"You doing alright?" Two asked in a low voice, putting her hand on Nos's elbow.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. Just came out to enjoy a bit of quiet," the Energy Vampire smiled. They were hovering on the patio outside the Earthclasses' living room, looking out at the city lights sparkling off the lake. Small boats slipped over the glassy surface, emanating distant music and laughter.
Wall.E and One had built their house on the same spot that the truck once stood, perched at the top of a fortified bridge extending over the water. It was made with a similar style to the towering residential buildings on the shore, with pale stucco walls, red tile roofs, and high, arched windows. The inside was decorated with the best of Wall.E's collection, flowers growing out of anything that could hold dirt, with even more plant life spilling out of hanging planters. Somehow, as eclectic as it was, the place could never be called "messy." The Earthclasses managed to maintain enough order to host parties such as the one currently underway, a celebration of the third Sunday of June, Father's Day. The patio where Nos and Two stood was floored with tiles made to look like wood, a glass table with six chairs to one side and a couple overstuffed sofas under an awning to the other, fairy lights illuminating the whole area from above. The coffee table between the sofas was littered with glasses and plates from the human guests who had been out to watch the sunset, some detritus even sitting on the edges of planters filled with colorful succulents.
"You don't always have to follow me when I disappear at parties, you know. I'd rather you catch up with your friends than sit alone with me."
"Has it ever occurred to you that I might be disappearing as well?" Two chuckled, leaning against his side. "It always gets a little crazy after Mary's third glass of wine, anyway."
Nos gave a short hiss of amusement, putting his arm around her shoulders. "I thought that was half the fun of having parties with humans!"
"I mean, sure, but some of the 'bots from the Axiom get a little too into it. You should've seen the look on poor Michael's face when Mary started singing and L-T let her use them as a microphone!"
"Oh, is that why everyone went inside?" Nos smirked.
"No, no, I think they started opening presents. That's actually part of why I came out here... I figured it was a good time to slip away without anyone noticing."
"Well, shouldn't at least one of us be there to see Wall.E open the gift we got him?"
"Eh," Two shrugged, "we'll get a thank you note either way. I was thinking we might go home soon, anyway... I'm beat."
Nos-4-a2 hummed and squeezed her side, his hand trailing down to the front of her containment chamber. "You are feeling a bit low. We need to be more careful. It's not good for your energy to fluctuate now that we have a third party to consider."
Two smiled and laced her fingers with his. She had only been pregnant for a month and hadn't started to show it yet, but things were already changing. The nanobots were hard at work processing information and starting to build components; she wasn't used to how fast it sapped her energy. "The baby's probably just a speck at this point... I don't know how it's managing to drain me like this!"
Nos grinned and kissed the top of Two's head. "We must have a little vampire on our hands."
Two's eyeforms swelled. "Oh wow, I never thought of that..."
"Well, it would make sense. You only became pregnant after you turned."
"Wow..." Two whispered again, "I wonder if Patrick's thought of that."
"Something tells me he would have talked to us about it by now if he had. The man's a fanatic... I'm sure he'd have some input about it if we asked him at your next check-up, though."
Two grumbled and pressed her head into Nos's chest. "I can practically hear the excitement in his voice now. Honestly... just thinking about his high energy is exhausting."
"Well, we don't need to worry about that now. Let's enjoy the view for a bit, just until they're done with presents. We can say goodbye to everyone after that, and then I'll carry you home."
"Really?" Two beamed.
"Of course," Nos smiled back, "we can't have you exerting yourself too much! You always make it a race, and I don't think high speed chases are good for the baby's development."
"I only make it a race because you constantly drag behind," Two scoffed.
"Oh, is that so?" the tall robot drawled, "Then maybe it would be faster to fly yourself home after all!"
"No! I mean ‒ I guess I can put up with it for now."
Nos laughed and rolled his optic, leaning forward against the railing and rubbing the dip in Two's side. It was truly a spectacular view, and the cool breeze rolling off the water made the scene all the nicer. Two relaxed against him and watched the patterns in the water, the waves far below lapping steadily towards the shore. Sometimes it moved as the wake of a boat or the ripples from a fish breaching the surface, but it still seemed regular, mathematical. Two had to catch herself to stop from drifting off, so comfortable under her husband's touch, surrounded by the muffled sound of celebration and chattering behind them and distant music from passing boats. She fantasized about the soft bed waiting for them at home, cuddling into Nos-4-a2's metal and sleeping the night away. Two actually started to doze off when one of the french doors that led to the patio opened wide, bursting with the sound of the party.
"Oh! Dad, I found him!"
