~Coruscant~

Mara's eyes flew open as she frantically took in her strange surroundings. Her hand came up to her temple and she cringed at her pounding headache. She had a horrible hangover, but that didn't prevent her from remembering what happened last night. Her stomach sank at the realization of what she did. She slowly rolled over to gaze at her sleeping companion…Luke Skywalker.

Damn her impulsiveness. She wished she could blame it on the booze, but she couldn't…although she was sure the alcohol helped to lower her guard enough for him to find his way through.

She closed her eyes and recalled how it all started. She had stopped by one of her favorite taverns. She had one day on Coruscant during her current shipping run and decided to stop in for ale. She was shocked to find Luke in a corner booth obviously trying to drown away some unknown sorrow. She had never seen him so distraught and disheveled. Morbid curiosity pulled her to him. What could have possibly happened to make the usually sober Jedi Master hole himself in a dark corner and decide to get plastered?

When she slid in the booth with him he was able to muster a weak smile. The next hour consisted of him lamenting over the loss of his one true love…Callista. The former Old Republic Jedi who once swore her love for Luke left in the middle of the night, just leaving him a goodbye note. She stayed with him drinking and talking. Eventually the bar closed and they moved their party back to his apartment. From there Luke's rant went from "I love her" to "I hope she never comes back."

He was so vulnerable. She couldn't bear to see him like that. Before she knew it, she kissed him…and now she woke up naked in his bed. Frack! She totally screwed up this friendship. You don't go to friends to lovers unless you want a relationship…and she didn't want that…not now.

She slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, collected her clothing and went to the living room to dress. Skywalker was so drunk there was a chance that he wouldn't remember what happened. Hopefully he would think it was just a drunken erotic dream. She checked around to make sure she had everything before she silently left the apartment.

Wild Karrde~~ Outer Rim: One month later.

"There's another Hypercom communication to you from Skywalker." Talon said to his second-in-command. He sat down next to Mara in the ship galley. "He's sent you a message at least twice a week for the last month. You haven't even bothered opening them."

Mara sighed and looked away hoping Karrde would take the hint, but he didn't. "Mara, you need to talk to him. At least view the messages."

She closed her eyes in frustration. "If I read the messages will you leave me alone?"

Karrde moved out of his seat and gave her a sincere look of concern. "That's all I ask."

Mara abruptly stood and practically stalked to the communication center. She decided to start from the first message and move through to the last.

The first message was of a nervous looking Skywalker. He probably woke up that morning and immediately jumped out of bed and sent her a message. "Mara please contact me. I'll try calling you later."

The next six messages were similar with a distressed blond haired Jedi begging for Mara to respond. She noticed there was about a week gap from the seventh message until the last. She pushed the button to view his last message. Skywalker still looked troubled, but also anxious. "Mara, I was hoping to talk to you personally, but I guess this will have to do." The Jedi looked down and paused. Finally he looked back up to the camera lens. "Mara, Callie came back last week and we eloped." A faint smile graced his lips. "She came back when she realized she was pregnant with my baby." There was another pause. "I hope we can still be friends…after what happened between us."

Then the transmission went blank. Mara stared at the vacant viewing screen stone faced. She startled when Talon placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Mara. Does he know?"

She looked up to her smuggler boss in shock. "Know what?" Karrde couldn't know her secret and she wasn't going to play into his bluff.

"About the baby?"

Her jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

Talon shrugged. "I got sick of the trash overflowing in the 'fresher, so I emptied it. There was a pregnancy indicator stick on the bottom of the trash basket. You're the only woman on board…so through process of elimination…"

Mara buried her head in her hands in frustration. "I just found out yesterday. I bought the kit while we were planetside." She took a shuttering breath. "He doesn't know and now he'll never know."

Karrde rubbed his hand through his beard nervously. "He's the father."

Mara turned in her seat to face him. "Karrde, he has a family now. I am not going to come out of the woodwork like a snubbed "other woman" and break up his family."

He nodded his head in understanding. "What are you going to do? Are you going to keep the baby?"

Mara glared at him. "Of course!" She rubbed her flat belly. "This baby is a part of me."

Talon smiled. "Good…you don't have to do this alone Mara. The crew is like a family and family sticks together."

~Six Years Later: Coruscant~

"Talon, I really don't want to go out. I don't want Skywalker or the Solo's to see Darik." Mara was holding her 5 year old son on her lap.

Talon gave her a forced smile. "Luke is usually on Yavin 4 and we are on the most populated world in the galaxy. I doubt you will run into the Solo's." He reached down and picked up the blond haired blue-eyed boy. "Darik, you want to go to the amusement park with Mommy, don't you."

The boy wrapped his arms around Talon's neck and hugged him fiercely. "I want you to go too, Daddy."

Talon dropped a light kiss on Darik's forehead. "I would love to but I have business to take care of and then we'll be gone from this planet by the end of the day." He smiled at Darik affectionately. "I promise, we'll go hiking or to the beach on the next planet."

"Okay," the little boy said disappointed.

Talon handed Mara her son. "I'll get the deal done and we'll be gone."

