It was sad, it was scary, yet it was exciting. They'd packed away their lives into cardboard boxes, loaded them up in a moving truck.
The only thing left to do was leave in the morning for their very long drive to their apartment by Lance's university.
Lance and Keith were at the dinner table with the rest of Lance's family. They'd ordered pizza from a pizza joint in town, hoping to have a stress free meal together before the two could take off.
But it was insanely awkward.
" So..." Lance said, unable to stand the silence any longer. " This is sort of like the last supper, huh?"
Ronny stared down at her pizza somberly. She couldn't believe it. Her big brother was leaving.
" You'll come back for Thanksgiving, right?" Camila asked him.
" Of course we will." Lance smiled a little. " We'll drive up here whenever we have time."
Keith couldn't help but feel a little down. He would be leaving Shiro all by himself in that house. Him and Lance would be alone in the city, only having each other. Though Shiro would be sending them some money every week-that was something Keith had begrudgingly come to agree to- he still felt like they'd get lonely. Their friends obviously couldn't relocate with them, and neither could their families. It was just a surreal thing to think about.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
Soon after dinner, Lance and Keith laid atop the air mattress that had been blown up in Lance's for the most part empty room.
" We'll be fine." Lance whispered to Keith, kissing the top of his head.
Keith sighed, leaning more onto Lance's chest and closing his eyes.
This wasn't how he anticipated leaving for college. Keith's dreams of Seattle seemed like some sort of foreign concept after a while, having been left in his and Lance's dust. There was still a tiny part of him that wished he could go to his dream school. But it was too late to do anything different.
Keith was going to do whatever he needed to for those babies, even if it meant forgoing his number one choice for college and working all the time.
" I know we will..." The omega finally answered. " I just... I've never been that far from home before..." He admitted.
Lance couldn't relate. His family had made him go down to Cuba on numerous occasions.
" It'll be weird at first... but as long as I have you, anywhere is home." Lance told him, holding the smaller boy up against the natural curve of his body.
Keith's face faded completely red from that remark.
" Stopppp!" He whined, burying his blush ridden face.
" Never." Lance chuckled.
There were a couple soft knocks placed on Lance's bedroom door.
" Yeah?" Lance asked.
Ronny opened the door.
" Sorry... it's late. I'm about to go bed, but..." She stammered. Lance could tell that she'd been crying. His eyes grew wider with concern as he got up. " I-" Veronica sniffled.
" Hey, hey, what's up?" Lance stood in front of his sister, who hugged him and finally broke down crying.
" I'm going to miss you!" She exclaimed, holding her brother close. Ronny began memorizing Lance's scent, not knowing the next time she'd be able to smell it. After all, Keith and him were leaving early in the morning. She wouldn't get to say goodbye unless she got up at five AM.
Lance wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair.
" I'll call you everyday, we can Skype, we can talk all the time." He tried to assure her.
" It's not the same." She blubbered. Her mascara was running everywhere as she peeled her face back from his shirt somewhat. Veronica looked about ready to join the black parade thanks to the black streaks on her cheeks.
It hurt.
A lot.
Watching her brother leave was like hitting her hand with a hammer, but for her emotions. This was the person who had always been around. Where was he going to be when she snuck out in the middle of the night? Where was he going to be when she needed advice? Where was he going to be instead of spying on her and Sasha from the other room?
Though Veronica pretended to hate his protective attitude, she felt like her life wouldn't be the same without him over her shoulder all the time. What if she fucked up while he was gone? It was different. Sure, her parents were there to keep an eye on her, but it wasn't nearly the same thing.
" It's hard... I know... it's hard for me too." Lance wiped away some of her tears.
Ronny sniffled, moving to take a bracelet from her wrist. She had plenty of bangles and such from Hot Topic, but there was a special one. She'd strung it together herself.
" I want you t-to have this..." She told her brother, handing him the bracelet after untying the end of it.
Lance looked down at it, seeing the familiar black, white, and red colors. His sister had worn that bracelet for longer than he could remember.
" Are you sure?" He asked, and she nodded. " Okay." Lance moved to try and tie it on his wrist. He was miserably failing without being able to use both of his hands.
