Hi all!

Thank you so much for your awesome reviews, that really mean a lot to me.

This story is coming to an end, but I am already plotting my next story, a trip to Terra :)

Thank you all!

Enjoy,

Failte

………………………………………………………….

Keith was able to get Paton alone later that morning to talk to her about Rossbin and what she had found out the night before. They both disappeared into the kitchen to speak in private.

"He didn't have much to say," she told him. "But his daughter was quite talkative."

"What did she have to say?"

"She said that she never saw anyone but her father and her brother planning and talking about this. She does not believe anyone else was involved."

Keith ran his hand through his hair, "But we can't really take her word for it. She doesn't know what was going on behind closed doors, if Vinn was involved or the other Bittors. I was planning on heading into town in a couple of hours and try my hand at questioning him."

Paton nodded, "That's your decision, Keith, but he is under maximum security and it is Christmas. If you want to let him stew for another day, no one will blame you."

"I was thinking about that, but I want to get it take care of as soon as possible. I have already sent a guard to the Bittor settlement, letting Montry Joles know that I will be down to speak with him tomorrow."

She nodded, "Let me know whatever you need me to do, Keith."

"I will, thanks Pat."

Allura entered the kitchen carrying a tray of empty plates, "How's it going in here?"

"I'm going to go downtown this afternoon to speak with Rossbin."

Allura opened her mouth to try and convince him to put it off another day, but she knew it was fruitless. The corners of her mouth turned up and she smiled, "Of course, dear."

"It won't be long," he promised. "I know I'm not going to be getting a lot out of him."

"You…you can't put it off another day?"

"I don't want to, Allura, I want to get right on this and get it taken care of."

Paton slipped quietly from the room, not wanting to invade on what she was sure was going to be a private conversation.

"I understand that, Keith, but its Christmas."

"No one is going to miss me for an hour."

"I will," she whispered.

He sighed, "You know how important this is."

"Yes, I do. Promise it won't be more than an hour?"

"I promise."

"We're going to be eating early."

"I know."

"And no matter what happens, when you step foot back into this castle, you have to be in a good mood. I don't want you brooding and bringing everyone down on Christmas."

"Yes, your highness."

Allura rolled her eyes and raised herself on her toes to kiss his cheek, "Hurry back."

Keith turned his head and caught her lips, "I will. You won't even miss me."

……………………………………………………………………

Forty five minutes later, Keith paced in the foyer. He was annoyed and frustrated. Rossbin sat there for half an hour and didn't open his mouth once, didn't even acknowledge Keith's existence. Rossbin's daughter was curled up in a room, crying uncontrollably and his son was as stoic as his father.

According to the guards on duty, no one other than himself, had requested to see Rossbin. Realizing he was wasting his time, Keith returned to the castle.

He stopped and took a deep breath. This was Christmas. His family and friends were waiting for him and they were all in the holiday spirit. He was not going to ruin that.

"Keith, you're back," Lance announced when his friend walked into the rec room. "We can use your help."

"With what?" He asked, perching on the arm of Allura's chair.

"Dad, they're picking on me," Cady told him.

Keith turned his attention to his oldest. She was still sitting on the couch with Tristan beside her, he was obviously uncomfortable, but Keith knew he wasn't about to leave her side. "Who is?"

"Everyone."

"We're not picking on her," Pidge said. "We're just pointing out the similarities between Allura and Cady."

"How they both seem to have a problem with kidnappings," Hunk added.

Lance started ticking instances off on his fingers, "She was taken by Rossbin, shot in the caves by a Bittor…"

"Taken by Landor," Sven added. "Can't forget dat."

Keith turned to Tristan, "I am getting too old for this, she's all yours. You can be her rescuer."

He saluted, "Yes, sir."

"I'm not helpless," Cady pouted.

"Neither is your mother," Keith pointed out. "But trouble seems to find you both. And now that I've handed that responsibility off to Tristan, I can worry about keeping an eye on your sisters."

