Big thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter. It was all the interest you guys expressed in this that encouraged me to get another chapter out so quickly.

I also remember how I got the idea for this story. Check out Adele's song "I'll Be Waiting." It totally sparked the idea for this.

Chapter Two: Primus's Plan

The sun was just beginning to warm the horizon when Optimus stepped through the doorway onto the balcony of his and Ironhide's domicile. Situated on the top floor of a high-rise tower complex, the balcony offered a million-credit, panoramic view of half of Iacon. A sharp wind was blowing, pulling at the edges of Optimus's armor. Optimus crossed his arms against the chill and stepped up to the railing. Despite the earliness of the hour, he could hear the city starting to come to life below. Optimus allowed himself a moment to appreciate the calm of the new day.

Peppering the sweeping vista rose the skeletons of several dozen new skyscrapers and towers in varying stages of construction. Everyday Iacon's skyline seemed to regain a little bit more of its former grandeur before war had leveled half of it and turned the other half to ruins. The end of the Great War's fifty-sixth vorn anniversary was in the next five orn. The war had been over for a long time, yet cities all across Cybertron still showed scars of the civil war. Optimus often wondered how long it would be until his home world was completely restored. He often wondered if it ever would.

So much had changed since the fighting ended. No longer needed as leader of the Autobots, Optimus had mostly retired from military life in search of a quieter existence. If he had had his way he would have removed himself from public life all together. As Matrix-bearer, however, Optimus's will was no longer completely his. It was his responsibility and curse to serve those who looked to him for guidance in whatever way was demanded of him. Working with the High Council, he worked for the betterment of his race as a social reforms spokesman and figurehead. If it was at all in his power, he would work to rectify civil problems before issues became so large that people felt they needed to create bloodshed in order to make others hear their complaints. That was how the Great Was had started - over energy and social inequality - and Optimus was not about to let history repeat itself again.

His sparkmate, Ironhide, had chosen a quieter way of life as well. Although he rarely spoke about it or let any emotions show, the war had left its mark on the gruff weapons specialist the same way it had everyone else who'd fought in it. The military had always been a part of Ironhide's identity even before the Great War broke out. But after millennia of constant fighting Ironhide had had his fill of senseless warfare and death. He now kept himself busy as a consultant for Cybertron's planetary defense force who guarded their home world against foreign threats. Since the end of the war, though, there were few enemies left to fight which made the job less than high priority. Both Ironhide and Optimus were content with the arrangement; they were tired of fighting.

As though summoned by Optimus's thoughts, Optimus heard his sparkmate step out onto the balcony behind him. Strong arms snaked around his waist to pull him backwards against Ironhide's chassis. Optimus smiled as Ironhide nuzzled the back of his neck with his nasal ridge.

"Yer up early." Ironhide's voice was still rough with sleep.

An unbidden pang of emptiness throbbed across his and Ironhide's sparkbond. Optimus somberly stared out across the brightening cityscape below them. "I woke up and couldn't fall back into recharge."

Ironhide hugged him tighter. "We don't have ta go today. Yer Prime. Yeh don't even have ta give 'em a good reason why."

Optimus chuckled ruefully. "As much as I would like to avoid any unwanted pain, I promised Senator Seelix that I would inspect the new hatchling facility in sector 12 as a public relation's opportunity. It is necessary for the people to know what efforts their government is making to repopulate our planet."

Ironhide scoffed. "Doesn't mean you have ta be the one ta tour the place and see what's going on. Any publicity-hungry government mech who wants ta get his picture on the newsfeeds could do that."

"The High Council feels it would be uplifting for the people to see their Prime there among our new generation."

Ironhide's side of their bond pulsed doubtfully. "Ah know how this day is going ta end, and ah don't want ta see yeh get so down in the dumps 'cause yeh can't bring any of those little sparklets home with us."

Optimus said nothing. The empty ache in his spark throbbed worse. Ever since the war ended and he and Ironhide had less responsibilities to take up their time and attention, Optimus had begun to entertain thoughts of starting a family with his bondmate. In many ways it seemed almost expected of them. Cybertron's population remained alarmingly low despite the war being over for many years now. The government was making an active campaign to encourage all bonded couples to produce young to help repopulate the planet. As Prime, it seemed only proper that he and Ironhide make their own contributions to the post-war generation. So many of those he'd led in the war had already begun their own families. Just a few orns ago, his and Ironhide's longtime friends, Jazz and Prowl, had welcomed a little femme into the world. A tiny porsche like her carrier with fluttering door wings like her sire, Kia, was destined to someday break sparks.

