"I'm so glad you're here," Mama McClain said as she wrapped Keith and Belle up in a hug together. "Are you sure Shiro didn't mind us stealing you for Thanksgiving? He's not alone is he?"

Keith shook his head. "No, he's meeting Curtis' family this weekend," he explained while also offering her a plastic bag.

"Keith!" I told you that you didn't have to bring anything!"

"Yeah, I, uh, I really went all out," he said, dryly as he handed over the plastic bag that contained two cans of cranberry sauce.

She patted his cheek twice before leading him into the kitchen. "You're a sweet boy for bringing something and we're going to enjoy it. You know the canned cranberry is the only type Marco will eat."

Keith barely had time to drop the bookbag full of Belle's stuff out of the way before he was being scooped up into another hug by said McClain brother.

"Keith!" Marco yelled as he squeezed Keith tight. Keith laughed and did his best to protect Belle from the python-like hug. "Man, she's gotten so much bigger than the last picture I saw," Marco said, ducking a bit to Belle's level to grin at her.

Marco had moved away for his new job before Belle had come into Keith's life, although he had met her over the summer when he'd come home for a visit. He didn't count on Belle remembering him, however, and Keith watched her tilt her head and furrow her brows as she regarded Marco. Since he'd cut several inches off his hair, Keith wondered if Belle was considering how closely he currently resembled Lance. Belled tugged at Keith's braid and he had to pull it out of her mouth when she tried to chew on it again.

He managed to untangle himself from Marco, wave to Veronica who was working in the kitchen, and then pick a spot on the living room floor to sit so he could release Belle to play with Nadia. Sylvio lay sprawled across a chair, attention focused on a handheld video game. Keith was talking to Luis and Lisa (and wondering where Lance was – Keith had texted him earlier to say he was on his way over) when Hunk and Rachel entered the kitchen bearing two large boxes.

"I can't believe you had time to bake all of these," Mama McClain exclaimed as they began to unload several different flavors of pie.

"She means that seriously," Ronnie said, also wide-eyed at all the pies. "Your wedding is in about a week and the grand opening for the bakery days after that. Are you two sleeping?"

"Hunk stress bakes," Rachel stated.

"And Rachel stress rearranges the kitchen," Hunk added, "so then the baking takes longer because I can't find anything."

Every McClain head began nodding in agreement; they'd all experienced Rachel stress rearranging the entire house.

"Well, go sit and relax now."

"We were going to help with dinner," Hunk tried to protest.

"Go. Sit. Down."

Hunk pouted but obeyed, joining Keith on the floor.

"I got it!"

Keith's head popped up as Lance bounded in the room, waving papers above his head.

"This movie was possibly acted out by the food court staff of the local mall," Lance read from one of the sheets of paper as soon as he was standing in the space between the living room and kitchen.

Hunk snorted and Lance's mother and Ronnie both shook their heads with smiles before turning back to the food.

"You really didn't tell him which reviews were yours?" Rachel asked Keith with a laugh.

Lance ignored them all and read the next review from his pages of research. "I've had mosquito bites more passionate than the so-called romantic chemistry of this pair."

"It's Keith, of course he didn't tell him. He's not a quitter," Luis laughed.

"The scariest part of this movie is that there may be a sequel," Lance continued, meeting Keith's eyes with a mischievous grin. "The plot is so jarring that I actually wondered if I drifted off a few times and missed key points."

"That was a good one," Lisa murmured.

"And my personal favorite," Lance said as he walked towards Keith and kneeled in front of him as he read the next one, "If we do leave Earth one day, please leave this one behind. I don't care if I have to watch the Twilight series on repeat because we didn't bring enough movies to watch. Just don't make me watch this one again."

"Lon Lon," Belle said as he crawled into Lance's lap to face Keith, leaving Keith suddenly faced with grins from his two favorite people (and missing the knowing looks shared between all the other adults in the room as they watched the three of them).

"These have to be yours," Lance said, face beaming because he was so sure he was right.

Keith had kept his face blank throughout, but he felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Yes!" Lance whooped, throwing his arms in the air and letting the pages scatter.

"Yes!" Belle cheered.

"Let's eat," Lance's mother announced.

Belle's babbling was nonstop as Lance sat with her that afternoon. He was starting to pick more words out of the gibberish, although Keith was still the master at knowing what she was saying or what she wanted, something Lance thought was pretty impressive.

