AUTHORS NOTE: Allura and Shiro are slightly OOC. As we do not know how Space Mom and Space Dad deal with pregnancy and hormones. I also forgot to mention that this is AU- post Galra War. I also made up Hunk's backstory, as little to none is actually known about him.
Everyone in Altea buzzed with excitement, flowers hung on the light post, banners as well; decorations were being put up everywhere. Four months along, and the citizens of Altea did not know that their Queen was expecting- today would be the big announcement. Inside of the Castle of Lions, the King and Queen were getting ready. Dressed in his long sleeved, leather jacket covers him just about his groin and it buttoned up completely at the bottom right side. The sleeves of his jacket are quite narrow and reach down to just above his wrists; they're decorated with a single thread lining and a decorative band. The jacket has a narrow, round neckline which reveals part of the luxurious shirt worn below it and it worn with a big leather belt, which is held together by an intricate knot. The leather belt is almost entirely functional addition. His pants are simple and a little wide and reached down to his leather booth. The boots are made from a very rare leather material, and are intricate in its design. Allura was in a majestic dress that flows from top to bottom and has a semi-sweetheart neckline, which daintily reveals the rather simple dress below it. The velvety, loosely tied fabric of her dress covers her developing baby bump, where the continuous flow is broken up by a small rope around her waist. Below the rope belt, the dress opens up wide and reveals the dress below. The front of the top dress is longer than the bottom dress and curves outwards; the back continues to flow a good length behind her in a narrow tip. Her sleeves are fairly short and incredibly wide, their flow is broken up below the elbow where they change color and where they are divided by the long, luxurious bands; these are the same color and fabric used to outline the bottom of the dress. Allura looked rather nervous one would say. She was standing in front of her mirror as Lady Anaphiel tying the soft corset on her back. Lady Anaphiel was now Allura's lady in waiting. Tending to the Queens every wish.
"My wife looks rather beautiful." Shiro said, stepping into the side of her mirror. Allura's tanned cheeks turned a soft pink, Lady Anaphiel stepped back, allowing Shiro to wrap his arms around her and presses his hands on her abdomen. Allura placed her own hands on top of his- the two of them glowing with happiness. "Don't over stress yourself today- I don't need my Queen to be sick."
"Shiro, I will be fine. The morning sickness subsided when I entered my second trimester." She said, turning around and kissing him gently. Shiro cupped her cheek with his robotic arm, the coolness of the arm made Allura press her cheek against it. The doors opened and Coran appeared, the two of them turned their heads and looked at the red haired Altean.
"Your Majesties, the crowd awaits."
"Are the Paladins and guards stationed?" Shiro asked, he kept a firm grasp on Allura's hand. She daintily held it in her own, they were doing everything they could to keep the Queen and unborn heir safe and secured on Altea. Minda stood next to Lady Anaphiel, as the Queen's midwife. Minda stepped up to the Queen and checked the tightness of the corset; she loosened it by just a centimeter.
"Lady Anaphiel- please make sure this dreaded thing is looser than normal. It could really suffocate the child."
"Yes ma'am." Lady Anaphiel chimed, she was a tall skinny Altean that had light brown hair. Minda sighed at the gown Allura was wearing.
"At your stage in the pregnancy you shouldn't even be in a corset! I'll have to let the seamstresses know." Minda said, Allura sighed and Shiro took her hand and kissed it.
"Let's go make this wonderful announcement." He said, walking next to her down the hall. Their steps were evenly matched, his with her soft and subtle steps. The lights flickered on as they walked down the hall, there had not been this much excitement since the coronation! Coran, Lady Anaphiel, Minda and the Royal Guards walked behind the two. The large, decorated doors opened up in front of them, and they walked onto the balcony of the Castle of Lions. The crowd erupted with cheer, and Allura's hand moved onto her newly swollen abdomen. The four Paladins, in their lions surrounded the castle. The crowd quieted down, which allowed the Royals to speak.
"Citizens of Altea!" Allura said, her sweet voice echoed throughout the garden. Shiro stood next to her, his arm entwined in hers. "I would like to announce that King Shiro and I are expecting our first child at the end of the year." She said with a smile, the crowd of Alteans erupted with cheer, congratulations, and many more.
