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CAPITOLO UNO
It had been years, but returning to his old orphanage wasn’t something Keith took lightly. It was still somewhat unsettling, even if it was for work. The other orphanage left him with a melancholy feeling, while his own… he wasn’t sure how to cope with it. He admitted he was tense.
“Welcome, Mister Kogane,” the headmaster welcomed him. “It’s fine in this way? Or do you prefer being addressed in some other way? Like Black Paladin or-”
“Keith is fine.” He shook her hand. “I’m happy Earth finally open up at our intergalactic adoption program.”
“Wise choice I approve fully.” The headmaster lent him in her office. “After the war, we have a large number of orphans, as you surely image. We managed somehow, but now…”
“How many children do you have?”
“Right now, eighteen. Most of them are six years old and younger, which is good for adoption. Oh, well,” she added with a small smile. “I’m not sure if it works the same with aliens.”
“Some populations have a bigger lifespan than earthlings,” he took off a folder from his bags and placed it on the desk. “But for others is shorter, so it’s actually easy to find a match for older kids.”
“That’s good to know.” The headmaster took the folder and checked it. “Those are the families that want an earth child?”
“They’re interested in adopting and they don’t mind a child who comes from a different planet,” Keith explained. “The Blade of Marmora has analysts who sort the requests based on compatibility between species. The families we chose for Earth had to breathe oxygen, or having a diet similar to ours.”
“I see.” She bit his lips. “You included Galra too.”
“I think I’m the proof that Galra and Earthling are very compatible.”
“I apologize, I didn’t mean as an offense.” She sighed. “But here on Earth Galra are often depicted as the bad guy and I fear this might be a problem.”
“I’m aware of the Voltron cartoon.” Keith snorted. “But mostly Galra these days are half-Galra and in general they don’t look at all as they’re depicted here.” He didn’t add the fact that unfortunately Galra were still seen as the bad guys in the entire universe and that probably Earth was one of the few planets that had it easy compared to others.
“I trust your expertise on the subject.” She put down the folder and she opens the closed behind her. “Shall we start with the match, then?”
She handed him the files with the children and they watched them together, as Keith suggested how to match them with the families.
They were halfway through it when a knock at the door interrupted them. A nurse opened the door with a resigned expression on his face.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s about Sven,” she added, this time only to the headmaster, that released a long sigh.
“I’ll be right back,” she assured Keith before leaving the room together with the nurse.
The door was left half-open, so Keith stood up and moved in a position where he could see the hallway. The headmaster and the nurse were now speaking with a policeman. Between them, stood a slim kid with short dark blond hair and a broken lip. Keith couldn’t understand what they were saying except a few words, but he definitely recognized the defiant gaze on the kid’s face. He used to have it a lot in the past.
He took a long breath.
When the headmaster nodded at the policeman and the nurse took the kid’s hand, Keith sat down again and waited for the headmaster to return.
“What was it?” he didn’t refrain himself to ask.
“Sven,” she said with a sigh. She collected a folder and opened it in front of him. Keith took a look at the picture in the file: the kid looked much younger. There was another picture next to his, that showed a girl with short blond hair. He said nothing, waiting for the headmaster to explain better.
“It’s a sad story. Well, most are,” she corrected himself. “Sven and his sister Siv are Norwegian, they lived in an isolated house near a small city. One day, their parents disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“They’re probably dead,” the headmaster specified. “There was a strong snowfall, they lived towards a fjord… It’s not the first case dead bodies were retrieved years later.”
“That’s terrible.”
She nodded. “Worse, they didn’t found out of the disappearing until a few days later, and it took time to retrieve the children because of the snowfall. Sven and Siv were blocked in their house alone for at least a week.”
“How old were they back then?”
“Sven was nine, Siv was five. He took great care of her and even now… he really feels responsible for her.” She said it with a soft voice. “And this is a problem. He grew up too fast and he doesn’t let us help them. We tried to find a family for them as soon as possible, because it’s harder to accommodate two children together but… it didn’t work. Now Sven is fourteen and it’s even harder to be adopted at his age. With Siv, is even worse because the only time we tried to let her be adopted alone, he broke in the house and took her away.”
