Chapter Twelve: What is in a Name?
A/N: I am sorry to say this, but this story shall be put on hold for a while. Exams are drawing closer and I frankly haven't had the time to work on this as much as I wanted. I hope you all understand.
The room was quiet, saving for the breathing of the man seated outside. The man, a hero, general and savior rolled into one was more worried now than he had been since, well, ever. No other day had him this worried that he could remember: there were likely countless times he had been, but today was eclipsing them from his mind.
Cole MacGrath was that man, and the building he was in was a hospital of Alderaan. He was not here for himself, or for any of his troops, or for anyone he knew from the Jedi Order. He was here for one person: well, two persons to be exact. In the other room lay his wife Lucy Kuo, heavy with their child. She had gone into labor what felt like weeks ago, but what in reality was earlier that morning. It was the mid-afternoon when Cole was finally let inside the room, but by that time he felt as if his heart would give out.
There she lay, her eyes closed and her skin surprisingly warm for one whose Conduit powers were associated with ice. He gently felt her forehead and watched as her eyes fluttered open.
"Hello Cole," she said, raising a hand to his face. "Are you all right?"
"Forget about me," he said, grasping his hand in hers. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"
"They're just about to finish cleaning him up," Kuo said, pulling Cole's hand close to her beating heart.
"Wait... him?" Cole asked, his brain seeming to short out for a second. "Him? As in... he? As in a boy?"
"Yes, my love," she said, smiling at his expression: he looked so goofy when he was confused. "A boy, Cole MacGrath: you and I have a son."
Cole stood there for a second, unsure of what to do. Everything was rushing through his head faster than a ship entering lightspeed. A boy? He was a father to a boy? He felt his knees go weak: he had a son!
A human woman entered the room, followed closely by a droid. "Here he is," she said, handing Cole a bundle. Cole, too overjoyed to hear her words, gently accepted the bundle. He looked inside and saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen: his son. He had his face, his nose, everything: but then the baby opened his eyes. They were his mother's eyes, a beautiful blue hue.
Cole stood there in silence for a few minutes, unable to do anything but look at his beautiful son. After a while, he handed the baby to Kuo, who began to gently rock him. The human woman and the nanny droid had left the room, leaving it to the family inside.
"What will be his name?" Cole asked, sitting down next to the bed. He had always wanted a son, but picking a name was never easy. There had to be one out there just right for him: he deserved no less.
"Well, we did discuss this before," Kuo said, smiling down at the baby. "You get the first name, I get the middle names: at least for this one, anyway." There was the unspoken vision of more children, but for the time being all focus was on this new baby. She rubbed his nose with hers, causing a squeal of laughter to emanate from the baby: a tiny fist shot out and grabbed onto Kuo's nose.
Kuo laughed and tried to pull away, but the grip was stronger than she thought. She just held her head there as the baby held onto her nose, giggling for a bit at the feeling. After little bit, the tiny hand let go and retreated back into the bundle, where the baby closed his bright blue eyes and went to sleep.
"He's strong for his size," Cole said with a slight chuckle. Then he remembered something a good friend of his had said, a long time ago, back when things were different and he had no idea where his life would end up. The words of his friend hung in his heart: he would never see the man again, but at least he could keep his memory alive with this act of honor.
"Zeke," he said, gently rubbing the baby's head. "His name will be Zeke."
"A beautiful name for such a beautiful baby," Kuo said, already deciding on the middle name. She too had someone in mind, someone who had been there for her when she needed it most during her undercover work. Kuo and Cole gently kissed, and then she looked back down on her son.
"Welcome to the world, Zeke Sebastian MacGrath."
