca. But the entire team and their lives are chronicled in those stories as seen through my eyes.

Anony – Let me say that after seeing both my brothers get married in the same year, I can honestly say that men do feel the stress as well.

Thank you all!

Enjoy,

Failte

"I wonder what they have planned for tonight," Keith said as he and Allura made their way down to the rec room.

She smiled, "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be painless. If it was anything bad they wouldn't have invited your mother, sister, and me."

"I know it can't be anything too bad, but with Lance at the helm, you never really know."

Allura threaded her fingers through his and kissed his cheek. It was the night before their wedding and, as far as she knew, everything was going well. She didn't know about the delay with the rings or that Adam had tried to eat most of the icing of the cake Keith's mother had finished that afternoon and she had spent two hours fixing it. She hadn't heard about the extra Garrison ships Keith had requested the week before or that there was some reported activity on Doom. All Allura knew was that her dress was done and that Keith assured her everything would be perfect.

Keith paused as they approached the open door to the rec room. He could hear voices chattering, his friends, his family, and he had the sudden urge to turn tail and run.

"Come on," his fiancée tugged on his hand.

"Do you know what they have planned?"

"No."

"Would you tell me if you did?"

"Come on, Keith! They are our friends."

With a heavy sigh of apprehension, he allowed her to pull him into the room where they were greeted by a round of applause.

A 'Congratulations' banner was strung over the fireplace, the coffee table was set with food and drinks, and every chair was taken by the guys on the Force, Sven, Romelle, Keith's mother, Isabelle, his brother Gerald and sister-in-law Allyson, and his sister, Dana.

"Don't look so terrified, man," Lance laughed when Keith entered the room. "We're here to celebrate your impending nuptials."

"Ja, it's not dat bad, Keit," Sven shouted from where he sat on the couch.

"Where are the kids?" Allura asked Allyson.

"Nanny is watching them, we thought this would be more of an 'adult-only' party," she explained.

"Why? What are you all up too?" Keith asked.

Lance rolled his eyes, "Oh stop it, Keith. Your mother is here, we're not going to bring in a stripper."

"I appreciate that," Isabelle said dryly.

"Yeah, Cap, chill out, have a beer." Hunk handed him a bottle.

"Thanks, Hunk," Keith took his seat next to Allura.

"So, are you ready for tomorrow?" Romelle asked her cousin.

"I am, and Keith said everything else is ready, so I think I'm ready to limp down the aisle." With her ankle still tender, Allura had a slight limp and she had to trade in her high heeled shoes for more sensible flats for the ceremony. She wasn't too happy about that since now she would only come up to Keith's chin in flats.

"You got the rings, Cap?" Pidge asked as he drank his soda.

Allura turned to Keith, "You don't have the rings?"

After shooting a withering glare at Pidge, Keith turned to Allura with a smile, "It's not a problem, hon, there was a delay at the jewelers, the rings will be ready in plenty of time."

"You don't have the rings?" She asked again, her voice rising slightly.

"It's alright, I promise, Allura. The rings will be ready and I'm sending someone down to pick them up first thing in the morning, everything will be fine."

Allura took the bottle from his hand and drank deeply.

"Whoa, whoa, watch it," Keith pulled the bottle from her hand. "You don't want to be hungover for our wedding."

"I can't believe my baby boy is getting married," Isabelle sighed.

"Hey," Dana spoke up. "You still have me."

"Yes, I do," her mother patted her arm. "And I've been planning your wedding for a few years now."

"Now we just have to find her a man," Gerald mumbled.

Allyson rolled her eyes, "Why don't we wait until she is at least eighteen."

"Yeah, besides, this is Keith and Allura's night," Lance said.

"Dat's right," Sven added. "And vhat a fun evening ve have planned."

Keith groaned.

Pidge stood and went behind the couch while Hunk crossed the room and unrolled a screen on a pole.

"What's going on?" Allura asked excitedly.

Pidge set a slide carousel on the coffee table and aimed it at the screen Hunk had finished setting up.

With a flourish, Lance turned off the lights and declared, "Keith Patrick Whitaker, this is your life!"

Keith buried his face in his hands and groaned again while Allura laughed, "This is great!"

Sven pushed a button and the carousel clicked and turned. A picture of a younger Isabelle and a man who Keith resembled filled the screen.

"It all started thirty one years ago when a young Isabelle Victoria Parker met, fell in love with and married a young Lieutenant James Keith Whitaker."

