A/N: This little bit of fluff was written in response to a challenge over at TF.N's Mara Jade Characterization Thread.

The challenge was as follows:

Challenge: In a universe with no Vong, where Mara doesn't have that stupid disease (!), write Mara letting Luke know that she's pregnant. Except she can't tell him straight out...it has to be done in some way that Luke realizes it for himself. Can be funny or sweet (even sappy!).

Must include the words:

momentous

fertile

stimulating

abundant

the phrase "swollen like a Hutt" (bonus points if Luke says it and Mara doesn't kill him!)

Here's my feeble little effort, LOL!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not making any money off it.

Late One Night on Coruscant

The X-Wing soared gracefully through the inky blackness of deep space. There were no enemies chasing it, instead the pilot was flying simply for the joy of flying. Luke Skywalker couldn't hold back his grin as he took the ship into a steep dive and then twisted and rolled to the right.

The smile disappeared as the fighter suddenly began to shudder and shake, and he quickly dropped his gaze to check the instrument panel. Nothing seemed to be amiss, but something was definitely wrong somewhere.

"Luke."

Startled, he glanced up and around the cockpit. Was that Ben, speaking to him through the Force after so long? But it didn't sound like Obi-Wan...

"Luke!"

A sharp pain shot through his side, causing him to gasp in surprise. He opened his eyes to find himself in his bed, with his wife shaking him by the shoulder and jabbing him in the ribs with her finger.

"Are you awake?"

"I am now," he said grumpily. Mara let go of his shoulder and sat back a little bit. Luke rubbed the sore spot on his side, while trying not to glare too much at her. She always managed to interrupt his flying dreams. It was uncanny.

She reached around and turned on the lamp that was on the bedside table, and Luke grunted as the light hit his unprepared eyes. Squinting up at her, he tried to ask in a calm, patient voice, "What is it, Mara?"

"Do you think we have enough money?"

He blinked at her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Money. Do you think we have enough savings in case something...unexpected should happen?"

She was serious, he realized. His wife had actually jarred him out of a relaxing sleep with this momentous - in her mind anyway - question. Luke wasn't quite sure what to say. The two of them certainly weren't rich by any means, but they lived quite comfortably on Luke's pension from the military and the investments Mara had made during her time with Karrde. Neither of them were particularly concerned with material things anyway, so they'd never found themselves in any financial difficulties.

Obviously, she wasn't going to allow either of them to go back to sleep until she had an answer, so Luke gave her one.

"Yes. Yes, I'm quite sure we have enough money," he said slowly.

"Oh. Well, then. That's good," she said, and gave a nod of her head as though she agreed with him. Mara leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "Love you," she said with a little yawn, turned around to shut off the lamp, and then laid back down and was asleep within minutes.

"Love you, too," he said, still a bit puzzled at the whole conversation.

Luke lay there awake for much longer, silently wondering if his wife had been drinking before she went to bed.

The Next Morning

Blue and green lightsaber blades clashed, sparks flying, as the two Skywalkers moved effortlessly around the training room. When they were so completely on the same wavelength, as they were at the moment, it was almost as intense as when he made love to her, Luke mused.

Mara's brow quirked as she picked up on the thought. Utterly in tune with one another, they each stepped back at the same moment, ending the session. The lightsaber blades vanished with a buzz as Luke grinned at her.

"I said 'almost'," he reminded her.

"That you did. Smart move on your part," Mara retorted.

They walked over to a small bench on the side of the room. Luke pulled two towels out of his bag, and handed one to her. They quickly and efficiently wiped away the sweat the sparring had caused and then Mara threw him for a loop again with an odd question.

"Do you have any life insurance?"

"Do I have any what?" he asked, again staring at her in confusion.

"Life insurance. You know, that stuff that takes care of any loved ones left behind if you should die," she said impatiently.

"I thought you had decided against killing me," he teased. But apparently, she was once again totally serious.

"I do have to remind myself of that every day, but Luke, it's a smart thing to do. You know, an adult responsibility. We are adults, aren't we?" she said, giving him a look.

"Of course we are, but-"

"I'll bet Han and Leia have life insurance."

"I'm sure they do, but-"

"Good, then it's settled. I'll talk to Leia and we'll see if we can't find out what agent they use."

"But-"

"I'm going to go hit the showers. I'll see you in a little bit back at home?" Mara said as she stood and looked down at him. Luke just nodded dumbly. She put one hand on his cheek and kissed him, before smiling at him softly. "Love you."

"Love you, too," he mumbled and then he watched her walk away. "But I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon," he said to the empty room.

That Evening

Luke poked his head into the living room to tell Mara that dinner was ready. He paused there with his mouth open, a frown coming to his face as he noticed that she was standing in the middle of the room. Her hands were on her hips and she was turning in a slow circle, seeming to survey the room in a critical manner.

"Um, Mara? Dinner's ready," he said hesitantly.

She glanced over at him absently before returning her attention to the walls of their living room. Then she swiveled a penetrating stare back at him and Luke mentally groaned, knowing what was coming next. Another odd question.

"Do you think we need a bigger place?"

"Uh, I don't think so," he ventured, wondering if that was the right answer, but it was abundantly clear as soon as he said it that he was wrong.

She gave him a nasty look. "How can you possibly think this tiny little apartment is big enough? We have NO space!"

