"Come in on," Lance said upon swinging the farmhouse's front door open. He tipped his head to get closer to eye level to Belle and offer a smile. "Hey, pretty girl."

Belle glanced at him but was soon twisting in Keith's arms, pushing herself away from Keith's chest so that she could see around Lance.

"Ba-buela!" Belle exclaimed.

"There's my little peanut," Lance's mama cooed, coming down the hallway with arms already outstretched. "I've missed you." Belle transferred easily to her arms and the two disappeared down the hall towards the kitchen.

Lance gaped after them. When he'd invited Keith to bring Belle over the farmhouse, he thought he'd not only get to spend some more time with Keith and properly meet Belle, but also introduce the little girl to his mama and any other family present for dinner, something he assumed would help their cause with the case worker.

"Hm, she just called my mom something that sounded a lot like abuela?"

"Yeah, it's one of the few words she knows," Keith said.

"But, uh, she knows what it means? Like, clearly they've met before."

Keith pulled his beanie off and his hair floofed up. Lance resisted the urge to run his fingers through it to tame it back down.

"Are you and Belle over here often?" Lance asked, still stuck on the image of the little girl lifting her arms to be scooped up by his mother as if she'd done it a million times before.

"Yeah, your family pretty much insisted that I keep coming over, even after you… So."

"You've still been coming over for the last five years?" Lance asked, truly intrigued about this new information.

Keith shrugged and avoided Lance's eyes. "Yeah, for dinners or birthdays. Some holidays. To swim. They didn't tell you?"

Lance shook his head and decided not to tell Keith that his family thought he got weird when Keith was mentioned, likely the reason they failed to mention that they'd adopted Keith after he left.

Keith nodded, though, as if pleased by Lance's ignorance. "I told them I'd come over if they didn't mention it to you, kept me out of any photos they posted. I didn't want you to think I was over here just to… cling, or whatever."

"I wouldn't have thought that," Lance said softly. "I'm actually pretty happy to hear that you didn't lose touch with everyone. Is that why you weren't surprised to see me? They told you I was coming back?" When Keith nodded, Lance frowned, thinking about the past month since he had come home. "We've had Sunday night dinners and things since I've been back. You didn't want to come over and see everyone?"

"I didn't really expect to come back to the farm with you home."

"You think the McClain family was just going to drop you or let you disappear?"

"You want to rethink saying that to me?"

"Ouch," Lance said, guilt rearing in his chest in a way he'd managed to beat back before now. "You know, I'd still like to apologize -"

"I don't need an apology."

"Seems like maybe you do?" Lance asked, eyes searching Keith's face.

Keith only shook his head and then nodded towards the kitchen. "We better get in there. If I don't keep an eye on your mom, she'll give Belle straight up sugar and I won't get any rest tonight."

"Speaking of," Lance said as he trailed after Keith down the hallway, "and, no offense, dude, but you look exhausted."

"Thanks," Keith deadpanned.

"Well, I mean I know you're raising a toddler and you're stressed about the custody issue, so I get it. But are you sleeping at all?"

"Lance."

"I found the best under eye cream while I was in Spain, you could borrow some."

Keith only shook his head and said, "Glad to hear your time away was spent wisely."

Ouch, Lance thought to himself.

In one corner of the living room, where Lance hadn't noticed since his return, his mother had a basket full of toys. Belle had known exactly where to find them.

"Thank you," Lance said with a wide grin as Belle handed him yet another toy. He placed it in his lap with the others as she turned and toddled a few steps to pick out a new one.

It had been somewhat soothing to see Keith at their dinner table again. Also, watching "Dad Keith" was an adorable experience. Keith had mastered how to feed her baby food and keep most of her face clean at the same time. Lance wasn't sure that was something Luis had ever mastered. Plus, the way his brow furrowed with the concentration of a surgeon to cut her table food into the tiniest pieces of food? Cutest shit Lance has ever seen.

The toys spread dramatically across the floor right now had Lance feeling nostalgic for when he did the same as a kid, sometimes playing happily with his siblings, sometimes fighting over who was touching his stuff. Still, childhood home or not, he'd tried to avoid stewing in memories since his return.

