"Daddy!" a voice called out snapping Keith out of his thoughts. He glanced down to where a tug on his jeans was happening. He smiled softly seeing Camilla staring up at him with an annoyed look on her face.
"What is it love?" Keith asked kneeling down to his daughter's height.
"Can you put Tangled on?" she asked, her eyes twinkling.
"No! Put Cinderella on!" Marina yelled as she ran in, holding the Cinderella DVD case in her arms. This of course, caused the two to get into an argument about which movie to watch.
"How about this," Keith called out turning their attention back to him. "How about we flip a coin and if it lands on heads Tangled gets put on first and if it lands on tails Cinderella gets put on?" The girls nodded and Keith dug around in the junk drawer until he found a coin.
"Can I do it daddy?"
"I wanna do it!"
"How about you both do it?" Keith asked placing both girls palms on top of each other and then placing the coin on top. "Ready?" The girls nodded and tossed their hands up in the air and letting it land back on their hands.
"Tails!" one of the girls cheered with a smile and handing the DVD over to Keith.
"Don't worry Cami, you'll still get to watch Tangled," Keith said with a soft smile seeing the pout on her face. This seemed to cheer her up and she followed her sister and her father into the living room where Keith got the DVD set up. Once the girls were situated, Keith went back into the studio room where he had been setting some pictures on the walls before he got distracted.
His eyes caught the picture of the twins on the day they were born. Both had grown so much since then.
'I mean, they're almost four for heaven's sake' Keith thought with a smile.
Keith was brought out of his thoughts when his phone started ringing. He quickly pulled it out of his jean pocket and pressed it against his ear.
"Hey Veronica, what's up?" Keith asked as he answered the phone.
"Not much, just had a chat with Nat and her friend asked her about doing a concert, and she brought up your name. Thought I would warn you beforehand."
"A concert? Where?"
"Somewhere you're familiar with," Veronica said which made Keith freeze. She wasn't talking about- "A little place called Cranston."
"What's the concert for?" Keith asked turning his head as he heard the front door open and Shiro's voice call out, followed by Adam's. Keith let out a soft sigh of relief and smiled hearing the twins rush to the door.
"It's to raise money for the local children's hospital, Nat figured since you lived there and everyone knows your name that it would bring in money for the hospital."
"Yeah that sounds like Nat," Keith responded with a sigh. "I'll have to-"
"Nat and her friend already arranged everything for you, work wise."
"Of course she did."
"I can tell you want to think about this," Veronica said, Keith almost seeing the smile on her face. "I told Nat to give you some space to think about it, I know that place has a lot of memories for you."
"Thanks Veronica," Keith said standing up from the leather couch. "I'll let you know."
"Perfect, okay I have to go, my daughter needs help with a school project."
"Have fun with that," Keith responded with a smile.
"I'll try to, talk to you on Friday."
Keith placed his phone back into his pocket and headed back to the living room. It was too quiet for his liking. Luckily, all he found was the twins cuddled up with Adam and Shiro on the couch as they watched Cinderella.
"See? I told you he would be back uncle Shiro," Camilla said turning to her father with a proud smile.
"Alright, you were right," Shiro said with a smile. "What's with the look?" Shiro asked turning to Keith.
"Meeting?" Adam asked as he also noticed the look on Keith's face. Keith nodded with a sigh and headed to the kitchen. Shiro and Adam got off the couch and followed Keith into the kitchen. The twins were focused on the movie that they let the trio walk into the kitchen.
"Nat's friend is doing a concert for a children's hospital and Nat threw my name out in the conversation," Keith said as he pulled himself onto the counter.
"That sounds like a great idea, it would definitely bring in a lot of money for the hospital," Adam said with a smile.
"Where's the hospital?" Shiro asked.
"Cranston."
"Oh," the couple said in unison. They both knew the memories Keith had from there and how he felt about it. He turned it down anytime anyone asked him if he wanted to come up and visit. As much as he missed his friends, it was still a fresh wound for him and he didn't want to put himself in a vulnerable position.
"Nat said I can have a few days to think about it before I gave her an answer," Keith said with a sigh.
