Chapter 16
Docent Kerrlkin shoved the squalling baby boy at Valia.
"He's a little cranky today. Maybe you can settle him down."
An open-mouthed Valia regarded the squirming red-faced human infant in her arms. She adjusted her hold, trying not to drop him, and trying to make him more comfortable.
"Whatever is the matter? Can you tell auntie Lia what's wrong?" She instinctively began making foolish nonsense noises to him that might have had some of her friends wondering if she'd lost her mind. All this felt a bit unfamiliar yet, but was becoming more natural to her as the weeks went by.
She walked toward a high-ceilinged chamber with tall windows that had a balcony along one side. The baby had seemed to like the light-filled room on the south side of the Jedi Temple before, so she gently rocked him as she took him there, softly telling him where they were going and how happy she hoped it would make him.
She sat down on a comfortably curved bench and settled the Jedi infant on her lap. He was so cute, so fuzzy and blonde. He already seemed happier. She was rocking him, cooing to him. She could just about fall in love with him right now, crankiness and all. She nuzzled her cheek against his head. She pushed aside the thought of his possibly distraught mother somewhere worlds away. She was so engrossed she would not have heard anyone enter the room behind her.
When she felt the tickle of a familiar presence, she smiled and told herself it was just her wishful imagination. Qui-Gon was still gone. It had been nearly three weeks this time. She told herself to stop worrying about him. But she missed him terribly.
She was trying to remember some old half-forgotten Nymean nursery songs when the insistent tickle came again. This time she turned to look behind her. There he was. In the flesh. Qui-Gon stood in the doorway, smilingly admiring her, apparently transfixed by her. Her heart danced. She wanted to jump up and go to him, but putting Corbin down would probably let loose the squalling she had just contained. So she stayed seated and invited him to her with her eyes.
She slid over so he could sit next to her on the bench. He casually straddled it beside her. With her free hand she stroked his face in an affectionate greeting. He looked scruffy, as though his beard needed trimming, and his cheeks looked a bit more hollow since she'd last seen him. But he'd sought her out first before taking care of personal details. He kissed her cheek, intending to keep his own greeting on a polite level until later. At the first contact with her skin, he couldn't help continuing over to her mouth.
"Hi," she whispered after their lips parted.
"Hi there," he answered with soft joy. He glanced down at the spit-bubbling child resting in the crook of her arm. "This little one is very, very lucky, you know."
She looked up at him questioningly.
"Aside from knowing the sweet peace of being held in your arms, he is in a much better place than where he was born. He was sold for drugs by his mother on Kessel."
Valia could find nothing to say to this. She looked back down at Corbin and held him closer. He had quieted, and even showed signs of getting sleepy. He seemed mesmerized by Qui-Gon, who carefully reached out to touch his tiny nose. He responded with a drooly smile. Valia leaned against Qui-Gon and allowed herself to entertain the totally frivolous thought that the only way she might be happier than she already was at this moment was if they were married and this was their child.
Neither one of them saw Yoda as he shuffled to a stop near another doorway. He silently observed the two of them and the baby. He sighed and his ears drooped. He'd foreseen something like this for Qui-Gon. Too big for his own good, that one's heart was. Too close, he could get. And these two were very close. He noted the way he was nearly wrapped around her as if he were drawing life and light from her. Unable to resist it, or her. The way his fingers were intimately twined with hers as she held the baby suggested they were sharing a great deal more than a seat on a bench. Still, there was a radiant peace coming from the Jedi that he hadn't seen in years. Maybe never. He silently drifted away from the door, leaving them alone. Speak to Qui-Gon privately later, he would. He could always visit the babies later. For now, he would wait and think on the wisest course of action for this, if there was one. This was a decision only Qui-Gon could make. There would be sorrow in losing him from the Order, should that be his choice.
To be continued…