#Official tag that I'll be adding to the previous entries/ future posts

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Kidge Parent HC Part 2.4

Holy crow I was hoping to get this done a lot sooner than I did but it’s here now! The next part will probably take even longer since it’s going to be going over the family dynamic as a whole, how the kids bounce off of one another, their interests and personalities, etc., as well as me wanting to get some more fics out before then so I hope you’ll all stick around for it!

Also, I’ll hopefully be uploading a newer, better schedule for my stories/ projects later today, so there’s that. :3

Kidge Married Pre-Babies: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.1: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.2: [here]

Kidge w/ Babies Part 2.3: [here] *There’s a little angst in this one, FYI

Also, note taken from the start of Part 2.1, but:  Forewarning that there will be some mentions of Allurance in all these parts, but I’m not tagging it because they aren’t given any real focus. Additionally, since I know some of this stuff can squick some people out, warning that there will be somewhat-detailed talk about pregnancy, birth, and what exactly comes in the early stages with a newborn so please be wary if such things make you uncomfortable.

Small Notes I Forgot to Mention Last Time:

Oliver’s full name is Oliver Maxwell Kogane. His middle name is actually a suggestion from Colleen; Maxwell was the name Colleen and Samuel had settled on when they were expecting Pidge if she had been born a boy. I originally planned for his middle name to be Samuel, after Pidge’s dad and I think I referred to him as such once in a fic?? but I changed my mind on that.

Also, the onesie they brought him home in was gray with a tiny robot on it that read “I like pushing buttons”.

The Fourth Baby

So, Keith and Pidge had agreed that Oliver was going to be their last, but that isn’t exactly how it plays out. Oliver had just turned a year old a few weeks prior, Kaden’s third birthday was right around the corner, and Amber would be turning seven in October. Pidge realizes that her period is late and has a sinking suspicion as to why, but also doesn’t want to jump the gun. After two weeks pass, she picks up a few tests and they all come back positive.

She’s not surprised and is pretty happy, but she’s also really worried how Keith and the kids will take the news. Oliver – obviously – doesn’t remember all the trouble from his own birth and Kaden was too little to really remember, but Amber and Keith certainly do.

Amber actually went for about two weeks where she had nightmares about losing her Mommy and ended up joining Keith and Pidge in their bed. They had considered getting her into therapy, but after they started seriously talking about it the nightmares tapered off so they decided to hold off, not really sure of what would be the best option for her. It’s been over a year since the last time she did that, but Pidge worries that this will kick it all up for her and send her anxieties back up to max.

Pidge decides to breach the subject when they’re cleaning up after dinner that night. Surprisingly, all three kids take the news extremely well. She’s especially pleased with how happy Amber is at the idea of having another little sibling to look after, helping to curb some of Pidge’s anxiety. Keith, however, does not take it well. He turns and straight-up leaves the house for the night, heading off in the Black Lion for parts unknown.

Amber and Kaden are a bit worried about Keith’s reaction, while Oliver is blissfully unaware of what’s going on.

*Kaden, standing on tip-toes to put his cup in the sink.* “Mommy, is Daddy angry?”

“Daddy’s a little upset but it’ll be okay.” *Said with a small sigh, picking up a plate and scrubbing it clean.*

“Is he upset about the new baby?” *Amber, taking the cleaned plate and putting it in the dishwasher.*

“It’s… complicated, sweetheart.”

“Does Daddy not love the new baby?”

*Pidge, freezing and looking down at Amber in alarm at the question. Amber meets her gaze, refusing to shy away despite how uncomfortable she is with the thought.* “… No, Amber, that’s not it. Daddy is just… very scared. And sometimes when Daddy gets scared he goes away for a little bit to think things through.”

The kids stop asking question after that. They finish cleaning up from dinner, Pidge gets them all settled into bed, and goes to lie down herself. She doesn’t fall asleep, just kinda lays there and lets her mind reel through all the different responses she could get from Keith. She lays there for about two hours before she hears footsteps on the stairs.

