Chapter 18: Reconnecting Part 3 – Home
Hunk, Pidge, and the children settle into their new home, routine, and life as a family at last.

July 10th, 2335

"It sounds like you all had a great time," Colleen Holt commented as the family sat around her table over lunch the day after they arrived home from Cuba.

"We did," Katie agreed, during a brief pause in her daughter's excited babble about their vacation. "Though it's always nice to be home. Even if it's a bit cramped these days."

"Have you thought about getting someplace bigger?" Sam asked.

Hunk and Katie both nodded.

"We've discussed it," Hunk replied. "It would be nice to have more space, and a fenced yard, though we would need to find a place we can afford. That might take some time."

Katie watched her parents exchange a glance. "Something you'd like to say on the matter?"

Colleen smiled. "Actually, I might know a house. General Galveston retired a few months ago, and he and his wife moved to Venice. Their house is empty and for sale, and it's just four doors down from us."

Katie knew Galveston. More as the neighbor down the street, having never served under his command. "Their house is similar to this one, isn't it?"

Her father nodded. "It's a little bigger, actually, but the same architect, like almost every house in the neighborhood. The listing price is reasonable, but they might take a lower offer just to get out from under paying for it since they've already moved. You should go take a look."

Katie looked at Hunk. This was much faster than she had planned on house hunting, but if a house that close to her parents was available, it would make things easier with handling work and the kids.

Hunk shrugged. "It can't hurt to look at it."

Hunk had to admit, the house was pretty much perfect. It had four bedrooms and two full bathrooms on the top floor. The main level had a guest bathroom, a spare room the General had used as a study, dining room, a front formal sitting room and a large family room. There was a small laundry room and, perhaps most importantly, a spacious kitchen that had been recently remodeled. A kitchen nearly four times the size of the little space in their apartment that barely deserved the name.

The back yard was a good size, with two large shade trees at either end that practically overlapped in the middle, and a nice brickwork patio. There was even a basement, that it looked like the General might have used as a home gym and spare projects room.

The children were fascinated, going up and down the stairs and poking their noses into everything.

Hunk kept finding himself standing in the kitchen, which it's beautiful hickory-stained cabinets, and Italian backsplash tiles, and granite countertops. The gas appliances included a double convection oven, and an eight burner stop. The center island top, beyond the burners, was industrial metal. The pot rack hanging above it was truly a work of crafted metal artwork.

"Someone's lusting over this kitchen," Katie teased him. "You don't even look at me like that."

"Well, the pantry is its own small room," Hunk pointed out, not even trying to deny it. The fact that he could fit himself inside it was definitely a plus. "The refrigerator is almost a room. Though, that's not the only thing I like about the house." He smiled down at Katie. "Did you see the size of the shower in the master bath?"

"The one big enough to fit two?" Katie replied, knowingly.

"With the extra high shower-head." General Galveston hadn't been all that large a man, but he was tall.

"It's pretty perfect," Katie agreed. "I mean, other than some of the paint choices, but nothing I can't live with for a little while."

Hunk had to agree. There was nothing wrong with the downstairs other than some of the colors were a little bland. Upstairs, well that would depend on which bedrooms the kids chose if they bought the house. "So, I guess we should ask the realtor about putting in an offer." It was a huge step…but one they could definitely afford. They certainly had enough saved up for a decent down payment.

"Let's do it."

August 15th, 2335

"Lemonade?" Katie offered, holding out a glass.

"You could leave the whole pitcher," Hunk suggested as he took the glass with a grateful nod. "Thanks." He up ended it and drained it in a few swallows. It did little to alleviate his thirst as he sat on the moving blanket covered couch in the middle of their new family room, his shirt plastered to his body with sweat from moving boxes in the hot summer sun. "Remind me never to move again."

"Houses, or from that couch?" Katie asked with a coy grin.

"Both, preferably." Hunk held up the glass, and waited while she refilled it. This time, she sat down beside him. "Right now, I think every part of me hurts." His back and knees in particular were screaming at him that he had definitely overdone it. Katie, on the other hand, hardly looked winded. In fact, with her hair pulled back in two short tails, she looked downright cute.

"Well, thank goodness for friends and family." Katie nodded, sipping from her glass. "I don't think we'd have gotten it all packed in time without Mom and Dad's help."