She was currently carrying around a small plastic cash register, although she held the microphone piece up to her ear and kept saying "Ello?" before breaking into a long gibberish-filled rant as she toddled around. Lance pulled his phone and began to take a video of what sounded like a serious call.

"Are you running a business?" Lance asked with a laugh. "Having troubles with your distributors?"

His smiles and laughter had always come easy at Keith and Belle's place, but he smiled as he remembered how his mama had taken him aside after Thanksgiving to say how happy she was to see him at peace. Lance had made it through Thanksgiving dinner - at the table with his entire family - without tears and without going quiet. He had felt peaceful that night, peaceful and thankful to be there. His mama had also commended him for how well rested and calm Keith had appeared as well. He hadn't needed that sort of recognition, but it still warmed him from the inside out to know that he'd already made a visible difference in Keith's life.

Belle returned to his side and held the microphone out to him. He leaned in and said, "Hello?"

She didn't grin in response, though, just stared hard at him with her Keith-like eyes, as if she were expecting him to tell off whoever was on the other end of her call.

An unexpected knock on the door saved him from going full 'Can I speak to your manager' on her imaginary business associate. He lifted Belle to his hip and looked through the peephole. When he saw the two people on the other side of the door, though, he took a quick breath, braced himself, and plastered on a smile as he opened the door.

"Shiro! Hey, how are you?"

"Shhhhh," Belle also greeted, reaching her arms out for her uncle. Shiro took her easily and planted a kiss on her head before his expression hardened as his eyes scanned Lance's face. He searched behind Lance and didn't wait for an invite before he was walking into Keith's apartment.

"Hi to you, too," James Griffin sneered as he followed Shiro inside.

"Where's Keith?" Shiro asked once he had apparently had a chance to determine that Keith was not in the main room or the kitchen.

"He's in the shower."

Griffin's eyes grew large and his eyebrows rose up his forehead, but Shiro only turned to focus on Lance again with the same calculating expression. "What are you doing here, Lance?"

"Um" - he gestured to the toys on the floor - "entertaining Belle while Keith takes a shower."

Shiro's face hardened. "I don't mean right this second, Lance. Why are you spending time with Keith at all?"

Shiro's cold tone and piercing eyes felt like a sucker punch. Keith hadn't even been this angry with Lance.

"Pidge says she had dinner here with you two the other night," Shiro continued.

Lance had met Keith's friend Pidge, someone he'd bonded with while in college, when Keith had invited her to join them for dinner recently. Lance had been optimistic that it could only mean good things that Keith wanted his two friends to meet. Pidge had been a bit distant and frosty with him at first, but by the end of the night she'd seemed to have relaxed. Lance had hoped it meant he'd made a good impression. He hoped her mentioning it to Shiro was just in passing and not because she sent Shiro over to yell and intimidate.

He swallowed hard and did his best to meet Shiro's eyes and keep his own tone even. "Keith asked me to help him with something."

"Why didn't he ask me?"

"Look, Shiro, I can tell you're upset -"

"Upset doesn't even cover it, Lance. I'm going to ask you to leave Keith alone. I've been encouraging him to take Griffin up on his offers to spend more time with him, get him out of this apartment, and I think he was finally ready to give it a try."

Lance continued to try to keep his voice calm, reminding himself that Shiro was just trying to protect Keith. Shiro had no way of knowing that Lance was doing his best to take care of Keith. Still, he didn't think it was fair to ask him to step away.

"Griffin is a jerk, Shiro. And why would you just show up with him like this? You thought just throwing him at Keith would be a good idea?"

"I'm right here," James said with a scowl.

"He's the jerk? Did he leave Keith without a single word for five years?"

"Shiro," Keith said sharply as he joined them, clothes definitely looking like they'd been tossed on quickly. Belle, who'd had her Keith eyebrow furrow going strong as she'd watched Lance and Shiro speak harshly to each other, looked relieved at Keith's appearance and her arms immediately lifted towards him.

Shiro handed Belle to Keith and Lance watched as the brothers seemed to communicate something to each other via glares.

"Keith's out of the shower, Lance," Griffin said in a calm and pleasant tone. "Looks like you're not needed as a babysitter anymore, if you want to get out of here."

"I don't," Lance practically growled at him.

"Well, since you like it so much, I was going to ask Keith to a movie this week. He always says no because he doesn't like to leave Belle, but maybe you could babysit for us then?"