She doesn’t say anything when he opens the door and slips inside, heading to the bathroom and getting ready for bed as quietly as he can. He slips in beside her and pulls her flush against him. She twists in his arms so that she’s facing him, settling one hand on his shoulder and the other on the side of his face. He closes his eyes and leans into her touch.

“Do you feel a little better now? Had a chance to cool down?”

“I’m… Yeah. I wasn’t angry, you know.”

“I know that, but the kids didn’t, and it was hard explaining to them. Especially Amber… She asked a really difficult question.”

*He shifts to lean his forehead against hers and sighs.* “I swear, she’s too sharp… What did she ask?”

“She asked if you weren’t going to love this baby like you love them.”

*Keith’s eyes snap open and he looks absolutely mortified, which Pidge had been kind of expecting.* “Jesus, I… I may not be exactly thrilled right now, but I would never-! I… I’m worried and scared about what could happen, but that doesn’t mean I won’t love the baby… Did I really make that much of a scene when I left?”

“It’s less making a scene and more that the kids aren’t really used to that side of you, I think. They’re more used to their happy, goofy Daddy and the occasionally stern Daddy. A Daddy that’s really upset and needs to walk away, though? Not really something you’ve had to do much in front of them. They don’t know what an impulsive little shit you used to be.” *Pidge is gentle as she speaks, moving to wrap her arms around him and give him a few quick pecks between words to help soothe him, and grows a bit more playful at her last statement.*

“Keith chuckles quietly.* “You know, I seem to remember somebody else who used to be pretty impulsive when they were younger… Name stared with a ‘P’ and ended with an ‘Idge’, I believe.”

“I’m afraid that I, Katie, have never met this person.”

“…”

“…”

“Oh, you are such a little sneak!” *Keith says, but he’s laughing, so she considers it progress.*

They have a long talk about the whole thing and agree that they have every intention of seeing this through. Keith does, however, insist that if Pidge feels like anything about the pregnancy feels weird or drastically different that she make sure to tell him. He literally doesn’t care about the medical expenses they might accrue; he’ll rush her to the ER over anything this time around if it prevents an incident like they had with Oliver.

The next morning they wake up to Amber and Kaden both flopped over on top of Keith. They were worried that their Daddy was sad so they came in to cuddle the happy back into him. Keith sits and talks with them and explains things as best he can while Pidge goes and gets Oliver out of his crib in his own room.

The Altea Clan finds out about the pregnancy first, due to Pidge and Keith inquiring as to whether Allura can keep the Castle on Earth for an extended period of time. Due to Allura’s diplomacy training from her youth, Lance’s natural charisma, and Coran’s wealth of knowledge, the three of them have been travelling the galaxy helping to maintain the coalition and spread peace even further; it’s also a good way, in Allura’s opinion, to teach their children how to be proper diplomats too. Allura is immediately tickled at them having another child and explains they’d been planning to take a little break to spend more time with Lance’s family on Earth, seeing as the kids have been wanting to spend more time with their extended family, so having the Castle Ship at a moment’s notice won’t be an issue. This is a huge relief to Keith, as his biggest concern is making sure that Pidge and the baby are safe.

Hunk and Shiro find out shortly after them. Hunk echoes a lot of the same concerns that Keith had – complications and risks for Pidge and the baby – but also assures that he’ll be as supportive as ever. Shiro agrees that so long as they’re both okay with it than he’s happy for them. They’re both further settled by the fact that Allura and the Castle Ship will also be nearby, just in case.

After that they tell Krolia and the Holts. Krolia and Colleen are both thrilled at the idea of another little grandbaby to dote on, Samuel seems a bit concerned but is also extremely supportive, while Matt voices that he thinks it’s a bad idea, even with the Castle Ship around just in case, but agrees to support them. This irritates Pidge a bit but she opts against making a scene at the time, simply because she doesn’t need the stress.

