I meant to have this finished earlier (deadlines are evil things; I had two of them due today and it somewhat slowed my writing this fic) but it's still Pidge's birthday, for a little while yet!

Rover chirruped insistently at Pidge, and she looked up curiously. "Where have you been?" she asked, and he dipped, then rose again, repeating his chirrups. "What?"

Pidge reached out, and Rover spun and bobbed a little further away. Pidge's brows rose. "What the. . ." she trailed off, then frowned at the machinery she had spread out over her lap. Rover beeped and returned to her before drifting away.

"Oh, all right." Pidge carefully unearthed her legs from the remnants of what she'd been working on, then rose. Rover beeped happily and zoomed off a bit faster, forcing her to trot after him in order to keep him in sight. She wondered what had gotten into him.

He led her to the lounge, to her surprise. Pidge hadn't seen any of the others today, and didn't necessarily expect to until dinnertime - yesterday had been the end of a hard mission that had lasted most of a week. Pidge had been regaining her equilibrium by tinkering and had assumed everyone else was doing the same in their own ways.

She had thus stayed out of the places she knew they were most likely to take to. The kitchen - save for snagging a quick snack when she had woken, very early this morning - where Hunk would likely retreat, though he didn't mind company, mostly. The observation deck where Lance holed up to calm down, or when he was upset. The training deck - though Keith generally wasn't bothered if she worked on something there while he was working out, as long as it didn't interrupt the program he was running.

Shiro and the Alteans were harder to pin down, but Pidge hadn't seen them either.

So she was surprised when she walked into the lounge and was immediately wrapped up in a warm, effusive hug. Hunk, of course - no one else hugged like Hunk did. "Happy Birthday, Pidge!" he said happily as he let her go. Pidge blinked, opening her mouth and then closing it.

Happy Birthday Pigeon! she heard from her memories, and swallowed, pushing away the pang that thought caused.

"How- I mean, why. . ." Pidge trailed off.

"It is your birthday, isn't it?" Shiro asked, smiling slightly. "As near as we can tell Earth time from out here, anyway." Pidge nodded, though she really hadn't thought about it - she'd barely thought of it last year, at the Garrison, either, honestly.

"I wasn't expecting. . ." Pidge said, shifting awkwardly.

"Precisely why we had to make sure you got a celebration!" Hunk insisted. "I got Rover to bring you, so it could be a surprise." Ah, that made more sense then.

"Which means ambushing me with a hug?" Pidge asked teasingly, and Hunk grinned.

"Hugs from everyone for birthdays!" Hunk said firmly, nodding to underline his point. "And cake. Hugs and cake. Most important part of birthdays."

"Is that so?" Shiro asked, though he looked more amused than dubious. Hunk rallied in defence of his declaration anyway.

"It's a rule!" he said, striding off towards Shiro, perhaps to continue defending his position on the matter. Pidge giggled. There was also cake, she saw, touched. It waited on a hover tray in front of Coran, who smiled at her.

"What can I say, he feels very strongly about hugs." Lance supplied from beside her, and she looked up with a smile. "Ambushes optional." he added playfully.

"So I see." she agreed, arching her eyebrows.

Lance bent, wrapping an arm around Pidge and then tugging her close after she relaxed into the touch. "Happy Birthday, hermanita." he said quietly, into her hair. Pidge hugged him back, but made an inquisitive sound. He hesitated and drew back. "Little sister." he murmured, even softer, his eyes dark.

Pidge's throat tightened, and Lance winced. "I-" he began, and Pidge couldn't-

"No." she said, shaking her head. "Thanks." She smiled at him and hugged him tight enough around the waist that he sputtered breathlessly. He wasn't Matt, no - almost nothing like him, even, really - but. . .

He was a good big brother, and Pidge thought sometimes she saw flashes of something like what she felt in his eyes when he was around her. Lance had a big family - she'd seen them, in flashes, in his mind in training - probably had little sisters he'd left behind and missed, even if he knew they were safe.

Rover beeped curiously and dipped near her head, and Pidge grinned up at him.

"Cake! Come on!" Lance said brightly, dragging her towards the table before she'd started moving. Pidge laughed, but she still elbowed him sharply as he let go.

