"Three out of one hundred."

"What?"

"The odds of having twins. It's three out of hundred. Did you know that?"

"No… I did not." Padmé gritted out between her clenched teeth.

"The number's gone up seventy-six percent in the last thirty-seven years." Anakin answered, his gaze fixed on the screen of his phone. "So it could be that twins are common on my father's side of the family, or that we were just lucky."

"Lucky?!" Padmé cried out and turned her head away from the road to throw an angry look at Anakin, sitting on the passenger side of the car. "How can you call this lucky!?"

"I didn't mean it like that…"

"This is a disaster!" She yelled again and gripped the driving wheel even tighter. "Actually no…Before I thought that having a one child would be a disaster but now this…."she laughed and pointed at her belly "this is the end of the world!"

"And here I thought I was the dramatic one." Anakin groaned and rolled his eyes, putting his phone back into his pocket.

"I have every right to be dramatic." Padmé hissed.

"Of course you do. But you're missing out the one good thing."

"Like what? Tell me one good thing that will come out of this."

At Anakin's silence Padmé turned to look at him.

"A child. A whole new child. Ours." He murmured, catching her eye.

She sighed, turning her head back to the road. Of course he'd see it that way. It was just like when he first found out about the baby. What else could she expect?

"Yes." Padmé admitted. "And that also means double the trouble. We need twice as much money to take care of it and twice as much attention to give it… them." She corrected. Padmé didn't know how much time it would take her to remember it.

"But they're twins. They can share lots of things." Anakin tried to reason.

"That's what everyone thinks, that having a second child wouldn't be as taxing because there's the first one too. But let me just tell you, you'd change your mind pretty fast if you met Ryoo and Pooja."

"Who?" Anakin asked, his brows furrowed.

"My sister Sola's children."

"Ah. Well I suppose I wouldn't know. I don't exactly know lots of kids."

The journey continued in silence. Anakin thought he was still in shock about the news as he was feeling rather numb and emotionless at the moment. He was sure that when the realization would really sink in he'd either have a good cry of laugh over the matter, followed by a whole re-organization of his previous thoughts about what he would do once the baby – now babies - would come.

He reckoned Padmé was feeling the same as she had yet to explode on him like she'd done before. Until now she'd just snapped at him, not that he blamed her of course. It was only natural.

"What are we going to do!?" Padmé roared unexpectedly and made even Anakin flinch.

There it is, he thought sarcastically.

"I mean this changes everything." Padmé continued and Anakin could see her tearing up.

"Pull over."

"What?" She sobbed as she brought her other hand to wipe away her tears which were now streaming down her face in an alarming speed.

"You're having a panic attack. Pull over to that parking lot." He said sternly and pointed to her left.

After Padmé had turned off the road and parked her car, her head fell to on top of her hands resting on the steering wheel. She felt his hand settle on her back and rubbing it gently.

"Everything's gonna be alright." He hushed her. "It won't seem like it right now but things always work out somehow in the end. Just trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"It's going to be so hard!" She cried as she straightened and turned to look at Anakin with her teary eyes. "I don't even know how to take care of a single baby but now there'll be two human lives that depend upon me. What if I do something wrong and I kill them!?"

"You're not alone, Padmé." Anakin yet again reminded her. "We will figure things out together. Besides you're too smart to do any harm to them."

"But I'm scared." She whimpered.

Anakin was too, more than ever before in his life, but it would be of no use to tell her that now. So instead he pulled Padmé into his arms. She accepted his embrace although it took her a few seconds to really relax into it.

She continued her sniffling and Anakin could feel the moisture coming through his t-shirt on the spot on his shoulder where she was resting her head, but he didn't mind. He just kept rubbing her back comfortingly as he patiently waited for her to calm down.

Eventually she did and pulled her head from his shoulder to look at him.

"Oh I'm so sorry." She sniffled as with she wiped the last remains of her tears from her eyes. "I don't know what came over me like that. I'm sorry you had to see me like this."

"Don't apologize. I understand how you feel. And from now I want you to continue be open with me. There shouldn't be any hiding away our feelings from each other."

"Guess you're right. But I don't understand how you're so calm about this."

"I'm still in shock. It'll get to me later and I'll probably end up calling you in the middle of the night panicking." He smirked.

She laughed. "I think that would only be fair."

"From now on let's focus more on the positive thoughts, okay? And try to think less all the scary things."

