Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lance had a bit of a reputation for being a partier. He wouldn’t say he was that bad, he liked to have fun, he liked to dance, and he liked to flirt with pretty men and women. It just so happened that parties and nightclubs were the best place to do all that and more, with the upside of having a few drinks.

Spring break had finally arrived at the Garrison University which presented Lance with the perfect opportunity to convince his introverted group of friends to join him on a night out to the local nightclub on the edge of the Garrison Campus, the Kerberos. In his ragtag group of friends there was Hunk, a beta he had known since they both wore nappies with a knack for cooking. Katie, who much preferred to go by her childhood nickname of Pidge, a female alpha so damn smart she was in the same year as Lance and Hunk despite being two years younger than both of them. Finally there was Keith, an alpha who Lance would rather call a frenemy or rival than a friend; Keith had recently dropped out of the University due to loss of muse as he himself said when his foster brother left the country with no explanation. The aspiring artist needed a night of mind numbing fun, and the two other members of their fabulous quartet really needed to get out more. Surely they didn’t need to re-watch Fullmetal Alchemist for the fifth time, Lance fully agreed that it was brilliant but surely this was pushing it.

When Lance opened the door to his and Hunk’s shared apartment he wasn’t surprised to see both Hunk and Pidge huddled around the laptop already five episodes into their binge session. However he was surprised to see Keith perched on the arm of the couch, pencil in hand, attempting a drawing of the two curled up on the floor. While Lance didn’t always show it, he really did care about Keith and he really hoped he would soon be able to continue his art degree despite Shiro’s unexpected departure. The older boy had the talent but with his last family member seemingly abandoning him he felt lost, it was just good to see him even just sketching a few lines.

Lance plops himself down beside Keith, throwing an arm over his shoulder “Hey Mullet-Head, how’s it hanging?”

He merely receives a grunt in response, Keith completely unfazed by Lance’s sudden appearance. Underwhelmed with his welcome Lance turns his attention towards the two remaining people in the room.

“Hunk, my man” Lance shouts at the beta “What’s up?”

Hunk briefly turns his head over his shoulder to give Lance a broad grin and a small wave. “Lance, my dude. The bi annual tradition of watching FMA has begun! Grab us some popcorn and we may let you join us.”

Pidge waves her hand in a dismissive way at him “Yes peasant, fetch us our popcorn.”

Lance frowns, which soon turns to a pout as Keith snorts beside him.

“Rude.” He mumbles “Due to this act of betrayal I now have no choice but to force you all to come out with me tonight.” He’s met with various expressions of amusement. “You may think you have a choice but I can assure you…you do not.”

Keith raises an eyebrow at him “Oh really? And how exactly do you get me to bow to your will then?” His lips are curled into a confident smirk that immediately makes Lance regret wanting to cheer him up earlier. Pidge’s curiosity is also peaked at Lance’s ominous words; she scrambles off the ground and throws herself atop the older boys.

“Oh I love mysteries! What dirt do you have on us?” she eagerly asks as she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose, light reflecting off them.

Lance laughs as the younger presses her face against his, squishing their cheeks together. “You’re not supposed to be excited about blackmail…besides, it’s not all blackmail. I trust Hunk to be a good enough friend to accompany me without needing a motive besides being a good friend.”

“Aw thanks Lance, but I would like a reward for my good behaviour.” Hunk chuckles as he pulls himself onto the couch to join his friends, “Battling my social anxiety to go out with you deserves a reward.”

Keith’s brows furrow and his nose crinkles in disgust “There is no way I’m going out anywhere. You’re lucky to even have me in your house.”

Lance turns his head towards Keith, a sly smile growing on his face “Here is where my master weapon comes into play, I have been hoarding this for years and finally it is time to unleash my fury.” Lance reaches over Pidge and Hunk to grab his backpack; he unzips it to reveal an old, battered sketchpad. Keith immediately goes red at the sight of it.

Lance stands triumphantly on the couch cushions, the sketchpad held in a tight grasp high above his head as Keith tries to reach him. “Curse your long spaghetti arms!”

“Beholds fellow acquaintances,” Lance bellows at the top of his lungs “little Keith Kogane’s emo Sonic the Hedgehog OC and shipper fanart!”

Both Hunk and Pidge gasp dramatically at the reveal and quickly gather around Lance in order to get even the briefest glimpse of the drawings contained inside the cardboard cover.

“Here is where we negotiate Keith, if you come out with us tonight I will give you back your fantastic little book and we can all forget it ever happened. However if you still refuse to come out with us I will have no choice but to send the images inside to every cute boy you’re texting right now!”

Once again Hunk and Pidge gasp dramatically as Lance lets out a frankly terrifying high pitched evil laugh, “Now Keith, what is your choice?”

Keith scowls “Fine,” he mumbles “But I am not happy about this.” He holds out his hand for the sketchpad which Lance quickly smacks away. Keith looks up at him in shock.

“Nu-Uh Keith, I’ll give it to you tomorrow after we’ve had the wildest night out ever!” Lance throws his hands in the air to add some flair to the conversation as Keith’s scowl deepens and he crosses his arms in a huff.

Pidge looks up at Lance in awe “That was such a good hustle you don’t need to persuade me to come, but if Hunk gets a reward I want one too!”

“Ok fine I’ll pay for pancakes for everyone tomorrow morning.” Pidge cheers as she and Hunk high five. “Ok so are we going now?”

“What?” Lance brings a hand to his chest, appalled by the female alpha’s question “Of course not, we need to glam ourselves up!”

Pidge visibly deflates “Lance, no please.” Alas it is too late as Lance slings his arm around her shoulders and steers her unwillingly to his room. Chattering away to himself about cute outfits and makeup that would look great on her as the young alpha tries to escape his hold.

