Balancing the platter on one hand, Lance swatted at the bugs swarming in front of his face. "And the reason we all couldn't have hopped in Red was what, again?"

Allura smiled placidly. "Because I wanted you to appreciate all the hard work Cook had to put into baking replacements for the pastries you ate." She brushed aside a low-hanging branch blocking the path, holding it until Lance and Larmina had passed. "And that means walking, and it means you get to carry the load the entire way. They smell heavenly, by the way. Cook outdid herself."

Lance had to agree. The delicious scents wafting up to his nose were enough to make his mouth water, and his stomach rumbled hollowly in agreement. If only Allura had let him have ten more minutes after physical training, he'd have had time to swing through the kitchen and make himself a quick sandwich. Instead, he'd barely had time to shower, dig out a clean uniform and brush the nasty taste of vomit off his teeth before meeting her and Larmina in the courtyard.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I am definitely going to be stopping at Meme's Diner after we drop this stuff off. I'm starving!" Larmina emphasized her point by rubbing at her flat stomach. "Turns out kicking your aunt's butt in a race is hungry business!"

Lance grinned- he could kiss that kid. He looked at Allura solemnly. "As her custodian, it's your duty to make sure she doesn't go hungry, Allura. Looks like we'll be making a little pit stop, huh?" he asked, unable to repress a giddy laugh. Meme's made a soup, sandwich and pie combo that could reduce a grown man to tears. In fact, it had- more than once. Hunk's eyes watered if you mentioned their peach cobbler a la mode.

He was so transparent, Allura thought in amusement. "Maybe," she said mildly. "But I have a meeting I need to get back for, so I think we'll let Larmina run over and place her order while you and I visit with the Scaratos. You can eat while we walk home, right, Larmina?"

Larmina jumped up and caught a branch, swinging herself forward to land lightly a dozen feet ahead. "Sure, no problem." Suddenly, her face scrunched in displeasure. "I don't have to sit in on that dumb meeting, do I?"

"No." Allura winced inwardly at the thought of Larmina in a multi-hour discussion of the importation of Helenian grains. She'd been trying to gradually draw her niece into more matters of state, but the mundane details of rule were not her strong point. She'd sat raptly through a four day conference on Arus joining an intergalactic sporting alliance, but a two hour discussion on import/export tax levies had rendered her actually unconscious- Larmina had fallen asleep at the table, drooling onto her arm. "There is a series of talks scheduled for next week on possibly electing a head of Arusian Sports and appointing a council to oversee youth and amateur teams. Maybe you'd like to attend those with Coran?"

Larmina gave her a look that said very clearly what she thought. "Uh… yeah!"

"They're being held in Sindath, right?" Lance asked.

Allura missed a step in surprise. Lance was not one for knowing the political schedule, or showing any interest in the process at all. Keith? Yes. Lance? No. "They are," she replied, amazement in her voice.

With a wry twist of his lips, Lance dipped his head towards Larmina. "Not as dumb and oblivious as I look, huh, Allura?" He ignored her protests to add, "Hey, Meanie, here's the deal. If you want to go with Coran, you gotta do three extra hours of Lion practice with either me or Keith between now and then, plus another three in the sims. And when you go, I want you to fly the short-hop transport, not Coran. Got it?"

Turning, the teenager bestowed a black look on him and punted a small rock clear off the path. "I swear, if you call me Meanie one more time, I'm going to-"

"What? Flounce away in your pretty princess dress?" Lance teased, hitting her where it hurt. He knew Larmina hated the girly confections Allura had been stuffing her into for official outings lately. "Besides, you've been Meanie to me since you shoved your first boulder off the castle walls, and you'll still be Meanie when you're all grown up and ruling Arus while I'm in the Voltron Force nursing home for doddering old pilots."

That earned him a laugh. "You are so lame. You know that, right?"

Shifting the blasted platter to his other hand to allow circulation back into the first, Lance winked. "Sure- I'm an adult. But unlike other adults… say a certain too serious pilot whose name rhymes with wreath… I'm at least aware that I'm lame. And don't forget the deal- I want all of those flight hours logged, Larmina."

"Yes, Lance," she sing-songed with a roll of her eyes.

Allura stepped in closer to Lance. "You know I try not to infringe on your plans for the cadets' training, but what's with the conditions?"

The depth of the sigh that tore from his lips surprised them both. "Look, I know you and Keith don't want to acknowledge it, but Larmina –and even Vince, to a degree- just is not a natural when it comes to piloting. She needs time… a LOT of extra time behind the controls of every ship, Lion and sim I can stuff her in."

"I think she's been doing well," Allura defended.

"Sure, fantastic- if she was a regular spoiled princess from some coddled, peaceful corner of the galaxy. But she's a member of Voltron, and we've been getting hit pretty hard here lately. Chances are one of us is going to get hurt bad enough to knock us out for awhile at some point, and I want all three cadets capable of filling in when that happens."

