Family

~The love of a family is life's greatest blessings~

Clank watched as Ratchet moved around the ship he was currently working on. Passing a tool whenever the Lombax had asked for it. Ratchet turned and closed the bottom panel and walked over to Clank and plopped himself on the ground. He still wore the same suit he had back when he fought against the Nethers. It was a comfortable outfit, it had just been upgraded slightly to fit his body style change since he had grown since then.

"Finished, I presume?"

"For now, I have to get a part, which I think I can only find at Big Al's." Ratchet sighed and leaned back on his hands.

Ratchet and Clank were approached by their neighbor, after the older man's ship had failed to start. Ratchet not wanting to be rude or leave the man without transportation had agreed to take a look.

It had been three years since Talwyn, Ratchet and Clank had found a home on Metropolis. They had bought a four bedroom home right in the middle of the city. The view was perfect and they had really nice neighbors who welcomed them with open arms. Plus the neighborhood kids though it was awesome to have heroes live right down the street.

Clank had decided to stay with Ratchet, but he still did his part to protect the clock. They had set up a teleportation pad that would take Clank to the clock within seconds. It was set to Clank's robotic signature, ensuring he was the only one that could use it. He visited Sigmund five times a week for six hours at a time, but he only went between 2:00 am until 8:00 am while the others were asleep. The duo worked together to fix any temporal breakages, they consider themselves the caretakers as partners instead of junior and senior.

Clank looked to Ratchet as the youthful Lombax sighed.

"I'll order the part and have it shipped here overnight." Ratchet yawned and stood up.

"Hey, Susie should be here any moment right?" Ratchet thought aloud.

As if on cue the young blue lizard child came charging for them. She wore a sleeveless purple shirt and black shorts with sandles that exposed her feet and white talons. She grinned and held up her paper. "Look who aced their test today!"

Ratchet smiled and hugged the ten year old as she barreled into him. "Great job Susie!" Ratchet praised as she let him go and waved the paper around with a wide grin, her purple hair draping over her shoulders.

Since Susie was an orphan, Ratchet and Talwyn had decided to adopt her into their family. Ratchet knew what it was like to be alone with little to no family at such a young age and he didn't want her to grow up like he had. Children needed families that they could rely on if they ever had a problem, not face it alone.

But one thing he couldn't fix were the nightmares she still had about the death of her father. She would wake up crying until he or Talwyn had comforted her through the night. They did their best for her, even enrolling her in school here in Metropolis. Where she obviously was happy, especially learning new things.

"Where's Talwyn and Elani?"

"Tal had to take Elani for a check up today." Ratchet explained to her. "She's eight months old now, so Tal took her for her shots."

Susie cringed, "Ew, I hate shots!"

"Well get over it little missy, cause you're going for yours next week." Ratchet made a funny face at her before she did the same by sticking her tongue out at him.

The orange haired Lombax laughed softly. "Are you hungry? How about a snack?"

"Yes please!" Susie exclaimed happily.

Just as they were about to head inside, Clank turned at the sound of a ship and his eyes lit up with a smile. "It seems Talwyn is back early."

Ratchet and Susie turned to see Talwyn's ship approaching and parking in their front yard in the space he left open for her. The glass opened up and Talwyn waved to the three of them. "Hey guys."

Ratchet jogged over to her with Susie and Clank in tow. Talwyn, smiling with gratefulness, handed a small bundle to Ratchet before she hopped out and closing the ships cockpit.

"Hey sweetie," Talwyn kissed Ratchet on the cheek before leaning down to hug both Clank and Susie.

"How was the appointment?" Clank asked before Ratchet could form the words.

Ratchet shifted the bundle in his arms and slowly unfolded the blanket as two fairly large Lombax ears popped out, followed by two green eyes and a brown nose. Ratchet smiled as he stared at his daughter. Elani was half Lombax and half Markazian, thanks to Ratchet's more dominate genes she had taken after him a bit more. The only thing different were the color of the stripes on her ears, which were the same shade of purple as her mother's skin.