"Or moved it all without Shiro and Curtis," Hunk agreed. Their friends had only left a few minutes before to go home themselves and feed the boys, but they had been incredibly helpful.

"And as soon as they get off duty, Matt and Veronica promised to come over and help us with the critical unpacking."

Hunk groaned. "More moving boxes?"

"You'll have your kitchen unpacked."

"True." Hunk finished his second lemonade. It would be nice to have everything in place where he wanted it. He was looking forward to experimenting in and using that amazing new kitchen.
"They're also bringing pizza."

Hunk perked up. "I knew I liked your brother."

"It's for all of us."

"I always share."

Katie did not contradict him, but she looked amused. Instead of retorting, she looked past him out the large picture window into the back yard, where Caitlin and Kale were running around the nearest tree with Juni, who was bounding behind them, then in front. "I'm going to love having a yard."

Hunk chuckled. "No more standing out in the rain at three in the morning when the dog needs to go out. No more hiking all the way to the playground just to give the kids somewhere to play."

"Though we're going to need to build some kind of play area in the yard," Katie pointed out. "Otherwise, they'll get bored eventually."

Hunk nodded. "Give me a little time to be less broken, and we can design and build something fun they can play on for several years." That would be fun to design together. It didn't have to be a traditional looking playset. "Something one of a kind."

"You sound like you're already getting ideas." Katie smiled. "But yes, let's get settled in a bit first." She leaned over, her head resting against his shoulder. "I'm glad the kids like the colors of their rooms."

Hunk nodded. "Less painting is good." Of the four bedrooms upstairs, Caitlin had claimed the first one at the top of the stairs, which was the second largest, and currently painted a light purple. On the other side of the hallway bathroom between the two rooms on that side of the house, Kale had chosen the blue-green colored room. Across the hall from that room was the fourth bedroom, which was now full of boxes that needed unpacking. Then along most of the back of the house was the luxuriously sized master suite, with that glorious deep tub, and a shower big enough there was even room for Hunk to move comfortably. The master suite was currently a light yellow-green that he intended to leave on principle. The smallest bedroom was a neutral color, which was fine until they decided what else they wanted to do with it.

Or if they had another kid…

Hunk shook that thought off with a silent laugh. If he even suggested it Katie would probably hit him. He looked down at her beside him. Biased as he was, he didn't think anyone who didn't know her from before would even be able to tell she was a mother of two. Not with her lithe frame. Only he knew, better than anyone else, how much more curve there was in hips and breasts that had not been there before. Not that she had still looked fourteen in her twenties, but at fourteen she could have passed for twelve.

"Looking at something?"

Hunk shrugged. "Just admiring the view."

Her cheeks reddened a little, and she intertwined her fingers of her left hand in his. "Likewise."

Hunk leaned down to kiss her, but two breaths away, the room erupted in chaos.

The kids and Juni came in through the back door in the kitchen, shouting and barking, and the doorbell rang at the same time.

"It's Uncle Matt!" Caitlin shouted as she bolted towards the door.

Katie looked irritated, then laughed. "Later… you and I are going to test out the soundproofing in our bedroom that doesn't share a single wall with someone who might hear us." She kissed him quickly, then stood up, following the kids towards the door. "Don't mob your uncle!" she called out. "He might drop dinner!"

September 1st, 2335

Today was the first day of normal life. Or at least, that was what Katie had been telling herself all week. Caitlin was starting first grade, Kale would be spending his days with his Grandma Colleen, and Katie was finally going back on duty. No, the house was not completely unpacked yet, but it was getting there. With the help of Matt and Veronica, and additional help from her folks, and Hunks parents, and Lance, all the necessities were unpacked. It wasn't as if they had amassed a lot of personal items living in their tiny apartment. Well, Katie had a bunch of things, but right now everything that was not essential was still in boxes to be sorted and either found a place, or given away. Though with a house that big, she was pretty sure she could keep everything if she wanted to. However, after three years of minimalist living on Taklis, she had found that many of her pack-rat cluttered boxes held things that simply no longer seemed all that important. While others had taken on new meaning.

