#oncebittentwicestupod

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 161

161

It was lazy day. Plans had been made for the following week leaving Lance with nothing but time to relax. Keith felt a little better once they were and once they were all on the same page things seemed a little easier for the pair of them. If Keith seemed in a bad mood or lost in thought, Matt backed off with his teasing. That wasn’t to say Lance was fully forgiven, but Keith had to admit he felt like a weigh had been lifted from his shoulder.

The weather turned out being a pretty miserable day outside, rain bucketing down from sunrise until lunch time, easing off yet leaving dark grey clouds in its wake. Matt and Rieva were both home, Keith at Hunk’s father’s garage as there’d been some flooding, so he needed to move his bike then volunteered to help unblock the pump to clear the workshop floor.

Laying against Rieva, the female werewolf and Matt were in their wolf forms. Lance freezing from the ridiculously cold day that could kindly piss off. Curled into Matt, Kosmo was making the most of the warmth, with Blue snuggled up on Lance’s belly as he read his book out loud to Rieva. For both working werewolves the storm seemed welcomed. The power knocked out in town, and the pair of them already in their wolf forms when he and Keith came down to breakfast. Lance envied their ability to sleep. He’d spent the night up and down, Keith worried stupid about him until he finally called Coran at 3am to demand to know why Lance was feeling irregular cramping in his stomach. Coran instantly hit concerned mode, Lance explaining the feeling, trying not to show he was kind of worried, while simultaneously keeping Keith calm over. With no bleeding, or fluid leakage, Coran was confident that it was the first signs of Braxton-Hick contractions, sympathetic to any pain Lance might be feeling due to his overly tuned senses. With the twins moving as much as they were the vampire didn’t feel anything was wrong, though that didn’t stop Keith shadowing his every move. His boyfriend extra clingy as Lance made him his morning coffee.

Feeling one of the twins give a particularly hard kick, the book slipped from Lance’s hand, hitting Blue who rose to her feet with her back arched and a stern glare on her face. He loved his princess. He’d groomed her this morning, then Matt when he’d nose his way between Blue and her brush. Blue look scandalised at sharing her brush with a mere werewolf, but Matt was an idiot no matter what form he was in

“Sorry, Rieva, Blue’s made it clear she needs pats more than I need to keep reading”

Lance had noticed the change in Blue since they’d come back home again. She seemed to love bunting into his stomach, yet she didn’t like it when the twins moved. His fur daughter was fickle like that. Lifting Blue, her claws came out, as if activated by gravity, back legs clawing at Lance’s arms as he lifted her up

“You’re such a princess! You’re not supposed to claw me, I give you the wet food”

Rieva made a noise that Lance could only describe as a laugh. It was kind of breathy and growly at the same time. Alerted by his mate, Matt lazily flicked an ear and cracked an eye open with a huff

“Go back to sleep you big floofa. Blue’s just being Blue”

Matt huffed at him again, eye closing before both eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet with a yap.

Thinking something exciting was happening, Kosmo barked, Blue squirming hard enough Lance had to let her go where she jumped on Rieva before bolting. Kosmo barking as he chased her

“You upset the children... Is that a car?”

With the road muddy the sound was different. A wet squelch rather than the cracking over gravel

“It’s probably Hunk and Keith, or Hunk sent Keith home for the day”

There wasn’t much that could be done at the workshop without power. Hearing a second set of tyres, Lance sighed. Matt might be interested, but apparently not enough to both changing back into human

“Don’t all rush to help the pregnant man up. No, I’ll handle this, you guys just keep snoozing on the floor”

Lazy wolves were lazy. Rieva flicking her tail, Lance getting the meaning “If its Hunk and Keith than why bother changing back”. Struggling to his feet, Lance mentally cast a glare at the pair of wolves. Without their warmth, he was freezing cold. Three pairs of socks hadn’t helped, and with winter being over, he didn’t have any winter maternity wear, which he now bitterly regretted. Barking loudly to tell his human there were people there, Kosmo came running back into the room, nails scraping against the wooden floor as he skidded to a stop, then went racing back towards the door. Kosmo was growing into a lazy barker. If he knew the car he didn’t really bark, unless it was Keith and he was excited his dad was coming back from leaving him for hours upon hours. Matt and Rieva climbed to their feet, the two wolves easily up to his hips. Rubbing the fur between their ears, both of them looked up at him for direction

“Don’t bother shifting back, I’ll see what’s going on”

Grabbing Kosmo by his harness, Lance held him back as he opened the door with his free hand

“Stop being a pest! Sit! Come on, sit”

His fur son struggled, eager to bolt through the door and conflicted because he knew he had to follow the command. Sitting, he kept tugging, Lance more focused on him than his guest, so focus he didn’t look outside until Rieva and Matt both growled.

Pulled up in front of his house were two cars. His sister Rachel standing near her sedan, with Veronica. The car behind them a cop car. Fan-freakin’-tastic. This was more a Luis move. Fucking Luis couldn’t let things drop. No. He had to poke his ugly head up like a whack-a-mole that wouldn’t stay down. Having been an outstanding member of the community for years now, Lance recognised both police officers. Hunk’s dad was the local mechanic, which meant everyone crossed his path at some point. Growling again, Lance closed his eyes counted to three, then opened as he turned his head back to his two friends

“Would you stop it. Those two are my sisters. You’re going to end up taken away by animal control if you keep growling. I keep threatening to cut your balls off, but they really will. Now behave”

Matt sat, Rieva not as prepared to behave as she came up to Lance’s side, nuzzling into his hip and ready for action if anything went wrong.

“Hey, there Lance. Long time, no see”

Lance smiled. He didn’t mind deputy Swirn, the man a little panicky, and a little not there, but he cared about the citizens of Garrison. His partner, Bakku, was a bit of a grump. A lot of grump. The kind of person who believed when people went out to have a drink that it should stop with just one drink

“You’d be right about that. I get the feeling today isn’t a friendly visit?”

