It was 6pm when they finally landed back home.
'Tell mama, we'll be in soon,' Lance told Marco as he and Veronica exited the ship.
Once they were gone, he closed the doors and turned to Keith who leant against the control panel.
'Come on, baby,' he said. He went and took Keith's hand and lead him into the small bedroom of the ship and closed the door.
It was almost 7pm when they finally went inside, after spending some time laying in each other's arms to relax.
Maria was in the kitchen preparing dinner, while Jorge tried to feed a grumpy Enya at the table. When she saw Keith, her eyes practically lit up and she reached out to him.
'Are you being fussy?' asked Keith as he picked her up. She curled up against his shoulder and sniffled a bit and clung to his t-shirt.
'I think she was scared you'd left her,' said Jorge. 'She refused to eat the whole time you've been gone.'
Keith sat and took the bottle from Jorge and popped it in her mouth, and she ate hungrily.
'You both look tired,' Maria said.
'It's been a long day,' said Lance. 'I'm going to grab a quick shower.' He leant down and kissed Keith.
'Dad, papa,' Jaya cried as he ran down the stairs.'
'Hey, little man,' said Lance picking him up. 'You been good.'
'Aha.' He nodded.
'Excellent. You want to come and have a shower with me?' asked Lance. Jaya nodded again and Lance put him down. 'Go grab your towel and pajamas. Baby, when you're done feeding her come up and she can have a shower.'
'Okay. Where's Molly?'
'She's up with Rachel,' said Jorge. 'They had a bath together not long ago and are in their pajamas.'
'Excellent,' Lance said as the headed upstairs.
By the time Keith went upstairs, Lance and Jaya were out of the shower and dressed. Jaya in his pajamas and Lance in his shorts.
Jaya ran out of the bathroom and downstairs to watch television.
'I swear, that kid doesn't know how to walk,' said Lance. 'He runs everywhere.'
Keith laughed and handed Enya to him as he undressed. Lance took her onesie off and handed her back to Keith after he stepped into the shower.
Enya's eyes widened, she grinned, looked up and tried to catch the drops with her tiny hands.
Lance grabbed his datapad and recorded it, making sure he only got Keith's top half, then sent it to Shiro and Adam.
Once she was bathed, Lance wrapped her in a towel and took her to her bedroom to dress her.
When Keith finished showering, he found Lance cuddling the sleeping kit.
Keith came in a slipped an arm around Lance's waist and rested his head against his shoulder.
'She's so cute,' Lance said.
'Mmm, she is,' agreed Keith. 'But she's starting to grow now.'
'It's too fast,' Lance sighed, placing her in the cot. He turned around and hugged Keith. 'I can't wait to meet the twins.'
Keith chuckled. He stepped back and frowned.
'You feel very warm,' he said, laying his hand on Lance's forehead.
'I feel okay, probably just from the shower,' Lance said.
'Probably.'
They went to the bedroom and pulled on clean clothes before going downstairs for dinner.
Rachel sat next to Molly and fed her, which Lance found cute. Veronica looked miserable and kept shooting looks at Lance and fidgeting.
'V why are you fidgeting so much?' asked Luis.
'None of your business,' she snapped.
'Veronica, don't be rude,' said Maria. 'It was a perfectly reasonable question. Did something happen while you were gone?' She looked around at the other three.
'Nothing out of the ordinary,' said Lance. 'We found the black bayard and managed to get it back.'
'Oh, and those huge creatures trying to kill you come under nothing out of the ordinary,' Veronica snapped.
'Um...well...yeah,' said Lance. 'We were on an alien planet, there's bound to be some sort of life form there.'
'You could have been killed,' Veronica snapped.
'Papa, you said the scratch didn't hurt,' said Jaya. 'You lied.' He jumped down from his chair and ran outside.
Lance stood to follow, but Keith put a hand on his arm.
'I'll go talk to him,' Keith said.
'I'd never lie to him,' Lance said, upset.
'I know.'
Keith went out and found Jaya sitting in the middle of the trampoline.
'Papa wouldn't lie to you,' Keith said.
'He feels hot.'
'He does, but that doesn't mean he's lying. When the body is fighting something off inside, you don't always realise until you get sick.'
'Will he get sick?'
'It's hard to say. He may get better by himself, or he may need some help. I have to see Dr Michaels tomorrow, and I will get him to look at papa as well.'
Jaya crawled closer and sat down. 'What happens to us if you and papa aren't here anymore?'
Keith wanted to tell him he didn't have to worry about that, but he could see the kit was scared.
'If it was to happen, which I don't think it will, you'd all stay here, or go to Shiro and Adam. Jaya, you don't need to worry about being left alone. That will never happen.'
Jaya nodded, then gave a great yawn.
'Come on, let's get you into bed,' Keith said, picking him up and Jaya cuddled into him.
They found Lance upstairs putting Molly in her cot.
Lance smile and turned and kissed Jaya's forehead.
'Night, Jaya,' he said.
'Night, papa. I'm sorry I said you lied,' Jaya said.
'It's okay, I know you didn't mean it,' Lance assured him.
With the kids tucked in, they left and closed the door behind them and went back down to finish dinner.
'Why did he think I lied to him?' asked Lance as they sat.
'A couple of reasons, the first being he's worried about being left alone if something happens to us.' Keith peered at him. 'He said you feel hot as well.'
'But I feel fine,' Lance insisted.
'It might be nothing,' said Keith. 'But when we see Michaels tomorrow you should get checked out.'
Maria stood and moved around the table.
'Let me see this scratch,' she said.
He stood and revealed a scratch down his left side.
'It looks a little red,' she mused. 'Did it get dirty?'
'The planet was one huge swamp,' Lance said.
'You didn't go into the healing pod?' asked Jorge.
'No, that would have taken an hour, and Keith needed to get home,' Lance said.
'Yeah, and we all know why,' Veronic bit, folding her arms.
'You three bed,' Maria told the younger kids.
'We always have to go when things get interesting,' Luis grumbled, as they left.
'I'm only going to say this to you once, young lady,' said Maria, glaring at her. 'It's time for you to grow up and act your age. You don't know all the facts about what's going on between Lance and Keith, and you don't need to know. For better or worse, you are a paladin representing Earth, and this family. I will not have you out there embarrassing us because you're to stubborn to take responsibility for your actions. Now, you have a week to sort out your room and get moved into the castle, do it.'
Veronica stared wide eyed a moment then looked at the table.
'I'm scared,' she said.
'We're all scared, sweetheart, but it is what it is. You need to make the best of the situation, and we will get through this as a family.' She turned back to Lance. 'Put more antiseptic cream on it before bed.'
'Yes, mama,' Lance said. He pulled his shirt back down and sat.
Once dinner was finished and the dishes done, Lance and Keith decided to call it a night. After putting the antiseptic cream on the scratch, they crawled into bed and fell asleep quickly.