Hunk laughs a little at the exchange while Keith cracks a smile. Hunk turns to Keith, “Want me to give you a makeover too?”

Keith is silent for a few moments, debating it in his head. “Sure” he answers with a soft smile. The beta and alpha pair head off to the other bedroom to get ready for the long night ahead.

Chapter Text

Lance looks good, and he knows it. He’s always taken special care in his appearance, there is just something satisfying about having smooth skin, luscious silky hair and a tanned and toned body. He likes to walk into a room and immediately have all eyes on him and with his outfit tonight the attention is guaranteed. White converse runners, tight black leather pants which accentuate the curve of his hips as well as his plump ass and powerful thighs. On his top half is a navy sleeveless turtleneck which shows off his toned arms and tanned skin. He’d also plucked Keith’s fingerless gloves as they were walking out the door despite the older alpha’s protests.

They’d arrived at the Kerberos a few minutes past ten o’clock, the nightclub already packed much to Lance’s delight and the other’s chagrin. However once he got a few drinks into them Lance soon found himself accompanied by his friends on the dance floor, laughing, giggling and jumping excitedly to the beat of the music. It’s when Lance feels the buzz of alcohol begin to fade that he quickly makes his way to the bar to get himself a top up.

He’s pushing his way through the dense mass of people when he trips on an unseen foot and goes toppling forward, as his face rushes to meet the ground strong sturdy hands suddenly grasp his hips. The stranger’s sturdy hands pull him up while turning Lance around to face them. As Lance laid eyes on his saviour he immediately felt like the luckiest person in the world. The one who had caught him, the woman who had caught him, was gorgeous. Dressed in a casual but functional pink shirt, blue jeans and brown wedges, she had flowing white hair down to her hips which contrasted beautifully against her dark skin. Her eyes were big, light blue pools with hints of purple and pink. She was definitely slightly taller than him, with or without heels and she seemed to radiate strength and power. After only a glance he was in awe.

She looked down on him with a worried expression, “Are you alright?”

Ok Lance has no idea what to do now, he’s panicking, she wants him to answer, he needs to say something! He sputters out random fragments of words until a proper sentence finally comes out… and it’s stupid.

“Hey do you like cats?”

The woman certainly looks a little stunned at the sudden change of topic. “Ummm…yes.”

“Because I think you’re purr-fect.” Mind finally catching back up to him Lance’s entire body flushes a deep red from embarrassment. He’s completely expecting the woman to walk away or at least ask what the hell is wrong with him; however what he doesn’t expect is for the most melodical sound to come out of her mouth. She’s laughing at him, the cutest little giggles coming out of a literal modern Amazon. This lady has muscles even Wonder Woman and Superman would be jealous of.

“That is certainly the most interesting introduction I’ve ever had.” the woman smiles an incredibly cute smile at Lance, red flushing her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry I just saw a pretty face and I wasn’t prepared and-” Lance cuts himself off before he delves into panic levels of rambling. “Let me try and make it more normal,” He holds his hand out for her to shake. “I’m Lance.”

The woman smiles at him with amusement flashing in her eyes, she takes the omega’s hand and gives it a firm but gentle shake. Lance is awed by the softness of her skin. “It is nice to meet you Lance.” She releases his hand, “I am Allura, wait-ah! I mean-”

“Allura, huh? Weird name, I’ve never heard of it before.”

Allura stops talking almost immediately and looks at Lance in a sceptical way. “You haven’t?”

“No, I have to say that name is new to me and I know people called Hunk and Pidge.” Lance studies Allura closely. “It sounds foreign.”

Allura’s sceptical expression melts into a look of relief. Why? Lance has no idea.

“I believe it has a foreign origin, or so I have been told.” Allura leans forward and looks Lance up and down. “I am terribly sorry for tripping you, I’ve never been to somewhere like this before and I am very unsure of what to do.”

Lance’s mouth flops open like a fish “You’ve never been to a nightclub? Well buckle up sister I’ll be giving you the full experience.” Lance laughs as he grabs Allura by the hand, pulling her back into the crowd of people. “First things first, we gotta dance!”

Lance feels like death, he woke up to the sun shining onto his face through his fully opened curtains and just knew it was going to be a hell of a hangover day. He reaches out a hand to his left, finding that side of the bed bare and cold, as though no one had been in it for hours. Lance sat up quickly, there’s no way she left just like that, without even a goodbye. Tears began to well up in the omega’s eyes. No one ever stays; he really thought she was different.

He lay his head back down onto the pillow, curling himself up into a ball, recalling the memories of the night before. They’d danced for hours, occasionally throwing back shots or odd cocktails they’d ordered for each other as jokes, at some point the two left the club and ran drunkenly around the Garrison campus, clutching each other’s hand tightly, they shared stories of their childhood, shared their fears, insecurities and dreams with one another. They found themselves kissing under the statue of the founder of the Garrison as dawn broke. The rest of the memories were a haze of ripping clothes off of bodies, warm, hungry kisses and the reveal that Allura was definitely an Alpha, and a well-endowed one at that. Lance had fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around the Alpha. Even though they had only spent a short time together Lance had thought that Allura must have cared, must have felt something for him due to how strongly he feels about her. Or maybe he was just a stupid boy from Cuba. Lance wraps the duvet around him as he lets tears fall from his eyes, or maybe he was just stupid for falling in love after one glance.