"Hmm..." She only said as she'd failed to hear what he'd just said. Her thoughts had beyond help drifted away as she realized he was still holding her in his arms. From up close he really had the most bluest eyes. She'd almost succeeded in pushing away all those cute little things about Anakin from her mind but from time to time they still surfaced.

"Padmé? Did you hear what I…?" He tried to catch her attention but lost the words himself when he saw her gazing up at him in that odd way.

Her heartbeat fastened as she saw his intense gaze looking back at her and she couldn't help but bite her lower lip at warmness that spread through her because of his look. That however was the last straw for Anakin who simultaneously lunged forward and pulled Padmé towards him.

It all happened too fast for her to react and when she did realize what was happening his lips had met hers and she instantly forgot everything else.

They fell into a heated embrace as they pulled each other closer together. Anakin could still taste the salt on her lips left by her tears so he deepened the kiss. He wanted to do anything for Padmé to make her forget her terror. For Padmé, his lips felt wonderfully soft and possessing on hers and her stomach lurched when she felt his hand coming to contact with the bare skin of her back, the space between her jeans and t-shirt.

That also finally brought her back to reality.

"Anakin…Please…" She whimpered.

"What? What do you want?" He murmured between the kisses, as he did nothing to cease them.

"Please, stop." She said, but not in the way he would've liked. She sounded too serious.

Disappointment rushed through him as Anakin pulled away from her and his arms unwrapped from her middle. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but be pleased by the look on her face. She seemed completely out of breath and her lips were raw from his teeth.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Padmé sighed as she wiped her face with her hands.

"Why not?" Anakin asked petulantly. "We've kissed before. And I know you feel about me the same way I feel about you."

"It's not that." She murmured and turned to look at him. His confused look made her feel guilty. She never should've let him kiss her in the first place nor let herself give him the initiative for it.

"Then what is it about?" He scoffed. "We're going to have two children together. Why is it so wrong for us to be in a relationship?"

"You know why." She ground out. Did she really have to tell him again?

"But what if this thing between us works out? There's as much as chance of that happening as us breaking up. Hell, it's the same risk all the other couples with children in the world take."

"We've just met." She ground out. "We don't know anything about each other."

"That's not true."

"We know almost nothing."

"We could learn."

"Anakin…"

"Fine." He scoffed and turned back to his seat with a thump.

It was no use when she was like this. It seemed that whenever she got something in her head his words were always too weak to change her mind. He would drop the subject for now, but he'd not forget it.

The silence between them was awkward when Padmé pulled out of the parking lot and into the main road. Soon it came too much for Anakin who decided to bring the subject back to where it had been before her breakdown.

"Speaking of your family again… shouldn't I meet them soon?"

Padmé swallowed as the most uneasy feeling came over her. That would be the tip of the iceberg. Telling her family would be the last thing before the reality really set in.

"What do you think your parents and friends will say once we tell them?" Padmé asked quietly.

"My friends will laugh." Anakin chuckled. "They'd think it hilarious that it wasn't even second year of Uni and I'd managed to screw things up. But they'd stop laughing when they realized it would also mean I couldn't come partying with them every weekend anymore. Ben on the other hand… I'll get a scolding so bad I'll never recover."

"And your mom. How are you going to tell your mom when…"

"It's not the same as when she had me. This is a different situation and I'll make her see that. She will be happy for us in the end I'm sure. Although she might put up a resistance at first, but once she'd see her grandbabies she'll melt.

"Do you think it's wise to tell your family the same time they meet me? Shouldn't I meet them first and we'll wait a few weeks to tell them."

Anakin shook his head. "They'd be furious that we hadn't told them sooner. Or are you forgetting how well it went when you told me about the baby three months after you found out?"

His tone was teasing but it bore a slight edge to it. She didn't know when he'd be able to forgive her entirely.

"Maybe you're right. The sooner we do it the sooner it will be over and we can move on. But if you're going to be there when I tell my parents I'm warning you now. My dad will beat the crap out of you."

"Yeah… I guess I didn't give him the best of impression that one time I ran out of your house."

"Don't worry. He'd do the same even if you hadn't."

"And I guess it won't help that I'm still in school and work part-time as a mechanic."

"Hey." Padmé said when she saw his hunched form from the corner of her eye. "It could be much worse. You're studying at MIT for crying out loud. And you are working."

"I'm just afraid I'll do something to anger him even more. I'm not exactly the nicest person when someone attacks me."

"He's not exactly the calmest man either when angered, but remember I'll be there too to keep things civil."