Nos and Two looked back to greet Willow, who floated over the threshold with her father making his way through the crowd behind her. Some people watched Wall.E curiously, but most were so invested in their current conversations that they just squeezed out of the way to let him through. He had to turn sideways and shuffle on his treads to make it past some of the tighter spots, but he eventually made it through the door and out to the patio.
"Thanks, Willow. Could you tell Momma we need her out here?"
Willow nodded and darted off, hovering over the crowd to find One.
"Sorry, were you looking for me? I didn't mean to be hard to find," Nos turned fully away from the railing to face Wall.E. The short compactor sported a fresh coat of yellow paint and a vividly patterned bowtie around his neck, gifts from his wife and daughter respectively.
"No, it's fine! Better that we're outside," Wall.E looked back over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being listened to, dropping his voice, "We know you haven't told everybody you're expecting yet, but we got you something for Father's Day."
"What? You really didn't have to, we ‒ we hardly told you a week ago! How'd you have the time? Besides, I'm not a father yet," Nos-4-a2 stammered.
Wall.E's optics lifted, the covers of his lenses conveying a grin. "Then happy 'Almost-a-Father's Day.' Come sit down, nobody will be able to see us over here..."
Nos and Two followed Wall.E to the sofas, taking seats across from him. One came outside almost immediately after with a package in her hands, Willow following and making sure the door shut behind them.
"Oh, good! I was worried you'd left," One smiled.
"Without saying goodbye? Come on," Two laughed, shaking her head.
"I've been distracted! But it doesn't matter. Here," she handed the package to Nos before hovering back to lean on the sofa, absentmindedly taking Wall.E's hand while Willow bounced onto the cushion next to her dad.
"This is really too kind. What could you possibly have gotten me though?"
"The point is to open it and find out," Willow snickered.
Nos smirked, "All right, smart aleck."
The package didn't have a bow, simply wrapped in blue and white striped paper. Nos used his talons to tear it away and reveal a book with hard-backed binding in a featureless, deep green. The book was light and wider than it was tall, a silk ribbon lining the spine.
"It's beautiful," Two murmured, leaning over Nos's side.
"Open it up!" One gestured, giddy.
Nos lifted the cover, still not sure what to expect, and found it was a scrapbook entirely empty besides a single, official looking image of white coding on a black backdrop with a date stamp along the bottom from the previous month. The Energy Vampire's expressive optic opened as wide as it could. Under the picture was a handwritten caption: "Baby's first line of code."
His voice was hardly louder than a whisper. "Is this...?"
"It's a baby book," Wall.E answered.
With Nos and Two still staring, awestruck, One continued, "I visited Patrick at work the day after you told us the news. When I asked him if he could give us anything we could put into a baby book for you, he printed this off right away and told me it was the first sign he had that Two was pregnant. What do you think?"
Nos-4-a2's smile stretched all the way across his face, his silver fangs glittering under the fairy lights. "I... this is the most thoughtful gift I've ever received... thank you!"
Two nodded vigorously, covering the base of her visor in her hands, keeping herself from speaking in case she started to cry.
"Oh, I'm so glad you like it!" One chirped.
"Of course," Nos traced the jumble of characters on the paper with the pad of his finger, trying to hide the fact that he had oil building in his optic.
"We know your baby isn't here yet, but that doesn't make them any less real. If you ever need anything, advice, planning, whatever you can think of, we hope you'll come to us," Wall.E nodded.
Nos could only bring himself to say "thank you" again, lacing his arm around Two and hugging her to his side. One, unable to contain herself at having elicited an emotional response from Nos-4-a2, hovered forward to hug him as well.
"Happy Father's Day, Nos!"
A/N: Obviously, I would have preferred to post this yesterday, but I was distracted at a huge Father's Day celebration with my own clan! I probably could have had it done if I had just written what I had originally planned, a super short story where Two woke Nos up with a fancy power cell and a kiss for Nos's "first" Father's Day after she's pregnant, but I'm trying to expand my scenery a little. I don't know if it's as obvious to you guys as it is to me, but a LOT of my stories happen while the characters are either waking up or getting into bed. I guess one of my greatest fantasies is just being cozy...
Headcanon: The rogue robots, the Ratzenbergers (John, Mary, and their immediate families), the Earthclasses, and the Energy Vampires are all basically one big family who gets together for every little occasion. Others, including but not limited to the McCreas and the Henrys, are considered part of the extended family and always make it to at least one gathering a year, usually Christmas.
Also, for the Earthclasses' house, I decided to create a description based on a shot from the end credits of Wall.E. I know it shows the truck on the end of the bridge, but this is already a crossover AU... so I don't feel too bad twisting the canon a little. Wall.E and One are grown adults with a growing family who need a roomy house! They keep all the knick-knacks they couldn't fit into the decor in a storage unit and the truck itself is kept as a historical monument in a local museum.