They walked in silence for a moment before Lance added, "And really, Allura, both my hands are numb. You want to stop being princess for a minute and give a guy a hand here?"

Shaking her head, Allura reached for the platter. "Sissy," she teased.

He was uncomfortable- massively so, and he had been for awhile now.

Lance had steeled himself before Allura had knocked on the door of a quaint house with a neatly kept garden and a laundry line that looked like it would collapse any second under the weight of all of the clothes on it. He'd handed over the platter and allowed her to introduce him with his most charming grin, swallowing down the squirming sense of wrongness as he stood there shaking hands with the man and accepting a hug from the new mother. Four hand-woven baby baskets sat side by side next to the table, and the urge to get away amplified.

When Larmina was excused to go to the diner, he wanted to slither out after her. Allura really should have brought Keith. He was great at this crap- honest, likeable, easy, everything Lance normally was, but for some reason it disappeared behind a gnawing sense of inadequacy. Lance jumped as a baby was deposited in his arms.

"Here," Allura said, gently transferring the infant she'd been given into Lance's hands. He'd been getting quieter and quieter until he'd hit the point where she was sure he'd find some excuse soon to escape. With a baby in his arms, he had no choice but to park his bottom in a chair and sit calmly. "Mrs. Scarato would like to introduce us to the babies."

"Goetz, Pandar, Kandra, and Vasco," the woman said proudly, cradling one baby to her chest and handing off another to Allura. "They're one month old tomorrow. My husband is holding Vasco, this is Goetz. Princess, that is Pandar, and Commander Lance, you're holding my daughter, Kandra."

Looking down at the tiny –oh gods, so tiny!- serene bundle in his arms, Lance felt his throat tighten. He'd never held a baby before. Was he doing it right? Was he going to hurt it? Looking around furtively, he had a moment of panic before realizing he was holding the infant the same way the mother was. And if she was doing it wrong they were all doomed, so he figured he was probably safe enough. "Uh, hi Kandra," he whispered, feeling stupid. Did babies understand speech yet? Probably not, but it was easier talking to and focusing on the baby instead of the Scaratos and Allura. He ducked his head lower, restricting the conversation to him and the sleepy-eyed baby watching him. "Welcome to Arus. You and your brothers are pretty lucky, you know. First quadruplets in a long, long time. Anyway, I figure that means you guys are destined for charmed lives, big things. But in the meantime, try not to drive your parents crazy, let Mom get some sleep now and then and, uh, eat your vegetables. You know, when you're actually old enough to eat them."

The smile that dawned on Allura's face was so wide it hurt her cheeks. He was so awkwardly sweet she couldn't help but melt, and a quick glance at Mrs. Scarato showed that she wasn't the only one. The woman looked ready to burst into happy tears.

The baby blinked up at him and opened her tiny rosebud mouth, gurgling. Lance grinned. Wow. "You're a cute little thing, you know that?" The terror of holding such a helpless little life suddenly eased, and Lance took the chance of shifting, holding the baby up closer to his chest so he could look at her better. She had wisps of dark hair here and there, but was largely bald. The eyes were a strange dark blue, almost black, and she had the same pale, peachy skin as most Arusians. The thought occurred to him that she kind of looked like a baby Keith might have someday, if the mother was pale-skinned like an Arusian. When Kandra reached up to wave her little fist in the air, he marveled at how extraordinarily tiny those little fingernails were. Tentatively, he supported her in one arm and met that little fist halfway, the tip of his finger not much smaller than her entire hand. "You're too young to be holding boys' hands, honey," he said around a smile. "Your dad may get out his gun and have a little target practice if he sees us. You know, with me as the target."

At that, Mrs. Scarato did burst into tears, sending the other three adults scrambling to place babies in baskets and fetch tissues and press the woman into a chair.

"What'd I say?" Lance whispered urgently to Allura as Mr. Scarato murmured into his wife's hair, hugging the woman tightly. "Did I do something wrong? I thought I was doing good!"

The sheer panic in Lance's eyes had Allura quickly grasping his shoulders and forcing him to look at her. "You were doing beautifully. I told you, you're fine at this sort of stuff. I don't know where this… sense of inadequacy has come from, but it's silly. Keith is not the only one of you good with the people." She smiled gently. "And I think she's crying because she's a new mother with four babies, lots of hormones, and very little sleep. Watching you being so perfectly sweet with her only daughter probably just sent her over the edge. Give her a few minutes- she'll be all right."

Allura was right. As quickly as the crying jag began, it subsided again, and the Scaratos began to apologize profusely. After assuring them that it was normal and that they had nothing to be sorry for, Allura gently reminded them that she had meetings back at the castle to attend. "But if you'll allow it, I'd like it if we could stop by on occasion to see you and your beautiful babies. Of course, it goes without saying that we think you all are a symbol of our future, of the hope and progress Arus continues to enjoy. If there is anything, and I do mean anything, that we can do for your family, I hope you won't hesitate to ask."