"Queen Allura will be stepping down from her Royal duties when the time of the child's arrival comes closer." Shiro mentioned, Allura couldn't help but glow. When the announcement was over, there was no party- as the four Paladins had found a distress signal in one of the cameras off in the district. Shiro and Allura quickly made their way to the bedroom and changed into their armor- but Allura's didn't fit anymore. Instead, she put on a pair of work out pants and a pink top, following behind Shiro with a slightly annoyed look.
"Shiro- my armor doesn't fit."
"Allura, my darling, it is normal for you to grow out of clothing." He said, as the two of them were fast walking to the control room. Shiro turned and looked at her, he cupped her cheek and kissed her gently. "I'll be back- don't do any strenuous work." He said, before he ran into the area where the Black Lion was. Allura stood as the base, and quickly pulled the five colors up.
"Volton- have you found anything?"
"Yes, it was only an animal that breached the security." Keith looked so disappointed, as they all turned around and headed back towards the Castle of Lions. Allura let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on the chair behind her. Allura's thick, silver hair was put in a high ponytail. Coran looked over at the Queen, she seemed to be distraught?
"Allura, what's wrong?" Allura shifted her weight in the chair and sighed, the Lion's camera's turned off and she looked over at Coran, now standing.
"Nothing is wrong- I just realized I have to do the Grand Opening for the new elementary school that has opened. Now if you excuse me." She said, Lady Anaphiel and followed her back to the room.
"Your Majesty, you have three hours until the opening." The quiet voice of Allura's lady in waiting said, she had an appointment book out, it had Allura's scheduled visits, appointments, meet and greets and more rescue missions. "Then after that, you have an appointment with Lady Minda for your check up."
"Yes, yes I know Lady Anaphiel." She said, opening the door, she spotted her husband. She smiled slightly as she walked over to him, but seemed a little confused. "Shiro? Why are you back early?"
"I was the closest one to the castle, so I turned back when you called us." He said, Allura seemed angry at the decision.
"Why didn't you wait until the rest of the Paladins came back? What if Zarkon attacked and you were already back?"
"Allura, I doubt Zarkon would come back to Altea any time soon."
"It is a possibility!" She raised her arms over her head. "Now that I'm with child!"
"Allura! Stop with all the worrying! You're surrounded by the Guardians of the Universe and I am currently training the most talented guards Altea probably have ever seen."
"You have never seen the Altean Guards in action!" Allura snapped, turning her back from him and she headed towards her closet, which now had new clothing in it.
"I might not have! But I have trained with-"
"That was a robot that no Paladin could beat! You hardly made it out!" Allura interrupted without a care.
"I can now!" Shiro yelled, he clenched his fists together. Allura looked at him and took a step back. "Quiznak!" He yelled; tears started to streak Allura's cheek. She turned and ran out of the bedroom. Shiro sat down on the bed, while Allura ran down the hallway and into the kitchen. Though tears were streaking her cheek, she opened up the refrigerator, and took out the Altean version of chocolate pudding. She pulled a spoon out of the drawer and opened the cup up, sitting down at the island. Hunk was in the kitchen as well, and couldn't help but notice the Queen's tears.
"Allura? May I ask you a question?" The yellow Paladin asked. Allura has always loved Hunk; he was so kind, polite and caring. Just like the Yellow Lion. Allura looked up from her pudding cup and nodded her head.
"What is it, Hunk?"
"Is everything okay?" He asked sitting in front of her. "Like with you and Shiro?"
"Everything is fine, we just got into a squabble a few ticks ago." She said with a soft smile, wiping the tears off of her bottom eye.
"Are you sure? You've been tired recently."
"Hunk, I am pregnant."
"Yes I know that. But this is unlike you." Allura's eyes sparked at this comment. Was she really changing? She looked down at herself, her body was changing physically, but what about her mental and emotional changes?
"Hunk, I can assure you that I am still me." Allura said reassuringly. Hunk knew that her body was going through some changes.
"Allura, I am the oldest of four back home on Earth. I understand what is going on, you're going through changes."
"Hunk I do know that." Allura said, she looked at him as he opened up about his own home. "How was your home?"
"I miss it, I miss my little sister the most." He said with a smile.
"What is her name?"
"Lilliana- we call her Lilo." Hunk said, "She's a little spitfire I tell you." The door to the kitchen opened up and in walked Lady Anaphiel. Both Hunk and Allura looked at the Lady.
"Your Highness, we looked for you everywhere. Please come with me, you need to get ready for the Opening Ceremony of Altea Elementary." She said, Allura stood up with the pudding cup in her hand, she tossed it into the garbage disposal and smiled.
