Work Text:
The greatest present of all was given to me long ago, it's something I would never trade. It's the family that we've made
Home. Keith didn’t really remember having one. He’d been too young to remember the day his mother left - though the absence had been felt all to keenly - and his memories of his father were dim at best.
Most of his life had been lived through the Garrison. Not long after his father died, completely out of the blue, Iverson had visited his school to talk about space and scout for potential students, and had noticed Keith.
Keith had no idea what the man had ever gained by adopting him – he wasn't really a loving foster father, but he signed keith up at the Garrison pre-education programme, something that made him feel like he was living again, even if it meant naming Commander Iverson as a caregiver. He began his time at the space facility and He’d lived and breathed it for years by the time he met Shiro.
Then he’d been dragged into space along with Lance, Hunk, Shiro, and far from least or last, Katie.
They’d fought in a war far bigger than any from Earth's history; the war against the Galra empire made WWIII look like a petty disagreement between infantile leaders rather than the disaster it had been.
He’d never lived somewhere that came close to being home, though the old shack he’d inherited from his father or the castle of lions came close enough. It sufficed at least, until he learned that home didn’t have to be a place; it could just as easily be a person.
For Keith, that person, was Katie Holt.
How it happened wasn’t like something out of a glossy magazine, or something that playwrights turned into epics. Pack a bunch of people into one place for a significant period of time, and regardless of their differences, they’ll either eventually kill each other, or learn to get along.
Luckily for Voltron, the paladins all got along very well indeed. Keith hadn’t expected to find a girlfriend in space. He also hadn’t expected to turn out half alien - of the space terrorist kind, no less. He had no regrets, and had taken things as they came to him, just like he always had.
At some point they just passed an invisible line, the friendship became a quiet kind of intimacy - out of some unspoken rule, no-one used Pidge’s real name. Not until he’d passed that line. Pidge was Katie, and Katie was Pidge, but only for Keith.
They had a collectionof dates, like the one in their space suits jet-pack surfing on the liquid rings of a planet even Katie and Coran couldn’t pronounce the name of, or a few subtitled space movies, curled up in blankets in the castleship lounge.
There had been a couple of scares, like the time Katie got stuck in an underwater base and Hunk had to CPR her - she’d nearly drowned during that mission. Then there had been those other scares.
Apparently Alteans had no need of birth control, since they could control their reproductive physiology at will - lucky sods. Give the unexpected departure, neither was it something they had expected to need following alien energy signals and radio chatter onto the desert all those years ago.
But neither were they prepared to be celibate until the war was over, so there had been a couple of close shaves until the Olkari had been able to recreate something for them. Keith wanted a family. So did Katie – just not in space.
They had weathered it though, toughed it out through some of the worst moments and best moments of their suddenly exceptional, and terrifying lives. Keith hadn’t been there when Katie found her brother, but he was there when she ran through the halls of a Galra work camp, one already half surrendered, and kicked down every door of the containment cells until the found a greying man with broken glasses.
Before that, Katie had dragged him away from his mother’s lifeless form, fulfilling an unspoken promise to the alien woman he’d known for only a few weeks to protect her son. They had both fled before the compromised base exploded, and Katie had slept beside him in Red for a week until he felt like he could pretend it hadn’t torn him apart.
Those were just the major parts. There had been other, smaller moments. Morning-breath kisses, and Katie’s howling laughter when he walked into a tree for staring at a vaguely hippo-like animal-alien on a planet they’d been scouting. Katie’s bad habit of throwing her tools all over their newer, shared bedroom.
Things became normal. Things like battling the Galra, brushing off bruises the size of stones as a normal day, automatically reaching to their thighs when someone crept up a bit too quietly behind them. Watching on as Hunk desperately tried to make his affection clear to Shay whenever they returned to X95-Vox.
Katie cried when she saw the plane trail ‘marry me’ written on the dark backdrop of space in glowing phosphorescent smoke (which had taken the entire team, two blades, and Matt’s rebel team to get in place whilst keeping her distracted).
They idly made conversation about what would happen if they ever got home, and never expected it to happen. They jokingly threatened that if Zarkon ever made a last-ditch attempt to attack earth in hopes of compromising the paladins, then they would tear him to dust, tearing out the heart of the empire, giving them a blow from which it would never recover.