It had been fairly difficult to make the decision to finally come home, which was pretty obvious by the fact that it took him five years to do it. Luis had moved out long before Lance had graduated from high school, but he was still nearby with his family (plus, Luis was over almost every day to work on the farm). Marco had also moved out before Lance's graduation, but, three years after Lance left, Marco had actually moved across the country for a job, so Lance was going to have to wait longer for their reunion. Veronica and Rachel still lived at home, providing some familiar family comfort, although he didn't miss having to fight over time in the bathroom with them. That wasn't going to last much longer, though, since Rachel announced that she was moving out next month after her wedding. Ronnie would likely also move out in the coming year after her graduation from her nursing program. Lance wasn't even sure how long he'd stay at the farmhouse himself, was just grateful for his siblings' presence and that his mama had been okay with him moving back in for now.

The familiarity of this house and its inhabitants hurt sometimes. His very first Sunday night back in the country was the first time his mother was going to have (almost) all her kids under one roof for Sunday night dinner. He knew his mama was excited. He could hear his sisters downstairs talking to Luis and his family. And yet, he almost didn't make it downstairs to join them, afraid of what it would feel like to sit at their table. He'd made it halfway through the dinner before his eyes welled up with tears and he had to excuse himself. He made it through the entire meal for the second Sunday night dinner but said very little throughout.

It wasn't fair to the rest of the family, but he also couldn't help feeling upset with them as they sat and joked and shared stories while they ate, as if an integral member of the family wasn't missing from the table. He knew that was on him, though. He'd known coming back would be hard. It was silly to think that everyone else would wait to for him to return so that they could all grieve together.

Soothing as Keith's additional presence had been, that same sadness struck again tonight as they ate. Although he had to admit, Belle's babbling in between bites as well as the faces she made as she tried new foods from Keith's plate had made this the easiest dinner since he'd arrived home.

Belle had beelined for the toy basket after dinner (another sign that she was a regular farmhouse visitor) and Keith had nodded Lance towards her while he offered to help clear the table. He could hear Keith and mother murmur quietly to each other over the sound of the dishes in the sink.

"Why thank you," Lance said as he accepted the next toy from Belle. "Did you know this one lights up?" He pressed one of the large colorful buttons and the toy not only lit up but also began to play a song.

Instead of a smile, Belle tilted her head and her tiny eyebrows furrowed as she examined the toy. "You really are related to Keith, aren't ya?" He smiled as his mind flashed to that same expression on Keith's face as he watched Luis try to fix the engine on their combine or any time he watched Hunk mix together one of his creations in the kitchen.

"Alright, hell's bells," Keith said as he entered the room.

"Keith!" Lance's mama whacked Keith's shoulder with a dish towel. "I told you that you had to stop calling her that when she started talking!"

Keith only chuckled as he sank down on the ground and lifted his arms for Belle to fall into. Belle babbled a few words and pulled on Keith's braid before handing him the book she'd found.

A new kind of sadness reared in Lance's chest. He thought he'd be re-introducing Keith to his mom tonight. He hadn't expected to see Keith and his mom as close as ever. And as cute as Keith was reading a book to the little girl in his lap, this wasn't the Keith he'd left behind.

Keith closed the book when he reached the end, prompting Belle to tug on the book to try to open it again. "Sorry, Belles, we gotta go," Keith said, pushing himself to his feet even with Belle in his arms.

Lance stood as well and watched Belle's violet eyes widen as her lower lip protruded in a pout as she stared up at Keith.

"Oh, my goodness," Lance exclaimed, his sour mood forgotten. "I'll read the book to her! How can you say no to that face?"

Keith only chuckled as he tossed the book into the basket and jostled Belle on his hip, the movement distracting her enough that her pout fell away and she laughed. "If we don't leave now, we'll be late for her bedtime and for whatever nonsense reason, if she doesn't go to bed on time, she won't go to bed at all? She's too tired to sleep?"

"Oh," Lance said, disappointed that they were already leaving. He scooped up the backpack Keith had brought and handed it to him before walking him to the door. "Should we meet up again soon?"

"Uh, yeah, actually I'll have to set up a time for you to meet with our case worker. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course, whatever we have to do."

"Okay, maybe in a few days? I have some work to catch up on."

Lance nodded through the disappointment. He'd been gone five years but now a few days seemed like too long to wait to see Keith again. He was also realizing that he had no idea what Keith did for work, but that was going to have to wait for another day. He was at his limit for new information tonight.