“Oh.” Keith admired him, in a strange way.
“I hope we can find someone for them thanks to your help.” She smiled.
So they returned back to their work, examined all the children and their history and deciding which ones could adapt to an extra-planetarian adoption. A psychologist would speak with the children about the possibilities and then Keith would organize a meeting with the soon-to-be parents. It was a long work and it was just the beginning, but having done it before, Keith was impatient to see the outcome.
When he returned home, he found Shiro there in his home uniform, including the apron. He was setting the table and something was boiling under the stove.
“You’re early,” Keith stated, a little surprised.
“First flying test for the third-grade pilots today,” Shiro explained. “They did so well we gave everyone the free afternoon.”
“Woah. Is my record in danger?”
“You never made in the third grand, you got expelled before.”
“That’s not nice.” Keith faked annoyance.
Shiro chuckled. He bowed a little to kiss Keith on the cheek. “Go take some rest while I finish making dinner.”
“Careful, admiral, or I might get used to it and suggest an early retirement,” he joked.
He left the kitchen smoothly before Shiro could reply back. He took a fast shower and change back from his Marmora uniform to earthling clothes. Once he returned back in the kitchen, Shiro was served curry rice in the plates. The smell was good.
“So, how did it go at the orphanage?” Shiro asked as they sat down.
“Good, I guess. They have eighteen children, but two pairs of brothers, and we have twelve families. Hopefully, we can match all of them. I should message Axca later to ask her if we can find two more families…” He took a bit of the rice. “Oh, it’s really good.”
“I don’t like the surprised tone,” Shiro pouted.
“I wasn’t… I mean…” Keith smiled. “I miss your Japanese dishes, you know.”
A slight blush appeared on Shiro’s cheeks, and Keith wondered how it was possible Shiro was so easy to fluster even after all those years. As Keith didn’t have any more reasons to fell in love with him a little more every day.
“So…” Shiro coughed a little. “What are your next moves?”
“I will prepare the families for the journey towards earth until the headmaster takes care of the meeting between children and psychologist. Then I’ll take care of the match between the children and the parents.”
“It means you’ll stay a little more at home?”
Keith nodded. “I still have to travel back to escort the families from their planet, but I will stay here with them for all the time necessary to settle down with the children.”
“That’s good. No more commute for a while.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Shiro’s smile fell, and he frowned. “There is something wrong?”
“No. No.” Keith didn’t want to give the impression he wasn’t happy to spend more time at home. He realized he was a little bit cold to Shiro, and he didn’t deserve it. “I met a kid today.”
Shiro listened carefully the story about Sven and in the end he commented, “he remembers you your past.”
“Not quite,” Keith answered. “I don’t have anyone and he has a sister to take care of… but yes, there is definitely something in which I feel we are alike.”
“This is understandable. You hadn’t been adopted too.”
“That too. Hopefully, I can change that for Sven.”
“I’m sure you will.”
Keith released a small smile. “I’m sorry. We got so few time together and I’m ruining the mood.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Shiro stood up to kiss him on the forehead, and Keith rested more against him. “Plus, have you already forget you endure with me when they closed my favorite Mac and cheese restaurant?”
Keith laughed. “And I never told you I was actually happy about it.”
“Traitor.”
As Shiro kissed him again, Keith thought how much lucky he was in his life, despite everything. He hoped Sven could say the same in a couple of years.
***
Shiro had planned everything for the evening. Well, he didn’t plan the stutter in seeing Keith with his suit and his hair branded, but it was just a minor inconvenience. Nothing would disturb his plan. Hopefully, not his tension.
“We’re ready?” Keith asked, with a smile, as he took Shiro’s hand. “What do you have in mind?”
“You’ll see.”
They took Shiro’s car and headed to the main city. It was a Friday evening, so the traffic was intense, but the restaurant Shiro had reserved was the most renewed in the area, with private parking. Keith frowned a little as he recognized the restaurant, but he followed Shiro inside without a word.
They were welcomed by the owner himself. “Thank you for finding me a table with so little advance,” Shiro said, as he shook the other’s hand.
“It’s the least we can do for the Admiral of the Atlas,” the owner answered. “I placed you in a reserved table so you can have your privacy.”