Ronny helped him, sniffling a little while doing so.
Lance smiled down at her, feeling a few tears rise to his eyes.
" You're so emo." He chuckled, pointing at her smudged eyeliner.
" Shut up." She actually smiled back.
Keith sat watching the whole exchange with a saddened expression. It was one of the most disheartening things to watch two siblings get separated.
Veronica moved past Lance, and Keith got up slowly once he realized she was coming to talk to him next.
Keith chuckled once she hugged him as well.
" Be safe." She told him.
There was another thing. Things had been unusually peaceful lately. Keith wasn't used to most things going right. He wondered if possibly the hitman or whoever hadn't given up, but was only waiting until they were vulnerable and alone.
" We will." Keith assured. " And make sure that you're safe, too. Don't go to any more parties like that. I won't be here to save your ass next time." He teased.
" I won't." She said.
Lance came over to hug her from behind one last time, and Keith decided to make it a group hug.
Normally Veronica wasn't into affection. But she wasn't about to pass up a hug from them right then. Especially if she probably wouldn't see either of them until Thanksgiving.
...
Long car trips had their ups and downs.
Keith was in the passenger seat, eating a can of Pringles out of boredom while Lance drove.
" Hey, Keith." Lance said.
" Hm?" The omega hummed in response.
" Chip me." Lance opened his mouth, and Keith snickered while shoving a couple Pringles in his mouth.
They were almost there. Almost.
The half hour they had remaining seemed like nothing in comparison to the day they'd spent in the car. So far there had been no major hiccups in their plan. It was almost six at night, and that gave Lance and Keith just enough time. The movers that Shiro had hired were still following in Lance's car's trail. They'd have all the boxes up into the apartment before it got too late at night, or so the couple hoped.
Their apartment was fully furnished-thanks to Shiro- but Lance and Keith brought Lance's bed with. They couldn't just leave it there with all the memories they'd made atop it. It would take a while to get all the furniture up there as well.
" Hey, are you getting hungry?" Lance asked Keith through a mouthful of chips.
Keith shrugged, eating another one.
" A little."
" We can order something when we get there." Lance told him, turning right and being very careful with Keith in the passenger seat. He was an excessively defensive driver, especially after everything that had happened.
Keith saw the look on Lance's face, immediately able to tell that he was on edge. He reached across to hold his hand.
" Lance." The omega said.
Lance sort of nodded his head, not wanting to take his eyes off the road.
" Everything is fine." Keith told him, raising the other's very tan hand to his lips and kissing it. " Okay?" He ran his thumb soothingly over Lance's palm, smiling at him a little.
Lance felt the breath return to his lungs after that. He had a fond expression on his face while continuing to drive.
Once they arrived at the apartment building, Keith was relieved to step out of the car. The building was six stories high, but their unit was on the first floor. Lance had made sure of that when him, Shiro, and Keith had talked about it. The last thing either of the alphas wanted was for Keith to have to brave multiple sets of stairs everyday.
" What do you think?" Lance was quick to circle around the front and make his way to Keith. He wrapped an arm around him from the side, holding him and leaning his head in by Keith's.
" I think it's... nice." Keith said. " It's better than I was expecting. How are we able to afford a place like this?"
The building itself looked very modern and updated. Clearly it wasn't rundown and let go by the landlord.
" Shiro." Lance responded.
Did Lance feel guilty for letting Shiro help them so much? Yes. But was he in any position to pass it up? Hell no. Those twins were going to need a nice place to live for the first few years of their lives.
The door to get into the building had a passcode to unlock the knob. Lance punched it in, beckoning the moving people to start unloading. They propped a box in front of the door to keep it open while they went to get more.
Apartment number eight. Keith and Lance looked at each other and held hands while Lance unlocked the door to the place.
They stepped in together, and Keith was pleasantly surprised. The hardwood was a light sandy color, the walls were a neutral tan shade, and the lights that Lance turned on weren't harsh at all. It was very spacious and empty, yet cozy.
The first room was the living room, but it was more open concept. The couple came more inside, looking around and observing the apartment in person.
It was a two bedroom, two bath set up. But it seemed very large for only having a few set rooms. There was even a laundry room included, which Keith couldn't have been more thankful for.