Lance leaned in a bit and said, "Bye, Belles," with a smile for her. She ducked her face into Keith's shoulder but the corner of her mouth twitched. He counted it as a smile. "Drive safe," he directed to Keith before closing the door behind them.

His mother hadn't followed them to the front door, but she was waiting in the kitchen with arms crossed as he came around the corner.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Pretending to be in a relationship with Keith? He and I both noticed that you looked upset tonight."

"I'm not upset about being around Keith," Lance insisted. "It was just… I didn't expect to find that some things hadn't changed at all, even though…"

"I think that's going to keep happening to you for a while, Leandro. You have to expect that."

Lance sat on the one of the kitchen stools and ran a hand down his face.

"Your siblings have noticed the same reaction when we all get together, too, you know." She softened her voice and sat next to him before speaking again. "Did you expect to come home and be cured from having to actually grieve for your papa? From missing him? You can't hide from grief, Lance. It's always going to sit and wait for you if you don't face it."

Lance sniffed but before he could really sink into it, he heard their front door open and shut.

"Hey!" Ronnie called out as she entered the kitchen. "I just saw Keith and Belle."

"There's some leftovers, have you eaten?" their mother asked.

"Not yet, thanks. Is that why Keith was here? Dinner?" She eyed Lance. "How'd you swing that?"

"He asked for a favor," Lance said before explaining the favor. Ronnie had begun to make herself a plate, but her movements slowed as he spoke until she was no longer moving at all, just staring at him wide-eyed. Her gaze began to shift frantically between Lance and their mother.

"Mama! You're allowing this?"

"We're grown men, Ronnie."

"Which means you should know better! Lance! You can't just reappear in Keith's life and then jump into being his fake boyfriend!"

"He asked -"

"No, I don't care." Ronnie smacked her palm on the counter as she spoke. "We didn't pick Keith up in the middle of our own grief about losing papa - in the middle of Keith's grief over losing papa and his heartbreak over losing you - and stand him back on his feet in order to take care of him for you for five years just for you to pop back in and break his heart again."

Lance's face crumpled as if pained. He knew his family and how big their hearts were. He knew that they had all loved Keith when he and Keith had been dating. None of what Ronnie said should surprise him. But he really hadn't known that his family had kept Keith so close in his absence. He was already feeling fragile tonight and now his throat tightened at the thought of everyone taking care of Keith for not only Keith's benefit, but because they knew taking care of Keith would be what Lance would want. He swallowed against the lump in his throat before speaking again.

"I'm not popping in," he said, voice hoarse and quiet. "I'm here to stay. And I don't want to hurt Keith. I never wanted to hurt Keith. He asked me for my help and I'm going to help him."

"I'm holding you to that," Ronnie warned, voice just as quiet.

"When are you seeing him again?"

"I should be able to help unload the next delivery truck before I have to leave," Lance said. He trailed his fingertips across the newly installed quartz that covered the large island in the middle of Hunk's new bakery kitchen.

"You're so beautiful, I could hug you," Hunk murmured and when Lance glanced over, he caught Hunk wrapping his arms around his newly unboxed dough roller.

"You're not cheating on Rachel, are you, big guy?" he laughed.

"Is it cheating if Rachel hugs it when she comes in later?"

Lance pretended to shudder. "No, stop. That seems like it's getting too close to you sharing your couple kinks with me and I'm going to have to cease and desist this conversation right now."

Hunk only laughed and moved onto the next box to be unpacked.

"I really can't believe you're getting married next month."

"You say that like you don't expect it. Rach and I've been together six years."

"I know," Lance murmured, eyes dipping back to the pretty quartz. He knew exactly how long Hunk and Rachel had been together because they started dating at the same time he and Keith had started dating.

"Most people ask why we've waited so long, to be honest, but, uh…"

Lance raised a brow when Hunk trailed off. "You guys were in college for four of those years. Now you're starting a new bakery together. You've been busy," he reasoned.

"Yeah, those are true things," Hunk said.

"But?"

"We couldn't get married without you here, Lance." Hunk looked at him then, eyes almost apologetic to be sharing the information. "It wasn't just my feelings, either. Rachel was adamant that she wanted you to walk her down the aisle."

Lance sucked in a breath. "She wants me to do that?"

