Guys, I'm dabbling in OC Skywalker Babies for the first time! I hate making up OCs but I also need for Anidala to have like a dozen kids in a happy AU, so sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Written for Anidala Week 2018 (prompt: Anidala + the twins) on Tumblr! I played a little loose with the prompt this time (I'd say this fic is more Anidala + family) but never fear, the twins are still heavily featured and adorable :)

"Is Mommy sick?" Leia asked, looking up at Anakin with big anxious eyes.

"No, she's just tired," he soothed her. "So she's taking a nap."

"But she's been napping all day since school, and she didn't go to work. Mommy never skips work."

In truth, Padmé wasn't feeling well, but she was sure it was just a one-day thing and Anakin didn't want to worry the twins for no reason. "Uh…she's really tired," he improvised.

"Can we bring her a blue milkshake since she missed Dex night?" Luke piped up. About once a month, Padmé or Anakin would bring home takeout from Dex's for dinner as a (very unhealthy) treat. It was undoubtedly the twins' favorite day of the month, and Luke probably couldn't think of a worse fate than missing it.

"That's very thoughtful of you, but let's just let her rest, okay?" Anakin said.

Luke sighed. "Okay."

"But I need help with my homework," Leia whined.

"I can help you," Anakin said.

Leia gave him a look that was impressively disdainful for a five-year-old. Anakin was sure she would someday make a great senator like her mother. "You don't know anything."

"Okay, sorry I offered," he muttered.

Fortunately, five-year-old homework wasn't very difficult (Anakin had been astonished at the beginning of the year to find out that they even had homework), and both twins had successfully completed it by bedtime. Anakin supervised their teeth-brushing, then tucked them into bed. There was a big to-do about story time because that was always Padmé's arena, but eventually the twins settled for Anakin's apparently subpar storytelling skills. After making sure he knew he was their second choice.

But they fell asleep after his story regardless, and at last Anakin returned to his own bedroom to check on Padmé for the first time since picking the twins up from school many hours earlier (they'd taken up every second of his attention for the rest of the day; keeping two Force-sensitive five-year-olds out of trouble singlehandedly was no easy feat). She'd spent the whole morning and afternoon either napping or watching holodramas, and when Anakin poked his head into the room he saw that she was now asleep again.

He puttered aimlessly around the apartment for a few hours. Usually after putting the twins to bed he and Padmé would spend the rest of the evening cuddling on the sofa with a holodrama (or in the bedroom doing more…athletic activities if they had the energy), but without her the peace and quiet felt more lonely than relaxing.

When he finally started getting drowsy, Anakin went back to the bedroom to get ready for bed, then climbed in beside Padmé. She was still out cold, so he snuggled up against her and draped his arm over her, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. He reached out for her in the Force, trying to sense if she was feeling any better. Now her Force presence was radiating contentment rather than the discomfort of earlier, he was happy to discover. But…there was something else there, Anakin realized with a puzzled frown, something he couldn't quite—

He gasped in surprise, his hand unconsciously moving from her hip to her stomach. Could it be…? It would certainly explain why she'd been feeling so lousy that day…Anakin's heart pounded as he struggled to glean more information from the Force, but he couldn't, it was only that very, very faint presence. But it was definitely there.

It took all of Anakin's self-control not to wake Padmé up and send for a med droid right then and there, but ultimately his desire for her to get a good night's sleep won out over the agony of having to wait to know the truth. Also his fear of her wrath upon being woken up in the middle of the night while she was sick.

Miraculously, Anakin did fall asleep eventually after several hours of tossing and turning while his mind whirled. But despite his restless night he woke up early the next morning and lay there staring impatiently at Padmé until, after what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, she woke up too.

"Morning," she said, yawning. Then she blinked in surprise when she registered his intense gaze. "How long have you been staring at me while I was asleep?"

"I think you might be pregnant," Anakin blurted out.

Now it was Padmé's turn to stare. "What?"

