(( Hhhh I'm so excited about my surprise book! If you all haven't followed my Instagram (@soki._.kun) you should! I've been dropping hints about the AU and about potential ship wars. It'll be published around Christmas 2018.))

The apartment. Taking the babies there for the first time should've been a joyful, historic moment for Lance and Keith. Instead they dreaded having to leave Shiro's and go back. At least there they had Krolia, Adam, and Shiro to keep them safe. Not to mention, Pidge and Matt were right across the street and could call the second they saw anything.

Lotor could've been anywhere, literally anywhere right then. Walking outside the house was enough to scare the shit out of Lance, let alone getting in the car with the babies and Keith for however many hours. If Lotor so wanted to, he could turn Lance's car into a big metal coffin for them, like he'd tried to once before.

Would never going back to college be an admission of defeat? Lance wasn't sure, but he knew that he had too much pride in his family for that. He wanted his babies and Keith to have a good future, and that would be even more ensured if he could graduate.

When Lance and Keith woke up, it was still sort of dark outside. Lance wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but Keith couldn't hope for anymore shut eye. It was clear that he wasn't going to get any.

Lance grabbed Keith's wrist after he stood up from bed.

" Where are you going?" The alpha asked him worriedly.

" To the kitchen... to get coffee..." Keith yawned. And Lance perked up to look at Keith with beading eyes. " I'll be fine. I promise." The omega leaned down to press a kiss on Lance's head. " Just go back to sleep, Babe."

Lance groaned, but his eyes felt heavy like anvils as he struggled to keep them open any longer. He nodded, deciding that he should stay up there and guard the babies.

Keith made his way downstairs, rubbing his eyes and yawning again as he walked into the kitchen. Shiro was sitting in there already, reading the newspaper and sipping some black coffee.

" Hey..." Keith said in a rough, exhausted morning voice. He doubted that he'd even achieved five hours of sleep the night before, so the omega was dog tired.

Shiro hid his smile behind his newspaper while blushing and looking down. Even the lack of sleep couldn't prevent him from grinning like a dope.

" Good morning." Shiro said, biting his lip and still thinking about Adam.

" Are you okay?" Keith questioned, chuckling while pouring himself some coffee, then grabbing the creamer from the fridge.

" Great. Why?" Shiro continued grinning.

Keith just shook his head and brushed it off.

Shiro's phone then began ringing on the table. He set down the newspaper and moved to check who was calling.

" Adam? Why are you calling me? You're literally upstairs." Shiro said once picking up the phone. There was silence from the other end at first.

" I can't yell for you otherwise I'd wake up the twins..." Adam whispered with a hoarse voice.

" Why would you need to do that?" Shiro questioned.

" I..." Adam cleared his throat. " I can't walk..." he admitted in an embarrassed fashion. Shiro choked on air while blushing and covering his mouth.

Keith looked over at his brother like he was insane.

" Please tell me you're joking...?" Shiro tried desperately to regain his composure.

" I tried to get out of bed and I fell on my face. Do I sound like I'm joking?" Adam squeaked out in a humiliated fashion.

" Do you want me to carry you down here?" Shiro asked him shyly.

" ...yeah. But I want a shower first." Adam said in a small voice.

" How are you supposed to do that?" Shiro asked, before realizing what Adam was implying. He'd definitely need some... assistance.

" Okay..." Shiro replied before hanging up and burying his blush ridden face into his hands.

" What was all that about?" Keith questioned obliviously. For someone who'd had sex nothing short of a hundred times, he probably should've been able to pick up on it better. But no dice.

" Adam can't walk." Shiro mumbled into his palms.

" Why?!" Keith exclaimed, worried.

Shiro side-eyed Keith, blushing and keeping a hand planted over his mouth.

" Oh... OH..." Keith's eyes widened in sudden realization. How the hell would he and Lance have not heard them? Their rooms were right next to each other! They shared a wall!

" Yeah..." Shiro got up. He made a mental note to go easier next time.

...

It was a while later by the time the babies had woken up, and Lance had tended to them. He already had the diaper changes and clothes tackled when Keith arrived upstairs to help him.

" Wow." Keith said, impressed. They weren't even fussing for once.

Lance loved being a dad, even in spite of all the smelly messes he was forced to clean up. He handed Luna over to Keith.

" What time were you planning on heading back? We'll have to get going soon if we want to make it home before midnight." Lance said, cradling Kai in his arms and keeping the baby boy tucked to his chest.

" Maybe twenty minutes?" Keith asked, and Luna was sucking on Keith's shirt. They were hungry obviously. " We'll have to feed them before we go."

Lance chuckled once he saw what Luna was doing.

" I bet she wishes you had boobs, too." He remarked.