The other change in their lives was that, for the first time, she and Hunk owned their own land vehicle. Like most civilian Earth cars, it ran on a battery that could be charged at a charging station, or through the solar panels installed on top of the car. Not that they ever expected to use it except for daily living. If they were going anywhere at a distance, they would borrow a pod from the Garrison, or book a commercial air or space flight.

Still, it was nice not to have to walk everywhere. Especially not with two kids and armloads of groceries.

As they pulled up in front of Caitlin's elementary school for her daughter's first day of First Grade, Katie couldn't help feeling incredibly normal. Which, in itself, made it feel rather weird to just be two parents, bringing their daughter to her first day of school. While the pre-school and elementary shared a plot of land, they were different buildings. So, this would be Caitlin's first time in the big building.

Katie had not been too surprised upon coming back to find out that her daughter had started school early. When she had been tested and found already advancing above levels, the schools had agreed to let her start pre-school at three-and-a-half. Of course, Katie wasn't willing to rule out the probability that Caitlin's position as child of two Paladins and the Admiral of the Galaxy Garrison's grand-daughter might not have had something to do with their agreeability.

Kale was already with her parents, so Hunk and Katie walked Caitlin in to find her classroom. They were hardly the only parents in the hallways, and Katie recognized several of them. Almost everyone who lived in the neighborhoods in this area had some member of the family stationed at the Garrison. Those parents were easy to identify as they were already in uniform, dropping children off on their way to the Base.

They stopped at the lists in front of the office, and Katie scanned them for Caitlin's name. "Ah, there we are. Room twenty-one… Ms. Ellison."

Next to her Caitlin gasped. "Really?"
"Do you know her?" Katie looked down at Caitlin.

"She was my kindergarten teacher. Come on, Mom! You have to meet her." Caitlin grabbed her hand, and practically dragged Katie down the hall as if she knew exactly where to go.

"She must be some teacher," Katie commented to Hunk, who walked behind them instead of trying to make more room across the crowded hallway.

"Caitlin adored her," Hunk replied.

The admiration appeared to be mutual, Katie found out two minutes later as they approached the room, where a lovely black woman was greeting parents and children, and showing students to their cubbies. She seemed incredibly comfortable with the chaos, and as soon as she finished showing a little boy to his cubby labelled Bobby, her eyes lit up.

Caitlin did not wait to be greeted. "Hello Miss Ellison! I can't believe you're my teacher again."

"Hello, Caitlin," Miss Ellison beamed. "That's right. They asked me if I would teach first grade this year." She looked up, and Katie got the funny feeling she was looking at Hunk. Then Ellison's eyes flicked to Katie. Not that she interrupted the patter she had going with Caitlin, who went right over to her cubby. Only then did Miss Ellison turn her attention to parents, as she had with each other student. "It's nice to see you again, H—Mr. Garrett." She shook Hunk's hand, and then turned her smile to Katie.

"Katie Holt-Garrett," Katie held out her own hand in greeting. "Caitlin's mother."

"Welcome home," Miss Ellison commented then. "I'm looking forward to having Caitlin in my class again this year. Every day is an adventure with her, in the best possible way."

That definitely described her daughter accurately. "I'm glad she'll have a teacher who can keep up with her."

The conversation ended there as two more families came up to the door with far more nervous looking children. Katie and Hunk politely absented themselves from the room.

Katie didn't say anything until they were back in the car, driving away from the school. "Caitlin really loves school, doesn't she?"

Hunk nodded, smiling, but keeping his eyes on the road. "She loves learning, and she's had good teachers. Marianne Ellison is a great teacher. Last year she let Caitlin go as far and as fast as she wanted in every subject, but still made sure she didn't skip anything important."

"Was it my imagination or did she almost address you by first name?" Katie asked the question that had been burning in her mind. Not that she suspected anything in particular. Hunk had made it clear he hadn't been with anyone else while she was gone, and she believed him. That didn't mean other women might not have been interested.

"At the end of the last year, she told all the parents that since she wasn't the students' teacher anymore, we could be more informal," Hunk explained.

"All the parents, or just you?"

Hunk paused. "I… don't know," he admitted. "Afterwards I thought she might have been flirting with me, but I completely missed it if she was. And then I just didn't think about it again. Why… did something seem off to you today?"