Matt and Commander Holt made curious but ‘didn’t-really-have-the-time-to-try-it-out’ ideas about how to warn earth and summon their remaining militia. About using the closest Galra transmission station to ears and linking it to the International Space Station still floating above their home planet. Allura spoke of how much she would love to have earth be a member of the Voltron alliance, of the excitement that would be First Contact.
Katie sometimes whispered in the middle of the night that she just wanted to video call her mother, and tell her that they were all home. Go visit her grandparents, maybe even get to introduce them to their kids one day.
Keith idly thought about visiting Iverson - he was an asshole, but he had technically adopted him, and the cantankerous old man wasn’t the worst foster parent he could have had. He’d been a name on a piece of paper at best, but that name had in whatever manner, taken Keith to space, and all the answers he’d ever wanted. A look-in on him couldn’t hurt.
It was all hypothesis, ideas that were never, ever supposed to come true.
Then they did.
I would travel miles and miles, and I would follow any star; I’d go almost any place, if it’s any place you are.
“I can’t really believe this is happening,” Lance mumbled as they stood at the doors of the lift, watching its slow descent onto the desert below.
“Tell me about it, I can see Keith’s shack from here,” Hunk said, staring through the glass. “I can’t believe that thing’s still standing. How many years has it been now?” He asked, his voice scared. “I don’t think I ever asked.”
No one had. Katie had worked it out so that they could celebrate birthdays and Christmas, new year, any holiday that mattered to each of the paladins, but no-one had dared ask.
“Five years,” she said slowly, trying to stave off nausea, leaning against Keith as the lift shuddered. “Give or take a few months. It’s actually Christmas. In a few days.”
The contact with the ground below jolted them all, and the doors opening on the crowds outside that had gathered to welcome home the lost Kerberos crew, and meet Earth’s new alien allies blasted all of their senses.
The noise, the light, the smell of earth air and taste of petrichor on their tongues, and the hammer of their hearts inside them. The air was freezing, and Keith shivered in his thin armour - strong it might have been, but the temperature resistance took a while to kick in after how many years it had been bashed around now.
“Oh god, I think i'm going to be sick!” Hunk bemoaned.
And just like that, the nerves of the return journey disappeared, Hunk's unease reminding everyone of the first, the one that had changed their lives and brought them all together. Keith felt Katie’s fingers squeeze his own, and he smiled.
Allura steeped out first, greeting the crowds and reps from the Garrison and Global Space Agency. Then she stepped back, citing some well-deserved reunions that were long overdue.
“May I present the Defenders of the Universe, Earth’s Paladins of Voltron, and Kerberos team.”
Keith took a breath, letting Katie gently lead him out behind Shiro, and her father and brother, hand never leaving his.
Eventually once the crowds were smiled at and cameras given their photos, the dignitaries greeted another group emerged from the crowd. Keith spotted them first, but knew there was nothing there for him. Instead he watched, trying to pick out the different relations.
The hulking man with a kind smile, wrinkles, and his tiny, but structured wife with the big hopeful eyes were definitely Hunk’s parents. The tall skinny woman with what looked like a small army of teenagers at her back and numerous Spanish swears on her tongue for the UN soldiers limiting her view could only be Lance's mother. The elderly couple he knew too well, and smiled at Shiro’s grandparents, before pulling him away from the officials and pointing them out.
It took Shiro a few moments, but soon, realisation and recognition dawned, and his shell finally crumbled away. The scenes of the reunions would end as some of the most iconic images of the century. The sight of Shiro, tall and strong in his Paladin armour, so seemingly, crying his eyes out into his tiny grandmother’s shoulder as his grandfather pulled them both close and silently kissed his forehead was something no camera could replicate. It did draw the attention of the others however.
Hunk let out a howl and a sniff, rushing with his arms open towards the group. “Tama! Tina!” He sobbed, hurrying as fast as he could; Hunk had never shown any shame in his own tears - he knew they meant and represented something words couldn’t, and his relief and happiness streamed down his face as his giant of a father pulled him close, and his mother took his face on his hands, beaming with pride and love as their foreheads pressed together and tears mingled.
Keith wasn’t surprised when Lance let out a whoop and a loud boisterous 'Look at all you guys here for little old me! You’d think I saved the universe!'. He jumped around with hugs hard ruffles and swinging his mob of brothers and sisters in his arms, until his mother slapped the back of his head, scolded him in rapid Spanish, the kissed him all over his face. Lastly, a blonde tan boy around their age approached, and the blue paladin surrendered to the tears. he and Luis got a couple of cat-calls as Lance pulled him into his arms and the had one of those big, dramatic, cheesy, romantic movie kisses.