"Thank you Hunk." Allura said, as Lady Anaphiel hurried her off to the bedroom. Shiro was already dressed, in his more business casual wear. Which was a grey jacket with a black sash over him, he wore black pants and black tall boots. Allura on the other hand was wearing a semi-fitted light blue gown. It accented her forming baby bump and newly sore breasts.
"We will arrive there in an hour, then we will cut the ribbon. The two of you will make your speeches then we will hurry off here to your appointment with Minda." Anaphiel said, as she zipped the Queen's gown up. Shiro said nothing to the Queen, he would rather wait until they were alone to apologize. Allura nodded her head as her hair was braided into a crown piece. They quickly left the castle, and headed towards the newly built school. Shiro and Allura stayed quiet, which was rather unusual for the two of them. They were all smiles as they cut the rope, and made their speeches, they even gave a kiss! The couple looked at each other as they walked back to the castle.
"Allura." Shiro started and the female turned her head to look at him. "I wanted to apologize to you, for the argument earlier."
"No, Shiro. I am sorry." She said, looking down. "I shouldn't have started it."
"Allura, look." He stopped and had her look up at him. "You have a reason to be like this."
"But the baby shouldn't be an excuse."
"But it is right now. Your mood is changing along with your body. It's a lot to do and process." He said, taking her hand. "I am going to be here for all of it, no matter what we argue about." He said, kissing her gently.
"Guys- if we dilly dally any longer we will be late." Lady Anaphiel said, Allura rolled her eyes and kept his hand in hers as they walked to the large Castle of Lions. They walked into the bedroom, where Minda was already waiting.
"Queen, you're late." She said as they set up the ultrasound machine. Allura got into something more, comfortably- a pair of grey sweatpants and a pink t-shirt. She and Shiro were giggling at something as they walked out. "Get up on your bed and lift your shirt up." Allura did just that, she settled on the bed and held onto Shiro's hand. "Lift your shirt up, the gel will be cold." Minda said as she placed the gel on Allura's abdomen. It was rather cold, but it didn't phase Allura one bit. The two of them looked at the monitor as Minda pointed out their child. "Do you want to know the gender?"
"No!"
"Yes!" Both Allura and Shiro had two different answers, but eventually they agreed on not knowing the gender of the baby. They would much rather keep it a secret because they didn't want Zarkon to come and kidnap the child. Minda said that everything was perfect during the exam, minus the fact that the Queen had a mid to high blood pressure but it isn't something that can easily be handled with a little taking it easy and letting go of some Queenly duties.
During the rest of the day, the Paladins went to train with the robot training module. Allura was watching from the side line, of course Coran and Anaphiel was nearby. She was dressed in a pair of leggings and the same tank top. At level three, the robot had nearly wiped three out of five paladins off of their feet. "You guys have defeated Zarkon but you can't defeat the level three training robot?" She stood up, as she turned the training module off. All five Paladins appeared in front of her as she started to cross her arms. "Lance, you didn't have Keith's back, Keith you didn't have Lance's back either. Pidge you should have jumped when the robot swooped low. Hunk, you really need to learn how to control your weapon of choice. Shiro- what's on your mind, you didn't perform as well as you typically do." She walked over to her armor rack and pulled out her pink sword. All five Paladin's kept their mouth shut.
"Allura please-" Coran said, as he went to grab the female's shoulder. Allura turned, and she looked at him.
"Let me demonstrate. I've worked with this robot multiple times. I'm sure that I can train even with my condition." She said with a smile. Shiro walked towards her, and stood behind her.
"Allura, please don't, you have another body to worry about." Shiro said and all of the Paladins agreed that Allura shouldn't fight.
"It is bad for the baby. What if you get hurt?" Pidge chimed, looking at the Queen.
"Guys, I am completely fine to fight." She started to walk towards the middle of the arena. "Start, Training Level Three!" The Paladins stepped back as the Robot spung to life, standing in battle formation.
"My apologies, but it appears that you are expecting and I cannot train with an expectant mother. Please try again after the child is born." The robot said, so Allura made a move at it, striking it at its sword arm. "My apologies, but you should not be training, Miss." The robot went back into its charging cage and the Paladins snickered with laughter beside her. Allura's face turned hot red, and she turned towards the Paladins.
