#oh man. i guess it could be dec 17 when he was actually born and dec 25 is the day his werak took him in? seems fitting 🤔

[artekai]

December is Kai's birthday month! :'D

[ebhenah]

Klancemas December 17: Decorating

 @monthlyklance

Klancemas 2018

"Candy Cane"

Dec 17: Decorating

(A future Klance-Family Fic)

CW: discussion of surgical repair of a badly broken bone

“I wanna go HOME,” Kashi grumbled, “I don’t like it here.”

“I know buddy, but that’s a bad break,” Lance said, ruffling the five year old’s hair, “and they might need to do surgery to fix it.”

“Am I gonna get a cool robot leg like Uncle Shiro’s arm?” His eyes danced with excitement at the thought.

“Ummm... no… and I’m pretty sure Uncle Shiro would have liked to be able to keep the arm he was born with.”

“Uhhhhh… Papi,” Kashi’s voice was… just far too condescending for a five year old. Someone was being a bad influence on his baby and he was gonna get to the bottom of it- as soon as life was back to normal. “Have you even SEEN Uncle Shiro’s arm? Cuz, it is like SUPER cool. He can open the fridge and get a drink from the couch! THE COUCH, Papi!”

“Hmmm…” he nodded thoughtfully, “yeah. That’s pretty cool. I know your regular old leg must seem pretty boring, but you aren’t getting a robot one. Sorry, dumpling.”

“Awww,” he deflated, flopping back dramatically and knocking his pillows to the floor and Lance had to shake his head at him, moving to restore the pillows to where they belonged.

Before he could say anything encouraging, the doctor popped into the room. “Mr. Um… Ko-gain?”

“Ko-gah-nee,” Kashi said patiently. “Ta-Kah-shi Ko-gah-nee… but everyone calls me Kashi.”

“I see,” the doctor said, “thank-you Kashi, but I was actually trying to speak with your dad. Mr. Ko- LANCE?!?!”

He looked up from where he’d been fussing over Kashi’s pillows. The doctor was a pretty woman. Tall, with honey brown hair and kind eyes, but he didn’t recognize her until she smiled, “oh my God! Xo!”

“Lance McClain,” she laughed, “wow- I was not expecting… Hi.”

“Hi,” he laughed, “this is… definitely a surprise!”

“Ummmm… Hi!” Kashi joined in, “Papi’s name’s not McClain, it’s Kogane.”

“Kashi, don’t be rude! Sorry, Xo… or I guess, I should call you Xiomara? I know you hated the nickname.”

“Yeah, I prefer Xiomara… Dios, it’s been… what? 15 years?”

“At least… closer to 20 I think. Wow… you’re a doctor. That’s amazing! Good for you!”

“Says the Paladin of Voltron,” she laughed, “Kashi- did you know that when your Papi was about your age, he tried to build his very own spaceship. He even named it!”

“He did?” Kashi was hooked, he ate up stories about his parents childhoods.

“Mmhmmm… it was… oh! I remember! Mirador De Estrellas,” she sat in the empty chair beside Lance, “not a bad name for a spaceship.”

“Dr. Marichal was very good friends with your Tia Rachel,” Lance explained, “so she was at our house a lot when I was your age.”

“I’m not allowed to say it, but Tia Rachel is my favorite,” Kashi chirped.

“Seriously Kashi? If you KNOW you aren’t allowed to say it, why did you say it right in front of me?” Lance threw his arms out in exasperation.

“I dunno,” Kashi just shrugged.

“Sorry about him,” Lance said, shaking his head slowly, “he’s… one of a kind.”

“Gee, I wonder where he gets that,” she laughed.

“Tia Veronica is supposed to be my favorite,” Kashi explained, “cuz she grew me in her belly… but she’s too bossy… and Tia Rachel lets me eat raw cookie dough.”

“Takashi Kogane!” Lance gasped, horrified. “Please tell me this is from pain medication!”

She glanced at the chart, and looked sheepish, “sorry… unless he has an unusual response, none of the medications should cause… umm… this.”

Lance dropped his face into his hands, “Kashi, dumpling, you are killing your Papi right now.”

“At least we are in a hospital,” Kashi pointed out.

That made Xiomara choke back a laugh. “Oh man… I like this kid of yours, Lance. Should we go over the treatment plan while I get a look at Kashi here?”

“Yes, please,” he said, shooting Kashi a look.

“Right, so, it… could be worse, but we aren’t looking at an ideal situation.” She checked Kashi’s vitals as she spoke. “Ideally we would want to see a nice clean fracture that would be easy to set, pin in place and let it heal. But what we are looking at here is multiple close together breaks, so we definitely need to get him into surgery, and we will be needing to utilize some… uhh… new technology.”

