Chapter 7: Spatial Rift 2 – Holding On
The Atlas returns to Earth without being able to solve the mystery of the missing members of both teams, Coran and Pidge included. Trying to hold on to hope that he hasn't lost his wife forever, Hunk tries to hold it together and keep his daughter happy. Lance invites them to the McClain family farm.

June 14, 2332

Keith could hardly believe they had been in the Vidor system for nearly three weeks already. If felt simultaneously like they had just arrived, and like a lifetime. Particularly the two weeks since Katie and Coran's disappearance. The search and the research had continued, but there had been no new major breakthroughs. Even the oldest records they had pulled up from the systems had little to say about the people who had designed the place, or the mysterious door. It was as if they hadn't felt the need to put down anything more of themselves than what was carved into the walls. There weren't even any names of individuals or locations in the legends. They were referred to by attributes, and descriptively.

Hunk was a man possessed… and obsessed. He had gotten permission several times to go back down to the planet, and had gone down alone, and spent hours with the Vidoran scientists. Other times he could be found in the briefing room, or in his quarters, or even Katie's lab, pouring through all of the data again, and again, looking for something new to try or any piece of information that might lead to a new possibility.

Keith was almost certain Hunk wasn't sleeping. Up close, he smelled like a coffee pot, if coffee had a kick like a mule. Keith had tried several of Hunk's experimental coffee blends with ingredients from across the universe, and Hunk had come up with several that were far more potent than anything on Earth. He was clean, but his eyes were strained and bloodshot, and he was a bundle of nervous energy.

Not that it kept him from doing his job. To the contrary, the meals provided to the Vidorans for the membership diplomatic meetings that still needed to happen, despite the mission to find the missing scientists, were perhaps some of Hunk's most inspired. Certainly, they received plenty of compliments.

In front of their guests, Hunk was calm, collected, composed, and entirely unflappable. He smiled, accepted compliments with his usual grace, and helped form new bonds of friendship.

With his daughter, he was equally positive. The version of the story Caitlin had been told was that there had been delays with Mommy's work, and it was going to take her a little longer than usual to come home. She was running very late. Given how often Katie worked late and lost track of the time, it was completely believable and something Caitlin could understand. How late, for a child who could not yet tell time, was a vague concept Hunk had apparently not clarified.

Keith had never realized just how artful an actor—or a liar—Hunk could be. If he hadn't watched him in other moments, when Hunk wasn't focusing on his outward image, he would have thought that Hunk had it all together.

Instead, he was certain Hunk was falling apart. Unfortunately, since their conversation that night in the mess, Hunk had refused to talk about his feelings again. That, in itself, worried him.

As he sat next to Hunk for that morning's formal briefing, he wondered how Hunk would take the news that was coming. He couldn't know about it, or he wouldn't be sitting there feigning calm.

Navor stood at the head of the long table. "I am pleased to report that our negotiations with the Vidorans to join the Intergalactic Forces have concluded, and very successfully. They are very pleased to join us. Relieved I think really. So, with that objective completed, we will be leaving orbit tomorrow and heading back towards Earth."

Only the scrape of chair feet on the floor gave Keith any warning before Hunk was on his feet. "We're leaving? You've got over a dozen people lost on the other side of this… thing. We can't just abandon them!"

"Presuming they are still alive, we will continue to explore all avenues to mount a rescue," Navor replied stiffly. "However, we will not needlessly put any more members of any species at risk until we have some idea of how to do so safely, and what we are potentially walking into. We should feel fortunate that the Vidorans are inclined to block off the area and make it off limits for the time being, instead of destroying it as their government recently discussed at their last session."

"They wanted to what?!"

"But they are not," Navor reiterated. "They will continue to monitor the situation, and use the research that has been completed to see if they might, eventually, determine how to properly control it, or at the least safely disable it so the same fate befalls no one else. They will continue to send us their information as well." He looked pointedly at Hunk.

For a moment, Keith thought Hunk was going to explode. Instead, he nodded, and sat back down again, but for the rest of the briefing, there was a dark thundercloud in that corner of the room.

Definitely trouble brewing. Keith followed Hunk when the briefing ended, but at a bit of a distance. Or at least, he thought it was enough space to avoid notice, but halfway down an empty hall, Hunk stopped. A moment later he punched a bulkhead, sending a ringing metallic sound up and down the hall.

Neither of them spoke until the clang faded away to nothing.

Hunk didn't turn around. "You wanted to say something?"

No point in pretending otherwise. Keith approached at a normal pace. "I just wanted to see how you were doing?"

That elicited a hard, mirthless snort of a laugh. "How I'm doing? We're abandoning them, Keith. All that talk about continued research and future options… it's all bullshit. There's nothing to find. I've looked at all of it…so many times…and still. We're just… leaving them, and they act like it's just another mission. I've got until tomorrow… just tomorrow, or it's too late." He started moving again.

Keith grabbed the back of Hunk's uniform. "Hunk. Stop. You said it yourself, a day isn't going to make a difference."

Hunk turned, and Keith could not remember having ever seen that much ire in Hunk's face. And he'd certainly had enough people glare at him with hate over the years. "So, you think we should abandon Pidge and Coran, too."

Keith frowned, but didn't take a step back. "That's not what I said. What I mean is you can't go on like this. When was the last time you slept? You can't live on nothing but stimulants. It's not healthy…and what about Caitlin? Right now, you're all the parent your daughter has. What's going to happen to her if you keep working yourself sick?"

For a moment he could see the rise in him, as Hunk puffed up like he was about to explode in fury and frustration… but then he stopped, and it turned into nothing more than a shake of his head. Hunk turned away. "Stay out of it, Keith. Help me find her, or shut up and let me do this my way."

Keith watched him go, too stunned to come up with a better comeback. But since when is this your way?

August 10th, 2332

The trip back to Earth ended up taking two months, instead of weeks, due to additional stops added to the itinerary on the return trip, including a few missions. Months which turned into a blur for Hunk, even as they seemed to pass with a razor's edge on every second, cutting away at him a little more. At first, he waited daily, expecting at any moment to get some news. That they had found a way to use the door, or find some sign of the mysterious place where Katie might have gone to… anything.

But days passed, and he'd had to tell Caitlin he just didn't know when mommy was coming home. He couldn't bring himself to say she was never coming back. Still, there were nights when he might as well have, when Caitlin missed her mother and cried for hours, hiccoughing and eventually passing out on top of him. Then nights where she didn't want him at all, and would beg for mommy. Those were worse, when she didn't take any comfort in him. Then, he felt even more alone, and scared. He had never imagined himself going it alone as a parent. He loved Caitlin, but it was so much harder without Katie.

Despite his own pain, he was grateful for friends. Keith didn't hold a grudge, though he did give Hunk more space, until he left the ship just a couple of weeks after they left Vidor, going home to Acxa, and their son. Romelle—and sometimes even one of the MFE pilots—were happy to take Caitlin-watching shifts in their off time, because no matter that his life was crumbling, Hunk still had duties. There were other dinners, luncheons, special requests. Sometimes he wondered if Navor added new events to the schedule just to keep Hunk busy, and distracted from his own pain.

While distracted didn't work, busy did. Hunk refused to let anyone have an inferior meal, no matter what. Katie wouldn't have wanted him to, and he did it for her. He worked hard, long hours, and when he wasn't working, he spent time with Caitlin, and so the days rolled one into the next.

