Starting a new

A tiny step forward

it had started out, to Ironhide, as an instinct. the sparklings had started pulling themselves into standing positions weeks ago, while Reflect was busy studying with Ratchet in the medbay. Ironhide and Reflect, not to mention the rest of the base, had been ecstatic.

the problem had started last week. Reflect was studying in the medbay while Ironhide was in the rec room with the sparklings. Ironhide sat himself in the floor to play with his sparklings. Echo happily crawling around while Remix was pulling himself up on Ironhide's armor. Ironhide watching them carefully, refusing to take his optics off them for even a second, Reflect would kill him if something happened to the sparklings and there was an open vent not 30 feet away, he couldn't risk the sparklings crawling in there. he'd turned just slightly to reach out and grab Echos leg, gently, to pull her back over to him, when Remix attempted to take his first step. Ironhide hadn't thought, he'd simply reached out and gently knocked the sparkling over. Reflect would be crushed if he missed either of their first steps. Ironhide never even thought about it, just knocked the sparkling over carefully and scooped him up.

it had started out as instinct and had quickly turned into a multiple times a day event. anyone who happened to notice the sparklings attempting to walk without both their creators in the room, immediately stepped into action. the sparklings were either gently knocked down or scooped up to prevent it. Ironhide still had patrols and Reflect still had months of training left and were almost never in the same room at the same time, unless it was time for rest. Optimus had graciously swapped Ironhide to dayshift patrol, so he could at least spend nights with his family.

Reflect sighs slightly, walking into the rec room, a datapad in servo. between his medical training with Ratchet and the invention training with Wheeljack, he was exhausted. he almost immediately smiles, hearing a happy squeal from his son. both sparklings are sitting in the floor with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, crawling around. Remix screams excitedly, barreling over to Reflect as fast as he can, Echo following behind. Echo had started actually crawling almost two weeks ago and was much faster now.

"hey guys." Reflect chuckles, scooping them up gently. Remix squeals happily, cuddling his carrier. Echo giggles, little engine purring happily. Reflect laughs, hugging them both tightly. "oh my sweet sparks, I've missed you too." Reflect murmurs softly, kissing their heads gently.

"you done for the day?" Sunstreaker asks, smiling at him slightly. Reflect nods at him.

"yeah, Ratchet and Wheeljack are working on a project so, I got to leave for the day. a little earlier than normal." Reflect snorts, shifting the sparklings. Remix immediately hugs his neck, giggling, while Echo squeals, cuddling up to his chest. Reflect chuckles softly at his sparklings, before glancing back up at Sunstreaker. "which is fine with me. I love the training and all, but its nice to spend time with my sparklings." Reflect chuckles, squeezing them gently. he smiles down at them happily. "thanks for watching them guys." Reflect adds, looking back over at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"no problem, we love these little guys." Sunstreaker smiles. Sideswipe nods.

"yeah, no problem, but Sunny and I have patrol tomorrow, so we can't watch them." Sideswipe frowns. Reflect nods slightly.

"no no, thats fine, I'll find someone to watch them, don't worry about it. thanks." Reflect assures, walking off to get himself a cube.

the twins are busy tomorrow, any ideas for who can watch the sparklings?

Reflect grabs himself a cube and sits down to drink it while holding the sparklings.

not unless you want to take them to the medbay with you. didn't Ratchet offer that as an option?