And from left field. . . .
Enjoy the character who snuck in unexpectedly.
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Keith eased out of the bed he shared with Allura; his wife Allura! He had never expected to marry again, much less marry into becoming the co-ruler of an entire planet. Hell, just a few short months ago, he had not expected to live out the week. And yet he had lived. Slowly, he made his way over to the connecting door that led to his daughter's room. Cracking the door, he watched her sleep for long minutes illuminated by the star mobile Tsuyo had built for her years before. It seemed so long ago and so far from where they had come. In the beginning, the five of them had no clue how to care for "their" daughter and scrabbled to provide for her. Keith did not know how he could have managed on his own, his friends; his brothers had made it possible. Everything they owned came second or third or fourth hand, but that had never mattered to Cady or her family. They shared so much laughter and joy.
A smile crossed his face as he remembered how she had won over the worst PT instructor on campus.
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"I do not know what to do! We all have the same PT at the same time, and the daycare does not open up early enough for us to drop off Cady. Everyone else we know either works at that time or has their own PT class to attend. I looked into hiring someone to come in for that time, but I simply do not have enough money to have someone come in at 4.30 before reveille."
"Chill, Keith. We will just have to take her with us. She has always watched us work out and practice at the dojo, so this will be just like this. We will bring along something so she can watch one of those educational videos and a basket of toys or she may just want to sleep in her stroller. We will take the back row and make it work."
"But Sergeant Bilkins. . ."
"Will just have to pull the stick out of his ass and deal. Look have we all bent over backwards over the last two years to make this work? I think they can cut us some slack this once."
"I guess you are right, Lance, I just. . ."
"Need to chill? Yep. I agree. Say, wasn't there a red-head in Maths that. . .?"
"No. Just. No."
"Ok, mon ami, perhaps Sven or I should let her down gently."
"Oh is that what you are calling it these days?"
Lance put a hand to his heart and stuck out his lower lip, "Oh. That hurt. Shot right in the middle."
Keith punched his friend in the arm. "Knock it off. You accomplished what you wanted. Ok, Cady will come with us in the morning."
Grinning, Lance rubbed his arm, "You knew I would win all along. You may have those Garrison people snowed, but I know who is the smartest, handsomest, and all around good guy!"
Keith rolled his eyes, and walked to sit down at his desk, pulling up his assignment due the next day. "Cady will be up from her nap soon, I have to finish this first. Go bug Pidge for a while."
Lance stuck his tongue out at his friend and headed to the door. Evidentially he had a red-headed beauty to let down easy.
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Over the course of the next two weeks, the men followed Lance's plan. Cady seemed content to play with her toys, and watch her Dad and Uncles. Sometimes she would try and follow their workout, but mostly studied the men and women around her. On the start of the third week of PT, Cady woke up grumpy. She had gone to bed later than usual the previous night, and did not want to wake up and leave.
"No. No. No. No. No go." She crossed her arms in her crib and stuck out her lower lip.
Keith ran his hand through his hair, seeing the signs of a tantrum. Looking at the clock, he mentally swore and scooped Cady out of her crib. "Sorry, baby girl, we have to leave now or be late."
Sven stuck his head in the room, "Keith, hurry up, man, we are going to be late."
"We're coming. Someone is grumpy."
"No. DaDa. No. NO. NOOOOOO!"
Sven winced as the child's voice rose to a shriek normally only heard by dogs. "Hand her to me Keith, and catch up when you grab her things."
Nodding, Keith handed Cady over, and the rushed around stuffing a clean outfit in her diaper bag and finishing dressing himself for PT. He left the apartment less than a minute after the other four men, and caught up to them jogging toward the PT field. The managed to arrive and find their spots just moments before the start of class. Parking Cady next to them, Sven put out her sippy cup while Hunk dumped some cereal on her tray.
The five men fell into line just as the Drill Sergeant stepped into his place. "Atten-shun!"
The cadets snapped to attention and all conversations ceased. To Keith's horror, Cady chose that moment to have a temper tantrum.
He watched as the sippy cup went flying off the tray followed by the cereal, "NO! NO NO NO NO NO! OUT! OUT OUT!"
Keith swallowed hard as the quiet of the field became wary and watchful as Sergeant Bilkins stalked to the back of the class and stood in front of Cady's stroller, watching her push on the tray and trying to take off the straps so she could leave the stroller.
"And what, pray tell, HAVE WE HERE?"
Cady paused in her demands as the sergeant yelled at the top of his lungs. She studied him a moment, then took a deep breath. "OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUT!" She held up her hands and her lower lip quivered.
Closing his eyes, Keith waited for the other shoe to drop. He opened his mouth and began to speak, "Sir, she. . ."
"Quiet, cadet."
Keith shut his mouth and watched as the most disliked PT instructor on campus kneeled down in front of his daughter leaning close to her. "Do NOT yell at me, young lady."
Cady opened her mouth and the sergeant place a finger over her lips. "DO. NOT."
The two looked at each other for a long moment, then Cady let out her most pathetic sniff. "Out. Pease."
The sergeant nodded, "That is much more like it. Any objections, Cadet, if this young lady stands with me today?"
"Sir, I, she. . ."
"Good. Come along then young lady." Dismissing Keith, he quickly unstrapped Cady and lifted her to his shoulder and walked back to the front of the class.
"No then. This young lady and I are going to run you through your paces. And since we are late today, I think some extra conditioning is in order. Any objections?"
"Sir, no sir!" Came the immediate reply.
"Excellent. Let's all start with some jumping jacks."
Over the course of the next few weeks, Cady and the instructor struck up a friendship. Sergea
nt Bilkins would collect Cady from her Dad and Uncles at the start of every class and return her at the end. By the second week, he had even procured two outfits that matched the rest of the cadets. By the third week, Cady tried to do everything 'her' Sergeant did. Keith had to admit, it melted his heart to see his little girl, who only reached the Sergeant's knee, look up to him and copy his actions. When he saluted, she saluted. When he walked back and forth with his hands behind his back, she did too. By the end of the semester, Cady had become the mascot for the PT class. Somehow, she inspired everyone to try harder. If she could try and to pushups, why they could do ten more. If she tried to run with them, inevitably someone picked her up and put her on their shoulders until the end of the run.
It became the hardest PT class any of them had joined. And the best.
On the last day, Keith tried to say something to Bilkins. The Sergeant simply shook his head. "Dismissed!"
When the next semester started and they arrived on the PT field, they found the Sergeant waiting for them, and the most hated instructor and class had doubled in size.
For the rest of their career, Sergeant Bilkins led their PT classes. On their last day of PT before graduation, when he dismissed the class, no one moved. Instead, from the back row, one of the cadet's who had a talent for painting brought a wrapped frame to the front of the class and handed to the Sergeant without a word. When he opened it, he found a painting of Cady standing next to him, leading the class. She had managed to capture Cady looking up at 'her Sergeant,' lip tucked between her teeth trying to copy his pose. The sergeant looked back down at Cady with one corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile.
The Sergeant did not say a word, but turned to salute the class. "Scram. Before you are late."
"Sir, yes, sir."
The painting would hang in his office until his retirement from Garrison.
When the men left for Arus, he listed Sergeant Bilkins as one of Cady's guardians. When the new class of Cadets arrived, she walked out onto the field with "My Sargant."
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