Author's Note:
Alright, so this chapter is more of a fill-in chapter for the story. I didn't want to do several chapters of the twins' growth, cause that would be a lot of chapters. So this chapter is going to be snippets of the twins, like first word, first steps, that sort of thing. Then the next chapter will be a time skip in the years.
Just figured I would clarify that before this chapter starts.
Anyways, enjoy!
Midnight Cries
Keith awoke to the sound of a baby crying and let out a soft sigh. He could tell which twin it was that had woken up in the night. He climbed out of bed and pulled his cardigan on and headed down the hall to the nursery.
He opened the door and drifted to the crib which contained the crying infant, the other occupying her sister who thankfully slept soundly. Even through the crying. His eyes met those of his daughter's and he smiled softly seeing hers filled with tears.
Camilla Rosella Kogane.
She had been the first twin to come out, 5 minutes before her sister. Keith knew she was going to tease her about it saying how she was the older twin. Camilla had lightly tanned skin, brown hair, and purple eyes. Aside from the purple eyes, Keith could see Lance in her. She really was his daughter.
He pulled her into his arms and her cries softly stopped. Though her lips started to pucker gently, a sign Keith had learned to read that she needed a bottle. Checking that the other twin was still sleeping, Keith quietly exited the nursery and walked down the hall to the kitchen where he swiftly made her a bottle.
"Alright, here we go Cami," Keith said with a small yawn. While he had gotten used to their cries and their actions that followed, he hadn't gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night.
As she drank from the bottle, Keith found himself thinking back on the day they were born.
"One more push Keith, come on!" Dr. Amelia called out from between Keith's legs. "The head is almost out!"
Keith let out a scream and gripped Shiro and Krolia's hands as he gave a big push. If his mother and brother were feeling pain in their hands, they said nothing knowing how much more pain Keith was in.
"She's out!" Dr. Amelia announced with a laugh. Keith fell back against the bed, huffing as air struggled to get back into his lungs. His heart leaped hearing his daughter let out a cry, her cries echoing throughout the hospital room.
There was a few moments of rest for Keith before his daughter was placed into his arms, a pink blanket wrapped around her, a white hat placed on top of her head to keep her head warm. Her eyes were clenched shut as she continued to cry.
However, those cries stifled as soon as she was placed into Keith's arms. Keith moved a finger to brush against her chubby cheek, his heart softening when his daughter reached a hand up and grasped onto his finger. For such a small being, she had a good grip on her.
"Do you have a name for this little one?" a nurse asked with a smile as she stood at the foot of the bed, a clipboard in her hands, one holding a pen.
"Camilla," Keith said with a smile. "Camilla Rosella Kogane."
"Such a beautiful name," the nurse commented before heading off to finish the rest of the paperwork concerning Camilla.
Keith was so fixed on Camilla, until he was brought out of his thoughts when a strong contraction hit him. Luckily, a nurse was nearby and gently pulled Camilla out of his arms and alerted Dr. Amelia who had stepped back to take a break.
"Alrighty, baby number two's time," she said with a smile. "Get ready to start pushing again."
Keith was brought out of his thoughts when Camilla started to make noises. He looked down to see that she had finished the bottle and was simply suckling on it. He pulled it out of her mouth and placed it into the sink to wash in the morning. He grabbed a towel from the counter and placed it over his shoulder and began to burp her.
Krolia had shown him how to do it the first night when they were in the hospital. Thankfully, Keith was a quick learner and soon got the hang of burping easily. He smiled remembering when Shiro wanted to burp Camilla and ended up with throw up down the back of his shirt. When Camilla let out a burp, Keith removed the towel and lay her back in his arms.
He started to walk slowly back to the nursery, for some reason, Camilla fell asleep whenever Keith walked while holding her. Especially after a bottle, whereas her sister didn't. And just as Keith reached the nursery, he looked down and smiled seeing Camilla was fast asleep already.
He placed her back in her swaddle and went to leave. However, he froze hearing the other twin start to cry.
Marina Arielle Kogane.
She was the second twin to come out, 5 minutes after her sister. Like her sister, she had lightly tanned skin but she had black hair and blue eyes. Much like her sister, Marina resembled Lance but Keith could more of himself in Marina than Lance.
