Months went by since Miranda Starling-Jinn had taken in her grandson Carmine. Over that time, she had some help from her neighbors in setting up Carmine's new nursery.

Miranda loved her grandson very much and always did her best to make him happy. Of course, given that she had a baby now, she had to adjust her schedule between babysitting and clothing design jobs to accommodate to taking care of him. She couldn't always rely on magic to help her. Things like feeding, changing diapers, bath time, and of course playtime required a parent's love and attention.

Nine-month-old Carmine cried as he was hungry and wanted his bottle.

"Shh. Shh. Now, now, Carmine." cooed Miranda, checking the milk's temperature. "It's okay. Milky is on the way."

Miranda held her grandson in the crook of her arm and began to feed him his milk.

"There we go. Good boy."

Miranda looked at her grandson with nothing but love in her eyes. She did, however, often have days when she missed her son Qui-Gon, and her husband, Qui-Gon's father. After losing her husband, Miranda was sure she wouldn't be able to take care of him, and giving him to the Jedi seemed like the best option. And then one day, he came back to her when he was a teenager. Naturally, she wanted nothing more than to take him in and be a family. But, he was almost all grown up, and she didn't have much she could give. So, instead, she told him he had to go back to the Jedi at least until he could figure out for himself what he might do as a career to support himself. And she told him that she would be there waiting for him so he would be able to find her again when the time came.

For now, she had Carmine.

When Qui-Gon brought Carmine to Miranda, asking her to take care of him, she saw a second chance to be a mother. She didn't have much more than she did before, but she knew she may never have another chance come again. So, she didn't hesitate to take Carmine in so she could raise him.

Already, Carmine had started to grow, and of course, Miranda took lots of pictures of him, but that became a little harder when he eventually started crawling.

Carmine was a very talkative baby too. Not a moment went by when Miranda found Carmine crawling around and cooing and babbling all those cute baby noises.

"You're gonna be a real talker when you grow up, aren't you?" Miranda giggled, nuzzling Carmine's tiny nose.

Miranda was a great mother. She always made sure Carmine was fed, changed, bathed, and she always talked to him, read to him, and often designed lots of adorable outfits for him, some of which she added to her online business, having little Carmine be a model for baby boy clothes. And he was adorable. Plus, it helped Miranda to have some extra money to set aside for Carmine to go to college someday.

And when Carmine's very first birthday came around, Miranda and the baby got a big surprise.

Carmine looked so cute in his birthday onesie and the little party hat Miranda dressed him in.

"Happy birthday, Carmine." Miranda sang, presenting her grandson with a plush bunny she made just for him.

Carmine smiled and cooed as he played with his new bunny. Miranda was very happy to see him so happy with his toy, and when she heard the doorbell ring, she placed Carmine in his playpen.

Carmine was just starting to walk too. Miranda knew she was going to be in for a ride once he got good on his feet.

"Grandma will be right back, Birthday boy." she said.

And when she opened the door, she was happily surprised when she saw her son at the door. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on his cheek.

Qui-Gon managed to sneak away from the Temple just for Carmine. There was no way he was going to miss his son's birthday.

"Where is the birthday boy?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Right here." Miranda said. "Carmine, look who's here."

Miranda picked up her grandson from his playpen and held him so he could see his father.

"Remember him, Carmine? That's your daddy." Miranda said.

It had been a whole year since Qui-Gon last saw his son. He wasn't sure the baby would remember him. But Miranda passed the baby boy into his father's arms.

Carmine looked curiously at Qui-Gon with his big blue eyes.

"Hello, Carmine. Do you remember me?" Qui-Gon said, hoping Carmine would recognize his voice. "I am your father. I know I haven't been around and you likely don't understand right now, but I never forgot you. And I intend to be here for you as much as I can."

Carmine cooed curiously as he put his little hands on his father's face. His mustache felt scratchy.

Qui-Gon chuckled and said, "Aren't you adorable?" He tickled the baby. "Cootchie, cootchie."

Carmine cooed more and babbled to his father.

"Oh, he's talking to you." Miranda smiled.

Qui-Gon spent about every second he could with his baby boy. Playing with him, bouncing him, hugging and kissing him, and as night fell, he presented him with his first birthday present from him. He got him a little book called Goodnight Little Horse.

Carmine sat in his father's lap, and Qui-Gon read the book to his son. In the book, there were lots of cute pictures of a little yellow horse who lived on a farm with his mom and dad.

Once upon a time, on Lotsa Horses Farm, lots of horses played in the sun all day. There were white horses and brown horses, gray horses and brown horses. Some horses had spots, and some had patches. But the youngest horse was different from all the others.

