New one for ya. Enjoy and thanks for reading.


Jace woke up the next morning, slightly panicked until he opened his eyes and saw Kia still sound asleep next to him. She wasn't nestled up to his side, like she usually slept, but she was at least still in the bed. He had dreamt she slipped out during the night. He was glad to discover it had just been a nightmare.

He got out of bed, careful not to wake Kia, and headed to the kitchen. He started to make caf, but then it occurred to him that he had no idea if Kia could even drink caf while pregnant. That thought made him realize he knew nothing about pregnant women or pregnancy in general. If this was going to work, he'd have to learn. Once his caf was done, he prepared everything for tea, just to be safe.

Jace took his mug and settled at the table, pulling out a datapad. No matter how settled things were, he always had work. Being supreme commander meant he always had something to do. That was probably one of his problems.

About ten minutes later, Kia walked out, still looking exhausted.

"I wasn't sure if you could have caf or not, so I set everything up for tea." He said to her.

She gave him a tired smile and headed into the kitchen, joining him a few minutes later, holding a cup of tea.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked, placing the datapad on the table and pushing it to the side. Work could wait. The next few minutes would potentially determine the direction of the rest of his life.

"Well enough, I guess. I still have a headache, but that's not a surprise. You?"

Jace sighed. "I slept a little. I spent most of the night thinking. I think I have a possible path forward for us."

Kia nodded, remaining silent. Truth be told, she had hoped Jace would think of something. She'd been trying to think of a way to fix things since she arrived back on Coruscant and hadn't come up with anything. To be fair, the headaches didn't help much with her efforts to organize her thoughts.

"We've been happily together for a decade. We've had a few minor disagreements, of course, but nothing we couldn't work through or around. This is much more than a minor disagreement, I understand that, but I think I know why it happened and how to prevent it from happening again."

Jace leaned forward, placing his hands on the table.

"This all happened because we were in the field together. We both know emotions run deeper when we're in the thick of it. Our feelings are more raw, more basic, and harder to control. I know I can't take back what I felt back on Iokath, but if I stop going out in the field, I'm confident I can be more even tempered and more rational. My position does not require me to go offworld. I go because I wish to, not because I need to."

"So, your solution is taking a desk job?" Kia asked. "Could you even be happy doing that?"

"More/Less." Jace nodded. "I was already pretty much doing that before Iokath anyway. I never left Coruscant and when I did, you never went with me. This wouldn't really be much of a change from what we've lived with the last ten years."

Jace took a chance and took Kia's hands and she didn't pull away. He looked at her and smiled. "I'm sixty five years old, Kia, and going to be a father for, pretty much, the first time. I think doing less work and focusing on family is probably healthy for someone my age. I'm still the supreme commander and I'll continue to do my job for as long as I'm able, but I'm willing to put you and the baby first. I won't apologize for feeling the way I do and I can't erase what was said and done, but I can make things better moving forward, if you'll let me."

Kia remained silent, but Jace could tell she was thinking. He knew she desperately didn't want to be a single parent. Having a family was something she had never even dreamed of doing, and yet, here she was, getting one whether she wanted it or not. She was scared. He knew it, even if she hadn't admitted it to him the night before. Very little scared a Jedi, so this was truly a road she had never traveled before. A road she probably thought she'd never travel.

With a sigh, Kia nodded, squeezing Jace's hands. "Okay. But I have a couple of asks."

"Anything." Jace said, feeling his heart speed up. No doubt, Kia could feel his hope.

"I'm done with this, your apartment or mine thing. I want us to live in one place. We're not hiding anything anymore and most people who have been together for ten years live together. If we're going to have a test run to see if we can live together full time, now is the time."

"Agreed." Jace said without pause. "We'll move you in here, since my apartment is bigger and you have fewer things. If this works out, we'll look for a bigger apartment before the baby is born. If this doesn't work, I'll help you find a new place close to here, hopefully the same building, so co-parenting won't be as painful."

"Alright. The second ask is I want you to come with me to my doctor appointments. This could be a rough pregnancy and Dr. Ozzin has encouraged me to bring someone along for support. I'm going every two weeks right now, but the frequency will increase as I get further along. I seem to be having a more zabrak response than human, but the doctor wants to monitor me closely. I know you might have conflicts and might not be able to go with me every time, but…"

"Name the time and place and I'll be there. I can put your appointments in my schedule and move everything else around. Anything else?" He asked. Again, he agreed without pause.

Kia thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. "No, that's all for now."

"We're going to make this work, Ki. We will." Jace stood and pulled Kia up with him. He hugged her and she didn't protest. In fact, Jace could feel her relax into him and sigh. This was how it was supposed to be and Jace was going to fight to keep it this way.


Jace was in the bedroom getting dressed while Kia sat silently in the living room. She wasn't quite meditating, but she was centering herself using the Force.

Her attempts to alleviate her headache using a Force healing meditation hadn't worked, so she was trying a different route. She realized a healing meditation had no hope of working, since there was nothing to heal. There was nothing actually wrong with her. Her headaches were a natural reaction to all the physical and chemical changes happening within her body. So, instead of healing, she focused on balance. She focused on removing anxiety and stress. This was easier now that she and Jace had agreed on a possible solution to their relationship problems.

Kia was on the fence about whether their path forward would work or not, but at least Jace was trying. He was trying hard. Kia could feel how important she and the baby were to him and all his actions seemed to agree, but it would take time to see if his assumptions would truly work. Work or not, the attempt was easing her mind and her headache. It was nice to know he was almost as scared as she was about the situation. He wasn't trying to hide his fear from her at all.

"Do you need anything before I leave?" Jace asked.

Kia opened her eyes and smiled at Jace. His concern was touching. "I'm not an invalid, Jace. Not yet, anyway. I'll be fine. I plan to head over to my apartment and get it packed up."

"You won't…"

"I won't do anything too strenuous, I promise. I can move things with my mind, remember? The time alone will also give me a chance to think about what I'm going to say to the council when I call them tomorrow. This conversation was going to be hard enough without adding on a baby. I need to prepare myself. I also need to call my sister."

Jace leaned over and kissed Kia on the forehead. Kia could sense a slight awkward pause before the action. She could tell he was trying not to overstep. He wanted things to be like they were before Iokath, but he knew they weren't and that he had to be careful not to do anything that might make Kia uncomfortable. The distance felt foreign, but Kia appreciated it. She didn't totally trust Jace anymore. As least not yet.

"Try not to worry too much about it. Whatever happens, I'll be here to support you. Do you want me there when you make the call to the council?"

"No. Working things out with the council is something I need to do alone. I do appreciate your willingness to be there with me, and for everything else moving forward, I'll probably want your support, but for this...I need to do this."

"Okay. I'm heading over to my office. If you need anything, and I do mean anything, holo. I'll take your call, no matter what I'm doing."

Kia moved her hands in a shooing motion. "Just go."

With a final nod, Jace left and Kia sighed. Hopefully Jace would calm down once everything had time to soak in. At least, Kia hoped he would. He was more on edge than she was. Deep down, she found it amusing and it helped give her hope things would work out, after all. Maybe time really could heal all wounds. Even the deep ones.


To Be Continued...