“Ah, no. Is it alright to come in? Those dogs of yours look... pretty big”

Swirn might have been talking about Matt and Rieva, but he was staring squarely at Lance’s stomach. Ugh. This was going to fun

“They’re big but they’re gentle. Sorry, Kosmo’s a bit excited. He’s my boyfriend’s dog and is still learning not everyone wants to be friends with him instantly. Rach, and Vee, if you two want to come in it’s fine. I hope you don’t mind the house being pretty dark inside. This no power thing sucks”

“Yeah. Thanks for that, Lance. These ladies seem to have some official business with you”

“I gathered as much. Kosmo, come oooon, more it”

Dragging Kosmo back in, Kosmo wanted pats from his “new friends”. Lance’s poor undead heart was pounding as the group followed him, Matt, and Rieva, into the living room. The key to these situations was playing it cool. He could do cool. Cool as a cucumber. Smile. Nod. Explain. They’d leave and he’d be okay. He had nothing to hide. Nothing at all. No human would find his safe without a lot of poking, so if they wanted to poke around his house it should be fine... other than the injections in his bathroom... and the kitchen... and a couple of blood bags in the bin... Fuck. He wasn’t really prepared for human company outside his friends group.

Sitting on the sofa, Lance sat Kosmo between his legs. Matt climbing onto the sofa as Rieva laid back down in front of the fireplace

“Can I get you guys anything? A water?”

Bakku glared, Swirn shaking his head

“No, thanks. Is that your boyfriend working out at the Garrett’s?”

“The brown haired guy is Matt, he’s Pidge’s older brother. The black haired guy is Keith, he’s my boyfriend”

Swirn sighed at Pidge’s infamouscy. They’d been warned a couple of times when Pidge got a tad too excited or people saw lights on in the building they were investigating and thought they’d broken in. They didn’t have records, but they had learned it was better to call in when they wanted to hunt somewhere normally off limits after dark rather than apologise for wasting police time

“Not another Holt”

“Yep. He’s the only other one. I’m going to take wild stab here and say you came out at the request of my sisters as they claim I have stolen a set of rings belonging to our late mother”

Swirn scratched the back of his head, Veronica and Rachel hovered near the living room door as if they thought they’d be fleeing for their lives. Seeing his sisters in his home left him longing for some other possible life where they wouldn’t hate him like they did

“Yeah, sorry, man. Sorry about your mother passing too. Was it sudden?”

Lance decided to elaborate for the sake of Rachel and Veronica, not knowing what lies Luis had spun

“Yes and no. Her health was up and down a lot last year. She passed in her sleep while we were in Cuba last month, surrounded by her family”

“That’s all anyone can hope for. So, these rings... I hate to come in here accusing you, you’ve always seemed reasonable enough”

“You’re just doing your job. Normally it was our family tradition that they be passed on. I removed them after her death in Cuba, then replaced them at her time of burial. She was buried wearing them, it only seemed right given how long she was with our father. I do have a couple of witnesses if you’d like to confirm with them”

“If they’re buried with her, there’s nothing we can do. Sorry, ladies. It looks like all this could have been sorted with a simple conversation”

Lance was surprised when Rachel threw the hissy fit and not Veronica

“You’re just going to take his word?! We saw her before she was buried, she wasn’t wearing them!”

Swirn raised an eyebrow. Yeah. Rachel was scary, though she seemed to be looking healthier than he could remember her being for a long time

“Because Luis would have tried to take them off. I told him about it. Mami might have wished them passed on, but think back to a time when we’d sit and talk to Mami and she’d tell us all about her what those rings meant to her”

“You kept them and you’re lying! They’re not yours to keep”

Swirn shot him a glance, Lance sighing. Mami would have hated this, he sympathised with Bakku and Swirn, they were trying to do their jobs

“I’m happy to show you up to my room to check if you’d like. I have nothing to hide”

“If you don’t mind. I’m sorry to impose on you when you’re obviously... busy”

Swirn just wanted to get out the house as soon as possible. Bakku still taking the “tough cop” approach of glaring in Lance’s direction

“Then Rachel can stay down here with Bakku and check the living room, I’ll show you through. My dogs won’t hurt you, even if they growl. They’re a bit territorial, but would never hurt a human”

“That’s good to know”

Showing Swirn up to his room, the man seemed even more uncomfortable now he’d been separated from his partner. Lance wishing he’d known he’d have visitors before hand and had the chance to make the room look a little neater. As it was, it was hard to have two humans in his room filling the space with their scents when it should have been filled with his and Keith’s. Standing in the doorway, Veronica glanced at him twice, she seemed to have something to say, but didn’t want the audience. Rifling through the drawers, Swirn barely opened one before slamming it shut, well... fuck. Someone had seen his and Keith’s toy collection... moving up, Lance found himself cocking his head as Swirn pulled out a ring box he didn’t know anything about. Snapping it open, the man snapped it closed with a shrug

“Is this the only place you keep jewellery”

“There’s the dresser. Feel free to check that too”

Swirn did. Lance feeling like the man was very half hearted about it. Grateful when the experience was over

“I don’t see any traces. Look, this is clearly a family drama best left to family to sort out”

Lance couldn’t agree more but it was hard to sort things out when his siblings were scared of him

“I’m sorry you got dragged into this. I’ll give you the contact details of my friend who were there. One was beside me as I placed them on my mother’s finger. The other two are Pidge and Hunk. I’m certain they didn’t see them there as I placed them on her finger just before the casket was closed. I don’t really know how to resolve this, and I’m very sorry you were dragged into this”

Swirn chuckled at him, the sound strained. Family drama was always awkward

“It’s better than being called out in the middle of the night because someone thinks Pidge is up to no good again”

Swirn needed Lance to crack a joke. Something to ease the awkwardness

“I don’t know, I was starting to think you were looking forward to popping by and finding out what we were up to, like a groupie”

“I’ll leave that to my kid. Completely obsessed with those damn videos, I tell you. Speaking of videos, can we expect a new one soon?”