She sighed and nodded. "Come on Darik, lets go to the park."

Later that day, Mara and her son were walking back to the Wild Karrde. Darik had a stuffed animal and was finishing a sugar covered pastry. As Mara neared the ship she felt a familiar presence in the Force. She stopped, searching the docking bay. Finally she saw Skywalker leaning against the Wild Karrde obviously waiting for her.

Mara shook her head in frustration. She told Karrde if Luke was on planet he would sense her. She momentarily thought about turning around and trying to avoid him, but she knew that would be impossible. He would run after her.

She squared her shoulders and walked up to him, while remotely lowering the boarding ramp of the ship. She hoped she could get Darik into the ship before Luke could get a good look at the boy.

As she neared Luke she was taken aback by the despair radiating off the Jedi. He was visibly upset and had two days growth of beard covering his face.

"Mara, I thought I sensed your presence…why have you been avoiding me all these…" Luke stopped and looked at the blond boy. Mara felt Luke's shock as he looked down at a miniature version of himself. She was sure the Jedi was verifying his suspicions through the Force. He looked up at Mara slack jawed. "Mara?"

Mara ignored the Jedi and quickly grabbed her son's hand and led him up the ramp. "Darik, go and play in your room for now."

The little boy nodded and ran down the ship corridor. She turned to Luke. "Come on in, let's talk."

She could feel Luke's anger build as he followed her up the ramp. She really couldn't blame him. He missed five years with his son.

"Mara, why didn't you tell me?"

She spun around, her green eyes glaring at him. "By the time I knew about the pregnancy you were married and with a child on the way. I wasn't going to do anything to mess up your happy little family!"

"But the boy needs his father." Luke protested.

"He has a father!" She shot back. "The only father he knows. Talon has been by my side since day one. He was with me when I delivered Darik, he helped change his diapers and stayed up with Darik when he was sick. Darik Karrde is the son of Talon and Mara Karrde! And if you ever tell my son otherwise I will fulfill my Last Command."

Luke leaned against the bulkhead looking shaky on his feet. "You married Karrde?"

Mara nodded. "Yes, we married and I then gave birth on Corellia. Corellian law is very specific. The husband in the marriage is the presumed father of any child born into the marriage. Period!"

Luke turned white. "Can I sit down?"

She glared at him for a moment, but then her face softened. "Come on to the galley. I'll get you some water." They walked down to the kitchen area. Mara pulled a bottle of water out of the cooling unit and sat it on the small dining table. Mara sat down and motioned for Luke to do the same.

"Luke, let us raise our son without interference. You already have a son. Go back to your family."

She could see tears welling up in his eyes. "The boy is not my son?"

She looked at him confused. "Who?"

"Ben," Luke said referring to the child he had with Callista. "I'm on Coruscant because Ben was ill and he needed an operation for a heart defect."

"I'm sorry, Luke." Mara said sincerely.

He nodded sadly. "He's fine now, but I found out Ben's blood type was AB…I'm an O blood type. There is no possibility that the boy is my son."

Mara had seen photos of Ben Skywalker. The boy had brown hair and green eyes. She also heard the child was not Force sensitive…Luke should have figured something was up without the need of a blood test. But then she realized Callista was a blank in the Force and with Ben not being Force sensitive it would be difficult for Luke to discern a Force signature…like he did with Darik.

"Did she cheat on you?" Mara asked.

Luke shook his head. "She claims to have had a one-night-stand with some guy and got pregnant while we were separated. She honestly thought the child was mine…she says." Luke bit out the last two words.

"What are you going to do?" Mara asked.

Luke ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know. How can I raise Ben knowing he is somebody else's son?"

Mara's face turned red with anger. She was about to tear into the Jedi when she heard Darik scream "Daddy." She got up and looked around the corner in time to see Talon grab up the boy and spin him in his arms. She moved to Skywalker and pulled him over so he could see. "Do you see that? Talon is not the father, but he is raising Darik like his own. He loves this son dearly. He brings him on vacations, he helps home-school him, he's putting money away for his higher education…and Darik loves him. It's not flesh and blood but their heart which makes them father and son." She turned back to the Jedi. "You can't tell me your love for your boy evaporated when you heard the blood type results?"

Luke looked like he was going to be ill. "No, but what am I going to do? About Ben and about Darik?"

Mara's eyes narrowed. "You are not going to do a damn thing concerning Darik. You need to go home, reconcile with your wife and take care of your sick son."

"Why is this happening to me?" Luke moaned.

Mara grabbed him by the elbow and started walking him to the boarding ramp exit. "Luke, life is messy. We don't always get what we want, but we have to make the best of what we have." She left him at the bottom of the ramp then walked back to the top and activated the closing button. As the ramp slowly moved up she said. "DNA makes you a father, but taking care of and loving your family makes you a man. Go home and be a man!"

As the ship sealed with a thud, Luke realized a part of him was leaving with it. His Aunt Beru often quoted to him and old Tatooine saying-where there is love, there is pain. Nothing was truer in his life.

As hot tears rolled down his cheek he moved away from the ship and returned to his family