Chapter 4: One more reason to hope
This is the last chapter. I may later write something exploring the political/strategic side of post Order 66 with an emphasis on Obitine, but the #1 aim of this story was to give them somewhat of a happy ending. Thank you.
"Obi-Wan, I think I...OUCH! I feel that I need to start pushing"
Obi-Wan quivered.
"Yes, my dear" he then knelt slightly and, touching her belly, whispered "Come baby, we're awaiting you"
Satine was inspired: "Yes, baby, don't be shy! Come meet your crazy parents!" she half-blurted, half-chuckled, all the while being bent in two by her pain.
"What a reassurance for this kid" Obi-Wan lightheartedly put in.
"Come meet this terrific mother of yours..." Satine continued on her charade, splashing around and generating some foam.
"...pacifist slayer of red and black demons!"
Her attempts at lightening up the atmosphere only partially paid off, though, because soon she was overcome by a pain so intense that she had to use Obi-Wan as support even just to keep her face out of the water.
Obi-Wan, as previously stated, wasn't a childbirth expert, but he could feel she was very close. He kissed her temple.
"Come on, my dear, you're almost there"
She twitched and knelt slightly. She was pushing now.
"Come on, I feel the baby wants out"
Satine moaned, squeezing her eyes shut.
"There you go, you're doing wonderfully!"
Obi-Wan felt her tense through the Force. He could only imagine what she must be going through.
Then, suddenly, her irregular bursts of struggle in the Force stopped, leaving room for a spark instead. It was all-encompassing and downright beautiful, just as it was during Leia and Luke's birth. He was filled with joy, tingling at his throat, spreading inside him.
Satine exhaled, then submerged her hands, reaching for something below the surface of the sea.
Obi-Wan shouldn't have really been surprised, but when he saw the puffy face and torso of a newborn emerge he held his breath, and felt tears forming in his eyes.
That was their child. His child.
"Hello love" Satine sighed, starting to cry herself. She brought the baby close to her body, holding it against her chest, as it released the very first wails, starting to cry, to breathe, to live outside the womb.
Obi-Wan wrapped an arm around Satine, while extending the other arm to touch his baby for the first time. The little one squirmed under his touch, the tender soft skin a stark contrast to his calloused hand. Through the Force, everything about this first contact felt beautiful.
They spent long, blissful moments in the water, like that, enchanted by what had just happened, savoring this new beginning.
Eventually they thought it wise to head outside, since in the absence of solar rays, the planet was starting to cool.
They gathered under the cove where Satine had left her clothes right when the midwives' boat appeared on the horizon.
Obi-Wan wrapped his cloak around her, making sure she and the baby would stay warm.
He couldn't keep his eyes off them. Satine still had her placenta to expel, therefore was still attached to the baby, whom she was still holding tightly and who was all covered in gunk, but ridiculously cute nonetheless. It turned out to be a boy.
Obi-Wan had always suspected that it would be a boy, but he had never voiced it aloud, in part because he had decided with Satine that they wanted to keep it a surprise, in part because, in truth, he was secretly scared of becoming a boy dad. It was a setting that reminded him a lot of his relationship with Qui-Gon and with Anakin, and although he was happy for a chance to recreate in part what he had lost, he was also traumatized by how things had ended up with both Anakin and Qui-Gon. However, he recognized that this was his perception, based on his personal experiences, and what had happened had little to do with the gender of this baby. Today was a happy day, and looking at his son, so tiny and vulnerable, he decided to put his anxieties aside, and concentrate on the here and now.
The midwives arrived, starting to fret over Satine and the newborn right away.
ooo
The details of the following hours would be destined to remain a blur in Obi-Wan's memory, absorbed as he was by his loved ones. Soon enough, all five of them boarded the boat, heading to the village. Satine was vaguely aware of the moons above their heads, or of the rhythmic sound of the water splashing the sides of the vessel as they advanced.
They eventually hit a berth at the small pier of the village, so Obi-Wan helped unload the boat as the midwives docked it and the small party made its way up the green hill, to the Kryze family property.
They entered and activated a small delegation of domestic droids who immediately began to scrub and tidy-out the place to make it habitable again.
Obi-Wan went for a much needed shower himself, then returned to one of the midwives handing him his swaddled baby. He held him close, sending soothing waves through the Force. Sensing that he was safe, the child wrapped his minuscule fingers around his much larger index, melting Obi-Wan's heart.