"So we agree that we'll tell them as soon as possible?"

"Yes." She sighed.

.

.

Next Day

.

Upon seeing the wide smile on her best friend's face when Dormé opened the door for her, Padmé was assaulted with a pang of regret. She'd been stuck so deep in her own problems that she'd half forgotten her friends who were facing the same changes in their lives after graduating from university.

Dormé moved aside, letting Padmé into the apartment.

"I'm so happy you could come! None of us have seen you in ages! "Dormé squealed as she gave her a hug.

Padmé laughed at her friend who was prone to exaggerate over even smallest of things. Case in point, it had hardly been ages, since she'd sawn all her friends on their graduation day, after which they'd gone to out to party until morning. For Padmé it had been a very sober night but nonetheless unforgettable.

"But after spending four years together and seeing each other everyday now even a few days apart feels like weeks. I don't know how I'm going to cope when all of us are living in different states." Dormé continued pouting.

"Well there's always Skype." Padmé said as she took of her jacket and the two girls left to search for the others.

It was the day following the first doctor's appointment, and Padmé had been called over to Sabé's place to help her pack up her stuff since she was moving to New York the next week. All of Padmé's friends would be there today and so it also provided the perfect opportunity for her to tell them about her not taking the job in DC and instead staying in Boston with Anakin and their babies.

Yikes what a sentence, she thought to herself.

It would be like a trial run, Padmé had tried to convince herself. She could practice telling about her pregnancy to the girls before she'd had to do it to her parents, a feat that was hundred times more difficult. But unlike with her parents, Padmé wasn't as afraid of Dormé, Sabé and Cordé's judgement as much as she was of their pity.

For their whole university careers, together the four girls had devised their grand plans as to what to do after graduating. Now that they had, Dormé was leaving for an internship at a law firm in Chicago, Like Padmé, Sabé was beginning her career in political science at New York, Cordé meanwhile was moving to San Francisco for a job at the department of Education, and Padmé was supposed to move to DC for that government relations internship.

Except that she wasn't anymore.

Padmé didn't know how they'd respond to her news but she dearly wished they'd end up accepting her decision and supporting her. She knew they wouldn't exactly turn their backs on her, but she hoped there would be no resentment either.

Dormé and Padmé followed the delicious smell coming from the kitchen and that was also where they found Sabé and Cordé.

Sabé looked a lot a like Padmé and Dormé with her brown hair except hers was short and cut in a pixie style. Blue- haired Cordé meanwhile was the wild card of the group, as she was most prone to carry out the sudden impulses she got in her head. She also used to be the loudest and most opinionated of them. Sabé wasn't silent either, but she wasn't as willing to open her mouth without thinking first like Dormé or Cordé.

So, in a group like that Padmé was familiar with her lot of being the sensible one, which often resulted in her being called out as boring or the "mom". It was ironic really, that despite of it Padmé was sure that her friends would seriously doubt her mental health when she suddenly announced her news. She was just too sensible to end up like this.

"Aren't you supposed to eat the traditional "moving pizza" at the new apartment and not when you pack?" Padmé asked after hugging her friends.

"Well we reckoned we were hungry now too and the only food we both felt like ordering was pizza. We got one for you too don't worry." Sabe said shrugging.

After they'd eaten the pizzas, which luckily didn't make Padmé nauseous, the girls decided to tackle Sabé's closet and the millions of clothes and shoes that inhabited it. Luckily the apartment wasn't very large and since Sabé wasn't a very keen cooker, the stuff in the kitchen and living room were easy to pack away afterwards.

A whole four hours later the girls were laying on the living room sofa's completely exhausted. They were surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of full brown cardboard boxes and plastic bags. A bottle of beer rested in everyone's hand except Padmé's who was gulping down her water as she stared at the ceiling.

The others were in the middle of some conversation unlike Padmé who was too busy being nervous about telling them her news. But it would have to be now that they'd gotten all Sabé's things packed up and either Dormé of Cordé had yet to suggest they should all be leaving for a bar soon.

As Padmé focused back on their conversation it was unsurprisingly about their graduation afterparty.

"Do you remember the guy I was dancing with at the Venue? The cute blonde one who asked if I wanted to come with him to his place so he could show me his rock collection?" Cordé giggled. "How pathetic was he?

"He wasn't blonde." Padmé piped in. "He had a dark brown hair and you didn't meet him at Venue but at Royale. And I recall you furiously sobbing and yelling at him when he tried to hit on some other girl while you'd been getting some drinks from the bar."