Lastly, his eyes turned to Colleen Holt. She had been the first one he’d seen, really. It hadn’t been hard. She stood, watching, as if she couldn’t bring herself to believe her eyes just yet. Her dress suit was smart and classy, and she held her hands in front of her tightly.
Unlike the others, she was alone. She stood slightly apart from the masses, though originally Mr and Mrs Shirogane had appeared to be keeping her company. For a moment Keith felt like he understood the wistful expression on her face. As if she didn’t dare move for fear of dreaming.
He wasn’t sure who saw her first, Commander Holt, Katie or Matt - Allura distracted him for a moment to explain some Earth terminology. When he turned back, Commander Holt had one or knot on his cane around his wife. Colleen was doing her best to hold him close and help him stand, and pull her two children close all at the same time.
For a while he watched, then went back towards the ship. The idea of hanging around hundreds of shouting people and watching everyone cry from happiness wasn’t the most appealing idea in the world. Maybe he could nap or something before all the paperwork started. Or check in with Shiro and his grandparents.
Iverson would probably demand a mission report just to spite him tomorrow.”; if he could run away with them to Japan that might be a good thing.
He didn’t get very far in his plan, only a couple of steps before an accidental looped around his neck and gently turned him back around. “Dude, where are you going?” Matt demanded. “Mamma wants to meet you. Or Katie wants to introduce you. I’m not sure, but I was sent to fetch,” he shrugged, giving Keith a nudge towards his parents and sister.
“But I’m not- Matt! Matt!” He protested, trying to stop himself being dragged and pushed towards the family.
“Keith, you’re my brother-in-law, and I love you, but you’re being a baby. Mamma’s not that scary, come on,” he grinned. “Nonna on the other hand, slightly more intimidating.”
Katie heard his voice, then beamed, and put a hand on her mother’s arm and Matt forced him to join them. “Mamma, this is Keith,” she said, taking his hand.
Colleen Holt smiled at him like anyone would a stranger who had just come off of an alien spaceship in flight armour that looked like it came out of the last century. “The boy from the video?” She asked.
Keith cringed; of course, she would remember the transmission video Katie and her father had cooked up to send to earth. The one where he’d been running around swearing like a sailor and blowing up Galra heads.
– - - * - - -
If contacting earth had been easy, it would have been done long before they had need to.
'Katie, honey, I know you said hard evidence was good, but we’re up fucking shit creek if I have the time to do a space rendition of the Kardashians right now!’ Keith called over the comms.
‘Keeping Up with Keith? I’d watch it, sounds better than La rosa de Guadalupe!’ Lance commented. Then he screamed as a Galra crept up behind him on the level above. A large yellow blast cannoned into the Galra’s chest, and he flopped uselessly to the ground. ‘Thanks Hunk!’
‘Keith, it’s a remote-control camera! You don’t even have to do anything, just sell it!’ Katie yelled over the intercom. ‘You drew the blue krisnkaw crystal! Come on, I promised I’d make it up to you!’
‘If you’re trying to bribe me with sex, you know that doesn’t work!’ Keith snapped, ducking behind some boxes as a hail of bullets rained down. ‘Lance, cover would be great right now!’
Dimly he heard Matt laughing his ass off, some kind of swear word from the green paladin, and commander holt’s ‘I’m going before you two have another domestic. I’ve seen a lot in space, but nothing will ever prepare me for this sweetheart.’
‘Look, if you’re going to insist on this can you keep Rover 3.0 out of the way at least?’ He asked.
‘Working on it, come on, I can’t keep the signal from the satellite connected to this hunk of metal for much longer! Do you know how old the ISS is? And parts of it are in Russian! I can’t hack Russian Keith! Just hurry it up!’
‘Fine! How about this? 'Hello earth, I’m Keith Hawkins, and these fucking purple asshats are a bunch of aliens coming to enslave Earth, but don’t worry, were making reality tv about chopping their heads off!’ How's that?' Keith said, finally rushing out as Lance got the shooters with his blaster.
'That's terrible,' Katie said bluntly.
'Tell them where we are!’ Hunk called out, before waving at the droid following Keith. ‘Hi Earth! Hunk Garret! Hi Tama! Hi Tina!’
‘Hunk, I think people can tell where we are,’ Lance said gently. ‘I mean, we are floating thanks to zero-g,’
‘But they might think it was like the moon landings!’ Hunk protested.
