Many Earth months later…
"Hmm…what do you think our little Decepticon will want to eat?" Starscream questioned.
"Well, I'm guessing it isn't unstable, high-grade energon," Spaceflower replied, pointing to the contents of their refrigerator.
"LUGNUT!" Starscream yelled. "Where's the motor oil?"
"Well, I…" Lugnut approached the refrigerator, looking confused. "I give up."
"YOU were supposed to do the shopping this month, you moron!" Starscream hollered. "You KNOW Spaceflower isn't supposed to have energon…but that's the only thing we have!"
"Megatron said it's your responsibility," Lugnut said back. "You're not a very good father, Starscream."
Starscream looked about to explode. "Well at least I'm not a stalker!"
"You are a stalker, Lugnut," Spaceflower added matter-of-factly.
"I am not!" Lugnut protested.
"Well, what if I told you Megatron would dismiss you if he knew you forgot to get us our motor oil?" Starscream asked flatly.
"I WILL NOT FAIL YOU, MY LORD!" Lugnut hollered, and smashed right through the wall.
"Get low-grade!" Spaceflower called after him.
"Just when we finally fixed the walls," Starscream muttered. "Well, um, low-grade is a good idea, I guess."
"We have to be gentle with our sparkling," Spaceflower added. "I'm sure it's going to be so cute when it's finally here!"
"How long now?"
"Only maybe a few lunar cycles," Spaceflower replied. "And we're prepared a little more now. I was going to put a cradle in your room, I mean, if that's okay with you. Blackarachnia wouldn't let me put it in our room because she said the sparkling's screaming would keep her up all night."
"Couldn't you just sing it to sleep?" Starscream asked.
"Um…yes, I could," Spaceflower told him. "But she wouldn't listen to me. She's not evil or anything, but I can tell she doesn't like me. As soon as our sparkling comes, I'm going to ask Megatron if I can move in with you."
"That would be nice." Starscream gently reached out and took Spaceflower's claw in his own. She kissed him on the cheek in return. They were more prepared to greet their new "bundle of joy" now, it was true, but they still weren't quite sure what parenthood was really going to be like.
They both were surprised to find that the Autobots were more than willing to help them. Everyone on Optimus's team was aware of the "big news" by now, and rather than ignore Starscream and Spaceflower, they seemed to want to make sure everything went smoothly. Maybe that musical really DID help improve relations, Starscream found himself thinking.
Either way, they still had a lot to do. They had to find a cradle for their new sparkling, and put it in Starscream's quarters. They had to make sure their refrigerator always had oil that was safe for it to consume. They had to think about how often they would give it tune-ups, so it could stay healthy. Transformation and flying were both instincts, but they would have to teach it how to walk and talk and fight (once it got a little older—basic training). There seemed to be an endless list of things they needed to do to make sure their new little Decepticon had the very best life cycle it could.
Approximately three Earth months later…
"She really is cute when she's asleep," Spaceflower whispered, gently bending down to kiss their sparkling goodnight. The little thing had been screaming her head off, as usual (taking after her father, Spaceflower joked once), but once her mother sang her to sleep, she slept peacefully in her cradle.
The sparkling didn't have an official name yet, so for now they had just decided to call her Sweetie. (This was mostly because, after Spaceflower sang her to sleep every night, she would whisper, "Good night, Sweetie.")
As sparklings go, Sweetie was pretty adorable. She was only about as big as one of Starscream's claws, and she had tiny little wings sticking out of her back. She usually curled up into a little ball when she slept, and smiled a sweet little smile when she listened to her mother's song. Her loud screaming could probably break the sound barrier, but her cute little sparkling laugh warmed everyone's spark.
After Spaceflower and Starscream made sure Sweetie was fast asleep, the two of them crawled into bed. Spaceflower gently leaned into Starscream's chestplate and shut her optics.
"You know, my love, you never tuck me in at night or sing me to sleep," Starscream said, pretending to be hurt. "You know, sometimes I think you love Sweetie more than you love me."
"How could I, when you're so obnoxiously handsome?" Spaceflower purred, kissing him lightly on the lips.
"Good point," Starscream whispered, grasping his beloved in his arms, and things might have been about to get steamy, but then they heard that familiar sound—SSSCCCREEEAAAMMM!
Spaceflower jumped quickly out of bed and grabbed Sweetie out of her cradle. Sweetie was screaming louder and louder. This was not an unusual occurrence—she typically woke up during the middle of the night and started screaming, since she hadn't started sleeping through the nights yet. As always, Spaceflower started her singing.
Starscream remained in bed, watching Spaceflower gently rocking their sparkling in the moonlight as she sang. She still looked so beautiful. And that voice, oh that voice…I really AM lucky, was Starscream's last thought as he drifted into stasis, too.
That next morning…
"Starscream and I were thinking we should take Sweetie for her first tune-up this afternoon," Spaceflower was saying, as she daintily sipped her motor oil. Everyone was sitting at the table except for Sweetie herself (she was taking her stasis nap). "What do you guys think?"
"Will it get her to stop that awful screaming?" Blackarachnia groaned, rubbing her optics and drinking some more energon. "My room is right next to yours and Starscream's and I can never get any recharge now. I don't know how you guys live with it."
"We can 'live with it' because we love her very much," Spaceflower replied. "And anyway, that's supposed to be normal. She just isn't sleeping through the nights yet."
"And a tune-up won't stop it," Starscream added. "It will just keep her healthy. We want to make sure she doesn't have any technical glitches or anything."
"Can we go?" Spaceflower asked.
Megatron nodded and finished yet another energon cube. He looked exhausted—probably because Sweetie's screaming was keeping even him up at night. (Starscream, though he would never admit it, was secretly amused to discover that it only took a little sparkling to fry Megatron's circuits like this).
So after Sweetie was finished with her stasis nap, Starscream and Spaceflower flew her to the Autobot base, where Ratchet had agreed to give her regular tune-ups. After her tune-up was finished and it was confirmed that she was in great shape, Starscream and Spaceflower brought her out to the main room to show her off to everyone.
"Hey, she's kinda cute." Bumblebee smiled and patted her on the head. Sweetie laughed and waved her arms.
"Kitchy-kitchy-koo-koo," Bulkhead said.
"Could I hold her?" Prowl asked. Since Prowl was pretty coordinated and unlikely to accidentally drop her on her head or anything, Spaceflower carefully handed the sparkling over. As Prowl was rocking Sweetie in his arms, they heard a knock on their door.
"I'll get it," said Optimus. He left the room to get the door as the rest of his team fussed over Starscream and Spaceflower's new sparkling. Everything was fine until Optimus walked back into the main room with some visitors Starscream and Spaceflower would rather not have encountered—Ultra Magnus, leader of the Elite Guard, Jazz the Cyber Ninja, and Sentinel Prime.
"Oh…um…hi there, guys," Bumblebee said uncomfortably, quickly handing Sweetie back to her mother (he had been holding Sweetie at the time).
Everyone was just standing there in the main room, surrounded by an incredibly awkward silence, until Ultra Magnus finally burst out angrily, "What are those Decepticons doing here?"