“You mean alien tech,” Kashi said clearly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Doctors hate to say that they are using alien tech… cuz of bigots. We’re not bigots. You can say alien tech.”

“Alright then, yes, alien tech,” she corrected, ducking her head and listening to his chest to hide her smile, “you know Kashi, most kids your age are afraid to say stuff like that to doctors. You’re a brave guy.”

“He is pretty… umm.. Outspoken, in general. But, his sister has Sandacies Syndrome,” Lance explained, “so we spend a lot of time around medical stuff… and most of her care is overseen by the Olkari.”

“Oh. I am very sorry, Sandacies is a tough diagnosis. How old is she?”

“Talia’s eight,” Lance answered, “and thanks. She’s doing really well, though.”

“Has Kashi been tested for Sandacies markers?”

“Talia’s adopted,” Kashi said, “so’s Rai, but me and Thace are surro-babies.”

“I see,” she said with a smile, “so, as I was saying- we’ll be using some new medical tech from Puig. It’s a biofoam. So, once we stabilize the break, we wrap a sleeve around the affected area, place the screws, and fill the sleeve with the biofoam. Over the course of a few weeks, Kashi’s own bone will replace the foam and he’ll be good as new. The surgery is pretty involved, though, and he’ll need to stay here for at least a week afterwards so we can monitor him. We don’t have a whole lot of information on how human dna interacts with this tech yet, so we like to keep a close watch.”

“A whole WEEK?!?! Papi! No!”

“Kashi, if it takes a week, it takes a week.”

“But… CHRISTMAS!”

The doctor looked confused, “Christmas isn’t for more than three weeks Kashi. You’ll be home by then.”

Lance shook his head, “no, he’s upset about missing out on the decorating. It’s his favorite part- putting up the trees and stuff. We help our friends with theirs so it’s kind of a whole thing.”

“Uncle Shiro said it was my turn to do the star this year, and Coran bought a TRAIN that goes IN the tree!” Tears were welling in the little boy’s eyes, “and I’m gonna miss Thanksgiving pizza!”

“Oh, Kashi,” any earlier irritation at him vanished and Lance drew his son into a tender hug. “I know, dumpling, but we need to fix your leg… and if the doctor says that’s how long it will take, then that’s how long it will take. I’ve known Dr. Marichal  since I was your age- she’s almost as smart as Pidge.”

“I HATE RAI,” he wailed against Lance’s chest, “this is all his stupid fault- pushing buttons and pickin’at stuff!”

The doctor checked her chart, “says here Kashi’s leg got caught in some kind of machinery?”

“Yes- he and his brother were poking around in Hunk’s workshop and getting into stuff they KNOW they aren’t supposed to touch. So, now the workshops are completely off limits to the kids. Poor Hunk is absolutely distraught.” He sat back on his heels and wiped the tears from Kashi’s face, “and so is RAI. He feels really bad that you got hurt, Kashi. You know he didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“But it DID, and it’s HIS fault! An’now I’m gonna be STUCK HERE when everyone else is doing fun Christmas stuff! Can’t Allura fix it with her glowy magic?”

“Kashi! Allura’s alchemy isn’t a first aid kit- she only uses it to heal in the most dire situations. You have a broken leg. We don’t need to use MAGIC to fix that.” That pout really shouldn’t be nearly as adorable as it was. As frustrated and worried as he was, Lance was struggling not to coo at his youngest- because he just looked soooo much like a tiny, angry Keith at the moment, with his furrowed brow and purple eyes and scowl. He stood, mussing up Kashi’s hair affectionately. “When should we expect the surgery?”

She glanced at the clock, “hmmm… technically it is emergency surgery because it wasn’t scheduled in advance, so he’ll be ranked for urgency and then as soon as possible. I would say it’ll be before the end of the day.”

“Surgery?” Keith asked from the doorway.

“Daddy!” Kashi wailed, sticking his arms out.

Keith rushed over and hugged him gingerly, pressing kisses to the top of his head and rubbing his little back. “I’m right here, kiddo,” he whispered, “Daddy and Papi aren’t going anywhere.”

“Keith, this is Dr. Marichal, she’s an old friend of Rachel’s, she’s in charge of Kashi’s case. Xiomara, this is my husband, Keith,” Lance returned to his seat, knowing that Keith wasn’t leaving Kashi’s side until they wheeled him off for surgery.

Keith extended his hand to shake hers, “it’s nice to meet you Dr. Marichal, you were saying he needs surgery?”

“Femur breaks are pretty serious,” she said with a nod before running through the surgical plan with him again.

“I’m gonna miss ALL the fun stuff,” Kashi sniffled.

