#you know what they say... it takes a village to raise a child. Miko_ Jack_ Raf_ Fowler_ and June have joined the metaphorical village.

[transingthoseformers]

Oh, and a contributing factor on why Optimus as well will become hyper protective of the sparkling?

Orion canonically spent some of his formative years in the wilds of Cybertron. Now, he's mostly calmed down from his legitimately feral tendencies, but. There's certain experiences you don't forget when knowing more about nature than the average mech or human. He's likely exactly seen how brutally uncaring nature has with Cybertronian wildlife (which I do assume exists and at least some of it can sexually reproduce). Animals don't have morals when it comes to survival, and I've mentioned the correlation between reproductive strategies and offspring mortality rates in nature.

And, i mean, think about what we've established in the TFP au. Transformer (i use this term specifically for members of Cybertronus cybertronii) appear to have practically minuscule gestational periods as compared to their way longer lifespans, and the sparklings are born rather small and squishy, only developing defining traits such as hardened armor pigments and more kibble later on. Small and squishy is cute, yes, but doesn't tend to fly in nature well.