Hi all!

Thanks for the amazing reviews! You guys are awesome!

Just a quick note to RedLion's review, Declan is the older of the two by eight minutes.

C-Town Chica, Mustang Ace, RedLion 2, Anony, and Mrs. Son – Thank you all for your reviews! Yeah, they were a little shaky at first, but now that they all have some idea as to what they have to expect…well, I can't give anything away…

Oh, and by the way, I don't own Voltron or any of the characters you know from the show. Yadda, yadda, yadda…

Enjoy!

Failte

Sky woke slowly, confused by the weight on her chest and the feathery tickling sensation on her stomach. As the room came into focus, she lifted her head off the pillow a bit to notice that at some point during the night, she and Erik had changed positions. He was curled up next to her, his head on her chest. Her arms were folded above her head, causing her shirt to ride up a bit and he was gently tickling her stomach with his fingertips.

She slowly lowered her hand and combed it through his sleep tousled hair, "Good morning."

"'Morning," he mumbled, circling her bellybutton with his forefinger.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking."

"What about?"

"Getting back at the twins."

Sky chuckled and tugged on his hair until he tipped his head back and looked at her, "You're lying in bed with me but you're thinking about the twins."

"I'm thinking about ways to get back at the twins because I am lying in bed with you. If I let my mind wander in the other direction, well, I wanted you to be awake for that."

She lowered her other hand and took his hand in hers as his gentle caresses were driving her crazy, "Well then, what have you come up with?"

Erik sighed and rolled over, feeling the loss of her body against him. "Just a couple of little ideas. I was thinking back on some of the things my father told me they used to do to each other when they were in the Academy."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. But we'll have to wait until Declan is back on his feet."

"Speaking of which," Sky glanced at the clock, noticing it was almost 5:30. "Let's go see how he's doing."

Erik watched her push the blankets back and stand, arching her back as she stretched.

"Come on," she said. "Don't you want to see Declan?"

"Of course I do," he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I was just thinking about how easy it would be for me to get used to this, waking up with you every morning."

She walked around the bed and stopped in front of him, cupping his cheek with her hand, "It was nice, Erik, and I thank you for…for being there for me last night, but, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

He grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto his lap, hugging her with a surprising tightness, "I will always be here for you, Sunny."

Returning his embrace, she kissed him longingly. "Same goes for you, handsome."

…................................................................................................................................

It was just after six when Erik and Sky entered the waiting room. Gideon had beat them there and was reclining back in a chair with his injured ankle elevated on another seat.

"Hey, Gid," Erik sat down beside him. "Any word?"

He shook his head, "I just got here about ten minutes ago, but apparently, Brina has been here for almost an hour. Aunt Becca was here a little while ago and told me that she has been sitting with him."

"Has he wakened yet?"

"No, not since he went back to sleep last night."

Sky sat on the other side of Gideon and lowered her voice, "Brina's been here for an hour?"

"Yeah."

Erik met her eye over Gideon's head and gave her a look that clearly said I told you so.

Sky scowled at him, "So there is something going on between them?"

Gid shrugged, "I know he likes her, a lot, and I'm pretty sure she likes him, but, I don't know, she seems hesitant or something."

Allura walked hurriedly into the room, surprised to see them all there, "Good morning, kids."

Gideon pushed himself up and limped over to his mother, "'Morning, Mom."

She kissed his cheek and nodded back towards the chair, "You should be off your ankle. How're you feeling?"

"I'm all right, I just wanted to check on Declan."

"Any word yet?"

He shook his head.

Allura walked over to Becca's office door and knocked. No answer.

"She said she'd be back in a few minutes, she needed to talk to Uncle Pidge," Gideon explained. "But Nurse Jewelia is here, she just went to the supply closet."

As if on cue, the nurse walked in, carrying a small box of meds and sealed packages of sterilized bandages. "Your highness," she bent at the knees in a slight curtsey.

"Nurse Jewelia," Allura nodded to her. "I was hoping there was some word on my son."

"He slept well through the night. I just got here at five, but I was told by the nurse on duty that there were no problems during the night and that his vitals are strong. Dr. Audric also thinks he'll be fine, she checked on him twenty minutes ago and she should be back momentarily. He has had a visitor for a while now."

