"I'm not meant for fatherhood, Obi-Wan."
"Don't be ridiculous. You've been incubating with no complications whatsoever."
Of course there weren't any complications: CorGen's prenatal nesting ward was the Republic's finest. The MD-series droids were state-of-the-art, the facilities were spotless, and the food—
"—is shameful!" Dex snapped. "I could do better blindfolded with three hands tied behind my back!"
"At least this isn't the bad old days when incubating Besalisk males starved themselves in Ojom's frigid darkness for seven months straight," Obi-Wan reminded him gently, accustomed by now to Dex's complaints. They were a natural response to the inevitable aches and pains associated with brooding, and Dex had been sitting the nest nonstop.
It was the one burden they couldn't share.
Time for a bit of distraction.
"I miss you at night, you know." Obi-Wan leaned in close and kissed Dex's throat sac. Meanwhile, his hands drifted down between Dex's legs, combing through the insulating layer of downy feathers before sliding in deeper to probe the sensitive flesh of the interior of the brood pouch and caress the warm, smooth surface of the single, precious egg it held.
Dex rumbled with pleasure at that intimate touch.
"Our child," Obi-Wan murmured, smiling.
END