The pale yellow rays of light pierced through her closed lids, and Padmé Amidala awoke with a slight start. She groaned irritably, realizing that Threepio had forgotten to darken the windows once again.
Some protocol droid…
Her body still yearning for more rest, she reached over to press the button that would dim the windows, with every intention of returning back to sleep for another good hour or two.
Her stomach however, had other ideas it seemed, as a sudden wave of nausea rose within her when she leaned over. Lurching forward abruptly, she retched. She barely had time to take a deep breath in a bid to force the nausea down when she felt another stomach churning ripple wash over her. Clutching her throat as she retched again, she moaned. She had forgotten just how bad all this was!
Anakin's initial grunt at having his arm, which he had wrapped around her middle, flung away so suddenly, now turned into alarmed cries at the sound of his wife. He woke up with a start, hair tousled, eyes half-sleepy, but nevertheless worried.
She was pale, an ill bearing on her face as she turned to face him. A Jedi shall not know love-or sex- and for a good reason too, Padmé was reminded for the second time.
It got perfectly fine women like her knocked up with a hyperactive baby and twice as severe morning sickness.
"Padmé, are you alrig-" The words had barely gotten out of his mouth when she paled another shade as an utterly overwhelming swell of morning sickness hit her. This time, she definitely felt something rising up.
Stumbling out of bed, hand over mouth; she scrambled for the refresher at the end of the room. Padmé reached the door just as she felt it rushing up her throat, and with a sudden lunge for the sink, she threw up. Her stomach felt sickeningly empty and her mouth bitter and unpleasant and Padmé barely noticed Anakin's hand rubbing her back gently as certain recollections came flooding back.
Sex and love. It was all these stupid temptations and she couldn't even resist one handsome Jedi... -there was a sharp intake of breath and the contents of something inside her pushed up and out of her mouth.
She felt Anakin wince next to her and then saw him do a discreet little sidestep as a few drops of vomit landed precariously close to his bare feet.
Mustering as much of a glare as she could, Padmé turned toward him when her stomach gave away for the third time. She though, had no intention of not giving Anakin a piece of her mind.
"Don't think-" she gasped from the sink before she felt another horrible rising in her throat.
"-I-" she coughed, breathing heavily during a momentary lull in the morning sickness.
"-didn't-"
Padmé inhaled deeply.
"-see that." She finished almost triumphantly, her voice hoarse and raspy.
She glanced up briefly to catch a guilty expression flashing across his face and her chocolate eyes managed a tiny glint. Smiling surreptitiously, he bent down and kissed her head.
"You don't miss a thing huh?" Anakin murmured in her hair, his lips curling in a conceding grin.
She gave him a weak smirk; sickly looking but eyes bright. "Of course."
He laughed, but it soon died away and a furrow appeared on his brow instead. Padmé was sagging tiredly against the sink, her face seemingly just one shade darker than her makeup when she was queen and the sight disturbed him.
He didn't like this one bit. And he was going to do something about it if he could.
"Come on," he said, gently scooping her into his arms. "Let's get you back in bed. You look terrible..."
She raised an eyebrow, before poking him squarely on the chest. "This," she placed a hand atop her stomach, "is all your doing Anakin. I have you to thank for that…"
He opened his mouth in means to protest, but closed it abruptly after a second thought. It wouldn't be good arguing with her now. A nauseous, pregnant senator. It was virtually impossible for anyone to win over that.
And after all, he had been the first one to initiate some activity that day. He remembered it all too well… The tiniest trace of a grin appeared on his face.
"Is there some kind of smugness in that, or is it just me?" Padmé's voice, surprisingly cutting for someone who had just thrown up the contents of her stomach, interrupted his thoughts.
"I know what you're thinking of Anakin Skywalker." She continued before he could rebuke her words.
"Don't look so pleased," she stated dryly, the Look she wore forcing him to remain eye contact. "Just you wait till our baby; your baby keeps you up all night."
The smugness fell of his face as he remembered those nights.
"Yes. Those nights, Anakin. Remember now, don't you?" she continued matter-of-factly, her voice sounding like an affirmation in his head.