The worst part was his own subconscious. Katie was in his dreams every night that he fell asleep. Sometimes they were bittersweet dreams, where she was with him, and either she had been rescued, or had never left. In others she berated him for leaving her behind, for letting her go in the first place, for giving up… for letting her die. In both cases he woke up in tears.

His mind kept keeping time too. In those dreams. Katie's pregnancy continued apace. He knew exactly how far along she should be. By the time they reached Earth, she'd have been early in her second trimester. They would probably know by then if it was a girl or a boy. Not that they wouldn't have been perfectly happy with any outcome. Caitlin would have been all excited about becoming a big sister.

Almost the worst part, one step down from that, had been having to call the Holts, and then his own parents, to tell them that Katie was missing… again. As much pain as they had all gone through in the past, it felt like he had failed them too. Not that they felt that way. In fact, they had been as loving and sympathetic and encouraging as ever. Which somehow just made him feel worse.

Talking to Lance, at least, had the satisfaction of listening to Lance rant about how quickly the teams had left off and how unfair it was, and all the things Hunk felt himself. And Lance had offered to send any information Hunk had to some contacts of his, to see if anyone else might be able to find this mysterious Kydaxin place. Not that the search had turned up results yet, but it gave him something to cling to.

Hunk almost didn't want to arrive on Earth. Coming home meant returning to their apartment, only it would seem emptier. Katie would not be calling from the lab, running late again, or curled up in their bed, or rocking Caitlin to sleep. There was no reason to rearrange Caitlin's room to accommodate a second crib now.

In a way, it was a bit of relief that it was the middle of the night at the Garrison when the Atlas landed. The only people who met Hunk at the bottom of the ramp were Sam, Colleen, and Matt. Colleen got to him first, giving him the biggest, warmest, motherly squeeze. "Oh, Hunk, I'm so sorry. But don't give up," she looked at him with a determined expression. "We'll keep doing everything we can to find Katie and the others. You know that. We didn't last time, and we won't this time."

There was a burning in her eyes that Hunk knew all too well. He nodded. "I won't. Thanks, Colleen."
She gave him a small, tight smile, then reached out for Caitlin. "Now give me my granddaughter. Come here, my girl. My goodness you've grown!"

Caitlin, despite being sleepy, eagerly made the jump from Hunk's arms to her grandmother. Hunk was momentarily surprised by her comment, then he realized Colleen was right. She hadn't seen Caitlin in almost four months. That was a lot of growing for a kid this young. She was a full two-and-a-half now. Soon, they would be potty training.

Something else Katie would miss, and he would have to figure out on his own.

"We don't want to keep you," Sam said as he gave Hunk a shorter, but no less caring hug. "I just thought you might like a lift back with your luggage. Though you're welcome to stay with us tonight, if you want." His eyes examined Hunk's face. "A toddler's a lot of work, even a sweet one, and you look like you could use a few hours of uninterrupted sleep."

Hunk hadn't even considered that possibility. "I'd like that," he agreed. It was better than going right to their empty apartment.

"Great. I'll get your stuff." Matt reached for the bags. If the fact that there was only his stuff and Caitlin's gave him pause, he didn't say anything. Hunk hadn't been able to bring himself to pack up all of Katie's things with Caitlin watching. He would come back for them tomorrow. There was no reason to keep anything on the Atlas. Without Katie, he wouldn't be taking any more off-planet missions for a while. He had taken two weeks of leave starting the moment they landed on Earth. It would give them both time to readjust to life on the planet, and him time to figure out how to rearrange life to work without Katie in it. Temporarily, he kept telling himself. It was just temporary, but it might still take them weeks, or months, to find her, so he needed a plan that accounted for that.

It was a quick drive back to the Holt house, and Matt helped take Hunk and Caitlin's bags up to the guest room before heading back to his own place.

"Go ahead and help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you're hungry," Colleen offered. "I'll get Caitlin tucked in." Then she disappeared upstairs with his daughter in her arms. Hunk didn't think it would take her long to go down for the night. She was already drooping.

Hunk was too tired to argue with either statement. He poked his head into the kitchen, limiting his late-night snack to cheese and crackers. While he knew Colleen had meant the offer, he didn't want to clean her out of anything important by accident. When he came out again, the only person downstairs was Sam. "I'm surprised you're still up."

"It would be rude to just go to sleep," Sam replied with a tired smile. Though he had that worried look Hunk was getting tired of seeing on everybody's faces. The well-meaning concern. "It's good to have you home, Hunk. I'd be lying if I said we haven't been worried about you and Caitlin."

"I appreciate that." It was the only thing he could think of to say. "It's been… rough. Caitlin misses Katie so much. I do too, but she doesn't understand what's going on. Just that her mother isn't here."
"And what about you?"

Somehow, face to face instead of over communications, it was harder to lie. Hunk shrugged, responding in a quiet voice. He didn't want to wake Caitlin. "I can't say I've ever felt worse, but I'm getting by… one day at a time. Can't say I'm sleeping well. I miss her so much… it's just eating me up inside." He sighed, but pushed on. Though his tone kept getting softer. "And… there's something I haven't told you, that I need to. Katie… she's pregnant." There, it was out.

He was not prepared for the fatherly hug that engulfed him a moment later, but he returned it, holding back just enough he didn't think he broke Sam. For a minute, or more, they just stood there, sharing the feelings of probable loss, and certain heartache.

It eased off as they heard the door to the bedroom upstairs open. A moment later, Colleen came back down. "She's all tucked in and completely out. All it took was a lullaby and her stuffed animal." Her expression turned to one of appraisal. "You however, have not been getting enough sleep."

"How can you tell?" It was meant as a joke, but it came out a little flat.

"I'm a mom. We just know these things." Colleen shrugged. "The good news is, I've got something that should fix you right up." She vanished into the kitchen.

"Do you know what she's up to?" Hunk asked Sam.

"Not really," Sam admitted. "But it probably has to do with plants."

It was a good guess. A few minutes later, Colleen returned, handing Hunk a hot steaming cup. "Here, drink this."

"What is it?" Hunk asked, sniffing it curiously. It smelled herbal.

"It's an herbal tea blend I make myself," Colleen replied. "Lavender, chamomile, passion flower, a little ashwagandha, lemon balm, and mint. Non-habit forming, but effective."

It certainly smelled okay, and as if she had added a little honey as well. "Does it work?"
"I'm a botanist."

"Right. Stupid question." Hunk took a sip, letting the flavors and hint of sweetness wash over his tongue. If nothing else, it was tasty. If he was lucky, maybe it would work, at least a little. "Thanks."

August 11th, 2332

The apartment looked exactly as they had left it several months before, except for the fact that it needed a little dusting. Hunk had declined any offers to stay at the Holts' longer, just because he knew he couldn't avoid coming home, and the longer he did the harder it would be.

The worst part was that it felt deceptively normal. Everything was in its place. Even the computer magazine Katie had left on the coffee table the day they left. Caitlin was temporarily distracted by the joys of rediscovering the toys that had been left in her room. They hadn't taken everything into space with them.

The pantry was still full of dry and canned goods that hadn't expired, and there were a few things in the freezer, though they had left the refrigerator empty on purpose. Shopping was definitely going to be a priority if they wanted anything of substance to eat. Or at least, with more than nominal nutritional value. Caitlin was a growing child, who needed her daily fruits and vegetables, and a balanced diet.

