Hi! I’m sorry this took forever but I hope you’ll like it ^_^

not sure what you were expecting it to be but here are 1,000+ words of how I think this would play out!

A cause for celebration

Pamela slowly exited Ms. Darby’s car and immediately looked over to the improvised workstation where she knew her favorite Autobot was bound to be hard at work. 

To her surprise Ratchet looked up, having heard the car getting in probably and instead of getting back to work and letting her come to check in on him, as usual, he gave her that crooked half smile he seemed to keep especially for her and came over to the entrance to their hideout. 

“You came in rather late today,” he remarked as he bent down to pick her up and return to their usual spot.
“It’s not that rare that Raf is kept away by his mother to study but you always come as soon as you can… I hope this won’t change” he looked at her and said with a tenderness she would never have associated with the medic when she first met him all those months ago “I’ve missed you”. 

“We were only a couple hours late, Ratch”, She settled down gently at the palm of his hand. 

they used to pretend it was only to make talking to each other easier but by now were comfortable enough together that they both could admit they enjoyed the closeness of it. 

“you’d think an ancient being like you would find that time enough to miss anyone at all, you must either really like me or find this place extremely boring!” her fond laugh was however cut short by a sudden burp and her face turned bright red.

Ratchet’s optics widened and after a couple seconds of stunned and awkward silence, he said “was… was that normal? I never heard anyone make that kind of sound before!” Pamela didn’t finish stammering out a reply when a loud burp came from the couch where Raf just settled down yo play video games with Miko and Jack.

“What happened to you two today?” Ratchet lamented and then his optics cycled down on her in the way that always made her feel like she was the only thing that existed for him at that moment. “Also… did you change your… what did you call them again?” he gestured in her general direction. “clothes?” she tried “Yes!” he exclaimed. 

really his giddiness at remembering and understanding human concepts was one of his more endearing qualities.

“Well, today was kind of a special day,” she said “it’s called ‘Dia del Ninos’ or children’s day I guess” she shrugged. “Rafael and I went to celebrate with our families”

“Children’s day, eh?” he hummed “and how would that explain the change in appearance and the… sounds?”
“Well, it’s a day for spoiling children, basically” 

she picked at the hem of her new shirt, it really was nice, her aunt definitely knew her well. 

“families get together and the parents, great parent – you know, the adults in the family? buy the children toys and clothes and make special delicious food, it’s great!” she reclined a little back and smiled a bit as she felt him shift his fingers to better support her back. 

“the… sounds are pretty normal in humans, usually, after we eat too much or too fast. I wouldn’t be in this mess if it was at all possible to say ‘no’ to Abuela when she asks if you’d like more food… that would also explain this.” she gently rubbed her full, aching stomach.

“Well, that answers some questions but leaves some very important ones” Ratchet raised a brow and tilted his head to the side with a small smirk
“why do you even have that holiday? and why are you and Rafael the only ones celebrating it?”
“Because different cultures have different holidays,” she replied stretching lazily  “Rafael and me are Mexican, and ‘Dia del Ninos’ is a Mexican holiday. it’s traditional. I’m sure the others have their own holidays on their own time.”

“hmmm…” Ratchet stroked his chin thoughtfully and continued in his ‘I am attempting to learn about these puny human and their planet’ tone – “when did this tradition get started then?”
Pamela reached into her pocket and fished out her phone, Ratchet was a scholar, after all. she should have known he’d like to know every detail about any topic that was previously unknown to him, she couldn’t fault him for being curious about what was essentially an alien culture to him. 

and besides, it was nice to be the one teaching him for a change.

“Apparently it started in 1925, so that’s almost 100 years ago now”
Ratchet looked at her for a moment before letting out a dismissive ’pttt’ sound 

“I suppose for a species as short-lived as humans that would seem like an old tradition… a hundred years, really? and why in the name of vector sigma do you have a special holiday to celebrate the existence of young members of your species anyway? 

the way it seems to me they seem almost like uncompleted humans, in need of a lot of training and learning before they can actually become productive members of society.”

“well maybe that’s the reason!” she said, perhaps more sharply than necessary, but Ratchet’s casual remarks regarding how short and fleeting human lives were compared to the incomprehensible longevity of Cybertronians always made her feel a hole in the pit of her stomach. 

she guessed he couldn’t help it – to him, the length of human life was so small as to be ludicrous, and it probably made it a little hard to take seriously 

“maybe because our lives are so short we want to celebrate all of it! I don’t suppose you’d understand… children are more than ‘incomplete humans’! they are small and vulnerable but they are as human as any adult.
maybe when you’re a species as short-lived as mankind you learn to appreciate every moment you do get with your loved ones and family, and this holiday does just that – brings everyone together to celebrate just…” she fumbled for a moment and looked at the ground 

(his hand. she was sitting in the palm of his hand, he is a giant alien and he probably doesn’t understand anything she is saying) 

suddenly embarrassed by her outburst  “you know, just having fun and being together, I don’t really expect you to understand…”

“No” Ratchet sounded thoughtful and as she looked up at his optics she saw him looking away from her with a soft, almost wistful look in them.

his gaze was on the 3 teenagers still playing and laughing on the couch 

“Lately, since becoming more closely acquainted with some of these short-lived humans,” his optics turned back to her and her breath almost stopped at the sadness and love that shone in their depths, “I think I understand far more than I ever thought I could.”

---

A/N: I spoke with @theoneandonly-02 and they specified they wanted a Mexican S/O  (Pamela) celebrating  ‘Dia del Ninos’. 

I am not Mexican so any mistakes and misrepresentations are on me, feedback & corrections are appreciated!

It’s my first fanfiction ever so I can only hope it turned out ok 💞