Author's Note: Another snippet into the terribly sad lives of the Skywalkers. Sorry about the delay in updates, life, and other stories took up my time. But the next few snapshots are underway and should be posted in a few days!

Please review! :)

look into my eyes, that's where my demons hide

...

"Surprise!"

A chorus of delighted voices welcomes her when she swings the front door open as Padme and her mother bring the newborn twins home for the first time. She looks up and smiles at the friendly faces beaming all around at her, the ever present camera rolling to capture this moment for Anakin to watch later; her sister and brother-in-law, her nieces, her father, Dorme, Satine, Anakin's step-father, Cliegg, and step-brother, Owen and his girlfriend, Beru, and Ahsoka Tano, his adopted sister; they're all here for this joyous event. A banner hangs from the ceiling, displaying the words; IT'S A BOY in blue and IT'S A GIRL in pink, connected together with a terrible scotch tape job, as though someone had found two different banners and stuck them together to fit her situation. Despite how exhausted she is, Padme still manages to laugh softly at the endearing welcome home attempt – she's willing to bet it was Ahsoka's idea, because she's the most adorable, eclectic sixteen-year-old Padme has ever met, and it's just like her to do something like this.

Suddenly, everyone surrounds her, peering over her shoulder at her son, or cooing over Leia as she rests in her grandmother's arms, asking her millions of questions which she answers vaguely, lost in some other world. As wonderful as it is to have her family around her, she can't help but feel like something's missing. No…Not something. Someone. Anakin is missing. It should be him standing next to her, holding their daughter, not her mother.

Sniffling, she glances down at her sleeping baby boy, looking so much like his father, and strokes the top of his head fondly. Now is not the time to be upset, she knows. This is a happy moment, and Padme has to pull herself together and be strong. Her babies need her to be strong. Her husband needs her to be strong even more so.

Her father approaches her and asks to hold Luke, and Padme smiles at him and places the baby gently in his arms. The endearing expression of complete infatuation that crosses her father's face as he holds his first- and only - grandson is enough to bring Padme to tears. As much as Ruwee Naberrie loves his daughters and granddaughters, finally having a boy in the family is a big deal to him. It's an important moment for him and Padme both, and she feels proud to have given her father what he's always secretly wanted. They share a loving, joyful smile together over Luke.

The twins are passed around the family members, everyone wanting to have their turn with the babies, and Padme sits down on the sofa, completely exhausted. All she wants is for her family to leave, so that she can be with her babies all by herself – they'd been kept in the hospital NICU unit for two weeks, and now that they are finally home, Padme wants to make up for lost time. But, she knows such a thing would be rude…Anakin's family especially deserves to have time with the children, considering they weren't at the hospital for their birth.

Still, as she watches her entire family interacting with her babies, she can't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, they'd be better off with her sister, or her mother, than with her. Motherhood comes so effortlessly to them; she can see it in the way they hold the twins, the way they talk to them. Padme doesn't know the first thing about being a mother. And, she's going to have to find out all on her own. She's never been particularly good with children. Not even when babysitting her nieces for her sister's date nights. Of course, she manages, but it's awfully stressful, and once she finally puts the girls to bed, only then is she able to relax.

Now, with her own children, she won't have that luxury. She won't be able to just wait until her sister returns and then go back home and drink a bottle of wine and watch another episode of Law and Order: SVU. She'll have to be on constant alert, won't be able to relax for a minute, in case something goes wrong, and she feels dangerously out of her depth. And, since she is nursing, she even has to forgo the relaxing glass of wine now.

Sola is holding Leia and bends down so that her daughters can see their new cousin. "Look, girls," she whispers in awe. "Say 'hello' to your new cousin, Leia."

Ryoo and Pooja ooh and ahh as they gaze upon their baby cousin, and Ryoo reaches out and strokes the top of her head. "She's so pretty! Just like Aunty Padme!" Sola looks up over her daughters' heads to meet Padme's eyes and smiles warmly at her, and Padme attempts to return it, even though all she wants to do is curl up into a ball and cry herself to sleep.