Shiro swept her into a hug as Allura asked Hunk something about the cake, and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Happy Birthday, Katie." he said in a low voice, and Pidge felt odd about it - she was still Katie, of course she was, but on the other hand she hadn't really been just Katie for over a year - but it made her think of her parents, and Shiro meant well anyway.

She hugged him back and relaxed against the measured snugness of Shiro's hug, leaning against his solid shoulder. She didn't pull away until-

"Have some cake, Pidge!" Coran offered, and when she lifted her head he was smiling at her, an understanding look in his eyes. "I understand there's something about birthday wishes and cake?" he hazarded, and Pidge laughed as she stepped back from Shiro.

"I don't think we're doing that." Pidge told him, nodding at the slice of cake he held out to her on a plate. "Seeing as the cake is already cut and there aren't any candles anyway. It's all right," she added quickly when Coran frowned, "wishes are really more of a kid thing and . . . and I like wishing on stars better anyway." she finished quietly.

"Well, there are- there are plenty of stars waiting for you out there, then." Coran offered awkwardly, and Pidge laughed and impulsively hugged him - he patted the back of her head with his free hand - before hopping back again.

"So, cake?" Pidge asked, making a 'gimme' gesture with her hands.

Coran gave a fancy bow and presented it to her. "Of course. And felicitations on this most merry occasion, the anniversary of your birth, gentle-lady."

Pidge grinned. "Thanks!" she said through a mouthful of cake. "This is good, Hunk, how did you make cake?" she asked curiously, dropping down to one of the sunken benches as Hunk and Coran distributed cake amongst everyone else, Rover trailing after them almost curiously.

"Why thank you!" Hunk said, pleased. "Well I knew your birthday was coming up, so I did some experimenting on the last few planets we visited - when we had time to stop for shopping," he added, frowning at Shiro like it was his fault they were usually being shot at or chased, "so it took some trial and error, but. . ."

No one gave Rover cake, which was probably for the best as he tended to just smush food messily in his quest to understand it. He trilled quietly and floated back to Pidge, hovering near her right side and sinking slowly down to nestle on the seat beside her.

"Coran, I think you're supposed to be sitting down and eating cake too." Keith said, tapping his utensil against his plate with a delicate ping of sound.

"Yes!" Pidge demanded, realising that Coran was edging around the group - as he often did at mealtimes - instead of joining them. "It's my birthday and I said so, and that means you have to." she added before he could protest.

Coran pursed his lips, and Pidge only grinned wider as he capitulated, coming over to sit between Hunk and Allura. He eyed the cake suspiciously, but one step at a time, Pidge supposed. Besides, he really seemed to like the weird stuff he made for them.

Pidge suppressed a shudder at the memory of some of those lunches, and stuffed another bite of cake in her mouth.

"How does wishing on stars work, anyway?" Coran asked, once he'd been badgered into actually eating some of his cake.

Pidge opened her mouth, then closed it. Then she thought better of it and ate more cake to keep it busy. Hunk and Shiro both rose to the challenge of explaining the concept, and Pidge laughed as the ideas he countered with got more and more outlandish, though she thought Coran was doing it on purpose after the first couple.

He caught her eye and winked, and Pidge bit her lip on another laugh, leaning up against Lance's shoulder and sighing.

"Do you want to find a star to wish on?" Lance asked quietly, draping an arm around her shoulders, and Pidge smiled.

"Nah. Not tonight." she told him, toying with the edge of her plate and watching the others banter and laugh, joining in when she felt like it but sometimes just watching. Lance was loud and boisterous - she'd expect nothing less - but he stayed where he was, slouched comfortably next to her and eating his cake with one hand, his plate in his lap as his arm stayed around Pidge.

As much as they all enjoyed the occasion - or Pidge did, and she thought it seemed like everyone else did as well - it had been a hard week, and Pidge wasn't the only one beginning to flag by the time the second round of cake was gone.

"It has been a hard week, Paladins . . . perhaps, retiring early might be called for, this evening?" Allura suggested delicately, and Pidge slipped a little lower against Lance as she yawned, her jaw cracking.

"Yeah, maybe." Pidge agreed with a sigh. She was echoed by Shiro and - surprisingly - Keith, who rescued Hunk's cup from spilling to the floor just as he stretched and gave a big yawn of his own. "Okay." she told herself firmly. She hauled herself to her feet.