"No," Katie assured him. "There was just this small change in her demeanor when she saw I was there. Of course, she had Caitlin for a whole year without me. I'm sure the whole world doesn't necessarily know I'm back yet." One thing had been clear to her, even if it wasn't to Hunk. Miss Ellison was a consummate professional, and a genuinely good person who cared about their daughter because she was her student. That much was clear right up front. She also would never step beyond those bounds. "I'm sure it will be a great year."

"We'll get to hear all about it every night." Hunk grinned. "So far I've never had a question about school answered with I don't know or nothing."

"There's time," Katie teased. "She's not a teenager yet."

"I think I'll be happy just having her be a little girl for a few more years. Are you excited about today?" he asked, swapping discussion topics. "It's your first day back."

"Excited, and terrified to know what they've done to my lab," Katie admitted, though she smiled. "I'm sure they must have boxed it all up and put it in storage somewhere. It will probably take days just to get everything back out and look through all my notes to remember where I was on those projects."

"And you'll have a great time doing it."

"Yeah, I probably will."

They checked in at the gate, and after parking, Katie headed straight for the lab. Anyone she needed to talk to would be there, or could find her there. Walking through the familiar halls of the Garrison was a wonderful feeling. The familiar smells, the sight of everyone in uniform, and sounds of well-coordinated people hard at work.

Her walk did not take her anywhere near the Garrison cadet barracks, but out a window she did see a group of the youngest recruits doing calisthenics. Someday, maybe only a few years from now, either of her kids could be among them, if they decided that was what they wanted to do. Of course, if they didn't, Katie was fine with that. They should do whatever they were passionate about, and at five-and-a-half and three-and-a-half, they probably had no idea what that was yet by way of a calling in life.

Katie walked into the lab space that she and Matt had shared for years, and stopped dead. It looks exactly the same. Or nearly enough. All of her projects were in her corner, almost untouched, but not at all dusty.

"Did I put it all in the right place?" Matt asked as he came through the door.

"It looks like I never left," Katie admitted, impressed. "Well, except it's cleaner."

"I'm sure you'll have it in proper disarray again in no time."

Katie grinned. "Absolutely. But what's with your stuff?" Matt's half of the lab was looking a lot more sparce.

Matt smiled. "The Athena is finally done and ready for her maiden voyage, so I've been transferred."

Athena was the ship Veronica had been promoted to captain. Of course, it only made sense that Matt would have asked to transfer to the ship under his wife's command. So, things wouldn't be exactly the same. "That's great news," she replied. "More room for me to spread out everything."

Matt chuckled. "Maybe, but it also means a lot more responsibility for you. I've been the commanding officer for this section for the last two years. Now, that's going to be your job."

Section lead for a full quarter of the Garrison's labs… "Does that come with a promotion and a raise?" Katie teased.

"You'll have to talk to General Ryu. I would if I had the authority to do it myself. This afternoon I'm supposed to run you through all the procedures and paperwork and catch you up on our current projects in development and introduce you to all of the officers in our department. We've had several additions and transfers since you were last here."

It was a lot all at once, but that didn't mean she wasn't up to the task. It wasn't like people hadn't been answering to her orders for years anyway. She had headed up more of those projects than she could count. "Sounds good. Should I report to Ryu this morning?"

"No need, Lieutenant Commander." General Ryu smiled as he came through the door.

"General." Katie saluted briefly. "It's good to see you, Sir."

"It's good to have you back," Ryu replied. "Commander Holt is correct, and I'm sure you'll be up to speed by the end of the day. However, we still need to make this official, and I happened to be doing my morning rounds of all the engineering and systems departments, so I brought it along." He handed her a folder, and nodded.

Katie opened it. Inside were her new orders, including the signed paperwork promoting her to the rank of full Commander. The additional rank insignia were there as well. She'd have to add them to her uniforms. "Thank you, Sir. You can count on me."

"I know I can. I'll expect your first report at the end of the week. Come to me if you've got any questions Romeo here can't answer before he abandons us."

Matt's grin widened. "Come now, General. I'm not abandoning you. I'm just working remotely. Sometimes very remotely."

"I'll leave you to it." Ryu nodded at Katie, then Matt, and headed out without a retort.

"Congrats, Pidge." Matt hugged her. "You deserve it."