"What's wrong Rina?" Keith asked softly, unwrapping her from her swaddle and pulling her into his arms. Immediately, he knew what was wrong, her diaper was wet. She needed a change. He flicked on the light above the changing table and lay his daughter down on the table. The light was a soft yellow which wasn't too harsh on her eyes, his mother's idea for when the twins needed a late night change.
Swiftly, Marina's diaper was changed and she was tucked back into her onesie. Her eyes were drooping but she still resisted the urge to sleep. Keith chuckled softly and moved to sit in the rocking chair in the corner of the bedroom. A gift from Allura and Shay for Christmas.
"You're a fighter aren't you?" he asked softly, laying her in his arms and slowly rocking back and forth in the chair. There was only one way to get either twin to sleep, and it was Keith singing them to sleep.
"You thrill me, you delight me
You please me, you excite me
You're all that
I'd been yearning for"
Both twins enjoyed hearing Keith singing to them. At least, that's what Keith hoped their expressions said whenever he sang to them. Whenever they couldn't sleep, Keith would sing a song to them and they would fall asleep within a few minutes of him singing. If they weren't feeling well, Keith would sing to them and they felt better.
"I love you, I adore you
I lay my life before you
I only want you more and more"
Keith remembered whenever he was pregnant and he would sing to the twins in his stomach, they would settle or softly kick him. These little actions of theirs only fueled Keith's love for them. He may not have Lance in his life to help him or be by his side but, he did have his family and most importantly.
He had his daughters.
"And finally it seems
My lonely days are through
I've been waiting for you
Ohhhh"
Keith glanced down and smiled seeing Marina had fallen asleep in his arms, as usual. He gently stood up and headed back to her crib, tucking her back into her swaddle and flicking the light off above the changing table before leaning down and kissing each twin's forehead.
"I've been waiting
For you"
Teething
"I know Cami," Keith said with a sigh, he was currently sitting on the couch with Camilla in his arms. Kolivan was sitting on the other couch with Marina in his arms. Currently, the twins were non-stop crying and often woke up during the night. The reason?
They were teething.
Keith had tried to soothe them as best he could, using what he read in parenting books and what he read online but nothing seemed to work.
"Let's try this," Krolia said walking into the living room, holding two frozen waffles from the freezer.
"Waffles?" Keith asked, to which Krolia nodded.
"When you were teething, the only thing that worked was giving you frozen waffles," Krolia explained kneeling down to Camilla and holding one of the waffles out to her. "Here Cami, try this."
Camilla seemed to stare at her grandmother like she was crazy before Krolia placed it into her hands and moved it to her mouth. Camilla pulled back as Krolia placed it into her mouth however, as soon as the cold waffle touched her aching gums, she stopped crying. Instead, she started chewing on the frozen waffle and her tears stopped, a small smile of relief forming on her face.
"Here Rina," Krolia said turning to Marina who stared at the waffle in curiosity. "Try it, just like Cami."
Marina (with help from Kolivan) placed the waffle into her mouth and started chewing on it just like Camilla was. Within a few moments, both twins stopped crying and were silently chewing on frozen waffles.
"Who would have guessed, frozen waffles," Kolivan said with a smile, making faces at Marina as she chewed on the waffle.
"A cold cloth can also help with teething," Krolia said smiling at Camilla as she chewed on the waffle. "Cold will help lessen the pain of their gums."
"I'll remember that," Keith said with a smile to his mother. "Thank you."
"Of course honey," Krolia said with a nod. "I'm your mother, I'm supposed to help you along."
The First Steps
"Come on Rina!" Krolia called out with a smile as she knelt down a few feet away from where Marina was standing holding onto Kolivan's hands. Camilla was content a few feet away, where she was lying on her back playing with a toy. "You can do it!"
At the moment, Krolia and Kolivan were babysitting the twins while Keith was having a meeting with Natasha about changing his schedule at the bar. The twins were at the age where they would be walking soon, both twins had been getting into the habit of standing and holding onto furniture. However, Marina had yet to be brave enough to try to walk. Camilla on the other hand had already been walking for a little bit and almost seemed to grasp the concept naturally.
Marina took a few shaky steps and Kolivan slowly released her hands, allowing her to try and balance herself. She took a few small steps before she toppled over and fell on her bottom. Kolivan helped her stand up again and she decided to be brave again and take a few steps, Kolivan once again letting go of her hands as she tried to make her way to Krolia.
However, she fell over again, time landing on her face causing her to start to cry. Krolia quickly rushed over and collected Marina into her arms.