Pooja nods enthusiastically along with her older sister and smiles. "And, she's so tiny, Mama!"

"You were this tiny once, Sweetie," Sola tells her youngest daughter, affectionately.

On the other side of the room, Cliegg is holding Luke, Ahsoka, Owen and Beru gathered around him. The same look of endearment is on her father-in-law's face as he holds his new grandson, and he looks up, glancing over at Padme with moist eyes. "She would have loved to meet them," he says softly, and Padme nods her head as a tear slides down her cheek.

She. Shmi. Anakin's mother.

All Padme can do is tearfully mutter, "Yes," as her eyes settle on the picture of her, Anakin and Shmi at their high-school graduation that sits on the left corner of the mantelpiece. Poor Shmi. One of the kindest, most loving women Padme had ever met and gone far, far too soon, before she could even see her precious grandchildren. She'd treated Padme like her own daughter, right from the beginning, when Anakin had first brought her home as a 'friend from school' one afternoon, and Shmi had gone all out with baking muffins and bringing them iced tea and asking Padme thousands of questions about her family and her life, how she liked school, and where she wanted to go in the future.

The love Shmi had for Anakin, and he had for her in return, was unlike anything Padme had ever seen, even within her own family. Perhaps, it was because they were all each other had had for so many years, but the bond between the two of them was so powerful, so unbreakable…in Anakin's life, Padme knew that she always came in second to his mother, even if just by a thread, no matter how often her husband told her she was all he ever needed. When his mother had sadly passed away from cancer, Anakin had been beside himself with grief. He could barely function, wouldn't eat, would retreat behind his walls and close himself off, even from his wife, and it had taken all of Padme's patience and persistence to get him to open up to her and return to the light again. He'd gotten better, of course, even somewhat moved on, though the anniversary of Shmi's death is still the toughest day of the year he faces, and all Padme can do is hold him tight and cradle him while he cries and mourns. She suddenly feels childish for being so upset about the fact that Anakin isn't here today…at least he will eventually see his children when he comes home…poor Shmi will never have the opportunity to be a grandmother, to see and hold Luke and Leia. And, that's truly heartbreaking.

Satine comes over to sit beside her as she ponders silently by herself, and she reaches out to take her hand. "How are you doing, Padme?" she asks, kindly, her pale blue eyes soft and reassuring. "I don't think anyone's actually asked you that, yet."

Padme smiles at her dear friend and gives a half-laugh. "No, they haven't. My children are stealing the show."

"Well, they are gorgeous," Satine concedes with a smile.

Affectionate tears fill Padme's eyes, and she flicks her gaze between her daughter snuggled in Sola's arms, and her son bouncing in Cliegg's. "They're just like their father. Attention finds them no matter where they go." Anakin had always been a popular, likable kid – charming, outgoing, good-looking and downright mischievous. He enjoyed the spotlight and adored attention… something he hasn't grown out of as an adult. Padme has a feeling, from the way their two babies have captured the attention of every adult in the room, that they will be exactly the same as their father.

"Don't worry. They'll be home soon, Padme," Satine says quietly, and, once again, Padme feels incredibly selfish. At least she has her family and her children while Anakin is away. Poor Satine has nothing while her husband, Major Ben Kenobi, is away, because she and Ben can't have children and her family are interstate; so, she's even lonelier than Padme is.

In response, she gives her friend's hand a comforting squeeze and flashes her a warm smile, despite how rundown she's actually feeling. "I know," she mutters wistfully. "I know. I still wish he could be here right now, though."

The two women sit together in a peaceful, understanding silence, as only two wives of soldiers can, and let the people around them buzz and hum and flitter about the two newborn babies like moths to a flame. And, Padme begins to feel just a little bit better. Perhaps, she doesn't have her husband here with her right now, but she has her family and her friends and her and Anakin's two precious babies.

And for now, that's enough.