Ciena piloted the shuttle towards the massive, gleaming Starhawk. "Have you ever seen anything like this?" Gan asked.

"Not exactly like this, no," Ciena replied. "I've seen bigger, but never anything this beautiful."

Ciena's control of the shuttle on approach was not completely terminated. A nice gesture, she thought. She was allowed some minor controls, with pleasant sounding alerts informing her of needed course corrections and speed adjustments. Once the shuttle cleared the opening into the Docking Bay, that courtesy ended, and the shuttle was guided into its designated space.

"The Millennium Falcon!" Paron exclaimed. "You see it, honey? Han Solo must be here."

"Maybe the Princess, too?" Verine asked, clapping with excitement.

Gan and Ciena were silent as the shuttle came to rest on its repulsorlifts. Ciena scanned the Docking Bay for any sign of Thane. "I imagine he is on the Bridge," Ciena commented aloud. She flicked the ramp switch and unharnessed herself from the pilot's seat – noting how easy it used to be before she became round.

Verine, Paron, and Gan had not left the cockpit. Once Ciena disentangled herself and stood, ready to hurry for the ramp, she noticed the others staring at her. "What?" she asked.

Paron gestured for her to go first. "We thought it only fair," he said. Ciena would have thanked and kissed him on the cheek, but she bolted. She made it to the top of the ramp to see Thane was already at the bottom.

The next moment was a blur. Ciena's feet left the ground. The warmest, most wonderful lips covered her mouth. The strongest, most secure arms embraced her tightly. It seemed like an eternity of perfection before their mouths parted and Ciena's head was on Thane's shoulder. His hand practically covered the side of her head and held her there while he rocked her back and forth – still not having spoken a word. He was too busy breathing in the scent of Ciena's hair and exhaling months of anxiety and stress.

Finally, Thane set her down and stood back enough to place his hands on either side of her face. He was holding himself together. He couldn't have smiled wider if he tried, but there were no tears and his voice was clear. This was not the case with Ciena. Thane used his thumbs to swipe away some tears. "I love you," he said.

Ciena nodded, smiling just as wide, and managed a hoarse, "I love you, too."

"Hey! My turn, my turn!" Gan hurried around and Ciena stepped back and laughed. Thane grabbed his mother up and squeezed her tight.

"Mom! I am so glad you are here. I've been so worried," he said, kissing her on the top of the head. "Dalven should have been right behind me."

Next came hugs from Verine and a firm, enthusiastic handshake from Paron.

"Where's my baby sister?" Thane asked, looking around behind them.

"Napping," Gan said. "I'll get her, but I can't promise she will wake up. She's a rock when she sleeps, like her older brothers." Gan disappeared into the shuttle.

Thane turned to Ciena and took her hand. They stepped away from the group, which now included Leia, Han and Chewy. Thane got down on his knees and put his hands around Ciena's obviously larger abdomen. "Wow!" Thane whispered. He looked up at Ciena and she giggled.

"I haven't seen that look on your face since the first time we flew," Ciena remarked. "You look just as excited and just as scared!" She laughed and tussled his hair.

"It's just… you're here! I can touch you and smell you and hear you. Our babies are right here, too. We're all together. In spite of everything, we're here together," Thane said with immense relief. He kissed her belly, then stood.

"You are in the middle of something. I am certain of it. Why don't I go with the group to get settled in our quarters, and when you have time just call or come see us?" Ciena was acutely aware of what having them on the ship meant. She would go to whatever lengths were necessary to mitigate anticipated problems, and this was the first step.

Thane stood tall, staring down at Ciena's beautiful face and couldn't resist brushing a few loose curls back from her forehead. "Something so simple, and to do it makes my heart want to burst," he said. The first signs of moisture began to collect in the rims of his lower eyelids. Ciena wasn't going to allow him the chance.

"There's a lot more where that came from – I had to pull it back just to see out of the cockpit. Just wait until you see it down and all over the place," she groaned. "It's an unruly mess."

Thane leaned down and whispered, "I am looking forward to seeing that... on my pillow. I'm looking forward to a great deal more than that in just a few short hours." Ciena felt warmth and anticipation burst inside as Thane spoke to her in that voice – the one that implied he had great things in store for her later.

Ciena stood back and said, "We'll see about that, Admiral. If you have decent shears and can be patient, I might allow you to give me a trim." Thane didn't miss a beat. He played right along with the ruse of sharing idle banter, and the two of them joined the others, which now included Dalven. Gan was sitting off to the side speaking with him. They embraced and talked, embraced again and continued talking.