“I really appreciated it.”
Keith kept quiet until they sat down at their table and a waiter brought them the menu. He placed it next to his plates, a hand on it.
“May I suggest something to drink?” the waiter said.
“Maybe later,” Keith stated, his eyes fixed on Shiro.
As the waiter left, Shiro took his menu. “I know it’s bad to use my position in this way, but I wanted to do something nice since we hadn’t a free night for ourselves in a while.”
Keith still didn’t take his menu. “Shiro,” he said slowly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Shiro released a nervous laugh. “You had a stressful week and I’m trying to… relax you a bit?”
“Shiro.” Keith released a small sigh. “The last time we came here – last and only time until now, it was the evening you proposed to me.”
“You mean the night I tried to propose to you and you beat me in this,” Shiro replied. “You know, I still can’t believe after years that you couldn’t just wait until the end of the dinner and completely ruined my idea.”
Keith couldn’t help but smile at the memory. And at Shiro’s annoyed face. “I’m still sorry about that. But back to my point, that’s the reason I know something is off about this dinner.”
“You’re not sorry at all since you’re doing the same thing now,” Shiro protested. He shot a glare at Keith, already knowing he wouldn’t let it go. He placed down the menu. “Okay. Listen. You’re still a little down because you didn’t manage to find a family for Sven and his sister.”
A shadow passed through Keith’s face and he closed his eyes for a second. “It can’t be helped. The psychologist doesn’t feel it was a good idea for them to leave the planet and none of the parents they met changed it.” He bit his bottom lips. “But Shiro – I don’t want my mood to ruin our free night. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression-”
“No, no,” Shiro interrupted him. Damn. In his head the entire conversation went a lot smoother. In real life, he ended to sadden Keith more and that wasn’t the plan. “What I want to say is…” He placed his hand on Keith’s. “I spoke with the headmaster and the psychologist. To ask them if we can be a safe choice of parents for Sven and Siv.”
“You mean, for adoption?” Keith blinked.
“They proposed six months of fostering to begin with, since we aren’t in the adoption program yet, but we’re supposing to go there at the end.”
Keith’s eyes widened. “You don’t have to do it…”
“No. But I want to.” He smiled. “I already thought about the idea of having children with you. We never talk about it because our jobs taking most of our time, but… maybe now it’s the right time, you know?”
For a long minute, Keith stayed silent. Shiro swallowed. More seconds passed and he started to feel he did a big mistake. Maybe Keith didn’t want children. Maybe he saw all the children he helped finding parents as enough for him. Oh, no, now Keith would feel obligated to accept it. Why Shiro hadn’t mentioned it before? Great. He just ruined their free night.
Until Keith stood up, turned around the table, placed a hand on Shiro’s kneel and another on his cheek and kissed him. Shiro relaxed and leaned forwards, his two hands grasped Keith’s waist.
Their faces were still near as Keith murmured, “I love you.”
“Is that a yes?”
Keith chuckled and nodded. “Now that you confess, can we go to a place where we can actually eat something?”
“With pleasure.”
***
Sven should be honored, or so they said. Sven didn’t feel honored. He didn’t need some saviors or hero to come and rescue him. He could do just fine by himself. He could take care of Siv by himself.
He didn’t need adults.
Of course, the headmaster’s word had a major impact on Siv: she sat there on the edge of the bed, with her cute floral dress, and her big blue eyes were searching for him. He moved next to her and took her hand.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Just act as usual and everything will be okay. They may be some VIPs out there, but they won’t be much different from everyone else.”
She nodded and tightened her grip on his hand. He didn’t let her go not even when the psychologist came from them and lent them in the room for the parents meeting. Their supposed new parents were already there. Sven had heard about them, of course, but he never cared enough to actually recognized them.
He took a small glare at them and decided to surname them One-armed and Scarred-face. It was easy to de-humanize them that way. It wasn’t like he was going to have a relationship with them and they wouldn’t know about him calling them with surname either.
“Sven, Siv.” One-armed smiled. “Nice to meet you. I’m Shiro, and this is my husband Keith.”