Swirn was definitely a secret groupie

“Possibly. We’ve got plans to visit my boyfriend’s home town. Pidge also starts a new job up in Platt next week, they’ve promised her access to some interesting sites”

There was a smile. Awkwardness lifted. Good

“As long as ya’ll get the proper permissions”

“Of course. Once again, I’m sorry you had to come out on a day like today”

“It’s the job”

“Still. You’ve got a lot of work to do as it is. Shall we head back down?”

Bakku hadn’t found anything either, though Lance noticed his office door had been opened, which he didn’t remember leaving unlocked. Rieva raising her hackles at Rachel as Rachel tried to ignore being singled out by the werewolf. Rachel must have been the one to come to the house. Saying goodbye to the pair of officers, Lance was now left to face his sisters alone. Not alone “alone” seeing Matt and Rieva were there, so there wasn’t privacy, but alone enough that he wished he wasn’t facing them alone. Now would be a great time to be a bat. Slumping down in the sofa, he sighed heavily, headache building in his temples

“I’m not surprised you came again, but I am kind of hurt you thought you needed the police presence. I’m not about to hurt either of you physically. As far as I was concerned I didn’t think I’d see the pair of you again”

There was a time when Veronica was his closest confidant during his teen years. Then things started falling apart and Rachel really couldn’t cope. Rachel seemed furious with him and the cops for just leaving them to sort it out

“We’ll leave when we get her rings back”

“Her? She was our mother. No matter what we did, she was always on our side. I know you’re both mad at me that she passed in Cuba, but I had no idea that was coming when we went into hiding. She spent her time there happy. All the family was happy to see her. I regret not taking her back sooner, but I can’t keep apologising for something that was beyond my control. She passed in her sleep, with no pain. In a house filled with people who loved her. She was happy... I don’t know how to make you believe me, not with how much you loathe my existence, but Mami was the world to me”

Rieva climbed up onto the sofa, resting her head in his lap. Ruffling between her ears, he could tell she could smell him internally fighting to keep his head up over this. Kosmo had grown bored of things, the precious fur son cuddled back into Matt

“You had no right taking her from us”

Two could easily play the blame game

“And you had no right breaking into the house for money. Mami knew when you’d steal her jewellery, or empty her purse. I suppose you thought you’d break into my house, only my housemate saw you”

Rachel opened and closed her mouth, Veronica raising an eyebrow as she looked to her younger sister

“You tried to break in”

“He doesn’t deserve Mami’s rings. Besides, I don’t even know what he’s talking about”

“That’s funny. Rieva had never met you before, yet she’s been watching you, not Veronica, since you got here”

Rachel shifted her weight, Veronica’s brow drawn deeply. Yeah, Rachel had problems, but his family wasn’t exactly close. None of them had given up on Rachel, still, Veronica probably expected her to have more self control than almost addicts usually did

“What are you even talking about?”

“Never mind that. Look, Lance. All we want is Mami’s rings back. Luis told us you took them. Given as you were with her in Cuba and they weren’t on her finger before burial, it’s logical to assume you kept them”

“You know what, Vee, I wish I had now. I wish I was that monster you all made me out to be. You know I never wanted that bite. But you also want to know something, if I hadn’t been bit, I wouldn’t have met my boyfriend. I wouldn’t have this home, with my friends and my housemates. Incidentally, before you think of reporting me, the man who runs that side of things in Platt is Coran. Even the Vatican have let me live. My boyfriend is a hunter, sent by Luis to kill me. If you want Mami’s rings back, the one way you’re getting them is by exhuming her body. If you’d like photos of them for reproduction or photos of Mami, I’m sure my boyfriend will be able to email them through. He spent a lot of time with Mami, though I can’t imagine you two give two fucks about me or him”

Rieva whined softly at Lance’s tone, yeah, he knew he was getting too upset. His ego didn’t care that these were his sisters as his nails lengthened at the potential threat

“You’ve always acted like this. Running away. Blaming us for not being there when you turned. Mami died and you were there. You were the only one who could tell us what happened”

Veronica did not just go there, nope, no. He tried to turn to them and they weren’t there for him anymore

“Excuse you. I wasn’t welcome at her funeral. I wasn’t welcome at Papi’s funeral. I fucking kept away and would have if not for Mami. I stayed away from all of you like you wanted for years and years. I wanted Mami to keep living with me but she chose the home because she thought she was holding me back. You have no right coming to my home and taking your hurt out on me. We all miss her. I’m the one who was there every single time she got sick. I’m the one who picked up her favourite soup. I’m the one who took her to church. Me. Because I loved her”

“You took her money and left her in a home! Did you know she barely had a few thousand before passed, and you’re out here living in a place like this!”

Fuck Rachel. He had no idea what any of his siblings were thinking anymore. His house wasn’t richly decorated, the antique furniture he did have was mostly hand me downs, or pieces he picked up cheap due to damage. He had what he needed, or what was forced on him... Except maybe his TV but he needed a big TV because that was the main component of most of his hanging out time with the others

“This house I paid for with my money. I paid for the bulk of Mami’s care with my money. I paid for most of her funeral too. Everything she needed I paid for. I don’t work as some hugely successful fucking corporate lawyer. You’re pushing 50, sis, you really need to let go of the past. Vee, you keep looking at me like you’ve got something to say”

Veronica sighed, for a moment Lance thought he might feel guilty for calling her out, yet, nope, he didn’t

“I know you and Luis continually antagonise each other. He actually called ahead today. He took a restraining order out on you. How did things come to this?”

