Chapter 38
The next morning Padme entered the kitchen to see her mother cooking breakfast. She had been seeking her mother out specifically to ask her what had occurred the day before while she and the children had gone to the village to go shopping, wanting to make sure that the children didn't overhear anything they shouldn't have.
When she had entered the kitchen her mother immediately turned to her and smiled while she was cooking some hotcakes on the stove. "Good morning, Padme. How are you feeling this morning?" Her mother asked her with a knowing smile. "Sola filled your father and I in on the wonderful news." Her mother told her when Padme gave her a puzzled look.
Padme laughed, shaking her head. "I knew Sola couldn't keep it to herself for long." She told her mother as she sat down at the kitchen table. "When did she finally spill the beans?" She asked her mother with amusement as Jobal took the hotcakes from the stove and put them on a plate.
Jobal looked over at her daughter and smiled. "Last night, after you and Anakin went to bed. She told us that you had just told Anakin that afternoon. I thought he seemed quite happy about something last evening at dinner."
"Yes, he is very happy about it, as I am." Padme answered her with a smile but then became serious. "But, Mom, there's something I want to ask you about."
Jobal looked over at her daughter with concern as she turned off the stove and walked over to sit across from her daughter at the table. "What is it, Padme?"
Padme sighed, looking down at the table and then back up at her mother. "Mom, when you took the children with you yesterday to the village? Did the children overhear anything that could possibly reveal Anakin or myself if they were to repeat it to anyone?"
Jobal cocked her head to one side. "No, Dear. Not that I know of. And if you're worried about them repeating to anyone that we are their grandparents, I've already taken care of that." She assured her with a smile.
Padme looked at her mother with awe and confusion. "Bu-But how did you…?"
"Padme, I know that you and Anakin are in hiding. And I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that. So before I took the children to the village, I had a little talk with them."
"What kind of talk?" Padme asked with concern as she leaned her elbows on the table and sat her chin in her hands.
Her mother smiled at her but then became serious. "I simply told them this…and I hope you aren't angry at me for doing so….that it was important that they pretend they are children of family friends while we were in the village because it couldn't be discovered by the Empire that their mommy and daddy were here on Naboo or ever visited here."
Padme looked at her with surprise as she sat up straight in her chair. "You told them that? And did they ask why?"
Her mother shook her head. "No, actually, I was quite surprised they didn't. They are very smart children, Padme; and I imagine with your husband being a Jedi, they are very Force sensitive. It was like they already knew that it was important for them to keep their silence. In fact, Leia even told me that she felt like there was something telling her that what I was telling them was very important and that they should obey. Luke and Sarah then agreed with her."
Padme couldn't believe it as she let out a sigh of relief and smile came to her face. "Oh Mom…I-I never would have thought...When Anakin told me last night that the children asked him why you had called me Padme, I started to doubt our wisdom in coming here with the children." But then she paused in thought. "I wonder why Anakin didn't sense any of this?"
"Padme, Anakin may be a Jedi…but he's not all powerful. I'm not sure how that all works, but I'm sure he would have sensed something if he'd talked to them about it." Jobal tried to assure her.
It was then that Anakin walked into the kitchen with a smile on his face. "Good morning, ladies."
"Good morning, Anakin." Jobal said with a smile as both she and her daughter looked at him. "Would you like some breakfast?"
Anakin put his right hand on his stomach, rubbing it in a circle. "Yes, I'm starved." He said just as Jobal got up from her chair to retrieve the hotcakes from the counter. Anakin then walked over to the table and kissed his wife on the cheek as he sat down next to her.
"Where are the children?" Padme asked him, looking over at him with puzzlement.
"Oh, they're outside on the veranda eating breakfast with your sister and their cousins." Anakin told her with a smile. "I asked Sola if she would mind spending some time with them while we talked with your parents in private."
"Yes…" Jobal added as she put a plate full of hotcakes on the table so Anakin could reach them. "…Sola came in here a little while ago with all the children and took some breakfast out there saying it was 'too beautiful of a day to sit in doors.'"
It was then that Padme got a perplexed look on her face as she looked around in realization that she hadn't seen her father at all that morning. "Where's Dad?"
"Oh, he's out there too." Her mother told her. "He heard your children were out there so he insisted on joining them." She then winked at her with a smile. "I think he wants to spend as much time as he can with them before you leave today."
Padme and Anakin laughed. "I'm glad you all got to see them." Padme told her mother with a smile.
"Me too." Jobal replied, returning her daughter's smile. "And seeing both of you alive and happy has brought all of us a lot of joy." She added with tears starting to form in her eyes.
It was then that Anakin reached over and put his left arm around Padme's shoulders as he looked over at his mother-in-law. "Speaking of joy…Did Padme tell you the wonderful news?" He asked Jobal as she sat back down at the table.
Padme and Jobal laughed. "Sola already beat me to it." His wife told him, looking over at him with a smile as he looked over at her with shock.
"She did?" Anakin responded.