So, what does Pidge get in the way of symptoms this time around? She gets really, really mild nausea – like, to the point where it only seems that certain foods trigger it – as well as less severe moods swings. Other than that, the only thing that’s really different, is that her sex drive is a little more kicked up this pregnancy. But even that is fixed by sleepovers with their grandparents. ;3c

Other little tidbit; because they are serious about this being their last baby, Keith gets a vasectomy pretty shortly after they find out Pidge is pregnant. Vasectomies are significantly less invasive procedures than having the Fallopian tubes tied off, has a faster turn-around rate from surgery to full recovery, and they can nip any potential other pregnancies in the bud before they’re even possible. Another reason they take care of it as soon as they do is because Keith does need to have a good few days of taking it easy since he’ll be tender down there, and Pidge needs to still be well enough to look after the kids and help him as best he can.

Colleen and Sam help out by taking the kids for an overnight visit the first night after the procedure, which helps Pidge out in regards to prioritizing where her attention should be, since their kids are extremely energetic little stinkers and would make it way harder in the immediate.

So, back to the situation with the new baby!

Pidge’s due date this time around is in early-to-mid December. Keith points out this means they’ll have a baby for all seasons, which makes Pidge laugh.

This baby is a bit different from their siblings in regards to settling down. When this one starts kicking and shifting around, they only seem to calm down when someone starts humming/ singing at them. Pidge usually just hums, because it’s a bit easier, but Keith will actually lean close to Pidge’s belly and gently serenade the new baby. And when Pidge is at home with the older kids, Amber and Kaden will put on little concerts to try and help soothe their baby sibling. It never works, since it’s more a cacophony of noise with them, but Pidge still finds it ridiculously sweet so she never tells them the truth.

They are informed that they’ll be having a little girl this time around! Amber is wildly excited about this while Kaden is a little disappointed. Pidge is pleased because she’s been of the opinion that they needed a little less testosterone in the house.

They have another family meeting to determine how to proceed with things involving the new baby, specifically to discuss room theme. Pidge is taking a nap at the time since she had to have blood drawn at her doctor’s appointment that day and the nurse that did it was new and had trouble finding a vein, so she’s feeling a little worn out.

*Amber, clearing her throat and calling the meeting to order.* “Today, we must decide what Baby Sister’s room is going to look like! This is a very important matter, right, Daddy?”

“Oh, absolutely.” *Keith, chuckling a bit as he settles in between the boys, Oliver fiddling with the junk mail on the table.*

“I think we should do something about when she’s gonna be here! Playing in the snow is really fun, and I’m sure that playing with Bbay Sister is gonna be really fun, so we have to do something for both!”

“I got an idea! Her room should be about Christmas!” *Kaden, all big eyes and excitement, flailing one hand in the air wildly.*

*Amber, flashing him a bland look.* “She’s not gonna be born on Christmas, though.”

*Kaden, pouting and crossing his arms.* “But she’s gonna be born near Christmas!”

“Not close enough!”

“Yeah huh!”

“Nuh uh!”

*Oliver suddenly shrieks and slams his hand down on a magazine that came in the mail, silencing the argument and Keith’s preparation to chime in.* “Twee!”

*Keith chuckles and leans over to look at the magazine.* “You’re getting so good with words, buddy! That is… a… tree…”

The picture that Oliver had been talking about was of a scenic, snowy ski resort. Pidge and Keith went one year for their anniversary – before the kids – and been automatically enrolled in their subscription. They normally just tossed them out, but Keith had wanted to see if they’d received the notice on when Amber’s next dentist appointment was from her dentist and hadn’t purged the junk yet. And he is suddenly given an excellent idea that will appease both kids.

They agree on a “Winter Wonder” theme for the new baby’s room, giving it the winter theme that Amber had wanted, with the agreement that during December they can hang some tinsel and little ornaments so that they can still have a Christmas-y feel like Kaden wanted. And it’s painted to look like a snowy forest, because of Oliver’s input, too.

