Hotshot was walking alone through the halls of the Academy. It was late but he knew that he had one more task before he could turn in for the night.

Hotshot stopped his pace, "I can hear you~!"

Sounds of multiple giggles echoed throughout the halls.

Hotshot smirked, "If you all don't go to your berths now, there'll be extra laps for your warmups tomorrow!"

The sounds of multiple pedes can be heard retreating in the halls, followed immediately by shrieking.

"Yes sir!!"

"Sorry sir!!"

"Don't make us do more laps, Coach Hotshot!!!"

Hotshot couldn't help but chuckle, "Lights out Recruits! See you in the morning!"

"Goodnight Coach Hotshot!"

"Tell Professor Medix that we said "hi"!!"

"Yeah! And that we miss him too!"

"I will", Hotshot said softly as he watched all of his recruits make it safely to their berthrooms.

Once he knew they were all safe, he immediately booked it to the groundbridge.

He punched in the coordinates for Griffin Rock Firehouse.

The place where he and his team now call home.

Hotshot sprinted through the groundbridge as soon as it flared to life, screeching to an immediate halt once he made it through.

As the groundbridge powered down behind him, Hotshot noticed that he was the only one in the main area of the bunker.

He knew that Whirl was out on patrol.
He knew that Wedge was out with his partner Wes.
And he knew that Hoist was recharging.

But there was only one mech he cared about.

"Medix?"

A familiar voice spoke up, immediately making Hotshot's spark flutter.

"I'm in our berthroom, sweetspark!"

Hotshot smiled as he made his way to his berthroom, leaning against the doorway so he could take in the magnificent view.

There sat his beautiful sparkmate of 3 wonderful years.

Sitting comfortably on their berth.

And heavily sparked.

Hotshot fell in love again, "Hey gorgeous. How are you?"

Medix gave his mate a small smile, "Tired. But I'm glad you're home."

"Me too", Hotshot said as he carefully crawled into the berth, showering his mate with lots of gentle kisses, "the recruits told me to tell you that they said "hi" and that they missed you."

Medix chuckled softly, "Aww. Tell them I miss them too."

"I will", Hotshot said as he stole another kiss from him, "oh, and i missed you too."

Medix smiled as he nuzzled his mate, "I would say the same, but I'm afraid someone else missed you more than I did", he said as he placed a servo on his swollen middle.

Hotshot wore a goofy grin on his faceplate as he rubbed Medix's middle, cooing to their unborn sparkling, "Awww, did Medix Jr miss me??"

Medix laughed at both the nickname and at the face his mate made when their sparkling kicked, "Medix Jr???"

"What's wrong with that?", Hotshot said as he looked up at his mate, "You didn't want me calling them "Hotshot Jr." So I thought "Medix Jr." Would be better!"

Medix rolled his optics playfully, "You're such a dork- and yes, you're my dork."

"DANGIT YOU STOLE MY LINE!", Hotshot teased, "so I take it as a "no" for the name?"

Medix gave him a soft smile, "I'm afraid so, dear."

"Well darn...", Hotshot said as he went back to cooing at their sparkling, "your mommy keeps putting this off-"

"In my defense", Medix interrupted, "we don't know the gender."

"And who's fault is that?"

"You know I'm not fond of gender reveal parties."

"Still, Blades had the chance to tell us when he asked. To which you said...?"

". . . . ."

"Come on babe, admit it."

".... fine... I said "no"..."

"Anyway", Hotshot said with a smirk, "we still need to think of names."

"Regardless of the gender?"

"Yep. We can think of one name if it's a mech and another name if it's a femme."

"Hmm... fair enough, but it has to be unique."

"Well we've got another week to figure it out", Hotshot said as he rubbed Medix's belly.

Medix let that sink in as his mate resumed giving affection to their sparkling.

After what felt like an eternity, Medix was snapped from his thoughts when his mate broke the silence.

"Honey? You okay?"

"Define "okay"."

Hotshot immediately directed his full attention to his mate as he sat up, crawled over and sat next to his mate, and then wrapped one of his strong arms around him.

Hotshot then gently pulled Medix close to him as he spoke softly, "Tell me what's bothering you."

"I'm not-"

"You are", Hotshot said as he nuzzled his mate, "please... talk to me."

Medix sighed as he leaned into his mate, placing a servo on his belly as he spoke, "I'm due in a week, correct?"

"Yeah...?"

"And when our sparkling comes... we'll be parents."

Hotshot knew exactly where this was going, "honey we've talked about this before."

"I know, but-"

Hotshot interrupted him with a kiss and then rested his forehelm against his, "you're going to be a fantastic mother, Medix. There's no denying it."

Medix started tearing up, "but what if I'm not?"

Hotshot cupped his cheekplates and wiped away his tears with his digits, "Then I wouldn't have married you and have this sparkling with you."

"W-What do you mean?"