When a restraining order was served, the person the order was being placed on was generally there. That he’d heard nothing about it... He smelt douchebaggery in there

“What am I supposed to do? Drive to Platt and Vamp out? Get all fangy? Get my wings out and fly off with him? I’m happy here. I love my boyfriend and I love my friends”

Veronica threw her hand in the air

“Can’t you be serious and reasonable for one conversation?!”

Him? He wasn’t the one who called the police and showed up out of the blue making accusations

“Not when you’re not listening! God! I don’t know what else to tell you. Mami passed in her sleep. Call Aunt Sarah if you want all the news. She knew I had the rings, she tried to tell me Mami would want me to keep them for when I marry my partner, but they belonged on her finger. Now, I suggest you both leave. Neither of you are prepared to sit down and talk things through calmly, and I would prefer you leave before my boyfriend comes home”

Something flickered across Veronica’s face that Lance didn’t know how to name. Had they actually loved him, he might have deluded himself into calling it worry. Her heart was already beater fast, but... it seemed just that little bit faster...

“Why? Is there some reason? Is he violent?”

The stress of the situation must have gotten to him. Lance letting out a weird giggle at the thought. Keith was protective of him. The first to go into battle if he needed him

“You’re asking if a human beats me? Keith would never lay a finger on me like that. Mami adored him. They were very close. He’s... the third dangerous in our group? I mean I don’t see him as a danger though he does hunt vampires and werewolves and has done for most of his adult life”

“Then why do you look like that?!”

Lance wondered when they were going to get to “that”

“You’re asking a lot of questions. Careful, Vee, people are going to start thinking you care about little old me”

“Cut the shit, Lance. You didn’t look like that the last time we saw you, and you’re the one who said we should leave before your boyfriend returns. Has he done something to you?”

Lance’s laughter bubbled up again as he nodded. Rieva was staring up at him, her yellow eyes filed with concern. This laughter wasn’t normal nor was it healthy

“You could say that. You could also say I’m a rather special type of vampire, but knowing could put your lives in danger, so it’s best you don’t. I doubt we’ll ever speak again as it is. I spent years wishing you’d love me again. That we could be a family again. I spent years keeping myself to myself. Never daring to hope for a family of my own, nor did I want one. Now I have another family. I have a boyfriend who treats me like I’m the most special thing on Earth. I have friends who’d do anything to help me. We might be family by blood, but it’s been a long time since we were a family through blood”

“You tore our family apart! With your nightmares. With your drama. Those weird people who’d visit our house because of you. Mami and Papi were fighting all the time...”

Lance rolled his eyes at Rachel

“You think I didn’t know? You think I didn’t realise that my trauma from the attack caused Mami and Papi so much stress? I heard every fight whether I wanted to or not. I was a kid. I was beaten and tortured by two rogue vampires. I screamed and screamed for help. No one came. Then when I woke up, everything was different. I saw them everywhere. I felt them. I lived in constant fear that they’d show up and kill all of you. I lived like that for years”

He’d lived that way until Keith came crashing in and started breaking his furniture... then smashing through his walls like he was made to. If he never saw his sisters again it’d hurt, but they’d hurt him too much for this to be a quick and easy conversation. With a small shake of his head, Lance continued

“Hell, I became a lawyer so other families wouldn’t suffer the pain we all went through when things started falling apart. It was my penance for existing. I didn’t feel I deserved love. I was forced to lie to everyone I’ve ever known or cared about. Then Luis reported me. I never wanted it like this. Mami was so hurt that we all fell apart but I would have given you all a chance if you could have gotten over me being a vampire. I don’t know if you know but a vampire doesn’t forget. Everything bad. Everything said. I remember it and I felt I deserved it for all the pain my existence caused. In my head I still can’t... can’t figure out when exactly it all went down hill. I never bit you guys. I would never ever wish for this curse to be passed on. In my time I have fed from one human purposefully and intentionally, and that was to save their life when they’d been poisoned”

Rieva whined at him. She knew he was sensitive about a lot of things, but now Lance was forcing her to witness him laying things bare

“You turned your back on us. You didn’t need us when you continually ran to Mami”

“That’s funny. I seem to remember you both making fun of me when I was too scared to talk. I remember Mami being the one who held me everytime I was scared. She never saw me as the monster everyone else, including myself, did. All I wanted was my siblings and for you guys to want me around. I’m glad Mami never saw the times I tried to hurt myself enough to die because I couldn’t keep living like this. It’s not a good life. It’s not a happy life. It’s long and it’s hard and many of us go insane resulting in a bullet in the brain or heart. I needed and wanted all of you, but how would you guys ever explain a brother that didn’t age? That threw up after every meal? You couldn’t. Luis let his fear drive him further and further because he couldn’t cope. It’s laughably understandable”

Now the tears were welling in his eyes. Leaning down awkwardly, Rieva raised her head so he could bury his face in her fur. Matt climbed to his feet and came to climb up next to him. This was his family now. These were his two pack members

“You hardly helped yourself. You cut us off”

“Because I wanted you all to be happy! Happy and free of the curse that was me! The lies! The stories! None of you had normal lives because I messed up. I was so fucking lonely at school that I talked to two people who turned out to be vampires. Sometimes I wish they’d just tore my throat out... and funnily enough, lately, I’m almost grateful for this undead life because I let me meet Keith. You want to know why I look like this? I’m pregnant. Mami knew. She knew and she loved me, even when my body started changing into something weirder than a simple vampire. I want you both to leave”

Matt growled at his sisters. Lance raising his head when the pair didn’t move immediately. He knew his face was all scary and his teeth were showing. He wasn’t trying to scare them away but he was overcome with exhaustion from all the emotions stirred up

“I said I want you to leave”

Rachel covered her mouth, looking physically sick. She was probably disgusted that her brother was pregnant. Veronica didn’t flinch away from the sight, angrily snapping at him

“You’re running away again!”

