Disclaimer: Voltron and its characters and locations are property of WEP. I make no claim to them. The story is mine.

Author's Notes: This story takes place after Sometimes What Happens in Dradin Should Follow You Home. I would recommend you go back and read that one first. This series is separate from the Changes/ Lumos universe. It is its own story arc.

I am really bad at coming up with titles. For the time being, I am calling this After Dradin. I am more than willing to take suggestions. If you have a better idea, please feel free to PM me. Nothing I have come up with seems right and maybe it will inspire something better from you, my readers.

I have chosen to rate this story M for adult themes and language. There is nothing really citrus or lemony in this fic; intimate scenes are very tame compared to other stuff I have written. Please know that premarital sex and its consequences are major pieces of the plot. Please don't read if this goes against your personal beliefs or offends you in any way.

This little plot bunny is based loosely on something personal. It's been therapeutic for me to write. I hope you enjoy it.

After Dradin

Chapter 1

No! No! It can't be! Princess Allura's voice screamed in her head. Staring at the plastic stick lying on the bathroom sink, Allura began to tremble. She sunk to her knees in disbelief and tears began to fall freely down her face. What am I going to do?

VVVVVV

Six weeks earlier…

Streaming through the hotel room window, the sunshine held the promise of a beautiful, mild day. In a place like Dradin, a day like this could have been spent doing any number of things: lounging by the pool, hiking in the mountains, or walking from casino to casino, gambling along the way. The couple in the queen-sized bed, however, made no attempt to get out and see what Dradin had to offer. Their interest lay only with each other.

Usually, the beautiful Princess of Arus and Commander of the prestigious Voltron Force started their days early while at home on Planet Arus. Attending to their individual duties, they were kept busy from early in the morning until late into the night. The Voltron Force was not on Arus, however. They were vacationing for the weekend on Planet Dradin, the "Las Vegas" of the Denubian Galaxy. Having spent the night before drinking and dancing into the wee hours of the morning, they decided to stay in bed on that Sunday morning.

Keith and Allura were doing anything but sleeping. The commander lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the strange room. The princess was curled up next to him, her head rested against his shoulder, her graceful arm wrapped around his narrow waist. Their naked bodies were pressed closely together. Still reeling from what had just happened between them, neither spoke. Both were lost in their own thoughts.

It was Allura who broke the silence first. "Keith?" she implored, raising her head to look at him. Her blue eyes searched his coal-colored ones for a clue as to what he was thinking.

Glancing down at the breathtaking creature in his arms, Keith replied with a simple, "Hmmm?"

"Regrets?" she asked simply.

Keith lifted his head to meet her gaze evenly. "Not at all," he replied pointedly, squeezing her shoulders in reassurance and placing a gentle kiss on her blond head. Laying his head back down on the pillow and returning his gaze to the ceiling, he sighed quietly. "I won't lie and say I am not a little concerned about the ramifications."

Allura propped herself up onto one elbow. Her long golden hair fell across her bare shoulder as she pulled the blanket tightly across her naked breasts. Staring at Keith in confusion, she questioned, "What ramifications?"

Flashing a lopsided smirk at the princess, Keith snorted. "What ramifications?" he repeated. "Are you kidding me? We had sex, Allura! Don't play the naïve princess with me. You know what ramifications I am talking about." His brow furrowed as he stared at her.

Allura traced her finger lightly over Keith's sculpted pectorals. She felt him shudder slightly at her light touch. "I don't care about any of that," she stated quietly. "I love you, Keith. I always have and I always will. And I know you love me. You wouldn't have let this happen if you didn't. How can what happened between us be wrong if we love each other?" Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt a few tears escape down her cheeks.

"Princess, don't cry. Please don't cry," Keith begged. Wrapping her in his arms, he stroked her bare back. "I have no regrets. I love you. You know I do." Pulling back slightly, he let his lips graze lightly across hers. "I have dreamed of this. Last night was the most amazing night of my life. But our weekend is over. What happens now? What happens when we go back to Arus?"

"I don't know," Allura mumbled quietly. "The Force knows about us. Do you think they will be discrete until we figure this out?"

Keith chuckled in response. "We can count on them. They have been hoping for years that we would hook up."

Quirking an eyebrow, Allura scowled in confusion. "Hook up?"

