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Shiro groaned, turning his head so that he could bury it into his pillow. He flung a hand out to grasp at the blankets that had found their way down around his waist.
“Shiro? Love, I know you’re not sleeping in on the day we have to go pick out our future kids.”
Confusion raced through Shiro, chasing away the wonderful sleepy haze he had been holding onto. He knew that he and Lance had discussed adoption, but they had agreed to wait until they were retired from the Garrison and either working independently or retired before they started to look into adopting. He popped his head up out of the nest of pillows and stared in confusion at his fiancé.
“Shiro? Did- did you forget about today?” Instead of the horror and disgust Shiro was expecting, Lance seemed to be amused, and honestly that just confused Shiro even more. “We’re going to the animal shelter today? To pick out a rescue animal or two to take home with us?”
Understanding flooded through Shiro and he collapsed back into the pillows to the sound of Lance’s giggles. A few seconds later, Lance’s warm body was sliding on top of his, lips pressing softly against Shiro’s forearm.
“You did forget.”
“Yeah,” Shiro peeked out from under his arm. “I didn’t mean to though, love. I promise!”
Lance grinned, shaking his head. “You’ve been exhausted, love. I don’t blame you! But, you do have to get up and since you forgot I get first pick.”
He slapped Shiro on the thigh before rolling out of bed and racing out of the room with one last cry of “Get Up!”
Shiro just let out another groan and rolled back over. The sound of Lance banging things around in the kitchen drifted through the house and Shiro heaved himself out of bed. He made quick work of getting ready, Lance having already laid out his outfit for the day.
“Shiro, they’re gonna be our future kids! We want to make a good impression and I do not want our children to think that their fathers have horrible tastes in fashion. I refuse!”
He chuckled at the memory, grabbing a pair of white socks from the dresser before making his way downstairs. Lance was setting a plate of scrambled eggs and friend hotdogs down on the counter when Shiro walked in, and he grinned at both the wonderful sight and delicious smell.
“Thanks for cooking this morning,” Shiro placed a hand on Lance’s hip and leaned in for a kiss. A pleased him left Lance, and he reached up to cup the back of his neck.
“If that’s the thanks I get for cooking breakfast maybe I should start cooking more often,” Lance purred when they serperated, reaching a hand down to smack Shiro’s arse. Shiro let out a chuckle and moved to grab a fork.
“What time do we need to be there?”
“Hmmm, they said we could show up any time after eight but before twelve. So if we leave in about fifteen minutes we can get there by eight fifteen!”
Shiro hummed around a mouthful of eggs, reaching for one of the hot dogs. Lance grinned, grabbing his own fork after shutting the stove top off. He was bouncing excitedly in place, his eyes sparking with how happy he was.
“God, I love you.”
Lance’s head snapped up at Shiro’s breathy words. The fork was still clutched between his lips and his cheeks were bulging from the size of the bite he had taken. Shiro burst into giggles, dodging the forkful of eggs Lance tossed at him, cheeks burning.
“I love you too, and I would like to remind you that divorces exist,” Lance wagged a finger at Shiro with the empty threat.
“If we get divorced I’m keeping the kids and the car. You can have the house and half of the bank account.”
“How dare you! We would totally share custody!”
Both men were laughing as they finished their breakfast, Lance setting the empty plate and forks in the sink while Shiro got his shoes on. There was a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to see who would drive, and then they were on their way to Altea’s Rescues.
“Do you think we’ll end up with a dog or a cat?” Lance asked from the passenger seat as the building came into view. Shiro shrugged, flipping the turn signal on.
“I don’t know, Love. I can see ya with either or.”
“I want a cat,” Lance declared as Shiro parked the car. “Dogs are adorable, but I want someone with personality enough to handle being in my overwhelming presence.”
Shiro huffed out a chuckle as he climbed out of the car, reaching a hand out to intertwine their fingers. “We might be here awhile then. You’ve got enough attitude to fuel the Atlas.”
“Damn right I do,” Lance nodded, squeezing Shiro’s hand as the made it to the door. They exchanged a glance before Lance reached out and opened it.
A tiny bell rang as they walked in and then a voice was calling out from behind a counter, “I’ll be with you in one moment!”
Seconds later, a black woman stepped out from behind a door, her long curly white hair swaying as she walked over with a hand outstretched.
“Lonce! So good to see you again! And this must be Shiro! Oh, I’m so excited! Lotor is in the back room getting all of the animals ready for you. Did you want to look at dogs or cats? You said that you’d already ruled out birds and horses.”
Shiro blinked as the woman kept talking. She hadn’t introduced herself yet, but from his talks with Lance he assumed that this must be Allura, the owner. Her and Lance locked arms, and then Shiro was following behind them dazedly while the two talked.