CLICK - A picture Isabelle and James with a little dark haired boy appeared.

"A year later they were blessed with a son, Gerald Parker. They lived as a happy family of three until six years later when…"

CLICK - Keith's baby picture.

"Thanks to a bottle of Jack Daniels and a broken condom, Keith was born…"

"Lance!" Isabelle said sharply.

"Aw, you're so cute," Allura whispered, kissing his cheek.

"For four years," Lance continued. "The two boys ruled the house."

CLICK -Gerald holding baby Keith on his lap.

CLICK - Keith asleep on his father's lap.

CLICK - Gerald and Keith were dressed up in little suits for a professional photograph.

CLICK - A two year old Keith naked in the bathtub. (A picture which earned various whistles and catcalls from throughout the room.)

CLICK - Keith crying and holding his leg while Isabelle cleaned his skinned knee.

"As you can see, our fearless commander wasn't always so strong and fearless."

"I was three, Lance," Keith muttered.

CLICK - Keith dressed up in child sized army fatigues.

Ignoring him, Lance went on. "Keith always had an eye on the military for his career."

CLICK - Keith asleep on the couch tucked in with an afghan.

"But the serenity of Keith's life was about to be shattered…"

CLICK - A picture of Dana in the hospital maternity ward.

"That's where the JD and broken condom came in," Gerald called out.

"Stop it," Isabelle insisted. "All three of our children were loved and wanted."

"And the Whitaker family became five."

CLICK - A family portrait of the entire family.

"And Keith went on to live a rather normal life including sports…"

CLICK - Keith dressed in a peewee football uniform.

"…his first date…"

CLICK - A fourteen year old Keith dressed up in slacks and a sweater smiling awkwardly as he stood beside a pretty young blonde girl in a red dress.

"As you can see," Lance continued. "Keith always had a thing for blondes."

"Why me?" Keith murmured as he slid further down in his seat.

CLICK - Keith dressed in his Academy uniform standing with his father, also wearing his uniform.

"Later that year, Keith went on to join the Academy."

Silence followed as everyone studied the picture. Jim Whitaker stood behind his son, his hand on his shoulder, a proud grin on his face. Allura laid her head on Keith's shoulder, feeling him tense as he remembered back on that day.

CLICK - Keith, Lance, and Sven during their first year at the Academy.

"And it was at the Academy where Keith would meet two of his best friends, Lance Collier and Sven Johansson. Lance was a suave ladies man who taught Keith all he knew about women and that helped him snag a Princess." Lance bragged.

Sven snorted.

CLICK - Keith and Sven standing beside a hospital bed where Lance laid with a cast on his arm.

"The three were inseparable, in class, on the weekends, and in sports, where I broke my arm when Keith tackled me in a game of touch football."

Keith rolled his eyes, "I didn't tackle you, I tried to help you. You weren't watching where you were going and you ran into a tree, I tried to stop you."

"Whatever makes you feel better, Keith." Lance nodded to Sven.

CLICK - Keith sitting on a couch, looking rather annoyed, and a pretty brunette sitting on his lap, her head thrown back in laughter.

"As you can see, that young lady is not a blonde, so Keith wasn't interested."

"Now wait a minute!" Keith sat up straight. "Tell the truth! I was trying to study, but you and Sven felt that I wasn't having enough fun so you came home with a couple of drunk dates and told her that I was interested in her."

"All I know is that you had a beautiful, drunk girl on your lap and all you did was escort her home."

"Good for you, Keith," Isabelle reached over to pat her son's hand.

CLICK - Keith, Sven, and Lance sitting around a table, each holding a mug of beer and grinning.

"After years of hard work, the three space explorers graduated…"

CLICK - Keith, Sven, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge in their uniforms.

"And they were teamed with two other Academy graduates to travel to a far off planet and assist a beautiful Princess."

CLICK - A picture of Allura right after the guys had arrived. She was sitting on a chair by a window, probably on the Observation Deck, her chin on her fist. Obviously, Allura had been unaware that Lance had taken a picture, as she stared out the window, the light creating dramatic shadows on her beautiful face.

Keith sucked in a sharp breath at the ethereal picture. He had never seen it before, but her innocent beauty never failed to amaze him.

Lance went on, "While we all flirted with the beautiful young woman…"

CLICK - Allura standing with Lance, a smile on their faces, his arm around her shoulders.

"…she was somehow immune to my charms…"

CLICK - Sven standing with Allura as they handed out fruit to the villagers.

