A/N: Yay! Another drabble. Let me know what you think! R&R. Enjoy!

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Kids

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"Do you have any kids, Optimus?" Cade asked out of the blue one day as he and his partner sat on the porch of their house.

They were watching the others in the field before them. Crosshairs was talking to Drift about something, snippets of their conversation would occasionally float over to them, but Cade didn't understand the gist of it; Drift, while listening and responding to Crosshairs, was cleaning his sword; Hound was helping Shane out with one of his cars – apparently, Lucky Charms wanted to increase its speed and who better to ask than a transformer?; and Bumblebee was talking to Tessa about one of her college classes.

Although they were so obviously not related, the two of them – Tessa and Bee – kind of reminded Cade of an older sister and brother for some reason. Weird, he knew, but he couldn't help but picture it. And that made him wonder if transformers could have kids, which, in turn, made him ask Optimus if he had any kids of his own. Naturally, without thinking about it, the question just popped out of Cade's mouth and now he was slightly embarrassed and mortified about asking it.

"I'm sorry. I just kind of-"

"It is alright, Cade," Optimus reassured him, giving him a small smile. "To answer your question, no, I do no."

"Can…transformers even have kids?" Cade asked, sounding like an idiot. He felt like one for not asking that question first.

"I suppose so, yes," Optimus replied and a look of concentration crossed his face. His expressions were easier to read while he was in his holoform, however, Cade was finding that due to that, he was beginning to read them while he was in his robotic form as well.

Cade turned back and watched Tessa and Bee. Bee had said something – Cade couldn't hear what – but he did hear Tessa yell his name and shove his large hand. That caused Bee to hold both of his hands up in surrender while his blue optics gave her what Drift called 'his puppy eyes'. He had never thought a transformer could give puppy bog eyes, but apparently, Bee was a master at it.

"There were some of us who were able to create new beings within them," Optimus said and Cade turned to listen and watch him. "They were females, although to a human, it would be difficult to decipher, and they were the ones who were able to do so with the additional prowess their sparks gave them. Not often were they able to successfully do so, especially when the war began. But there were times when one would be created. They were deemed to have great destinies, strong sparks, and immense power."

"I know you told me you used to have a spark mate on Cybertron," Cade said softly, not wanting to upset Optimus unnecessarily.

"Yes, Elita One. She was quite strong among the females. But she could…lose herself in the midst of battle. Become careless," Optimus said.

"So can you," Cade muttered. Optimus gave him a look, but with that twinkle in his eyes, it didn't have the heated effect it should have.

"She died in battle on Cybertron, before we could even meld sparks. Her death was…hard, but I have made peace with it. Now, I have another spark mate and another family to focus on," Optimus said, reaching out and taking Cade's hand.

With a soft smile, Cade squeezed his hand. He knew what it was like to lose someone you loved dearly. It was hard, but eventually, you made your peace. If you didn't, you'd lose yourself. That was never a good thing.

"Could Elita One…have kids?" Cade asked, knowing Optimus would understand him.

"No, she could not," Optimus replied.

Cade thought for a moment, about what Optimus said about those who were created within a transformer female. Great destinies. Strong sparks. Immense power. That sounded, to him, a lot like Optimus. He wondered…

"Optimus?" Cade asked him.

"Yes, Cade?"

"I know that you said you had creators, but…were you one of the transformers who was…born?" Cade said, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"That, my spark, I do not know for sure. Our creators, is has been said, created us all and yet I can recall others of my kind being 'born' or created by others of my kind. Aside from our females, we could create others outside of a host body," Optimus said. "But such methods were frowned upon due to how easy it was to temper with sparks."

"Oh," was all Cade could think to say.

"It was how Megatron managed to build his army," Optimus added.

They sat in silence for a while and Cade couldn't stop thinking how such a simple question could bring about such a deep conversation. Not that he was complaining; he loved it when Optimus told him about his past. He felt as though he could live ten lifetimes and still not know all there was to know about Optimus Prime.

He watched Tessa and Bee as he thought about that. He watched how they interacted and talked, so much like how normal siblings would. Was Bee created by alien creators, by his own kind, or was he born like Tessa? His holoform looked like he could be related to Tessa; it was how he often got away with strolling through town on his own or with Cade's daughter. And boy, did he turn heads. If only those teenage girls knew…

"Do you think of Bumblebee as your son?" Cade asked Optimus. He watched Optimus observe Bee and Tessa for a minute before he squeezed Cade's hand.

"Yes, I do. He has always been my youngest Autobot and even though he is a brave warrior, I cannot help but see him as a child," Optimus replied. "Ratchet always took great care of him because of his youth, much like you do now."

A loud boom, a slight shaking of the ground, porch, and house, and a bright flash of light made them both turn and look. Bumblebee was holding Tessa in his hands, shaking his head while Drift put a fire out. From what Cade could tell, Bee had accidentally set off a missile or something. He couldn't tell exactly, since it had, well, blown up, but Cade was thankful they had plenty of land. That being said, he didn't particularly care for it being blown up. Again.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Cade shouted as he stood up and walked to the edge of the porch.

"Bumblebee…blew up…the wagon!" Tessa shouted.

"Uh, uh," was all Bee could say as he shook his head back and forth.

Cade groaned and sat back in his chair, wiping a hand over his face as he shook his head.

"Kids," he mumbled. He felt Optimus take his hand and squeeze it.

"Kids, indeed," Optimus agreed before he let go of Cade's hand. He felt more than saw the Autobot leader step off the porch and make his way to them.

Taking his hand away from his face, Cade couldn't help but smile just a little as Optimus questioned Bumblebee. Kids. They were all like kids to them. But they were their kids, his and Optimus', so that made it okay.

But if Bumblebee blew something up again, he was dead.