Ratchet and Talwyn hadn't thought they would have been able to have any children because of their differences in species but Talwyn had gotten pregnant a year after they had moved into their home. There were a few complications during her birth but both mother and baby had come through and they were both healthy.

Ratchet smiled tenderly at the small Lombax in his arms as he tickled her belly causing her to giggle which brought a grin to his face. At the sound of Elani's laugh, Susie, Talwyn and Clank turned to look.

Talwyn smiled softly at the sight, seeing Ratchet so happy filled her heart with joy. She brushed at a spot of dirt on her black pants before calling out to the older Lombax.

"Ratchet, we should head inside."

The Lombax turned to the three of them and nodded as he followed them to the house. He shifted Elani in his arms so she was sitting up right and peered out over his shoulder. Her green eyes full of wonder. Talwyn had dressed her in a dark purple footed onsie. She would get shoes later when she was learning to walk and be more active, but not until then.

Ratchet passed Elani to Talwyn before going to the fridge to fetch a snack for Susie. He grabbed some fruit and to it to the counter where he began chopping it up and putting it into a bowl before handing it to Susie. The little girl grinned as she saw some of her favorite fruit inside the bowl before happily digging in.

Ratchet grabbed a bottle and prepared some nutrients for Elani. Talwyn had breastfed for awhile but she was almost a year old and the doctor had suggested they start to wean her slowly. After he finished preparing the bottle he passed it off to Talwyn so she could feed Elani.

Clank walked over to the cupboard and helped himself to a small canister of oil. He didn't need to eat but oil kept him from rusting and it was a nice treat from time to time.

"Alright guys, how about a movie before we begin cooking dinner?" Talwyn asked.

All of them had agreed, except Ratchet. "I'll join you guys in a second, I need to call Al to order a part for our neighbors ship."

Talwyn smiled and walked over to give him a quick peck on lips before pulling away, "Always the working man haha." Ratchet smiled softly. "Come join us when you've finished okay?"

"You got it." Ratchet headed to the office that wasn't far from their living room and grabbed his nav unit.

Easily placing a call to Al, Ratchet had the part ordered within five minutes and Al told him it would arrive tomorrow afternoon. Ratchet thanked him before setting his nav unit aside and leaving the office after turning off the light.

He joined Tal, Susie, Clank and Elani in the living room and noticed Talwyn about to stand with a cringe on her face.

"What happened?"

"Haha, someone needs a diaper change." Talwyn laughed lightly.

Ratchet strode over to her and reached for Elani. "I got it Tal."

"Are you sure?"

Ratchet smiled and nodded. "I'm sure, relax, you've been doing too much lately and you need your rest.

The Markazian smiled. Most men wouldn't bother changing their child's nappies, that's what she had heard from other mother's at the park when she took Susie and Elani. But she never had that issue with Ratchet, he was actively involved with both Elani and Susie. While Susie may not be their biological daughter they treated her as if she was. Susie even helped Talwyn with the baby whenever Ratchet went out on a week long mission for the PDF.

He only took on missions that wouldn't pull him away from his family for more than a week at a time. He didn't want to miss out on anything.

Talwyn sighed happily. How did I get so lucky to find you?

"Mrs. Apogee?"

"Yes Clank."

"I will be leaving for the Clock at 2 in the morning, is there anything you desire for me to do around the house before I leave?"

"No thank you Clank, you've done more around here than I could have asked for, but thank you for offering." Talwyn looked towards the stairs that led to the second floor of their home, where Ratchet had gone up to Elani's room. " But we do need to discuss Ratchet's birthday, it's next week, anyone have any ideas?"

"A party seems too cliché." Talwyn sighed. "I'm hoping to do something more for him, since he's been so helpful with everything else including taking care of Elani."

"We could plan a family outing for a picnic and have a birthday cake for him?" Susie said as a question since she wasn't sure.