“I’m not running away. I’m setting you free. Forget I exist. Forget you had a little brother called Lance who loved to dance and sing with you. Who let you sneak in and out my window. Who you locked in the wardrobe so no one would see your freak brother. I wish you both happiness. You deserve to be happy...”

Veronica seemed ready to start yelling. Her face had taken on a red dusting from her anger

“How are we supposed to forget you?! It might come as a shock but Mami told us all about the things you were doing... What are we supposed to do now?”

“Really, Vee? You’ve got amazing girls who you raised with love and strength. You’re supporting them and Rachel. You’ve always been hard on all of us but that was because it was how you showed you cared. Go back to your girls and hug them tight. Love them with all your heart, and never come back to this place”

Neither of his sisters were moving. Climbing out his lap, Rieva transformed as she did. Not one to care about nudity, she strode over to his sisters. Rachel’s eyes wide as she realised what she was seeing. Yeah. It was the same woman who caught her snooping

“Lance has asked you to leave. I suggest you both leave now. I would not hurt a human, especially not one of Miriam’s children, yet, I feel myself insulted and hurt on his behalf. He took myself and my boyfriend in when we had no home. He let us in and he has been beyond kind to us. If you continue to hurt him, I will have to get physical with both of you. I know the pain of losing parents without being there or having answers. Miriam was a strong and courageous woman. She held the strength and love of a true pack leader. She spoke kind words to me, the kind of monster who lurks in the night and howls at the moon, with the compassion and love like that of my own mother. Lance may accept your existence and acknowledge your blood connection, but I never will. I will protect him and this house where we live. Now leave. I will not be so kind next time we meet”

Rachel stood over his sisters until Veronica sighed, her hand going to the doorframe as she half turned

“Fine. Lance, if you can, I would very much like a copy of those photos from Mami’s final days”

“For her sake I’ll organise it. She loved you, Vee. And your girls. She adored them. I really don’t have her rings”

“I believe you. I’ll talk to Luis”

“Thank you”

Showing his sisters out, Rieva came back to his side. Matt shifting back, the pair of werewolves wrapping their arms around him. Lance thought he’d done well to keep it together as long as he had. They were gone. They were gone and they’d never be coming back. He’d never hear about them from Mami. She wouldn’t have stories of Vee’s girls and what they were doing... because she wasn’t there and it goddamn hurt so fucking badly.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 150

150

Settling back into Garrison, Keith and Lance were rather rudely woken as Pidge and Hunk slid into Lance’s bed with them, the day after the they’d come home the previous afternoon. Krolia had somehow managed to give them food poisoning. Not that he knew for sure. Yet seeing she’d tampered the possibility was strong. Coran the only one game enough to finish his slice of cake.

Kicked out of the house so their friends could set up for their “Surprise Return Party”. He and Lance had nothing to do except wait until they’d gotten the call from Pidge that they were allowed to return. She didn’t need to call. The pair of them had only gone as far as the back lawn, Lance lamenting over the state of his garden and Keith annoyed his sleep had been interrupted after being sick the previous night.

Playing up the surprise theme, they both had their eyes covered, then were led into the living room. The space had been transformed. A Christmas tree up. Stockings hung. Presents piled up on the coffee table. Kosmo dressed in a reindeer outfit with Blue glaring from her cat tree, not pleased to be dressed as an elf. Okay. So maybe their friends got a pass because of the theme. Wearing a hideous green sweater, Pidge beamed as she waved her arm to gesture to where “Merry Christmas” hung over the fireplace

“Ta-dah! It’s our Christmas do over! I know! I have the most amazing ideas!”

Keith didn’t bother correcting Pidge about it being Lance’s hope to recreate Christmas

“Guys! This is...”

Lance rushed Hunk, throwing his arms around him. Hunk sweeping Lance up with a chuckle

“Merry Christmas, bud!”

“I love you! Oh my god! I can finally give you guys your Christmas presents! And I can finally give you your birthday present! Please tell me we’re celebrating your birthday!?”

Hunk laughed awkwardly as he set Lance down

“Nah, it’s...”

Lance cut Hunk off

“Don’t you dare think you’re getting out of this. I was the worst friend in human history and didn’t call for your birthday!”

“It’s wasn’t...”

Great. Lance was being hyperactive... Seeing his boyfriend hadn’t stopped cleaning until nearly 1am, Lance had too much happiness and energy...

“Nope. Okay. Keith, can you grab Mami’s bag for me? I’ll grab everyone else’s presents...”

That seemed a lot of work and everyone seemed to have forgotten to give him his coffee. Blankly staring, he hadn’t realised Matt was wearing a set of ridiculous antlers on his head, or that Curtis and Shiro were there. Baubles hanging on Curtis’s horns. Groaning, Keith bumped into Matt as he went to turn, not really sure where to go

“Pidge, did you kick Keith out without his coffee?”

Pidge cackled

“Maybe?”

Always loud, Matt started yelling

“Guys! We’ve got a Keith without coffee! I repeat; We’ve got a Keith without coffee! It’s a category three disaster in the making!”

Pidge confessing

“It’s not that we didn’t make him coffee... I forgot and drank it myself”

Well “fuck you” to Pidge. He deserved his coffee. He’d barely got his morning pee in before they were tossed out. No wonder he’d been so sleepy and useless as Lance talked

“Don’t worry, bro. I’ve got you. Double shot topped with tequila, right?”

“Fuck off and get fleas”

Matt laughed at him. Too many people were laughing. Not enough coffee to upright. Lance moved from Hunk to his side, kissing Keith on the cheek

“I’ll put the coffee maker on for you. Don’t worry about Mami’s bag, I’ll grab it. You just focus on your coffee”

Lance hadn’t eaten either, Keith trying to remind him

“Food... you?”

