Maura checked the terminal in front of her again, and yes, there it was. The Stardancer was in hangar eighteen, offloading medical supplies and food. She turned to Aric, "They're here, just landed, so let's give them a little time to offload their cargo. They'll have to wait to take off again anyway, since they were just in hyperspace almost ten hours." Regulations required the crew to be grounded for as many hours as they spent in hyperspace, and given that it was mid- afternoon now, Maura figured her sister would just take off in the morning, after spending an evening relaxing. Aric nodded his agreement, and lifted a child in each arm, carrying them to their quarters to be put down for naps. Maura grinned at the sight, there was just something charming about her husband in full armor, with a baby in each arm. She turned back to the terminal, noting that Miriah's ship was given one of the best bays at the Corellian spaceport, no doubt to show others landing here the fine workmanship – she'd been built here several years ago, but retained her beauty because Miriah was meticulous about keeping her up. She'd seen her sister more than once crawling over the hull to clean something or replace something. She wished her own ship was repaired, but the part needed wouldn't be available until tomorrow.
Maura was in a better than average mood, this mission had allowed her to spend some time in the field with Aric, and they'd moved the crib to the area between their bedroom and the refresher, giving them all a little space to move.
Aric seemed more relaxed too, the time together had done them both good. Maura still worried when she was in the field, but seemed to be able to push it into a corner of her mind and concentrate when she needed to. He noticed that she had put her amulet, with the twin's names engraved on it, between her skin and her under shirt, she told him once that it made her feel better about being away from the ship. About half an hour later, he took her hand and they strolled leisurely to the other side of the spaceport, where the frieghters docked. Aric didn't bring his huge assault cannon, but they both wore sidearms, just as a matter of uniform.
When they approached the Stardancer they could see that the cargo had been off loaded and Miriah was doing a walkaround of her ship, looking for any fatigued or stressed metal, any chunks taken off by the hundreds of asteroids and debris they went through on a daily basis. Risha noticed them first, but only glanced at them, and seeing the armor turned to shout at Miriah, "Captain, we got trou—oh wait, it's Maura and Aric!"
Maura narrowed her eyes at her little sister as they approached each other, "What are you into now that Risha would think troopers were trouble?"
"Nothing at all, it's just a reflex from when were didn't operate quite so….legally, some of the time. Where are the babies?"
"Elara is watching them, we're across the port in bay seven, wanted to see if you and Corso wanted to grab dinner together." Miriah looked at Aric with raised eyebrows, and he grinned back at her. Since a little mission they did together went south here while Maura was on desk duty, they were a little wary of the Corellian spaceport.
"Why don't I cook on the ship?" Miriah suggested. "Probably better food than the only cantina on this side of the planet."
"Because that's more work for you," Maura replied.
Miriah shrugged. "Ok then, you know I love Corellian food, so it's a date!" They agreed to meet at seven, so that gave Miriah four hours to finish her meeting with Cole Cantarus and get back here. She invited them aboard, but they wanted to get back to the babies.
Corso was pleased that Maura and Aric were here. He always loved doing things with family, and Miriah had to admit it was a pleasant diversion in their three week supply cycle. This was their second week out, and everyone was beginning to tire. She and Corso went to meet Cole, ever since the last mission cycle when Miriah encountered thieves on Balmorra, Corso wasn't taking any chances. They had just entered the main port when they saw Cole sitting at a little café. He waved them over, and they sat.
"Great to see you two again! Aren't you tired of him yet, Captain? I can take over whatever his duties are." They chuckled, knowing Cole was joking, but Corso still put his arm around her possessively.
"Aww, yeah, I just got him trained, not gonna trade just yet," Miriah joked back, winking at Corso, who blushed a little. "What kind of mission do you have for us? Maura said you needed to find somebody."
Cole stammered and finally mumbled, " I met someone….at your sister's wedding. She just took my breath away, but I didn't get her name, and I figured….I was hoping…"
"I didn't know you were there, but then there were a bunch of people," Miriah acknowledged. "What did she look like?" She was intrigued now, wondering who it might be.
"She had black, short hair and green eyes, like Magdalane's, but her face, well, she looked a lot like you. Is she family?"