"Go on, Paladins, I'll see to this." Coran said, inclining his head to Pidge and neatly stacking abandoned cups on the now-very-empty cake platter. "Off to bed with you now! Dream of robotic lions!"

"It's 'electric sheep', Coran." Lance said patiently. "And that's not for humans anyway."

"Thanks for the cake, Hunk." Pidge repeated, giving him another quick hug. She ignored the blossoming discussion about androids behind her because they were still fiction where she came from and she'd rather talk to Coran about the Altean ones. When she was more awake, and he wasn't absorbed in trying to make sense of the idea of Earth's androids from Lance's sketchy recitations.

"Any time." Hunk smiled at her and clasped her shoulder as she stepped back.

Pidge nearly bumped into Allura, and she jumped, hurriedly straightening and steadying herself. "Ah, Princess!"

"I just wanted to wish a happy birthday myself before you go to your night's rest, Pidge." Allura said with a soft smile. She bent and hugged Pidge, and she didn't feel soft - all long lines and dense muscle beneath the flowing fabric and cloud-like hair. She kissed Pidge's cheek, and Pidge's eyes widened. "Rest well, Paladin." Allura said as she pulled back, her eyes warm.

"Ah, thanks, Allura." Pidge said, ducking her head slightly. "Good night. G'night everyone!" she added, louder, and got a somewhat jangly chorus back from the rest of them. Rover blipped and lead the way out of the room, and Pidge stretched before heading him down the dimly-lit corridors towards her bunk.

Rover looped her lazily as she walked, and she hummed at him contentedly.

"Pidge?"

Pidge stepped back from her door, Rover swooping a quick semicircle to get out of her way as she turned. "Yeah?" she said uncertainly. Keith looked . . . preoccupied, maybe.

He moved towards her with a couple of long strides and Pidge startled as he drew her into a hug. It was awkward and a little too tight - and Keith was warmer than she would have expected, and leanly-solid kind of like Allura, but bonier - but it was definitely still a hug. Pidge tentatively wrapped her arms around Keith's ribs in return, tucking under the open edge of his jacket.

"If it's, uh. It seemed important." Keith said, rubbing her back lightly. "Happy Birthday." he added, with a slightly slanted smile.

"Thanks." Pidge said, still faintly surprised, but smiled back at him, kind of touched by the awkward wish, and Keith nodded at her, then turned away.

She bit her lip, watching him for a moment before she tapped in her passcode and entered her room, Rover close behind. Pidge flopped onto her bed and smiled at the ceiling. It hadn't been like any birthday she'd ever had before - of course, how could it be? - but it had been nice.

Pidge missed her family, but for the first time in her life, she thought . . . her family wasn't just her mother, father, and brother, either. And her other family was around her here. Accepted her more easily than-

Pidge sighed, but the smile didn't leave her face. "I suppose the Castle is home now, Rover." she observed, and Rover hummed affirmatively. She laughed and reached out to pat one of his corners.

"And maybe Hunk was right." she added absently. It was nice, having collected a hug from all of her 'family'.

Hunk and Lance with their effusiveness, Shiro and his careful, soft affection. Coran was definitely the weird uncle Pidge had never had before. Keith had been awkward but earnest about it - Keith was always straightforward, and Pidge could hardly point fingers about awkwardness. Allura, a little rough around the edges sometimes and clumsily uncertain about the 'Earth traditions' but willing to step out of her depth for her Paladins and honest in her care of all of them.

Pidge rubbed her cheek - at least Allura didn't leave lipstick marks, she thought, and laughed - and grabbed a pillow, yawning. She folded herself around it. "Hey Rover, c'mere buddy." she called, and Rover spun in midair and then drifted down to settle on the pillow, where Pidge could curl an arm around him. She petted him absently, fingers folding over one corner, and sleepily hoped that next year . . . next year she'd have all of her family around her for her birthday.

She fell asleep imagining Matt sitting between Shiro and Hunk in the lounge, Lance sprawled nearby - one arm stretched out, if Pidge cared to sit there - and making flippant comments. Keith occasionally interjecting and puncturing Lance's more grandiose moments, sharp but friendly in his own way.

Her dad, talking with Coran and brimming with excitement and curiosity. Allura offering more answers and asking her own questions as Pidge's mom countered them, quick-witted and as curious as Pidge herself had always been.

Pidge's whole family, all of them together.

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