In the days that followed Lance’s dull mood did not let up. When Pidge came to get him for pancakes he just pushed some money under the door and feigned sickness. He spent the entire week of Spring Break huddled under his duvet watching re-runs of Judge Judy while eating entire packets of marshmallows and other sugary snacks. It was only when his courses resumed that Lance ventured out of his room for longer than half an hour, he wasn’t going to let some girl ruin his chances of a good career…even if he didn’t particularly like his business degree. The omega was so stuck inside his head that he missed all the worried glances his friends shot at him. They tried to cheer him up, Pidge offering to be a makeover test dummy, Hunk baking his favourite Cuban desserts and Keith even offered to go out with him to the Kerberos. He was touched but turned them down at every occasion, he just wasn’t in the mood.

The vomiting started three weeks later, Lance brushed it off as his current bad diet of pot noodles and sugary snacks it’d go away eventually. Every morning he would wake to intense nausea, rushing out of his cocoon of warmth to hunch over the toilet bowl for at least half an hour. Due to Hunk’s early classes it was impossible to avoid the beta finding out, finding Lance being ushered to a nearby doctor’s clinic off campus.

“Hunk I swear I’m fine, it’s just an upset stomach. It’ll go away.” Lance yelps as he’s forced onto a chair in the clinic’s waiting room. Glancing around the drab room for any way to escape other than the exit that Hunk is blocking with a grim expression.

“See if this was a once off I’d agree, but you’ve been vomiting for the better part of a week.” Hunk sighs as he takes in the dishevelled appearance of his closest friend. “Not to mention you haven’t been yourself for weeks… I’m just worried about you. Can’t you just see this Doctor just so I can know you’re alright? Can’t you give me that?”

The omega wraps his arms around himself, guilt gnawing at his insides. “I’m sorry.” He whispers, “I’ll go see the stupid doctor.”

Hunks lets out a relieved huff, lips curling into a small gentle smile as he sits down alongside Lance and wraps a comforting arm around him. The two sit in comfortable silence until Lance’s name is called. As the omega stands up he holds a hand out to Hunk.

“Come with me?” he asks softly.

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

“Congratulations Mr McClain you are six weeks pregnant.”

Lance’s mouth falls open in shock while his heart stutters to a stop. He’s too shocked to say anything, however Hunk is not.

The beta lets out a panicked shout “Oh my gosh you’re pregnant! What are we going to do? I’ll have to carry everything for you and cook you nutritious meals and get you vitamins and you can’t have any seafood no way I mean oh my god-”

“Hunk!” Lance’s sharp shout pulls the other out of his panicked ramblings. He looks his friend dead in the eye. “Please stop you are not helping.”

Hunk bites his lip as Lance turns his attention to the doctor. “Are you sure? I mean what if this is a false positive?”

The doctor to his credit doesn’t treat Lance like he is a moron for asking idiotic questions.

“We did a blood test Mr McClain and that very rarely gives false positives, unless you are taking any medication containing hCG?” He raises his eyebrow at Lance who visibly deflates “I didn’t think so. However if we really want to be sure can I ask when the last time you had your heat was?”

Gosh his head had been such a mess recently he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone into heat. The more he thought it over the more the crippling sense of dread encompassed him.

“I should’ve had it almost three weeks ago.” He whispers.

The doctor hums in acknowledgement “And if I may be so invasive…did you have sex with anyone roughly six weeks ago?”

“I did, but I was on birth control and I’m sure we used protection! The memory is fuzzy but I’m smarter than that.” Lance’s voice rises in pitch as he begins to get more panicked. “It’s supposed to be almost impossible to get pregnant with circumstances such as that. Why am I the lucky one? I don’t even know where the father is, I haven’t even finished college.”

His mind is buzzing, filling up with endless words and thoughts, his family disappointed, his friends ashamed, his child fatherless and hating him. He couldn’t do this, there was no way. His breathing hitched uncontrollably, he was feeling light headed, he could hear Hunk yelling but his mind couldn’t register the words reaching his ears. He fell back into strong arms, reminiscent of his meeting with Allura then everything went black.

He wakes to find himself lain down upon the examining tables, legs held up by the doctor. The doctor’s eyes lock with his almost immediately after waking.

“Welcome back Mr McClain, you gave us a little fright there, especially your poor friend. I’ve sent him to fetch you some water, he’ll be back soon.” the doctor lowers Lance’s legs back onto the table while pulling up a chair so he can sit comfortably. “While he’s gone I wanted to discuss something with you in private. I wanted to go through your options.”

Lance was confused “My options?”

“Whether or not you want to continue the pregnancy? There are other alternatives, abortion, adoption or of course you can carry it to term.” The doctor put his hand over Lance’s “No one will think of you any less for wanting to terminate the pregnancy.”

“I don’t.”

“Sorry?”

“I don’t want to terminate the pregnancy. Sure I haven’t even graduated yet but I can do it, and I mean I’ve got a big family…they’ll be mad but they’ll help me. I know they will.” Lance smiled at the thought of his family, Veronica would be pissed but she’d also definitely insist on being godmother.

The doctor nodded “Ok, and do you know who the father is?”

The omega breathes out “Yes I do, well kind of.” The doctor raises a brow, signalling him to elaborate. “I met her on a night out, all I know is that she’s from out of town, she’s an Alpha and her name is Allura.”

“Alpha” the doctor hums in consideration “Well obviously that means more chance of you having an alpha child but other than that you may want to come into contact with the father for support and to find out if she has any conditions that may come to affect your pregnancy or child. Not to mention it would be the right thing to do, she deserves to know she has a child even if your time together was brief.”

Lance sighed “You’re right of course, I’m not going to purposefully keep the kid from her but I have no idea how to contact her. All I know is her name.”

The doctor patted his hand in a comforting manner, “Just do all you can to find her, that’s all she can ask for.”

Hunk chose this exact moment to burst back into the office, almost bursting into tears of relief at the sight of his best friend conscious. “Oh thank god Lance!” he sprung onto the omega and wrapped his arms tightly around him in a hug that probably crushed his rib cage. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, baby or not, I will kill you.”