Hunk nodded. "She missed you. I missed you. You left a lot of people behind, you know? We didn't just lose your dad, we also lost you and we lost you and Keith as a couple. And, man, your mom and sibs really latched onto Keith, they've probably told you by now. Keith came to me early on because he wasn't sure what he should do, keep coming to the house or disappear himself? I told him that everyone tried to smile a bit more when he was there, so he kept coming around for them."

Lance sunk to the ground, back pressed up against the cabinets behind him. Face in his hands, he fought the tears he knew were coming. Hunk's shoulder bumped him when he sat next to him.

"Lance?"

"Keith did my job for the family and you guys did my job taking care of Keith. I let everyone down, Hunk, just because I couldn't handle…" A sob worked its way up his throat and Hunk pulled him into his side for a hug. "Now I'm back and papa is still gone and I've lost Keith and I feel like I'm the only one grieving because you all grieved back when it happened, when we were supposed to."

"There isn't a set time for grieving, Leandro," Rachel whispered from his other side. He hadn't even heard her come in, but her weight pressed in on him reassuringly from his other side.

It was the cry that should've happened the other night when his mother broached the subject with him. Or even five years ago when they'd lost his father so unexpectedly. It was a heavy and draining cry, but Hunk and Rachel remained pressed into his sides throughout, shedding some of their own tears with him.

As hard as he'd fought to keep the tears at bay all these years, he almost couldn't believe how much lighter he felt when Hunk helped pull him to his feet afterwards.

"Are you okay?"

Lance rubbed the back of his hand across his nose, fully aware that he was an ugly crier and Keith was asking because his eyes were still red-rimmed. Hell, his entire face was probably still a bit red, despite the cold water he'd splashed onto it. The only way to avoid Keith seeing, however, was to wait it out until he no longer looked red and gross. Waiting it out would've meant being late for his meeting with Keith and no way was he going to be late.

"I'm good," he said and offered a somewhat wobbly smile to Keith. He truly did feel better than he looked. Plus, he was happier now that he was with Keith and Belle. If only his eyes would cooperate…

"Okay," Keith said slowly. He was hunched over because Belle had both his hands within her own, guiding him (or more likely using him as support) as she led them towards the stream that ran through the park.

"She's fast," Lance observed, and he had to smile at the way her little feet kicked forward with each step in her haste to reach the water.

"Well, only when she's holding something, like me or a walker toy. She thinks she can run."

Belle shrieked a loud laugh as they reached the stream and when Keith wouldn't allow her to walk right into the water, she extended one little leg out and growled to try to get closer. Lance laughed, especially when he saw Keith's mouth twitch.

Lance dropped to a crouch next to her with a smile. "Your daddy is trying to make sure you don't drown, you little water lover."

Belle blew a raspberry at him and he booped her nose. Keith had used a tiny elastic band to pull her baby curls to the top her head so she sorta looked like a pineapple, but a cute pineapple. When she giggled at the nose boop, he did it again, earning another laugh. Belle pulled her hands free from Keith and practically fell into Lance's arms.

"Swooning for me already," he laughed, catching her easily and standing with her on his hip. He looked to Keith and caught a soft expression as Keith watched the two of them. A breeze blew some of Keith's bangs into his face and Lance didn't even think before he swept them behind Keith's ear, fingers lingering along his jawline when Keith didn't flinch or jerk away from the initial touch. His fingertips tingled as he touched Keith for the first time in five years, and he was hesitant to remove his hand considering the way Keith's violet eyes were watching him, almost as if he was waiting for something else from Lance.

"Mr. Kogane."

Lance pulled his hand away at the interruption and they both turned to the young woman approaching them.

"Ms. Adler," Keith said, "this is Lance McClain. Lance, this is our case worker, Ms. Adler."

Lance shifted Belle slightly on his hip so that he could hold her with one hand while extending his other hand to offer a handshake. "It's nice to meet you. Keith has been telling me how helpful you've been with his adoption application. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that."

He could feel Keith's side eye but he only grinned wider, tone as sincere as possible. You kill more flies with honey his papa's voice reminded him.

Ms. Adler shook his hand and replied with a somewhat bashful, "Well, I am doing my best."

"Your job must be so fulfilling," Lance continued, beginning to rock back and forth with a comforting hand rubbing Belle's back. "I'd love to be able to make people's dreams of adding to their family come true every day."

"Oh, well, yes, that is certainly one of my favorite parts."