"Who?" Allura asked, confused. She had just checked on all her children and, aside from Gideon, they were in their rooms and Keith had gotten up with her, so she knew it wasn't anyone from her family.

"Brina," Gideon told her.

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say.

Becca swept in, followed closely by Keith. "Why," she flashed them all a bright smile, "it looks like we have a full house today. I am just going to check on the patient and then we can talk about his progress."

Keith walked over to his wife and everyone noticed that the tension that had been there the night before was gone. He leaned his head close to hers and whispered in her ear as he gently placed his hand on the small of her back. She smiled weakly at whatever he told her and patted his cheek.

"How are you guys doing?" Keith turned to the three sitting against the wall. "How's the ankle, son?"

"I'm fine, Dad, it's not too bad," Gideon assured him.

"Did you guys get any sleep last night?"

Sky blushed and for one fleeting moment was afraid he knew everything that had happened after hours last night.

"I slept fine," Erik told him.

"Good, good. I know how hard it can be to concentrate on the every day aspects of life when one of your teammates is in the hospital. We will be having a meeting after breakfast and then the four of you will partake in practice, someone will fill in in Blue."

"Yes, sir," the three teammates intoned.

Brina slowly exited Declan's room as Becca entered. Keith's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Brina, dear," Allura crossed to her. "How are you?"

She smiled up at the Queen, her eyes tired and heavy lidded. Before starting her vigil at Declan's bedside, Brina had changed into an old pair of jeans, worn white at the stress points, and a green sweater, her thick hair pulled back in a ponytail. "I'm fine, Ma'am, I was just worried about Declan."

Ten minutes later Becca walked out of Declan's room, his chart in her hand. "Well, it looks like Declan was lucky. He will be fine, though he'll be sore for a while. I'd like to keep him for observation, but he should be able to go back to his room either tonight or tomorrow morning. He'll be up and around in a couple of days."

Keith let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Bec." He turned to the four Force members. "Go, get some breakfast. We'll meet in the conference room at 0800 to talk and then we'll have practice."

The four of them stood and filed out of the room as Keith and Allura turned to check on their son.

"Thank you, Becca, for everything," Allura smiled at her friend.

"I'm glad I could help," she replied earnestly. "He is awake and alert, I'll have some food brought up to him soon. Um, when you're done visiting with him, I would appreciate it if you two could stop by my office, I, uh, I need to discuss something with you."

Keith raised his eyebrows, "Is everything all right?"

"No, yes, I mean," Becca blushed as she stumbled over her words. "It's a little bad news. No, oh geez, I didn't mean that! It's not bad news, it's good news, great news, amazing news, just coming at a bad time. Not that it's a bad time, really, just not the right time. I just…oh geez."

Allura watched as her bubbly, bright spirited friend blushed and babbled. Rebecca had been the best thing to ever happen to Pidge, she had arrived at the lowest point in his life and brought him back into the real world. While he had become quiet and introverted, uninterested in life in general, she had swept in with her upbeat personality and her bright outlook on life and changed his world, completely for the better. After a long engagement, they finally married eleven years ago and had their two children, giving Pidge the family he always wanted and the love he had longed for.

"Oh my." Realization dawned on Allura and she clapped both hands over her mouth.

"Yeah," Becca smiled.

"What?" Keith asked.

"It wasn't planned," Becca added quickly. "I mean, we were going to stop at two and I hadn't planned on having any more this late in life, but well, it just happened. And I know this is a bad time, with the new threat and all, but it won't get in the way of my work and I'll contact Dr. Gorma. He said to call him if I ever needed to, he can help me out near the end…"

"Near the end of what?" Keith interrupted, confused.

Allura looked at her husband, surprised at his thick headedness.

"I'm pregnant, Keith," Becca told him.

His eyes widened and one thought entered his mind, How can we go into battle with a pregnant doctor?

Allura threw her arms around Becca and hugged her tightly, "Oh, Becs, I am so happy for you! How far along are you?"

"About three months now. I know this wasn't the best time to tell you and I hadn't meant to tell you like this, but I took a test yesterday and another one today and they both came back positive. I had to tell Pidge and Tori and Luke first, but I know you guys needed to know."