“Hunk?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to be a mom.”

Tears well up in both of their eyes as they clutch each other tightly.

In the days that passed Lance wondered when he should tell his friends and family of his new situation. Obviously they’d all find out eventually because it would be impossible to hide a huge pregnant belly, well unless he moved to the Artic or something. That could be a backup plan if things went south. However it turned out that Lance didn’t need to have a big baby bump for Keith and Pidge to begin suspecting something was up, it wasn’t even Lance’s fault they were suspicious, it was all Hunk’s fault. The revelation of the bun in Lance’s oven seemed to have kicked the beta’s instincts into overdrive. He wouldn’t let him walk down the stairs by himself, he wouldn’t let him carry anything, he wouldn’t let him eat any junk food…he’d keep giving the omega disgusting nutritional food and hiding his sugary snacks, and if Keith or Pidge got a little rough Hunk would seemingly appear out of nowhere and haul the two alphas up by the scruffs of their necks, flinging them far away from the expecting omega. It would be pretty hilarious if it was happening to anyone else other than Lance, it really wasn’t necessary for Hunk to become a bodyguard but every attempt to get the beta to stop or at least calm his protective efforts failed.

One Sunday evening Lance and Hunk were calmly watching cute cat videos on YouTube when they heard the familiar rustling of a key twisting in the lock. Not a moment later the two alphas, Pidge and Keith, were walking in, each holding a brown paper bag.

“Hey guys! We were bored so we decided to crash whatever you’re doing, and in case you protest we brought cookies and Starbucks.”

Lance’s mouth watered at the thought of both coffee and junk food, he hasn’t had either in days due to Hunk insisting they were bad for the baby. He eagerly reached out for the snacks; they were almost in his grasp, when all of a sudden Hunk is flying in like an angel of death, smashing the bag out of Pidge’s hands. The bag crashes onto the ground, coffee spilling everywhere…destroying the cookies and the carpet. Lance is so disappointed he could cry.

Both alphas stare in shock, eyes wide open. “Ok Hunk, what the hell was that?”

Seemingly realising his course of action Hunk blushes in embarrassment. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry I wasn’t even thinking.”

Pidge’s eyes narrow, “What the heck is going on? You’re trying to keep us in the dark but clearly something is wrong. It’s no coincidence that when Lance’s depressive mood seems to have calmed you seem to go mental about him.”

“Do you not trust us or something?” Keith crosses his arms angrily, almost snarling “I thought we were friends, I thought-”

“I’m pregnant.”

Keith halts in his tracks, words lost. Though it doesn’t seem possible his eyes have gotten wider. His eyes flick to Lance, to his stomach, then back to his face. He probably would’ve said something if Pidge hadn’t launched herself at Lance with a high pitched shriek.

“Oh my god!” She shouts, drawing out the o for a couple seconds. “This is way better than anything I originally thought.”

“What the heck did you originally think?”

“Unimportant! How far along are you?” The alpha emphasizes her question by placing her hands gently on the omega’s stomach, as if feeling for the baby. “Have you started to show? Can the baby hear me? Helloooooooo Lancey Lance junior.”

Lance chuckles at the younger girls antics “Well I’m around seven weeks pregnant, I’m not showing and I most likely won’t show for another four or five weeks. I have no clue if the baby can hear you Pidge but that is a great name suggestion.”

Pidge smiles brightly, beginning to blabber out so many questions regarding pregnancy that Lance himself hadn’t even thought of. While his brain is melting from the tough questions he’s expected to answer simply because he’s pregnant his eyes are drawn to Keith, who is standing stock still in the middle of the room. The omega and alpha lock eye, Lance has no idea what Keith is thinking but his worries vanish when Keith’s lips curl into a small smile. Lance waves him over and envelops him into a hug as soon as he’s close enough. Pidge and Hunk don’t miss out on any of the action, joining the hug merely seconds later. Lance finds himself stuck in a dog-pile consisting of the most important people in his life, not regretting a single moment of it. Of course Keith is the one who ruins it in the end because he’s Keith, an awkward idiot with no idea about being sensitive.

“So, who’s the father?”

Chapter Text

“What do you mean you only know her first name?”

“It was a one night stand, you don’t ask for a whole life story on a one night stand! Ok well this one was a little different because she told me a lot of things about herself but in the end information about her pet dog isn’t going to help me find her when I don’t have any means of contacting her and I don’t know her last name.” Lance explains to a shocked Keith.

“Unbelievable…” Keith huffs out. “Though honestly the more I think about it, the more I’m not surprised.”

Lance springs up off the couch angrily, standing eye to eye with the alpha, glaring ferociously “And what do you mean by that?”

Keith doesn’t back down from the challenge “I mean that you flirt with anything you see, and sleep with them just as fast, with no regard for the consequences. Well this time you’ve gone too far and now there’s going to be another child living without one of its parents.”

The fury Lance is feeling dissipates almost as quickly as it came as he regards the alpha before him. “Keith, this situation is different. I’m going to do my best to come into contact with the father, and even if I can’t find her I will do everything I can to make sure that this child will never feel alone or unloved.”

Keith’s glare remains harsh. “You can’t promise that. No one can.”

“I know you lost your parents Keith, and I know they probably promised the same thing…” the omega steps closer to his alpha friend, hand falling on his shoulder “but here’s the difference, I’m not alone. If something happens to me I know this baby will have you, Pidge, Hunk and my outrageously large family to keep it safe. I’m sorry for what happened to you, but please don’t take it out on us.” The room is silent for a moment, Hunk and Pidge looking on frozen, as Keith glare fizzles and his gaze falls to the floor, Lance is quick to pull the older boy into an embrace as his omega instincts kick in.