"Last night, I thought I felt…something in the Force, and I still feel it now," he said in a rush, "and I think it feels like how it felt when you were pregnant with the twins, but you were already a few months along when I came back from the war so I don't know how it would've felt in the early weeks, but—"

"Hold on," Padmé said, sitting up in bed. Anakin followed suit. "You're sensing in the Force that—that I'm pregnant?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure. Can we get a med droid in? I've been waiting ages for you to wake up so we could do a test."

"Daddy, I want breakfast!"

Both parents groaned as they heard two pairs of little feet running around on the other side of the door. "Okay, I'll get them ready for school while you call a med droid, and we'll do the test once I'm back from dropping them off," Anakin said, hopping out of bed and stumbling around to get dressed as quickly as possible.

"But I'll have to leave for the Senate before you get back," Padmé protested, throwing the blankets off as well.

"Take another day off."

"I guess I could go in late," she conceded.

Anakin pulled on his boots, then darted over to kiss her on the cheek. "Don't you dare let the med droid test anything before I'm home," he said.

"Oh, come on, I can't find out half an hour before you do?"

Anakin shook his head stubbornly. "No. I—I hate that I missed out on almost half your pregnancy with the twins, and I don't want to miss a second of it this time. I mean, if you really are pregnant," he tacked on hastily, reminding himself not to get his hopes up.

Padmé's face softened. "All right, I won't start without you," she promised, taking his hand and squeezing it.

Anakin somehow managed to make the twins breakfast without burning the apartment down in his distraction. Padmé entered the kitchen while they were eating, now with a dressing gown thrown over her nightgown.

"Mommy!" the twins cried in unison, and a second later they were hurtling towards her for hugs.

"Good morning, darlings," she said, planting kisses on both heads. "How was your day yesterday? I'm sorry I didn't see you after school."

"I missed you a lot," said Luke.

Leia nodded in agreement. "Daddy was bad at helping me with homework."

"You didn't even let me help," Anakin grumbled.

"And his bedtime story was too scary," Luke added.

"Oh no," Padmé said, shooting a stern look at Anakin, who gave her a sheepish one in return. He'd thought his story about the Geonosian brain worms he'd encountered during the Clone Wars had been very entertaining, but maybe he hadn't accounted properly for the age of his audience. "Did you have bad dreams?"

"Well…no," Luke conceded. "But it was still scary. I like your stories better."

"Well, don't worry, I'll be able to tell you a story tonight," Padmé promised them.

Both twins beamed. "Were you sick? Daddy said you were just tired," Leia said, her tone indicating she didn't believe Anakin's version of events for a second.

"Yes, I was just tired," Padmé lied. "You know how busy I get with work. Sometimes I just need a day off to nap and relax a little."

"Can we do that too?" Luke asked eagerly.

She laughed. "Oh no, you're going to school today. So you'd better get back to your breakfast, you don't want to be late."

They sighed but did so, and once they were done eating Anakin ushered them out the door, giving Padmé a peck on the cheek on his way out. He dropped them off at school and then flew home again in record time, weaving through Coruscant's morning traffic even more recklessly than usual, and soon he was landing outside the apartment and racing back inside.

He found Padmé back in their bedroom, a med droid hovering beside her. She broke out into a smile when she saw him. "You may start testing now," she told the droid as Anakin hurried over to sit next to her on the bed.

He grabbed her hand while the droid began examining her. "Analysis of the results will take several minutes," it announced once it was finished.

"So," Anakin said quietly while they waited, "are you…would you be happy if you are pregnant? I know—I know we didn't really plan for more children—"

"We didn't plan for the twins either," Padmé reminded him with a chuckle.

"Good point."

"This is definitely a surprise, but I'm happy," she said next, the nervous excitement on her face confirming the truth of her words. "You know, I have been thinking lately…well, now that the twins are in school, I've been realizing how much I miss having a baby or toddler in the house."

"So have I," Anakin confessed. "I've thought about bringing it up to you, having another baby, but I figured you'd say no. You were awfully insistent after the twins were born that you didn't want to do it again."