Lance pursed his lips and forced himself to keep them shut while he continued to glare at James. Whether Keith went out with him was not Lance's call, no matter how much he wanted to shove the smug prick back out the door right now. He did his best to focus the glare at James or the ground, keeping it away from Shiro. Shiro had been a teacher at their high school when he and Keith dated, more of an authority figure than his boyfriend's big brother, so they'd never gotten close back then. The likelihood of it happening now seemed pretty slim, too.

"I already have plans this week, James, I'm sorry," Keith said, completely cordial even as he sent another glare in Shiro's direction.

Shiro didn't notice, however, his attention captured by something on his phone. His head popped up in the next second, though, and he sent a sardonic grin to the three men in the room. "We can just do movies here tonight," Shiro said, his tone more of a direction than a suggestion. "I just ordered three pizzas to be delivered and Keith has a huge movie library, don'tcha Keith?"

"Shiro," Keith huffed.

While Shiro and James debated over what movie to start with, especially since Belle was going to be in the room as well, Lance slid into the kitchen to help Keith pull out plates.

"I can go, if you want?" he quietly offered.

"Do you want to go?"

"No," he said quickly.

"Then stay," Keith said. And maybe he had aimed for nonchalance with his tone, but Lance could visibly see Keith's shoulders relax when he said that he would.

When they returned to the main room, James was already on the couch, so Keith sat in his one armchair and Shiro managed to take up the entire other half the couch in a weird sprawl. That was fine, Lance didn't want to sit with them anyway. He resigned himself to the floor where Belle was very happy to see him. He spent most of the movie accepting toys she handed him or helping her build a block tower (repeatedly because she loved knocking it over more than she enjoyed the building process).

Playing with Belle also allowed him to move around on the floor, so if he ended up near Keith's feet and wrapped a hand around Keith's foot so that he could rub his thumb reassuringly across his ankle, no one else had to know.

In the end, it was Belle who saved them, her early bedtime had Keith practically chasing Shiro and James out of the apartment after the first movie while Lance claimed he'd leave as soon as he was finished bagging the trash.

Shiro leaned in and kissed the top of Belle's head before meeting Keith's eye, speaking quietly so that James couldn't hear them.

"Is he spending the night?"

Keith rolled his eyes and answered with a harsh whisper. "It's none of your business, but no, he is not."

"He said you asked him to help you with something? You know I'm here if you need help, Keith."

"I know," Keith said honestly. Shiro had not only saved Keith from foster care, and helped pick Keith back up when Lance disappeared, but he also had shown nothing but support when Keith decided to take in Belle. He'd even shown up with armloads of diapers and baby onesies on Belle's first night home. The anger from Shiro's intrusion drained out of him at the earnest look on Shiro's face. "I know you are, Takashi. This isn't something you can help with, though, okay? I can't talk about it now, but I will tell you about it later."

Shiro's eyes searched his face before deciding he'd have to accept this response for now. He nodded, kissed Belle's head again and told Keith to be safe.

On his way to Belle's room, Keith paused at the kitchen and watched Lance shove the giant pizza boxes into a garbage bag he'd found.

"Sorry about them," Keith said. "Shiro is, uh…"

Lance turned to him and offered a half grin, the smile not reaching his eyes. "No, I get it. It's not the first time an older sibling has yelled at me."

Keith adjusted Belle in his arms as she rested her head against his shoulder. He should really get her into bed, but he couldn't help but ask, "Did you get yelled at by an older sibling of someone you were seeing in Spain?"

Lance chuckled and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "No, nothing like that. I didn't actually see anyone while I was in Spain."

Keith's lungs froze as if they forgot how to do their one job as the impact of those words hit him. "You didn't see anyone? In that entire time?"

"Nah," Lance waved it off, as if that wasn't a bombshell of an admission. "Anyway, I was talking about my older siblings yelling at me recently because they don't want you to get hurt by this arrangement we have going on."

"They yelled at you for me?"

"Don't be surprised, you know they love you more than they love me."

"That's not true," Keith said seriously, meeting Lance's eyes. "They really missed you."

"I know," Lance nodded. "But they do love you. And I… I don't want to hurt you, Keith. I know that I have, but I've never wanted to. Look, can we sit for a second?"

"Yeah," Keith nodded. "Just, um, let me change her and put her in bed. I'll be right back?"

He forwent the bath tonight, it was late and Belle was already sleepy anyway. He gave her a clean diaper and zipped her into onesie pajamas that Lance's mom had gifted her. And even with Lance waiting for him on the couch, he still sat in the rocking chair and rocked her quietly for a few minutes, fingers running through her hair while he hummed a bit.

He'd barely sat next to Lance on the couch before Lance was already speaking.