"…Sven's usual suaveness didn't work…"

CLICK - Allura laughing as Hunk scooped her up into his arms at a picnic.

"…Hunk's friendliness never went beyond friendship…"

CLICK - Pidge and Allura sitting on the floor in front of the televiewer in the rec room where he was trying to teach the Princess how to play a video game.

"…and Pidge, well, Pidge is still growing into manhood."

"Oh come on," Pidge replied.

"Don't worry, little man," Lance assured him. "Stick with me and I'll make sure you're a ladykiller before too long. But as it was, none of us were able to win over the Princess. Well, one of us was…"

CLICK - Keith stood beside Allura in Castle Control going over some papers.

"But it wasn't easy. The two of them danced around their feelings for a couple of years."

CLICK - A picture taken at a picnic. Keith was standing, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. He was obviously watching Allura as she listened while Pidge read from a book.

CLICK - Keith and Allura working with the others as they planted the first rose bushes Keith had sent for.

CLICK - Keith glaring at Allura while she spoke with a visiting Prince.

CLICK - Allura watching wistfully as Keith spoke to Euclida at a state function.

"It was frustrating for those of us who cared about them and had to watch them endure this self-inflicted misery…"

CLICK - An obviously posed picture of Sven, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk all standing with their arms crossed over their chests looking annoyed.

"But cooler heads prevailed and our own personal genius found the answer."

CLICK - Another posed picture of Pidge holding up the book with the newly printed law written in.

"And Keith and Allura could finally be together."

CLICK - Keith and Allura locked in an intimate embrace in the corner of the Observation Deck.

"Lance!" Keith hissed, embarrassed at everyone seeing such a personal moment.

Lance ignored him and continued with his presentation. "But once they finally hooked up, there was no separating them."

CLICK - Keith and Allura holding hands as they walked by the lake.

CLICK - The happy couple dancing during one of the many lessons Nanny had insisted upon, gazing at each other, oblivious to everyone and everything around them.

CLICK - A copy of their engagement photo.

CLICK - A picture of the two of them with Sven and Romelle after their wedding.

CLICK - Allura sitting on Keith's lap, her right arm wrapped around his neck and her left hand extended toward the camera, showing off her engagement ring.

"They had a couple of rough times, but they pulled through it all stronger than ever before. And to Keith and Allura, we wish you both all the luck and love your future holds." Lance stepped aside as Sven pushed the button to bring up the final picture.

CLICK - It was of Keith and Allura facing each other, he had his arms around her waist and she had hers around his neck. Keith had lowered his head so his forehead rested against hers and they both had their eyes closed.

Keith swallowed hard, remembering that day. It had been her first battle after Lotor had taken her for six days. Blue had taken a hard hit and while she had come out of it with barely a scratch, he had been shaken badly by the thought of losing her again so soon after getting her back.

Allura sat up as Lance flipped on the lights and Sven turned off the slide machine. She wiped away a few tears with the back of her hand, "You guys amaze me. How in the world did you come up with that?"

Lance shrugged. "We had plenty of help. Since Keith didn't want a regular bachelor party, we decided to do something for both of you."

"Where did you get the pictures?" Keith asked.

"And can we get copies of some of them?" Allura quickly added.

Lance laughed as he sat down beside Dana, "We collected some from your mother and from all the time we spent together. As for all the others, my camera and I can move with the ease and stealth of a panther."

"It really did turn out beautifully," Isabelle said. "A lovely tribute."

Later that evening, after having to endure Lance, Sven, Pidge, and Hunk sharing stories with the intent of embarrassing him, Keith escorted Allura to her room.

"Just think," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "This is the last night we have before we get married. After tonight we'll be retiring every night to our room in the North Tower."

"Yup. This is it, by this time tomorrow, we will be officially married. No one can ever again try to tear us apart or come between us."

"Speaking of which, have you heard anything from Doom?"

Keith let go of her hand and wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders, "I don't even want you to think about it. I have taken care of everything. Tomorrow will be the most amazing day of our lives, I don't want you to give it any thought."

"I know, and I love you for that, I would just feel better knowing all the details."

"Alright, well, I did request more Garrison fighters, they will be circling just above the atmosphere, making sure no one gets even close. We will have our guards and nearly one hundred and fifty Garrison men to help with the security in and around the castle. Nothing will happen. We will be married in the most beautiful, perfect wedding." He promised as they stopped in front of her door.

"I know it will," Allura slipped her arms around his neck. "Because any wedding where I get to marry you will be perfect."