"I think anyone would say that after pushing two small humans out of their body," Padmé said dryly, making him laugh. "But time's made me forget just how bad it was, I'm sure."

"Analysis completed," the droid said, and they both turned towards it with bated breath. "Congratulations, Senator. You are pregnant."

Padmé gasped, and Anakin felt his eyes well up with tears. "Thank you," she said as Anakin tackled her in a hug. She sniffled and hugged him back. "Thank you."

The droid informed them that she was five weeks along and ought to check in with a more specialized droid soon and then, with most un-droid-like discretion, it departed to give them privacy. "I can't believe it," Padmé said, choked up. "Oh, Ani."

"I know," Anakin said. They were both crying openly now. "We're having another baby."

"We're having another baby," she echoed, beaming at him through her tears.

Anakin cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, feeling amazement and joy and love swirling around them in the Force, their emotions so closely intertwined he could hardly tell which were his and which hers. Eventually he had to draw back for breath, still resting his forehead against hers.

"Maybe I can afford to take the full day off from work," Padmé said, and he laughed.

"Definitely. We should celebrate," Anakin declared. Then he paused. "Wait. I never even asked you if you were feeling better this morning."

Padmé laughed too. "I've never felt so wonderful," she said, leaning in to kiss him again.

They decided to wait a while before telling the twins, and as second trimester approached they figured they'd have to do it soon. Padmé had recently started showing a little bit, which would become noticeable soon enough, not to mention that Luke and Leia were already suspicious about why she'd been feeling so sick for the past couple months. And the baby's Force presence was growing stronger every day; Anakin thought it might be only a matter of time before the twins started sensing it too.

He'd wanted to tell them right away, but Padmé had persuaded him that it would be best to wait. Miscarriages were much more common during first trimester, and if anything should happen it would be very difficult to explain to five-year-olds why they weren't going to have a sibling anymore. The mere mention of the possibility had sent Anakin nearly out of his mind with anxiety, but fortunately Padmé reached second trimester with no problems. Wryly, he acknowledged it might have been for the best that he'd had no idea about her first pregnancy until she was already safely in the second trimester.

A few days after a checkup with the med droid in which they'd had confirmation that everything was going smoothly, Anakin suggested they tell Luke and Leia. Padmé agreed, so they sat them down on the sofa that evening.

Anakin was a little nervous about how they would react, and he knew Padmé was too. They'd had their parents all to themselves for all their five years of life. Maybe they wouldn't want to share with a new sibling. On the other hand, they'd always shared their parents with each other and it wasn't as though the concept of a sibling was foreign to them. All would go well, surely. Hopefully.

"We have something very important to talk to you about," Padmé began.

"Are we in trouble?" Luke asked, looking nervous.

"Of course not, sweetie," she said quickly as Anakin stifled a laugh. "Not at all. Daddy and I have good news to share, and we think you'll be happy when you hear it." At least, we hope you will, Anakin added silently.

The twins looked at them expectantly. Padmé glanced over at Anakin, who smiled encouragingly, and then she said, "You're going to be a big brother and a big sister!"

Two little mouths fell open in identical expressions of astonishment. "What?" Leia gasped.

Anakin placed his hand on Padmé's stomach, beaming. "Mommy's having a baby!"

Luke promptly burst into tears. Anakin's heart sank, and Padmé reached out to envelop him in a hug. "Are you upset?" she said worriedly.

"No," he sobbed. "I'm happy, Mommy. I want to be a big brother!"

Anakin laughed, relieved, and looked over towards Leia, who was still gaping. "How do you feel, Leia?" he asked.

Leia's mouth closed, then formed a small frown. "Will you love the baby more than us?"

"No!" Anakin said firmly, and he quickly pulled her into his arms. "Leia, Mommy and I love you and Luke so much. Nothing will ever change that. We could never love anyone more than we love you."

"So you'll love the baby less than you love us?"