"You should have just saved yourself the trouble and stopped after us," Gideon said.

"Yeah, you didn't need three more kids," Declan agreed.

"They should have just stopped after me," Cady grumbled. "Life would have been easier all around."

"See, we did it right," Lance announced. "One, perfect kid."

"Now stop that, all of you," Allura chided. "We love you all, you know that."

"No, he's right," Sky said.

Erik snorted.

"Do I need to take back my present?"

"What? No. You're perfect. I was just…you know…the twins…" he mumbled.

Gideon and Declan both flicked their wrists and made whipping sounds.

"Knock it off, Dec," Brina warned.

He dropped his arm and smiled sheepishly.

"Did you find anything out?" Allura whispered to her husband.

Keith shook his head, "I'm going to go down and talk to some people tomorrow."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I sat there for thirty minutes and he didn't even acknowledge me."

"What about his children?"

"The son didn't speak either and his daughter couldn't stop crying hard enough to say anything."

Allura sighed and shook her head, "I feel so bad for those children."

He smiled down at her and squeezed her shoulder.

Cady leaned toward Tristan and whispered, "How're you holding up?"

"I'm all right," he muttered.

"No one will think it rude if you wanted to go lie down. Mom and Nanny set up a room for you."

"Maybe in a little while," he spoke haltingly, pain cutting across his back as he slowly shifted. "I just don't want to move right now."

Wishing she could do more to alleviate his pain, Cady leaned over and kissed him gently, "I'm so sorry you were hurt. What can I do?"

"Um, you could do that again."

Smiling, she glanced over and saw that no one was paying attention. Leaning over, she kissed, less gently and a little longer.

Tristan smiled weakly, "I feel better already."

Sven couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Tristan seemed, even though Cady was doing her best to help him deal with it. He got up and walked over to where Becca was sitting, watching her kids play with the dogs. "Becca?"

She looked up and smiled, "Hey, Sven, what's up?"

He knelt beside her chair and lowered his voice, "I vas vondering, how bad are Tristan's vounds?"

"He'll be fine. The skin was broken, but his leather jacket absorbed a lot of the sting. There was no muscle damage and there will be no permanent damage."

"Oh, good," he breathed. "I vas just tinking I should talk to him. But, uh, I guess if he's going to be all right…"

She patted his hand as he trailed off, "You're a good man, Sven."

"Mommy?" Tori appeared at her side, holding Lance's squirming puppy.

"What, sweetpea?"

"Can we get a dog?"

Sven pushed himself up and returned to his seat, leaving Becca to handle her daughter.

"We'll have to see, peanut."

"That means no," she said sadly, letting Greedo slip from her grasp.

"It does not. It means Daddy and I have to talk about it. You're going to have a new brother or sister in a few weeks, that's even better than a dog."

She sighed, "I guess so."

"I thought you were excited about being a big sister."

"I am," Tori tried to climb onto her mother's lap, but was impeded by the large bump that was her future sibling.

"Oh, sweetie," Becca hugged her daughter as close as she could. "Daddy and I will talk about it, maybe we can get a dog. I'd like one, but we'd have to make sure it was okay with Aunt Allura and you and Luke would have to take care of it."

The little girl rubbed her eyes, tired as the excitement from earlier drained her, "We can do that. Luke's real smart."

"So are you, sweetie."

"I'd take it for walks so it won't go potty in the castle."

"That's an important job."

"So we can get one?"

"I'll talk to Daddy, we'll let you know what we decide tomorrow."

"Morning?" Tori asked, excitedly.

"Afternoon."

"'Kay, Mommy." Happy with that response, she hurried back to where the others were playing.

"Does this mean we're getting a dog?" Pidge whispered, laying his hands on his wife's shoulders.

Becca tilted her head back to look at him, "This would be a really bad time to get one, wouldn't it?"

"Yup."

"She attacked me at the wrong time, I'm all hormonal and it's Christmas and she's so cute."