Katie hugged him back. "I guess they decided after they read my report that my three year 'vacation' counted as work."

"You'll be making up for it either way," Matt promised. "Now, I've got work to do. Meet up with you later for the rounds?"
Katie nodded. "I'll see you. Right now, I'm looking forward to getting everything in order here."

The rest of the morning—after attaching the new stripes to her shoulders—was spent refamiliarizing herself with her projects, and taking down notes for new ideas, and combining them with all the ideas she had not been able to act on in the past three years. Transferring all of her notes and organizing them, and starting to run some of the initial data to see if they were even possible.

By the time she had that going, the day was already half gone and it was time for lunch. Katie walked into the mess and was almost immediately mobbed by friends who were seated not far from the door.

"I knew it!" Rizavi grinned as she looked at Katie's shoulders. "There was no way that wasn't happening. You owe me money, Griffin."

"You had bets going on me getting promoted?" Katie asked, not at all insulted.

"It should have happened years ago," Kincade replied. "But then you went missing. It only seems right they do it now."

"And you bet against it?" Katie looked at James Griffin.

James shrugged. "Not that you don't deserve it, but just whether they were going to do it now, or wait a while."

"Fair enough. If you let me go get lunch, I'll join you."

She wondered if she would see Hunk, and if he would notice. Had he known this was coming? Not that she expected him on the serving line. He was usually in the back somewhere, coordinating everything. It was a good thing she wasn't too hopeful, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. Maybe she could sneak into the back after lunch and find him.

After grabbing a salad with grilled chicken, and a tall glass of water, Katie joined the friends who still remained at the table and hadn't already had to run off back on duty. Which meant Nadia, Ina, and Veronica, who must have been just ahead of her in the line.

"Matt doesn't follow you around like a puppy?" Katie teased her sister-in-law as she sat down.

"Oh, he does, but right now he's running another load over to the Athena. There's a lot to do to get her ready for our first mission, and we're scheduled to leave in three days. As my head of engineering, he's working triply hard to make sure everything is perfect."

"What's your itinerary?" Katie asked curiously.

"It's a short run, just a few weeks. We'll be swinging by Olkarion to pick up a couple of crew members, then heading out to the Epsilon sector. It's more of a routine check-in with established members of the Coalition, but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty to do. Keeping up good relations is important."

"And if things go south, she'll have my expertise heading up her squadron of MFEs," Nadia grinned.

"Only because Navor finds your idea of following orders aggravating." Veronica chuckled.

"That's because he gives boring orders." Nadia shrugged. "I'm sure if we're needed your orders will be far more interesting."
"Don't count on it."

Nadia stabbed her salad with her fork. "So, Hunk looks happier," she went on, shifting topics without missing a beat.

"That's to be expected," Ina commented without looking up from her meal.

"Well, of course. I'm just saying I'm glad to see it." Nadia paused to eat the bite, and swallowed. "I don't think I speak just for myself when I say we were all getting pretty worried about him, right? I mean, he's really packed it on since you disappeared."
Katie almost choked on her salad.

"Nadia!" Veronica glared at her.

"What?" Nadia shrugged. "It's true. Don't tell me there's anybody who hasn't noticed."

"That doesn't make this the appropriate place to bring it up."
"Oh, come on. It's not like it's a secret. You can't hide that."

"That's enough, Rizavi."

"Ina, back me up here."

Ina looked up with a dry expression. "No, Nadia. Pursuing this conversation is a tactical error on your part."

Nadia looked nonplussed. "All I meant was that things will get better now that Pidge is back."

"Katie, I'd like to apologize for my subordinate," Veronica turned to Katie.

"Subordinate!"

"Technically, that is correct," Ina chimed in.

Torn between shocked, annoyed, and bemused, Katie just shook her head and started laughing.

All three of them turned to her as if she was crazy.

"I really missed you," Katie commented, wiping the corners of her eyes with her napkin. "Just do me a favor, and do not never bring this up where Hunk can hear you. If you do, I'll have you all demoted—well except Veronica, since I don't technically have that authority—and assigned to scrubbing sanitation pipes. Drop the subject. It's being handled."

"Handled hrm?" Nadia's eyes lit up. "How are you planning to do that, may I ask? Steamy nights in the bedroom?"