The rest of the night passes on calmly as the group sits huddled together on the couch watching mind numbing movies.

The next morning finds Lance hunched over a laptop typing ‘Allura’ into Google’s search bar. As he hits the search bar an error sign pops up onto the browser, great…no wifi.

“Hunk? What happened to the wifi?”

The betas head pops around the corner from the kitchen, “It should be working, just turn the router off and back on again.”

Gosh, no one would believe Hunk was an engineering student with answers like that. Lance sighs as he stands up to find the router in the living room, Hunk following behind him like a lost puppy or rather an overprotective guard dog. Lance reached behind the television to grab the router as Hunk’s attention is drawn to the news currently showing on the television.

“Oh wow!” the beta says in amazement.

“Wow what?” Lance asks, pushing the off button twice, watching as the device reboots itself.

“I didn’t know the princess of Altea was here.”

Lance glances behind him curiously, “Princess? How close?”

“In our actual city!” Hunk gasps amazed, “Imagine, one of us could’ve walked past a princess and not even known it! Oh wow she’s so pretty, and her name is so unique. Princess…Allura…” Suddenly Hunk’s eyes are blown wide as he stares down at Lance, who’s brain is running a mile a minute as he scrambles up off the ground to stare at the image shown on the news show.

“Oh my gosh… it’s her. She’s the one I had a one night stand with!” The omega looks down at his stomach “I have a goddamn royal baby in me.” He screams, panic growing inside just like this goddamn royal baby is! “Hunk what am I going to do? Like is it illegal to keep the kid from them even if it’s by accident? Would they make me abort it? Would they keep the baby from me? Would they pay me off to keep quiet in case my bastard child wants to take the throne? I can’t be involved in a conspiracy Hunk I don’t think I can handle that much stress.”

Hunk gapes at him “Are you sure? Are you sure it’s her?”

Lance points at the screen “You think I’d forget a face like that?”

The beta hums in response “Ok yeah fair enough.”

Lance rushes back over to his laptop; hits refresh and scans through the results for ‘Allura’. The only results for the this name is of course Princess Allura of Altea, now seeing close up pictures of her Lance can definitely confirm that this woman is his baby daddy. Same crystal blue eyes, luscious white hair that he wonders if his baby will have and a skin tone darker than Lance’s. Hunk looks over his shoulder at the results on the laptop screen.

“If they are a royal family then there must be some way to contact them.” He hums in consideration.

“Do I want to contact them? They could probably destroy me in two seconds…” Lance wraps his arms around himself. “Besides they probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. Probably think I’m desperate for money or fame or something.”

“Lance wouldn’t it be worse if they did find out and you didn’t tell them?”

“How-how would they find out?” “I don’t know they could have like a secret service type thing with special agents that could know you slept with the princess and are monitoring you.” At his friend’s horrified look Hunk quickly continues “Not to mention the Altean royal family apparently has these super genetics so whenever a child is born to one of them, no matter what the other parent’s hair colour is. Not to mention no other humans besides them have ever been born with naturally white hair. If someone saw you with a child with white hair rumours could come out, the family could look into it and who knows what could happen to you and that kid.”

Lance lets out a shuddery breath, lowering himself down into the chair, hand automatically resting on his stomach. “So what should I do?”

A hand rests upon his shoulder; Hunk lowers himself down to be in the omega’s field of view. “This is all your choice Lance, but I just think that if you let them know now there’s a chance you can be more in control of the situation.”

“You’re right. You’re always right.”

Hunk takes the laptop off his friend and does some searches of his own. The pair sit in silence with only the sound of laptop keys and a clicking mouse breaking the quiet. “Here.” He finally says, showing Lance what he’s been doing for the last five minutes. The tab open on the laptop shows a very fancy looking website with a heading reading ‘The Altean Royal Family’ “They have a way you can contact them, it gives you multiple royal family members and the royal house itself. Seems to be a very letter focused way of contact which is a little bit backwards and a lot more slow, not to mention they mightn’t get to it for a while, but we can write a letter.”

Their textbooks, notebooks and pens lay strewn about the table from studying. Lance grabs a pen, rips a sheet of paper out of a notebook and starts to compose his letter.

‘Dear Princess Allura,

You got me pregnant. Thanks.

If you want to contact me my name, address and phone number are written on the back of this sheet.

Kind regards, Lance.’

“I hope they can detect the sarcasm in the text.”

“I’d say anyone could.”

Lance hands the sheets to Hunk “Could you please mail this for me? I want to go to bed.” The beta nods, stuffing the letter inside an envelope addressed to the princess before grabbing his coat and heading out the door. When the door clicks closed Lance slumps over, mentally exhausted. He rests his hand onto his stomach, speaking to the baby growing inside. “Gosh you are a lot more trouble than I was expecting.”

Chapter Text

Lance is almost nine weeks pregnant when there is a frantic knock on his door one Friday morning. He was making himself toast for breakfast, relishing the absence of the overprotective presence in his life as Hunk’s classes were about an hour before Lance’s. He glances curiously at the door, they hardly ever get visitors and he needs to be on his way to his lecture in ten minutes. The knocking continues to grow in speed and noise.

“Ugh, I’m coming!” Lance calls as he crosses the apartment to open the front door. As he swings the door open the first thing he registers is orange. Very bright orange. Outside his door stands a tall, skinny man with a glorious orange moustache with luscious orange hair to match. Stunned into silence Lance just stares as the man introduces himself.

“Good morning! Would you happen to be Lance?” Lance nods dumbfounded.

“Fantastic! My name is Coran, I’m the Royal Adviser to the Altean Royal Family. I’m sure you know why I’m here.”