“With this kind of content? Please, we’ll have ratings,” Lance laughed.
Keith groaned. ‘Fine! This is being sent live from space, and we’re piggybacking of the old ISS system to transmit this. Iverson, just try to bury this like Kerberos, I dare you, Commander Holt’s daughter is sending this through the TV satellites to the news stations and GSA,’ he said, running up to the desk where Katie was using the base’s satellite to stream to earth. ‘Babe, seriously, is that enough? Can I stop now?’
’It’ll have to be, this base is about to move out of orbit, and we’ll lose signal with earth,’ Katie said.
‘Maybe we should just let Keith sit out the next time we need to contact a planet via satellite,’ Allura said after a long moment of blasts. ‘I think we’ll have to re-shoot something else more… informative.’
‘Thank you!’ Keith whined with relief, before stabbing his sword into another Galra.
– - - * - - -
Of course Colleen Holt remembered him from the video.
That video was not his most shining moment. Especially when lance finally picked up signal on his phone when they entered Earth's atmosphere and informed him #KeepingUpWithKeith was trending on twitter. He’d turned into a goddamned meme.
“Katie," Colleen blinked, looking at their hands and the rings on them. Katie had made them on Olkarion herself with tiny stones in Voltron colours. "You’re married?”
She looked at her mother and then to him a happy smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm a Katie Hawkins now."
Keith wanted to hide somewhere.
Keith felt very out of place the first night.
Katie and her family needed the time to reunite, so he took the chance to make himself scarce. He wasn’t stupid; he knew that they would need time to themselves, and have this moment to themselves.
Separated and though dead for over five years were states of mind that his presence would do nothing to fix, so he wandered around, pulling on jeans and a jumper with a thick hood matt lent him to hide himself from the masses of people wandering around outside, pointing at the castleship.
The garrison compound was familiar and somehow alien at the same time. They had spent only a few years away from home and it felt so different, like he’d never wandered around the houses and shops before after classes. Now that he looked at the houses and buildings, he realised that he wasn’t too far away from Iverson’s house.
Weird, he’d been so close to Katie for most of his life, yet it had taken going into space to even meet her. Not knowing where else to go, he wandered in that general direction. It took a couple of wrong turns, but eventually he found the bungalow.
Keith had only lived there at during his pre-cadet schooling then weekends, as cadets were required to live in dorms once they joined the full programme. Picking up a rock by the door, he rolled his eyes at the stupid hiding spot for the spare key.
Letting himself in, he looked around, then rolled his eyes again. Nothing was any different. Clinical and unloved in.
“So, when you get suspended, most cadets don’t disappear into space, care to explain any of that?”
Keith turned to look at the kitchen doorway. Iverson looked old. He had more wrinkles and his voice sounded wearier instead of angry all the time.
“I told you so? Shiro was alive.” he shrugged.
“You think we didn’t get audio recordings?” He asked. “You think Shiro, Mat and Samuel weren’t briefed on protocol in the event of a hostile first contact? Of course you didn’t. You were a kid. I didn’t particularly enjoy it. Of course I knew they were alive. The probe jettisoned the black box back to earth, but how the hell do you tell an entire planet there are hostile aliens roaming around?”
Keith shrugged. Again. “I managed,” he offered.
“You? You mean that stupid video?” The man let out a laugh. “No, your friends and your girlfriend did all the hard work.”
“Wife,” Keith corrected.
“-wife?” Iverson blinked. “Well, in that case space did you good. Never thought I'd see you settle down with anyone. Did you find your mother ot there at all?”
Keith felt his stomach drop out of his belly. What?
“My- How- You knew?!”
“Of course I knew,” he said, looking to the only picture Keith had ever seen of his father. As a garrison cadet, just graduated, standing next to Iverson and his wife.
Sensing more, Keith waited until he had pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. “You think I didn’t know he ran off with her?” He asked, after a long draw. “He got kicked off of Ares 6 because you came along, and he wouldn’t leave her alone. He was terrified of her being discovered before the rescue ship arrived. I helped cover for him.” He shrugged, flopping down wearily in the chair by his ashtray table.
“Then I got flagged after your dad kicked the bucket. You got sent to hospital with that broken leg. The doctors found genes that don’t exist swimming around in your blood. Your dad wasn’t stupid - he made sure someone would keep an eye out. I hacked in and faked your medical files, then went to the school open day. He’s lucky I liked him, to this day I haven’t had a cadet with half the brains and complete lack of self-preservation instinct as you.”
