AN – Oh my goodness, I am sooooooooooooooooooo unbelievably sorry!!! I completely lost any inspiration I once had!!!! I have no one to blame, I got into my Harry Potter fics!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters, George Lucas does!!!! So please don't sue me!

What Could Have Been

Chapter 4

Coral Candy

"He's late." Vader snapped grumpily from the sofa where he was seated next to Padme.

"Only by a couple of minutes, besides, I'm sure he'll be here any minute." Elizabeth called brightly from out in the foyer where she was checking her hair in the floor length mirror that lined the hall.

"With a decent excuse I hope!" Jak cried. Vader smiled, reached out and tried something, affectionately rubbing the young boys hair, apparently it didn't go down too well because he squirmed out of his reach.

"Are you ever going to take that plait out?" Leia questioned from where she sat opposite her mother and father. Jak glared at her and tugged at the minuscule braid at the back of his head.

"No."

"Okay, okay, I was only asking!" She held her hands up in mock surrender.

"Can I go?" Luke asked his mother. Vader noticed that he was looking decidedly bored from the armchair he was sitting in.

"No Luke, I want you to meet this boy, I want us all to meet him."

"But I'm supposed to be meeting somebody."

"Hang on if I can't meet somebody then you sure as hell can't!" Leia cried, Vader groaned at the upcoming argument that was bound to start any second now.

"Why not?"

"Because I am older and the laws of… LIFE say that the oldest should have more privileges than the young!"

"Oh please! Get over that 30 seconds, besides I'm pretty sure that you were born first because you weighed more and therefore were the first."

"Mum!" Leia shrilly cried, shooting a pleading look towards her mother. Vader rolled his eyes, 'twins', of course they were! He didn't know whether to believe that this was the life that was what would have been or was just some sort of cruel and unusual punishment from Qui Jon.

"Luke," Padme scolded, "You never tell a woman that she weighs a lot."

Luke rolled his eyes, "I never said she weighed a lot, I said she weighed more than I did when we were born."

Vader looked over at the quietest of his children, Daniel. He was hunched up over a pad of paper on the floor. He looked up at his father when he could feel his stare beginning to penetrate the side of his skull. He narrowed his eyes in question, curiously wondering why he was staring so intently at him.

He had Padme's eyes, was the first thing that Vader noticed when he returned his stare. The same loving, caring brown eyes that he had seen every time he had looked at Padme before he turned. He became so entranced by the resemblance that he didn't notice Daniel raise his eyebrows.

"He's here!" He heard his youngest daughter shriek from the foyer. He remembered himself and lowered his gaze to the floor in embarrassment.

"About time too!" Luke mumbled standing up and following the rest of them out to the door. Only Vader lingered behind, unsure of what Anakin would have done in a situation like this. Padme must have noticed because she came back and looped her arm through her husbands. He flinched at her familiar touch. Apart from the embrace that they had shared that morning he hadn't touched Padme since and he was beginning to realize how much he had missed it.

"I know you are going to find this difficult, she is after all the last one. Just promise me you won't put your weapons on the table at dinner like you did last time with Leia." She smiled. Vader grunted not really listening to her, only gazing fondly down at her. She giggled at the unusual sound, clearly grunting was not a habit that Anakin had. She pulled him out to the foyer where Elizabeth was threatening Jak that if he were to ruin this for her she would personally sneak into his room in the middle of the night and chop his 'stupid, ugly braid' off.

Padme smoothed over Luke's hair, to which he responded with messing it straight back up as she went to do the same to her other sons. Straightening her own skirt out and patting her own hair down, Elizabeth opened the door not a second after the person had knocked.

The young boy seemed stunned at the large amount of people that had obviously come to greet him at the door. Vader looked him up and down and as hard as he tried he could find nothing suspicious looking about the youngster. He was short yet still taller than Elizabeth with cropped black hair and blue eyes.

"Mum, Dad, this is Jimmy." Elizabeth announced, taking her friend by the arm and leading him in.

"Jimmy, it's so lovely to meet you, I mean well officially, not just saying hello to you when we buy fruit." Padme gushed, joining her daughter the other side of him and ushering him down the hall and into the living area before anyone had a chance to be rude about him.

Once they were out of sight Luke and Leia both turned to Jak with raised eyebrows.

"Unsuitable?" they questioned.

"He's adorable." Leia stated, "I think she should marry him." Luke turned sharply to look at her with that.

"Well I don't know about marriage, they're only twelve Leia but I don't know what you were so worried about."

"Anakin!" Vader heard Padme call before he was able to have his input on the subject matter.

"We better go." He told his children leading them into the living room where Jimmy was sitting in between Padme and Elizabeth on one of the cream colored sofas.

"Master Skywalker." A familiar sounding monotone voice rang in his ears. He turned his head to be looking at the gold colored droid he had made so many years ago as a boy. Just looking at C3PO made him smile, something that hadn't happened too often since he had been back home, just the stress of having five children for only six hours was making his head hurt, at least that was something that never happened while he had his life suit on.

"3PO." He greeted.

"Master, is there anything that I can get for you, Miss Padme and the young ones to eat or drink?" he asked robotically.

"Yes." He told him turning round to sit, remembering that this was something that the old Anakin would never do he stopped and faced him again, "Please I mean. If that's is too much then you don't have to."

"No, no Master Anakin, of course that will be fine, I will get R2 to help me." He told his master.

"R2?" He asked, vividly remembering the droid who had helped him on so many missions and other occasions.

"I think you should sit down Master, the journey obviously did something to you, R2 and I will be along shortly with your refreshments."

"Thank you." He told him awkwardly before joining Luke and Daniel on another of the couches.

"… doesn't just sell fruit Mum, he sells all kind of things. He's actually building a droid! Can you believe that Mum?" Elizabeth told Padme excitedly of the boy sitting uncomfortably next to her.

"It's nothing." He said shyly. Vader looked over at Jak who was sitting in an armchair glaring at the boy seated on the sofa.

"Tell them Jimmy." Elizabeth persuaded.

Vader listened as his daughter's first date proceeded to tell them of the droid he was building with the help of his younger brother and sister, and as he did he took turns in studying his family. Luke with the strong mind and bravery was clearly an icon of hi younger brothers and sisters. He looked slightly like Vader did and most like Leia. She was so much like Padme it was scary, from the long flowing hair to the brown eyes, to the creamy complexion. He had come to realize thought that she had inherited his own stubbornness and most likely temperament. Daniel was most like Padme in the fact that he looked like her and seemed to have a calm gentle presence about him. Elizabeth took after him with looks but had the brown eyes that her mother did. Scarily realistic impressions of him with her temper and also had an air of grace about her. Jak was… well he wasn't quite sure who he took after yet but he had a funny feeling that this wouldn't be that last of his moods.

END OF CHAPTER

A/N- Okay, you do not realize how terribly, terribly, terribly sorry I am for not updating this sooner. I know I left it a YEAR!!!!! I just lost all inspiration, this chapter is very, very bad but I felt obliged to post it as you have all been so patient. Thank you so, so, so much for all your lovely reviews. I will reply to them when I can. Please review this chapter.

Hope you all are well;

LJ

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