"I want to be read in," Ciena said, looking at Thane with determination. "I need to help. I know Nash, and I might be able to–"

"Reason with him?" Thane interjected, clearly surprised by what he anticipated she would say.

Ciena shook her head. "Nooo!" Ciena assured him. "I assume he is well past that point. I was going to say I might be able to distract him. If I can find a way to distract him for even a brief moment, we can take advantage of this. With the Jedi and Geth's Unit ready, maybe we can distract Nash for just long enough to give them a safer way in and then a way out."

Thane shifted on his feet and looked with concern towards his mother. "What?" Ciena asked, following his gaze, then looking back up to see Thane's brow furrowed. "Thane? What is it?"

"Geth is already on the ground," Thane said quietly. "I… I don't know if mom knows yet. In fact, I'm ashamed to say I completely forgot to tell her. I had better go and—"

Ciena placed her palm against Thane's chest. "It's alright. I think Dalven told her already. I'm fairly certain he must have because Gan isn't looking for Geth." Ciena glanced back at Gan to see her smiling as she watched Dalven bouncing a giggling Lucy in his arms. There was a moment where Gan's smile faded and she looked down at her feet, seeming to swallow hard and clear her throat before lifting her head and rejoining the happy moment. It was brief enough that most people would have missed it, but not Ciena.

"Your mom is as eager to see Geth as I have been to see you," Ciena said quietly, fighting back tears from the news. Thane embraced Ciena as he, too, watched his mother with his cheek resting against the top of Ciena's head.

"If all goes according to plan, he'll be back tomorrow," Thane said. Ciena merely nodded. They didn't need to put their thoughts into words. Both Ciena and Thane understood that the operative word in that phrase was "if".

Thane inhaled deeply then stepped back to look Ciena in the eyes. "I brought you here because you and the family are in danger. The last thing I intend on doing is to put you right back into the line of fire," he said calmly. "But if you have ideas that don't place you and our children in the reach of Nash's grasp, I'm all ears."

Ciena nodded, then asked, "But you will authorize my clearance level to be raised so I can be read in, right?"

Thane dropped his head and huffed. Ciena waited patiently. She knew he was battling a powerful instinct to protect her and the twins; conceding would be strong affirmation of how much her husband respected and valued her input. Thane sighed and began to slowly shake his head, and Ciena grinned in satisfaction knowing what this meant.

"Please. Please," he groaned, "don't make me regret doing this."

Ciena reached down to rest the backs of her small hands against Thane's palms, and reveled in the soothing warmth she felt as he closed his long fingers around hers. It was another simple thing, and yet it was one of the things she ached for the most in the time they were apart. "I promise, I won't."

They rejoined the larger group, and the next five minutes were mainly about Lucy. It took only a single toss into the air with her big brother "Tay" for all traces of Lucy's apprehension to dissolve. She had to be pried out of Thane's arms when it was time to part ways.

After returning to Gan's arms, Dalven reached over to tickle Lucy's neck one last time. She began to giggle, then abruptly stopped and stared at Dalven. Something had startled her. She looked from Dalven to Gan, then to each person standing around and the strangers millng about the flight deck. It was as if she only then thought to consider the strange new people and surroundings.

Lucy looked back at Dalven, then lifted her tiny hands and shoulders and asked, "Where my Siya?"

The sudden silence and stillness was noticeable enough to cause a child confusion – even one as young as Lucy. With all of her experience as a mother, even Gan fumbled to recover. Those three little words in that sweet little voice instantaneously broke the hearts of every person there. There was little doubt that Dalven was in indescribable anguish.

But while the others fought to reclaim their footing, Dalven was already reaching up and gently cupped a remarkably gentle hand around the side of Lucy's head. He lightly brushed his thumb against her cheek and slowly moved his fingertips in her soft, feathery hair. Lucy tilted her head and leaned into Dalven's touch. Lucy's bright, blue eyes stared up at him, and when she saw the familiar smile on Dalven's face, the corners of her tiny mouth curved upward.

"Sila and Aunt Sara are on a trip, sweetheart. They miss you very much," Dalven said.

Lucy appeared to think about this, then nodded and said, "My Daddy, my Siya, my Say-wa on a tip." She wasn't asking, rather she was letting Dalven know.