Painting the room and putting everything together is done by Keith, Shiro, Hunk, Matt, Amber and Kaden. Oliver waddles around in his little walker and just kinda shouts random words he remembers at everyone as he works. Hunk claims this is his way of offering moral support. Pidge thinks the whole thing is a ridiculously adorable spectacle.

The onesie they pick out for Baby Girl is white with a yellow trim and a pastel pink unicorn on the front. It also has the text “I’m Secretly a Unicorn” on it.

Pidge’s water breaks and she starts getting contractions in the afternoon on December 7th. The Holts had been over visiting so they agree to stay in the lobby with the kids while Keith and Pidge are in Labor and Delivery. Pidge is actually only in labor for four hours, with everything goes extremely quick and complication free. Officially at 4:44 P.M., Aria Emma Kogane gets to join the family!

They pick the name Aria because it means “Solo Melody” and she’s had a clear passion for music since she was in the womb. They pick the name Emma as her middle name because it means “Universal” and they see her as the final little planet to make the universe of their family complete.

In regards to appearance, Aria is a little bit of an oddball compared to her siblings. Unlike the older three, who all inherited Keith’s black hair, Aria ends up with the same sandy blonde as Pidge. She ends up having bright green eyes, however. Green eyes are typically caused by a mutation in the genes, and are among the rarest natural eye colors. Then again, since this is a fictional world with radical eye colors, the likelihood is probably just a bit higher, I think. Other than that, she gets a lot of Pidge’s facial features – button nose and eye shape and heart-shaped face - but Keith’s complexion.

Everyone gets to come in and meet her at once this time, due to that Paladin Privilege and the fact that the delivery was complication free. Since Amber’s big enough, she actually gets to hold Aria herself and let’s out the most excited muffled squeal in the world. Keith helps Kaden take his turn with holding her, and Oliver just kinda lightly pokes Aria’s cheek as his sign of acceptance. Everyone in the family gets a turn to hold her, and Colleen brought her a gray-purple baby blanket to be bundled up in, though Matt ends up kinda hogging her. Pidge gives him the biggest, stinkiest “And YOU Thought She Was a Bad Idea, You Fucking Twit” look that history has ever and will ever know.

Only one day is spent in the hospital before Pidge and Aria are allowed to go home. Since everything was smooth sailing this time around, the whole move goes a lot smoother than it did when Pidge had Oliver.

So what exactly do they get with their latest bundle of joy?

Aria is an anomaly in the Kogane lineage in more ways than just her physical appearance. She’s a pretty typical baby, though a bit less fussy than most. She’s a really mellow little baby, a lot like Kaden, but she loves to make cooing noises almost all the time. Like, if she needs something, she’s much more likely to make these little warbling cooing noises to alert Keith and Pidge that she wants/ needs something than to cry, which is desperately different from Oliver who seemed to scream just for the sport of it.

Despite being born in the winter, she hates snow. Like, Keith and Pidge take the kids for a little walk in late-January/ early-February, just to get out of the house for a bit and let them burn off some energy, and everything’s going fine until Keith tugs back the little canopy of Aria’s stroller so that she can see better. A snowflake ends up landing on her nose while she’s looking around and Aria. Fucking. Loses it. Pidge and Keith are scrambling to cheer her back up, to quell the tears and get her back to her usual happy baby self, but nope. She is Done. She has drawn a line in the sand and it has been crossed and no one shall have peace now.

Which leads into another aspect of Aria; she’s actually much more sensitive than her parents or siblings. Or, rather, I guess it’d be better to say that she’s a bit more open about her hurt once she’s upset and doesn’t typically use anger or outrage as a mask. She’s very easy to scare, very quick to tears, and takes a lot of time to calm back down.

This wouldn’t be a problem if not for the fact that Oliver is the Universe’s Most Ludicrous Lil’ Shit.