"We hooked up, Allura," Keith interrupted, running his battle hardened hand up her arm and over her bare shoulder. He saw her gaze darken as her desire reignited. Lowering his head, he kissed her lightly. He heard a small moan escape from between her lips.

"Can we hook up again?" she breathed with closed lashes. She pressed her lips firmly against his mouth, her tongue prodding gently to allow her entrance. Passion flamed again, and they became entranced only with each other.

Keith and Allura spent the rest of the morning in bed, their bodies speaking what their hearts were feeling. In Dradin, they were free to show their love in the most intimate of ways. When the time came for them to leave Dradin and head back to Arus, they put their masks back on and reassumed their official roles. But Dradin wasn't the end.

VVVVVVVVVV

Present time….

Sitting on her chaise lounge, Allura stared out at the late afternoon sky. Her tears had dried hours ago. Still in utter disbelief, she thought back to the four pregnancy tests she had taken this morning. Clear blue plus signs had appeared on every single one of them. Maybe one of them could be a false positive, but four? Allura shook her head. There was no doubt about it. She was pregnant.

Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the terrible predicament she found herself in. Princess Allura, heir to the Throne of Arus, was expected to marry a prince. It was assumed and expected that she would remain chaste and pure until the night of her wedding when she would willingly give her virtue to her new king. They would conceive a child, who would continue the line of succession. But no, not her. Not Princess Allura. She had failed miserably.

She was the Crown Princess of Arus, the unmarried Princess of Arus. And she was pregnant. She was having a torrid, semisecret affair with a commoner, with her commanding officer. Her lover? Boyfriend? Partner? She sighed as she realized she didn't even know what to call him. The father of her child was none other than Keith Kogane, commander of the Voltron Force. The man that her planet looked to as their hero and savior had become the man who had knocked up their princess.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Allura thought back over the last several weeks. When she and Keith had returned to Arus, they elected to let the rest of the Force know that they were involved romantically. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were ecstatic for the new couple and readily agreed to keep the relationship a secret. Keith and Allura had decided, however, that it would be best to keep the fact from Koran and Nanny for the moment. They needed to sort things out.

Their lives settled into a strange dichotomy. By day, they were friends and teammates. In front of Koran, Nanny, castle staff, and guests, they were friendly and professional, the way they had always been with each other. When meeting with the Force in any official capacity, Keith and Allura always kept their interactions in check so as to not raise suspicion. By night, they were a couple deeply in love. They were always looking for opportunities to steal kisses, hugs, and caresses. Late night rendezvous in secret locations became their norm. In the six weeks since their return from Dradin, the couple had desperately tried to make things work under the veil of secrecy.

As Keith and Allura lay in each other's arms the night before last, Keith had mentioned that he was tired of the hiding and the façade. Embracing her tightly, he told her that he thought it was time to bring their affair to light with the princess's advisor and governess. He loved her. This was not just a fling for him. They would try and make Koran understand that. Promising to stand by her no matter what, he was ready to face the consequences so he could be with her freely.

Allura was not so quick to agree and asked him to wait a little longer. Part of it was because of a strange bug she had been battling. She had started feeling strange about two weeks before. She noticed that her breasts were hypersensitive; there was a sharp, stinging pain in her nipples that seemed to increase each day. Then her lower back became sore, feeling akin to menstrual cramps. Allura didn't think too much of it because she knew her period was due.

Waking up nauseous this morning for the fourth day in a row, Allura realized that something was amiss. She couldn't remember if she had gotten her period, so she looked in her personal data pad to see when she had last had her menses. Noticing that she was over two weeks late, she was panic-stricken! She very quickly and discretely snuck down to the hospital wing and pilfered a few pregnancy tests from Dr. Gorma's medical supply closet. After taking several tests, the blue plus signs clearly gave her the answer she had been looking for.

Allura chuckled wryly to herself. Placing her palm on her still flat stomach, she came to the realization that they would have to face Koran and Nanny now. She would not be able to hide this from them for very long. First, though, Allura needed to figure out how she was going to tell Keith. She wouldn't be able to hide this from him either. Glancing at the clock, she saw that she still had a couple of hours until dinner. She needed to pull herself together before she faced him. The observant commander would be able to tell in an instant that something was wrong. Sighing, she rose quickly from her chaise and headed to the bathroom to bathe and dress for dinner.