"I've wanted to apologize to you for forever, Keith."

"You really don't have to," Keith offered.

"No, listen, Keith, I am really sorry. I'm sorry I just left without telling you I was going or saying goodbye." His voice cracked on the last word and he swallowed hard before continuing. "I just… I just knew if I saw your face, I wouldn't be able to leave you. But… with my papa gone..."

Keith sighed and said the thing that had bothered him most about Lance's disappearing act. "And you don't think I – more than anyone else – could've been there for you or helped you as you grieved for your father? I've been there, Lance."

"I wasn't looking for help, Keith," he said quietly. "I couldn't stay in a place where my father didn't exist anymore. Even if it meant… moving to a world where you didn't exist, either."

Keith sucked in his breath and had to look away, the pain in his chest reminiscent of the pain he'd felt in the early days of Lance's disappearance from his life.

"Don't think that it was easy, Keith," Lance said, and even though Keith wasn't looking he could hear how choked Lance's voice was, how much he meant what he was saying. "I missed you so much, I knew almost right away that I'd made a big mistake. But every time I thought about coming back – every single time – I just couldn't. I'd think about walking into the farmhouse kitchen in the morning and not seeing my dad brewing coffee, or…"

Keith leaned in to capture Lance's attention from where it had wandered as Lance stared across the room. "I get that, Lance. And I don't blame you. When my dad died, I was put in the foster system, so I didn't stay in the house we had lived in together. I think that would've been difficult."

"My mom and my sisters did it, though. They didn't run away, they faced it. And now I'm back and I feel like I'm ten steps behind everyone."

Keith's brows furrowed as Lance chuckled even as a tear fell down his cheek. He didn't hesitate to lift a hand and use his thumb to swipe the tear off Lance's face. Lance's face fell into his hands as a sob escaped his throat. Keith simply rubbed a hand up and down the length of Lance's spine. Lance didn't release any more sobs, though, just worked on even breaths under Keith's palm.

"I really don't deserve you," Lance said into his hands. "You're the one who got hurt and you're comforting me."

"You got hurt too, Lance," Keith said quietly.

Lance sat up and rubbed his palms against his eyes before facing Keith again. "I have learned that running away doesn't solve anything, and even though I'm way behind everyone else on the grief train -"

"There's no grief train," Keith grumbled before continuing in a softer tone, "you just grieve at your own pace, Lance. That's all you can do."

"I'm very sorry, Keith," Lance repeated as he rubbed more tears away from his eyes.

"I know, Lance," Keith whispered. He used a thumb to swipe another tear from Lance's face. "I accept your apology, if that's what you need from me." Keith sighed heavily, his expression somber but he wasn't filled with sadness anymore. After shock, sadness, and anger had rolled through him in those first months after Lance left, acceptance had taken over. "I missed you, Lance, but I knew what you were doing. I eventually realized you needed to be away."

More tears spilled from Lance's eyes but he chuckled again. "Man, I don't even care about being an ugly crier right now. You're really amazing you know that? You're amazing and I also just need to, like, thank you."

"For?"

"You didn't have to talk to me at all when I came back, Keith. And maybe you only did because you needed help, but I'm grateful to be a person you depend on."

Keith shrugged a bit when he met Lance's gaze. "I've lost people where… there was no way they were coming back. But I knew you'd come back, so I …" Keith shrugged again. "I just tried to be patient."

"Keith," Lance practically choked on his name as he leaned in and wrapped Keith in a hug, squeezing tightly as if he couldn't resist hugging him for another moment.

Keith knew the feeling. He wrapped his own arms around Lance and tucked his face in Lance's neck, inhaling deeply and releasing a satisfied sigh.

"Can I take you and Belle on a date this week?" Lance murmured into his hair. "Or," he couldn't help but tease, "do you have plans?"

"My boyfriend is back in town." Keith smiled into Lance's neck. "So, I'm pretty busy."

Belle's hiking boots had fit perfectly, even if she ended up riding in the carrier Keith wore on his back through most of their hike.

Keith thought Lance planning a date that not only included Belle, but was also anything but watching a movie, had been pretty thoughtful. Although, he realized the true reason Lance had planned this specific outing when Belle began to shriek with joy at the first sight of the waterfall. He paused in his steps so Lance could pull her out of the carrier (and save his ears) before they reached a bridge that gave them the best view.