"Whatever you choose, we're with you," Adam said with a smile. "And you're all more than welcome to stay with us if you do choose to go."
"Thank you," Keith said with a smile. However, that look turned stern when he heard the girls arguing from the living room, something about a movie.
~
A week later, Keith started packing stuff to bring down. He was halfway packing his suitcase when Camilla waddled her way in, their dog Kosmo trotting in after her. Keith smiled softly, she would always do this when she was tired. Which made sense, as she and Marina would be going to bed in ten minutes.
"Brushed your teeth?" Keith asked as he folded up a pair of jeans and placed them in his suitcase.
"Yep," Camilla said with a nod. "What are you doing daddy?"
"I'm packing for a trip," Keith answered taking the brush from Camilla and brushing through her hair and tying it into a braid.
"A trip? Are we going to?" Marina asked and skipped into the bedroom.
"Well I'm not gonna leave you two here alone," Keith said ruffling Marina's hair.
"But what about halmeoni and harabeoji (1)?" Camilla asked.
"They're coming to," Keith answered as he finished zipping his suitcase up, smiling at the use of Korean by his daughters. He had been teaching them little phrases here and there and they loved to refer to Krolia and Kolivan as halmeoni and harabeoji. Of course, they would sometimes switch to English and instead call them nana and pop pop. "We're gonna stay at uncle Shiro and uncle Adam's house."
"Like a sleepover?" Marina asked.
"Exactly," Keith answered with a nod.
"Why are we staying with uncle Adam and uncle Shiro?" Camilla asked, her head tilting.
"Daddy's boss's friend is doing a concert to raise money for the children's hospital where uncle Shiro and uncle Adam live, so daddy is going to perform at the concert to raise money to help the sick kids."
"Is Kosmo coming to?" Marina asked, sitting down beside Kosmo and running her fingers through the dogs' fur. Kosmo in return turned to the girl and nuzzled her cheeks, causing her to let out a giggle.
"Of course he is," Keith replied with a smile, leaning over and ruffling the fur on Kosmo's head. "We can't leave Kosmo by himself."
~
By the time they got to Adam and Shiro's house, it was nearly dinner time. Keith and the girls were the first to arrive at the house, Camilla and Marina throwing their seatbelts off and rushing to the front door. Racing to see who would get there first to ring the doorbell, Marina winning this time. The door opened as Keith shut his car door and headed to the front door, Kosmo by his side.
"There's my favourite nieces," Shiro exclaimed with a smile as he knelt down and the twins ran into his arms, giving him a tight hug.
"We're your only nieces uncle," Camilla responded with a roll of her eyes.
"Which is why you're my favourites," Shiro replied, ruffling Camilla's hair softly. "Why don't you two go and see if uncle Adam needs any help? He's in the kitchen."
"Race you!" Marina called out, pulling away from Shiro and rushing into the house, Camilla racing after her.
"Long trip?" Shiro asked turning to Keith, kneeling down in front of Kosmo and ruffling the dog's black fur.
"With two kids it is," Keith said with a sigh. "It was easier to travel when it was just me."
"Joys of parenthood," Shiro joked with a smile.
"We should go make sure they didn't destroy your kitchen," Keith responded heading into the house, Kosmo trotting after him.
~
An hour later, Krolia and Kolivan arrived at the house and dinner had finished minutes after. The twins had never had chili before so Keith wasn't sure how they were going to react to it. He loved Adam's chili, he just hoped that carried over to his daughter's.
"What is this daddy?" Marina asked turning to Keith and holding her spoon out.
"A bean Rina, eat it, it's good for you," Keith replied.
"It looks funny," Marina said staring down at the bean as if it had insulted her whole family line.
"Try it," Krolia piped in with a smile. "You might like it, you'll never know unless you try it."
Marina stared at the bean for a few more moments before she put the spoon in her mouth and swallowed the bean, Keith making sure she actually chewed it before she swallowed.
"Well?" Keith asked, waiting for Marina to respond.
"It's good!" she exclaimed with a smile.
"See, I told you," Krolia said with a smirk. "I told you nana knows all."
"Can I have more?" Marina asked turning to Adam who smiled. "Please?"
