Crowds buzzed around the hospital that was having its Grand Opening, Shiro and Allura were standing there, cutting the ribbon at the entrance. Altea's population finally hit 5,000 people. Gleaming in her seventh month of pregnancy Allura smiled as she and Shiro cut the red ribbon and it fell to the ground. Guards surrounded the Royals, and the Paladins were above. Security has increased a hundred percent since that one Galra attack. Allura had a set of five guards around her at all times and she even started training- hand to hand and self defense. She practiced with Shiro of course, but he wouldn't do anything too dangerous. Allura and Shiro followed the Chief of Medicine around the hospital as they were touring it. Shiro's hand placed gently on her back and the other by his side. Guards were everywhere, and it wouldn't surprise Allura if there were one around every corner. They concluded the Grand Opening Ceremony and they loaded into the horse carriage, four guards stood outside of the carriage on each corner. Sitting down on the plush benches, Allura let out a sigh of relief. Shiro sat on the opposite of her. "Why couldn't we have Coran do this." She complained; it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Because he is not a Royal?" Shiro stated, he flipped open his communicator and browsed through the emails he had received. Allura groaned and she looked out the window. People standing on the sidewalk waving frantically back and forth to have the King and Queen notice them. Allura smiled and gave a small wave and then turned her head to look at Shiro. His head was face down in his Voltcom- the new invention that is similar to an iPhone. Reading deep into an email that he had just received, seems to be very important. Allura placed her hand over her abdomen as she closed her eyes, she was trying to keep up with the schedule she had made when she was in her first month of pregnancy but it was getting rather hard. A few openings a day, a meeting every few hours, and then some time to eat and back in her office for paperwork. The carriage stopped in front of the Castle of Lions, and the doors opened up. Shiro was the first one to leave the carriage and he stood there with his hand out to help Allura down.

"Shiro, I am fine. I am pregnant, not handicapped." She said, stepping down on her own. She and Shiro had a meeting in regards to recruitment today- they needed to start advertising it more as they needed more guards and soldiers. They were starting to build the army up. Shiro walked ahead of Allura, Anaphiel was besides her. Talking all about the meeting they had to be at, times and arrangements and who else was going to be there. "Lady Anaphiel- can you please have a small meal prepped for Shiro and I and deliver it to the conference room? We both missed our midday meal- I do not know about him but I am famished." Lady Anaphiel nodded her head and headed towards the kitchen. Allura started to slow down and looked at Shiro and Ramiel head towards the large conference room. The doors opened for her as she waddled inside. Men and women were either sitting, standing or arguing back and fourth at each other. There was possibly thirteen heads in the room. Allura hardly recognized these faces as Shiro appointed each of the commanders in general. The ceiling was high, with little high windows, as they did not want the Galra's to find this conference room. It was a warm color and the lights made it feel homey. Everyone stopped what they were doing when Allura walked in, she smiled as she made her way towards the head of the table, Shiro would not be sitting down for this as Allura needed to sit down.

"Your Majesty!" They all said in unison. Allura nodded her head as she took the arms of the chair and sat down gently. Once she was sitting they returned to their conversations. Allura turned and looked at Shiro and tugged at the loose shirt that he was wearing.

"Shiro- can you introduce the new Generals and Commanders?" Allura asked quietly, she was slightly embarrassed that she did not recognize the Generals here, but it was because of baby brain. Shiro nodded his head and he cleared his throat, each of the Generals and Commanders took their seat respectively down the long table. Two men from the Volunteer Division stood up. The Volunteer Division was for those who didn't know what they wanted to do within the Divisions of the army. It wasn't volunteer's persay, they got compensation- they were the ones who were the soldiers on land.

"General Riley Drotter, leader of the Volunteer Divison at your service ma'am." Riley was a tall half Altean male. He had brown hair, cut like Shiro's. He wore a green tuxedo with the highest ranking medals. The male next to him rose as well.

"Commander Jameson Ivert, second in command of the Volunteer Division. At your service ma'am!" He was one that got on Allura's nerves. She did not like him ever since Shiro appointed him. He was another half Altean with black hair. Allura nodded her head and had him sit back down. Allura slightly spaced out over the next few divisions, but she perked up for the Orbital Defense Division, it was crucial for this division to be active and have the best of the best to be involved with it. These had five people in charge of it, but only two were here.