Because of how their birthdays fall, Oliver is about 21 months older than Aria. So when his second birthday rolls around, she’s just barely over three months. Pidge and Keith hadn’t considered that this age gap would be an issue, since it’s very similar to the one between Kaden and Oliver and those two never really kicked up a fuss. The problem they encounter is that Oliver tends to gravitate towards Pidge a bit more and doesn’t like that a majority of her attention is given to Aria instead.

For a few weeks, Oliver just makes life miserable in the house. He is constantly finding ways to antagonize Aria when she’s just plopped around somewhere doing baby things. Finally, Keith decides to put a stop to this nonsense himself and takes Oliver with him on his walks and it actually goes really well, though I’ll elaborate on that a little more in the next part.

Much like when she was in the womb, singing or humming can help calm Aria back down once she’s startled, but it still takes a decent amount of time.

So, her first genuine smile goes to Pidge but Keith gets to her first word. Her first laugh, though? The honor of this actually goes to neither of her parents this time, but to Shiro! He had agreed to come over to help Keith with trimming the tree in the backyard, because some of the branches are too big for the kids to help him remove, and he offered to hold Aria for Keith because Oliver just ran by cackling like mad, wrapped up in toilet paper covered in bright orange glitter paint, and Pidge is adamant that it’s his turn to corral the feral child.

*Shiro, cradling Aria in his good arm, being careful because she’s a little squirmy and whiny.* “Never a dull moment around here, huh? And soon enough you’re going to add to some of that chaos, huh?”

*Aria just stares up, opening her mouth to let out a little coo in answer, her squirming stopping just a little bit.*

“Oh, you’re just such a sweet little girl. I’m sure you’re going to have a lot of people interested in you someday. Going to make Daddy work to keep them away from you, huh, little girl?” *Shiro’s teasing then lightly pokes her little nose with one of the fingers from his prosthetic hand.*

*Aria reaches up, grabs onto his prosthetic and pulls it herself with a big grin.*

*Shiro laughs and lightly pinches the pudge under her chin.* “Oh, do you want to play? Is that why you were all fussy a minute ago?”

*Aria’s mouth gets really wide and the most delicate, adorable little laugh ever erupts from her. Keith freezes in the doorway to the kitchen/living room, a struggling Oliver tucked under one arm, and Pidge freezes in cutting the sandwiches she made for the kids for lunch. Shiro, unaware that this is the first time she’s laughed, remains completely oblivious and keeps quietly chatting at her.*

“Uncle Shiro, you made her laugh! She’s never done that before!” *Kaden chiming in from his spot at the kitchen table.*

*Shiro, wide-eyed as he looks from Pidge to Keith back down to the still giggling infant in his arms.* “I… I made her laugh for the first time…” *Getting a little choked up because making a baby laugh? That is something to be proud of.*

During the winter season, Aria never goes with Keith on his morning walks because, as started before, she doesn’t do snow. But once it gets warmer out and there’s no snow, she actually really likes to go along. Normally, it’s Keith with Amber, Kaden and Aria out on the walks, but sometimes all four kids go with.

Aria is the most enthusiastic of all the kids about stuffed animals, and is normally dragging at least five of them around with her wherever she goes. Her favorite, though, is a green brontosaurus that she has named Muffin. Keith got a whole set for the kids shortly after Aria was born so that they’d all have a dinosaur toy and she just kinda… Became ridiculously attached.

Aria ends up with only a couple of nicknames, unlike Amber and Kaden who both see a pretty generous amount, but more than Oliver, who ends up with, like, two. Her most common nickname that basically everyone uses is “Ari”, which is pretty obvious. Keith and Pidge also call her “Song Bird” as she gets older and her passion for music becomes more and more prominent. The Holts call her “Sweet Pea” a lot, which Krolia later ends up picking up on, and Shiro playfully calls her “Favorite Niece whose name starts with an A and ends with a Ria.”

Okay, this part is done! Next time we get to the really fun stuff; Pidge and Keith with their full family and all the insanity that comes with it!