Keith smiled, suddenly feeling guilty about where his thoughts had drifted to. These were two of his best friends, of course he was happy for them. "Congratulations, Becca. If there is anything at all that you need, please let us know."

"A new baby in the castle," Allura grinned. "This is so exciting! It's a good sign, Becca, everything will be just fine."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Keith walked into the conference room five minutes late, a dark look on his face. Erik, Sky, Gideon, and Brina were all fed and dressed and ready for action, but they were surprised to see the Commander of the Arusian military looking so annoyed and unpleasant. While Keith Whitaker was a smart, kind hearted man, he was definitely not someone you wanted to cross.

Pidge followed him in, a slight spring in his step and a small smile on his face, with Lance and Hunk at his heels.

"Sit down," Keith growled at everyone as the seats around the table were quickly filled. "I'm going to get right down to it. Considering what we knew at the time, you guys did the best you could with what you had. In practice we will be taking turns forming Voltron more often, it needs to happen faster, almost instantaneously when he is needed. We were lucky this time in that there were few injuries and none of them are that serious. As it is, Declan should be up and about in a few days and he is already eager to get back into his Lion. Speaking of Blue, I am told that she should be ready for flight this afternoon. Her entire internal computer system was fried, but Hunk and his men have been working on her all night and she should be ready in a few hours."

He stopped and sighed, "And now for the rest of the news. I just received a message," he held up a paper he held in his hand. "The Garrison was notified, of course, of Vinn's attack and as you know they have been tracking him and trying to catch up with him for quite some time now. They are sending a couple of squadrons our way, as well as one to Pollux as back up if needed. What this means is that there will be a group of officers coming as well, led by," he consulted the paper. "Captain Daphne Klari. They will be arriving the day after tomorrow. Now while we appreciate the added firepower, the added officers are going to be a pain in the ass. We, the Arusian military and Voltron, work with the Garrison, not for them. As it is, our protocol has slipped to the wayside a bit over the years compared to theirs. The lack of uniforms every day, the interpersonal relationships, our casual relationships with each other, will all be frowned upon. All I can say is that you will all be expected to behave properly, do your jobs, and keep any, uh, personal relationships under wraps as long as they are here. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right, just remember to be respectful of Captain Klari and that I am your commander, not her." He sighed and looked around the table, catching Pidge's eye. "On a more pleasant note, I believe Pidge has something to tell everyone."

Pidge started, obviously not expecting to be singled out like that. "Oh, uh, okay. I guess you'll all find out soon enough when she starts showing over the next couple of months, but, well, Becca and I are expecting another baby."

Hunk, who was sitting next to him, clapped him soundly on the back, "Congratulations, man!"

Sky ran around the side of the table and hugged him, "That's great, Uncle Pidge!"

"All right," Keith smiled a few moments later and shouted over the sound of Pidge be congratulated and teased. "Now that it has been announced, I think Becca would appreciate it if you could avoid injuries since she will have to start taking it easy."

"We'll do what we can," Erik shot back.

"Okay, I want the four of you up in the air in fifteen minutes. Gideon, you're all right to fly?"

"Yes, sir," his son replied, eagerly.

"Good, good. As soon as Blue is ready, she'll be joining you. Let's go." Keith stood, signaling the end of the meeting.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

"All right, guys," Erik called from his seat in Black. "We're going to head over to the flatlands to practice shooting until Blue joins us, then we'll work on forming Voltron."

The four pilots had spent three hours practicing formations and flight before going in for lunch. After that were two hours of target practice on the ground with their blasters, assisted by Pidge and Lance. Now they were back up in their Lions and waiting for Blue to join them.

The remnants of an obstacle course the original Force had set up nearly twenty-five years ago were still on the flatlands. Each pilot took turns running their Lions through the course, practicing sharp turns, quick stops, and fast changes in altitude. Erik timed them all and made mental notes of what each of them needed to work on. Sky seemed to have trouble with the short stops, Brina with the sharp turns, and Gideon with just about everything. But then Yellow's pilot was still nursing some injuries and Erik knew it wasn't fair to judge him completely until he was feeling better.