He raised an eyebrow at Keith. “Senra didn’t say anything?”
“She said he had a friend, but I didn’t get to ask much more than that,” Keith said simply, swallowing for a moment at the memory that followed. “She died.”
“I’m sorry about that, I liked her.” Iverson’s frown softened. “You should probably get back to the Holts, been a busy day and you’ll be missed.”
Keith nodded - he could ask about this development later. He hadn’t planned to stay this long. He wasn’t even certain why he came at all. “Probably,” he agreed. “Thanks Iverson.”
“Get lost brat. You’ll be seeing enough of me thanks to you alien friends.”
“Bye,” he chuckled. “Find a new hiding space for that thing,” he said, dropping the key onto the coffee table.
And with that, he left. Not special words or affectionate ones really. He and Iverson had never been close, but he had always wondered what made the man take him in. Now he had his answer. He didn’t have to like Iverson much, but he could be grateful.
And he was.
Finding a way back to the Holt household was simple enough, but getting inside was more difficult if he wanted to avoid all the reporters. Eventually he had to clamber over a fence. He forgot about gravity though, and what would have been a light jump in space had him landing face down in the flowerbeds, and groaning at the impact on his tailbone.
And of course, all the noise altered the security teams the garrison had put around the house, and they came running towards him with guns waving. Glancing at the window, he saw Coleen’s startled eyes watching him, and he groaned. He really had to work on the impression he was giving his mother-in-law.
“Sir! You are breaking and entering! This is private property! I’m afraid that I’m going to have to escort-“ the security man who had yanked him to his feet paled. “Mr Hawkins! Sir! I’m so sorry - We thought you were one of the reporters getting desperate! Here, let me help you sir.”
Sir? Keith stared at the man as - was he saluting him? Not for the first time that day, Keith wished he was back in space, where everything made more sense.
“It’s fine, I just… forgot about gravity,” he mumbled intelligently. “Err, thanks?” What was he even thanking them for?
The security team all saluted again and, then returned to their original spots around the house. Keith wished he had some nunvill. Disgusting as it was, it would have been a nice indulgence.
Rubbing his hands together he glanced at the conservatory door and tested it. Locked. He didn’t dare go out front where all the cameras were. He shuddered at the thought. he could always knock on the door and get Matt or Commander Holt to let him in, but he didn’t want to disturb them.
So, unsure of what else to do, he sat down on the porch, and looked up at the stars.
It wasn’t Katie who opened the door and found him on the step, but the footsteps sounded almost identical.
“Babe?” He asked. “Did you know that Iverson knew Senra. Like he didn’t have any files on her when you hacked in?” He wondered.
“I’m afraid Katie’s still inside, Keith, yes?” Coleen chuckled, startling him enough to jerk around and scramble to his feet. “You must be frozen, “she frowned. “How long have you been sitting out here?”
Keith drew a blank, he didn’t actually know. He didn’t have a watch now that he had changed out of his Voltron armour.
“Two hours and thirty-five minutes ma’am,” one of the soldiers said.
Really two hours?
“Oh, sweetheart, you should have knocked!” Colleen gasped.
“I didn’t want to intrude ma’am,” Keith said. “If… If you’ve missed your family half as much as I know Katie missed you then you all deserve the privacy.” He garbled.
“That’s very kind,” she smiled, sitting down on the wooden steps of the porch beside him; she had changed too from the formal dress to some pyjamas and a dressing gown. Her hair was lighter but fell almost exactly the same way that Katie’s did. “Katie said your family is gone, I know we don’t know each other, but you are welcome here,” she assured him.
“I… thank you.”
“Mamma, did you find - Keith!” Matt’s head poked out into the conservatory from the kitchen, before she followed. “Dude, where were you? You’ve been gone for hours! Pidge was looking for you,”
“I went to see Iverson,” he said. “I wanted to…” he bit his lip. “I mean, you have a lot of catching up to do,” he shrugged. “Then I started trying to map earth to the castleship navigation. We’re actually pretty close to the Veygor system. If you look to the west of the Pleiades you can just make it out, third once from the left,” he mumbled, looking away awkwardly.
Matt let out a suffering noise, then he turned back inside. “Katie! Come rescue your husband!” He called out.
Keith frowned - he didn’t need rescuing. Then Katie popped her face around the door, and the relief that flooded his belly made him change his mind. “Keith, come on inside, please?” She asked. Keith got immediately to his feet, but waited until her mother had gone inside before following.