Hotshot's optics filled with love as he spoke to his mate, "I knew from the moment I fell in love with you all those years ago, I wanted to start a family. You're very caring. You're incredibly smart. You're gorgeous. Primus you're so gorgeous! And you're very loving. All those traits were something I hoped my future mate would have because I knew those traits mean that they would make a fantastic mother."

Medix was ready to burst into tears.

Hotshot held his mate close, "stop doubting yourself, love. Our little mech or femme will be the luckiest sparkling in the universe all because they will have you as their mother."

Medix immediately kissed Hotshot fiercely as they wrapped their arms around each other.

Hotshot placed his large servo back on his mate's middle, smiling widely into the kiss when their sparkling kicked again.

Medix was loving every second of this.

Until he abruptly pulled away.

Hotshot immediately became worried when Medix sent him a panicked bond, "Honey what's wrong? Is it the sparkling?? Is it time???"

Medix held his stomach, remaining silent as he kept feeling the strange sensation.

Hotshot was ready to spring into action, "Talk to me babe. Is it a contraction?"

A full minute passes until Medix was able to respond with a frustrated groan.

"Babe??? Is everything okay???"

Medix sighed as he rested the side of his helm on Hotshot's shoulder, "Yes..."

Hotshot wrapped his arm around his mate, "What happened?"

Medix unconsciously let his hormones take over , "It was another one of those goddamned Braxton Hicks Contractions."

Hotshot held his mate closer as he spoke softly, "Hey now, watch the language. The sparkling can hear us you know..."

Medix sighed heavily, "Right... I forgot...", he then placed a servo on his middle, "I'm sorry my little angel... mommy's hormones are acting up again..."

He smiled widely when his sparkling immediately sent him a sweet bond.

Hotshot loved seeing his mate smile, but he had to redirect the topic back to the situation at hand, "Do you know what caused the contraction?"

"It might be from my burst of excitement when I kissed you recently"  Medix said sheepishly as he rubbed his belly.

"Oops, my bad", Hotshot teased.

Medix rolled his optics playfully as he looked at the time, "Oh! You better get some recharge, sweetspark. You have your classes in the morning."

"I'll recharge once I know you're in deep recharge."

Medix sighed as his mate helped him lay down on his left side, "That's all I seem to be doing lately... constantly tired, constantly recharging... I feel so useless..."

Hotshot layed down as he pulled the covers over them and faced his mate as he cupped his cheek lovingly, "That's far from the truth babe."

Medix looked up at his mate, "How so?"

Hotshot rested his forehelm against Medix's while also lovingly placing his large servo on his belly, "You're growing our sparkling inside of you. If anything, that means you're working harder than anyone on the team. That's something to be proud of babe."

Medix chuckled softly as he looked down, faceplates flushing a slight blue.

Hotshot gently placed his free servo under Medix's chin and then carefully lifted his face up so that they can look at each other again, "Hey now... don't hide your beautiful face from me."

Medix smiled up at his mate, eventually cupping his cheek and pulling him in for a sweet kiss, "We love you so much sweetspark."

Hotshot's faceplate lit up as he wore a goofy smile, "We??"

Medix giggled at how adorable his mate is, "Yes sweetspark", he then rested his servo over Hotshot's servo that rested on his belly, "me and our sparkling."

Hotshot then smiled at his mate with all the love in the universe. He then placed a sweet kiss on his mate's forehelm as he held him closer, "I love both of you with all of my spark and I will always protect and be there for both of you as a sparkmate... and as a father."

Medix snuggled into his mate, "Well that was touching. Have you been saving that?"

"I have", Hotshot admitted, "been saving it for a moment like this. Be ready babe because I'll say it over and over again when our sparkling is born."

Medix nuzzled his mate, "I can't wait."

Hotshot smiled when their sparkling kicked again, "Me either. Now you better get some recharge."

"You better get some too", Medix said as he tiredly kissed his mate, "goodnight Hotshot... I love you."

Hotshot watched his mate fall into recharge, "I love you too."

Once Hotshot knew that his mate was recharging, he slid down in the covers so that he could be face to face with Medix's swollen middle.

Hotshot placed both of his servos on his mate's belly and kissed it sweetly, resting his forehelm against it as he cooed to his sparkling once more, "Hey my little star. It's daddy. I just want to say that... I love you so much and that I can't wait for you to be born. You're going to be so beautiful, just like your mommy... I can't wait for you to make us a real family..."

Hotshot let a few joyful tears fall when he felt his sparkling kick at him softly.

Hotshot then kissed his mate's belly once more and then rubbed it carefully as he tried not to cry, "Sleep well my little star... and please don't kick your mommy too much tonight."

Hotshot had to stop himself from laughing when his sparkling kicked slightly harder and his mate twitched uncomfortably.

Hotshot shook his helm slowly as he made his way back to his pillow, carefully snuggling his recharging mate as he slowly fell into recharge as well.

"Yep. No DNA test needed... That's 100% my sparkling."