“No, you won’t, precious,” Keith promised, “we’ll save lots of fun stuff for when you are home with us.”

“Shiro’s PIZZA… and Coran’s TRAIN…”

“I’ll talk to Shiro and Coran. I promise.” He pulled back and looked Kashi in the eye, “have I ever broken a promise to you?”

“No,” the little boy hiccuped.

“Right. So, I won’t break this one. I will talk to Uncle Shiro and Coran while you are getting your leg fixed up and I will find a way for you to not miss out on all your favorite stuff.”

“You promise?” he asked, hope blooming in his amethyst eyes.

“I PROMISE. Paladin’s honor.”

“Okay,” sniffled Kashi, “thank-you, Daddy.”

Lance smiled, he should have known that Keith would be able to put Kashi’s worries to rest. People were always surprised at just how good Keith was with kids. They assumed that he’d be awkward and standoffish with them the way he was with adults, but he wasn’t at all. Lance had yet to see a child that didn’t immediately take to Keith and he’d never seen a kid that Keith didn’t like.

“You don’t have to thank me, Kashi,” Keith soothed, “can you get those papers signed, Tumbleweed? I’m gonna chill out with our little guy for a bit.”

“Sure thing babe,” Lance answered, “alright Xiomara, where do I sign?”

“If you come with me, I’ll get you all set up with the paperwork,” she said nodding toward the door. He followed her to a little room that had a little table and a few chairs. It reminded him of signing the adoption paperwork for the twins. “I have to ask- ‘Tumbleweed’?”

He laughed, “ah... That… I took him on a romantic ice skating date. I thought it would be like rollerblading. I was wrong. He called me Tumbleweed because I couldn’t stay upright until  taught me how to ice skate… then he proposed that day, so it stuck.”

“Well, that is straight out of a Hallmark movie! Very cute. Definitely a keeper,” she said, laughing as she organized all the papers, “Kashi looks a lot like him.”

“Yeah, he’s just a lot like him, in general. Brave, stubborn… blunt,” he laughed, and pulled out his phone, bringing up a picture of all the kids, “Thace looks more like me… or, well… like Rachel, I guess.”

“That’s definitely YOUR smile on that little girl,” she laughed, and passed him the stack. He put the phone away and started scrawling his name on the flagged spots. She smiled at him, “I always get a kick of how much adopted kids end up looking like the people that raise them just because of expressions and mannerisms.”

“Yeah, it’s wild… and it carries over, too. Like, sometimes Rai will open his mouth and I SWEAR he’s channeling Shiro… who raised Keith. Family is…” He shrugged, “it’s a kind of magic, I think.”

“I like that, I might steal it to help reassure parents.” She sat in one of the chairs across from him, “you have a beautiful family, Lance. I’m glad I got to meet some of them- although it could have been under better circumstances.”

“I’m sure you will meet the others in the next couple of days,” he laughed, “we’ve got the whole hospital visitation thing down to an art.”

“So… ummm… Kashi said Veronica carried him? How is she doing?”

He glanced up at her between signatures, “are you sure you want me to answer that?”

“Yes… I mean… I think so… Just.. don’t tell me if it is bad,” she blushed, “I don’t want to know if it isn’t good.”

“Roni is great,” he answered, “she pretty much runs the world- although no one seems to have noticed yet. She’s single right now… but she’s got a couple of on again off again things, so that could change.”

“Good. That’s… good. I’m glad she’s doing well. She deserves it.”

“Want me to tell her you say hi?” he asked, signing the last line and returning the pages to a neat stack.

She gave him a wistful smile as she took the paperwork, “yeah. Yeah, tell her I said hi… and give my love to the family.”

“Will do.”

“You are such a charmer,” Keith whispered, wrapping his arms around Lance. “He’s going to be so excited to see this!”

“You were the one that had the idea AND arranged everything,” Lance chuckled, leaning back against his husband, and resting his hands on top of Keith’s. “All I did was convince the nurses to look the other way about the number of visitors.”

Trudy, one of the nurses, poked her head into the room, “he’s awake. They’ll be bringing him down any minute. Everything looks great.”

“Thanks so much,” Lance said.  He could FEEL the worry and tension drain out of Keith’s frame. “Babe- it’s a broken leg. He’s fine.”

“It’s a broken FEMUR and he needed surgery, Lance.”

“He’s five and still growing. He’ll be back to driving everyone bonkers before you know it.” He turned in Keith’s arms, “you are such a worrywart when it comes to the kids. It’s cute.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “this again?”

“Mmhmm… my husband is CUTE.”

“Lannnnnce… quit it.”

“CHECK OUT MY CAST! IT LOOKS LIKE A CANDY CANE!!”