"General Jeanette Blue, leader of the Orbital Defense Division, at your service ma'am!" Allura loved this General as before she was pregnant the two of them would spar and they would be equally tied. Jeanette was a full Altean- one of the few left. She had the pink marks under her eyes and she had golden blonde hair, which was tied up in a neat bun. Allura really did not care much about the rest of the Generals and Commanders. Anaphiel walked in with a bunch of catering food for the entire conference and had given Allura and Shiro an actual meal.

"We need to talk about a peace treaty between Arus and the planet Zucreth." Shiro started as all of the officers looked at him. They had plans out and each plan had different strategies of talking. Allura started to zone out, she was now sleepish as she had finished her meal, maybe she should look at her schedule and try to thin it out a little bit more before the baby comes.

"How should we go by this, Shiro?" Jeanette asked, it was obvious the Royal Family favored the Orbital Defense Division. Allura lifted her head and stifled a yawn behind her hand.

"We should set an agreement up and offer them assistance if they need help." Shiro mentioned, everyone in the room agreed.

"Why are we creating a peace treaty?" Commander Jameson asked, Allura rolled her eyes and she leaned back on the chair, standing up with little assistance as she headed towards the projector in the middle and she turned it on. The planets showed up in hologram form in the area.

"Commander Jameson." She said, he stood up when she called his name. "We, Planet Arus, are here." She said, pointing to the larger planet on the screen. "While planet Zucreth is neighboring to us right next door. They are currently re-establishing their own population, like we were a few years ago-"

"Months honey."

"Don't correct me, Shiro. I am not in the mood." Allura snapped, glaring at him for only a moment. "Now, Ivert. Please inform me why we, planet Arus would like to have a Peace Treaty in place before any type of war breaks out?" Ivert stood there, dumbfounded like a student who did not know the answer to the question the teacher was asking. "You don't know the answer?"

"Allura-" Shiro tried to interrupt her but it didn't work. Allura set the modulator up as if a war was breaking out.

"See? If Zarkon attacked, we would need Zucreth to help us out- to allow our residents to move there for safe harboring. The same goes to them. If they need safety, they can come here." Allura said, her snippiness started to go away. "It is okay that you didn't know. But please understand that you do need to know one day." She finally said before she reset the modulator and turned it off, waddling to her chair and she sat back down. Shiro was the only one who noticed that she had taken off her shoes. He shook his head and let out a soft smirk. They had been at this for a few hours and it was obvious everyone was teetering with energy.

"Let's break from this and come back in an hour." Shiro said, he had pulled a chair besides Allura and watched as everyone stood up and left the room, to either smoke, drink, or stretch their legs. Allura stayed sitting down and she sighed heavily. "Honey, what was with the sassiness?"

"I don't recall what you mean?"

"Commander Jameson?"

"Oh yeah that. He asked a rather unintelligent question and it just kind of happened." She stated, her hand was placed on her abdomen.

"Is everything okay with you and Ana?" Shiro placed his hand on her abdomen. Allura nodded her head.

"I am just tired. Though Ana here has been kicking and moving since the meeting started." She said, looking at him gently. "It's so weird. Ana's so active-"

"Is she active now?"

"No, she calmed down when she heard the change in your voice." Allura smiled, and hid another yawn behind her hand. Shiro leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Maybe you should spend some time with your Paladins."

"They aren't my Paladins, Shiro."

"Maybe you should have Lady Anaphiel escort you to your room so you can wind down from the day." Shiro said, taking her hand in his. Shiro had become a great leader since their marriage and the coronation. He was stepping up to the plate- and surprisingly, he was just as great as Allura's father.

"But Shiro- I would prefer you to escort me to bed." She whined slightly, Shiro allowed Allura to whine and be pampered. She's been through a lot and even with this baby she did her best to not slow down at all. The Black Paladin stood up and he held his hand out.

"Would you like me to escort you to your room, My Lady?" He asked as Allura let out a smile. She took his hand and he helped her stand up. Shiro bent down and picked up her small heeled shoes. "I have your shoes, My Lady." He said, entwining their fingers together and they took the long way to the bedroom. Lady Anaphiel and Lord Ramiel were following behind them. As they were walking to the bed chamber, they ran into the Red and Blue Paladin.