"Yes." Jobal told him with a smile. "So I believe congratulations are in order, Anakin. Ruwee and I are very happy for both of you." But then she became serious. "But we expect that you will let us see our new grandchild as well when he or she arrives."
Both Anakin and Padme laughed. "Of course you can." Padme assured her as her mother smiled and started to laugh with them.
"Good, because I don't think your father would ever forgive you if you didn't." Jobal said with a wink and a smile.
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After breakfast, the entire family left the lakeside retreat to return to Theed so the 'Outlanders' could board the ship that was taking them to Alderaan. They said their good-byes at Ruwee and Jobal's home, with everyone hugging and kissing one another, wishing each other all the best and promising that they would keep in touch.
To help prevent being recognized, Padme wore her long, dark blue cloak with the hood pulled over her head to hide her face as the 'Outlanders' boarded the transport that took them back to their ship. Once onboard the ship, Adelle was there to greet them to help them with the children and their luggage as they got resettled in the perspective rooms.
It was after the ship had left Nubian orbit that Padme relayed to Anakin what her mother had told her about their children's intuition, if you wanted to call it that, for keeping their visit to Naboo a secret. Anakin, of course, was a bit surprised by this revelation but could believe it as he knew their children were, indeed, very Force sensitive; and he was glad to know that the Force had been able to speak to them about it in a way they would understand.
When they finally reached Alderaan, the ship landed at the Aldraanean Royal Palace's landing platform. Bail Organa was already there to greet them when the 'Outlanders', along with Adelle, exited the ship down the boarding ramp. "Aaron, Renee…It's wonderful to see you both." He said with excitement as he reached out to hug Padme in friendship and then released her to shake Anakin's hand with a smile.
"It's good to see you, too, Bail." Padme replied with a smile as Bail then looked over at and turned to the 'Outlander' children, smiling at them as they were looking around the hanger in awe.
"Now which one of you girls is Leia?" He asked them as he bent down, putting his hands on his knees, which brought the children's attention to him.
"I am." Leia exclaimed as she stepped forward and smiled at her new guardian. "Are you going to be my guardian while I go to school here?"
Bail smiled down at her as he stood back up. "Yes, I am. And I hope you will be happy here with me."
Leia bit her bottom lip and looked up at him, studying him, and then smiled. "I hope so too."
"Good, then why don't you and your family follow me; and I'll show you where you will be living while you're here going to school." Bail told them as he turned to walk back towards the hanger's entrance to the palace.
"Ok." Leia beamed with excitement as Padme took Sarah's hand in hers and then Anakin put both of his hands on the shoulders of Leia and Luke in a comforting manner as the family followed Bail into the palace.
The 'Outlanders' ate dinner with Bail and then stayed the night before returning to Tatooine. They felt it would help Leia adjust better to her new surroundings if her family stayed there for at least one night; but they didn't want to risk staying any longer than that in fear that they might be recognized and exposed to the Empire.
So the next morning, the 'Outlanders' said their sad good-byes to Leia and Bail before boarding the ship that was to take them home. With tears in her eyes, Leia hugged both of her parents and then her siblings with Luke and Sarah both expressing to her how much they were going to miss her, with tears streaming down their cheeks.
Anakin and Padme had also told their children, and Bail, the night before about the new baby on the way. Bail had congratulated them; and the children, although quite shocked about this news, were excited about having a new little brother or sister soon. So when Leia approached her mother to kiss and hug her good-bye, she asked if she could go home to see her new brother or sister with they arrived. Padme and Anakin both looked up at Bail and he nodded in agreement with them that that would be fine and then Bail assured them that he would send Adelle with Leia to Tatooine when the time came.
After they finished saying their good-byes, the 'Outlanders' boarded the ship for their trip home. They had a lot of changes to adjust to with Leia being away and a new baby coming. But they knew they would learn to adapt to these changes, even if it would seem difficult at first.
As Anakin had suspected, Obi-Wan, upon learning of Padme being pregnant with another child, began teasing Anakin unmercifully about the possibility of having another set of twins. But that was not the case, when she was far enough along, Padme found out that she was only carrying one child, to their relief…But even if there had been two, they would have loved both of them just as much as their other children.
When the ninth month of Padme's pregnancy finally arrived and she went into labor, there was great excitement in the 'Outlander' household when they brought home a little baby boy, who they named Benjamin, or Ben for short, as Anakin wanted to honor Obi-Wan in some way for being such a wonderful friend and 'brother' to him and Padme over the years.
Little Ben, they noticed, also looked a lot like his father as he had the same blue eyes and facial features. But, unlike Luke and Sarah, Ben had inherited the same chocolate brown hair as his mother and sister, Leia.
And, as promised, Bail sent Leia home with Adelle so she could meet her new little brother and to spend an extended visit home with her family before returning to her classes on Alderaan, classes which she loved and loved her parents for allowing her the opportunity to be involved in.
Leia had also come to love Bail almost like a father and hoped with the knowledge and training she was receiving, that someday she would make a difference in the galaxy…She somehow knew, as her parents knew, that someday she would.