They both laughed as Kashi was wheeled into the room. Sure enough the fiberglass cast that encased his leg was red and white candy-cane striped. Lance had to remind himself to breathe when he saw the metal frame and the screws that disappeared into the fiberglass- even though he’d known they’d be there, even though he knew they weren’t hurting his little boy.

“Very festive,” Keith said with an encouraging nod.

“See, dumpling? I told you that Xiomara was awesome. How are you feeling?”

“My skin feels tickle-y and I’m thirsty,” Kashi answered, “but my leg doesn’t even hurt!”

“Are you up to more visitors?”

“Sure- is Tia Rachel here? She can see her friend!”

“Sorry bud, no Rachel,” Keith answered as Lance ducked out of the room to gather the others.

A few minutes later Shiro, Coran, Thace, Talia, Krolia, Allura, and Romelle came into the room, carrying boxes of assorted sizes. A chagrined Rai and weeping Hunk followed and made a beeline to the little boy, tripping over each other to be the first to apologize. Hunk was barely coherent until Kashi patted his back and assured him that it wasn’t Hunk’s fault and he wasn’t mad.

Rai didn’t even speak- not that he was a particularly talkative child- and Lance suspected he didn’t trust himself not to cry. Rai HATED hospitals, always had, but he had insisted on being here for the entire duration of the surgery. He climbed up onto the bed beside his little brother and gingerly wrapped his arm around him while they both glared at spots on the bed somewhere in the vicinity of their knees.

Silent tears spilled out of Rai’s eyes and he dug his hand into the big pocket in the front of his hoodie, pulling out a sloppily wrapped rectangle and handing it to Kashi. Kashi took the gift and cautiously tore the paper off of it to reveal Rai’s handheld gaming system. “What?”

“Gets boring in hospitals,” Rai muttered, “and they keep saying you’re too little, so you can have mine. S’my fault you’re hurt and stuff.”

“You’re GIVING me this???” Kashi’s eyes were so huge they looked like they’d fall right out of his head.

Rai just nodded, not looking up. “M’sorry.”

“Rai, it was an accident,” Kashi said after a moment. “Wasn’t on purpose.”

“You were so mad,” Rai whispered, “said you hated me.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

Lance had to bite his tongue to keep from chiding Kashi about calling his brother stupid, but he managed. He knew they needed to work this through on their own.

“Your cast looks like a candy cane… can I be the first one to sign it?”

“Sign it?”

“That’s what you do with casts, bud,” Thace said, earning ‘cool big brother points’ as Kashi’s face lit up.

“Really?”

“Definitely,” confirmed Keith.

“I’ll see if the nurses have any markers!” Talia was already out the door before she finished speaking.

“Cooooool! Hey! What’s in all the boxes?”

“Well,” said Shiro, “you always help us make our places ready for Christmas, so this year, it’s our turn to help YOU.”

“We brought you a little tree,” Allura added.

“And ornaments,” said Romelle.

“I found some battery-powered lights for your room, sweetheart,” Krolia added.

“And I thought that you might want to have a train running on the tree-gown-”

“-tree-SKIRT, Coran,” Lance chuckled.

“Yes, of course! I thought you might enjoy having a train running on the tree-SKIRT until you come home,” Coran finished, twirling his moustache.

“I get to decorate my hospital room?” Kashi was floored, he didn’t know where to look, his big eyes darting from person to person. “Really?”

“Really,” Keith confirmed.

“And Tia Pidge will be here soon with a little Thanksgiving pizza for you and I to share,” Shiro said as he ruffled Kashi’s hair, “if you feel up to eating.”

“Best. Day. Ever!” squealed the five year old, the prospect of decorating his hospital room seeming to have completely overpowered the reason that he was in one in the first place.

Talia returned with two fistfuls of colorful markers and started handing them out to people as Allura and Shiro began unpacking the boxes and organizing the contents.

By the time Lance was able to get close enough to his son to sign the cast and give him a hug and kiss, the room was looking very festive. Keith and Shiro were singing carols. Rai was showing Kashi all the best games on his system. Thace and Pidge cutting red and green construction paper into strips that Hunk was stapling into a long chain.

They’d attracted the attention of some of the other kids on the ward and a few of the more mobile and energetic ones had joined in on their fun. Allura had quietly ducked out to visit the kids who weren’t up to it. The Paladins, in general, had a certain amount of fame, even now, but Allura, the Alien Princess, was a bonafide celebrity.

“This was definitely a stroke of genius,” Lance whispered to Keith, “you’ve saved his Christmas.”

“I made a promise,” Keith answered, his voice matter of fact.

“I love you, babe.”

“I love you, too, Tumbleweed.”