Katie rolled her eyes, then shrugged. "I think I'll leave that to your incredibly active imagination."

The hardest part about the afternoon wasn't learning the details of the new parts of her job—Katie loved that part—but being apart from her children all day. Never in his life had she been away from Kale for more than a few hours at a time, and she hoped her son was having a good time with his grandmother. Caitlin, she was sure, was having a great day, and would join Kale in the afternoon after school until Katie and Hunk came home.

For years, Katie had never even considered parenthood. She hadn't been the babysitting kind as a pre-teen. There were too many fascinating things to do and see to care about boys. Of course, most of the boys in school had thought she was a nerd, and she thought they were immature jerks so dating and everything that came with it had been a waste of her time.

Now here she was, loving work and her family. Her parents had been able to do both. She and Hunk could do the same.

Her afternoon with Matt, getting caught up on all of the work being done by the other programmers and engineers in their section, was a blast. Katie would be supervising over forty junior officers, nearly a quarter of whom were bright minds who had graduated from cadet-hood in the three years she had been gone. They were all eager to have her look at their work, and she was pretty sure they were going to get along fine. Not only did they have great ideas, but they took her suggestions as helpful ideas, and not criticism. There were no egos in need of beating down, though it was possible Matt had done that for her. While several of the older scientists were transfers in from other Garrison bases, or guests from other species, she knew the vast majority of the rest of them.

It was good to be home.

As it turned out, she didn't meet back up with Hunk until the very end of the day, when she met him at the car.

Hunk was grinning. "You look like you had a good day." His eyes flicked towards her shoulders.

"Did you know?" Katie asked, half-accusing.

Hunk shrugged, but he was clearly not surprised. "I suspected. Your Dad and Matt were acting a little cagey the other night. I guess I have to start calling you ma'am now."

"Don't you dare."

Their greeting at her parents' doorstep was a swarm of kids and dogs. Katie scooped Kale into her arms first, hugging her son close. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back just as tightly. "Did you have a good day with Grandma?" she asked him.

Kale nodded. "We went to the park," he replied, "and drew art."

"We had a very busy day," her mother added.

"And how was school?" Hunk asked as they made their way past the door and into the living room.

"Today was the best!" Caitlin replied, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "First grade has bigger books, and we sit at real desks in groups instead of just tables, and I'm sitting with Marisa, and Tonisha, and Verion. Verion's from Altea and his mom is friends with Auntie Romelle. And my cubby is bigger, and the sitting rug isn't blue with numbers this year, it's a new one that's all sorts of colors and has the alphabet in earth letters, but there's posters on the walls with alphabets from other planets too! Our classroom pets are fish and a guinea pig! The guinea big is black and white and her name is Spots. The fish all have names but I'm still learning them."

"That's great, Caity-cat," Hunk cut in smoothly when she paused to breathe. "You can tell us all the rest of it in a little bit. We have to stop talking long enough to eat dinner."

Caitlin nodded. "Okay, Daddy."

"Are you sure you won't stay for dinner?" Colleen asked.

"It's fine, Mom," Katie smiled. "We have food planned. No time like the present to getting used to fitting everything into the schedule. Though, if you and Dad want to come to our house for dinner, food should be ready about six."

The offer surprised and pleased her mother, who was obviously dying to know how their day had gone. "That sounds great. I'll be sure to drag your father over when he gets home, and if he doesn't leave his office soon, I'll call and yell at him. We aren't expecting Matt and Veronica tonight so it will just be us."

"Sounds good." Katie turned to Caitlin. "Are you and Kale ready to go home?"

Caitlin nodded. "We're all packed. Come on, Kale, let's get our bags." She took her little brother's hand and they headed for the door, where their bags were sitting on the floor.

Hunk grabbed Juni's leash. "We'll see you soon, Colleen."

Katie's mother smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

September 3rd, 2335

Katie appreciated that Hunk didn't mind getting up first in the morning to get the kids ready to go and breakfast made. Of course, he'd had three years of practice. After years of living a survival schedule, she was definitely enjoying sleeping through the night again. Not that she slept in long, but the extra half hour gave her time to get in the shower after Hunk was done, and by the time she came downstairs for her third day of work, breakfast was ready and the children were usually eating.