But first, he just wanted a few hours to decompress and figure out what else they wanted to do with two open weeks.

He had barely settled onto the couch with a snack when the doorbell rang. Getting up again, Hunk went to the door.

Lance stood on the landing, grinning, with his hands full of what looked like cloth grocery bags. "Hey there. Up for a visitor?"

"Hey, anyone who does my shopping is welcome in my house," Hunk replied with a bit of a real smile as he stepped out of the way, and let Lance in. He didn't even bother to ask how Lance knew he was home. Veronica had been on the Atlas during the last mission as well. If she was home, so was everyone else. "What did you bring?"

"A bunch of things," Lance admitted. "Milk, bread, fruit, fresh veggies; the usual things, and some ingredients. Also, some of my mom's home cooking, because she insisted." He chuckled, and set the bags on the counter. "I hope you're up for some shrimp tamales and ropa veija." He pulled out reusable containers and set them out, before he started putting away the groceries.

Hunk reached over and popped open the container that held beef and rice. The smell that hit his nose—still warm and ready to eat—set off his salivary glands. "Oh… oh that smells amazing."

At that moment, Caitlin poked her head out of her room, then squealed, and ran at Lance screaming, "Unca! Unca! Unca!"

"Caity-did!" Lance caught her as she threw herself at him, and scooped her up high in the air. "Hey there, kiddo! Did you grow again?"

"Uh huh," she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck as he hugged her. "I'm all big now."

"You sure are!" Lance squeezed her close. "Are you hungry for lunch?"

Caitlin nodded energetically, and as soon as Lance put her down, she ran to the table and scrambled up into her chair. "Ready!"

"Gosh, that's adorable." Lance shook his head, then turned back to the food.

"She's always adorable," Hunk replied, pulling out plates and silverware, before serving up a little of both dishes on a plate, and cutting the shrimp tamale and the beef up into bite-sized toddler pieces on one. He gave Lance a plate, then filled one for himself. Hunk was startled to see how much was still left, even after he loaded his plate. "Wow, how much did your mom make?"

"Oh, you know what it's like when she gets cooking. There are so many of us she just goes crazy. We'll have a freezer full of prepped extra food for a month. She wouldn't let me bring less. I guess she figured you could use leftovers, if there are any."

Hunk chuckled weakly. "Even I can't finish all this in a sitting."

"I didn't say it," Lance grinned, taking a serving. They moved to the table. "So, do you know what you're going to do with your time off?"

"How did you know I have time off?" Hunk looked up from his plate.

"You told me about it a couple of weeks ago," Lance reminded him. "And I'm glad. You need a break and it'll give you and Caitlin some time to spend together. So, do you have plans yet?" he asked before taking a bite.

Hunk went back to eating. "Not yet," he admitted between mouthfuls. "Colleen and Sam have already said they're happy to pick up extra Caitlin-watching when I go back to work. My mother wants in on that more, too. I did promise my family a visit for a couple of days, but that will still leave me all of next week."

"Excellent! You should come to Cuba and spend some time with us," Lance's face lit up. "We're having this huge family shindig. Not just my family, but a bunch of the cousins, and their kids too. Caitlin will have a blast, and Uncle Lance can teach her to swim like a fish."

That was not what Hunk had been expecting. "Won't your mother be upset that you invited us to a family get together?"

"Hunk, my family is your family. Besides, Mom loves you guys, and… she wouldn't leave me alone before I left until I promised to remember to invite you."

"Really?"

"Paladin's honor. Besides, Caitlin's my god-daughter. In our family, that makes you all family. That, and I think she's accepted that's as close to grandchildren as she's ever getting out of me." He shrugged it off casually, though there was a deeper understanding in his eyes. "I know you're probably not in the mood to have a good time, but it would be a good distraction, right? You need a change of scenery… something that doesn't remind you of Pidge every minute. Someplace you can just be for a while, and let things work themselves out. And it's not like you'll be out of contact. If any of my contacts, or any of Sam's, figure anything out, you know they'll tell you. The best thing you can do right now is focus on Caitlin, and yourself."

"It's weird when you sound wise," Hunk quipped. "But… you're right. I can't keep going over that data endlessly. There's nothing else there to find, and… Caitlin needs me. It's a very generous offer, and I'd love to take your family up on it."

"Great! I can't wait to tell Mom. She'll be thrilled."

Hunk looked at Caitlin. "So, what do you think? Do you want to go visit Uncle Lance's farm?"

Caitlin brightened up. "Farm? With animals?"

"Lots of animals," Lance promised.

"Yeah!"

It was impossible to not feel at least a little joy when she smiled that big. "There you go. We're all in."

August 16th, 2332

Someday Hunk was going to get used to the dichotomy of having a farm within walking distance of a beach in the Caribbean, but it might not be today. When Lance had invited him and Caitlin to visit during a family get together, Hunk should have expected that half of Cuba would show up.

Okay, so it wasn't really that many people, but he was fairly certain that between the number of people he saw on the farm, and heading to-and-from the beach, there must be at least sixty members of the extended McClain clan. As promised, that did include a small hoard of children varying in ages from infants to teenagers.

In the distance, visible beyond the edge of the farm where the land dropped down towards the ocean, was the glint of blue-green water in the afternoon sun.

"What do you think, Spark?" Hunk asked Caitlin after he took the last of their suitcases out of the back of the taxi, and paid the driver.

His daughter, who was standing safely next to him out of the road, was staring down the walkway towards the house, and the barn, and the juniberry fields, with big, wide eyes. "Wow," she said in reply.

"Yeah. That sums it up. Come on, kiddo. Let's go find Uncle Lance." Hunk tossed his bag over his shoulder, and hers as well, then took Caitlin's hand. Together they walked up towards the house.

It was a testament to how big the family was that other than a few curious glances, no one even stopped to ask Hunk if he belonged there.

The first familiar face he ran into was at the front door when he knocked, and Lance's mother answered. Her face lit up at once. "Hunk! It's so good to see you. I'm glad you took us up on the invitation to our little get together."

Little? Hunk smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. McClain. It means a lot to both of us, and I'm looking forward to it."

"Excellent. Please, come in. Believe it or not we have a room for you saved upstairs. You can put your things in there." She led him inside, and up the stairs.

The main farmhouse had several upstairs bedrooms. Hunk and Caitlin followed her down to the very end of the hallway on the top floor, right past a bathroom. She opened the door on the left, showing them into a small room with a single sized adult bed, and a toddler bed. The room itself was simple, with ocean-blue walls. The toddler bed, however, had a thick downy pink-and-purple striped comforter and pillow cases.

"This was Marco's room when he was a boy," Mrs. McClain explained. "Though we bought the coverings for the little bed for Veronica."

Caitlin grinned, running over and flopping on it. "Love it!"

"It's great," Hunk assured her.

"Well, I'll leave you two to get settled," she said from the doorway. "Dinner will be at seven, so you've got plenty of time. There's a shade pavilion with drinks and snacks down by the beach. If you want to find Lance, he's probably either checking the juniberries or helping set up the long tables for dinner."

"All right. Thank you, Mrs. McClain."

"See you in a bit, dears. And Hunk… you can just call me Mom. Everyone else around here does."

"Yes, ma'am."

