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Sendak had not expected Lotor’s visit, but that was not surprising -Lotor only sometimes gave warning that he was intending to visit -and Sendak was hardly going to turn him away. They got such little time together as it was, and with Lotor still exiled, every moment he spent inside the borders of the ever-expanding Galra empire was potentially dangerous for him.
He did not exactly rush down to the hangar, but he did cancel all his responsibilities for the rest of the day as soon as he got the message and went down there without dawdling.
He still expected Lotor to meet him halfway. Lotor had a tendency on these visits to barely wait until his ship had equalized and was safe to depart before jumping out of the cockpit in his eagerness to jump into Sendak’s arms.
Today, when Sendak stepped into the hangar, Lotor’s ship still had its ramp up, safely stowed away in the fuselage, which meant… Lotor hadn’t disembarked yet.
Sendak sent him a message from his comms. This was unusual, and along with the unexpectedness of the visit, it made him worry. What if Lotor was injured? Autopilot could have easily allowed the ship to land in one piece, without Lotor’s input. He could be unconscious, or bleeding out, or-
The ramp descended, and Sendak almost ran up it, into Lotor’s ship. He knew the layout as intimately as he knew the layout of his own fleet, as intimately as he knew Lotor’s body.
Lotor was in the cockpit, standing, apparently uninjured. His back was to Sendak, and from his posture, he had something in his arms.
“Lotor,” Sendak breathed, relieved that Lotor was alright.
Lotor turned his head. He’d clearly been in some kind of situation -ash and dust streaked his face and hair -but he smiled softly. “Sendak,” he said. “Sendak, I have something to show you. Please don’t be upset.”
“Lotor,” Sendak said. “You can show me anything.”
That strange, soft smile was back.
Lotor turned, and there was a bundle in his arms.
Sendak hesitantly stepped closer, to get a better look, but then the bundle moved, and sighed, and-
Oh .
“Is that a baby?” Sendak asked. It was a stupid question. The baby, though gray with dust and dirt, was clearly at least partially Galra, perhaps a month or two old. Much too young to be away from its parents. “Where did you find a baby?”
“There was an earthquake on one of the planets in a neighboring sector,” Lotor said. “I went to help.”
Of course he did.
“I found this little one in the rubble,” Lotor continued. “He has no family left, and it’s unlikely anyone on that planet would adopt him. He’s half-Galra, and…”
“I know,” Sendak said.
“So I…I want to find a good home for him, if I can.”
It would likely be very difficult: Galra as a whole loved babies, but babies grew up eventually, and hybrids were not generally received well by either half of their heritage.
It was also likely only a partial-truth. Sendak knew Lotor far too well.
Sendak sighed internally. It was not quite how he’d imagined starting a family with Lotor, but when opportunity knocked…
“Come on,” Sendak said. “Let’s get you two cleaned up, and then we’ll talk.”
Lotor had, apparently, intended to bathe the baby first, and then himself, but he looked exhausted, so Sendak sent him off to the shower, and Sendak took up his station at the bathroom sink.
The baby was utterly filthy. Sendak had heard of the earthquake: it had happened on a planet that was not far from here, and it seemed that Lotor had come directly from there, without taking the time to clean the baby up.
Well, that was fine; it wasn’t like Lotor’s ship was all that well-equipped with amenities. Sendak wasn’t entirely sure it had a water-heater, and allowing the baby to catch a chill wouldn’t have been a good idea.
The baby happily sat in the sink as Sendak gently poured warm water over him, careful to keep it away from his eyes and ears, and even cooed as Sendak gently scrubbed away grime with a damp washcloth.
He’d just finished and was bundling him up in a nice, hot towel -courtesy of the towel warmer he’d had installed in his quarters just for Lotor -when Lotor stepped out of the shower.
Lotor wrapped himself up in a towel, then held his arms out for the baby. “Let me take him through the sonic dryer,” he said. “I don’t want him catching a chill.”
Sendak handed the baby over, and watched as Lotor stepped into the little partitioned cubicle of the dryer. Lotor rarely used it, if ever; Sendak only had it because his fur was so thick it took hours to air dry.
The baby seemed to have the same fur type, but he was young enough that it might just be a downy baby coat. They’d have to wait and see what his fur was like in a few months.
Lotor stepped back out, quickly bundling the baby in a clean towel before wrapping his own towel back around his waist. Sendak wasn’t bothered either way; it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen Lotor, his husband, naked before.
“Thank you,” Lotor said.
“It wasn’t a problem,” Sendak said.
Lotor rubbed his cheek on the top of the baby’s head; the baby purred in response. ”Let’s get something to eat.”
Sendak had already ordered a meal, and it had been delivered while they were all in the bathroom.
Lotor dressed quickly in some loungewear that he kept in Sendak’s closet, and sat at the table across from Sendak.
Sendak held the baby, rather enjoying his weight in his arms. Sendak was no expert about babies, but this one seemed healthy and happy to him.
Haxus had dug into the emergency supplies and found formula and bottles (and other baby supplies), and had those delivered with their dinner; Sendak made a mental note to get him a raise.
(Not that Haxus wasn’t already one of the highest-paid Lieutenants in the Empire; Sendak rewarded competency and loyalty, and Haxus demonstrated both, especially with his willingness to look the other way about Sendak’s marriage.)
Sendak reached for the bottle of formula.
“I can-“ Lotor said.
“Hush,” Sendak said. “Eat. I’ll bet you’re starving.”
Lotor smiled, chagrined. “You know me too well.”
Sendak fed the baby as Lotor ate. It was a little bit of a struggle to get the baby latched, but once that happened and the baby realized Sendak was trying to feed him, not just shove a bit of rubber in his mouth, he finished the bottle like a champ.
Lotor was still eating, so Sendak held the baby up to his shoulder, gently rubbing his back to lull him to sleep, and waited.
“You don’t have to do that,” Lotor said. “I can take care of him until I find someone else.”
Sendak gave him a look and waited.
Lotor squirmed in his seat. “I mean- we don’t even live together. We can’t raise a child. I certainly- That was not my intention!”
“I’m sure,” Sendak said. He was sure that it hadn’t started out that way.
“And- and- you probably don’t want a child, anyway,” Lotor said. “Not right now! It’s a ridiculous idea! Foolish sentimentality!”
“Lotor,” Sendak said, reaching across the table with his free hand for one of Lotor’s. “Just ask .”
Lotor looked away. Sendak could see the muscles in his jaw twitching.
“I know what you want,” Sendak continued. “It’s obvious to me, even if it’s not to you.”
“It’s a terrible idea,” Lotor said.
“We’ll make it work,” Sendak said.
“I don’t want you to feel like I- I tricked you, or sprung this on you, or…” Lotor said. “I didn’t mean to- I just- He’s so little .”
The baby was tiny , adorably so.
“I know,” Sendak said. Their relationship was incredibly open and very healthy; Sendak trusted Lotor completely, and he knew that Lotor hadn’t set this up ahead of time. He’d left the surface of that planet with every intention of finding that baby a good home.
And he had, just not the way he intended.
“Just ask, Lotor,” Sendak said. “You know what my answer will be.”
Hesitantly, Lotor turned to meet his eyes. “Sendak, can we… will you raise this child with me, as our own?”
“I would love to,” Sendak said.