“The letter.”

Coran purses his lips “Yes, your eloquently put letter certainly got our attention.” Lance blushes at that “May I please come in?”

Lance quickly moves to the side to allow the strange man to enter. As he walks through the apartment Lance notices how he subtly judges the home around him, probably picturing a future monarch lying in a cheap flat with mould gathering in the corners of the ceilings, dull dirty carpets and cramped for space. All previous heirs are probably covered in gold the second they are born. Coran plops himself down onto the couch, twirling his moustache between his thumb and index finger. He pats the space next to him so Lance joins him on the couch.

“Now I am here to talk about your claim that you are pregnant with Princess Allura’s child.” He looks pointedly at Lance while speaking. “When asked if she ‘made relations’ with an Omega named Lance she recall a night quite easily. How many weeks pregnant are you?”

Lance fiddles with his hands in his lap, “I’m nine weeks pregnant.”

The Royal Advisor responds with a low, thoughtful hum. “That does correspond with the date given to us by Her Royal Highness, however I need to carry out my own examination to confirm both your pregnancy and it’s relation to Princess Allura.” Lance’s mouth falls open in shock and anger, sensing the impending frustration heading his way the Advisor quickly continues. “You have to understand that this is a very big deal, which will affect millions of lives. We need to be positive. Now…you must come with me to a trusted OB-GYN.”

He stands up abruptly, hand held out to the omega in order to swiftly pull him up and out the door. Lance stops this by firmly planting his feet in the ground, coming to a halt in the middle of the hallway. “You can’t just drag me wherever the hell you want with no warning or regard for me! I have class in 5 minutes, how am I supposed to provide for my kid if I don’t attend my damn education?” Coran tilts his head, confused “Provide? My dear, if this child is really who you claim it to be you will not need to provide for them. Now, come on, we must be punctual.” Ignoring the sputtering boy, Coran pulls Lance into the back of a very expensive looking black car.

“What happens when you prove my child is Allura’s?” Lance questions, “Do you take it away from me? Is it called a bastard and is disregarded?” Lance is about to ask more when the orange haired man holds up his hand, halting the questions as quickly as they began. “That is to be discussed if the test comes back positive Lance. Let us focus on something else…tell me about your home.”

The drive passes quickly as Lance finds himself regaling stories of his home in Cuba, Varadero Beach filled with a deep blue ocean, fluffy white clouds, a pizza shack looking over the water, garlic knots and his giant family. The car ride passes very quickly this way, any panic averted with thoughts of home and family. Coran clearly intended for this, Lance was grateful but hoped he was being manipulated into doing whatever the other wanted just because he’s happy. He follows the advisor into what looks to be a typical clinic, though a lot fancier than ones that Lance usually enters. The doors are large, regal looking and black. Pulling open to reveal marble floors, so clean you could see your reflection in them, several vases of exotic and bright flowers scattered across the room and pristine looking black couches that look as if no one has ever sat upon them. Lance was only in a waiting room for an OB-GYN and yet he felt severely under dressed in his comfy blue sweatshirt, ripped grey jeans and worn converse.

Almost immediately upon entering the building people suddenly came streaming out of nowhere, offering to take jackets, make tea or anything they wanted. They all quickly dispersed with a wave of Coran’s hand. Still reeling from the sudden appearance and disappear of what must have been servants Lance missed all other details until he stepped inside of the of the consultation room and came face to face with a smiling, blonde woman who must’ve been the OB-GYN.

“Hello, Mr McClain is it? It is very nice to meet you. I’m Doctor Jaime Lefort.” She held out a hand to shake, as the two shook hands Lance couldn’t help but smile slightly at the other’s bubbly, cheery behaviour. “Hi.” He replied shyly.

She guided Lance to lie on the examination table, Coran sitting in a chair next to it, going through what was going to happen during his time in the clinic. “We’re going to do an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy by seeing the foetus and after that we are to be drawing blood for a non-invasive procedure to confirm if the Princess really is the father. Of course this paternity test isn’t always completely accurate but it is much better than the other way of testing for paternity during foetal development which carries a small risk of miscarriage.”

Lance’s eyes bulged at this information but Doctor Lefort is quick to notice “With this procedure there is no harm to the child, and we would have in no way done anything to harm your child.” The worry gnawing, tight in his chest, lessens slightly…but there are still so many things that could go wrong. The results could come back negative and then they’ll never believe his child is the Princess’, they could do the ultrasound and the baby mightn’t have a heartbeat or worse…his child could be born into a family that wants nothing to do with them. The omega is brought back to reality when Doctor Lefort places her hand over his in a comforting manner. “We’re going to start the ultrasound now Lance. I’ll need you to pull up your top, and be prepared because the gel is very cold.” Even when he’s not looking at her he can still tell she’s smiling, can hear in her voice. It makes him feel infinitely better.

He acknowledges the doctor’s words, pulling his sweatshirt up to his chest. Doctor Lefort pulls over the machine and applies the gel onto the ultrasound transducer, when it first touches his stomach he jumps from shock. It really is freezing.

Doctor Lefort examines the sonogram on the monitor, able to identify things in what Lance can only describe as a black fuzzy blob.

“Ah Mr. McClain, can you hear that?” The blonde turns up the volume on the ultrasound machine, Lance stills in wonder as the sound of his baby’s steady heartbeat reverberates around the room. He exhales in awe, tears brimming in his eyes. Someone’s hand is firmly grasping his shoulder; he turns his head slightly to see Coran smiling at him in a way that could only be described as fatherly. While Lance would’ve preferred to experience this with his friends and family, Coran is a good substitute though. His eyes sparkle as though he’s excited for this child. Would Allura have enjoyed it too?