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "I'm sure there are plenty of people in the castle who will help us with both the puppy and the baby."

She patted his hand, "You're a good man, babe."

………………………………………………………

It was a leisurely morning that slid effortlessly into a lazy afternoon. The kids took turns playing with Erik's new PlayStation. Lance, with the help of Nicky, Nat, and Tori, took the dogs out for a quick walk. The others read, talked, or did anything else that allowed them to relax for one of the few days off they were allowed each year. Cady had finally convinced Tristan to go lay down as his back was starting to sting with pain.

"Give me my poor little puppy," Sky told Tori when they walked in. "She's shivering." Her head hurting, Sky had just taken some pain pills and was feeling cloudy headed and tired. She cradled the trembling little furball to her chest and whispered soothingly.

Erik reached over and rubbed her back. The two of them were sitting on the floor, leaning back against the side of the couch, watching as Luke and Casey played the racing game on the PlayStation. "She'll be fine, Sky. She'll warm up faster if you let her run around."

"No, poor Figment's tired, see?" She held the dog up to him as it yawned. "They've worn her out."

Erik looked over the dog's head at Sky's slightly unfocused eyes, "What about you?"

"What about me?" She asked, kissing the soft spot between Figment's eyes.

"How're you feeling?"

"Tired."

He slid his arm up around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her temple, "Go lie down, I'll come wake you for dinner."

She shook her head slightly, "I'm okay."

"Sky…"

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll lay down." She slid down and gently laid her head on his leg, pulling her legs up and laying Figment on the floor beside her. The dog yawned again and cuddled close to her stomach.

Erik jumped when one of Nanny's afghans hit him in the head. He looked over his shoulder and saw Darcy smiling at him. Taking the hint, he laid the blanket over Sky and pressed a gentle kiss on her head. In less than five minutes, both she and the dog were sound asleep.

Keith leaned over and whispered to Allura, "Watch out, trouble's coming."

The Queen looked up from the knitting she was working on and looked up at her husband, "What?"

"Mommy?"

"Hi, Nicky, what's up?"

He climbed up into his mother's lap and laid his head on her shoulder, "Mommy, can I have a little brother?"

"Uh, what?" Allura asked, surprised.

"I want a little brother. I'm the only one of us without one."

"I don't have one, Aunt Darcy and Aunt Becca don't have one and…"

"I mean the only one of my brothers and sisters," he interrupted.

"No, honey, you're the last one."

"But I'd really like one," Nicky whispered, playing with her necklace.

"What if we had another baby and it was a girl?" Keith asked.

"No, I want a boy."

"Why do you want one?" Allura asked. "I thought you liked being the baby?"

"I'm not a baby."

"I know you're not," she kissed the top of his head. "But no, we're not going to have another baby. Sorry."

He lifted his head and looked at her with big, brown doe eyes, "Well, then can I have a dog?"

Keith laughed, "The twins put you up to this, didn't they?"

Allura bit the inside of her cheek to keep from joining her husband in his laughter, "I don't know, Nicky, will you be able to take care of it?"

He nodded adamantly, "Yes."

"You'd have to walk it and fed it and give it baths."

"I know."

"Well, then, Daddy and I will talk about it."

Nicky looked at his mother and then looked over to where his brothers sat. They nodded at him. He turned back to his parents, "Okay," and he hopped off her lap.

"How'd you know that was coming?" Allura asked her husband.

"I saw the twins talking to him and Nicky kept looking over here."

"Huh, so they told him to try and shock us with the request for a little brother and then soften the blow by asking for a puppy."

"Exactly."

She sighed heavily, "They are such a bad influence on him."

"Well, the kids haven't had a pet since the cat died two years ago."

"It could teach the younger kids some responsibility."

"Yeah, since it's too late to teach the twins that."

"All right everyone," Nanny announced from the doorway. "Dinner is ready."

"Yea!" Declan jumped to his feet. "I am starving."

Keith flipped open his communicator to dial up his eldest.