The first time Optimus saw her he'd had trouble maintaining a happy facade in front of her proud creators. For almost as long as he and Ironhide had been bonded, they had been trying for a sparkling of their own. But after vorns of trying, neither one of them had been able to conceive. Optimus didn't know if it was the Matrix preventing it, but despite all of his and Ironhide's efforts there had been no quickening of a second spark.

Optimus unconsciously pressed a hand to the front of his chassis over his spark. What he wouldn't give to be able to feel the flutter of another spark growing under his. For so long he'd felt this aching emptiness for a sparkling to call his own. At times it was physically painful to be in the presence of newsparks like Jazz and Prowl's daughter or to be around other couples with brightly colored younglings running around their pedes. He was genuinely happy for Jazz and Prowl, but there was no denying the pang of jealousy he felt for not being blessed with a child of his own. Ironhide was not as desperate for a child as him, but Optimus could feel his sparkmate's own quiet longing through their bond all the time.

There was always the option of adoption Optimus knew. Cybertron's hatchling facilities were working at full capacity to bring as many new protoforms online as they could to repopulate their war-ravaged planet. But producing sparklings in gestation tubes with the help of Vector Sigma took almost as much time and effort as it took bonded couples to reproduce themselves. Whether because they were unable to conceive like Optimus and Ironhide or because they didn't want to carry a newspark to term themselves, the demand for sparklings was staggering. To be put on a list to claim one now would take at least forty vorns until a sparkling finally became available. Optimus could have used his position as Prime to jump to the front of the list, but Optimus could have never brought himself to steal the promise of a new life from another couple just as desperate for offspring as himself.

"Yeh don't have ta go today," Ironhide whispered behind him. His arms tightened protectively around Optimus's waist as if to physically force his sparkmate to listen to him. "Yer only gonna make yerself miserable."

Optimus shook his helm. "I have to, 'hide. It will be painful, I know, but it is my responsibility as Prime to make a public appearance. We will just have to be strong and get through the day as best we can."

Ironhide vented a tired sigh of defeat and pressed his forehead in between Optimus's back struts. "Fine. And when we come back home and yer an emotional wreck ah'll be here ta help yeh pick up the pieces."

Optimus had to wait a moment until he was sure his vocal processors wouldn't give out on him to speak. The corners of his visual readout momentarily fuzzed with static. "Thank you, 'hide," he tightly whispered. He turned in Ironhide's arms so he could properly look his sparkmate in the face. "I don't know what I'd ever do without you. Even if we can never have a sparkling of our own, I will be content as long as I have you in my life."

Ironhide gave a rueful smile. He leaned up to give Optimus a light kiss on the side of the cheek. "Ah really wish yeh actually believed that." Then loosening his hold on Optimus, the weapons specialist turned and went back inside, leaving Optimus to stare after him.

"-and these are the input lines that connect Vector Sigma to the gestation tubes you saw in the previous room," the hatchling facility's administrator - a petite, blue-plated femme named Seaspray - said with a sweeping gesture to the massive collection of wires, electrical relays and conduit lines behind her.

Optimus nodded indulgently. "Very impressive, Administrator Seaspray. I can see your facility is top of the line."

Seaspray gave a dazzling smile that was instantly captured on video by all of the press-mechs tailing their little entourage through the facility to record the event for newsfeeds later that night. "To date, Sector 12's hatchling facility has produced more than two thousand sparklings. As I said earlier in the tour, our facility is able to cultivate six dozen protoforms at a time. Compared to the production rates of other facilities in cities like Kaon and Praxus, we are one of Cybertron's smaller facilities, but speeding up production any more would pose risk to the protoforms because of the massive amount of manpower needed to properly oversee their growth and development. We are extremely proud here in Sector 12 of our ninety-eight percent survival rate of all gestated protoforms. Larger facilities like those I mentioned in Kaon and Praxus average only a ninety-five percent chance of all protoforms in a batch being successfully brought online as healthy sparklings. Our next batch of sparklings is scheduled to be brought online within the next six lunar cycles."

Seaspray was in full press mode now and had the press-mechs scrambling to record her every word. Optimus tried to remain focused on the facility manager despite having already been briefed with such details before the tour. Beside him, Ironhide was making no such attempt to be attentive and was blatantly staring off to the side in search of something to hold his interest.