" Our daughter isn't as much of a perv as you." Keith held her close. " Don't listen to Daddy..." He whispered to Luna.

Lance snorted. He was still a little disappointed that Keith hadn't gotten temporary boobs like some male omegas during pregnancies. But whatever. He loved him no matter what, and he was just teasing him for the most part.

" Let's just feed these little monsters." He snickered, trying to keep his mood nice and happy. If he thought about Lotor constantly, it would've brought Keith down as well.

" Yeah." Keith nodded in agreement. Monsters. Cute, adorable, loud, cranky monsters. That sounded about right.

They went back down to the kitchen, and there sat Shiro and Adam, both with wet hair and red faces. Lance hadn't heard the news, so he was perplexed when he saw the overwhelmingly blatant pigment.

Keith sent him a look, basically telling him not to ask.

Lance, being unable to read the room, went ahead and asked anyways. He really needed to learn how to tell certain things, as did Keith. When both of them had trouble and were oblivious at times, well... it could lead to some pretty awkward situations.

" Why are you both so red? Were you outside in the cold?" Lance questioned in a confused way. Keith might've socked Lance in the arm had he not been holding their other baby. Keith felt the urge to facepalm, but his hands were full with Luna. He only sighed.

" Sure. Let's go with that." Shiro answered bashfully.

Lance still was dense. After Shiro and Adam rattled the whole room the night before, he should've been able to hear the bed's racket, but apparently he'd missed it somehow.

Keith swept in and changed the subject for his brother's and especially Adam's sake. Man, he knew the feeling of not being able to walk all too well.

" Shiro, can you hold Luna for a second?" Keith asked, and the uncle's face lit up.

" Of course." He grinned, and Keith very carefully handed his daughter to him. She cooed at Shiro, wiggling her arms around experimentally. Shiro smiled down at her, admiring his niece's chubby cheeks.

When Adam saw the way his alpha looked down at her, he almost wished that he had forgotten to take his birth control.

Lance's eyes fondly followed Keith as he made his way to the kitchen to put their bottles together. To say that Lance appreciated his omega would've been the gravest understatement of all eternity. Without Keith's support, he most likely would've hurt himself.

" Hey... make sure that you're careful driving home." Shiro told Lance.

Keith glanced over, thinking about the possibility that Lotor caught them on the way back. It was petrifying, but he trusted Lance's judgement about it.

" We will." Lance assured.

After the babies were fed and such, Keith and Lance were saying their goodbyes to Krolia, Adam, and Shiro. Before Keith could walk out the door and join Lance in the car, Krolia grabbed his wrist, making him halt.

" Mom?" He asked, unsure why she had such a look on her face. It spelled out worry and all sorts of hyperactive nerves.

" Take this." She put something in Keith's hand, and it was immediately recognized by his palm as being cold. Keith looked down, seeing that she'd placed a small knife in his hand. The handle was a navy blue, sort of dark purple color. The blade of it appeared to be stainless steel as he pulled it out of the tiny cover slip.

" What?!" He exclaimed. " Why? I don't even know how to use this..."

" Only use it if you have to..." Krolia hugged her son, and there were tiny tears in the corners of her eyes. After hearing about everything Lotor had done to her babies, she couldn't begin to fathom Keith living out there with that freak on the loose. " I can't tell you how many times that knife has bailed me out. You need it more than I do."

Keith gulped, but held the handle tighter.

" Mom-"

" Just trust me." Krolia said. " Hopefully you won't even need to use it. But please... I would feel much better if I knew you had something to protect yourself with..."

Keith didn't see the point in arguing about it. Maybe he could just keep it in his nightstand?

" Okay." Keith told her.

...

Later, after having said goodbye to all their family and friends, and making a stop by Lance's house, the couple was on the road with the babies. Once Lance deliberated with Keith, they came to the conclusion that they'd be better driving on the main roads as opposed to risking it on the backroads. Though the backroads might've been faster, they were secluded and someone could get away with something way better in the country than on an interstate.

Keith decided to sit in the backseat with the baby carriers so that he could tend to the babies if they needed anything.

Lance was torn between speeding due to his paranoia, or driving like a grandma so the twins would be safer. But would they really be safer? Was it better to be slower and on the road for longer when really they were vulnerable there?

" Keith...?" Lance asked from the driver's seat, peering in his mirror and trying to see in the backseat.

No answer.

Lance looked over his shoulder for a split second, seeing that Keith had fallen asleep in between the two babies.

They'd been on the road for hours upon hours, and Lance was ready to get into the safety of their apartment, lock the door and wedge a chair under the handle. There was something about being on the road. He was always double checking his mirrors, even doing triple takes on them if he saw something he didn't like. His eyes were constantly darting out of his driver's side window to make sure that no cars were quickly pulling up in the other lane.