Of course he remembered. How could he not? Waking up every one hour or so, walking with the baby, singing to the baby, cooing to the baby, feeding the baby, changing the baby, and then finally almost begging their little child to sleep.
Any trace of his former grin disappeared completely, remembering that in their case, it had been two. He set his wife carefully down on their bed as a look of horror crossed his face and he turned to her now with a great sense urgency.
"Angel, we can't possibly have another set of twins can we? I mean we can't be so…-" he faltered for a suitable word.
Padmé gave him a piercing look. "You were saying?"
"so…lucky." He hurried to finish, flashing a tiny smile.
"Let's hope not Anakin." She threw him another Look but all severity on her face disappeared as her stomach began to flip and twist all over again. She moaned softly, pressing a hand to her mouth.
An anxious frown etched itself on his forehead and he hurried to rub her back soothingly. "I don't like this…it wasn't like this the first time!"
He paused to check her over, eyes troubled and finally concluded he was not satisfied with her appearance. So much for being in the 'glow of a motherly aura'. For the little Anakin knew about make-up and cosmetics, she was most certainly not glowing, her skin a worrying pasty shade with faint circles under her eyes.
"I'm going to take a day off and I'm taking you to the medicentre today." He decided firmly.
She smiled wanly at him, reaching up with her fingertips to smooth out the worried lines on his brow. "I was just there yesterday Ani…I'm alright. Stop worryi-"
As the words lolled from her mouth, she paled, felt her insides give way without warning and she lurched toward the bedside and threw up all over-
"My new boots!" cried Anakin, cringing as the white fluid splashed down the sides of the rich leather affairs.
Padmé fell back onto the pillows limply, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry Ani…" she croaked, throwing him an apologetic look.
Anakin squeezed her hand lightly and took a look at his ruined boots, then at his exhausted, pale, thin pregnant wife and made a decision.
"That's it. We're going to the doctor's today."
A faint rasp of objection emitted from her throat but Anakin's mind was made up.
"No complains. We're going today, right now." He stated authoritatively.
Padmé wrapped an arm around his waist as she placed her head tiredly on his lap. She did feel sick to the bone. Maybe Anakin was right this time.
He stroked her tangled hair softly, a tiny little self-satisfied smile curling his lips. She wasn't even trying this time. It felt good being the man of the house.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
In the stark white clinic, Anakin stared absently at the traffic whizzing past outside. His mind was whirling with a hundred and one nervous thoughts.
It was ridiculous, a little voice in his head spoke. It's not like you haven't been through this before. Be a man!
Anakin took a deep breath and squeezed Padmé's hand. That's right. He was a Jedi for crying out loud! This was nothing compared to the Clone Wars, meditation with Master Yoda, Obi-Wan's preaching or lightsaber battles with lunatics that absurdly enough, entertained thoughts they could take on Anakin Skywalker, THE great Jedi Master.
Pfft. He had absolutely nothing to worry about, he told himself calmly.
Except the bewildering but frighteningly real possibility that his wife might be having twins again, taking the total number of Skywalker kids up to four.
Four. A trickle of sweat slid down his temple.
"What's wrong Ani?"
He turned to look at Padmé. She was wearing a slight frown, peering at him with a peculiar expression. There was nothing on her face that suggested anything other than a normal, healthy level of anxiety.
Anakin squeezed her hand tighter, trying his best to give her an assuring smile, to let her know he was not going nuts over the fact that in seven months or so they might be welcoming two more little babies.
Unfortunately for him, she didn't buy it. She pursed her lips, staring straight at him. "Answer the question."
Padmé had learned a long time ago that it wasn't trustworthy to buy into either one of Anakin's flashy grins or falsely calm countenances. She waited patiently for his reply. It always took this prompting of hers to get him to talk.
"I'm just…alright-scared." He admitted feebly.
Every now and then Anakin still managed to take her by surprise. This was just one such occasion.
"Scared?" she looked at him, bemused. "Of what?"
He smiled at her sheepishly before answering. "That you could be having twins…"
Padmé resisted the urge to laugh and tried instead to contort her features into one of seriousness.
"This is a serious matter!" Anakin protested as she failed and her lips broke into a wide amused smile.
