Part 6: Cyborg Pumpkin Pie

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans

Cyborg wakes up early one morning to the smell of Thanksgiving cooking going on downstairs. Sometimes the best way to charm three little super-kids is with a good piece of "Mama's" Pumpkin pie.

I wake up. It's early in the morning, and I smell something wonderful drifting up the stairs from the kitchen. I yawn, wide and loud, and stretch beneath the covers. I absently tug the bundle of wires attached to my chest from my metal frame and let them retract back into my recharging unit.

I drag from under the covers and sit so my bulky titanium legs are hanging over the edge of my bed. I look over to where she should have been. She's not there, but that's to be expected on an occasion such as today. I can't help but smile as I blink my one human eye blearily. Again, my attention is drawn to the scents blossoming up from the lower level of my home and assaulting my nostrils like a heavenly plague.

I glance at the time. The other Titans should be arriving from their respective homes around noon. It's only six in the morning, but she's been cooking since yesterday afternoon. Running a metallic hand over my face, I shake my head. She's such a perfectionist. Suddenly, I stiffen. I can hear the patter of light feet rampaging down the hall, and I'm pretty sure there are impish giggles accompanying this rain of childish sound.

I roll my eye. Okay… I got it… Daddy time… I quickly stuff myself back under the covers and shut my eye. I listen as the door creaks open and a peel of laughter struggles out, followed swiftly by a 'covertly' hissed "shhh!"

There's a very slight disturbance on her unoccupied side of the bed and then:

WHUMP! "DADDY!" three, yes three, shrill voices shriek gleefully at once as I'm suddenly being 'strangled.' I open my eyes and pretend to be shocked, staring widely into two pairs of big, almond eyes. A third little face comes into view as my littlest crawls up on top of me and sits cross-legged on the covers.

"Hey, Squirts, what are y'all doing up so early?" I demand, grinning. The youngest rolls her grey eyes. She's the only one that seems to have taken after me in that respect.

"Daddy… it's Thanksgiving for goodness sakes! Can't ya smell what Mama's making down in the kitchen?" she breathes, an air of excitement finally working its way into her five-year-old frame. She wiggles giddily. The twins nod furious agreements, their rich brown eyes staring pointedly into my own gaze.

I laugh slightly and make move to sit up. They let me and I open my arms to wrap my three kids in a bear hug. Giggling shrilly, they comply and hug me back. There's something incredible about holding your kids in your arms, the love you have for each of them is so indescribable. I sighed, content. "Well, I guess Thanksgiving just explains everything, doesn't it? Heh. Morning, guys." I say finally.

My boys, each seven, blink at me. "Pumpkin Pie," they declare. I arch an eyebrow. Sometimes, kids at this age are a little hard to figure out. I'm still in awe at how she seems to know exactly what they want and need at all times.

"Pumpkin Pie?" I ask. "What… you like Mama's pumpkin pie?" I translate. They nod.

"Yeah. It's the best on earth…" Victor Jr. says. Josh shakes his head furiously.

"Nuh-uh, it's the best on earth and Tama-Tama…Tamaran? Is that how you say it, Dad?" he asks me. I shrug.

"Sound right, but you'll have to ask Mrs. Grayson that when she comes over. I don't think they've got Pumpkin pie up there…" the kids look at me like I'm crazy. I put my hands up defensively. "What? The only pie I've seen her make has weird wiggly things coming out of it," I retort.

Immediately, three faces take on radical expressions. My youngest, Faith, looks appalled. The boys, on the other hand, are glowing with delight. Jr. looks ready to reconsider whether his mother's pie really is the best thing on earth and his little fists are actually flickering with electrical currents. All of my kids seem to have gotten their abilities from her. I can't help but smirk a little. Josh beams.

"That's so COOL!" he bubbles. Faith hisses in disagreement. Little wings on her back buzz to life as she lifts emphatically off the bed.

"No, it's yucky! Wiggly things are not supposed to be on pie," she declares. Josh and Vic Jr. roll their eyes. I chuckle as the three begin to banter enthusiastically. It's not too hard to slide out of bed fully and watch as Vic Jr. waves his sparking hands wildly while he speaks and Josh shrinks and grows in attempts to avoid the stray bolts of electricity that are coming off Vic's little hands.

Faith is hovering on her little gossamer-like wings, her pigtails dancing from the stirred up air being blown around her figure. She looks more and more like her Mama every day. "Kids, calm down. We don't wanna distract your mom from her cooking. You know how she gets, trying to prepare a huge feast for all my old titan-friends…" I say.