"You can have as much as you want," Adam said standing up and grabbing Marina's bowl to fill it up.
~
After dinner, Keith got the girls situated downstairs in the bedroom. The girls would have the downstairs bedroom and share a bed, Krolia and Kolivan would have the guest bedroom upstairs, and Keith would have the other guest bedroom downstairs beside the girl's room.
The girls already had a bath and Keith set them up with a movie before they would be going to bed. He could see they were already tired from the long trip, he had heard them up late last night before he finally put his foot down and told them to go to bed. Kosmo hopped up onto the couch between the twins and snuggled into a comfortable position. He smiled softly and ruffled Kosmo's fur.
They had gotten Kosmo when the girls were three years old. He showed up in their yard with no collar and an injured leg. Keith took pity on the dog and took him in to let his leg heal. The girls grew attached to the dog and when Keith was going to drop him off at the animal shelter, the girls cried seeing Keith walking out the door with the dog and they wouldn't stop crying until Keith agreed to keep the dog. They ended up naming him Kosmo and he's been very attached to the family ever since. Especially the twins.
His phone started buzzing from his pocket and he pulled it out seeing it was Nat's friend Allison calling him. Nat had given him her number before he left in case she called.
"I'll be right back," Keith said heading to the basement door which opened up to the backyard. He spared one last glance at the girls before deciding they were okay and headed up the stone stairs to the backyard.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Keith?" a woman's voice asked.
"Yes, this is Keith."
"Great, I'm sure Nat already told you but I'm her friend Allison, I'm the one organizing the concert for the hospital."
"Yes, Nat told me a little bit of what the event was."
"Perfect, that makes my job a little easier. Would you be able to come down to the office around eleven on Wednesday to talk things over and start going over a set list?"
"Yeah, I should be able to. We just got to my brother's place here in Cranston so Wednesday works perfect."
"Wonderful, I'll text you the address and I'll see you then."
"Yeah, see you then."
Keith then hung up the phone and headed back inside. He paused in his step seeing both twins were asleep already, soft snores coming from each of them. Kosmo lying still in his spot as to not wake them up.
"Finally asleep are we?" Keith asked softly. Kosmo turning to head to stare at him as if he was smiling. Keith placed his phone back in his back pocket and moved to grab one of the girls. Camilla was the first he picked up to put to bed, her brown teddy bear with a purple bow around its neck in her hand. Keith then carried her into the bedroom and pulled back the blankets and placed her on the bed.
Immediately, Camilla curled up on her right side facing the inside of the bed. Keith froze, seeing the way she was curled up with her teddy bear, it was the same way Lance would curl up when he would sleep over at Keith's. Even the way her arm was laying on the bed was how Lance would sleep. Keith forced himself to shake himself out of his thoughts and cover Camilla with the blankets before he kissed her head gently and moved to grab Marina.
Kosmo moved as Keith was slowly plucking Marina from the couch and into his arms. Her white bunny with a light blue bow around its neck fell from her arms and bounced off the couch and onto the ground. With Marina in his arms, Keith would have trouble grabbing the bunny so he just decided to put Marina in the bed and then grab her bunny after.
Keith headed into the bedroom and lay Marina down on the other side of the bed. Like her sister, she curled up on her side. Apparently, Lance had an influence on his kids sleeping positions because Marina was laying the same as Camilla, just on an opposite side.
Keith turned as he felt Kosmo's nose bump against his leg. He smiled softly seeing the rabbit in his mouth, he took the bunny from Kosmo and patted his head.
"Thanks boy," he said before turning and tucking the bunny under Marina's arms before pulling the blankets over her and kissing her head. "Good night you two."
~
"Can I help you?" the woman sitting at the front desk asked as Keith walked into the building, her glasses tilting off her nose. Keith could tell she had been working hard since this morning, her smile hiding the tension in her.
"I'm here to see Allison Thorn," Keith answered. The woman turned back to her computer, typed a few keys and turned back to Keith.
"Are you Keith Kogane?" she asked.
"Yeah," Keith answered with a nod.
"Ms. Thorn is just in a meeting right now, she should be done in a few minutes," the woman answered. "You can have a seat over there."
