Hello! I'm back with another story! And yes I know I have other stories to finish up as well- I'm working on it (slowly). In the mean time, enjoy this really quick story I wrote half asleep and then edited right before going to sleep.
Happy reading!
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, awakened by an instinct as old as time. Through her blurred vision she could make out the shape of her husband, still sound asleep beside her and unaware anything was wrong. Padme smiled as he slowly came into focus and took a moment to watch as he slept. He had been so tired lately she was glad he had yet to be disturbed. Since the Jedi had found out about their marriage and had subsequently expelled him from the order for it, he had somehow formed the ridiculous notion that he had to find a means to support her and their family. She had tried to tell him on numerous occasions that it wasn't necessary but he didn't seem to listen. It seemed to her this determination stems from his need to be useful. Without the Jedi he had lost his way a little, the path he was meant to walk, and his place in life blurred and Padme was certain that her constant presence in his life is one of the only things keeping him grounded for the moment. The instinct that had woken her came back, this time the sound that triggered it more noticeable- a small whimper from the room on the other side of the wall. Shaken from her thoughts, Padme slowly slipped from the bed and took hurried steps to investigate the source of the noise.
The room next door was barely lit. Artoo sat in the corner of the room recharging, his domed head turning and focusing his flashing red white and blue sensors on the source of the sounds. Padme carefully approached and peered over the edge of the crib at the whimpering baby. Luke. He wasn't anywhere near as fussy as his sister and it always took him several minutes to decide if it were a good time to cry or not. Luke gazed up at his mother, his lips quivering as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Padme leaned over and picked him up gently, hushing him in a soothing tone as she brought him to her chest and started to rock. Her son's tiny fists gripped at the fabric of her nightgown, his back shaking as tears started to fall. It wasn't often for him to have nightmares. More often it was Leia and Anakin always knew when she was having a bad dream. The connection between those two always seemed to surprise her. Whenever Leia was in the midst of a bad dream, Anakin was always there by her side before she even awoke. Padme often found the two of them asleep in the rocking chair the next morning. He always insisted such foresight had something to do with the Force though Padme thought the answer something much simpler as it had been evident from the moment they had been born that their baby girl had her daddy wrapped tightly around her little finger.
Luke let out a small whimper as he burrowed closer to her and she ran her fingers through the short blond wisps of hair starting to grow on his head. She paced the length of the small room, rocking him, and rubbing his back, urging him to go back to sleep. After several minutes she started to feel him grow heavy in her arms and his grip slacken. Padme smiled as his breathing evened out, a sure sign he was back asleep. Carefully, she returned him to his crib and she was unable to resist running her fingers down his smooth cheek. Was it weird she was still in awe that he was hers? There were times she couldn't help but think about the last few months of her pregnancy. At first, she had feared she would have to deliver them alone as there had been no word of Anakin's whereabouts and she had had no way of contacting him to tell him that she was pregnant. But then he did come back. And everything had seemed like they were going to be perfect. They had both been so happy that first night, they sat in bed together, talking about the future about the life they would soon live as parents… but then the nightmares started.
Anakin had been convinced she would die delivering their child and something happened to her wonderful husband that pulled him away from her. He stopped listening to her, he seemed fearful and suspicious around her to the point it had felt like neither one of them could trust the other. And to make matters worse, it had soon been discovered that Palpatine had been trying to manipulate him his entire life. Palpatine- the man Anakin viewed as a father figure- turned out to be the greatest threat not only to their marriage but to the entire galaxy. Anakin had confessed to her not long after the birth of the twins that he had almost made a different choice. That he had been so afraid, and so conflicted that he had considered leaving the Jedi Council Chambers intent on ensuring Palpatine would live. He had come so close to making a fatal mistake that it was hard for her to imagine what the galaxy would be like now had he done as he almost had. The day they had been born had been stressful enough without the added fear of what could have happened. Her labor began some time in the middle of the night. They hadn't even known there were two babies until she went into labor and the shock nearly gave Anakin a heart attack. He had been so worried about one baby he seemed to have trouble processing there was a second baby. Her labor had lasted more than seven hours and she knew every minute terrified her husband because he was so sure his dreams would become a reality. But at the sound of the first cry that emerged from Luke's tiny lungs, the fear dissipated and when the labor finally ended and the medical personnel declared all three of them in perfect health, only then did the fear disappear completely. Anakin had been captivated by their babies from the very first moment. He never wanted to put them down and every little thing they did brought a smile to his face.
Within the walls of the medical building, the chaos and disarray within the Senate and the Jedi regarding the execution of Palpatine was nonexistent. The fate of the galaxy and their respected roles in the Republic could wait. Their eager babies could not. And with their birth, came clarity. Their family mattered more than anything and so long as they were together, their love was all they needed.
Padme turned to leave the room and leaning in the doorway stood her husband, still half asleep and rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand. "Everything alright?" He asked, his voice thick with sleep.
"Yes," She whispered, wrapping an arm around his waist as they returned to their room, "Everything is perfect."
END