CHAPTER TEN

AHSOKA

I've just finished my morning sickness routine when somebody knocks on my door.

"Lux?"

The person clears their throat. "No. It's me, Steela. The others are eating breakfast."

I open the door. "Steela, I don't want to hear it."

Steela takes a step back as if my resentment has literally pushed her. "I'm not here to yell at you. I'm here to apologize."

"Apologize?" This is new. "So, who sent you?"

Steela pauses, and then says "Mina.

"But," she hastens to say, "I'm not here just because of that. I messed up big time when I went through your stuff."

"Really? Tell me something I don't know."

"When I saw the vitamins I panicked and when I panic, I do stupid things. Everyone in here knows that."

Oh, I sure do. Tandin managed to halt Steela's wedding-related panic before it got too serious, but I had nightmares about her snapping and going crazy if he hadn't.

"Continue."

Steela shifts her weight to one foot, then the other. "I'm sorry. I really am, and I know that you're probably not going to just let it go because if it were my baby I wouldn't either, but if you can find it in you for be the bigger person and forgive me…"

She holds something up.

"I made something for the baby."

The gift in question is a tooka doll fashioned from a fabric which looks suspiciously like one of Steela's shirts. It has two black buttons for eyes, and squishes in my hands.

It's the perfect thing to put in a baby's crib.

I look up at her, and for the first time I see the poorly concealed hope written all over her face.

Steela knows the gravity of what she's done.

Steela is genuinely sorry and starting to make it up to me with this baby gift.

And I am not going to throw away a friendship that survived the Onderon rebellion, the Lazarus Project, and two years of being roommates, so easily.

I lower the toy. "Thank you."

Steela nods. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

I inspect the fabric. "Hold on. Is this your shirt?"

Steela nods. "Didn't exactly have a lot of spare cloth lying around. I have enough shirts though, it's fine."

"They're going to love it." I smile, waving one of the tooka's arms. "Just watch. It'll be one of those things that I'll have to wait until they're asleep before I can wash it".

The hope on Steela's face is definitely increasing. "As long as they like it."

"Thank you!" I smile, and wrap her in a bear hug.

Steela stiffens for a second, and then relaxes and hugs me back.

"So, we can speak to each other again?"

"Yes." I let her go. "Just remember that the hormones might make me go a little crazy later on so I might yell at you."

"I can deal with that," she says. "Uh…do you know what you're having? With the Force and all?"

I shake my head. "No. I want to be surprised."

She looks at my stomach, and says "Girl."

"Girl? What makes you say it's a girl?"

"Because if it's a boy, I owe Sierra ten credits."

….

I'm glad the whole fiasco with Steela has faded. At least, until the hormones kick in and she's firmly in my crosshairs again.

But in her sea of wrongdoing, there was one buoy of truth. I can't keep hiding this forever, and there's one person in this galaxy who deserves to know.

"Lux?"

Lux takes a sip of milk. "Yes?"

Okay, Ahsoka. Just do this directly, don't beat around the bush.

"I'm pregnant."

Lux spits his milk.

"WHAT?"

"I'm pregnant." I repeat.

He sets his glass down and faces me.

"A-are you sure?" he asks in disbelief, taking slow, shaky steps toward me.

Oh boy. I know this. This is the onset of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", also known as Lux's abnormal panic routine.

I nod mutely.

Lux's face breaks into a grin. "Really? We have a baby?"

He wastes no time grabbing me and pressing his lips against mine. His whole body is trembling with excitement.

"Lux?"

Lux kisses me once more. If his smile got any bigger, his face would crack in half.

"Best day ever!" he cheers, spinning me in a circle.

He runs from the room and into the hallway, pulling me by my hand. "Saw! Hutch! Ahsoka's pregnant! Pregnant! We have a baby! I'm going to be a father!"

Saw's eyes nearly bulge out of his head and all he can manage is a "Huh?"

"Are you serious?" Hutch asks.

Lux nods. "I'm in shock. Oh...I'm in shock."

Saw claps Lux on the back and squeezes one of my shoulders. "Congratulations, you two."

Hutch nods in his typical terse style. "Yeah. Congratulations."

Still giddy as a schoolgirl, Lux drags me back toward his parents' cabin.

"Mom and Dad! You're going to be grandparents."

John blinks. "Ahsoka, you're pregnant?"

"Yes," I smile. "I think I'm about ten weeks."

My father-in-law holds a hand over his mouth. "Really?"

Well. If there was any question, it's abolished now: Lux is John Bonteri's son.

He looks over at Mina. "Mina, you aren't…did you know?"

"What can I say, John? I've been there before. I can tell."

Thank goodness Mina has a filter.

John hugs first Lux, then me. He and Mina wish us well, ask me if I've had awful morning sickness (Mina didn't) and Lux if I've thrown anything at him yet (That happened to John).

But the real tell of how John feels about being a grandfather comes when he thinks we're out of earshot.

"I've only been so happy one other time in my life,"

"Really?" Mina asks. "When?"

"When we found out Lux and Sierra were alive."

HUTCH

I need some time to relax tonight. Just an hour or two to digest everything that's happened. And what better thing to do than sit in front of the University of Onderon game with Saw?