He leaned forwards his prosthetic floating arm. Neither Sven nor Siv moved to take it. Ten embarrassed seconds passed, before One-armed realized he was useless and he dropped his arm. His eyes turned a little to Scarred-face, that slightly nodded and put his hand on the other’s back.
They sat down at the table, with the psychologist between the two couples.
“They’re shy,” she murmured, with an apologetic smile.
Sven refrained himself from snorting. It was almost cute the attempt to make them better at the eyes of the future parents. But they’re not shy, they just didn’t give a fuck. They had to endure the meeting until it last: Sven was sure that, like many before them, even One-armed and Scarred-face would grow annoyed at two children that didn’t talk.
“So,” One-armed coughed a little, embarrassed. “I’m pretty sure the headmaster told you a little about us, but if you have some questions feel free to do so. We’ll be happier to satisfied every curiosity.”
Silence. Sven was pretty sure One-armed was used to people asking questions and he had no idea how to act without any input. His eyes shifted to Scarred-face, who still had his hand on the back.
At least, he talked. “I was an orphan too. I lived here, in this same orphanage. I wasn’t very good to… connecting with people.”
Oh, great. The card ‘we’re similar’. First time Sven saw one of them using it. It wasn’t going to work, of course, but at least he appreciated the originality. He went on talking about his father, and the about his alien mother and how he’d met One-Armed. Then One-armed told about his childhood and his desire to become a pilot.
Sometimes, Siv made a surprise face, or an interesting one. Sven grasped her hand to remember her to not let be fooled by some nice stories or a sympathetic look. Do not show weakness. It was painfully clear when One-armed took off a super technology alien floating cube. Siv’s eyes widened and her mouth opened, ready to ask what was it and what it could do.
But then her eyes moved on Sven, and she remained silent.
“There’s something you would like to see, dear?” the psychologist tried again. Siv shook her head. “Okay. I think it can be enough for today.”
The psychologist stood up and shook her hand with the other two. “I’ll schedule next meeting for next week, if it’s okay for you two.”
“It’s fine,” One-armed nodded.
“If you can wait a second, I escort back Sven and Siv to the dormitory and then we can talk?”
“Yes, please.”
Sven snorted. He hoped to avoid another meeting, but they looked convinced to continue. Too bad. He smiled at Siv, to reassured her, ignoring the increasing tension in his heart. No one would foster children that didn’t talk, no one wanted a problem in their own house, not even the mighty heroes of Earth.
For fostering, they asked for at least three meeting – Sven was sure they wouldn’t go past the second.
That was how everyone acted.
***
Saying that Shiro was tensed was an understatement. It was tensed from the very moment he decided to go for the fostering program. Lucky for him, he had Keith at his side. He was agitated too, Shiro could see it very well, but he put on a brave face and try to comfort him.
Man, it was easier fighting Zarkon. For both of them.
Especially because Sven and Siv hadn’t said a word in the three meetings and, well, it was even more worrisome.
They’d talked about it. Shiro is convinced Siv was a little more open to strangers, maybe because of her young age, but the presence of his brother stopped her every time. She should be easier speaking with her, involving her. Keith agreed, but at the same time he feared focusing on Siv could make the relationship with Sven worse. If he felt they’re taking his sister from him, he could react even worse.
It was a mess.
But even if Shiro’s heart was beating fast and there was a strange knot in his throat, he smiled widely as the headmaster lent at the orphanage’s gate Sven and Siv. They had only two backpacks and a small trolley. Shiro exchanged a brief look with Keith: they had already decided to go shopping the next day.
The first part of the travel from the orphanage was a very long monologue from Shiro. A very embarrassed one, but he needed it to calm himself down, especially because Sven and Siv kept their mouth shut. He stopped only when Keith placed gently a hand on his leg. The rest of the journey was made in silence.
“Welcome to our house,” Shiro said once they arrived. “I hope you like it.” This time, he didn’t even expect a reaction from the children.
Keith took the luggage, while Shiro opened the door and showed the rooms around. They climbed the stairs: they converted old Keith’s office to a bedroom, even if for now there were only two mattresses and a settle. “We thought it would be nice if you choose how to furnish the room by yourself,” Shiro explained. “Tomorrow is Saturday, we might go to IKEA and buy everything there.”