When they were alone, Hunk looked at his daughter, who was sprawled out on her back on her temporary bed like a princess in a kid's movie. "All right. So, what do you want to do this afternoon?"

"Go the beach!"

Well, that was a quick enough decision. "All right. You need to put on your swimsuit under your clothes. Do you need help?"

"Nu uh." Caitlin shook her head. "I can."

"Okay. Then you change in here, and I'll use the bathroom." Hunk pulled swim trunks out of his bag, and a casual shirt to wear to and from the beach, and left the room to give his daughter space. It only took a couple of minutes to change, though he went slowly to give Caitlin time to get dressed on her own. She knew how to put on her swimsuit, shirt, and shorts, but it was still sometimes challenging. Nothing had buttons or zippers though, so she should be fine.

The downside to choosing the bathroom was the large mirror that took up most of the wall. It had been a while since Hunk had looked in a mirror for longer than it took to shave, and then it was the very small mirror on the Atlas. As a whole, Hunk wasn't a huge fan of mirrors. Cheap ones always made him look lousy. This one was pretty okay though, he decided. At the very least he didn't look any wider than he actually was. The yellow-and-black diamond patterned swim trunks still fit, thankfully, and they went all right with the white shirt, and white-and-yellow Hawaiian print he'd pulled over it. The mirror reminded him his hair was a bit overdue for a trim, but it wasn't all that much longer than usual.

What made him wince was the expression on his face… and his eyes. The weeks of pain and lack of sleep had taken their toll. Bloodshot eyes, and the area around them was tight and pinched looking. No wonder people kept looking at him with concern. Hunk tried to smile. It never touched his eyes. He took a moment, and tried again, until he could manage a respectably not-terrifying expression that looked, at least passably, like a real smile. There, that was the face he needed.

He went back to their room, knocking at the door first. "Caitlin, sweetie, are you ready?"

"All ready," Caitlin called back.

Hunk opened the door, and grinned. Over her new green-and-purple floral one-piece swim suit—which was over her swim diaper— Caitlin had pulled on pink shorts and her bright green t-shirt with a smiling kitty face on it. "Do you want your hair up?"

"Yeah. Two tails please." Caitlin ran to her bag and pulled out two purple fluffy hair ties, and her brush.

"Up or down?" Hunk asked as she hopped up on the bed, and he sat down next to her.

"Middle."

"Middle it is." Fortunately, he had a good amount of practice at most of his daughter's current preferred hairstyles. Like Katie, Caitlin liked hair simple and out of her way. Though that might change as her hair got longer. Right now, it just brushed past her shoulders, though the riot of curls meant it needed regular brushing more than once a day. When he was done, he grabbed sunscreen, Caitlin's little neon yellow-and-pink floating life jacket, and towels. He tried not to wince as he pulled out the only two beach towels they owned, since they were the exact yellow and green of the old lions. "All right. Let's go find Uncle Lance."

They went outside, and a quick question to two darting kids sent them through the kitchen and out the back door, and under one of several large event pavilions set up out behind the house. There were several picnic tables set out around the area.

There were about a dozen men and women setting out benches at the tables, and covering the tables with colorful table cloths.

Hunk spotted Lance as he set down a bench at one of the farthest tables, and then stood up. Lance looked their way right about the same time and waved. Hurrying over. "You made it!"

"We did. Your mom has already shown us our room for the week, and Caitlin is already determined to go fling herself into the ocean." Hunk looked around. "Is all of this just to feed your family?"

"It's necessary for extended family get-togethers," Lance nodded. "Besides which, there are four birthdays this week alone, ten for the entire month, and nine couples who have anniversaries, and my cousin Julio's daughter Maria has her quinceañera at the end of the week. So, it all turns into one giant ongoing party every night and we just kind of celebrate everybody when we have one of these."

"So really, almost no one is even going to notice we're here."

"Basically." Lance nodded. "Except the family who knows you. I told you it wasn't a problem. If you two want to head on down to the beach I can join you as soon as I'm done here."

"Well, you want some help?" Hunk offered. If there was something he could do, it was heavy lifting.

"I help, Unca Lance!" Caitlin nodded seriously.

Lance smiled. "How can I say no to such expert help? You see Tia Benita over there? Can you help her put the tablecloths on?"

"Yeah!" Caitlin darted over, while Lance waved at Tia Benita, an older woman with thick gray hair and a bright smile. She looked at the little girl running her way and smiled.

"You can help me with the last few benches." Lance turned and led the way.

It only took a few minutes to finish, and then Hunk reclaimed his daughter, and headed in the direction of the ocean. Despite how close it looked, it was a deceptively long walk. Not that it wasn't beautiful, or fascinating to a two-year-old. Caitlin gasped enthusiastically at everything. She saw the cow fields in the distance, and a couple of horses, and butterflies everywhere, as they walked through the juniberry fields. The delicate scent, and the familiar blossoms, wafted lightly up into Hunk's nostrils.

Atop Katie's thick, unruly hair, a crown of white and purple tropical flowers, with juniberry blossoms throughout…

His throat constricted, and Hunk had to fight back tears. Not today, not in front of his daughter. Katie had worn flowers from these exact fields at their wedding. Flowers Lance grew in honor of Allura. Seeds from his farm here had gone to help re-flower large areas of Altea. They might be good business, but that wasn't why Lance had started cultivating them.

"Pretty flowers."

"They are pretty," Hunk agreed, swallowing hard. "They're called juniberries."

"Jue-berry!"

"Close enough. If you ask Uncle Lance later, I'm sure he'll let you have some, but we don't pick these without asking, okay? They aren't ours."

Caitlin nodded, and they continued walking. As they reached the edge of the hill, the ground dropped away in a long low slope of grass to the beach. The path turned into stairs, before vanishing into the sand.

Hunk could now believe that all of the tables were necessary. There were at least forty people on the beach alone. Another pavilion had been set up here, with tables of snacks and drink coolers, just as Mrs. McClain had said there would be. There were plenty of kids and adults alike, sprawled out in the sun, or playing beach volleyball, or splashing in the surf. There was a group of smaller kids building a huge sand castle, though it looked more like a space ship. It could be both.

Apparently, Caitlin had the same thought. "Look, Daddy. Castle ship!"

"It does look like the castle ship," Hunk agreed. "Do you want to play too?"

Caitlin nodded. "Go say hi?"

"That's right. Let's go introduce ourselves and you can see if they will let you play too, but you have to play nice."

"Always nice." Caitlin hurried across the sand, lifting her feet carefully, and managing not to trip. Of course, he and Katie had been taking her to visit his own family since she was tiny, so she had walked on a few beaches, even if she didn't consciously remember them.

There were several parents sitting around watching the kids at the sand castle as well. Or at least, Hunk presumed they were the parents as they were all around his age. Some a little younger, and a couple a little older.

Then he recognized one of them as Lance's sister Rachel, and relaxed a little. At least it wasn't entirely a group of strangers. If he remembered right, she had a little boy now who was four. He was probably one of the ones building. "Hey, Rachel."

Rachel looked up from the conversation and smiled. "Hunk! Lance told us you were coming. Glad you made it."
"Thanks." He joined them as Rachel made quick introductions. Hunk tried to put names with faces but they flew by. He hoped he remembered a few of them later.

"Wow, is that Caitlin?" Rachel looked at Hunk's daughter, who was now standing a couple of feet from the castle and talking with the other kids.