"You know Susie, that's not a bad idea." Clank agreed. "Ratchet seems to be keen on the family concept, considering he never had one growing up, I'm sure he'd very much enjoy that."

Talwyn nodded. "Alright than its settled. I'll start looking around at different planets for the perfect spot."

Two big Green eyes stared at Ratchet with nothing but silent adoration. Ratchet had finished cleaning up Elani after the little one relieved herself and Papa Lombax had decided he would give her a bath and change her clothes. Her fur was still slightly damp as Ratchet used a fluffy blue towel to dry her. She giggled whenever Ratchet rubbed her belly, causing Ratchet to laugh with her before he began playing with her toes.

The little Lombax laughed at the feeling, reaching for her father's hands. Ratchet grabbed a pink shirt with ruffles on the sleeves and a pair of black pants. After fastening her diaper he dressed his youngest and placed a pair of purple socks on her tiny feet, before picking her up into his arms.

"Come on silly girl, let's go see what the others are doing." Ratchet kissed her cheek and left the room as Elani reached up to play with her father's ears.

"Ouch." Ratchet cringed when she tugged a little to hard on a patch of his fur. "Haha, careful munchkin, daddy won't have any further left if you keep doing that."

Not understanding a word he had said, Elani continued her game of "yank on daddy's fur" as he walked back downstairs.

Talwyn heard his footsteps as she glanced away from the TV which was playing one of Qwarks old movies that was actually decent. She spotted her thoughtful Lombax and noticed Elani was changed into a new outfit.

"Did you bathe her?" The female asked as Ratchet walked over to her and Talwyn took her from his arms.

"Yeah, I figured I was up there anyway, so may as well do it before dinner."

You didn't have to, I could have done it."

"No worries Tal. Don't sweat it." He winked at her before turning to Susie. "Well it's nearing 5 o clock, are we all ready for dinner?"

"Yeah." They said in unison.

"Alright I'll start it, we doing soup tonight?"

"Sounds delicious."

Ratchet nodded before Susie spoke up. "Um, can I help you with dinner papa?" Ratchet smiled as Susie blushed slightly, she hardly called him or Tal, papa or mom. Her parents deaths still made her a bit uneasy to say it to them but when she did, there was nothing they wouldn't do to make sure she felt comfortable with it.

"Of course you can, come on." He reached out his hand and helped her off the floor where she was sitting and walked with her to the kitchen.

Talwyn glanced over to Clank. "It's hard to believe how much he has matured over the years."

"I know. When I first met him, he had always kept to himself about certain matters and was interested in nothing but his ships and trying to impress the girls." Clank gave his signature laugh as Tal, nodded in agreement.

Talwyn played softly with Elani's ears, the little Lombax smiling up at her mother as she did so. She sighed softly before rising to her feet, the little girl still in her arms. I think I'll go prepare Elani's food, I don't want Ratchet spoiling me too much by trying to take care of everything."

Clank nodded. "I will join you in a moment, I'm going to contact Sigmund and let him know I will be there by 2 am."

With a nod, Talwyn strolled to the kitchen as Clank headed down to the basement, he had decided he had wanted it as his room when they first bought the house. It had plenty of space and had no windows for prying eyes to see his teleportation pad or communication link with Sigmund.

Clank shut the door as he hopped down the stairs. But there was another thing he didn't want anyone else to see and it sat inside a safe that was embedded in the wall.

Opening the safe, Clank reached in and touched the metal helmet. "I know I shouldn't be trying to fix this, they wouldn't approve of me doing so. It could be a danger to all of us. Then again it could reunite Ratchet with his kind."

The dimensionator. While Ratchet and Talwyn knew Clank had kept the machine for safe keeping. They were in the dark about him trying to repair it.

Despite having it for this long, there were still some components missing or needed to be replaced. He was close and he knew it. He wanted Ratchet to meet his own kind, maybe his parents?