A glint of interest sparked from Siv’s eyes, but then she took her backpack and placed it on the mattress as Shiro hadn’t spoken.
“We’ll go to IKEA tomorrow,” Keith said, with more decision. “There is still a little bit of time before dinner… the area around the house is safe, if you want to go and explore the surroundings. I also have a dog, it’s outside.”
Again, Siv seemed interested in the word “dog”, but as soon as her brother placed a hand on her back, her expression faded.
“We’ll be downstairs if you need something,” Keith added, and both him and Shiro left the room.
Shiro breathed hard to calm himself. “We can do this, can’t we?”
“Of course.”
Keith made a small smile, and Shiro realized he felt a little guilty because they’d chose Sven and Siv because of him. Since Shiro knew words wouldn’t get through him, he hugged him from behind and kissed his head.
“We can do it,” he repeated, with more confidence. “Let’s call Hunk.”
“Wait. Why Hunk?”
Shiro released him from the hug and took the datapad. “I asked him about some Norwegian recipes for Sven and Siv, to make them feel like home, you know? And Hunk offered to help us directly.”
“That’s nice.”
But there was a small frown on Keith’s face. “Don’t worry, he promised to not make fun of us. At least, not too much,” Shiro smiled.
Hunk’s face compared to the screen of the datapad. “Hi, Hunk!” Keith greeted him. “Thanks for your help. We know you’re very busy.”
“No problem. Ah, man, I’m so happy for you two, I really am. I was sure the second of us to have children after Lance and Allura would be me, but you beat me big time.”
“Aha ah, sorry,” Shiro laughed.
“No problem. I liked being an uncle for the time being. I can’t wait to meet them.”
Keith exchange a look with Shiro. “Let’s them get used to us before introducing them to our space life and friends.”
“Yeah, well, I agree. Even if you managed to adopt two Norwegian children from an orphanage in Arizona which is pretty strange to begin with. How did this happen?”
“The orphanage here had free places and for the psychologist the snow was a trigger for Siv, so they suggested to move them in a country with no snow at all,” Keith explained. “Can we start? It’s almost evening and I don’t want to serve a late dinner for Sven and Siv first night here.”
“Oooh, that’s the team leader I remember,” Hunk jokes.
Shiro kissed Keith on the cheek and smiled at his pouty expression. So he wasn’t as quiet as he tried to be. They’re both pretty agitated about having two children in their care.
Cooking calmed Shiro down, and he hoped he did the same for Keith. They weren’t good as Hunk (well, nobody was) but with his advice they prepared a pretty good dinner.
“Let me know how it goes,” Hunk said before interrupting the videocall.
“Sven, Siv, dinner’s ready,” Keith called from the bottom of the stairs, as Shiro started to serve the first dish. “Wash your hands before coming.”
For five minutes, they waited, both looking at each other and both fearing the children wouldn’t come, but with a relieved sigh Keith saw them climbed down the stairs, hand in hand. They sat down at the table. There was a hint of surprise in both of their face when they recognized the dishes, but as usual they didn’t make comments.
“I know they probably aren’t like the original,” Shiro said, “but I hope you still like them.”
They ate in silence. From time to time Shiro and Keith exchanged words about the food, but Sven and Siv didn’t intervene. At least, they didn’t refuse the food. On the contrary, they ate everything Shiro put in front of them, in a mechanic way. Siv licked her lips with satisfaction after the dessert, and she did the same with the spoon, and that was all.
“Wash your teeth before going to bed.” Keith sounded tired.
Sven and Siv left the table immediately and disappeared upstairs. Keith helped Shiro rearranging the kitchen.
“Please, at least talk with me,” Shiro said at last, deadpanned.
“Sorry.” Keith leaned to him, placing his head to his shoulder. “I… I’m just a little bit scared to screw up.”
“I am too.” Shiro nodded. “But you know, I’m pretty sure we can be a lot stubborn than they are. I became a pilot out of spite of my disease, and you defeated dead. They have a long way to go before they can reach our level.”
Keith laughed. There was still some tension, some worries, and the first day didn’t go as smooth as they would have preferred, but they could do it. Together.
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