"I can't wait for the day when you can add a picture of us to your happy family wall, eh?" He wrapped an arm around Keith's shoulders and pulled him in close, smiling as if they were posing for an actual photo. And with Keith pressed close, he could feel Keith's (silent) huff of laughter.

Ms. Adler smiled pleasantly at them. "Well, that would be nice," she said sincerely. "To that end, I have some official paperwork that needs a few signatures from you, Mr. McClain -"

"Lance, please."

"Lance, thank you. Just some forms for a standard background check and such. Shall we?" She pointed to a nearby picnic table.

Lance nodded and kept his arm around Keith as they began to walk over. He felt Keith tentatively place an arm around his waist, but as soon as that arm was in place, Keith's hold tightened, and Keith seemed to melt into Lance's side.

"She seems to have taken to you already," Ms. Adler commented as she watched Belle lay her head down on Lance's shoulder. "Mr. Kogane says you've been long distance this entire time since she's been in his custody?"

"Yes, I was in Spain for college and then a one-year business graduate program, but I'm happy to be home again," Lance explained before dropping an easy lie, "I'm glad she enjoys me in person as much as she enjoyed my grainy picture on video calls. I'm certainly happy to be home to see them both in person."

"Have you two been together long?"

"Yeah, he snatched me up junior year of high school."

"Pretty sure it was the other way around," Keith muttered. "You came to my baseball game, even wore a baseball tee and your snapback the right way," he added with a small mouth twitch.

Lance laughed, "Okay, but before that you came to my house to work on a chemistry project three times in a week even though we'd finished the project during the first visit."

"You kept inviting me over!"

Lance shrugged as if to say, 'Well, he's got me there' as he turned back to Ms. Adler, who he noticed, was watching them with a small half-smile.

"That is a long time," she said. "Well, the reason for the background check is because Belle is officially still a ward of the state and she shouldn't spend time with you alone, Lance, until we have the results. But it sounds as if this is a quite serious relationship. Do you have plans to move in together soon?"

Lance heard Keith suck in a breath at her question, but he just said, "Sounds like Keith's brother asking me about my intentions with his baby brother," he said with a chuckle and earned a chuckle from Ms. Adler as well. "To be honest, we don't want to push too many changes on Belle at one time. I'm sure we're heading in that direction, but our main focus right now isn't on us, it's to make sure Belle is settled and taken care of."

"It certainly sounds as if you're taking this very seriously," Ms. Adler said with a nod.

He tightened the arm he had around Keith's shoulder. "You can rest assured that I'm not going anywhere," he said, tone less jovial and more serious than earlier. "I'm actually pretty honored that Keith would ask me to join him in this endeavor." Not a lie.

Keith's head turned and he felt Keith's nose nudge reassuringly into his shoulder.

"My family loves him, too," Lance added, suddenly desperate to change the subject before Ms. Adler could dive back into questions about his and Keith's plans for the future. "Belle doesn't have too many words yet but she's already calling my mama abuela, which brightens my mom's day every time she hears it."

"That is sweet," Ms. Adler said. "Would you say that you have a strong support network with your family?"

Lance dove into stories about his older siblings, his niece and nephew, his mother (all the babysitters they'd have on hand). How his best friend was marrying his sister. How much fun Belle was going to have on the farm in the rows of corn and the few animals they still had.

He had to slowly transfer a sleeping Belle from his shoulder to Keith's when it was time to sign the paperwork and then he stretched his arms over his head as they watched Ms. Adler walk back to her car.

"I think that went well," he said.

"Yeah, you – I almost forgot how charming you can be when you want to be."

"I'm pretty sure I'm charming all the time?" Lance quipped, "Either way, I really hope it reflects well on your file. You really deserve this. And so does Belle."

"Thanks, Lance."

"I've got you," he said with a fond smile. "You, uh, you two going to dinner?" he tried for nonchalance, but knew his tone was filled with a hopeful question.

"No, not really. I'm going to get her fed quickly and then I have to work."

He pushed down his disappointment and pressed on. "Do you have any free time on Saturday? I'd really like a chance to get to know Belle, if that's okay with you?"

Keith glanced down at Belle in consideration before he nodded. "There's a new toddler safe playground at Plum Park?"

"Sounds fun. See you at…?"

"Three? She usually naps after lunch, but she should be up by then."

"Looking forward to it."