He knew Ratchet had learned from both Alistair and Tachyon that they were dead, but something told Clank otherwise. Maybe Tachyon had thought he killed them, if there was any chance Kaden survived by getting sucked into another dimension then that was what he was going to believe.

I just hope when the time comes, they won't hate me for doing it.

Ratchet grabbed a ladle and began serving the soup into three separate bowls. Susie and Clank set the table and brought over the high chair for Elani from the closet. Since Elani still didn't have enough teeth at the moment, they were sticking her with soft foods. Pureed fruit would be dinner for her tonight.

Talwyn placed Elani in the high chair. "Since daddy already bathed you, let's make sure we don't get you too messy, okay?" She tapped the little Lombax on the nose causing her to giggle.

"I know, I know. I probably should have waited until after dinner." Ratchet laughed lightly as he walked over to place the bowls of soup on the table.

"No its fine." Tal smiled warmly. "You just love to I appreciate everything you do." She's leaned over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

He blushed at her praise, he was glad his fur covered it, otherwise she would have teased him about it. In a loving way at least.

Clank grabbed a magazine about robots and hopped up on a chair. He didn't eat, but he still sat with the family as they dined on their meal. He contributed to their conversations, as did Elani who only made little noises like she was talking.

As everyone sat down to eat, Ratchet's nav unit began ringing. With a sigh, Ratchet excused himself and went to answer it.

It was the Polaris Defense Force captain that was filling in for Talwyn while she was on leave.

"Hey Ratchet."

"Captain."

"I need you for a mission next week. You will only be gone for three days time."

"Sure I can do that."

"Thanks Ratchet, I'll send over the mission details in an hour."

"No problem sir."

They ended their conversation and Ratchet headed back to the dining room to rejoin his family.

"Who was it?" Talwyn asked as she fed a spoonful of pureed fruit to Elani.

"Your fill in." Ratchet smirked. "They need me for a three day mission next week."

"Oh, well at least it's not a week long one again."

"Yeah, these types are usually just surveying missions." Ratchet smiled. "Simple, in and out."

They continued their meal as conversation picked up, between the four of them, with Elani making noises that sounded like she was trying to talk. They laughed as she giggled when she discovered she could make noises with her lips.

Ratchet smiled. Family was amazing.

Ratchet and Talwyn tucked Susie in and kissed her goodnight. While Tal went to place Elani in her crib, Susie pulled Ratchet down to whisper to him. "Can we continue training tomorrow after school?"

"We'll see how the day goes, okay?"

Susie nodded and smiled before the ing on her side and closing her eyes. Ratchet walked over to Talwyn who stood next to Elani's crib. He reached his hand down to brush across her ears as she sighed contentedly in her sleep.

Susie had agreed to share a room with Elani until the small Lombax was old enough to have a room to herself. All of them felt more secure with someone sleeping in the same room with her. Susie enjoyed being a big sister, she loved Elani more than anything. When the time came, they would move Susie to the spare bedroom next Ratchet and Talwyn's room.

Ratchet put his arm around Talwyn's waist and they walked out of the room after turning off the light. From there they went to their own room and closed the door. Ratchet went up behind Tal and hugged her from behind, his arms encircling her waist as he pulled her closer to him.

"I love you." He whispered lovingly to her and she smiled.

" I love you too."

Ratchet moved away and went to remove his suit as he walked into the bathroom. Once he had changed into nothing except a pair of black pants he crawled onto the bed as Tal changed into a dark green nightgown, it was made from silk and it went to her knees. She slid onto the mattress next to him, his arm automatically going to her waist and tugging her to him. She faced him, their noses touching softly, her hand made its way to his cheek before stroking the smooth fur.

"How did I ever deserve you?"

Ratchet frowned and propped himself up on his arm to stare down at her. "I should be asking you that question."

Talwyn laughed and pulled him down to her level so she could kiss him passionately on the lips. Little did she know, she had started a fire that would take all night to put out.

A/N: So what do you guys think so far?

Until next time, please read and review if you'd like :)