"That's right – Daddy, Sila and Aunt Sara are on a trip. They are very happy, but they miss you and me—"

"An mommy, an-an-an meeee, an CeeCee, an-an…," Lucy added with enthusiasm as she looked around and began to name people in the group. "An Eeeeen, an Pone, an…"

"That's right baby sis," Dalven said with a chuckle. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lucy squealed and tried to grab the sides of her neck with her hands, remembering that Dalven's cheek kisses sometimes turn into to loud, slobbery, tickle kisses on her neck and tummy.

Dalven's remarkable fortitude had impressed everyone there. Thane and Gan locked eyes at one point and though she was steadily wiping away tears she couldn't contain, he was relieved to see she was smiling. Thane had never been more proud to be Dalven's brother than he was in that moment. He was certain his mother felt the same way he did about her oldest son.

Before he left, Thane managed another private moment with Ciena. "Your quarters will be in the Admiral's cap."

"The Admiral's cap?" she asked. "What is that?"

Thane had thoroughly enjoyed the anticipation of this moment. Ciena asking this question was a private thrill for more than one reason. For one, from a strictly academic standpoint, Ciena knew more about ships and their systems than Thane did. He'd never admit this, of course. It was too much fun to argue about it.

On the other hand, Thane had the gift of strategic intelligence. Thane could coordinate and deploy the resources of an entire fleet with greater speed and success than most people could manage at the helm of a single ship. But Ciena would never allow Thane to live down the one time she one-upped him in Destroyer-Level Craft Operations class when they were cadets at the Academy.

So, Thane was looking forward to adding a point to his score in their "I'm the Smartest" competition.

But Thane would happily concede he was dumber than a Monkey Lizard if this was necessary to reap the rewards of the second reason for his eager anticipation.

"Well?" Ciena asked. "Are you going to tell me before the babies get here?" she teased.

Thane smiled down at her. Stars, you're so beautiful! he thought, as Ciena stared back up at him. Thane nodded and cleared his throat. "It's the suite of rooms above my private quarters. One, in particular, is directly above my private quarters," Thane said coyly. "With a very cleverly concealed door to a lift."

Ciena looked up to see Thane grinning, looking down at her sideways, shrugging his eyebrows a few times for emphasis. "You know," Ciena said, "everyone talks about the side effects of being pregnant. The dreams, strange appetites, exhaustion and whatnot."

Thane stared at Ciena with sincere interest, but he was unsure if Ciena missed the not-so-subtle meaning behind what he said. Or, maybe she did get it, but it's not as exciting as sharing things about the pregnancy? A thought suddenly struck Thane like a charging Rancor. Are people not supposed to… He was so mortified at the possibility that he could be that much of an idiot he couldn't even finish the thought in his own head.

"But there's this one side effect that no one seems to want to talk about. It's worse than the obsession with food and sensitivity to smell. There is one thing that preoccupies my mind almost every waking hour of every day."

Thane waited, trying to disguise his embarrassment, confusion and – if he was honest – despair at the thought of having to wait to be with Ciena until… Emperor's bones! It could be months – or longer….

Thane caught that Ciena was waiting for him to say something. Evidently, in his position as Admiral, he had improved in his ability to simultaneously think and hear. It probably helped that he genuinely wanted to know everything Ciena wanted to share with him. "Well? What is it?" he asked, hoping he gave the right response.

Ciena glanced around to be certain no one was listening and grinned up at Thane and his gorgeous face. "Make sure I know how to find that cleverly hidden door and I'll show you."

Thane's mouth dropped open and his brilliant blue eyes widened in surprise. Instead of replying, he drew in his breath and held it while nodding. Finally, he released it and said, "You have no idea how close I just came to disappearing with you for ten minutes."

Ciena smiled in triumph, kissed Thane on the cheek, and joined the group being guided away to their quarters. Miraculously, only one thought remained in Thane's head: A few more hours, Ree, and you are all mine! Thane gave himself until the very last moment the group was in his sight. Ciena looked back and smiled before disappearing through the door.

Now it was time for Thane to prove to himself and his crew that he could manage having his family and Ciena on board without compromising Fleet operations. By the time he re-entered the Bridge, all of his concerns were alleviated. In fact, those few minutes with his family may have fortified his determination to not only defeat the Dark Alliance, but to crush, grind, and permanently rid the galaxy of Nash Windrider, Anogen X, and every trace of their evil alliance.