"No," he said again. "We'll love the baby just as much as we love you. Not any more, and not any less."

Leia thought about that for a bit. "Promise?"

"Promise," Padmé said as Anakin kissed the top of her head.

He was relieved once more as Leia's frown was replaced by a smile. "Okay," she said happily, giggling as he gave her another kiss.

Then Luke poked hesitantly at Padmé's stomach. "Is the baby in there right now?" he asked.

"Yes."

"When will it come out? Tomorrow?"

"No, not tomorrow," Padmé said, chuckling. "Not for a while longer. You'll be six by the time the baby is born."

"Six? That's a long time," said Luke in amazement. Their sixth birthday was only a couple months away, but they didn't exactly have the sharpest concept of time yet; earlier that year Padmé had gone on a weeklong diplomatic visit to Bespin and on the third night Luke had started to cry and claimed she'd been gone for ages.

Leia was frowning again. "How did the baby get in there?"

Both parents flushed. "Uh…" Anakin said helpfully.

"Daddy and I love each other so much that we worked together to make a baby inside me," Padmé said, her voice coming out impressively matter-of-fact and un-flustered.

Fortunately, that explanation seemed to satisfy Leia for the time being, though Anakin grimaced internally as he realized that they'd inevitably have to go into more details within the next few years. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Luke said.

"We don't know yet."

"Is it twins like me and Leia?"

"Probably not."

"Why not?"

"Most babies aren't twins," Padmé said. "Twins are very rare, and very special." Luke and Leia beamed at that.

"Do you want me to show you how to sense the baby in the Force?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah!" they chorused eagerly.

He put his hand back on Padmé's stomach and beckoned them to do the same. "Reach out," he instructed them as if they were in the middle of one of the Force lessons he'd been giving them since they were very small. "Can you sense Mommy's life force?"

"Uh-huh," said Leia while Luke nodded vigorously. Both of them had their eyes screwed shut in concentration, which was utterly adorable.

"Great. Now, search harder. There's another little life force swirling around with hers. It's very small and faint, so it's okay if you can't pick up on it."

Several moments of silence. "I feel it!" Luke cried, his eyes snapping open. "I feel the baby!"

"Oh! Me too!" Leia said excitedly a second later.

"Wow! Excellent job," Anakin told them proudly. "That's some tricky stuff you just did."

Padmé was watching them with a bit of a funny expression on her face, but when Anakin caught her eye she quickly smiled and looked away.

Luke and Leia spent the rest of the evening firing off question after question about the baby. Anakin and Padmé did their best to answer all of them, and they were exhausted by the time the twins finally went to bed. "What a relief that they reacted so positively," Anakin said, flopping down on their own bed. "Even if I do feel like I just went through a Separatist interrogation."

Padmé chuckled in agreement as she changed into a nightgown. "I suppose they could change their minds later on and decide they don't want another sibling after all, but it seems like things are off to a good start for now," she said, climbing into bed beside him.

"They're going to be wonderful older siblings. I can already tell." Anakin kissed her and placed his hand tenderly on her belly, marveling at the slight curve. During her pregnancy with the twins, by the time he'd gotten back from the war she'd already had a distinctive baby bump, and he now found it so amazing to watch her stomach gradually growing from flat to round, something he hadn't gotten to experience the first time.

He closed his eyes and reached out again for the baby, as he'd been in the habit of doing every time he was close to Padmé. "Sleeping," he murmured, almost to himself.

"What?"

"The baby. They're asleep right now."

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it," he said simply.

And there it was again, that look on Padmé's face. Something almost like hurt. "What's wrong?" Anakin asked.

"Nothing," she said, too fast.

"Padmé."

She sighed. "Sometimes I feel…a little left out," she said quietly after a minute. "When you three are doing all your—your Force things. It feels like you have a secret language that I'll never be able to understand. I remember when the twins were babies you'd always know exactly what was wrong whenever they cried because they could communicate it to you somehow in a way they couldn't with me, and now with this baby too—" She took a shaky breath and stared down at her hands. "Part of me has always been afraid that our children feel closer to you than they do to me because you all have that special deeper bond that I can't be part of."