Meanwhile, the midwives took proper care of Satine, cleaning her up, stitching her up and giving her instructions for her and the baby's care. They even knocked-up a broth for all of them to share.
Satine was absolutely hungry, but after a double helping of broth, two raw carrots and some fruit she seemed fine and ready to head upstairs, so everybody moved to the cozy bedroom on the second floor.
Satine motioned to climb in bed, gladly looking forward to some rest, being very sore. It was remarkable how she managed to maintain her royal dignity even when she looked as she did in that moment, disheveled and in deshabille, closer in appearance to a shipwreck survivor than to the duchess of a large galactic sector.
When her aching back hit the mattress, she let out a relieved sigh, closing her eyes for a moment. Obi-Wan helped her in and handed her their now crying and squirming son as the midwives applied some ointment on her bruised neck.
Once certain that Satine and the baby would do well on their own, the midwives headed downstairs, asking Obi-Wan to follow them.
He obliged, not before throwing one last look at Satine and the child. Their eyes met momentarily, before he closed the door behind him, descending.
As he had expected, the midwives were filling him in with baby care details and such, making sure over and over again that nothing would be lost on him.
"Now, you're more awake than she is right now, you didn't give birth, so we'll repeat it to you..."
"...make sure she gets plenty of rest in the next few days!"
"She's youthful for her age, but today was rough on her. Don't stress her out!"
"...concerning the baby, he's a bit early, but he'll be fine: he's got plenty of meat around his bones. Help her take care of him!"
"Of course I will" Obi-Wan spoke quietly for the first time ever since their scolding began. He was in awe: everything had happened for real.
He walked them to the door, thanking them.
"We'll be back tomorrow" and just like that, they were gone.
Plenty of rest. Obi-Wan couldn't remember when was the last time when Satine had been able to get rest. Probably now, having to care for a newborn wouldn't exactly be conductive to long hours of restoring and uninterrupted sleep, but he would do his best so that she wouldn't have to get up at night.
Obi-Wan returned upstairs, and paused for a moment to look at his...family, his heart still having trouble believing what his eyes were seeing. Smiling, he quietly slipped under the covers, next to Satine, who was breastfeeding their son.
Obi-Wan snuggled against her, encircling her with an arm, stroking the baby's light tufts of hair softly with his free hand. He was a cute baby, with well-proportioned facial features and blue eyes. It was still early to tell, but his hair appeared to be blonde with some copper highlights in it. While stroking his curling little hands, he realized he had most likely inherited his long fingers. And Satine's full lips. Most importantly, he was healthy, and Maul had inflicted no lasting damage on neither him or his mum. Maul. The very thought of him and of what he had almost succeeded doing was enough to make him cringe. He knew they weren't out of the woods yet. Maul had once again proved that he wouldn't stop until he exacted his vengeance. Nauseated and on the verge of anger, Obi-Wan successfully managed to chase his bad sentiments out of his head just by concentrating on the people beside him. They were more than he could've possibly hoped for himself, way more than he deserved. His thoughts wandered to Qui-Gon, who, despite his positive outlook on everything had had to sacrifice so much in life, and to Anakin, who, despite wanting it very much, had never gotten to experience with Padmé what he was now experiencing with Satine. He felt so undeserving...everything was so unjust. He felt like he was on the verge of tears but, once again, focusing on Satine next to him was enough to re-direct his attention away from the dark corners of his soul. She had saved him so many times.
He kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you Satine"
She turned her head to face him, sensing his unspoken pensiveness, despite her tiredness. With her gaze, she encouraged him to speak further.
"Satine, you...saved all of us. If it weren't for you, probably now Maul would've killed us all. If it weren't for you, now this baby wouldn't exist, because I would be too paralyzed by grief to remember to live"
She simply raised a hand to stroke his bearded cheek.
"Thank you Obi Wan, for always being by my side when I need you, for welcoming our son alongside me..."
He smiled half sadly, half tenderly.
"For believing in the impossible and persisting even when everybody else would quit...Life with you is better. I wouldn't have it any other way"
She held the baby's little foot in her hand.
"Look at our son, isn't he precious?"
"Yes, he is"
Moonlight filtering through the windows, the small family fell asleep together for the first time. The night was far from over, they would wake up to a screaming baby multiple times, but they were happy, knowing that they had one more reason to hope.