It’s as if the world could read his mind, suddenly the door to the consultation room flings open, making all occupants jump in shock. Allura stands there, panting heavily, sweat collecting on her forehead. She locks eyes with Lance, still lying on the table, eyes moving to his stomach where the ultrasound transducer was resting. As she takes a step towards the omega Coran seemingly gathers his bearings, jumping up to stop the princess.

“Your Highness! You can’t be here!” The Advisor shouts, “You know we need to confirm the parentage before you can meet the mother. What if it’s not yours? It’s a safety precaution to protect you, the crown, the child and the mother.”

Allura’s lips twist into an angry frown, “I am no child Coran, while I appreciate the help I will not miss a moment of this. I should have come the moment I heard, Lance would not lie about something as serious as this. His child is mine.” She shoves past Coran to reach her hands out to a shocked Lance, cupping his face tenderly and sitting down next to him on the bed, her face softened and she gave Lance a sweet smiling that had his cheeks flushing and heart skipping a beat. “I should have been here for you, to apologize and help. Not have my family doubt your claim.”

Lance was so stunned, he had no idea what to say, however he didn’t need to speak for the time being as Coran spoke up again before he could even open his mouth, the usually cheery man seems uncomfortable as he starts “I don’t wish to ask this of you Princess, but how can you possibly believe that this omega is telling the truth when you have only met him once? I do not wish to offend you Mr. McClain, you seem like a lovely young man but this issue is much bigger than hurt feelings.”

Following her Advisor’s words Allura’s expression turns sour once again, the alpha woman is about to begin a verbal assault on Coran when Lance cuts in. “There is no need to defend my honour Allura, I want your family and people to trust me and to trust that your own child is truly your own. Coran is just trying to look out for you, and if I can do anything to cease his and your family’s worries I will. Besides, it’s just a simple test.” Allura turns back to look at him, she looks as if Lance has offered her the whole universe. It makes him a little bit uneasy due to conflicting images he has of her, spending a wonderful night together but leaving her him stranded, cold, alone in the morning without so much as a word.

“I guess I should continue with the paternity test now?” Doctor Lefort asked, Lance had forgotten she was here, upon given approval from all the occupants in the room the doctor packs up the ultrasound supplies and from a nearby drawer pulls out a syringe and two vials. “I just need to draw blood from both you and the father.” She says looking at Lance. “Though I presume Coran brought a sample of the Princess’ blood she’s here now so the sample will be more fresh and accurate.”

The pair holds out their arms, blood carefully withdrawn from each of them into vials. “The results will take a few hours to come in; I’ll send them onto Coran when they arrive. In the meantime Lance you’ll need to arrange appointments with an OB-GYN for things such as regular check-ups, ultrasounds and prescriptions and other stuff like that. Of course you’ll all have to discuss and decided upon that together.” Doctor Lefort stands up to shake hands with everyone in the room “In the meantime, you’re free to go. It was nice meeting you all, glad I could be of service to the Royal Family.” She curtsies to Allura then waves to Lance as the group exits the consultation room.

Lance is unsure what to do now, he’s done everything Coran has asked of him, he had assumed Coran would just take him home after the appointment but now Allura was added to the equation. Who knows what she plans to do. He’s lingering in the hallway, doesn’t know where to go, Coran and Allura are furiously whispering to one another a few feet away. The omega pulls out his phone, wincing at the site of multiple missed calls along with texts from Pidge, Keith and Hunk. He was gone a lot longer than he thought, definitely missing the lecture he shared with Hunk and the planned lunch date with the entire group. Lance unlocked the device, selecting contacts. He chooses to call Keith, deciding that it’s the best route to avoid getting scolded and to not have someone show up like a protective mamma bear. Keith answers on the first dial.

“Lance!” Keith bellows into his ear “Where the hell are you?”

“Calm down Keith, I’m just at a doctor’s for an appointment about the baby.”

Keith’s yelling barely tones down “Why didn’t you tell us? I thought we had planned for one of us to accompany you?”

Lance sighs in annoyance, guess he wasn’t avoiding a lecture after all. “It wasn’t planned…” he stopped, he had no idea how to explain this. He hadn’t told Keith or Pidge the true parentage of his kid. Would Keith believe him if he said a Royal Advisor whisked him off to some fancy private clinic just to prove that his child was sired by the heir to the throne of Altea? Saying it in his head it sounded stupid, like some crappy rom-com. “Ummm… the father’s…family showed up. They wanted me to prove I was pregnant and take a paternity test to see if it was really related to their daughter. Then the father burst in like a knight in shining armour during the appointment. It was all very dramatic.”

There is no answer for a while. Lance wonders if they were disconnected or if Keith was just a jerk who hung up.

“I’m coming to get you. Where are you?”

“What-Keith, no it’s fine. I’m fine.”

A growl comes through the phone’s receiver, sending shivers down Lance’s spine. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.” His voice sounds cool, yet a second away from bursting. Damn, Lance really thought he’d avoid the overprotectiveness from Keith.

A little bit scared of what Keith will do if he doesn’t tell him, Lance rattles off the name of the clinic. Hearing Keith’s reply of, “I’ll be there soon. Don’t go anywhere.” Call going dead soon after, Keith having hung up.

Lowering his phone down from his ear, Lance face contorts into an expression of displeasure. Ugh Keith. He startles suddenly when a hand rests upon his lower back. He looks up to see Allura looking down at him.

“Are you alright?” She asks, the height difference between the two making him dizzy.

“Oh yes. Totally fine, it’s just that a lot just happened right there.”

Allura nods, thoughtfully. “I understand. I woke this morning in Altea to find that Coran had gone to meet you without me, on orders from my parents, despite my protests. I booked the next flight here and ran from the airport to here. Thankfully my family and I had discussed what clinic to bring you to so I was able to find you.”