"Despite our best efforts to produce sparklings as quickly and as numerously as possible, Cybertronian numbers remain drastically low considering censuses taken during the later parts of the Golden Age. Even with Sector 12 and all its sister facilities around the planet working at full capacity, estimates say it will be at least another eighty-three vorn before we reach even an eighth of those Golden Age statistics."

"I have total faith that you and all those working in your facility will continue to do your best to see that those numbers will someday be reached," Optimus said.

"Thank you, Optimus Prime, sir," Seaspray smiled. She and Optimus shook hands, which was captured in a barrage of flashing lights by the press. "This officially concludes our tour. If the press would like to follow my assistant, Axel, he will show you to the exit."

Optimus felt an intense surge of relief from Ironhide's side of their bond. He sent a measure of it back in answer to his sparkmate's eagerness to leave. Despite both of their initial reservations about the day, the tour hadn't been as bad as Optimus was expecting. The protoforms currently being cultivated were still too underdeveloped to be able to be seen through the gestation tube's glass fronts. If nothing else, at least he'd been spared the sight of inactive protoforms floating in the tanks' gelatinous blue fluid and reminded that when they did come online he would not be able to claim any of them as his own.

As the press-mechs drifted away after Seaspray's assistant, the femme came back up to Optimus and Ironhide. They were the only three left in the room. "I would just like to say one more time, sir, what an honor it was to have you in my facility today."

"It was an honor to see all the good work you are doing firsthand," Optimus said.

"Thank you, sir," Seaspray beamed. She gestured to the door on the far side of the room. "May I escort you and Consort Ironhide out? There is a separate entrance you may use to avoid anymore of the press."

"That would be most appreciated," Optimus nodded. The relief that flooded across his sparkbond from Ironhide drowned out any annoyance Ironhide might have had for Seaspray's use of his accursed title.

As Seaspray led them from the conduit room, Ironhide edged closer to Optimus's side. "How yeh holdin' up?" he rumbled just low enough to avoid being overheard by their guide. A pulse of concern washed over Optimus's spark through their bond.

"Well enough," Optimus replied honestly, although his voice was laced with exhaustion. He felt emotionally drained from the ordeal of the tour. "It helped that the sparklings currently being cultivated have not yet developed visible protoforms. I will be glad when we are home again."

Ironhide's side of their bond pulsed with what Optimus recognized as protectiveness. Despite all their years together as sparkmates, it seemed Ironhide would never lose his instinctive need to act as Prime's bodyguard. "Just hold in there a little longer. We're almost home free."

Optimus sent a wave of affection rushing toward Ironhide as Seaspray led them through the twisting hallways of the hatchling facility. While they walked, the administrator kept up a stream of mindless tidbits and facts. "-and this is one of the rooms we use to care for the activated protoforms after they are removed from the gestation tubes." She motioned to one of the many rooms lining the hallway. "Newly sparked hatchlings require almost constant care for the first several orns of their life before we can download their first packet of software into their systems."

"That's very interesting," Optimus nodded, only half paying attention.

Seaspray gestured to one of the rooms to their left. "And here is one of our many recreation rooms the sparklings can play and socialize in while they wait for their foster-creators to claim them. Our facility's sparklings rarely have to wait more than a few orns to be claimed, but we have the resources readily available to care for the children should one of our couples be unable to immediately pick up their sparkling."

Optimus spared the room only a cursory glance, as politeness dictated he do. He was almost ready to follow Seaspray when he happened to notice something that immediately made him stop in his tracks.

There, in the far corner of the otherwise empty playroom, a sparkling sat at a table reading a data pad. The sparkling was older looking - perhaps as old as four, maybe five vorns. The sparkling was male. His protoform was white plated with pale blue hands, pedes and pelvic plates. His face was light gray with impossibly large optics that same shade of blue as the Earth sea Optimus's human companions once told him was called the Caribbean.

But it wasn't merely the sight of a sparkling that caused Optimus's spark to sputter in his chest. It was the sparkling's make. The sparkling was none other than a seeker. Tiny wings no bigger than Optimus's thumb digit framed the mechling on either side. As Optimus stared in shocked silence the sparkling's wings rose and fell behind him as though beffeted by a breeze.