“Yep. Gimme a bit”

Caffeinated Keith perked up. He’d been worried about them coming home, Lance admitting he feared the house would no longer feel like his after all the time he’s spent away from it. So when Lance had gone on a cleaning frenzy, Keith hadn’t interrupted. He’d let Lance do what he needed, despite the fact his boyfriend hadn’t been happy until late in the night and Keith just wanted to go bed several hours earlier. Seeing Lance happy felt right. He knew some of it was an act. And he’d noticed the occasional jolt in Lance’s moves as if he was forcing himself to move, but there was definitely something there that told him Lance felt more at ease than he had in a long time.

Disappearing, Lance returned with his arms laden with presents. Keith immediately trying to help. Vampire or not, Lance shouldn’t be moving heavy things around. His boyfriend laughing as he tried to protest the fact. With the size of Lance’s present pile, Keith couldn’t help but be conscious of the fact his own was tiny in comparison. His nerves over gifting left his stomach rolling, with a cold sweat across his forehead. He’d tried to gift shop on his own as much as possible, but with Rome being Rome and the daily repetition of the council meeting... No. He was making excuses. He’d sucked at gift giving for the others because his head was filled with how much he missed Lance.

Setting the presents down, Keith noticed then that a whole bunch were for Shiro. 7 wrapped all the same way, seemingly from each of them

“Is that everything? Because I want to open my presents already!”

Lance shook his head at Pidge

“Not quite. You’ll have to be patient a little longer, Pidgeon”

Shiro gaped at Lance, Keith kind of feeling the same way. Their Christmas’s were never like this. Staring at their friends group. His brain supplied an unwanted thought. Pidge was a girl and Hunk was a boy. Rieva was a girl and Matt was a boy. Was this party extra important because Lance had already thought about them? That they could be hurt? Or was it just him over thinking things? Pulling the top present off the pile, Pidge threw it at Shiro

“How can that not be everything? And why is there so many presents for Shiro?!”

Lance chuckled at their impatient Gremlin. Pidge seemed mortally wounded at the stack for Shiro

“Mami bought you all presents. Just small things from Cuba. We weren’t sure when we’d be allowed back, so we hit the markets in case we could come back for Christmas. It’s not much, but she did try to think of you all”

“Do you want me to...”

Lance sighed with a roll of his eyes at Keith’s offer

“Babe, sit down already. You’re being overly attentive. I can still do things like face the stairs”

“Okay. I just thought...”

“Stop thinking and sit down. Pidge will divide the presents up. Hunk, do you need any help bringing things in from the kitchen?”

“I’ve got it! But... uh... Bud, please be careful on the stairs”

Matt nodded quickly

“Maybe Keith and Hunk have a point, dude? You don’t have a great track record with the stairs”

The look Lance gave everyone spoke volumes. The stairs were now a forbidden topic that he didn’t want to be reminded about again. He’d healed from falling down them, and they’d all be in the shit if they started fussing over him. Keith felt goosebumps erupt at the look. Swallowing hard, Keith couldn’t remember the last time he’d shut up by a single scathing look like that from his boyfriend. He couldn’t help the almost phobia he’d developed over Lance and stairs. Especially with two very special passengers on board.

With Lance upstairs, Pidge went about dividing out presents, asking as she did

“So when are we going to hear all about Rome?”

Keith shrugged. He supposed Pidge and Hunk had been super anxious in their absence, but the topic of conversation had kind of fizzled out

“When Lance hears about Rome? I don’t know. All I can tell you is that he’s safe”

Pidge huffed, pausing mid-sorting to look up at Keith

“I can see that. I mean, like, is he really safe? We were talking with Shay, and she’s worried about him too. He seems happy but I don’t know. He wasn’t that happy when he came back”

Keith was surprised when Rieva answered

“In his defence, he was exhausted. Physically and mentally. Matt getting us kicked out of Cuba wasn’t on the plans. He’d had a very long day”

Pidge sighed

“I wish we got to go with him”

Lance had been so very missed by his two best friends

“Lance would have loved to have you guys there, but he couldn’t tell anyone he was down there in case you guys were contacted or in danger”

Matt added unnecessarily

“Yeah. Listen to Keith. The first thing he did was lose his shoes, then he made Lance cry. Boyfriend of the... ow!”

Rieva elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs

“Keith was under a lot of stress too. You guys should have seen him. He barely kept his temper under check, too impatient to be back with Lance”

Shiro chuckled

“You guys should have seen him in Rome after you left. I think he must have packed and unpacked a hundred times so he’d have something to do before his flight”

“That’s true. I don’t think he slept the night before he left. I worried about letting him on a public flight with how much coffee he’d had”

Now Curtis was teasing him. Keith looked to Hunk

“Don’t worry, man. We all know how in love with Lance you are”

“The only couple more loved up than you guys are Hunk and Shay. Oh! I forgot to tell you, Shay totally knows everything!”

Pidge dropping a bombshell like that had him, Curtis, and Shiro, all shocked as they looked to Pidge

“What do you mean she knows?”

“Apparently Hunk gets blabber mouth after sex”

Hunk blushed so deep a red, Keith was surprised his head didn’t pop

“It’s... not... I didn’t... Pidge!”

Pidge laughed at Hunk, resuming present sorting

“I’m not judging, but I think you could have picked a better time to tell her vampires and werewolves were real”

“It’s not my fault! She’s... Lance wanted to tell her!”

Okay... but if Shay knew, that led to an important question

“If Shay’s in the loop now, why isn’t she here?”