"Let's try some target practice, team," he announced. "We're all getting better, but we still need practice. Gid, you go first."

Yellow took her place at the first target. There were twenty targets in all, each at varying distances away and in different sizes. They were each judged on accuracy and time.

"Ready, set, go!" Erik started his stopwatch.

His injuries may have slowed his reaction time on the obstacle course, but they did nothing to change Gideon's precision on the firing range. He was, inarguably the best of them all when it came to artillery. He knew almost every weapon available, including make, where they were manufactured, how they worked and every little trick to firing. Gideon knew how to handle a weapon better than most cadets having graduated from the Arusian Military Academy.

Erik pressed the button to stop the timing and whistled as his onboard computer registered Gideon's score. "96%. Awesome job, Gideon. Sky, you're up."

Red lined up with the first target and Sky whispered, "Come on, girl, we can't let Yellow show us up, now can we?"

Red nodded her head slightly in agreement.

A beeping on their onboard radars indicated an approaching ship.

"Looks like Blue finally decided to join the party," Erik said, opening a line to Blue.

But whoever it was flying the fifth lion kept their visual and audio channels closed as the Lion swooped in and took Sky's place on the target field. Passing them all in a blue blur, the Lion and her pilot took out each target, registering a 91% on Erik's computer.

"Nice job," Erik grinned, knowing that whoever it was knew what they were doing and was enjoying teasing the four young pilots.

"Thank you!" Allura's face smiled up at them all from their dash screens. "Not bad for an old lady who hasn't tackled this field in several years. How're things going?"

"Pretty well. We just left the obstacle course and were trying our hand at the target field. Gideon just shot a 96%."

"Good job, Gid," she praised her son. "That's great."

"How's Blue?" Erik asked.

"She is wonderful! It feels like I never stopped flying. I didn't realize how much I missed this. Who's up now?"

"It's Sky's turn, then Brina and myself."

"Sounds good. As long as everyone is shooting 85% or higher, we'll start forming Voltron."

………………………………………………………………………………….

They returned to the castle an hour before dinner was scheduled. It had been a long day and they were all looking forward to being able to relax for a little while. Since it had been decided that they needed to concentrate fully on their training, Keith had rearranged their schedules and put guards all on duty in Castle Control to give the Force members more time to practice and prepare.

"Sky!"

Sky stopped and turned at the sound of her name. Her young cousin, Tori, left her father's side and ran across Castle Control, her ginger pigtails flying out behind her. "Hey Tori," Sky said, hiding her exhaustion behind a small smile.

"Didja hear?" Tori demanded.

"Did I hear what?"

The little girl motioned with her hand for Sky to come closer. When the older girl knelt down to her level, Tori cupped her hands around Sky's ear and whispered, "I'm gonna be a big sister."

"That's great," Sky whispered back. "Are you excited?"

She nodded, "Mommy said I get ta help take care of the baby. I hope it's a girl."

Tugging on one of her pigtails, Sky told her, "You are going to be a great big sister."

"I don't know how ta be one."

"Well, to be honest, neither do I. But you can ask Cady, she can tell you how to be a big sister."

Tori's green eyes grew to almost twice their normal size, "That's right! She's been a big sister lotsa times!"

The door slid open and the sound of Darcy and Becca talking and giggling excitedly filled the room and bounced of the cavernous, metal walls.

"Hi, honey," Darcy greeted her daughter. "How was practice?"

"Great. I shot 86% and 88% on the target field."

"That's not too bad at all. You guys are doing amazing work."

"And Aunt Allura was awesome up in Blue."

Darcy laughed, "She has been wanting to get back in that Lion for years."

"She'll give it back to Delcan when he's better, won't she?" Becca asked.

"Oh, of course, she has enough to handle here on the ground."

"Mommy," Tori stood beside her mother, demanding attention.

"What, sweetpea?"

"Sky said I could talk ta Cady 'bout bein' a big sister. She'd know all 'bout that."

Becca smiled and ran her hand over her daughter's head, "That's a great idea, Victoria, I bet Cady can help you a lot."

"You look tired, Sky," Darcy commented. "What do you guys have planned for tonight?"

"Dinner and then rest."

"Good, good, you guys need it. It's important to be properly rested."

