A/N: I'm so happy at all the response this story has received; it's more than I could have hoped for. So, without further ado: Chapter 7.

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Luke informed his son he'd be meeting Melinda for lunch the next day. He decided it was then that he should introduce them.

"Won't I be a surprise though?" Ben asked. "She's only expecting you; now she's going to be saddled with your kid."

Luke rolled his eyes largely. "She's hardly being 'saddled' with you. You're not ten and Melinda and I are not in that type of relationship. She's been married prior to this and has three grown children of her own."

Ben looked interested at this. "So have you met them?"

"Melinda's children. No, not yet."

"Why not?"

His father laughed lightly. "It hasn't really come up. We've only known each other for few days."

"Almost a week," Ben corrected. "If the rumors are true"

Luke glared at him. "Beside the point; the point is I want you to meet her and she'd love to meet you."

"You told her about me."

"No, I would have rather she met you in person."

"Why?"

"Reduce the shock effect."

Ben scowled. "Was that a pot shot?"

His father gave an innocent look. "Now, why ever would I try to do that?"

Ben rolled his eyes this time. "Cute." He muttered, folding his arms—but smiling nonetheless. "So, she's a widow eh?" He kept smiling. "So that was the angle. That must've taken you by surprise."

Luke sighed. "Son, please give me some credit. I'm old not stupid." He waved his hand, gesturing for Ben to follow him out of the apartment. "I figured it out the moment she told me what the 'angle' was."

"Still, got to hand it to Aunt Leia; that was pretty good. She's pretty crafty."

Father and son entered the turbolift and Luke pressed the button to take them to street level.

"Pretty crafty? You're just figuring that out?" He asked dryly. "Have you not been around your aunt for the last 22 years?"

Ben ignored his father's sarcastic tone.

They got were almost to the bottom, when Ben said, "I guess she figured you'd have something in common since you were both widowed."

"That's my line of thought, yes."

"It must've worked though, right?" He commented as the door's opened.

Luke conceded, smiling, "It did."

"See. Crafty." He touched his father's arm to stop him. "Dad, I really meant it," Ben said, stopping in the middle of the lobby. "I really am sorry for my behavior. I do want to see you happy. I know you've been alone without Mom for a long time. It was wrong of be to begrudge you…companionship." It was obviously difficult for him to say this. "So, if you're happy with this woman, I'm happy for you."

Luke's face softened considerably and he ran a hand through Ben's hair.

"Thank you, Son." He looked around. "Let's go home, shall we? We're only a short walk from the Temple."

"Yeah, I'm exhausted. After all, I've got to get my beauty rest; don't want to look like some monster that crawled out of the Dagobah swamps." He said cheekily.

"Force forbid."

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Luke banged on his son's bedroom door. "Ben, I know you're in there! What's taking so long?"

"I'll be out in a minute." He repeated.

It had been the tenth time Luke had heard the statement this morning. The boy had uttered it every time Luke had gone to check on his progress. It was like dealing with a female!

Luke gave up and retreated to the kitchen since it looked like he would have time for caf. He set the caf maker to percolate and waited for his son's 'minute' to be over. The caf machine signaled it's readiness and Luke started to pour himself of a cup just as Ben barged into the kitchen.

"So, what do you think?" Ben announced, pivoting in place to display his ensemble. "Pretty good right? I'd say I out did myself; very GGQ."

GGQ stood for Gentleman's Galactic Quarterly; a young man's style magazine that Ben had subscribed to for awhile.

The young man was wearing a off-cream dress tunic (pressed), grey trousers (also pressed) with hs boots polished to a fine shine. His hair contained a decent amount of product in it. Needless to say, his son knew how to dress to impress-thanks no doubt to Ben's mother and his aunt.

He apparently noticed the caf in his father's hand. "What're you doing making caf? We need to go." He asked, frowning.

Says the young man that took half an hour to get ready. Luke thought humorously.

"You're out," He said instead. "I was beginning to think you got lost in your closet or something."

"Hah, hah," Ben rolled his eyes. "Very funny."

Luke's eyes twinkled. "I thought so."

"Perfect, now if you're done being a comedian we should go."

"Yes, we should." He examined his son once more. "You're dressed rather nicely."

Well, I figured I'd put my best foot forward meeting this lady friend of yours. Don't want her thinking I'm a total disaster."

Luke nodded. "Very sound judgment."

"Thanks." He looked around. "So are you ready?"

"Yes."

Ben looked over his father in turn. "So you're comfortable with what you're wearing?"

Luke looked himself over; he was wearing brown pants and a black tunic. His boots were also shiny.

"Ben, this isn't Melinda and my first time going out. What I'm wearing is fine."

He nodded. "So her name's Melinda?" He asked, exiting their chambers in the Council tower.

"That's right."

"Pretty."

"Tell her that when you meet her."

Ben pursed his lips as if considering this. "Thanks, I think I will"

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"Melinda!" Luke greeted, approaching.

"Luke." She called back, getting up from her outdoor table.

"You did tell her about me right."

"Of course." Luke scoffed.

His father approached the woman and took her hands into his upon coming closer. He held them gently and leaned in to kiss her cheek. The woman smiled prettily, noticing Ben.

"It's good to see you." Luke said warmly.

"We just saw eachother two days ago." Melinda reminded him.

"Maybe so, but still good nonetheless."

Ben shifted, waiting for his introduction.

"This must be your son." The woman said.

"Yes," Luke put a hand to Ben's shoulder, shoving his son forward. "Melinda, I'd like to meet you to meet my son, Ben Skywalker. Ben, this is my friend, Melinda Rotham."

Melinda appraised him. "I can see where he gets his looks." She complimented Ben indirectly.

Ben tried his best not to squirm at this compliment.

"As much as I'd like to take credit for that, Melinda, Ben takes after his mother more than I."

"Is that so? Well, my mistake." She smiled. "The facial features, yes?"

"Yes, but that's just one of many features."

Ben suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as his father had discouraged it. Melinda obviously caught this.

Ben explained, "My father is referring to the fact, that while I have my mother's facial features, I also have my mother's mouth, Mrs. Rotham."

"I see."

Ben and Melinda stood examining each other for awhile.

Luke cleared his throat. "Shall we sit down?"

"Yes, let's." Melinda said. "I'm sure you're hungry."

"Starved." Ben announced.

"Understatement of the millennium…." He heard his father mutter.

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This was super fun to write. I should be writing the next chapter pretty soon. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!