"You want a picture?" Keith asked, even though he already knew the answer. He'd avoided Lance's bedroom while Lance was gone, never having a reason to go upstairs while at the farmhouse anyway, but Lance had led him upstairs on Thanksgiving because that's where he'd set up a pack-n-play for Belle's post-lunch naptime. Lance's bedroom walls were still covered with pictures of the two of them, even though Lance had been back in town for a couple months by then. Lance had even pointed out his five favorite pictures, the ones he'd apparently taken with him to Spain and had only recently re-added to his walls when he returned (Keith had been touched even if he'd rolled his eyes at the one of him in a tux for prom).

"Yeah, here." Lance transferred Belle to Keith and then leaned into him while he lifted his phone to take a picture of the three of them with the waterfall (it took some work to get Belle to look at the camera instead of the water behind them, but it was worth it with how Keith was trying not to laugh at his efforts).

They transferred the carrier to Lance's back for the walk back to the car and while Keith listened to the two of them talk back and forth to each other, he captured Lance's hand and laced their fingers together. Lance actually stalled in his steps and looked down at their hands in awe.

"Are you blushing?" Keith asked a moment later when he tugged on their joined hands to get Lance moving again.

"No!"

"You do remember what we used to do together, right?" Keith teased, mouth twitching. "You're going to blush because of a little hand holding?"

Lance tugged on their hands this time, pulling Keith in close before he used his free hand to tip Keith's chin up. His eyes focused on Keith's mouth as his own mouth pulled into a wolfish grin. "I remember," he said, voice thick and eyes lidded.

Keith hummed happily and bumped his nose into Lance's before he pressed a kiss to the side of Lance's mouth. Lance claimed his mouth after that, a soft press that soon turned urgent. The hand that had cupped Keith's chin moved to his neck to pull him closer and Keith found his own free hand fisting the front of Lance's shirt to hold him close as well. He almost sighed in relief to feel Lance's mouth with his, familiar movements that he'd been missing for so long.

Lance startled when Belle squealed and kicked her feet and Keith laughed at the thought that Lance had forgotten about her when he was the one currently carrying her.

"I think she wants us to move," Keith murmured.

"Well, it'll be naptime by the time we get back to your place," Lance said, eyebrows wiggling as he spoke.

Keith tugged on their hands again so they could continue towards the car. "Heads up that if Belle falls asleep on the way home, even if its only for five minutes, she wont nap at all today," Keith warned.

"Mission Keep Belle Awake is a go," Lance laughed. And when they reached Keith's car, Lance even jumped in the back seat with Belle, treating Keith to loud songs that he encouraged Belle to also sing, for the entire ride home.

And when Belle was in bed for her nap (and immediately asleep after the morning's activities, Keith noted) he tugged Lance into his bedroom and down onto his bed so he could kiss him silly for almost the entirety of naptime.

It felt like floodgates opened after that. When Belle was in bed that night, Keith found himself grinding on Lance on the couch until they both came in their pants like teenagers. Lance had joined him in the shower afterwards (had gotten frisky in the shower as well, if he's being honest), and then spent the night for the first time.

And while they both had duties at Hunk and Rachel's wedding that weekend, Lance walking Rachel down the aisle before joining Keith, Luis, and Marco as groomsmen, they also took advantage of the many relatives who loved to hold Belle, and disappeared into a dark corner for a while during the reception.

The way their hands and mouths roamed whenever possible really did make Keith feel a bit like a teenager again, which was ridiculous because he had a daughter and a full-time job and an apartment and was going to be thirty in like six years. But he loved it. He loved how thoughtful Lance had been since his return. He loved seeing Lance with Belle (he managed to get a picture of Lance slow dancing with Belle on the dance floor during the reception), and he loved Lance's hands on him.

He just loved Lance.

Keith had left Belle with Lance when the case worker had called to ask him to come in for an impromptu appointment.

And when Keith returned, Lance's nerves spiked when he couldn't immediately tell why Keith's hands were shaking. He pulled Keith to the couch and wrapped Keith's hands within his own. He glanced down at Belle, she'd been playing with a wand that played music, but was now also peering up at Keith thoughtfully.

"I had a sister," Keith finally said in a rush. "Belle's mom was my sister. Ms. Adler called because they have a video she made, I got to see her on video, Lance." Keith's eyes were getting shiny but he pushed on. "They're going to send me a copy and I can show you and Belle, too. She recorded this thing when she was pregnant and gave it to her roommate who apparently forgot they had it until this week. On the video she said she'd developed an enlarged heart with the pregnancy and the doctors told her there was a chance she… that her heart would decline after Belle was born. She said she made the video to take care of Belle, said she wanted Belle to be with family and that she knew she had a little brother and she listed me by name, Lance."