Hunk couldn't hear what they were saying. He hoped it was friendly. "Yep. She saw them building and that was the first thing she wanted to do. They won't mind, will they?" She looked younger than most of the other kids, though not necessarily much smaller.

"Not at all," one of the other women assured him. "The more the merrier."

And so it seemed, because a moment later Caitlin was in among them, building like a pro.

"Someone's a natural engineer," Rachel grinned.

"Thanks. She gets it from both sides," Hunk commented, trying to sound casual.

Fortunately, no one asked any leading questions off the statement. No one asked about Katie, and Hunk wondered how much Lance had, or hadn't, told his family. The conversation picked up where it left off, and Hunk could sit and nod and pretend to listen, even as he watched Caitlin playing and socializing and happy. The slightly older kids showed her how to use the various buckets and other shaped toys to pack and shape wet sand. They were far enough away from the water though, that the waves couldn't quite reach them. Not that Hunk was going to take his eyes off his daughter this close to the water.

Hunk had to admit, Lance had been right. The beach was cathartic, with the happy shouts of people, the quiet rumbling of the waves, and the heat of sun and sand. It was different enough from the beaches of his family's resort that it didn't immediately bring up painful memories. The scent of the local vegetation was different.

"Well, you didn't waste any time getting started on the fun without me."

Hunk looked up as Lance joined them. "Caitlin couldn't resist." He nodded at the castle ship thing which, whatever it had intended to look like originally, now definitely looked like a space castle with rockets on it. Possibly Caitlin's influence.

"That's pretty impressive," Lance agreed. "I guess the swim lesson can wait until they're done. It doesn't look like that will take long."

Indeed, it didn't. Within another ten minutes the children declared the castle complete and, seeing as it was fairly late afternoon, a small crowd of parents and small children started back up to the house to begin the process of cleaning up for dinner. Though Rachel promised to make sure to find Hunk so Caitlin could be included in other group activities with the smallest kids.

"So, where did you have in mind?" Hunk looked up and down the beach. While he would have preferred Caitlin's first swimming lesson be in something a little less finicky than the ocean, he trusted Lance. Besides, they had both grown up swimming in sea water.

Fortunately, Lance seemed to be reading his mind. "There's an inlet just up the beach that fills when the tide's in, but it's got a natural barrier, and it's only a few feet deep. Still, it's got room for someone her size to practice floating, treading water, and basic strokes. That's where most of us learned the first time."

"Great!"

"Swim time!" Caitlin ran ahead down the beach, her dark pigtails bobbing.

They spent the next hour showing Caitlin the basics of water safety. For this, she didn't need her life jacket, but she didn't seem to care. Fearless and eager, she picked up floating on her back easily, and then spent longer treading water, and holding her breath underwater, before Hunk and Lance taught her kicking and a basic front crawl. Not that she mastered any of it in that time, but the floating, holding her breath, and treading were better than anything else, and those would help keep her safe.

Eventually, Lance glanced up at the sky. "We should probably head back. It'll be dinner soon."

Hunk looked at the position of the sun. "I thought we still had an hour or so."

"Technically we do," Lance admitted as Hunk wrapped Caitlin in her towel, and she busied herself wiping dry. "But Veronica said she was bringing her new boyfriend with her, just for dinner. I have to be there to be all brotherly disapproving with Marco and Luis."

Ahhhhh. "Of course," Hunk nodded, now rather curious himself. "Any idea who this guy is?"

"Not a bit, though I'm suspicious he's part of the Garrison at least," Lance replied as he pulled his blue shirt back on. "I don't know how she'd find time to see a guy who isn't."

Hunk tried to think if he had noticed Veronica around with anyone in particular, but he had to admit that the past few months he hadn't paid much attention to anyone's personal lives at all. "Well, hopefully he's ready for the interrogation squad."

"If not, he'll never make it in this family." Lance nodded. "Let's go. You're going to enjoy this. Mom's broken out all the best family recipes, but I bet she'll let you pick her brain for recipes and secrets later."

"Now you're talking my language."

By the time they walked back up to the house, and Hunk got Caitlin washed up and both of them changed into clean clothes for dinner, the family had started gathering outside. A lot of Lance's family, Hunk had learned over the course of the afternoon, lived nearby, several on small farms of their own, though as big as the family was, there were quite a few that had come in from other parts of the planet.

They were downstairs just in time to hear Mrs. McClain's announcement from the door that she could see Veronica arriving with the new boyfriend in question. This declaration was met with a small stampede as Lance and the rest of his immediate family hurried around the house to meet the mysterious stranger.

Hunk followed, partially out of curiosity, and partially to say hello, but he stopped dead as he and Caitlin came around the corner and he could see Veronica and her boyfriend already crowded around by McClains.

Lance was standing in the doorway, with a poleaxed expression.

Hunk understood why as he got a good look at the guy with Lance's sister. "Matt?!"

Katie's brother stood there in the midst of the crowd, laughing, and grinning a little sheepishly at the hoard welcome.

"I did not see that coming." Lance shook his head. Then he looked at Hunk. "Did you know about this?"

"Did I know my brother-in-law was dating your sister? No, I most certainly did not," Hunk replied. "When did this happen?"

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out." Lance moved forward again, shoving in through the family crowd toward the center.

Hunk followed, but he found he didn't need to push. The crowd generally parted for him, which was good, because Caitlin practically jumped out of his arms with a squeal of "Unca Matt!"

Matt startled, then looked around. A moment later he spotted Hunk and Caitlin, and his expression looked almost as stunned as Lance's had a minute earlier. But there was too much crowd between them to be heard, so Hunk didn't say anything. Besides, Lance had caught up to Veronica and Matt and was letting them know in no uncertain terms that—while he was obviously relieved in Veronica's choice of boyfriend compared to the alternatives—not warning a friend was incredibly unfair.

Then the large bell rang for dinner, and the novelty of Matt was not enough to keep the crowd from serving and eating food. There was a lot to be done to feed this many people. Which left enough room for Hunk to let Caitlin down so she could run to her uncle. Which immediately made Veronica look up in surprise, and she spotted Hunk too.

"Hey there, Caity-cat," Matt smiled at Caitlin. "I didn't know you were coming too."

"Uh huh. An' daddy." Caitlin pointed at Hunk.

"I see that," Matt replied.

"I didn't know Lance invited you," Veronica admitted as Hunk was finally able to approach.

"Actually, your mom invited me through Lance," Hunk clarified. "We've only been here a few hours." He couldn't pass up a chance to mess with them a little though. "So, this is a thing now."

Matt blushed, even as Veronica shrugged. "Ah, yeah," Matt replied.

"What of it?" Veronica asked, looking as if she expected a response similar to Lance's.

Hunk shrugged, and cracked a smile. "I'm happy for you, that's all."

"Oh. Thanks." Veronica relaxed her posture. "I guess we should all get to dinner then. I should see if Mom needs help in the kitchen." She gave Matt's hand a squeeze, then vanished inside behind Lance.

"Did you honestly think I'd be upset?" Hunk asked Matt as they headed around the outside of the house. Caitlin trotted along at Hunk's side. "You're both great people, and everyone deserves to be happy."
Matt shrugged. "Not really, on the upset, I mean. The timing just seemed insensitive, with Katie missing. I told Mom and Dad yesterday, and we're just dating right now."

