The room was quiet except for Kaia’s soft tinkering with a toy Pidge had made for her and Keith could feel himself drifting off to sleep. He had wanted to get some more training in before dinner, but he had hardly slept the night before and it was harder to get back up from where he had laid on the floor than it used to be.

Suddenly, a small hand pressed against his face, and he knew without opening his eyes that Kaia was leaning over him.

“Appa?” she asked softly.

“Hm?”

“Why are you only sometimes like me?”

Keith opened his eyes to see his younger daughter staring, unblinkingly, down at him. Some of her hair was still corralled into the sloppy ponytail he had put it in that morning, but most was back to its usual messy array. The sparkling barrette she had insisted on wearing still hung uselessly from her bangs.

“What are you talking about, baby?”

Kaia ran her hand down his cheek, her small claws surprisingly gentle against his skin, before doing the same to her own face. “Only sometimes.” She repeated.

Keith lifted his hand to cradle her face. Most of the time, his mind reeled from just how fast she was growing and developing from when he had first brought her to the castle, but other times, he couldn’t believe how truly tiny she was. Closing his eyes again, he let the transformation wash over him. The small buzz danced over his skin and his hair ruffled with the growth of his ears. When everything felt settled once again, he opened his eyes.

“Do you mean like this?”

She nodded quickly. Her own lilac skin was light against his transformed hand. With a heavy sigh, Keith pushed himself up into a sitting position. He leaned against the bed behind him. Kaia took the opportunity to crawl into his lap, and pull his hand down to hold it between both of hers. Once situated, she leaned back to look up at him expectantly. With an awkward smile, he brushed some of her bangs away from her eyes. He wished Lance was home. He really didn’t want to try and tackle this conversation on his own.

“Um…you know your Uncle Hunk and Aunt Shay?” He started awkwardly. She nodded happily. Kaia and Shay had only met once or twice, but she knew Hunk well. He spoiled her like there was no tomorrow. “Okay, you know how different they look?” There was more hesitation in her nod this time. “Well, my parents were like that. My appa looked more like me, and my mother looked more like you,” he ran a finger over her cheek. “When I was growing up I only ever looked like my appa, but when I got older I learned how to look like my mom.”

Her expression contorted into some kind of contemplative pout that Keith swore she must have learned from Lance. “Can I look like you or Papa when I’m bigger?”

Keith grimaced. He really didn’t want to have this conversation.

“I-I don’t think so, baby.”

“Why not?”

Picking her up, Keith turned her around so that she was sitting facing him. “Do you remember when Uncle Hunk and I found you?”

The pout was back, but eventually she nodded hesitantly.

“Well before we found you, you had different parents. And they both looked like you. Your Papa can’t change, because both of his parents, his mama and papa, look like him, and you can’t change because your other mama and papa looked just like you.” Keith was sure it was far too early to try and explain this to her, but he didn’t know what else to do.

God, he wished Lance was home.

“Why?” She asked immediately.

“’Why’ what, baby?

“Why do I have different par…ents?” She asked, hesitating on the unfamiliar word.

“They…couldn’t take care of you, but they knew your Papa and I would take care of you and love you.”

Kaia rubbed at her eye and Keith hoped to God she was just getting tired, not close to tears.

She dropped her hand with a frustrated huff. “Did I know the other parents?” Keith nodded and she sighed again. “I don’t ‘member.”