"Breakfast smells particularly amazing this morning," she commented as she stepped into the dining room. It was right off the kitchen, but the open layout between them allowed her to see into the kitchen easily. "What are we having?"

"Crepes!" Caitlin piped up enthusiastically. "Mine's got raspberries, and ma…mas…mascarpone cheese! Daddy, did I say that right?"

"Great job, Caitlin!" Hunk called out from the stove.

"And what's in yours?" Katie looked at Kale's plate curiously.

"Cheese and bacon and… spinach." Kale thought very hard to remember the words for the earth foods that were in his crepe.

"Did you get to pick that?"

Kale nodded. "I like spinach."

Katie bent down and kissed his cheek. "It's a yummy choice."

"You should come in here and tell me what you want on yours," Hunk suggested. "You're up."

Katie joined him in the kitchen then, startled by the selection of fillings both sweet and savory. "You're going to make it hard for me to choose," she complained, but without any actual invective.

"You could always have some of everything," Hunk suggested.

"As if I'd have room." She looked at all the options, and the size of the crepes. Each of the kids had two, and they weren't very large. "How about one sweet, and one savory. Mascarpone, raspberries, and blackberries in the one, and on the other… cheese, spinach, mushrooms, and onions."

"As my lady wishes," Hunk grinned. "Coffee's ready."

Katie stretched up and kissed his cheek. "My hero." Then she went to the coffee pot and poured herself a dark steaming cup of consciousness. She sniffed it. "Is this… chicory?"

"Ordered it from New Orleans," Hunk confirmed.

"I thought it smelled familiar." Of course, it did. They'd had it at Café du Monde on their first official date. "Thank you. You're really going all out today. Is there something special going on?" Of course, there didn't have to be. He might just be enjoying making a delicious breakfast.

"It's September Third."

"Well, I know that, but—" A moment later it hit her, and she felt both a little foolish, and incredibly embarrassed. She spun around, almost dropping her coffee. "Our anniversary!"

Thankfully, Hunk's expression was one of amusement. He chuckled. "Happy seventh, Pidge."

Seven years… was it really only seven? It felt like so much longer. "I can't believe I forgot. I never… not even in the last three years. I have entries in my log for every one of them."

"Relax, Pidge. It's been a whirlwind few weeks. I was pretty sure you'd forgotten what month we're in, let alone the day. Besides, this is the first one in a long time we've gotten to spend together… like we're supposed to be."

"Still, I should have remembered," Katie insisted.

Hunk handed her a plate of steaming crepes. "Tell you what, I handled breakfast. You can plan this evening."

"Deal." How she would plan something when she had to be at work all day, she had no idea, but she was sure she could come up with something to do.

As she and Hunk took their plates to the table and joined the children, Caitlin looked at them both. "Mommy, is today really the day you got married?"

"That's right. Seven years ago."

Caitlin sighed. "I wish I could have been in your wedding. It was so fun being in Uncle Matt and Aunt Veronica's."

Katie smiled. "That would have been a little hard, sweetie, since you weren't born yet."

"Can we see it?" Kale asked curiously.

Now there was an idea. "That could be fun." Katie looked at Hunk. "It's been a while since we watched the recordings from that week. We could watch that tonight after dinner." She could just imagine Caitlin's consternation at the fact they hadn't had a flower girl at all. "Before bed." There would be plenty of time after the kids were out for the night to celebrate some more by themselves.

"Yeah!" Kale grinned.

"I want to see," Caitlin agreed.

Hunk nodded. "Sounds great!" Then he looked knowingly at Katie. "It was definitely memorable. I'm all up for a nostalgic evening."

Katie smiled. "Trust me, it'll be perfect. It's too bad we don't own a hot tub."

"I'm not opposed to correcting that."

September 13th, 2335

Katie had stopped giving much thought to weekends pretty much the day she and the others had blasted off of Earth in the Blue Lion and their lives had changed forever. Even once they had returned, duty shifts at the Garrison were still duty shifts, and if you were out in space, there were no weekends to be had. Just occasional shore leave.

Having duty schedules that not only matched up, but gave them the days off that the kids were not in school was a weird and fascinating phenomenon. Of course, in case of a real planetary or galactic emergency, they would be on duty, but being on call while others were able to fill the shifts on a regular basis, was far different in peaceful times like these.

