How Rose had managed to squeeze her so quickly into an appointment and get an ultrasound machine, Rey didn't know. Not even half an hour after the conversation in the bathroom – still during their break – she was lying on the hospital bed with her friend ready to run her wand over her still flat stomach.

She closed her eyes before the monitor was even on. It felt surreal to be here, looking at this baby she was carrying in secret and sharing such a moment with someone after keeping the news to herself for such a long time considering how far along she already was.

"Okay, Rey," her friend said slowly, taking a big breath and moving the wand over her skin. "You can look at the screen, now."

She hesitated, and her friend extended her free hand to squeeze her for a moment.

"You can do it."

She opened her eyes slowly, and her breath got caught in her throat. A human. There was a little human inside her, with two legs and two arms, and a little heart.

Her eyes felt wet, and sobs broke through her body just as her hand covered her mouth.

"It's my baby," Rey whispered.

Rose could only smile and reach out, squeezing her hand.

"It's your baby," she whispered. "I'll show you their heartbeat, okay?"

She nodded, and her friend pressed a couple of buttons, filling in the room with a strong sound that only made her cry more.

And while her friend worked, seeing measures and organs and making sure her baby was healthy and perfect, she just continued to marvel on what was before her. Her baby. She was a mother now.

"So, no multiples. Only one baby," she announced. "Baby looks perfectly healthy, your uterus too…"

"Do you think I'll start showing soon?" Rey asked, looking in her direction.

Rose offered her paper tissues to clean herself, and walked to the printer.

"Honestly, considering your height and how this is your first pregnancy, I'd expect so by week 16, but one of my patients looks like she isn't even pregnant, and she's 7 months in. You can start showing tomorrow, or next month. We'll have to wait to see."

She nodded and touched her lower stomach. She was having a baby. This was crazy.

Rose stepped silently close to her and offered her a pair of small photographs of the scam.

"I made copies for me and Kaydel," she told her. "And one for the dad."

Rey held the two photos and lowered her eyes. She still had to deal with that.

"Are you telling me?" her friend asked in a gentle whisper.

She sighed and shook her leg a bit.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I'm… Rose. I need…. I haven't told him and I don't want him not to be the first to know."

Her friend shifted on her spot, finally seeming to understand what was underneath the mystery.

"We know him, right?" she asked.

Rey only nodded, and Rose sat on the hospital bed.

"Okay," she decided. "But I'm the godmother, right? Or a… What's the name you Jewish people have for godparents?"

She laughed and finally pulled her scrubs over her torso, fixing herself.

"You know very well that I do not practice," Rey pointed out. "But yes, Rose. You can be the godmother. It's not like I would choose anyone else for that position."

"Well, there's Kaydel," she pointed out.

"You've been my friend for a longer time," she pointed out. "And my doctor."

To that, Rose frowned.

"I am?" she raised her eyebrows. "Oh, great. Another one for the list of the weirdest patients I've cared for."

Rey laughed and her friend bit her lip.

"Does that mean I get to know who the father is?" she probed.

"Nope," Rey held her two photos closely. "Goodbye now."

. . .

Rey knew very little about her parents. Until she was fifteen, she didn't know anything about them. She had been left at a Jewish orphanage as a baby, along with some clothes and nothing more, and lived there ever since then. She always believed her parents had simply left her, until her grandmother finally found her - after apparently, years and years of tracking her, along with her mother. Today, she knew a few more things: Her father had died before she was born, killed by his own father for abandoning the family's corrupted business to be with her mother, and her mother had had to give her up to protect her from the same man, and met the same faith.

Grandma Sabé loved Rey and made her life by showing her that Rey was loved, both her parents and by her. Destiny was just too cruel to them. Payback, however, was simply sweet when Sheev Palpatine died and his fortune and belongings ended up in Rey's possession. Still, the past was hard to erase. She still felt abandoned, still felt like she needed to shield herself from people, and was deathly afraid what had happened to her would happen again.

So maybe that was it. Maybe that was the reason she didn't want to tell Ben about the baby. What if he left? She didn't know if she could face being alone again, not after so long. Life with her grandmother and her friends had made her soft. She didn't know how to react if she went back to how she was before.

She ran a thumb over the small photograph with a strange feeling in her chest. Was that how her mother felt when she was pregnant with her? Alone and scared, without her lover to tell her everything was going to be alright for her and their baby? Did she have any friends like Rose and Kaydel, who would be by her side when she was hiding?

She sighed. What was she going to do?

A knock on her door made her jump and her hand automatically flew from her stomach, but she had no time to hide the photograph.

"Rey?" Ben half-entered the room. "Ready to go?"

She nodded quickly, trying to collect her things quickly and hide the photo, but it wasn't of use, as it simply slipped from her hand to fall at his feet, causing Ben to frown.

Her heart stopped in her chest and her breath in her throat just as he lowered himself, picking it up and analysing for a moment before looking up at her.

"Patient?" he extended it to her.

Thank God.

"Yeah," she picked it slowly. "She kind of found out about the baby with me, so… You know, she wanted to... show me."

He nodded, and she shook the picture a bit before putting it in her purse, taking off her coat and pulling her coat off of her shoulder, and tensing when Ben stepped closer.

"I can..." he pointed at her. "I can help."

Rey nodded slowly and turned around, letting him slide the white fabric off her shoulder, carefully folding it and offering it back to her with the 'Doctor Palpatine' side up.

She felt a shiver running over her spine when he placed a hand in the middle of her back as they walked through the corridor, and looked away when Kaydel raised an eyebrow in her direction from the nurse station.

"Do you think we can have pizza today?" she asked, trying to lighten the air surrounding them.

"Sure."