“Are you okay?” Katie asked, lingering in the conservatory with him for a moment, arms wrapping around his waist. He immediately reciprocated, sensing that she needed the support too.
“I’m fine, I went to see Iverson, I wanted to give you all some space. It’s a lot for your Mum without me crowding things too,” he said. “How did it go?”
“There was a lot of crying, questions,” Katie sighed. “I’m so happy to be back, but I know it’s hard for Mamma, she’s been all alone, and…” Keith sat down in one of the chairs, pulling her into his arms. “…it’s hard for her. She was asking about you though - I showed her the photos from Salcrix, and when you proposed,” she smiled. “She loved that,” she said. “What did Iverson say?”
“Turns out my dad had more of a clue than I thought,” he sighed. “Remember Senra told us about that friend they had?”
“No way, Iverson? But he’s such an ass! Seriously, he knew this whole time?” She said, turning and kneeling in front of him on the cushions. Keith nodded. “That sneaky krizblip!” Keith laughed, leaning up and kissing her. “Keith it’s not funny! He knew this whole time and-”
He kissed her again, silencing the protests. “Katie, I’m fine, it’s okay,” he promised her. “Forget about Iverson. You’re home. You’re home, and you have you whole family together again, even your dog.”
“You mean Matt’s dog,” she snorted. “She hasn’t let him move out of the room without her.”
They sat together for a while, staring out at the stars from the comfy bamboo frame sofa, shifting until they were a tangle of limbs and arms holding each other close. “Is that the Veygor system? Next to the seven sisters?” Katie asked. Keith nodded, almost half asleep with the warmth and comforting scent of his wife next to him.
“Keith?”
“Hmm?” He cracked an eye open.
“You’re home too,” Katie said. “Mamma needs some time, but even if she doesn’t like you, home is where we make it,” she leaned up a kissed him on the cheek, brushing some of his hair from his eyes. “I love you Keith.”
Keith leaned into her touch, taking the hand and kissing the tips of her fingers. “Love you too,” he said. Then his stomach growled, completely ruining the moment, unless Katie’s laughter counted.
“Maybe we can get one of those security guys to go find a takeaway?” She laughed. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get outside.”
“Depends on how you feel about climbing fences,” Keith grumbled.
They did infact asking one of the security guards if they would mind buying a pizza from somewhere. It hadn’t been a good idea the next day though.
The night had been pleasant enough. Matt had given them his room for the double bed, and taken his sisters. Keith collapsed next to his wife, snuggling close beneath the covers, surrounded by garrison documents and science posters, including a giant periodic table stick to the ceiling above their head.
“Can you really believe we’re here?” Katie asked. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up back on the castleship ten wormhole jumps away from Kerberos, never mind earth,” she whispered, snuggling under an arm and leaning a weary head on his chest.
“Honestly, I still can’t believe we managed to make it out of that battle,” Keith admitted. “But I’m happy. This, you make all of it feel real,” he whispered.
He couldn’t believe how welcoming Katie’s mother had been to a complete stranger, but he didn’t question it. It was something he’d not really had a lot of experience with, and maybe it had just been for her sake - he didn’t really mind. That she had tried at all was enough to make him feel welcome.
Then the morning came. Sitting around a diplomatic table trying to negotiate interplanetary peace treaties, as well as introducing earth’s diplomats to the Blade of Marmora had been hard enough.
Doing it when eating normal food had made his insides feel like a weblum was trying to eat their way out of it was nearly impossible. Hunk couldn't eat a mouthful all day, Shiro looked like death warmed up, and Lance kept making bathroom trips. Katie didn’t even make it that far, and spent two days curled up in bed after taking in the poisonous home planet cuisine.
The next day was slightly better, and after a week, the paladins had finally reacclimatised to earth food for the most part. ‘I can’t believe I missed food goo! Food goo Keith!’ Hunk had nearly cried when they gave their families and the diplomats a tour of the castleship. ‘My parents made Koko and Fa'ausi, but I was up all night! I haven’t been so sick since our first time forming Voltron! And I love Koko!’
The day after that, when the Alteans learned that Christmas was approaching, they insisted on suspending the negations and talks so that the humans could celebrate. 'Please,' Allura charmed the grumpy people from the UN and GSA flawlessly. 'The Paladins have not had the chance to spend this important ritual with their families for decaphoebs. I would be most troubled if our presence on your planet prevented any celebrations.'