Lance could only gape at Keith as the words poured out of him.

"She knew," Keith whispered. "She knew about me. I don't know why she didn't try to find me."

"I don't know, either, babe," Lance whispered back, tucking some of Keith's hair behind his ear. "That's her loss, but it's still incredible information to learn."

"Lance," Keith's tone sharpened and he tightened his own hold on Lance's fingers. "That video is enough, Lance," he stressed. "That video serves as a will and the system can't argue with it. Ms. Adler said they're already finalizing the paperwork. They're already setting up a court date for the adoption to be official."

Lance knew those were happy tears streaming down Keith's face now because happiness hit his own chest full force. He jumped to his feet, pulling Keith with him and whooped as he lifted Keith off his feet into a hug. Keith laughed and when Lance set him back on the ground, he swooped Belle into a hug. She squealed in response, joining in on their celebration even if she didn't understand why.

Lance was happy to see the grand opening of Hunk and Rachel's bakery if only because he wasn't sure Hunk could handle any further stress waiting for it to happen. He had to spend more time in his office at the bakery now that they were a money-making business, but he'd force himself out of Keith's bed early in the morning and head to the bakery so that he was free to return to hang with Belle while Keith worked in the afternoon. (He actually did his best to finish his work and return to Keith's place during naptime, giving them alone time before Belle woke.)

He accumulated more treasured photos over time. New tux photos from Hunk and Rachel's wedding, the two of them dancing with Belle held between them at the reception, photos from their court date when Belle's adoption became official, Christmas at the farmhouse with everyone (Shiro and Curtis had joined them, even if Shiro was still fairly cold to Lance), hiking trips, Belle in a puddle jumper to keep afloat in the lake.

And when Mama McClain decided she wanted to downsize into a smaller place and spend her time traveling, she bequeathed the farmhouse to Lance and Keith. Lance had asked about Luis and Lisa, but they'd declined since it would've meant a change of school for the kids. Marco was settled across country. Hunk and Rachel already had a cute house close to the bakery. Veronica preferred her apartment versus taking care of the large farmhouse.

Lance joked that he was getting the house because he was the last option, but he was still grateful for the home, especially when he helped move Keith and Belle's belongings inside. They painted one of the bedrooms purple for her and Keith repainted her name on one of the walls. They also turned one of the upstairs rooms into an office for Keith with a projector and comfy leather recliners (Ronnie said if they were going to change her bedroom, at least they turned it into something cool).

And a few months later, Lance swore he could feel his father's approval as he hung his and Keith's marriage certificate next to the certificates that officially named Keith and Lance as Belle's parents.

He wondered what his dad would think of the other new additions to the farm.

"But what do they do, Lance?" Luis had asked. "Do we get milk from them?"

Lance shook his head. "No, they're not milking goats. Keith just likes them."

Luis looked confused. "So… pet goats? First you insist on a pet cow and now we have goats?"

"Keith really likes the noises they make," Lance said with a fond smile as he watched Keith and Belle feed the four little goats.

"You realize this is a working farm, right?"

"You don't have to take care of them," Lance laughed. "We're going to turn Belle into a 4-H kid. You just worry about the corn."

"Happy husband, happy I life, I guess," Luis muttered as he wandered away.

Lanced waited on the front porch for Keith and Belle to finish with the goats and join him.

"Sauce?" Belle asked as Keith helped her climb the porch stairs.

Lance chuckled at Belle's request and lifted her up so he could wash her hands in the kitchen sink before handing her an applesauce packet from their pantry. "I used to be cool but now I'm just an applesauce dealer."

"When were you cool?"

"Ha ha," Lance answered, leaning in, intent on pressing a small kiss to the corner of Keith's mouth but, but Keith turned and captured his mouth instead. Lance's eyes slid shut and he sighed contentedly as he met Keith's familiar rhythm.

The sound of a toddler blowing an exasperated raspberry broke them apart and Lance and Keith grinned down at Belle as she stared up at them, head tilted, eyebrows furrowed.

"You're just gonna have to get used to us kissing, kiddo."

"She got applesauce all over our pants when she did that," Keith grumbled, rubbing some of it off Lance's and then his own pants.

Belle handed Keith the empty applesauce packet and then shifted into a toddler run to find the toy basket. Seeing her adequately distracted with toys, Lance pulled Keith back in for another kiss.

He was never letting go.