Katie had a feeling she was going to learn quickly to once again love Saturdays. Not that anyone slept in—except Hunk, because Katie had agreed to handle weekend morning cooking—but they had the whole day to do whatever they wanted as a family. Or, at least, most of the family.

Today, Hunk was staying at the house to await the delivery of the hot tub that had turned from a half-joke into their anniversary present to themselves. It made up for the last three missed ones as well, so it only seemed reasonable.

Instead of waiting for a delivery truck, Katie took the kids and Juni into town to keep them distracted. They played at the park, and sat outdoors at a café for lunch. Then they went to the outdoor mall, and stopped in at the pet store to pick up more treats for Juni, and generally looked around. Caitlin and Kale were thankfully not the type of kids to shout that they wanted things or get fussy. They were happy to just look too, and if there was something Caitlin or Kale particularly liked, the answer of put it on your birthday lists was generally good enough for them. Katie took notes on the things that particularly intrigued her children.

By the time they arrived home it was mid-afternoon, and both of the kids, and the dog, were finally tired out. "Why don't you two go upstairs and relax for a bit before dinner?" she suggested.

"Can we finish the puzzle?" Kale asked Caitlin with big, hopefully eyes.

"Yeah. We can do that." The kids, tailed by the dog, vanished upstairs.

Katie looked around. The house was quiet, and she didn't see Hunk. Curious, she poked her head out into the backyard. Sure enough, installed and waiting, was the large hot dub—with a locking hard top cover for safety—on one corner of the patio near the outdoor water faucet and electrical.

But no Hunk.

Coming back inside, she wandered into the living room before she heard what sounded like a metallic thunk under her feet. Hunk must be in the basement working on a project. Given most of their personal project work that wasn't at the office—all their private projects that they had been working on together—were downstairs, that wasn't too odd.

Katie went around to the down stairs and slipped down into the basement.

"What's all this?" she asked, startled.

Hunk looked up from where he was tightening the bolts on the legs of a weightlifting bench. "You're back early."

"Not really. It's three-thirty." There wasn't just the bench—with weights—but several other pieces of home gym equipment. None of it looked particularly new, but that didn't explain what it was doing in their basement. "You haven't answered my question."

Hunk gave her an abashed smile. "Shiro and Curtis were upgrading some of their home gym equipment and… were looking to get rid of this stuff. I just thought, maybe, if we had it, it would be a lot easier than trying to fit in workouts at the Garrison since we have to work it around the kids."

A very practical point. Seeing as the best times for physical training in their schedule were early mornings, or after the kids went to bed, and on weekends. Going all the way back to the Garrison to use the gym and pool there was not the most convenient use of their family time. But it still had to be done. "It's also good for bad weather," Katie agreed. "I don't mind. I think it's a great idea, and I trust Shiro didn't try and price-gauge us."

"Nah. It was practically a steal since they needed to get it out of the house. So, I just had them bring it over since I was home anyway."

Somewhere in her mind, Katie had known Shiro and Curtis had a home gym—how else did they both still look ready to take on the galaxy when they spent most of their time raising three boys? But after so long, it had slipped her mind. "I'll have to remember to thank them." She was just a little surprised Hunk had thought of it. "It will be nice to have a private workout space."

Hunk nodded as he finished tightening the last bolt. "The privacy part was a big part of why I said yes," he admitted. "It's been… a while… since I had the time."

Even if he had never heard conversations like the one that she'd been a part of just two days ago, Katie had to presume he was not entirely ignorant of the fact that others had noticed. He was too self-aware for that. "I'd rather have you for my workout partner than anyone else," she replied, grinning. "We should get a sparring mat. I always liked our drills in Paladin training more than some of the stuff they had us doing as cadets anyway."

Hunk looked surprised, then grateful. "There's room down here. I'm sure we can find one."

"Excellent. Because I can't wait to try out some of the new moves on you that I learned on Taklis. As I recall, throwing you around is fun."

Hunk snorted. "Good luck with that."

Katie came closer, bending over close and kissing him, leaning in. Startled at first, Hunk relaxed into it. It was then, and only then, that she gave him a shove that almost sent him toppling. He caught himself, and stared up at her. Katie smiled impishly. "There's more than one way to move a mountain."