Luke couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with an apartment that had been perfectly fine yesterday, but wisely kept his opinion to himself this time.

"No, I think we definitely need a bigger apartment. I'll call Leia tomorrow and ask her if she can get us in touch with a realtor."

"What? Don't you think we should discuss it a little further first?" Luke asked as he walked fully into the room.

"What's to discuss? We're living in a shoebox, for heaven's sake!" Mara said, throwing one arm around at the offending room in an irritated gesture. "You know, occasionally, we might like to have an overnight guest, perhaps even for an extended time, and right now? No place to put them!" She threw both hands up in disgust at his apparent lack of foresight.

"We have a guest room," Luke felt obliged to point out.

"It's barely a closet," Mara said dismissingly. "I'm absolutely calling Leia in the morning. We had an appointment anyway, so we can go look for some bigger places afterwards. I'll let you know if I see something I want you to look at. Hey, is dinner ready? I'm starving!" she exclaimed and headed towards the kitchen.

As she passed him, she put one hand on the back of his neck and pulled his head down gently to kiss him. When she pulled back, her green eyes were fairly sparkling and she said quietly, "Love you."

"Love you, too," he replied. He stood there, downright confounded at the strange mood that seemed to have struck his wife, as she moved past him into the kitchen.

Luke wondered if he'd done something to make her angry, but she didn't seem angry...just in a really weird frame of mind. When he finally walked into the kitchen to join her for dinner, he was dismayed to discover Mara had decided to eat the chocolate ryshcate he'd made for dessert before the meal. And she'd eaten his piece, too.

Later That Same Night

Luke and Mara were sitting up in bed, each quietly going over work and news datapads. Luke had hoped for other, more stimulating activities, but Mara had pleaded tiredness, and he graciously accepted that. Maybe he could change her mind later.

It was a comfortable silence, broken occasionally by one of them pointing out something of interest to the other. Luke was slogging through requisition reports for the Academy when he heard Mara chuckle.

"These people just had a baby girl and they named the child Mandelinadessa," she muttered as she clucked her tongue in disapproval. "I mean, can you imagine the poor child trying to learn to spell her own name in her first year of school?"

"Why are you reading the birth announcements?" Luke asked, as he glanced over at the news item she was showing him.

"I was looking for the smashball scores and I got distracted," Mara said sarcastically. She put the datapad down and gave him another one of those looks. He hardly dared to take a guess as to what could be on her mind this time.

"What would you name a little girl, Luke?"

Okay, that took him entirely by surprise. He stared at her dumbfounded, completely unable to form a coherent thought.

She smiled suddenly and Luke could swear her face seemed to take on a beautiful glow.

"I like the name Shay. Elegant and simple. Do you think that's a good name, Luke?"

And something abruptly clicked in his brain. The exact words of her odd questions over the last day and a half roared back into his consciousness:

-worrying about money for unexpected events

-life insurance to take care of loved ones - plural - left behind

-space in their apartment for those on extended visits

-most telling of all, baby names

Then there was the anticipating look in her eyes, as though she was just waiting for him to come to some important realization...

"Mara?" he asked breathlessly, half afraid to voice the actual question, because he feared he might be hoping for too much. Something in his face or tone must have told her that he'd finally understood, because her smile became absolutely radiant.

"Yes," she whispered joyfully.

Immediately, his gaze fell to her still flat belly, but in his imagination he could see it rounded and full with their child. She chuckled softly and he knew his thoughts were an open book to her.

"Yeah, you just better remember how much you love me when I'm swollen like a Hutt."

"You'll be the most beautiful Hutt in the entire galaxy, my love," Luke said and reached out to take her in his arms, holding her close as he began to kiss her neck.

Mara laughed in delight, both at the kisses and his words. "Oh, Farmboy, if that's what you consider a compliment, it's a wonder we got married at all, much less pregnant!"

"You're not getting rid of me now, lady," he growled into her neck.

Mara reached up to pull his face towards her own, and gave him a lingering kiss. "As if I'd ever want that," she said when their lips finally separated.

"When did you know?"

"I began to suspect last week. Leia got me a home test yesterday and it was positive. My appointment tomorrow is actually with the doctor, and you're coming, by the way," she grinned.

"I wouldn't miss it." He kissed her again, so happy that he thought he might burst. "I can't believe it. I was beginning to think that-" he broke off, not wanting to bring any negativity to their moment of bliss.

"That I wasn't fertile," she asked, smiling her understanding. "I was beginning to think the same thing. After all, we stopped using the repress meds almost two years ago."

"It must be the Force at work, then."

"That, or the Skywalker swimmers were just as slow in reproducing as their host was in proposing," Mara teased with a devilish grin.

"Oh, that hurt, Jade!"

"Hey, that's Jade-Skywalker to you," she murmured.

Luke slid down to place a kiss right below her belly button. "Hello, Shay. I can't wait to meet you," he whispered.

"What if it's a boy?"

He winked up at her. "Luke junior."

"No," she said, and her tone meant business. "Gods, one of you is enough."

He sighed in mock despair. "Well, we've talked before about how I'd love to honor Ben Kenobi. Would that be okay with you?"

"Yes, that I could live with," she said, as she ruffled his hair with her hand.

"Hey, maybe we'll get lucky like Leia and Han and have twins!"

Mara gasped in outrage, then glared at her own stomach. "Don't you guys even think about it!"