…………………………………………………………………….

Cady sat up against the headboard of the bed in the guest room, watching Tristan sleep. He had become fidgety and restless, finally giving in to Becca's suggestion of painkillers and rest. Cady had shown him to his room and helped him settle, but she couldn't bring herself to leave his side. After taking the pills, he had drifted off to sleep while she stroked his hair.

Checking her watch, she realized with a shock that she had been here for over an hour. She had learned that he had a tendency to mumble in his sleep, not too loud, or even anything discernible, but she thought it was cute.

"You're still here," he mumbled, his eyes barely open.

"Of course I am."

"You should be with your family."

"I'm where I want to be," she whispered, stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm just wiped out."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

He rolled onto his side and looked up at her, "You've already done so much, Cady, you all have."

"You're a part of our family now, Tristan, we're all so happy to help you. I'm just so happy you're here."

"I'm going to have to call my family and let them know what happened. I don't want them to find out through the Garrison channels."

"We can do that whenever you want."

"I want you there, I want to introduce you."

She smiled, a little nervous, "I can't wait to meet them."

"Becca said she's going to contact the Garrison, I'm going to be laid up."

"Does that mean you'll be stuck here for a little while?"

"Appears that way."

Cady leaned over and kissed him, "Darn it. And I guess you'll need a nurse too, huh?"

"I'm sure Becca can find one for me."

"She won't have to look far."

"But how qualified is she?"

"Qualified enough. So we're going to Terra, huh?"

"Yeah. I want to introduce you to my family."

"Do you think we could visit my grandmother while we're there."

"I don't see why not, I'd like to meet her."

"This is so exciting," Cady grinned. "I can't wait. We are going to have so much fun."

"I was thinking we could…" Tristan was interrupted by Cady's communicator going off.

She flipped it open, "Yes?"

"It's dinner time, honey," Keith said.

"Okay, we'll be right there," she told him.

"Glad to see you're carrying your communicator."

Cady stuck her tongue out at him and snapped it shut.

"Is everything all right?" Tristan asked, propping his head up on his hand.

"Yeah," she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "It's time for dinner. Get up."

Tristan slowly pushed himself up and accepted Cady's hand to help him sit up. She helped him to his feet, slipping her arm around his waist.

"What, uh, what do you guys do for the rest of today?" He asked as they moved slowly down the hall.

"Well, Christmas is really the only day everyone has off together. We have this huge meal, then everyone just hangs out. In other words, in about two hours, everyone is going to be stuffed and napping." She explained with a smile. "Then later tonight, we meet back in the kitchen to make sandwiches and take them back to the rec room where we watch 'Christmas Vacation'."

"Oh."

"Ever seen it?"

"No."

"You're in for a treat. I know it doesn't sound like the exciting day you'd think the Voltron Force and their family would spend together, but we have fun being together and relaxing."

He pressed a kiss to her soft, golden hair, "I'm happy just as long as I can be with you."

"Ah, you big softee," Cady teased quietly.

The dining room had been shifted around a bit to accommodate the large gathering. The buffet had been removed and a children's table was set up against the wall. The main dining table had been extended as far as it could go with the best china and crystal set out and two large, six candle candelabras halfway down each end. Platters and bowls were overflowing with Nanny's delectable foods and quiet conversation flowed around the table.

Cady and Tristan settled into the last two chairs as everyone fell silent. Keith and Allura sat at opposite ends of the table and their eyes met over the food, candles, and gazes of everyone else at the table. She smiled and nodded to him.

Keith cleared his throat, "This has been a year of ups and downs. New threats and a new team. We have so much to be thankful for and even more to be proud of. Our children our growing before our eyes and we're watching them start lives of their own with their loved ones. But they know that no matter where they go, no matter what adventures their lives take them on, they will always have a home here." He raised his glass. "Merry Christmas."

Everyone followed suit as glasses of wine, water, or juice were raised and a chorus of "Merry Christmas!"