"Well, you've got me routing for you," Hunk promised. "I hope it works out." Everyone deserved a chance to be happy, and as much of a surprise as it was, if he thought about it for a minute, Veronica and Matt were a good match.

"Thanks. That means a lot."

Hunk was not at all surprised to find himself and Caitlin eating dinner at the same table as Lance, Veronica, Matt, Rachel, her husband, and their son, who was seated right next to Caitlin. The two kids immediately started babbling away in that half-language small children all seemed to have.

Lance had not exaggerated. What came out of the kitchens definitely qualified as a feast. Platters and trays heaped with meat, fish, vegetable dishes full of potatoes, tomatoes, and corn, rice, fruit; some fresh, some steamed, some fried. Hunk couldn't choose so he just took and tried some of everything. When dessert came out, he did the same. There was a flan, and a sweet potato dessert, and cookies.

There was far too much to give all of it to Caitlin, so Hunk let her choose what she wanted to try, as long as she picked at least one meat, one fruit, and one vegetable. She got to try a couple of small bites of all the desserts. The last thing he needed was her bouncing off the walls all evening.

Around the time dessert started, Lance's father stood up and welcomed everyone to the family get-together, and made several announcements about the evening's entertainment—which apparently involved a band three of the cousins had put together— down at the beach, followed by drinks and a bonfire after the littlest children were in bed.

"It's a blast," Lance commented after Pop-pop sat back down. "Last time, Aunt Elisa and Uncle Lao brought out the family guitars, and played for us until almost dawn. I mean, on and off. There was a lot of singing, and storytelling. You'll enjoy it. Are you staying that late?" Lance looked curiously at Matt and Veronica.

Veronica looked at Matt, then nodded. "Neither one of us has to be back on duty until mid-morning, so we can stay around for at least the first part."

"That does sound fun." Hunk looked at Caitlin, and felt a small twinge of regret. He couldn't just put her to bed and then go all the way back down to the beach… could he? What if she woke up scared in a strange place? What would Katie have wanted him to do?

"You know what?" Rachel chimed in out of the blue. "Orfeo and Caitlin really seem to have hit it off. Would you like to do bedtime stories with us tonight, Caitlin?"

"Yeah!" Caitlin's eyes lit up, and Orfeo cheered. Then Caitlin looked at Hunk. "Okay?"

Hunk looked at Rachel, who just nodded, and he realized what she was doing. He smiled at Caitlin. "That sounds good to me, but you have to brush your teeth and get in your pajamas first."

Dinner ended soon after, and Hunk took Caitlin back upstairs to get ready. Once she was in a clean diaper and her pink-and-yellow polka-dotted pajamas, he helped her brush her teeth. She had just grabbed her yalmor when Rachel arrived in the hallway. "Are you ready for story night, Caitlin?" she asked.

"Stories!"

"Thanks for this," Hunk said softly as Rachel picked up his daughter.

Rachel smiled back. "Don't worry about it. Lance didn't tell me everything, but he told me enough. You need a break, and Caitlin will have a great time. Whenever you come up to bed, you can come get her from our room. Or, if it's really late and she falls asleep with us, you can get her in the morning. Now go relax."

Hunk wasn't sure he could obey that directive, but he would at least attempt it. He headed back downstairs. It wasn't quite dark yet, but there was probably plenty of clean up still going on, and set-up down at the beach.

Not that he was sure he could carry anything without exploding. With all the food that had been out this evening, how was anyone else not in a food coma? Instead, those who had clean up duty for this meal were scrambling around like crabs on the sand, hurrying to get leftovers put away—not that there was much left over—and the tables cleaned. There was also a steady trickle of people heading in the direction of the beach with coolers, and he thought he saw a truck on the road, heading that direction filled with scrap wood.

"Seasonal deadfall," Lance commented coming up beside him and looking at the truck. "Mostly from hurricane season. There's a decent amount that washes up on the beaches too, so that's been drying in the sun for weeks. We save it all up for summer bonfires. Be grateful you didn't have to chop it down into moveable chunks." He looked Hunk over. "Got it in you to help me carry a couple of coolers?"

Hunk chuckled. "You're funny. I can't remember the last time I was this full. How do you do this?" he voiced his earlier question.

Lance laughed. "Simple. You're not supposed to eat everything. Mom and kitchen crew cook everybody's favorites so there's something everyone will eat, including the pickiest kids. You'd have to be crazy to try and eat some of all of it… oh, wow, you did, didn't you?"

"This is me, Lance."

"True. Trust me, buddy, you want to pace yourself this week, or you are going to be hurting before we get to the end. This was just the beginning." Lance turned and gestured to the two big coolers sitting next to the table, before bending over and picking one up.

Hunk bent and picked up the other cooler without much effort needed. Still, his stomach twinged as he folded over, and he decided as he stood up that he was going to have to take Lance's advice if he wanted to survive the week. He didn't want to get in a cooking-versus-eating battle with an entire kitchen full of Cuban home cooks. If tonight was any indication, he might actually lose.

The walk down to the beach was enjoyable, as the sun set, and the colors shifted around them. The smell of the juniberry flowers filled the air, mingling with the other summer vegetation. It was just long enough that by the time he got down to the sand, he didn't feel like he might pop at any moment. He hoped no one wanted him to join in anything vigorous tonight, like a game of volleyball. They might end up wearing that mistake.

The pile of wood was well out on the beach, paste the edge of a dune that gave a nice ridge for sitting. It was already getting crowded, and Hunk could see that Veronica and Matt had claimed one of the spots on that sea-grassy ledge. Matt's arm was around Veronica's shoulder, as they talked quietly.

Lance set his cooler down next to the others under the pavilion that had been full of snacks and drinks earlier. Most of the drinks were still there, though now there were several coolers more, and from the open ones, these were not kid friendly. Hunk saw several kinds of beer, wine coolers, hard lemonade, and a few bottles of what looked like a variety of harder liquors. He didn't recognize all of them. Probably quite a few were local. Others he recognized as being from off-planet, though that was a much smaller selection.

"That is going to take a little getting used to," Lance commented, nodding in the direction of the couple of the hour.

Hunk shrugged, setting the cooler he had carried down next to Lance's. "Honestly I don't see what the big deal is."

"What happens if they get married?"

"Well, that would make my brother-in-law… also your brother-in-law. Your nieces and nephews would also be my nieces and nephews, and Caitlin's cousins… and you and I would still be completely unrelated by any Earth law or custom." The last was said with a wry smile. Lance would always be his best friend—besides Katie, but that was different—and like a brother. "Does it really bother you that Matt likes your sister? Or is it that your sister likes Matt?"

"Honestly, it doesn't really bother me. I was just surprised," Lance admitted. "She's my sister, but we're all old enough to make our own decisions, and there are plenty of way worse guys in the universe she could have decided she liked, and with them both working for the Galactic Coalition at least they'll see each other enough to make it work. I guess… I'm still not ready for another round of Mom giving me sad looks all the time because her baby boy is alone. She never bothers me about dating someone, but she's had Veronica to nag at all this time."

Hunk had not considered it from that perspective, even though one of the things he appreciated about hanging out with Lance was that Lance, of all people, understood Hunk's personal agony in a way very few other people in his life did, and knew how to talk about it without making it worse. Hunk was already tired of sympathy, of pep talks, of false hope. He had no idea whether to believe Katie was still alive or not, but he had to go on as if she wasn't, or he would drive himself crazy.

