Of This Life and the Next

Chapter 36 : Not Alone

Location: Diego Garcia- A.R.K Ship

Bumblebee's Quarters

Time: 3:35 P.M

A week after Mikaela and the other's departure back to the States, Sam eventually found himself in the presence of none other than Bumblebee and his future mate, Arcee. The two having offered their services to watch the youngest Prime.

"For practice!" Arcee had insisted, subtly referencing to the sparkling she would bring into the world in less than two Earth years.

That itself was enough to make Elita relent and hand over the sparkling that was just as eager to go with Bee and Arcee as they were to receive him.

"Just be very careful with him." Elita advised as she always did when handing off her son to whatever sparkling sitter he had for the day- though she was confident she had nothing to fear with Bee and Arcee in charge. Not that Whirl was a bad sparkling-sitter, but at least now, Elita didn't have to worry about Orion being at risk of being so close to a potential fight that seemed to occur more often as the younglings grew and navigated the ever-growing drama that came with maturity.

"We'll take good care of him, Elita. We won't even take him out of Bee's room." Arcee promised as she took the mechling into her arms and held him to her chest, smiling as the sparkling purred at the contact.

Elita had nodded in approval and the soon-to-be parents took their leave to the room Arcee would be officially moving into soon.

That led to the current moment with Sam, Bee and Arcee relaxing in the mech's quarters.

"He's so tiny!" Arcee cooed as she held Sam over her shoulder and ran her hand up and down his back. "And ours it going to be tinier, since..." Arcee's optics darted downwards to indicate her smaller frame. "But I like that it'll be so cute and little!" The femme beamed as she met Bee's gaze once more.

"Me too." Bee agreed, reaching forward and running a single finger along the mechling's head.

As for Sam; the sound of Bee's voice was enough to make him shift from his comfortable position to look back at the older mech.

He had heard Bee speak clearly once- after the battle of Mission City- and after that, the mech's voice took another nose dive, much to Ratchet's frustration. Still, it was weird hearing just how deep Bee's voice was. More surprising yet, was the English accent Bee spoke with...when he spoke, as the medics were adamant he takes it easy and not jump to full on conversations just yet.

"Is...Hound...still...mad?" Bee asked after a moment of silence.

Arcee tilted her head in thought, "He's...not as...dramatic...about it as when he first found out. Why? Is he still giving you a hard time?" There was a hint of annoyance as Arcee thought of her overprotective guardian.

Bumblebee shrugged, "A bit." He admitted.

Arcee rolled her optics, "I asked him to stop harassing you over this!"

"He's...worried." Bee guessed. "Hide...is...too."

"Ironhide?" Arcee repeated. Bee nodded. "About us?"

Bee nodded again, "And Whirl."

"Whirl's worried too?" By what Arcee had seen, Whirl was ecstatic to be getting a little niece or nephew. Why would she be worried for them?