Ruby and Saphire : Voltron:LD Klance

Thirty-Five

Rosályn lay fast asleep in her crib, holding her Weblum tight. Keith stood by her crib, holding himself as he keeps his emotionless gaze on her.

He didn't look up as the doors opened and Lance sighed softly.

"Keith... Come on, let's go get you something to eat." He carefully reached out to Keith, but then froze, blinking owlishly as Keith swatted him away.

"I'm not hungry." Keith muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Lance lowered his hand, ducking his head to try and look in Keith's eyes. "Keith, you need to eat... Baby, I understand-"

"No you don't!" Keith raised his voice, jerking his head up to show Lance his deep offense. "You don't understand at all!"

Before Lance could retort, both looked down as Rosályn sniffled and shifted.

Lance reached forward, placing his hand on Keith's arm. Keith shrugged him off and stepped out into the hallway. Lance breathed deeply and followed.

"Keith, I do understand." Lance started softly once the doors shut behind them. "I'm apart of this, too."

"No!" Keith cried, turning back to face the blue paladin. "No, you- you don't get it!" Tears already glossed over his deep indigo eyes as he glared up at Lance. "I didn't even know I was having another baby until they were already dead!"

"That's the same thing that happened to me, Keith!" Lance gestured with his arm. "Keith, we both lost our baby."

Keith clenched his jaw, stepping back. "You were the one who wanted to wait. You said we should wait longer before having another baby, and you get me pregnant anyway, just so I can lose the baby before I even knew they existed."

Lance's expression became desperate. "You say that like I planned it! Keith, I never meant for this to happen! I never meant for you to get hurt, and I never meant for our baby to die! Especially like that!" Tears raced down his cheeks, Keith stubbornly biting his back. "I wanted another baby, too! I just wanted to wait until things were safer; until Rosie was a little older so you're not so stressed out dealing with two diapers at once while I'm out on a mission or in a battle! I'm sorry, Keith! What else do you want me to say!?"

The red paladin raised his chin, squaring his shoulders. "That you'll stay away from me and my daughter."

The younger froze up, eyes wide and glossy. "Wh-what?" He stammered, voice breaking.

"I want you to stay away from me, and I don't want you near Rosályn." Lance's pleading eyes searched Keith as his breath caught.

"N-no, Keith... Please-" Lance tried to take a step closer, but Keith swung back, narrowing his eyes. "Keith..."

"Don't touch me!" Keith snapped, storming back into their room.

Lance gasped and tried to run in,but the door shut and locked too quickly. "No- Keith! Keith, why- why are you doing this!? I don't understand!" He cried, hitting the door. "Keith, please! Please say you don't mean that! Keith, come on! Open the door!" He begged, leaning onto the cold steel. "Please, please, Keith..."

Lance sobbed softly, forearms and forehead slipping down the cool metal as he sunk to his knees. "Keith... I love you... I love you so, so much, please- God, please don't do this..."

~

"He's shutting him out again!"

"I know."

"How could he fucking do that!?"

"Pidge, please-"

"No, no! I'll tell you what- I am marching my pretty ass in there and ripping Keith a whole new one! He's being unfair- he's being stupid and unreasonable!"

"He's grieving."

"So is Lance! He's grieving, too, and now Keith is just making it all the worse for him! Lance is losing his entire family!"

Shiro breathed deeply, grabbing Pidge's shoulders, then cupping her red face as he leant down. "Katie, breathe." His thumbs gently ran over her cheeks as tears streaked them. "I know this is frustrating, I know. Both of them just lost a baby, and Keith is shutting Lance out. Katie, that happens. They'll work through it."

She sucked in a shuddering breath as she placed her hands over his. "But they were okay... They were smiling again."

The black paladin nodded. "I know... But grief is funny that way. Katie, they'll get through this. We'll help them, but we're not going to yell or force them to do anything. It'll be okay if we just let them smooth things out."

Pidge nodded looking away. Shiro sighed softly, affectionately kissing her forehead before gently embracing her. She wrapped her arms around his middle as he squeezed her. "I know how upset this makes you... I know... It's hurting me too. This is hurting all of us."

"Yeah... I just hate seeing them like this... I hate it."

Shiro rubbed her back, looking up as Matthew stepped in. Matthew sighed, expression falling. He stepped over and Shiro stepped back. The freedom fighter hummed softly as he took his sister. "Katie, Katie..." He kissed her head as she nuzzled into him. "You've become such a softie."

The green paladin huffed and smacked Matthew. He chuckled as she squeezed him. "Love you, too, birdie."

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862 words

Short, sad, a little light-hearted at the end.