"It's alright honey, you did good for a first few steps," Krolia said with a smile brushing the tears off her granddaughter's chubby cheeks. "We'll try again later okay?"
An hour later, Keith arrived back at his mother's house and headed to the living room where Krolia was bouncing Camilla on her legs and Kolivan was holding onto Marina's hands as she stood in front of his feet, trying to get a grasp on her wobbly legs.
Krolia turned hearing Keith approach the living room and smiled.
"Cami look, your daddy's back," Krolia said pointing Camilla to look at Keith who smiled back at his daughter and headed over, pulling her into his arms and hugging her softly.
"Sorry it took so long, Natasha was rearranging her office and needed help so I decided to help her out," Keith said, speaking to his mother but tickling Camilla at the same time.
"It's fine, I don't mind having the girls over," Krolia said with a wave of her hand.
"This one has been trying to get a grasp on her human legs all day," Kolivan said with a smile. Marina turned and upon seeing her father, slowly let go of Kolivan's hands and taking a few shaky steps towards Keith.
Keith noticed and handed Camilla back to Krolia who scooted a little to give some room. Keith knelt down in front of the couch and held his hands out in front of him. Marina's eyes never leaving him, even as she wobbled and almost fell a few times.
"Come on Rina," Keith called out softly, his arms ready to catch his daughter as she wobbled her way to him.
A few more moments and Keith was pulling Marina into his arms as she successfully made her way to him. He stood up and tossed her a couple of times in the air, her giggles and squeals echoing throughout the living room.
"You did it Rina!" he exclaimed with a smile.
"And, we managed to get it on video," Kolivan said pointing to his phone which he had sneakily taken out of his pocket and started filming as soon as Marina had started walking to Keith.
"She's defiantly a Daddy's Girl," Krolia commented with a smile. "She might wrap you around her finger."
"I'm okay with that," Keith said with a smile. Turning his attention back to Marina who seemed content in his arms.
The First Words
"Come on Cami," Keith said as he had Camilla sitting on his lap. "Say daddy."
"Ba ba!" Camilla exclaimed with a giggle.
"Daddy," Keith corrected with a playful glare. "Come on."
"Ba!" Camilla repeated. Keith playfully rolled his eyes and sighed.
"A bottle, I know," Keith said placing Cami on the ground and making his way to the kitchen, stepping over the baby gate set up so the twins would stay in the living room.
As he prepared bottles for the twins, his thoughts raced. If you were to ask him a year ago if he would have kids, let alone twins, he would have laughed and called you crazy. Now, he couldn't imagine his life without his girls.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Marina's voice echoed throughout the kitchen/living room.
"Dadda!"
Keith turned with wide eyes and seen Marina smiling at him with a toothy grin.
"Did you say-"
"Dadda!"
Keith's attention was turned to Camilla who repeated what her sister said.
"That's right, I'm Daddy," Keith said with a nod. "Now when did you two get so smart?" Keith asked with a smile, leaning down to his daughters and pulling them both into a hug.
First Birthday: Cake Smash
"Alright, who is ready for cake?" Krolia asked with a smile, heading off as Keith's friends and family cheered.
Everyone had come up to celebrate the twin's first birthday. Shay and Hunk with their triplets who they had to remind to be careful around the twins. Allura, Pidge, Matt, Shiro, and Adam had also come up to celebrate.
Allura and Shay had spent a good hour fawning over the twins and playing with them. Matt had gone off with Shiro and Adam to help collect plates and garbage before Krolia and Kolivan brought out the cakes. That left Pidge, Keith, and Hunk to relax and catch up with one another.
"Alright, start singing you guys," Krolia called out as she and Kolivan came out from the back porch, each holding a small cake in their hands. The cakes weren't too big for the twins, each was a small two-layer cake with purple frosting. Each cake had one of the twins' names on it written in white icing as well as a giant 1 on them.
"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Cami and Rina,
Happy birthday to you"
The twins watched in awe as Krolia and Kolivan placed the cakes in front of them. They had no idea what was happening and turned to their father in confusion. Keith smiled and headed over, kneeling behind Marina and grabbing her hands.
"Like this Rina, watch," Keith said as he directed her hands into the cake and dug her hands in until they were covered in cake and icing. Though, Marina did not enjoy this and started to cry (A/N: This happened with my nephew, we did a cake smashing and he cried after touching the cake). Camilla on the other hand had seen what Keith had done with Marina and followed suit. Digging her hands into the top of the cake and pulling it apart.