He couldn't do that. Caitlin needed him. Katie wouldn't want them to suffer on her account, but Hunk could no longer find it in himself to think of that as an uplifting idea. His optimism lay crushed and shattered on the floor.

"Hey?" Lance looked at him as he opened up one of the coolers and rooted through it. "You want a drink?"

For just a moment, Hunk hesitated. It was okay. Caitlin had other, trustworthy adults to watch her tonight. He wasn't driving or flying anywhere. He hadn't had a drink since Katie… vanished. He nodded. "Yeah. I'll take something. The best thing you've got."

The best thing they had turned out to be a potent, but very smooth, locally made rum, that was very pleasant to ease down as Hunk leaned against one of the big old logs set out on the beach for that purpose, and watch the bonfire. The kick was softened by a full stomach, and it just warmed him through with a light, pleasant hum. Against his own instincts, he began to relax. Around him, the fire crackled, and as expected, Lance's relatives brought out guitars, and sang songs both traditional and modern, some well, some terribly. Every so often one of Lance's relatives would ask if he wanted a refill on their way to the drink tent. With the lulling roll of the ocean as the tide began to move out, it was enough to put a guy into a trance.

"Well, that's the most relaxed I've seen you in a while."

Startled out of his reverie, Hunk looked up to see that Veronica had taken a seat perched on top of the log he was using as a back rest. The night had grown dark, despite the brilliance of the milky way above their heads, and he realized that the crowd had shrunk to about half the size it had been, and the guitarists had stopped. Whether they were taking a break or they had gone to bed, he wasn't sure. Half the crowd was still nearly thirty people. "It's hard not to relax in this atmosphere," Hunk admitted, though he suspected it had more to do with the rum than anything else. "Where's your date?"

"Oh, I said I was getting chilly, so he insisted on running back up to the house to get me a sweater." Veronica chuckled. "I figured I'd let him be unnecessarily chivalrous, so I didn't tell him no."

"That sounds like Matt." Hunk smiled. "It's nice to see him smile like that again." After N-7 had broken up with him, Hunk didn't think he'd seen Matt out with anyone since. Katie had said he had said he wasn't looking for anyone for a while. Apparently, a while was over.

"He has a nice smile." Veronica smiled as she looked at the bonfire. "I would have asked him out years ago if he hadn't been in a long-term relationship. I don't get involved with men who are already involved with someone else."

"A wise decision."

"I like to think so." She took a sip from her cup. "So, we've just been friends that whole time. I wasn't waiting for him, but none of my other attempts at dating went anywhere. It's really hard to have a relationship when you're bridge crew on the Atlas. So, we started hanging out regularly a few months ago, and he'd call me on the Atlas while we were in space. When we got back… he asked me out… for a real date. And, that's it, the whole story. Which you can tell my incredibly nosy little brother so I don't have to listen to him interrupt me a hundred times."

Hunk chuckled. "I'll tell him. You know, he doesn't actually mind you two dating."

Veronica smiled. "Yeah, I know." She took another sip.

"So, what's that one?" Hunk asked curiously. The cup was opaque, so he couldn't tell what was in it.

Veronica's grin turned wicked. "Dulce de leche. You think that rum is good? Wait until you try it in this."

August 17th, 2332

There were worse ways to wake up than a toddler landing on your still over-stuffed belly at the break of dawn, and a pounding headache… but Hunk couldn't think of any in the moment that Caitlin landed on him shouting "Up, Daddy! Up!"

He groaned. "Caitlin…." He gasped, fighting to get air back into his lungs without whatever was left of last night's feast coming back up. "What's the rule about waking people up?"

Caitlin landed back on the floor, looking appropriately contrite. "No jumping."

"That's right. Now, what's so important?"

"Food ready!"

That was when Hunk realized he could smell the scents of breakfast coming up from downstairs. His stomach lurched. "Great, sweetie. Do you need help getting dressed?"

"All done!" She held out her arms for inspection. For today's toddler chic she had paired bright tropical blue shorts with a shirt covered in green leaves and ladybugs. At the least, when he checked, her pull-up diaper was clean.

"Nice job. Let Daddy get dressed and we'll go have breakfast." Slowly, he walked out of the room, grabbing clothes as he went. He made it to the toilet before his stomach heaved up, not that there was much to come up, since most of it was well into his digestive tract. His stomach itself was empty. After a couple of minutes, things seemed to settle, and he got dressed, brushed his teeth, and went to retrieve Caitlin, who was waiting patiently which, for a toddler, meant bouncing on her feet but not complaining.

Thankfully the breakfast crowd was smaller downstairs, as many of the extended members of the family were eating at home, or in smaller groups at the various houses in which they were staying since not everyone was being put up on the main farm.

He also hadn't slept in too late, or at least no later than anyone else. Lance was sitting at one of the tables nearer the kitchen, and waved them over. "Look who's awake. I really wasn't expecting you until at least nine."

"Yeah well, thank your charming goddaughter." Hunk waited for Caitlin to climb up into a chair on her own, then started serving up her plate, cutting up part of a fresh omelet made with some of yesterday's beef and vegetables, and chunks of fruit. There was also fresh milk that Hunk knew came right from the cows on the farm.

The scents wafting off the table in front of him were as tempting as the ones the night before, though there were thankfully not quite as many choices, and it wasn't coming out in courses. He filled a single plate to start, and poured a large steaming mug of black coffee.

"So, was last night everything I promised or what?" Lance grinned as he added cream to his own coffee.

Hunk took a long, slow sip of rich darkness before he responded. "Please, just tell me I walked back under my own power last night."

Lance blinked. "You don't remember?"

That… was not good. "Please don't say it like that. That makes it sound like something happened that's going to haunt me the rest of my life."

Lance chuckled. "Well, as much as I'd like to say you gave us all an amazing hula lesson, it would be completely untrue. We hung out until the fire was low enough to be put out, and then you and I walked back up here, and you got Caitlin from Rachel's room, and tucked her in, and that's when I went to bed, so I assume you did too." The grin slipped a little. "You really don't remember anything?"

"Not past about midnight…I think." Hunk sipped his coffee slowly. "At least not clearly. Your relatives are very gracious hosts. One of your cousins offered me a refill… and another later. I'm not sure how many. I wasn't paying attention. Then Veronica introduced me to dulce de leche." He shrugged. "But I would never have believed that story anyway. I'm horrible at traditional dance."

"Then it's a good thing for you that's not on the list of family activities while you're here. Or at least, not that you'd be expected to participate in." Lance finished his coffee and sat back. "Not that there's anything in the morning really, since everyone has farm chores to do first. I figured, if you wanted, you two could come with me while I do mine."

"Sure, what are you doing this morning?" Hunk asked.

"Well, the flowers don't need much attention today, and the cows were milked at dawn. I'm on chicken, pig, and pony duty."

Caitlin almost dropped her fork. "Pony?!"

"That's right!" Lance nodded. "After we feed the chickens, gather eggs, and feed the pigs, we can feed and brush the ponies. Does that sound fun?"

"Yep!"

Thankfully no one really rushed over breakfast, so by the time Hunk had finished, he felt human enough to do farm chores. He and Caitlin followed Lance on a quick walk through the fields—just keeping an eye out for insects or blight or any spots that might need attention—and then they went to the part of the farm yard that had the chicken coops. As intimately familiar with the thousands of things you could do with eggs—and chicken meat—as Hunk was, he had never actually collected eggs.