Miriah looked at Corso with a slight smile, "Yes, I believe I know who you're talking about. If so, then yeah, she's a cousin, a very special young lady who's always been like a sister to me. Let me do this, I'll contact her and let her know you'd like to communicate, and let her decide. Deal?"
Cole relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes, yes, that's perfect. Thank you, Miriah. I owe you one."
They chatted for a bit, then Cole returned to work. Corso looked around at the area with tired eyes. The shipment here had been a large one, they'd even had crates in their quarters. Miriah noticed, and stood, pulling him up by a hand. "A nap seems in order, what do you think?"
Corso nodded to her, "I think you are a beautiful and very wise captain, Captain." They walked the short distance to the ship, and claimed the couch, since the crew was all out. Miriah was still musing on Cole and Mina when she drifted off.
Maura and Aric returned to crying babies and Elara with her hands full. They quickly pitched in and in just a few minutes everyone settled.
"I'm so sorry you walked into chaos," Elara told them, "they both woke at once and evidently had empty stomachs."
"Don't worry bout it, that always seems to be the case lately," Maura told her, "I swear Colin is trying to outgrow his entire wardrobe this week." She smiled at her son and he returned it, waving his arms. Calleigh was destined to be petite, Maura thought, but Colin would rival his dad for size. Aric came back into the room, officially off duty, in his "blacks", his cortosis gear, and took Colin so Maura could get out of her armor as well. He'd been half hoping the twins would still be sleeping when they'd returned so he could help her, he grinned to himself, not that he'd stop with the plate. When she walked back to the lounge area, she couldn't help brushing the back of her husband's neck with her fingertips, making him close his eyes as his heartbeat accelerated. He didn't know why, but lately it had only taken a touch or a sultry look, and he was on fire for her. She'd confessed to the same, making it almost impossible to keep their hands off each other. It made for some interesting maneuvers aboard the ship, trying to be professional with the crew present. When he looked at her, he'd wished he'd kept his eyes closed, because she'd changed into a floaty dress and put her hair up, still casual but breathtaking. He lowered his voice, "That's just not fair, Maura."
"You love it, you know you do," she said with a grin. He looked at her intently, and nodded, swallowing hard.
Miriah and Corso were already seated when she and Aric arrived, and as they walked up to the second level where they were, Maura saw her sister kiss her husband, and Corso blushed. They are so good together, she thought, and squeezed Aric's hand.
After they'd ordered, Maura turned to Miriah, "So what did Cole want?"
"Well, believe it or not, he's got a crush on Mina. Remember when Mag's aura had everyone kissing at the reception? Evidently she was the one he kissed, and then the crowd went a little wild and he lost sight of her, never knowing who she was. Isn't that romantic?" Miriah sighed. "Now, he wants to find her. I told him I'd let her know, and she could decide whether she wanted to call."
"Oh my stars, I remember her saying something about all the gorgeous men at the reception, but I had no idea!" Marua smiled.
The girls sighed, and Miriah spoke, "I remember our first kiss," she said, smiling at her husband. "You'd had a couple of drinks, to get the courage to ask if you could court me." Corso blushed again, looking away. "It was so sweet, love, and I felt it all the way to my toes!" They all laughed, and Corso took the opportunity to kiss her there, something he rarely did in a public place.
Maura looked at Aric but before she could say anything, Aric spoke up, "Yes, I do remember, sweetie, very well. You'd just gotten that new armor set, and it fit like a glove. Made it hard to concentrate that whole mission." He grinned at her, and saw her blush. Miriah had to giggle, only Aric would think armor was sexy, she thought.
They laughed and talked throughout dinner, but as soon they were finished, they knew they needed to part, each couple had a full schedule the next day. As the sister's hugged, they told each other they'd try to do this more often, since they seemed to be in the same spots sometimes. Miriah asked if Maura had heard from Mags, but neither sister had. Miriah said she'd send her a note, in case she was on a mission and couldn't talk, and let Maura know.
As Maura and Aric walked back to their ship, they held hands, stopping to kiss several times, and made the most of sleeping babies before sleeping themselves. Maura's last thought—what a great day!