"How do you remember that?" I don't remember anything that went on after midnight." Sabé laughed.

"I didn't drink any alcohol." Padmé shrugged.

"Now that I remember!" Dormé snorted. "I also remember thinking to myself what kind girl doesn't drink anything on her graduation day? All those years you labored in school and when the day comes it's all over you're just content to sip your coca cola in peace."

Padmé gave out a nervous laugh. "Yeah…speaking of that there's something I should tell you." She said lowering her bottle on the floor and moving to sit up on the couch.

Gathering all her strength she drew in deep breath and opened her mouth. "I'm not taking that job in DC. I'm staying here in Boston."

Her words were met with silence. It was Cordé who broke it first.

"You got a better job here?"

"No. I…"

"Then why are you staying? It doesn't make any sense?" Sabé asked frowning as she sat up on the couch. The other two girls followed her move.

Padmé felt ill at ease with their stares aimed at her but since she'd already started she might as well finish.

"Dormé, do you remember that guy Anakin whom I met a few months back?"

"The MIT student you had a one nightstand with?" Sabé asked frowning.

Padmé rolled her eyes. It seemed that Dormé, the blabbermouth, hadn't kept her mouth shut when she'd told her about him.

"Yeah… although…" Padmé began.

"That reminds me, I should've told you sooner but I saw him in April." Dormé exclaimed suddenly, with a guilty look on her face. "He came to the campus to look for you. When I told him I knew you, he said he hadn't meant to leave you like that and he asked me where to find you and your phone number, but I said I wouldn't give them until your exams were over. I was sure he'd forget but in the last week of May he texted me so I gave him your address and your number. I just forgot to tell you with all the graduation stuff. Did he ever call you?"

"No. He showed up at my house." Padmé scoffed. "And I knew he came to see you since he told me. But you should've told me immediately when you met him. It would've saved a lot of time."

"Well sorry!" Dormé said and threw her hands up in the air. "I just thought you needed time to focus on studying and he looked like he could be a hell of an interruption. I just wanted to be a good friend."

Padmé's shoulders dropped as they released their tension. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. You're right I did need that."

"So what about him? How did you react when you saw him again?" Cordé asked and leaned to rest her right side of her body on the armrest of the couch.

Padmé couldn't blame her for her curiosity. It was after all rarely that Padmé had any storied of boys to tell.

"I didn't react very well. Like I'm sure Dormé already told you, I had thought he'd intentionally left me that morning after we'd slept together, but when he explained himself and apologized I sort of… forgave him. And he did ask me out on a date."

"Did you go?" Cordé asked.

"Yes. I've been seeing him for awhile now."

Dormé squealed. "I knew it. He's so not your type but my god is he adorable. And hot."

"But wait." Sabé said interrupting what Dormé was about to say next. "So, he's the reason you're staying here?"

"Not entirely, but he's a major part of it." Padmé confessed. It was now or never, she supposed.

"Padmé…" Sabé sighed. Padmé recognized the tone and she felt her heart clenching. It was disproval.

"Are you serious about this? Think what you're missing out on by staying. Over some guy nonetheless."

"Yeah, this isn't like you." Cordé agreed.

"But like I said it's not really about him." Padmé insisted. "And that brings me back to the graduation night. You remember… how I didn't drink anything?

She saw the others frown until they caught her meaning. It was probably little bit silly of her to not actually say it out loud and instead have them draw their own conclusion.

"Oh my god." Cordé whispered as her hand shot to her lips.

"You're not…" Sabé gasped.

"Pregnant. You're pregnant, aren't you?!" Dormé exclaimed, finishing the sentence.

"No way!" It was Sabé's turn to yell. "How?"

"I don't know!" Padmé huffed. "We used protection but somehow…it still happened."

"But…it's you. This is sooo not like you." Sabé shook her head, repeating Cordé's words.

"It wasn't like I planned it or wanted it to happen!" Padmé snapped.

"And you're keeping it?" Dormé asked. "Why?"

"Yes. I'm keeping it." She sighed. "Believe me when I first found out I wanted to get rid of it and continue my life as normal, but then I changed my mind when I realized I couldn't go through with it. Now I can't even begin to think of anything else than keeping it." Padmé sighed.

Silence fell into the room as the girls all let the thought sink in. It wasn't necessarily the pregnancy that was the shock factor to them, but the fact that Padmé was now willingly putting her life on hold because of it. If she'd told them she planned to get an abortion or was giving the child up for adoption they would've understood, but this felt completely out of character for their friend.

