Title: Dinner Can Wait
Author: taramidala
Rating: PG
Timeframe: NJO, a few months after the events in Balance Point.
Notes: Written circa 2000 for a challenge on the Mara_and_Luke Yahoo! group that wanted a moment in time with pregnant!Mara and daddytobe!Luke. At that point we had no knowledge of what was to come in the NJO or the rest of the EU. It was beta'ed by Jadeshand.

This is an oldie but goodie, and as such the author asks you to please note that she was 19 at the time. ;)

She felt him the minute he entered their suite. His emotions were churning, and she knew something had happened. Well, she'd just have to ask him about it, later. In a non-obtrusive way, of course. Wouldn't want him to think she'd become a worrier like him. As she felt him approach, the special place in her head and heart warmed, and she ran a hand across her curly, unbound hair and straightened her long green tunic.

"You know, I could make a comment about you being barefoot, pregnant, and standing in my kitchen," Luke began. Mara spun and glared at him. "But I get the feeling you'd really kill me."

"Got that right, Skywalker," Mara bantered back, fighting off a smile as best she could. The Luke-place in her spirit warmed considerably as he approached.

"Aw, come on, Jade," he teased softly, reaching forward to stroke her face. "Can't I have any fun with you?"

His voice was low, seductive, pleading, and…almost irresistible. Almost. He needed to work a little harder before she gave in. She rolled her bright eyes. "I would think that is the one thing of which you have plenty."

Mara tried to pull away, but he took a tight hold on her. "Enough? There'll never be enough of you for me. Besides, you like your share of fun, too."

The gaze in his soft blue eyes was unmistakable. Okay, is it just me or is it getting extremely warm in this kitchen? She asked herself, so quietly within her head that he wouldn't hear. Damn him. "Sometimes," she breathed, finally managing to turn herself around and back to the counter where the vegetables lay, waiting patiently to be cut.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and comfortably rested his hands on top of her bulging belly. "Only sometimes?" he murmured in her ear. His lips found their way first through her shining, red-gold curls, and then gently down her elegant neck.

Mara permitted herself to relax momentarily and sighed contentedly. "Isn't having fun what got us into this in the first place?" she snapped mischievously. He bit her delicately. "Ow! Okay, more than sometimes," she said with a chuckle. "Must be all the changes I've been going through…There," she said, elbowing him lightly in the stomach. "Is your male ego sufficiently satisfied?"

She could feel him smiling. He knew she was baiting him. "For now."

"Good." She pushed him away from her before spinning around to push harder. "Now get out of my kitchen."

He raised his eyebrows at her in skeptical disbelief. "Why Mara Jade, I do believe you're becoming domestic."

Mara refused to let her husband's mocking get to her. Instead, she smacked his backside playfully and shoved him further out of the room. "Say that again, Luke Skywalker, and we'll see how much fun you have from now on."

Carrying on with the act, Luke pouted. "I love you, Mara."

And she couldn't help laughing. "Yeah, yeah. Go on, or else we won't eat tonight."

She watched him walk away and her hand automatically drifted to her stomach. I love you, too. She turned back to her counter and stared at the colorful items she'd started to cut up for a salad. Just stared. Were they staring back at her? The kitchen was getting warmer. In fact, Mara realized, it hadn't stopped. A soft invisible pair of hands touched her shoulders, caressing gently, moving down her back and her arms and all over her body. Her head whipped around and she looked towards the sitting room. Luke was sitting by the window, watching the lights of Coruscant at night.

Mara looked back at her vegetables. The touch returned. Cook? Eat? Who could think about either of those things when this room was so damned hot? She brushed some stray curls back from her face, feeling the heated flush of her skin. Ah, the hell with it…

She marched into the sitting room where she was unavoidably met by her husband's lips. "What happened to dinner?" he murmured.

As best she could, Mara put her arms around his shoulders and pressed herself against him. "Dinner can wait," she whispered, kissing him again, feeling the special warmth completely overtake her, filling her, lifting her spirit high and spinning her around.

When they parted, he held her as tightly as possible and caressed her face with a lazy, loving hand. "How long do you plan to keep it sitting?" he asked.

"How about until tomorrow?" she replied, running her hands down his chest before finding his hands and giving them a light tug. Her eyes darkened as they bore into his, delighting him, enticing him, leading him away from the bright light of Coruscant and their sitting room.

They reached the dim hallway outside their bedroom; he backed her against the wall and smothered her with another kiss. "See?" he breathed against her full lips. "I told you you liked fun."