All of us share a knowing look. My wife is a stickler when it comes to being a good hostess. Faith blinks her stormy eyes cutely. "Mama always makes the best Thanksgiving meals…" she comments. Josh wrinkles his nose dryly.

"Duh… as if we didn't know that, Faith," he snorts. I frown slightly at the boy.

I'm about to scold him, but Faith gets to it first. "Hey… don't be mean!" she hisses, and then promptly tackles Josh to the floor. I go bug-eyed and try to intervene. Vic Jr. stares at his two siblings for a minute before beaming and jumping into the fray. I inwardly slap myself.

"Josh, Faith, Vic, BREAK IT UP!" I bellow. They do no such thing. I try to grab them and pull them apart but I have only two hands. One of them is always able to evade me. I grit my teeth, mentally going over again the reasons why I had wanted to be a father. These kids are so lucky I love 'em, because they'd be pinned to the wall by their pajamas by now if I didn't.

For the next ten minutes I'm scrambling to get them to behave, but with Josh shrinking and bounding away from my grasp and Faith flitting out of reach and Jr. inadvertently shocking me every time I touch him… I'm getting nothing accomplished.

I believe there are miracles. Because, just when I think I'm ready to grow myself a grey hair with three super-powered ankle-bitters scrambling around me to swing punches at one another… they all just stop. Dead in their tracks, they're staring intently at the doorway with saucer eyes and looks of sheer jubilance on their young faces.

I hear her voice behind me. "Need some help, Sparky?" my wife purrs. I simper and turn to faces her. Bumblebee stands with two little plates of pumpkin pie balanced on either hand and a smug look on her pretty face.

"Hey, Hon…" I grin sheepishly. "Just trying to get the little ones under control…" I explain. The 'little ones' in question are still staring hungrily at the heavenly pies their Mama is holding. Finally, Faith gets the nerve to ask the question printed plainly across all three faces.

"That's for us, isn't it, Mama?" she says. Bumblebee looks down at her daughter. They simply stare at one another for a little while, and then my wife grins and nods. Josh and Jr. share a high-five and then eagerly reach for their plates. They are rewarded, as is Faith. There's still one plate remaining.

I eye it curiously, fairly sure it's for me. Bumblebee saunters over to me and smiles softly. "…pie?" I say finally. Bee rolls her eyes and produces a final fork. She hands it to me and then allows me to take the plate of pie as well.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Sparky…" she winks. I nod in reply, my mouth stuffed with intoxicatingly wonderful pie. Definitely the best on Earth… and Tamaran… or whatever.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Hon," I reply when I finish my bite. I kiss my wife softly and smirk. Both of us have our eyes trained on the three little children seated on the floor, devouring their pumpkin pie. "We have a lot to be thankful for, eh?" I comment. She nods pleasantly.

"That we do…" she replies and then she hugs me and I hug her back (still holding my pie in one hand). She closes her eyes and smiles. "I love you, Victor," she murmurs. I would've said something like "I love you too, Karen," but my mouth was full again as I skillfully finished off my piece of pie over her shoulder.

Author's Note: Here ya go. In honor of Thanksgiving next week. I'm going on a very short hiatus, but I'll be back with another chapter in two weeks. I don't think I'll have time to write another chapter because I'm visiting my aunt and I'll be busy, but if I bring the laptop with me on the way down, I might be able to get a chapter done to post late Sunday night or something. But as of now, I'm going to call it a Thanksgiving hiatus and plan on coming back in two weeks... I'm hoping that I'll be able to at least tape Lightspeed and watch it when I get back. I hate missing new episodes. Especially when this is supposed to be the last season of Teen Titans. I hope CN changes their mind, I mean... there are still more than enough viewers out there who are big TT fans so... why stop? Heh, if they need more plots for their episodes, I'd be willing to give 'em a few ideas! ((holds up box full of ultra-fluffy rob/star and bb/rae fics))

I hope the fic wasn't too horribly short, but I just wanted to write something small and remotely Thanksgiving related and this is what I came up with. Thank you for getting me to 300 reviews! Your support is priceless!

Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran

P.s.- I don't know... I still like CyxBee and CyxJinx and I think BeexAqualad could be kind of cute... but I think the AqualadxSpeedy pairing is pretty endearing in its own way . I'm only a really solid RobxStar shipper. I'm even ok with like... RaexCy or RaexOC if it's done right and BBxTerra is logical, but I'm not a fan. Heh. Now you know all of my pairing prefs. Congrats or something. lol.