It always amazed him how quickly Lance got on with people. The skill he had with making people comfortable had come in handy on quite a few of their missions. They arrived at a second door, and Allura dropped Lance’s arm in order to push it open with a flourish.
“And here is where you’ll be while you look through all of our wonderful beasts!”
The room was soft looking, with hardwood floors covered by a beautiful purple and blue rug. On one side of the room was a variety of scratching posts, all different heights. Lining one wall was shelf upon shelf of either cushions or toys. It looked like a pets dream house.
“Oh, I’m so excited!” Lance was bouncing in place again, his eyes darting back and forth around the room trying to absorb everything. Shiro squeezed his hand lightly, stepping towards the rug and pulling Lance behind him.
“You two have a seat anywhere and I’ll go let Lotor know that he can start bringing in some of the animals one by one.”
The door swung shut behind Allura and then Lance was letting out a small shout of joy as he hugged Shiro about the waist tightly. Shiro laughed, returning the hug and placing a kiss on chocolate curls before the sound of the door opening once again stole both of their attentions. A large black man with white hair pulled up into a bun on the top of his head was standing there with a smile.
“Hullo, there. My name is Lotor and I’m here to ask if you’re ready to meet your future pet?”
He had the same accent as Allura, and in his arms was a large black cat. Lance’s eyes were focused on the content creature, and Shiro could tell that he was already falling in love. Instead of answering, Shiro just nodded. Lotor set the cat down, and the creature immediately began to sashay it’s way over. A large poofy tail swung lazily about in the air, pink nose raised towards the sky. Yellow eyes judged them for a moment, and then the cat was climbing delicately into Shiro’s lap and settling down with a purr.
“Oh, he likes you! This is Black.” Lotor chuckled at Lance’s incredulous look. “He came to us pre-named. A couple and their three year old had found him as a kitten outside and cared for him until they found out the child was allergic. They brought him here. He’s got a bit of Maine Coon in him — you can tell by his tail — but we’re not sure if he’s pure breed or a mix.”
Shiro gently lifted his hand to drag his fingers through the soft fur, grinning widely when he received louder purring in response. He glanced up at Lance with pleading eyes.
“Please?”
“I was supposed to get first pick, buuuuuuttt, since he likes you so much and because I love you, I guess you got to pick first.” Lance stuck his tongue out at him before turning his gaze back down to the cat. He reached a hand out to pet, and Black closed his eyes and leaned into the head scratches.
“Have you guys decided on him?” Lotor sounded hopeful. When Shiro glanced up, the man had his hands clutched behind his back and he was biting his lip to contain his smile.
“We’ve definitely settled on our first pick. Could we meet some of the other ones while Black stays here? We want the cats to have pleasant interactions if we do end up getting two today.”
Lotor nodded and knocked on the door before opening it. Allura was standing in the doorway, a small grey kitten in her arms. She set it down and it immediately dashed for one of the toys dangling from the wall. It pounced up on its hind legs, swatting at the hanging feather and Lance snickered. Shiro felt his heart stutter at how adorable this entire situation was.
“This is Jailbait. A police officer brought her in after they had done a raid on a house. The owners were gone and this little girl was left shivering under the couch. Her name is open to be changed — Black’s is too for that matter.”
Shiro hummed, shifting his weight so that he was leaning back on one hand. Lance had gotten up and grabbed the toy from the wall, playing with the kitten as he giggled.
“What do you think, Lance?” Shiro called out. “Have we found our kids?”
Lance turned his head, his eyes sparkling and his mouth spread in a wide grin.
“I think we have! Come here, Blue, let’s go say hi to your brother.” Lance scooped the kitten up into his arms, the kitten settling down immediately to the stroking of Lance’s fingers.
“Blue?” Shiro questioned as his husband knelt down.
“I figured we could stick with the color scheme and her eyes remind me of the ocean. So, Blue.” Lance shrugged as he lowered Blue to the ground in front of Black. All four of them held their breaths as Blue stumbled up onto Shiro’s legs to sniff at Black. Black popped open an eye, and then he was leaning down to clamp the scruff on the back of Blue’s neck in his jaws and pull the kitten closer.
“Oh!” Lance reached out a hand to pull them apart, but froze when Black released his hold and then began to groom Blue. “Oh.”
Lance turned wide eyes back to Shiro, and then Shiro couldn’t help himself. He was happy, his husband was happy, their kids were adorable, and Lance was looking extremely kissable. He pulled Lance into a kiss, their lips moving softly together.
“Shall I go get the adoption papers so you can be on your way?” Lotor asked, smiling as he reached out a hand to pull Allura closer.
Lance and Shiro separated, and Shiro nodded.
“Please?”
He was ready to take his family home.