He was yellow all over. His name was Little Horse.

Little Horse loved to run with his brothers and sisters, he loved to roll around in the grass, and he loved to eat apples from the big trees when he was hungry.

But when nighttime came, Little Horse did not want to sleep.

"I'm not tired." said Little Horse.

His mother said, "Little Horse, you need your rest so you can run fast when you play."

"But I'm not tired!"

Little Horse started to run around the farm some more, wanting to keep playing. But the sky turned dark, and it was hard to see where he was going. And he bumped right into his big sister Dottie.

"Little Horse, why aren't you in bed?" Dottie asked.

"I'm not tired." said Little Horse stubbornly.

Dottie said, "Little Horse, you need your rest, so you have energy to roll in the grass when you play."

"But I'm not tired." Little Horse said, starting to yawn.

Little Horse's father came and said, "Little Horse, you need your rest. I saw you yawn. Come to bed and rest, and don't wake until dawn."

"I'm not tired!" Little Horse whined, yawning again.

Mommy and Daddy Horse brought Little Horse into the barn, where he lay down on a bed made of hay. Little Horse said again, "I'm not tired." And he yawned again, a much bigger yawn.

Daddy Horse tucked Little Horse under a blanket, and he and Mommy Horse each gave Little Horse a kiss goodnight.

Little Horse could not keep his eyes open very much, and he finally said, "I am tired."

Then his parents sang him a lullaby, and Little Horse closed his eyes and he snored and snored, and he dreamed of running through a grassy field while it was raining all the apples and sugar cubes he could eat.

"We love you, Little Horse," said Mommy and Daddy Horse. "Have the sweetest of dreams until morning comes. For now we say, Goodnight Little Horse."

And by the time Qui-Gon closed the book, little Carmine was fast asleep in his father's arms.

Qui-Gon smiled and kissed his sleeping son's head. He gently rocked him as he sang him his special lullaby, and carefully placed the baby boy into his crib.

"Goodnight, Carmine." whispered Qui-Gon. "Until we meet again. I love you."

Miranda made sure to read that book to Carmine every night. And she sang Qui-Gon's lullaby to him as much as possible. The last thing she wanted was for Carmine not to ever know who his father was. So, she also kept a picture of him close by so Carmine would know what he looked like.

And every year after that, Qui-Gon came by on Carmine's birthday, and he always had a present for him. By the time Carmine was about to turn three, Qui-Gon began sending letters to Carmine whenever he could, and Miranda read them to him since he didn't know how to read yet.

But when Carmine was four, he had a question.

"Grandma, if Daddy loves me, why isn't he here?" Carmine asked.

Miranda, at first, was unsure how to answer. That was a very big question from a little kid. But she knelt down and told him,

"Carmine, sometimes mommies and daddies want to be with their children, but they can't for different reasons."

"Why?"

"Well, taking care of children, costs money. And sometimes, grownups don't even have the money to take care of themselves, much less a child. You see, grownups have to get jobs to earn money for things like food and clothes. But sometimes, finding a job can be hard, and work takes a lot of time, just like taking care of kids does. And your daddy has a very important job. He helps make sure people are getting along. He's a peacekeeper. A Jedi."

"Can I be a Jedi too when I grow up?"

"It's not that simple, Carmine. The Jedi have a lot of rules. And one of them is that they aren't allowed to have families of their own."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Your father never understood it either. He couldn't bear the thought of giving you up to them if you qualified to be a Jedi, and if they found out he had a child, he'd get in big trouble. That's why only comes once a year. But your father loves you so much. That's why he brought you here. So, you would be able to grow up with someone who would love you and take care of you as much as he would have. But someday, maybe he will be here to stay."

"Really?"

"I can't make any promises, but I can advise you to simply enjoy the time you have with him. We never truly know when our loved ones will be gone, but we should embrace every moment we have with them. A little time with our loved ones is better than no time at all."

"Are you gonna go away too?" Carmine asked.

"Oh, Carmine." Miranda picked up her grandson and sat him in her lap. "Someday, I will be gone. But hopefully that won't be for a long time. And no matter what, the people you love will always be in your heart. Once you love someone, that is where they stay forever. Until that day my time comes, I will always be here for you. You will always be my special little prince, and I will always take care of you. And someday, you may have a family of your own. When you do, you must remember that no matter how much time you have with them, you should embrace every moment you have and treat every one of them like it's your last."

Carmine hugged his grandmother and sniffled. Miranda hugged her grandson tightly and kissed him.

"I love you, Grandma." said Carmine.

"I love you too, my little song of joy." Miranda smiled.