"Pidge! Did you add that new safety feature?" Shiro stared at Pidge, as their faces returned to their normal color.
"Yes, Shiro wanted me to so that way you wouldn't hurt the baby." If eyes could shoot laser beams, Allura would have killed Shiro.
"Shiro, didn't we talk about this?" Allura said, crossing her arms as she put the weapon down. Shiro took a few steps back.
"Lady Minda asked me too-" The rest of the Paladins and Coran quickly left the training area, leaving the couple to argue. "Allura, please let's go to bed."
"Shiro-" Her hand was quickly placed on her abdomen, as she felt a flutter in her stomach. Shiro's face turned to worry as he put one hand on her back and her belly. "I don't know what is going on!" She said worriedly, Shiro quickly escorted her to the bedroom and sent Anaphiel to fetch Minda. After a brief exam, Minda let out a chuckle.
"What is so funny?" Shiro asked, Allura laid still on the bed as the flutters came and went.
"It is just your child kicking." She smiled as Allura's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. "It is completely normal and healthy for your child to be moving." Minda said as she turned around and left. "You'll know if its labor!"
"I can't believe it-" Allura said as she started to sit up on the bed, but by the time she sat up, Shiro had already climbed in with her and started to snuggle with her. "Shiro! You need to go shower!"
"But I already did."
"Shower again! This time without that heavy perfumey soap you used!" She complained as she got out of bed, she had gotten very sensitive to all smells; basically everyone had to change to sensitive deodorants, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, etc. She brought a book over to the parlor room, where she sat down on the window chair and opened the book up. Within the next hour, Allura had crawled back into the bed and the book was on her belly. Her eyes were closed, and the light was dim on her nightstand. Shiro walked out and saw his beautiful wife, laying there asleep. He quickly walked over, a white towel draped around his waist, and another towel around his neck. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek, then turned the light off. She grumbled slightly, and moved over, ready to snuggle with her husband.
The next morning, the King and Queen were enjoying the time that they had alone in morning, and fooling around in bed was more like it. Keith and Lance left the Red Paladin's bedroom. The two of them, who were once enemies, are now becoming fast friends.
"I'm slightly surprised that the robot sassed Allura." Lance said, he was still in a sleepy slumber, dressed in his blue sweatpants and grey t-shirt. Keith, on the other hand was wearing a black t-shirt with red plaid pajamas.
"I'm thankful it did, because what if something happened to the baby?" Keith replied as they made their way to the kitchen. Hunk was already cooking the typical Altean breakfast.
"Maybe, when we visited Earth, we should have brought one of the pods and stocked it with food." Lance said; he was getting quite annoyed with the entire Altean goop, but Hunk made it extra delicious, which nobody truly minded. "What do you think, if we talked to both Allura and Shiro, about letting us go back to Earth?"
"Lance, you're crazy. With their child on the way, they aren't going to let us out of sight." Keith shrugged his shoulders; he knew that if they did go to Earth, then what if Allura and Shiro were here by themselves and Zarkon attacked?
"I didn't think of that."
"Of course you didn't."
"But still, we could always ask."
"Lance, don't get it in your head that you want to go back." Keith said as they rounded the corner down the hall, "You're just going to get homesick!"
"I want to see my mom." Lance said, looking down at his feet, there was a tear forming in his eye. Keith rolled his eyes and then looked at Lance, pathetic.
"We all do, but we can't leave Allura and Shiro helpless."
"Maybe they can come with us!"
"Lance, don't get your hopes up." Keith said, shaking his head as they made it into the dining room. Pidge was there, talking to Coran about the new update that he installed in Rover. Shiro and Allura, wasn't up yet- or maybe it was just present. But that didn't stop Keith, Lance, Pidge and Coran to sit down and Hunk brought the green goop out. They left a decent amount of Altean goop out for the couple when they arrived about a half hour later, both surprisingly pleasant. The two of them sat down next to each other.
"How was breakfast?" Allura asked, looking at Keith and Lance.
"Allura- I have a question." Lance started, as Keith went over to cover his mouth.
"DO NOT ANSWER IT!"
"What is it Lance?"
"Can we vacation to Earth soon? I think we all miss home." Keith put his hand on his forehead and sighed. Allura looked over and Shiro and had a thinking face on. Pidge and Hunk seemed well slightly confused at the question. But Allura was playing out the pros and cons. Her answer? Will come in the next chapter.