Oblivious to Optimus's presence in the doorway, the sparkling tapped at the corner of his data pad to load a new page. As he did so he happened to turn his head in a way that Optimus could see his face even better from a distance.

Once again, Optimus's engines almost stalled.

There was a commonly held belief that seekers were all produced from the same mold, and thus all looked alike expect for their paint jobs. Optimus had always known that was inaccurate. Seekers looked no more alike than any other model did among his kin-frames. Although it didn't have the exact same dimensions as the face Optimus remembered from countless years of war, he still recognized those facial plates and immediately knew who the sparkling was. It was a certainty that originated from deep inside his spark.

"Optimus?" Ironhide's voice rattled the Matrix-bearer back to the present. Optimus shook himself out of his daze to find his sparkmate standing close beside him, worriedly staring into his face. "Yeh alright?"

For a moment Optimus couldn't find his vocal processor. "Ironhide, look," he finally managed to whisper, and gestured into the recreation room.

Ironhide followed his gaze. He stared for several astro-klicks before the scene finally seemed to register in his processor. When it did he visibly started. "Primus!" Together the two stared at the miniature seeker, stunned.

"Optimus Prime, sir? Consort Ironhide?" Seaspray called, hurrying back to them. "Is everything alright?"

"Who is that sparkling?" Optimus demanded, still staring at the white and blue seeker half-dazed in shock.

Seaspray glanced into the room. "That's one of our facility's sparklings. He's been here for the last twelve batches. He's the first and only seeker to ever come out of a hatchling facility outside of Vos in known history. As you know, sir, the Vosians are the only ones who program their hatchlings as fliers. We are still baffled as to what could have caused such an anomaly in our production line."

"Twelve batches? You mean to tell me no one has ever tried to claim him in all that time?" Optimus asked.

Seaspray shook her head. "No, sir. I fear the Great War is still too fresh in people's memories. Many still remember the seekers' role in it and the widespread destruction they caused. No one wants a seeker sparkling."

Optimus was stunned. He understood Seaspray's explanation, but for no one to try and claim a sparkling - even a seeker sparkling - as their own when waiting lists for new protoforms spanned dozens of vorns was inconceivable.

"What is his designation?"

Seaspray cast the sparkling a quick glance as if trying to figure out why he was getting so much attention from a Prime. "Starfall. That was the name the computer generated when he was brought online and taken out of the gestation tube."

Ironhide made an indignant sputtering sound. "Star? Yeh gotta be fraggin' joking me." He cast the sparkling a dark sideways look. "Looks like Vector Sigma didn't do such a good job scrubbing his spark like it was supposed to. Primus sure has one fragged up sense of humor."

Optimus ignored him. All he could do was stare of the tiny seeker. He hadn't thought of Starscream in vorns, and suddenly here was a seeker sparkling who looked so much like the Decepticon air commander sitting right there in front of him. It couldn't all be a coincidence, could it?

"Seaspray, if it's alright I would like to talk to Starfall for a few klicks."

The administrator looked at him in surprise. "If that's what you want to do, sir, then of course," she hesitantly agreed. "Please follow me."

Optimus ignored the look Ironhide gave him as he followed Seaspray into the room. He reached out across their bond to soothe his sparkmate, but Ironhide's side was too tense with agitation for him to properly commune his feelings. Optimus decided to focus on one thing at a time, and the most important thing right now was this unwanted sparkling who reminded him of the Decepticon second-in-command he'd convinced to surrender himself to Vector Sigma.

"Starfall," Seaspray cheerfully called as she strode into playroom with Optimus half a step behind. Ironhide hung further back, his reluctance to be anywhere near the sparkling rolling off him in almost palpable waves. "I'd like you to meet someone. This is Optimus Prime and his sparkmate Ironhide."

The sparkling looked up. Optimus felt his spark clench at the way the seekerlet's optics stared at him and Ironhide as if he were sizing them up in his head. The look was frighteningly familiar.

Optimus smiled behind his mask, his optics crinkling at the corners as he did. "Hello, Starfall. May I join you?"

Starfall stared up at him for a klick with an unreadable expression, before shrugging his shoulder plates. His miniature wings fluttered and dipped with the movement. "Okay."