“Because she’s working. I tried to get her to swap shift. Plus, he didn’t tell her Lance was up the duff with twins. Nice going with that. You and your wonder sperm”

That wasn’t entirely his fault. It was. And took full responsibility, but he still wasn’t sure how it happened. Snarking back at Pidge, he felt defensive of Lance who wasn’t there to stick up for himself

“They were a complete surprise. We’d only just gotten around having one, let alone two. There’s nothing wrong with Lance being pregnant or the twins”

Sensing a potential fight, Shiro forced a laugh

“Leave him alone. He’s super excited about the twins. And frankly, I think we’re all looking forward to meeting them. It gives us something good to focus on”

“I hope you remember that the first time you change a shitty nappy, Uncle Shiro”

Coming back into the room, Lance had much smaller gifts this time, as well as an envelope with something in it that Keith couldn’t help but cock his head at

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know. It’s to you, from Krolia. I found it in my room when I was looking for my phone. I guess it’s a present or something”

That sounded just like this mother. How hard was it to shove something into his hands awkwardly and change topic? It’d worked well for Shiro and Adam. They didn’t make him awkwardly exchange gifts

“Of course she can’t just give it to me like a normal person”

Lance smiled, he could because he faked out of the cake with nausea. Not completely fake, but the only smart move that wouldn’t make Krolia angry or suspicious

“Be nice. I’m sure she didn’t mean to give you guys food poisoning. Anyway. We got these in Cuba. When I still could go out and stuff. They’re not much, but each is heart felt. Mami loved all of you. She loved the bond between Shiro and Keith. She loved how mischievous our little Gremlin was. She whole heartedly agreed that Hunk was like sunshine whenever he’s around. She thought Matt... was a bit... weird, but in a good way. Curtis, you may as well have been my actual cousin. I think she might have even slipped up and said you were. And she found you very exotic and mysterious Rieva. She was very upset that someone would ever hurt you. Mami was a lot better at a lot of things than I am. I guess... I know this might be selfish, but these are the last presents from her. I guess it’d make me happy to know that you’re taking care of them... and... she just loved you all so much. I made on my own for so long, but... she was so grateful I had all of you in my life. She always worried what would become of me after she passed... I know she made Keith swear to be there... but... I really did miss you guys... I’m sorry my anxiety was so shit I couldn’t talk... and I was so scared you’d all never want to talk to me because I had to lie so much... I hated lying to you. I did...”

Keith was the first to move, but they all kind of moved as group. Lance forced into being hugged by the lot of them

“You are the biggest undead idiot around!”

“Oh, man! You’re my brother!”

“You’re part of my pack! We’ll never leave you alone!”

“Group hug!”

The words fell over each other. Lance’s sniffles turned to laughter. Keith not too happy that his boyfriend was being squashed, and that he was being squashed as he tried to protect Lance’s bump, but at the same time he was overwhelmingly happy that they were all together again. Mami knew someday she’d pass, and had entrusted him with being there for Lance. She’d left Lance, but no matter how far their little family split or went, they’d always have each other when they needed someone.

“Okay! Off! You’re going to crush me and the twins!”

Lance gave them a few long moments. Everyone other than Pidge and Keith let go, Pidge poking her tongue at Keith

“He’s my brother. You have to share”

“I’ve already shared enough. Now take your paws off him”

“Laaaaance, Keith is being mean”

“I’m sorry, but he does have a point. Your hugging my belly. Squeeze too hard and I might throw up”

Pidge wrinkled her nose as she let go

“Curse you vomit. Next time I shall have my hugs”

Lance smiled at her fondly

“Will you settle for me sitting between you and Keith?”

“Fine. Now hurry up. I’ve been dying waiting for this”

“Okay. Okay. Calm down. You do know this is Keith’s first Christmas with us. You’re going to have to be nice”

Lance sounded like a dad scolding this hyperactive daughter. Keith clueless to what they were on about

“He snoozes, he loses. Them’s the rules”

“Be nice!”

Opening their presents was a thing. A very different thing than living with Shiro and Adam. They did small gifts, lunch if they didn’t have to work, and movies after work which usually involved falling asleep on the sofa. That was not the case here. Seeing Pidge was so damn excitable she went first, opening all her but one of her gifts before it moved onto Hunk next, and so on around their circle of friends. Lance took his time to explain that normally on Christmas Day he’d be in Platt with Mami until the evening, then they’d do presents at his place. That didn’t explain what was coming after the present part... which he was honestly more nervous about than his own gifts, which were more or less trinkety things from Rome, apart from his gift to Lance which was an old fashioned wrist watch he’d found in an antiques store. He wasn’t sure if Lance would love it, but he seemed to as he was made to help put it on his boyfriend’s wrist almost immediately after opening. Lance’s gift to him was a vintage camera that probably cost a fair bit. His boyfriend also sourcing the film for it, which Pidge laughed over being antiquated and all that.

They all seemed on the same wavelength about keeping Miriam’s gifts until last. Shiro buried under a pile of ugly sweater that Curtis found hilarious, as he’d known about them. Down to Miriam’s presents, they all fell kind of quiet, appreciating that Mami had thought of them all. Keith couldn’t help but not want to open the lovingly wrapped gift. Hunk and Pidge had gifted him a new kitchen knife and a coffee cup. Shiro’d already given him his gift Christmas Day, a new clip on cover for his personal phone so he’d be able to wear it on his Blade suit seeing they’d both probably stick with the Blade suits despite being full time hunters for Coran.

Watching Lance, his boyfriend ran his fingers over the small gift in his hands. Eyes growing teary

“Sorry. I already know what it is... but... She was really happy picking out presents. Honestly, if I’d left her unsupervised your gifts wouldn’t have been quite PG”

“It’s okay, babe. We don’t have to open them right now if it’s too much”

“Nah. She wanted you to have them for Christmas. She’d want you to open them and to smile as you did”

“Should I go first?”