And so, Keith found himself helping to put up the Holt’s Christmas decorations. The whole day had been a bit of a nightmare, between Katie and her father putting up the Christmas decorations and everyone going on a last-minute present rush.
Keith even saw Lance and his boyfriend rushing around the mall, in absolutely ridiculous disguises. He sort of felt that himself - Keith had no idea what he bought - he just used some of the money the Garrison had given them all to buy things, hoping he could at least not make a mess of Christmas presents.
After that, Keith found himself in a hooded jumper and a thick scarf covering his mouth and nose to avoid the mobs, wandering around a supermarket with Collen.
Keith smelled a set up, but made no comment as his wife had abandoned him with her mother in the car park. Katie, Matt, and the Commander meanwhile, were making a mad dash out to the nearby airport for the arrival of Coleen’s parents - They had booked the first flight out from Naples as soon as the announcement that the Castleship would be landing, and desperate to see their returned family.
“This is so surreal,” Keith mumbled to himself as he tried to get past the people surrounding the freezers making last grabs for turkeys. He growled at a big man with a beard and snatched a large-ish looking turkey from beneath his nose, before rushing back to the trolley in the vegetable aisle.
“Oh, you managed to get one!” Colleen beamed, her face lighting up. “What else should we get? I don’t have time to get everything started like we used to, and there aren’t any Christmas cakes left, unless Mamma would mind making one of hers tonight,” she mumbled, quickly pushing some glass jars of apple and cranberry sauce into their packed trolley.
“Oh, if there’s something your family used to make, please say so,” she said quickly. “It probably won’t be the same but I’m sure I can manage something, she smiled. “It’s crazy, I can’t believe I’m even Christmas shopping this year, let alone making Christmas dinner again… I never thought… my parents weren’t able to book the flights till a few days ago you see so, I want really expecting anyone…”
Keith really, really wished his wife hadn’t left his stranded with that ‘just be yourself!’ expression.
“I’m… I’m sorry I can’t really contribute anything,” he apologised. “Not that I don’t want to,” he added quickly. “I just, I don’t really have any family traditions. My dad died when I was about five or six, and my mum had already gone back to space, so I guess this is the first one for me?” He rambled.
Colleen stared at him, confusion on her face.
“Your mother… went back? To space?”
Keith blinked.
“Ah… I’m kind of… half… Galra?” He said, watching her eyes widen as he fumbled. “I didn’t know until we got out there ourselves.”
Colleen stared at him and Keith kicked himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid, what in vrepit's name would he tell her that for?!
“That’s… I assume there were circumstances but…she just left you with no explanation?” A frown appeared on her face. The sort Katie wore when a Galra firewall blinked her viruses and she got stubborn. “Then, if there’s anything you’d like, tell me,” she said. “You’re family to us, to Katie,” she stressed, putting a hand on his arm. “Please, even if it’s just something you haven’t had since you left earth.”
Keith tried to think. “Uh, there’s not really much, my taste buds are a bit weird,” he confessed. “But I know Katie really, really missed peanut butter - maybe a cake or something?” He suggested awkwardly.
Colleen smiled. “That… would be much easier than making a Christmas cake, and I’ll never forget that recipe,” she smiled. “Peanut butter cake it is.”
Katie’s grandparents were nothing like their daughter.
They were boisterous and loud and spoke in utterly incomprehensible Italian and only sparing English. Her grandmother Valentina recognised him instantly - no doubt from the goddamn hashtag - and, once Katie had told her who he was, she gave him a crushing hug and kissed him on both cheeks.
Her grandfather, a man called Vincenzo Mazzanti who spoke no English at all, just smiled and gave him two very heavy pats on the back and asked something that made Katie turn bright red and snap at him in his native tongue, much to his amusement.
“What did he say?” He asked her as they unpacked the shopping. “You’re still bright red.”
“He asked if we’re staying on earth long enough for him to meet any great-grandchildren,” she mumbled.
Keith wanted the ground to swallow him whole every time he caught the man’s eye after that, but thankfully the rest of the evening was a busy one. Colleen, the commander (‘Christ Keith, you really need to start calling me Sam’) and her mother started roasting the turkey, whilst Keith, Katie, and Matt peeled vegetables. Valentino made noise searching for something upstairs, occasionally calling to them in lyrical Italian.