"But why aren't you taking the job?" Cordé fumed. "At least you'd be able to have an income."

"It's an internship that lasts for a year so I wouldn't be able to finish it when I give birth. Furthermore, I don't know anyone in in Washington. All my family is here. I'd be all on my own and it wouldn't be fair on Anakin. He's…well he's still in university and I can't have him pull out and move to another state.."

"Man…" Dormé sighed. "All this time I was sure if one of us would get knocked up from a hook up it would be Cordé or me. Never expected this from you." She said and pointed towards Padmé.

"Yeah how did that happened?" Cordé laughed uncertainly as she was coming off her shock. "You never liked to party and never slept with a guy on the first date."

"It was just my luck I suppose." Padmé rolled her eyes. "The minute I decide to let loose something like this happens and reminds me why I never normally do it."

"What about this Anakin?" Sabé asked. "I'm guessing he wasn't exactly pleased. And you did say he was still in uni. How's he taking it?"

"Anakin was as shocked as I'd been when I told him. But it was really him who wanted to keep it. He tried even to convince me to give the baby to him to raise instead of having the pregnancy terminated. That's why I need to stay here, so he'd be able to go to school and see his child."

"Wow." Cordé shook her head. "That's something I've never seen before. A guy actually wants to commit to his child whom he'd conceived at uni."

"Yeah. Most of me is happy that he's the father because I feel like I can count on him. On the other hand, I can't help thinking that if he would've just left me after telling him about the baby, maybe I'd be more willing to actually give it up since I was alone. Then I could go to DC." Padmé laughed and gave a small sardonic smile.

"But that doesn't matter anymore. My mind is made up." She said and thought of the two little children she had pictured up in her head, the blonde-haired boy with the bluest eyes and the brown-haired girl with her hazel eyes.

"So, you're properly together now? You and Anakin?" Sabé asked as she reached for her beer.

Padmé's mind instantly went back to yesterday and their making out in the car. And also, how she'd refused him. She could still see his disappointed face whenever she closed her eyes.

She coughed. "No…It's complicated. We had a fight when he found out I'd known about the pregnancy for months before telling him. Although we made up about that we need to focus on the twins now. If we were to try and have a romantic relationship it would only cause more damage if we broke up."

"Twins?!" Dormé shouted as she was the first of her friends to respond to the phrasing.

"Twins." Padmé acknowledged with a nod.

She'd been smart to leave that little tidbit last as she saw her friends horrified faces in front of her.

.

.

At that same time across the city Anakin was elbows deep inside a car, fiddling with the engine, his fingers moving fast. He was really behind his schedule today but he had no one to blame but himself. If he hadn't spent all that time in the beginning of his shift with a stupid smile plastered on his face, just looking at the ultrasound photo the doctor had given him, he would've already be finished by now.

The car under him was one of the racing cars he'd promised Watto he'd work on for for extra money. Initially he thought he would've felt guilty for doing something illegal, but it turned out it felt like just another car. More heavily banged up than most for sure but still a car.

And now he'd really need all the money he could get since there would be another baby on the way, which he still didn't quite believe. Just when he'd come to accept and cherish the fact that there was a baby coming he'd started feeling calm. Now however it was like the whole world had come crashing down yet again.

A boy and a girl, he thought with a smile. And he couldn't wait until he'd get to meet them and actually hold them in his arms.

The thought then naturally went to their mother and Anakin grunted. Padmé's refusal still stung. He'd been so sure she would reciprocate his feelings that he'd already started picturing an image in his head about the little family they'd form together: Padmé, himself and their children.

It meant he didn't just want to be the father to the twins who only saw them every other weekend, he wanted to be as much part of their lives as Padmé. It did feel good that she'd promised to include him in every part of the pregnancy and raising their children, but it just wasn't the same. And he didn't want to be with Padmé just because it was the right thing for the children. He honestly had fell for her during the past months he'd known her.

Luckily there were six months left before the babies would be born and so he still had time to change her mind. He just needed to figure out how. He knew her well enough to know by now that his words were no use against her. That meant he needed to show her.

Make her feel and stop thinking, that was his objective.

Anakin's thoughts were abrupted when he heard someone rang the bell on the counter in the next room. Pulling his upper body out from the hood he wiped his greasy hands to the cloth next to him, and walked to the reception. Everyone else had already gone home for today so he was left responsible of serving the customers who came in.