Fortunately, Lance was an excellent teacher. Also, chickens were not complicated animals. As soon as Lance—with Caitlin's assistance—had spread feed in the yard, they were able to access the coop without any objection from the chickens.

"Colors!" Caitlin gasped as they pulled out eggs in a variety of soft shades of brown, green, blue, and a few white eggs.

"That's right. Chickens lay eggs in a lot of different colors," Lance held the egg basket and let Caitlin reach in and pull them out.

"But they all taste good," Hunk added as he reached in and pulled two eggs out of a higher nest that Caitlin couldn't reach. "And they've good plenty of protein, and iron, and vitamins."

Caitlin looked at him, slightly confused. "What's poteen?"

"It's something that's good for you," Hunk explained, crouching down to eye level. "It helps you grow, and gives you energy so you can run around play."

"Oh." Caitlin went back to carefully grabbing eggs.

"I guess we can save the detailed nutrition explanations for when you're older."

When they were done with the chickens, they moved on to the pigs, whose names—all given by Lance's mother—were Lacy, Lily, Gardenia, and Geraldine. They were incredibly happy for their meal, which was buckets of formulated pigs feed mixed with appropriate leftovers from the night before. Hunk watched them tuck in with happy abandon.

Lance reached over and scratched one of them on the back. "That's a good girl, Lacy. Eat it all up."

"Do they eat like that all the time?" Hunk asked.

"We don't feed them this much all year, no," Lance admitted, shaking his head. "Just when they're pregnant, or feeding a litter. All four of these sows are expecting a litter in the next couple of months, so we're making sure they get everything they need. These beautiful ladies are fairly petite actually, just over three-hundred pounds, when they aren't pregnant."

"I'm not sure I've ever heard anything over three-hundred called petite."

"Yeah well, farm animals all have their own categories." Lance grinned. He nodded to the pen behind, where a particularly large hog was eating his own breakfast. "Now Horace over there, he's our big eater. He's down to about five-hundred."

"Down to?"

"Yeah. He's pretty lazy, so we put him on a diet."

"You put a pig on a diet?"

"Hey, he's got to be able to keep up with the ladies." Lance shrugged. "Right now, he's our only breeding male. Lucky devil."

"Eat, sleep, breed, lay in the sun… a pig's life sounds pretty cushy."

"For the ones that aren't meat anyway," Lance nodded. "Mom only names the ones we keep for breeding. The rest are sold. When these girls get too old to breed, she'll pick out new ones from their last litters, and we'll sell Horace and get a new unrelated male, to keep the genes good."

Hunk didn't ask what happened to them after that. He knew, and Caitlin was watching.

The ponies were definitely the hit of the morning. The McClain farm had two little Shetlands: chunky, shaggy ponies in brown and black, who were more than happy to accept pats and treats, though they were much happier to get their feed. "This one is Rocky," Lance introduced the black gelding, "And this lovely lady is Cocoa."

Maybe all little girls really were destined to fall in love with ponies. Well, most. Hunk didn't think Katie had ever been in love with ponies, but it wasn't a question he had ever asked, and she had enjoyed riding the horses on his family resort well enough. In either case, Caitlin was enchanted and listened with surprising intensity for a two-and-a-half-year-old as Lance showed her how to brush their legs which, even for short ponies, was about all she could easily reach. When they were done, Lance asked the question that made the day. "Do you want to ride one?"

Hunk wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, but riding turned out to entail Caitlin sitting on a blanket on Cocoa's back, while Lance held her lead and the pony mostly nibbled grass. There was also a toddler-sized safety helmet in the barn. "We teach all the little kids to ride pretty early," Lance explained. "Cocoa's been here since I was twelve. She's a good old girl, and very patient. Nothing scares her either."

"That's good." Hunk gave the pony a scratch behind the ears, then one to Rocky who had walked up and was nuzzling Hunk's pockets looking for more treats. "I'm surprised you don't have any riding horses. You seem to have some of everything else."

"Hardly everything," Lance laughed. "Though the other farms that some of my relatives have do have a different selection. Some are more into pigs. Others are focused more on cash crops like rice and sugarcane. We actually used to grow corn in those fields before my parents let me use them for the juniberry flowers."

"I bet your parents are happy they made that decision."

"Well, we do make a surprising amount selling juniberry flowers, and bulbs. Though the biggest orders still go to Altea," Lance admitted. "There are a lot of planets that they grow well on, thankfully. They're in a lot of victory and memorial gardens, all across the universe."

Hunk smiled. "I'm sure Allura would love that."

"I like to think so."

August 21st, 2332

Coming home the second time felt a little less traumatic than the first, if only because Lance had been right. The time in a completely new environment, with plenty to do to keep his mind off of obsession about the investigation to find Katie, and to just spend time with Caitlin and help her adjust to the new dynamic, had been just what they needed. The days had flown quickly, and Mrs. McClain had assured him they were both welcome back anytime. Hunk promised they would take them up on it. Though he was grateful he wouldn't be reporting his next weigh-in to Corbin on the Atlas.

They arrived back at the apartment at the Garrison just before Caitlin's bedtime, so Hunk took her right in to get ready for a bath before her bedtime story. When she was clean and in her pajamas, Hunk sent her to her room to get in bed, while he took the towels in to the little laundry nook. He had just put them in the washing machine when he heard a sudden slam, followed by the screech of a toddler in pain.

"Caitlin?!" Hunk spun and hurried to his daughter's room.

Caitlin sat in the middle of the floor on her bottom, clutching one of the books off the shelf.
"Sweetie…what happened?" Hunk crouched down and looked at the red spot on his daughter's forehead. It wasn't swelling, thankfully.

"Tipped," she sniffled. "Book." She held up the book and pointed up at the shelf. Which Hunk translated as she had tried to get up on her toy box to reach the shelf, and had tripped and fallen. Thank the ancients she wasn't bleeding or hurt worse.

"Oh… Caitlin, we talked about that." Of course, she had almost certainly forgotten. "It's okay. You're not hurt. Want daddy to kiss it and make it better?"

Tears streamed down little cheeks, and her lips trembled. "Want… Maamaaa!" With that, his baby girl burst into heartbroken sobs.

Oh gods… Hunk's throat tightened, and he felt like his heart was tearing open. "Shusshh… it's okay. It's okay," he pulled her close, relieved when she didn't shove him away. Tears squeezed their way out of the corners of his own eyes as he fought to hold it together. "I miss Mommy, too. But we'll find her, and she'll come home again, I promise. It's just going to be a little while, but we'll find her…. We will." Just please… please don't cry. He pulled her up onto his chest and shoulder and sat there on the floor, rocking gently back and forth as Caitlin's wails of sorrow turned to sobs, and sobs to sniffles, and sniffles to the slow descent into exhausted sleep. Only when she was out cold did he dare to move, awkwardly rocking forward until he could haul himself to his feet. He settled Caitlin in her bed, and then ever-so-quietly slipped out of the room.

For a moment, he simply leaned against her closed door, his back to it, the weight of his emotions crushing him. Then the tears fell. Katie… Pidge…my love… please, you've got to be alive, somewhere. You just… have to be. I can't do this. Not alone. Not like this. We need you. I need you. Oh… gods…