Optimus pulled out one of the chairs near Starfall and awkwardly settled himself on the sparkling-size seat. He knew he probably looked ridiculous. He wondered how the press-mechs that had been following them around earlier would have reacted if any of them had been there to see their Prime sitting with his knee joints bent almost to his chassis. He felt uncomfortable sitting bent in half like that but he wanted to be at least a little closer to the same optic-level as Starfall so he wasn't towering over the tiny mech. Ironhide hesitated a moment before following Optimus's example and reluctantly taking a seat of his own beside Optimus. The weapons specialist's facial plates were a stony mask. Optimus could feel his agitation for Starfall radiating through their bond. Seaspray stood a respectful distance away to give them the illusion of privacy.

"You're wasting your time," Starfall abruptly announced. Overlarge blue optics held Optimus's gaze. "There aren't any other sparklings here right now. You're going to have to wait until the next batch is ready to come online to choose one."

Optimus smiled behind his mask at the sparkling's precociousness. "How fortunate that is then, because I'm not interested in any other sparklings right now except you. I wanted to get to know you a little bit better." He motioned to the data pad laying on the table between them. "What is that you're reading?"

Starfall eyed him for a moment as if unsure whether to be suspicious of him or not. Optimus was once again reminded of Starscream.

"An old legend," Starfall finally said. Optimus sensed something in the sparkling's demeanor change, as if he'd decided to at least momentarily trust this strange mech who'd decided to talk to him. "It's about this hero who has to find a magic sword to help save his colony."

"Ah, the legend of Tralox," Optimus sagely nodded.

Starfall's wings fluttered against his back and his optics widened in surprise. "You know it?"

Optimus smiled. "Indeed I do. It's one of my favorite stories."

"Mine too!" Starfall chirped. His wings perked animatedly. His face brightened and his optics flashed with excitement. "I like stories like Tralox, but the facility only has a couple data pads with stories like that, and I've already read them all."

Optimus was instantly charmed. The sparkling's enthusiasm was infectious. Starfall practically radiated innocence; so unlike the mech Optimus once knew.

"Tell me, Starfall," Optimus said, leaning a little closer to the sparkling, "has anyone ever offered to adopt you?"

The change in Starfall was instantaneous. In a single spark-pulse the bubbling sparkling Optimus had just been talking to became quiet and sullen. His wings drooped sadly down his back. Optimus absentmindedly wondered if all seeker sparkling were this expressive with their wings.

"No," Starfall murmured. Optimus's spark clenched at the utter dejection in his voice and the spark-wrenching way his optics dimmed. "No one wants me because I have wings. People don't like wings around here. They want sparklings with wheels. I once asked if I could go where there were other seekers but the administrators said all the other seekers live too far away."

The urge to pick this sad and hurting sparkling up and hold him protectively to his chest was nearly overwhelming. "That's very sad to hear," Optimus said. "Because I, for one, happen to like your wings very much. I think they're very unique."

A little of the immediate sadness drained from Starfall's light gray face as he looked up to meet Optimus's gaze again. He shyly offered Optimus a smile. "I can't fly yet, but I can kind of hover," he proudly boasted.

Optimus felt his spark melt a little inside his chest. "You must show me sometime how high you can get. I'm sure it must be high if you were given such an impressive flier name like Starfall."

Starfall eyed Optimus for a long moment of silence, as though struggling to decide something. He finally blurted out, "You can just call me Star if you want. I don't really like to be called Starfall."

"Why's that?" Optimus asked, genuinely curious.

Starfall helplessly raised and dropped his shoulder plates. His wings fluttered behind him. "I don't know. I just don't. I just like to be called Star."

"Alright then, Star," Optimus smiled. The urge to lift this precocious little sparkling into his arms once again assailed him. How could anyone not want to claim such an outspoken and smart sparkling for their own? Had anyone even bothered talking to Starfall before they rejected him because of his frame type?

Becoming serious, the Matrix-bearer leaned forward as best he could in his undersized chair to hold Starfall's gaze with his own. "Star, how would you like to come live with me and Ironhide? We have always wanted a sparkling of our own, and we would be proud to become your caregivers."

The little seekerlet froze in his seat, staring at Optimus with his impossibly big, turquoise-blue optics. It was at that moment that Optimus felt the growing tenderness he'd felt towards Starfall since he sat down with him at the table blossom into open affection and a sudden, possessive desire to be able to call this sparkling his own. He pointedly ignored the wave of shock that snapped against his spark from Ironhide's side of their bond.

"You mean it?" Starfall squeaked. "You really want me?" The look of desperate hope on his facial plates was almost physically painful to look at.