By the time they'd made their goodbyes, Larmina was already strolling down the street towards them, an enormous sandwich clutched in one hand. "'Ow'dit go?" she asked around a mouthful.

"Oh, just peachy," Lance remarked drily, eyeing her food with longing. She had gotten a triple turkey, ham and bacon with all the fixings. He'd gotten a weepy woman, a scarily small baby and almost an hour of uncomfortable small talk. At least, it was uncomfortable for him.

"Were they cute?" She went to wipe her mouth on her sleeve before changing her mind at Allura's pointed throat-clearing. "I bet they were cute."

Leading the small party back towards the road to the castle, Allura grinned. "Adorable, actually. Almost as cute as the panic attack Lance had when I gave him a baby to hold."

"Hey! I've never held a baby before," he defended. "What if I broke one by holding it wrong?"

After they were done laughing at him, Allura and Larmina shared a mischievous grin. "Just wait until it's your baby, Lance," Allura teased. "You won't be able to put it down."

He shot her a glare. "Oh sure, laugh at the dumb guy. Go on- ha ha. That right there is why I'm never having kids. Guys like me… we're just not meant for that stuff."

Allura opened her mouth but was beaten to the punch by Larmina. "What makes you so sure there's not a few mini yous running around out there right now?"

"Larmina!" Allura admonished, horrified. Her niece scoffed.

"Oh, come on. Look, that fancy finishing school you shipped me off to last summer explained everything, even if we all already knew what that snobby teacher was talking about. Gods, you act like I'm some oblivious kid. It's just sex."

Both Lance and Allura cringed. This was not a discussion either wanted to be having with a sixteen year old princess. "Well, er… yeah. If you're going to do it, wrap it up, kid," Lance muttered uncomfortably. "And the reason I know there's no Baby McClains out there is because I always wrapped it up." He quailed at Allura's furious head shaking. "And, uh, because you should wait for true love and marriage and pre-marital sex is bad?" How the hell had this conversation started again? he thought bewilderedly.

"You are an Arusian princess," Allura began awkwardly, knowing her cheeks were flaming. "It is expected… demanded, really… that you remain pure until your marriage." She raised a hand when Larmina opened her mouth. "I know it has become more culturally acceptable for women to be, uh, intimate outside of marriage, but that is a very few women, and a very new phenomenon, and still looked on with contempt by the majority of our society. As a member of the royal family, not only should you hold yourself to higher standards, but our people hold you to higher standards as well." She sucked in a deep breath. "So please, Larmina, remain pure until your wedding night."

The girl shook her head in astonishment. "You know, you guys are old, but you're not that old. I can't believe you are this stodgy and old-fashioned." Turning on a heel, Larmina set off at a determined clip for the castle, not really caring if they yelled at her for not waiting. Spirits, she was not having a sex talk with Lance and her aunt.

Lance and Allura watched her stalk away, rooted side by side to the ground. "That would be another reason I'm never having kids," he said, scratching nervously at his jaw. "That sucked. A lot. And I'm not even sure how it happened."

Allura shuddered. She had not been prepared for that conversation at all. Shaking it off, she focused on Lance's inference. "I think you're wonderful with the cadets," she replied. "And when you were around when Larmina was younger, you were amazing with her, even when she was… being difficult." Those early years had been more than difficult, they'd been occasionally hellish. She'd been a traumatized, willful child, equally prone to fits of temper and long bouts of withdrawal. Where Coran, Nanny, Allura and all of the tutors and specialists they'd brought in had failed, Lance had succeeded. Sometimes, at least. "You were meant to have children someday."

He snorted, glancing at her out of the side of his eye. "Look, you know the kind of family I came from. You know the kind of danger Voltron Force are in all the time. I'm not going to even put a semi-serious girlfriend through that shit. Why would I put an innocent kid through that?" He plowed a big hand through his hair, the leather of his jacket creaking ominously. "I've got my reasons, Allura. You may think they're stupid, and you may not agree with me, but I think I'm just meant to be the cool uncle. I'll play with the kids the rest of you guys have."

The urge to shut her mouth, to leave the conversation there was nearly overwhelming, but Allura just couldn't stop herself. Meddling had always been one of her worst traits. "I think you're supposed to hold your own babies someday, Lance, even if you don't. And the first time you do, I am going to be there telling you 'I told you so' and gloating." She grinned. "The part I can't wait to see is what kind of woman is crazy enough to have babies with Lance McClain, daredevil pilot and all-around smartass."

Lance gave her a strange look, opened his mouth, and then simply walked away, following Larmina's receding figure up the road. And to top it all off, his damn stomach was still growling.

A/N: Funnily enough, I was taken by surprise by the sex talk, too. Not at all what was on my chapter outline, but hey- sometimes you just gotta roll with it, right? Anyways, I hope everyone liked it. I for one giggle every time I picture Lance holding an infant, marveling that it's sort of like a running back holding a football. :)

Reviews are love!