"Thank you," Keith replied, turning and walking over to the couch in the room. The only sound that Keith could hear was the nonstop typing of the computer, the ticking of the clock, and the trickling of water from the fish tank in the corner of the room.
A few minutes passed by and the door behind the woman opened and out walk two men dressed in stuffy suits. A woman walked out behind them, she had fiery curly red hair tied in a messy bun with her bangs loose, a grey blouse, black jeans, a black blazer, and black heels.
"Alright Ms. Thorn we'll see you in another week or so to finalize everything," one of the men said with a smile.
"Alright Mr. Thompson we'll see you then, I'll have Mrs. Simmons here call your assistant later to set up an appointment," Allison said with a smile.
"Sounds good," Mr. Thompson replied, already leaving before Allison finished.
"I apologize about him, we'll see you later Ms. Thorn," the other man replied with a sympathetic smile before rushing after his friend.
"Asshole," Allison muttered under her breath before turning to Keith with a smile. "You must be Keith, glad to finally meet you, Nat has told me so much about you."
"Is he always like that?" Keith asked as he stood up and shook Allison's hand.
"Mr. Thompson? Yes, his friend Mr. Jenkins is nicer than he is," Allison said with a sigh. "Please, do come in, would you like something to drink? Water? Tea? Coffee?"
"Uh, just a water is fine," Keith said as he followed Allison into her office, the door closing behind them.
"Please, have a seat, I'll go get that water for you," Allison said motioning to the couches in her office before heading off to a different room. Emerging as Keith sat down on one of the couches and handed him a water bottle, another one in her hand for herself.
"Thank you."
"So Nat tells me you have quite a voice on you," Allison said as she sat down on the couch across from Keith.
"I guess so, I mean she wouldn't have me performing at the bar otherwise," Keith said with a smile.
"Fair point," Allison said with a nod taking a sip of her water. "But, a voice like yours will get people to come and help raise money."
"Nat said you were doing a concert this year," Keith said with a nod.
"Yeah, wanted to try something different this time," Allison said setting her water bottle down on the polished coffee table. "Hence why when Nat told me about you, I jumped at the opportunity, she's shown me a few videos of you singing, you're really talented."
"I-thank you," Keith said with a faint blush on his cheeks.
"Nat also told me that you song write sometimes."
"Sometimes," Keith replied with a nod. "I like writing songs, keeps me distracted from other things."
"I get it, I mean, I don't write songs but I get it, life is a bitch sometimes," Allison said with a nod. "But onto why I brought it up, I was thinking maybe you could write a song or two to perform at the concert."
"You want me to write a song?" Keith asked.
"Or two," Allison added with a smile. "But Nat also told me you dance sometimes when you perform."
"Some songs I do," Keith answered with a nod. "I used to take lessons throughout high school and my first year of college, I quit halfway through my second year because I got so busy."
Keith froze seeing the smile on Allison's face. He knew where this was going.
"You and Nat really are friends," he muttered with a sigh. "You want me to "perform" perform."
"You're a good mind reader."
"I'm a parent, kind of comes with the job," Keith said with a smile.
"You have kids?"
"I do, twin girls," Keith said with a nod.
"Aww, how old are they?"
"Four years old, five next month," Keith said with a sigh. "They age so fast."
"Tell me about it, I have a little boy and I swear, yesterday he was a baby in my arms and he's turning nine at the end of the month."
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation and in walked the woman from before, Mrs. Simmons.
"Apologies for interrupting Ms. Thorn but Mr. and Mrs. Hichens need to speak with you about the fundraiser."
"I'll be out in a few minutes," Allison said with a sigh.
"I'll go and tell them," Mrs. Simmons said before exiting the office and closing the door behind her.
"So, can you write the songs?" Allison asked turning her attention back to Keith. Keith was silent for a few moments before he let out a sigh.
"When do you need them by?"
~
(1) I'm not very good at Korean so feel free to correct me. From what I could find out searching around, halmeoni and harabeoji translate to grandma and grandpa. Again, feel free to correct me if I got these wrong, I'm happy to correct them.