"Keith! Lance!" Allura exclaimed as she waved to them. The two Paladins turned around and waved back at the married couple. "How have your days been?"

"Kind of normal." Lance shrugged his shoulders. Keith stood with his arms crossed, nodding his head in agreement.

"Yeah, Lance and I worked with Pidge to do some updates on our Lions but other than that-"

"What updates did you guys do?"

"Allura- I have to go back to the meeting." Shiro whispered in her ear. Allura nodded her head and she kissed his cheek.

"You can tell me all about it tomorrow. I am about ready to go to my room. Can the two of you head towards the forest and scout it for a bit? We are looking to expand Altea." Lance looked confused as he stared at Allura.

"But it's only four o'clock?"

"Yes, we will Allura." Keith stated, Lance turned around and flailed his arms up.

"She just needs to get off her feet and to get her mind focusing on nurturing a life." Shiro stated as they started to walk back towards the bedroom. They still had each others hand entwined with each others. They stayed silent as they walked, enjoying each others company as they did. Guards stood tall at each door, the next shift should be arriving soon. Allura smiled as he let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist, kissing her cheek gently as they walked. They were both madly in love with each other, and it showed each day. The door opened to their bedroom and they both walked in.

"Lady Anaphiel and Lady Josephina. I would like Allura to be pampered- let her do what she wants and make sure she relaxes. I'll be around later." He said, kissing Allura gently on the lips. "I love you, Allura." He said as he broke away, and went back to head towards the conference room. Allura sighed as she started to take off the heavy gown she was wearing. Anaphiel helped her remove the clothing.

"I would like a bath drawn up with one of the herbs to relieve nausea and stress? The one you used a few nights ago-" Allura said as she went to sit back down on the bed. She did not realize how tired she truly was, once the bath was drawn up, Allura headed into the room and took her time getting into the bath. She submerged herself in the room temperature water and let out another sigh. Within the next thirty minutes, Allura left the tub- wrapping her long hair in one towel and her body in another. She hummed a familiar Altean tune as she dressed in a warm night gown and did her hair. She enjoyed taking care of herself- it reminded her of when the Paladin's just arrived on Altea. Once her hair was dried and done Allura pulled the covers back on the bed and sat down on it.

"Why did Allura have to send us out to the damn forest?" Lance whined, the two of them were both wearing their Paladin's outfits- their Lions were also nearby. Lance was definitively not happy at the fact that Allura made the two of them scout territory to make new roads and such.

"Because the population is continuously growing and she can't do it herself because she is pregnant?" Keith started. "I'm sure if she wasn't pregnant she would be doing this herself Lance."

"But she still could be doing this."

"No Lance. You see the terrain around here. She could fall and seriously hurt the baby."

"I mean I could fall and seriously hurt my babies."

"Lance-"

"What?"

"Let's not talk about your 'babies', Lance. We should just talk about the task at hand."

"You like my babies." Lance teased with a smirk, Keith's face turned bright pink.

"LANCE!" Keith yelled, placing a red flag on the ground. Red flags meant that a street was supposed to be placed here, blue sidewalk, white is supposed to mean a building. They continued to work and place the little flags down. Lance sighed as he turned around.

"You could say that like you did the other night."

"This isn't the time or place to mention any of this." Keith barked as his face started to turn to a normal color. Lance shrugged his shoulders as he continued to place other markers down. In the next few days this area will be cleared and the work would begin. Lance started to follow behind Keith, that is until Lance fell ontop of Keith.

"Quiznack!" Lance exclaimed as Keith softened the fall. "Thanks for the catch bud!"

"Lance-" He said, as the two of them locked eyes. The distance between them closed as Keith's lips trembled. Lance leaned down and planted his lips on Keith's. Though Keith's eyes widened, as if he was shocked this was happening. He quickly relaxed and let the happiness take over. The kiss lasted about a minute and Lance stood up, and he held a hand out for Keith as well.

"So-"

"Are we together now?" Keith asked, wanting to know where they stand as of right now.

"Y-Yeah. I guess we are." Lance said with a smile. He raised one of his hands and he scratched the back of his head.

"Are we going to keep this a secret?"

"For now- maybe." Lance mentioned as they started to head towards their lions. They both returned to the Castle of Lions with a giant smile. Even Allura didn't know why they were so happy during dinner. Lance followed Keith into his room and that is what ended the night.