“What are they talking about?” He asked after Matt broke into rapid, blustery words to his mother and grandmother, and headed up the stairs, shouting something to the old man.
“Nonna is talking about the Christmas decorations,” Katie sighed. “I couldn’t find our o’Presebbio,” she explained, dropping potato skins into the bin between them. “She’s sent Matt to help Nonno find them.”
“What’s a… pessibo?” Keith blinked.
“It’s like those nativity scenes, just much fancier I guess, but that’s what Nonna and Nonno put up,” she shrugged. “Theirs is really fancy, but since we moved out her Mamma’s been more into western Christmas, so I don’t really know where it went.”
Keith nodded, and as more rapid Italian was exchanged back and forth up the stairs, he turned dutifully back to his carrots.
The rest of the meal prep was uneventful. Everyone took turns hiding in the guest bedroom to wrap the presents they’d managed to scrape together, and Keith managed to bond with Katie’s grandfather despite the language barrier over what Commander holt told him was 'grappa' and biscuits called mustaccioli that the Mazzanti couple had brought with them.
They all gathered outside on the patio next to what looked like a pizza oven or barbecue of some kind that Commander Holt and his father-in-law had filled with logs till it became a cheerful blaze in the freezing desert air.
They sat outside as even snow began to fall - the chatter was hectic, loud, and normally, Keith hated those things. Katie absolutely glowed, jumping back and forth between Italian and English, or sometimes even the Galran they’d picked up, telling him their stories, as well as their own.
He only just got time to check in on Shiro - Allura and Coran were spending the holidays with him, and thankfully weren’t having nearly so much trouble with language barriers - the Shiroganes spoke fluent English.
Looking up from his messages, he found himself absolutely mortified him when Katie showed the proposal pictures, including the Nunvill video, and in turn her grandmother found the blasted video and said something that made her kiss the both of them on the forehead and cheeks, before leaving them outside on the patio together.
The long flight from Naples and hectic day had stolen lots of energy, and after she left, only he and Katie were left awake. Keith stood behind her, wrapping the blanket from the living room around them both as they breathed in the chill air. It was nice to finally have some peace.
“She said that she and Nonna have wanted to meet you ever since she saw the video,” Katie explained, one of those warm smiles she kept private sent up to him., glass of spicy hot orange juice sipped slowly. “She says she can see the love in your eyes, that I picked very well.”
“Has she translated it? I was turning the air blue,” Keith snorted. “But I suppose it’s quite sweet if her to say that.”
“Damn right it is, she likes you already,” Katie laughed, turning in his arms. “Were you okay with Mamma earlier? I’m sorry we left, but I knew you’d never open up to each other with the rest of us around.”
“It… wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Keith smiled. “She’s nice, kind. She wanted to do something for me, a family tradition,” he shrugged.
Katie snuggled closer beneath the blanket, free hand squeezing his hand. “Maybe now were back, we can come up with our own,” she suggested. “We could make those steaks Kolivan brought you?”
“That actually sounds amazing,” Keith groaned, burying his head in her shoulder, looking down into the steaming glass. “You okay?” He asked. “Cold, hungry? Not sick?”
“I’m fine now, worrywart,” she said, watching her breath turn to smoke in the air. “It’s so cold out. I can’t believe it’s snowing in the desert.”
“It happens,” he shrugged. “Sometimes, it’s one thing I do remember. Sort of. One morning I woke up and it was still on the ground. We didn’t have a tree or anything, but I think I saw them dancing in it before it melted. It’s a bit foggy though,” he said, quietly just in case anyone else was nearby. “I’m not even sure if its real or not.”
Katie looked up at him, the set down her glass of orange juice on the table beside the fire, and unwrapped the blanket.
“Babe?” He blinked, confused until she took one of his hands and put the other around his shoulders.
His other hand automatically went to her waist and he stared at her as she began singing. “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas,” she started, grin already looking like it would break into laughter as she made him take lazy step. “I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?”
Katie urged him to continue with some raised eyebrows, and he groaned, singing along with the rest of the tune, taking small steps over the porch, spinning her carefully every once in a while.
Eventually the lyrics died to hums, and the dance was nothing more than the two of them rocking back and forth beneath the tiny snowflakes, shining like stars as they passed the embers of the burner on their way to the ground below.
"Home is where the heart is," he whispered to her later, after they had crept up to bed. "I love you Katie. You're home."
And after twenty three years, he finally was.
Doesn't matter where we are if you're there with me, because when we're together, that's my favourite place to be.