"Yes," Optimus nodded. "I would like you to come live with us very much."

Starfall stared at Optimus as though afraid he might wake up from a dream at any moment. His wings trembled violently against his back struts. Optimus resisted the urge to reach out and run a hand down Starfall's back to calm their restless movements. "When can we leave? Do I have to wait to go with you?"

"My sparkmate and I must speak to the administrator, but I see no reason why you couldn't leave with us today." Optimus gazed fondly down at the sparkling he was soon going to be able to call his. "Is there anything you need to pack before we leave?"

Starfall shook his helm. "Not really. Just some data pads one of the workers brought me to read. He said I could keep them."

"Well, you'd better go get them," Optimus urged. Unable to resist anymore, he reached out and tenderly cupped the back of Starfall's helm in his hand. The sparkling was so small Optimus could have wrapped his fingers completely around his head. "We'll be waiting here for you."

Starfall hesitated a moment - as if he were savoring the touch of a caring bot for the very first time - before spinning away from Optimus and running from the room as though afraid Optimus would change his mind if he didn't return fast enough. His thrusters almost skid out from under him on the tiled floor. Then, in a spark-pulse Starfall was lost from sight, gone to collect whatever meager possessions he called his own.

Optimus smiled behind his mask. An intense wave of euphoric calm settled over him in Starfall's wake. Finally. After vorns of disappointment and pain he would finally have a sparkling to call his own. In a way he still couldn't make himself believe it was finally going to happen.

Unfortunately, Optimus had no time to savor his victory. A barrage of emotions almost instantly pressed against his spark from his irate sparkmate.

"Optimus… what in the seven pits are yeh doing! Did yeh completely forget who that sparkling used ta be?" Ironhide was staring at him as though he thought his sparkmate had just gone insane. "What are yeh thinking? We can't adopt Starscream!"

Optimus calmly turned to his bondmate. "I haven't forgotten who Starfall used to be, 'hide."

"Then what are yeh doing saying we're gonna adopt him?"

"Ironhide," Optimus softly intoned. "Starscream, no longer exists. That mech is gone. His spark was surrendered to Vector Sigma and reborn in a new body. This sparkling - no matter what frame type he has, what he looks like, or what his name is - is no longer Starscream. Starfall is like any other sparkling now."

"Optimus, yeh can't possibly be serious…"

"'Hide, think about it," Optimus pleaded. "We have not been able to conceive despite vorns of trying for a sparkling. I cannot help but feel that this is a sign from Primus. I think he means for us to adopt Starfall and raise him as our own."

Ironhide stared at him, his expression aghast.

"We can give Starfall a home," Optimus reasoned. "We can give him a good upbringing he probably didn't have before. We can make sure he grows up to be a good mech." Optimus stared hard into Ironhide's optics, desperate to make him understand. "He could be our son, 'hide." Opening his side of their bond as wide as he could, Optimus sent all his despair, joy and hope for a sparkling flooding against his mate's spark.

Ironhide looked away from him with a disgusted grunt. Running a hand over his facial plates, he vented a heavy sigh. "Primus help me," he growled. "Yeh know ah can't say no ta yeh when yeh want something this badly. Fine. We'll take him. But don't expect me ta read him recharge tales before bed or nothing, 'cause that ain't ever gonna happen. Ah haven't forgotten who that sparkling used to be before Vector Sigma miniaturized him and gave him a new paintjob."

Optimus's spark throbbed with relief. "Thank you, 'hide," he said. His vocal processor was uncomfortably tight. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Yes ah do," Ironhide growled. He reached out with a huff and took one of Optimus's hand in his own to squeeze. "Ah know exactly how much this means ta yeh, and that's the only reason ah'm agreeing ta this."

"What did I ever do to deserve such an understanding sparkmate like you?" Optimus smiled.

Ironhide snorted. "Only Primus knows. 'Cause sometimes ah think yer good luck is my curse."

Optimus sent a massive wave of love coursing across their bond. Huffing in complete defeat, Ironhide returned the love-pulse and clasped Optimus's hand tighter.

"Prime, sir?" Seaspray's voice timidly spoke up behind them. She still stood a distance away. Her expression was one of lingering shock. "Are you and Consort Ironhide serious about this adoption?"

Optimus squeezed Ironhide's hand, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. "Yes. Bring us whatever we need to fill out to legally claim Star as our son."

To be continued

Thoughts?