Anakin reached out to put his arm around her, heart aching. In almost six years, how had he never once noticed Padmé was feeling this way? How had he never once stopped to think how he would feel if he was the only one in their family who wasn't Force-sensitive?

"None of that is true, I promise you," he said. "The twins love you so, so much, Padmé. Just recently, for example, you should've seen how worried they were all the times you stayed home from work with morning sickness. Leia was constantly asking me if you were okay and Luke kept wanting to bring you food or a drawing or something to cheer you up. And Leia refuses to let me help her with homework and they both throw fits whenever I have to do story time because I'm not as good as you. Just in general, I'm old news because I'm the stay-at-home parent, it's you they're always excited to see every day when you come home from work."

Padmé let out a watery chuckle. "But the three of you are just…I mean, you can communicate without even speaking out loud," she said.

"So can you," Anakin replied. "How else would they know to hightail it out of the room when you give them your Displeased Senator Look?" She laughed again. "I know it's cliché to say, but motherly intuition is just as powerful as the Force."

"You really think so?" Padmé said, half-doubtful and half-hopeful.

"Absolutely. My mom didn't have the Force, but she always knew exactly what I was thinking and how I was feeling. You're the same way with the twins."

After a moment she nodded, looking cheered up. "What about with you?" she asked. "You can always sense my feelings but I can't do the same. Seems kind of unfair."

"On the contrary," Anakin protested. "I've never been able to hide anything from you, nor have I ever wanted to. It doesn't matter that you can't use the Force to sense what I'm feeling. My heart has always been completely open for you to read. Padmé, you know me better than anyone else in the galaxy, probably better than I know myself. But if you ever want to know exactly how I'm feeling at a given moment, just ask and I'll tell you."

Now Padmé was smiling fully. "How are you feeling right now?" she said, her head dropping onto his shoulder.

Anakin shifted slightly to rest his chin on top of her head, moving his flesh hand back to her stomach. A moment later Padmé was covering his hand with her own. "I'm feeling…overwhelmed," he said. "By how much I love you and our family, and how happy I am. I'm feeling like we went through so much to end up here and it was all worth it because right now, everything is perfect."

She nestled closer into his side. "Me too."

5 Months Later

Watching his newborn daughter sleep peacefully in his arms, Anakin was so entranced that he didn't even notice Padmé had woken up until she spoke. "Look at you two." He glanced over and saw her smiling sleepily at them. "She's already got you wrapped around her little finger."

"Was there ever any doubt that she would?" Anakin said, smiling back, and she laughed. "I'm surprised you're awake already, you slept much longer after the twins were born."

"Well, that was two at once. I was much more exhausted."

Padmé held her arms out expectantly, and Anakin sighed before reluctantly passing their daughter over, being careful not to wake her. His heart, already about seven times its normal size, swelled even more as he watched the angelic smile on Padmé's face as she gazed down at the baby in her arms. "She's so perfect, Ani," she whispered.

"She is," Anakin agreed, putting one arm around her and resting the other hand gently on their daughter. He turned his head to press a kiss to Padmé's temple. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got trampled by a bantha," she said, making him chuckle. "But too happy to care."

They simply sat there watching the baby sleep for a few minutes, and then they sent C3PO to fetch the twins, who were in the medcenter's waiting area with Padmé's sister Sola and R2D2. (Artoo had been assigned the job of keeping the twins distracted so they wouldn't worry about Padmé, whereas Threepio had been in the room during delivery to "help" Anakin and Padmé, though in reality he'd worked himself up into such a tizzy that Anakin had had to power him down pretty early on since all he was doing was making Padmé even more stressed).

Luke bounded into the room with Artoo right behind him, whistling happily, and Leia was following them and seeming a little more hesitant. Anakin beckoned them over, beaming. "Come meet your new sister."