"I know," Sky rolled her eyes.

"And I'm kicking Declan out," Becca said. "He's moving into his room tonight."

"Already? That's great."

"Yup, with rest, he should be back in the Lion by the end of the week."

Sky place a hand on her stomach and blushed as it audibly growled, "Uh, if you'll excuse me, I am starving."

"Oh, of course dear," Darcy reached out impulsively and hugged her daughter. "I'm glad you're okay, Sky."

She returned her mother's hug, "Thanks, Mom."

Darcy stepped back, still holding Sky by her upper arms, "Just be careful, sweetie."

………………………………………………………………………………

The next day was spent working out, practicing, and going over formations. The only breaks were for food and then to go to bed. The day after started out the same, but the Force was called in from the practice field mid afternoon to meet the incoming squadrons and officers from the Garrison.

Allura and Keith stood out beside the tarmac with Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. Standing at attention behind them were Erik, Sky, Brina and Gideon. Becca had put her foot down and told Declan she wanted him to stay in bed at least another day and off his ankle. He was proving to be a difficult patient, with the shortest attention span known to man and the ability to whine worse than her five year old.

The large Garrison ship landed on the main tarmac. The smaller fighters were going to be kept on air craft carriers that were circling the planet. The door slid open and a short set of steps lowered to the ground and two people exited.

A large, brick-wall of a woman marched purposefully forward and stopped sharply in front of Keith and Allura. Captain Daphne Klari was over six feet tall and wider in the shoulders than even Keith. Her hair was dark brown and cut in a short, sleek cap, her face was flat, looking as though she had run full force into a wall, and her eyes were a piercing blue. She had an air of no-nonsense superiority about her.

Behind her walked a younger man wearing his dress uniform and looking a little beleaguered. He was an unusually attractive man with sharp features, gentle grey eyes, and jet black hair. His eyes were constantly moving, trying to take everything in, zeroing in on every detail.

"Captain Klari," Allura looked up at the woman towering over her.

"Your highness," her voice was clipped and sharp. "It is an honor."

"This is my husband, Commander Keith Whitaker and his team, Lieutenants Lance Collier, Pidge Audric, and Hunk Landers."

Introductions were made and the new Votron Force were introduced to Captain Klari and her second in command, Lieutenant Tristan Alexander. Tristan seemed pleasant enough, but a little shy, completely overshadowed by his Captain.

"Let's go inside," Keith suggested as everyone sized each other up in uncomfortable silence. "We can show you Castle Control and you can tell us what the Garrison has planned."

Captain Klari nodded sharply, "Sounds like a good idea."

"We have rooms set up for you and Lt. Alexander, we can show you there if you would like to get settled first," Allura suggested.

"Thank you, your highness, but we would rather get right down to work."

"Of course."

Keith stepped aside and allowed Allura and Captain Klari to enter first before entering, the others following him.

"This is amazing," Klari said, a hint of admiration sneaking into her stern voice.

"We are constantly updating our computer systems," Keith explained. "We are state of the art. Any questions concerning the computer systems you can ask Lt. Audric."

She nodded, "When can we see the Lions?"

Allura bristled, "We'll get to that in good time."

The door slid open and Cady charged in.

"Uh, Captain Klari, Lt. Alexander, this is our eldest daughter, Princess Cadence," Keith introduced, surprised by his daughter's entrance. "Cady, this is Captain Klari and Lt. Alexander, here from the Garrison to help us with our current…issues."

Cady was not really in the mood for pleasantries since she had just received a request from the ruling monarch of Planet Wilak, demanding, not asking, that she come and met his son. She had come looking for her father, hoping he could help her get out of this. Instead, she pasted the well rehearsed 'Princess' smile on her face and curtsied to the woman standing in front of her, "It's a pleasure, Captain."

Klaus nodded, "Your highness."

Cady then turned to Lt. Alexander and stopped. She knew she should curtsy or at least say something, but she was frozen. His grey eyes bored into her blue ones, seeing past her forced pleasantries into her core. A shiver passed through her and she had a quick premonition. She, Princess Cadence Arianna Isabelle Whitaker of Arus, had just fallen in love at first sight with a Garrison officer.