Unlike Marina, she did not cry but instead placed the cake pieces into her mouth.
"There you go Cami!" Allura called out with a smile. "Destroy that cake!"
Marina turned to her sister and watched as she ate and destroyed her cake, getting icing and cake all over her purple dress. As Keith helped Camilla to eat her cake, Marina decided to be brave like her sister and dug her hands in once more. She cringed feeling the cake and icing again but soon started to eat the cake like her sister. Eventually, smashing her hands on the cake destroying the first layer.
"Way to go Rina!" Shay called out as she filmed the event on her phone, her daughter placed on her lap while her boys sat with Hunk.
The girls cared little about what presents they received that day, their only focus was on the cakes in front of them.
That was, until they became cranky for a nap.
First Vacation: The Beach
The twins were now two years old and were becoming quite a handful. Kolivan was due to go on a work trip but the twins were so attached to Krolia and Kolivan that they hated when Kolivan went on work trips. Even hearing that he had gone on a work trip set them off.
So, the family decided to go on vacation with Kolivan while he was on his work trip. This way Kolivan could come back to the hotel to see the twins without any meltdowns about him being away.
Kolivan had left early that morning for a work meeting and so Krolia and Keith took the twins out to breakfast before they headed to the beach. The twins had never seen or been to the beach so Keith wasn't sure what their reactions to it would be.
After breakfast, they headed back to the hotel room to get changed and get their stuff. After they were packed for the day, they headed down to the beach and got set up. Keith and Krolia made sure to put sunscreen on the girls and hats on their heads so they wouldn't get sunburnt.
Keith and Krolia walked them out to the water's edge and the twins watched as the waves came into shore and then went back out to sea.
"Do you wanna try to water Cami?" Keith asked kneeling down beside Camilla and pointing out to the water. "It's like the bathtub at home but bigger."
Camilla looked unsure at the water. Keith smiled softly and stepped into the water, the cool water covering his feet and ankles as he stepped into the water. Camilla watched her father step into the water and slowly followed after him. She jumped as the water touched her feet and jumped back.
"Daddy!" she called out with wide eyes.
"It's okay Cami," Keith called out kneeling down into the water and holding a hand out to her. "We'll stay where it's shallow, okay?"
Camilla stared at her father's hand for a few moments before she slowly treaded back into the water, jumping as the waves hit her legs but she braved it out and grabbed onto Keith's hands.
She stood unsure for a few moments before she got used to the water and was jumping around in it, splashing Keith's legs as she did so. She turned back to Marina who was standing by Krolia's side, staring at the water, almost afraid of it.
"Rina!" she called out rushing out of the water and running up to her sister. "Rina come in?" she asked, holding her hand out to her sister. Marina looked up to Krolia who nodded softly with a smile, motioning for her to follow her sister.
Marina grabbed her sister's hand and followed her into the water. She jumped as the water rushed against her legs but followed her sister's lead and walked out to her father, Krolia following behind her.
The rest of the day was spent with the twins splashing in the water until it was time to head back to the hotel. That night as Keith tucked his sleeping daughters into bed, he smiled to himself. He knew there would be more hardships to come than just the twins being scared of water.
But, he knew that as long as he had his family and his friends had his back to support him and the twins, he would be just fine.
They would be fine.
But most importantly.
He would be fine.
Song(s) Used:
I've Been Waiting For You
Sung originally by ABBA, 1975
Covered by Amanda Seyfried, Julie Walters, and Christine Baranski in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, 2018
Author's Note:
Alrighty, I am back after a stressful Anthropology exam. But I think it went well, I knew a good majority of stuff that was on the exam so that's good.
But here we are with another chapter. This was just a filler chapter before we time skip to where stuff gets juicy, especially for Keith and Lance for reasons you can maybe guess.
But in other news, the Discord server is almost ready. I am going to be opening Mod applications soon so if you want to apply that application form will be out soon. For right now, it will probably be 1 or 2 mods, maybe 3.
(For those here on , since the site is finicky with links, you can either go to my AO3 version of this story and get the link there or message me on Tumblr and I can send you the link to the application form that way. (My AO3 and Tumblr are both under Alchemygirl8)
Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter!
~Alchemygirl8