Luke eagerly hurried over, Leia trailing behind. Both gasped as they regarded the newborn. "Wow!" exclaimed Luke.

Padmé quickly shushed him. "She's sleeping, Luke. Use your indoor voice, please."

"Wow," he repeated much more softly. "She's so tiny! Were me and Leia that tiny?"

"You certainly were."

"Are you okay, Mommy?" Leia asked anxiously. "You said it might hurt a little, and that's why you needed the med droids to help you get her out."

Padmé carefully shifted the baby into one arm so she could reach out and squeeze Leia's hand. "I'm doing wonderfully, sweetie. Just tired, that's all."

That seemed to soothe Leia. "What's her name?" she said next.

Anakin smiled. He and Padmé had settled on the name a few weeks earlier, and they'd discussed it just after the baby had been born (and before Padmé had fallen asleep) and agreed that they both still thought it was perfect. "Kara," he said.

Leia looked thrilled. "That was the name I liked the best!"

"Me too!" said Luke, grinning.

"It was mine and Daddy's favorite too," Padmé told them. After finding out they were having a girl, they'd spent months deliberating on names and had asked the twins for their opinion once they'd narrowed it down to a few options. Anakin had been delighted to hear that Luke and Leia both preferred his first choice, and even more delighted when Padmé had confessed that night that it was her first choice too. Kara meant dear or precious in the old language of Naboo, Padmé had told him, and as Anakin gazed down at her perfect little face sticking out of the blankets, he thought that nothing could be more fitting.

"Can I hold her?" Luke said hopefully.

Anakin nodded. "Go wash your hands first."

Luke dutifully did so, and then Anakin sat him down in a chair, took Kara back from Padmé, showed Luke how to hold her properly, and passed her over, hovering nearby in case Luke dropped her. Fortunately, he was an excellent baby-holder, and he beamed so widely that Anakin thought his heart might burst.

"I love her," Luke declared. "I love my little sister."

Padmé and Anakin both chuckled, smiling at how happy he was. "I'm glad to hear it," said Padmé. "Leia, do you want to hold her when Luke's done?"

Leia frowned, looking doubtful. "I don't know. What if I drop her?"

"I'll show you how to do it, and then I'll be standing right here just in case," Anakin reassured her.

"Well…okay."

Luke got a few more minutes before Anakin gently lifted Kara from his arms and coached Leia through the process. Leia looked awestruck as she gazed down at her sister. Just then, Kara woke up with a tiny yawn, and Leia gasped. "Hi, Kara," she said softly.

Anakin expected Kara to start crying any second—she was probably hungry—but she remained quiet and blinked solemnly up at Leia. "Her eyes are brown like mine and Mommy's!" Leia announced, looking very pleased.

"Let me see!" said Luke, craning his neck. "Aww, I wanted her to look like me."

"Well, she looks like me. Ha!"

"All right, all right, I'm sure she'll look a little like both of you when she's older," Padmé intervened while Anakin tried not to laugh. Trust their children to find something to argue about right now.

It was well into the night and Luke and Leia had insisted on staying up until the baby was born, so it wasn't long before they conked out on either side of Padmé in the medcenter bed. Soon Padmé had fallen asleep again too, so Anakin gently lifted Kara out of her arms. "Looks like it's just you and me again. Or…not," he said a moment later as she also dozed off.

Now Anakin was starting to feel the exhaustion of a sleepless night too, so he settled Kara in her bassinet, yawned, and promptly fell asleep sitting up in his chair.

"Well, Artoo," Threepio observed, "I do believe the house is going to become even more chaotic now. Three young Skywalkers. Oh, my."

Artoo chirped in agreement. Or maybe excitement. Threepio had always suspected him of encouraging the younger Skywalkers (and the older one too, for that matter) whenever they were causing trouble. At least Mistress Padmé had some degree of sense…most of the time.

Imagining C3PO constantly stressed out by the shenanigans of young Skywalker children gives me endless amounts of joy