" Do you like it?" Lance asked Keith, brushing the bangs from his face.
" Of course I do. It's perfectly fine." Keith chuckled.
" I just want the best for you and..." Lance caressed Keith's belly. " Them."
" Luna and Kai will love it." Keith responded, standing on his tiptoes to press a kiss on Lance's cheek. " This place is huge."
...
It had taken a couple hours for the moving people to get everything up into the apartment. But after they were gone, Lance and Keith were exhausted. Most of the boxes could be left alone until tomorrow.
They both sat on top of the couch Shiro had gotten them. It was really soft and squishy and probably expensive.
" Hey, Lance..." Keith said, glancing over to his alpha. " We should break in the new couch while we wait for the pizza."
" Break in the couch?" Lance smirked. " Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He raised an eyebrow.
Keith pulled Lance over, cuddling him as the two got in a spooning position. How else would they break in the couch? Cuddles were the only way.
Lance draped an arm around Keith, burying his face into the omega's shoulder and smiling. His palm rested atop Keith's tummy.
" I love you..." He whispered in Keith's ear.
Keith smiled, but before he could respond, he felt something. He made a face, unsure if it had been what he thought it was.
" L-Lance..." The omega put his hand over Lance's, guiding him to the lower center of the bump. " Can you feel it?"
Lance's face lit up as he felt a tiny push out from inside Keith.
" They're kicking." Keith told him affectionately.
Lance had a bright smile covering the majority of his face as he felt the tiny movement.
Those were his. The babies in there were perfect, and he couldn't have been more proud of them. And his omega was the hottest, most amazing guy ever. Keith was a remarkable father to them; Lance loved him even more for that. There wasn't anything about Luna and Kai that Lance didn't adore.
" I wanna talk to them." Lance said.
Keith felt his alpha shift, then get down to kneel in front of the couch. He turned a dark shade of red while Lance pulled up his shirt, feeling over his tummy.
Lance wasn't shy while pressing a couple kisses onto Keith's pale skin, being incredibly gentle while doing so.
Keith chuckled a little, flustered from his fiancé's actions. He'd gotten used to Lance doing things like talking to them, but it didn't make it any less cute.
" Hey... it's Daddy again." Lance told Keith's stomach. " We love you both so so much." He felt another tiny kick on his hand right after saying that.
Keith wondered if their kids would ever get confused about the daddy thing. After all... they wouldn't be the only ones calling Lance that.
" One of you could definitely be a soccer player with a kick like that." Lance complimented. " And I can teach you all the cool moves."
Keith snickered a little, keeping a hand on his belly to feel for anymore movement.
" Or maybe a kicker for the football team." The smaller boy added.
" That too." Lance smiled. " I'm looking at you, Luna. You could beat out all those boys if you wanted."
Keith couldn't wait for the babies to be born. One, so he wouldn't have to carry around the weight anymore, but also because he wanted to see Lance's face when he could hold them. The omega already knew Lance would probably bawl his eyes out once he got to see them for the first time.
Their doorbell rang, and Lance jumped in response.
" I'll get it." He told Keith. " But first..." Lance smiled at the bump, pressing a final kiss to it. " I love you two."
Lance stood up, grabbing the money from his back pocket. He checked through the peephole on the door, wanting to make sure that it was the pizza person. Once he was sure, he opened the door.
Keith waited a minute or so, then Lance came in with a large box. He set it on the glass coffee table.
Lance looked through the tote bag of snacks and drinks they'd brought. It was only meant to tide them over until they could find a grocery store.
" Bottled water it is." Lance grabbed a couple waters, handing Keith one as he came over by him.
Keith took it, smiling at him.
" Thanks." He said.
So this was it. They were in Florida, they were in the home stretch. It seemed like all of this was too good to be true. The apartment was too nice. The pizza that they were beginning to eat tasted too delicious.
Keith wasn't used to that.
He still feared that Lotor and whoever it was weren't finished with them.
But the omega brushed it off. They'd need to start worrying if something else happened, but if nothing else befell them, maybe they were in the clear.
They'd have to approach the future cautiously.
(( Oof. I don't really have anything to say lol.))