Looking the Princess over, Lance could clearly tell she had dressed in a hurry. Hair extremely messy, pulled into a bun that looks fit to burst. Her clothes are something Lance never pictured a princess to wear. Worn runners, baggy tracksuit bottoms and an odd t-shirt and cardigan combo. Seems like she went for a mixture of oh-my-gosh-I’m-in-a-hurry and I-need-to-be-comfy-for-this. It certainly made the princess more appealing, more human-like and flawed instead of the picture perfect memory he had of her before.

“Why did you leave me?” he whispers, so quiet he isn’t even sure that Allura has heard him.

She twists Lance around to face her, fingers on his chin to tilt his head up, eyes locking. “I thought you deserved better than to be involved in the complicated life of a royal, but I ruined that. You got pregnant, and I’m sorry because your life has been irreversibly changed.” She blushes when realising where she placed her hands, arms falling to her sides, sighing “You have to understand that as the mother to a child who will once sit on the throne of Altea, you cannot stay here.”

Lance nods, he expected this but it’s still difficult to face. Is he going to become one of those omega brood mares that you hear about in stories of abusive relationships? Become an omega that could only be seen, not heard. An omega that must always look appealing but never disobey. He didn’t know Altea’s position on omegas. He hoped they were more progressive than some of the other remaining kingdoms. Seeking comfort, Lance reaches for Allura’s hands and intertwining their fingers, both blush but neither pulls away.

It’s this moment that Keith comes slamming into the hallway like a raging bull. Stupid, impatient Keith.

Chapter Text

Keith already looks furious as he enters the clinic, and Lance wouldn’t have thought his scowl could grow any bigger…until Keith sees him with Allura that is. The Alpha male rushes over to them so fast and so aggressively that Allura’s bodyguards, who Lance didn’t even realise she had with her they were that sneaky, full body tackled him to the floor. He writhed viciously as the two muscled men pulled his arms back to secure handcuffs around them. Lance is broken from his trance as the men haul Keith to his feet, while Keith is still trying to surge towards his friend. Lance shakes himself from Allura’s grasp to run to Keith. The Alpha is shaking with rage but immensely when the omega is in arm’s reach.

“Oh my god, Keith! Are you alright?” Lance’s voice has risen to his characteristic panicked shriek as he takes in the sight before him. “You idiot! What the hell where you thinking?”

Keith has the gall to look affronted. “Me? What about you? You vanish without a trance or text, making us all worried out of our mind, and then end up going to some doctor with strangers!” His glaze turns to Allura, quickly contorting to a glare which she returns just as ferociously “Not to mention the asshole of a father that used you and left you suddenly just appears out of the blue…. And why the hell am I being rugby tackled?”

The princess seemingly takes this as her cue, walking forward to stop just behind Lance. “So… you know the attacker?”

Lance blushes from second hand embarrassment while Keith looks like he wants to tear her head off. “Yeah unfortunately, he’s one of my best friends. He was just worried because I was supposed to meet him and the others earlier, but obviously I had my surprise appointment sprung on me…so it’s more your fault than mine.”

Allura raises a perfectly sculpted brow as she regards the oddly matched friends, Lance blushes harder under the scrutiny. “I suppose part of the blame lays upon me; however I won’t release your friend until I know for sure he will cause no harm to anyone.”

While Lance opens to his mouth, eager to defend his friend, Keith beats him to the punch. “Who the hell are you to talk all high and mighty?”

“Shut up Mullet! I’m trying to make sure you won’t get arrested.”

If possible it seems that Allura’s dainty eyebrow has risen ever further, lips lifting slightly at the side in amusement. “Princess Allura of Altea, it's a pleasure to meet you.”

It takes a lot to stun Keith into silence, and this definitely qualified as a lot. The young man’s mouth drops open in shock, eyes flitting to Lance and Allura over and over again. He stutters out a mismatch of nonsensical words and sounds as he comes to terms with the revelation.

Lance turns back to Allura, shocked, “Can you just reveal stuff like that so easily?”

This time the usually composed Allura flushes in embarrassment, “No actually, but I wasn’t really thinking properly at the time. My head isn’t in the right place at the moment if you can forgive me.”

Lance nods in understanding which Allura responds to with a shy smile. She turns towards her guards, ordering them to release Keith. They do so swiftly, so within moments Keith is standing alongside Lance in the hallway as if the altercation never happened. Lance slings an arm around the shell-shocked Alpha, his whole aura screaming ‘I may be hugging you right now but if you ever do something reckless like that again I will skin you alive.' Keith shudders at the unspoken threat, extending his right arm to wrap it around Lance’s broad shoulders. Content with his grasp on his friend he begins to guide the omega to the exit despite the other’s protests. He finds he is soon stopped however by a firm grip on his bicep, the strong hold preventing him from going much further without a struggle.

“I can’t let you leave.” Allura growls, “He’s carrying my child.”

Keith doesn’t even look back at the princess, eyes fixated on the door. “I don’t care if you’re some pompous princess; he’s not your property. He’s coming home with me.”

Lance’s heart drops at the word property, it brings to light once again how potentially dangerous this situation could be towards an omega. The Cuban boy is now eager to go home, away from all these feelings of uneasiness…ever if it’s just for a few hours. Lance glances nervously between the two Alphas; being caught in the middle of a disagreement between Alphas is not a safe place for anyone to be. Desperate to prevent any sort of physical conflict, Lance whimpers “Please let me go home.”

Allura visibly deflates at the words, releasing Keith’s arm, and not letting out a single protest Keith immediately whisks Lance away. Her eyes stay locked on the door long after the omega carrying his child walked through them.