Only a little longer.

Lance was terrified after the accident Lotor or his henchmen or whoever they were caused. But that anxiety was through the roof now that Lance had not only Keith, but their precious twins to worry about. It was all on him. One missteer and it could all be over, one ram from one car could spell tragedy. And that was why Lance was going over the speed limit. The risk was worth it, mainly because going that fast wasn't nearly as dangerous as the people potentially on the road with him.

Nightfall had come long ago, and it was pushing eleven already. Lance blinked hazily, trying his best to keep his eyes open. He chugged coffee to keep himself alert, and to allow him to stay vigilant of his surroundings.

Remarkably, nothing happened on the way back. Lance pulled up to the apartment parking lot. He turned to see that everyone was peacefully sleeping in the back seat. It was a shame that he'd waking them up, but at the same time, getting them indoors would settle Lance's paranoia. Was paranoia even the right word to use anymore? Paranoia was a state of fear and anxiety because of irrational reasons, and the threat against Lance and his family was very real.

" Hey..." Lance unbuckled the seatbelt and swerved around to nudge Keith in the backseat. " We're here." He hesitated to say the word home when talking about the place. After all, Lance could've been home anywhere as long as Keith was there.

Keith slowly sat up, shocked when it wasn't the sound of wailing babies breaking him from slumber.

Lance was strategically planning how to get Keith and the babies inside the apartment safely. On one hand, he didn't want to endanger the babies by trying to carry both of their carriers at once, and Keith wasn't about to lift that much. He figured that he would just have to take them out of the carriers, then come down alone to pick up everything else. If he could get Keith inside the apartment with Luna and Kai, there was no way he was letting Keith back out.

The walk up to the door was the most nerve wracking thing in Lance's life. Keith held Kai with one arm, keeping his other had on the knife Krolia had given him- it was hidden in his back pocket.

Lance had Luna while trying to punch in the code to get in the building. He turned over his shoulder every half second, certain that someone was lurking in the dark, prowling closer every time he took his eyes off of his surroundings.

Somehow, they all made it back to the apartment safely. Lance decided he would just go back down to the car when it was daylight.

After flipping on the lights in the apartment, he still wasn't certain.

" Stay close to me..." Lance murmured to Keith, not wanting to let the omega out of his sight until he was sure that nobody else was in the apartment. Keith slowly shuffled behind Lance as they went through every room, turning on all the lights and checking every corner.

The nursery was the final room they walked into, and Keith and Lance shared a gasp when they saw how beautifully Shiro had finished it for them. On either side of the room, there was a crib for each baby, topped with a mobile. Luna's had giraffe plushies while Kai's had hippos. Purple was the theme for the room, and that's what color the rocking chair in the corner was. There was also a furry rug below their feet that was a light lavender color. It was perfect.

Lance checked the closet, seeing that Shiro had hung up a few things, and all the dresser drawers were filled with tiny sets of clothes.

They could both breathe easy after that. Well, easier by comparison. Nothing was ever truly easy when it came to them.

Keith changed both of the babies and got them in some fresh clothes. They were one piece, footy pajamas that came with matching hats. The only difference between them was that Luna's was pink, and Kai's was blue.

" I think we're in time for the eleven o'clock news." Lance finally said, swiftly walking to the living room to switch on the TV.

Keith furrowed a brow, peeking out of the nursey's door frame.

" Since when do you watch the news?" He asked him.

" Since there's a psychopath out there and I need to know if the cops decided to get off their asses and catch him." Lance smiled, but his lips twitched in an obviously furious way. Keith raised his hands in surrender, carefully picking up Luna and Kai to bring them out. Really, he shouldn't have been carrying them both, but he wasn't going to be a slave to his stitches.

He sat next to Lance on the couch, and Lance smiled, taking Kai from Keith. The baby boy was fussing once he was handed off, but Lance held his son closer. He eventually calmed.

" Tonight's top story is still on the case of the Galra Prison break. All of the escaped inmates have been apprehended except for one, Lotor Diabazaal. He is currently at large-" The reporter on screen explained, and a picture of Lotor flashed on the TV. " He was serving a life sentence for a list of crimes he committed while he was still in high school. One of them being the attempted murder of a classmate."

Keith looked down and to the side, blinking back a couple tears.

The shot cut to a police officer on screen. He was in the middle of a press conference.

" All we know is that he stole a car and drove down to Florida. We have witnesses placing him near the campus of Florida University, and police are working tirelessly to catch this dangerous criminal. This is a very scary situation, ladies and gentlemen. Please lock your doors."

" Shit!" Lance's eyes widened.

(( Can Lotor just croak? Like... please?))