Currently, the team is down six to nothing.

"Tell me," Saw asks. "Why do we watch these guys when all they ever do is lose?"

"Because we're just that devoted of fans,"

"Devoted fans, or masochists?" Saw mutters.

The University of Onderon couldn't have timed their score better.

Saw and I are so busy cheering that we almost don't hear Katooni's steps.

"What are you guys watching?" she asks.

"It's a bolo-ball game." I say, keeping my eyes glued to the screen.

My hair stands on end. I don't think anyone can blame me for being nervous around Katooni (though Hero would beg to differ), and I'm still not sold on the whole "adoption" idea. My mom was a mom at nineteen, and look how well that turned out for her. She spent her whole life slaving to provide for me.

"Oh. Can I watch?"

"Sure, sure." Saw says, scooting over to make room.

Katooni wedges herself between me and the armrest, prompting me to scoot into the few inches of room Saw made and hold my hands in front of my versus at my sides.

"So, who do we like?" she asks.

"We like the Rupings," I tell her.

"Oh," Katooni makes herself comfortable, and then asks: "What colors are they wearing?"

"The blue and orange."

Come on, Hutch. You were a curious kid once, you probably asked more questions than Katooni is. Anyway, it's not like U of Onderon is doing anything at the moment except losing.

"Okay. Can I have some of your chips?"

Saw deposits the bowl of snacks onto my lap, and Katooni's little hand reaches in to grab a handful.

Just then, there's a triumphant sound from the TV.

"Score, University of Onderon!"

"YEAHHH!"

"That's two scores in two minutes! They might actually win!"

"Go Rupings! Go University of Onderon!" Katooni cheers.

Saw reaches across me and taps her on the shoulder. "After every score, they sing the fight song. They put the words on the screen, so you can sing along with us."

"On Onderon there is a team that's known throughout the land…" I belt out.

It takes Katooni a few seconds to get the melody down, but soon she's singing right along with us "Old Iziz field will hear again, the Ruping battle cry!"

As Hero would put it, I've brought Katooni over to my version of the Dark Side: the wonderful world of bolo-ball.

I would like a kid who likes to watch bolo-ball with me - Hutch, are you losing your mind?

When the song ends, Katooni leans back in her seat. "This is fun, Hutch. I'm going to miss it when I leave."

I stop. "Leave? Why would you leave?"

Katooni wrings her hands. "You all have been really nice to me, especially Hero and Mina. I don't want to be a bother to any of you, so I figured I'd ask Hondo if he could take care of me."

"Hondo? Isn't he the pirate who brought us rocket launchers during the rebellion?"

I remember that crusty old pirate, for sure. The first thing he did when he dropped off the rockets was ogle Steela and announce "Well, you could be my new favorite spice."

Thank the Lord Steela had the self-control to say "Yeah, I don't think so" and not just shoot him.

Katooni nods. "Yes. He helped me build my lightsaber. I think he likes me enough to let me live with him."

Oh, hell no!

Katooni's eyes are re-glued to the Rupings game, but Saw is giving me the look. The look that says: this is it. This is your last chance to redeem yourself.

And then he gets up and walks out of the room.

I mute the TV.

"Katooni, listen to me."

Have I lost my mind? Probably. But losing my mind is better than losing my marriage.

"Hero and I were talking. If you want, you can stay with us."

The youngling takes her eyes from the TV. "You want me to live with you?"

"Well…yes."

A gasp comes from the door. I turn around.

It's Hero. Behind her, I see Saw making a quick retreat.

"Um, hi Hero. Katooni and I were just-."

"You're serious?" Hero asks. "Hutch, you really want to do this?"

I nod. "If it's okay with the both of you."

"You know full well it's okay with me, Hutch St. James!" Hero thunders.

I turn back to Katooni. "So, what do you say? Do you want to stay with us?"

"You don't have to decide right away," Hero hastens to say. "You can have some time to think if you want."

Even from this distance, I can see how tense Hero is.

Katooni swallows hard, and gives us her answer.

"I would love to."

And then, as if all her puppet strings have been cut, Hero runs forward blubbering.

….

Hours later, Saw tells me that the University of Onderon lost their game. For the first time, I don't really care.

Katooni, on the other hand, is humming "Ruping Battle Cry".

"Katooni, is that the University of Onderon fight song?" Hero asks.

Katooni nods.

"I can't believe this," Hero whispers into my ear. "We haven't even adopted the kid yet, and you've already turned her into a hardcore fan!"

(A/N: The University of Onderon fight song is an adaptation of the Ohio State Buckeyes'. Even though the Buckeyes are the only sports team I care about, I don't own them. Also, go Bucks!

A response to Beth's review: I take it you also enjoy the movie Dumb & Dumber ? I'm glad you like the fake names. (In case anyone else didn't catch it, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne are the markedly brainless protagonists of said movie.)

Thank you starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, Johnt1234, and Beth for your lovely reviews. And speaking of which, please leave a review on your way out. As Johnt1234 says, I update pretty fast and that machine runs on review power!

Until next time,

Lux's Sister