As he walked closer he saw it was one of their regulars and one who Watto had told Anakin to always treat with the upmost respect and kindness. Luckily it wasn't hard for Anakin since the man was genuinely a nice person and he actually felt he'd stroked up a friendship with him.

"Mr. Palpatine! Anakin smiled broadly as he approached the counter. "Nice to see you again. But don't tell me the clutch of your Audi is broken again."

The man must've been a millionaire and still he came here himself instead of sending his driver or some other servant. It only made Anakin appreciate him more.

The older man smiled. "Hello Anakin. I was hoping to see you here today. No, nothing like that. This time it's my BMW that's having a spot of trouble. I was hoping you could have a look at it."

"Sure. I can have a look right now. I wasn't doing anything important." Anakin lied.

Palpatine drove his car inside and Anakin set to work. He soon found out the problem was in the electric system and since it wasn't difficult to fix, he did so.

Palpatine had insisted on staying so meanwhile Anakin worked, they continued their familiar conversation. The older man was always interested to hear how Anakin was doing in school and what kinds of dreams he had for his post graduation life. In return the older man shared his own opinions.

Usually Anakin would get little offended if someone tried to give him advice on his life, but from him Anakin embraced it. After all if there was anyone he wanted to get an advice from, it was a self-made millionaire like Mr. Palpatine.

After closing the hood of the car and declaring it as good as new, Anakin, followed by Palpatine, left back to the reception.

"So, if you could just sign here we're all done." Anakin said holding the paperwork in his hand after the other man had paid his bill.

As Anakin reached for the chest pocket of his overalls to pick out his pen, it was then that he realized he'd forgotten that he'd stored the ultrasound picture there, and so it came out at the same time with the pen, falling onto the desk.

"Oh…umm…" He coughed as he reached to pick it up, but it was too late and the other man had already seen, and recognized, it.

"Are congratulations in order?" Palpatine spoke surprised, but in a pleasant tone of voice.

"Yeah. I just found out." Anakin replied smiling nervously.

"Would you let me have a look?" The older man said as he pointed to the picture.

"Uh... Sure." Anakin replied and handed it to him. "It's…um…twins."

"Oh my." Palpatine laughed as he looked at the ultrasound picture and smiled. "That sounds like quite a new life for you, my friend. I'm very happy for you. My sincere congratulations."

"Thanks. It wasn't really planned but I'm happy. I know it sounds bad when I'm still in school, but…"

"You're a smart boy, Anakin." Palpatine said clapping his shoulder and giving him the picture back. "I'm sure you'll be a wonderful father. Age has nothing to do with it and you know that money can never replace father's love."

"You're right." Anakin said and felt his shame dissolving. He should've known the other man would never think bad of him.

"But I'm sure it won't be easy taking care of two small children with today's economy. Are you sure you'll be able to still work here only as part time?"

"I'm working on that…" Anakin said rubbing his neck. It always made him uncomfortable talking about money with other people. Especially with those richer than him.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Palpatine said after noting his reaction. "I didn't mean to be rude I only…"

"What?" Anakin asked curiously as the older man stopped to think something.

"I was thinking that I might have some work for you if you're interested. It would only be part time of course, since I don't want you to drop out of school, but I would still pay you well. And you'd be able to continue working here too. I'd only need help occasionally."

"What kind of work are we talking? And why would you want to hire me and pay me so well when there are people out there more qualified than me?"

"Well of course I want you Anakin. Like I said you're a smart boy and what's more I can trust you. It isn't easy for someone in my position to find people I can trust. And the work would mostly be car related so I know you're more than perfect for it. As you know my cars tend to have problems and sometimes I have a need a driver when my regular one is sick or otherwise engaged. Now how does that sound?"

"That sounds…perfect. But…"

"Why don't we do it like this…" Palpatine said as he reached for his pocket where he pulled out his calling card and handed it to Anakin. "I'll let you think about my offer for a few days and you'll give me a call once you've decided."

Anakin took the car and smiled widely. "Thank you mister Palpatine. You don't know how much you've just done for me. I don't how I can ever pay you back.

"It's no matter, Anakin." The older man smiled back as he shook hands with him. "I'm glad to help. And maybe someday when it's me in need of a favor you can provide it for me."

.

.

A/N: Yes, there is a plot to this story other than the pregnancy, as the summary promised. ;) And as always, thank you for your reviews!