Lance nodded, wiping at his eyes

“Yeah. Sorry... God... we haven’t even gotten to Hunk’s birthday presents and I’m a mess. Mami’s birthday present to you is in there too. I rewrapped them after... so they’d stay together. That’s why your present is a little larger than the rest of ours”

There were still two other presents that hadn’t been handed out sitting on the coffee table. Pidge had left them, Keith didn’t know why. Making to sling his arm around his boyfriend, he used the reposition to see they were to both he and Lance from Miriam. Lance had mentioned she had presents for the twins. It must be those

“Come on, Keith. You said you’d go first”

Keith ignored Pidge. He only had one hand free unless he wanted to put Lance in a choke hold. Thank god he was ambidextrous. Pulling the paper away from the tape, something small dropped into his lap. Picking it up, he realised it was a red stone pendant

“She knew you loved the colour red. It was what caught her eye first at the stall. All our gifts are similar. If you tilt it you can see cat in there. It’s like micro etched in. Mine has a fish. Shiro’s I think is a tiger...”

Keith interrupted. He wasn’t really a pendant kind of person, but this was one of the most heartfelt gifts he’d been given in his life. He wanted Lance to know he appreciated it

“Do the clip for me?”

“Sure. You guys can open yours. No trades or swapsies. She picked each thinking of you”

Rieva and Matt both had wolves with mother of pearl inlay. Curtis’s was a white shiny stone that kind of looked like a pearl. Lance said it was made from a polished tooth, Keith immediately glad he hadn’t met anything in Cuba with teeth a big, and that he hadn’t said he thought it was a stone. Shiro’s stone was black, Keith thought it looked more like a Lion than a tiger, a bigger cat than his, his was cooler because it was red. Hunk’s yellow stone had a sun. Pidge’s green stone a leaf. And Lance’s blue pendant was indeed etched with a fish.

Other than the two presents on the table, Keith thought the line of gifts had come to an end. Picking up both presents, he passed one to Lance, who seemed to be attempting to go cross eyed looking down at his pendant

“Babe, these are the last two from Mami”

“Oh. What. Oh... technically there’s a gift for Allura, Coran, and Krolia... but they’re not here...”

Pidge scrambled to her feet, holding her hands out as if trying to stop them from ripping into the last two presents

“Wait! There’s another two presents from me and Hunk... well, Shiro chipped in, and Curtis helped... hold on. Do we do this now?”

Pidge looked to the group, Matt rolling his eyes at his sister. Keith was slightly jealous of how much energy Pidge had. Then again, she’d probably had a propers night sleep and more coffee than him

“Go on. I know you’ve been dying to show them all fucking week”

Keith playing along with Matt, trying to sound serious and not half an emotional wreck over all the thought behind each present

“Should we be worried?”

“Ha! Rude! Okay. We’ll do the one for Lance first, then we’ll do Keith’s because his bigger”

Matt groaned

“Why don’t you just tell them already, big mouth?”

“Shut it, you. Okay. So, like, this ones from the group. Coran totally helped out. Then it took hours to get it right... wait here”

Climbing on the sofa, rather than going around, Hunk was smacked in the head as Pidge pulled out a ridiculously large flat gift

“Pidge!”

“Sorry! It’s not like you were using your head anyway. Okay. We kind of had the idea but we changed it, and anyway...”

“Dear Sister of Mine, you are babbling. Pass it over. You didn’t even show us before you wrapped it”

“Shut up! I’m trying to do this right. Okay, so you guys are probably better standing up for this. It’s kind of big”

“It’s nearly as big as you”

Matt’s joke earned him a kick in the shin and a huff from Pidge.

Getting to their feet, neither of them knew what to expect. If it was a gift from Pidge it’d either be tech based, or some kind o explosion for leaving Garrison for as long as they had. Rieva suggesting

“Why don’t you let Keith hold it while Lance opens it?”

Pidge snapping back

“I was going to do that! Here. Don’t you dare drop it”

Passing the gift over, Keith could feel what felt like a frame through the wrapping paper. Lance on the same wavelength as him

“It’s not going to blow up, is it?”

“Rude. A lot of love went into this. And we totally ripped off Keith’s idea. Now open it already!”

Lance started with a small rip, then all but tore the paper apart. Eyes filling with tears that made Keith look down to realise what it was

“We got the footage from Coran. It took ages to clean it up and pick the right shot

“Mami’s first scan...”

Okay. So that was it was. Keith wasn’t that great at picking that up from upside down

“Yep. And then down the bottom it’s got us, because we’re the bestest friends ever. We wanted to get you something big to remember it by... it was going to be of us camping until... Mami passed. Do you like it?”

Lance nodded as he covered his face, Keith would have put the frame down but he kind of didn’t know how to, or where to put it

“I do... Guys... thanks... I...”

Lance fleeing wasn’t what he saw coming. Turning, Lance jogged from the room. Keith handing the frame to Hunk, intending to go after his boyfriend. Shiro stopping him before he could

“Why don’t you let Hunk and Pidge go talk with him? He’s missed them. We can work out how to hang the frame”

“But...”

But he was Lance’s boyfriend. Plus he kind of needed a break too. Everything was a lot and a lot at once. Matt lifted the photo frame off Hunk

“Keith, they’ve got this. He’s out the back, if you want to guys want to go. We’ve got this”

Shiro sided with Matt

“It’ll be a good chance to show Lance we can handle putting the nursery together”

Keith unconvinced that they could, yet... Pidge and Hunk had really missed Lance. He’d let them go this time, but next time he wasn’t being swayed so easily

“Go. But go easy on him. His anxiety levels have been pretty high”

Pidge rolled her eyes at him

“We’ve got this. Personally I’m more concerned with how you losers are going to hang the frame up. If you break it, I’ll castrate you all”

Shiro saluted Pidge. Keith internally groaning at his brother feeding the Gremlin’s ego

“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!”

“That’s more like it. And don’t make a mess! Come on, Hunk, our bestie needs us”