"I know…but imagine the field day the galactic media would have knowing that the Hero with No Fear was afraid of a couple of infants." She teased.
"They're not just a couple of babies," he stressed, "their energy levels are way off any chart!"
Padmé gave him a pointed look. "And just where do you think they got it from?"
He gave her another sheepish grin in response. She sighed as leaned against him. "Either ways, this, baby or babies, is ours. We're going to love and care for them all the same."
"It's not like you can choose, you know." She added.
"Of course I know that. But if only…" he trailed off suggestively. Padmé jabbed him in the ribs.
"Ow-"
At that moment, the door slid open and the medical droid zoomed towards them, a datapad in his mechanical arm. Anakin gripped Padmé's hand firmly in his, hearing her whisper in his ear.
"Relax…It'll be fine."
"Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker?" the droid inquired upon checking the datapad.
They nodded.
"You wife is medically fine. The nausea is normal at this stage, though I must warn you that it is not just subjected to the morning. Often it can take place throughout the day,"
Padmé paled a tinge at the news. All day?
"Other than that, she is doing well," the droid paused to check the screen.
"Ah yes, you inquired as to whether she is expecting twins?" Padmé nodded.
"It appears that-"
"STOP!"
The droid seemed almost shocked at Anakin's unexpected outburst.
"I beg your pardon?" He sounded like Threepio at this point.
Padmé whipped around sharply to give her husband a sharp glare. Just who did that imbecile of hers think he was?
"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back down on his seat.
"Please, continue." She told the droid, digging her nails into Anakin's palm.
"Very well. It seems that Mrs. Skywalker is expecting-"
"STO-" Anakin shouted, shooting to his feet. He couldn't find out now. He didn't want to find out.
"Anakin, sit down!" hissed Padmé, giving the droid an apologetic smile through gritted teeth.
"Continue-" she ordered the droid.
"She is expecting-"
"NO, stop-I don't-" Anakin had made up his mind. He did not want to hear anything this droid had to say anymore. His wife was fine and unborn child was fine and he was happy. Full stop.
"Anakin Skywalker! What do you-" It took very bit of Padmé's senatorial and queen training to restrain her features from forming into one very nasty look directed at her apparently insane husband.
"very healthy-" bravely the droid droned on.
"I've changed my mind about knowing!"
"But I haven't!-" Padmé shouted, but the litany of curses that she had lined up at the tip of her tongue was forgotten and she stared stunned as Anakin stretched out his hand and the droid buckled and fell onto the ground.
Anakin heaved a sigh of relief. "There. Problem solved."
He was so pleased at having stopped the impertinent droid in time he hardly noticed his silently fuming wife beside him. But unfortunately for Anakin, the problem was far from solved.
Far, far, far from it, Padmé seethed.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Just what was that all about Anakin?" she burst out furiously the minute they got into the speeder. The facial expression on Anakin's face revealed that he'd thought they weren't going to have this talk.
"What makes you think that what you did just now didn't warrant this talk?" she went on to answer his unimplied question.
"You used the Force on a medical droid! I thought we were past this!"
"You were insisting for it to tell!" Anakin defended as he steered them into one of the traffic lanes to return home.
"That's because I thought we had decided to keep a calm, rational mind and find out!" she retorted, gathering steam, a certain venomous quality to her voice now.
"That was before I decided it was best not to know!"
"And find out only when I give birth? Wouldn't that be more of a shock?" she shot back heatedly.
"Better that way than having to deal with the thought of more than one more for seven months!"
At that, Padmé was so mad she decided it was better for the both of them that she didn't speak for a while. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned towards the lines of traffic streaming past her, not really seeing any of it.
She knew Anakin loved her and the twins, and this baby, but he really, really had some nerve. He tried her till no end, until she thought she had finally come up with the ultimate reasons why Jedi's weren't allowed to love and marry, and then he did something else that topped the list once again.
It was no wonder Obi-Wan used to inquire about her mental health. This man could drive anyone, anything up the wall when he wanted to.
She inhaled deeply, counting silently to ten. When she was done, she started from one again. She had become quite good at this after marrying Anakin. It served a most useful purpose. It ensured that she didn't cross the line to inflicting physical harm.
After repeating this cycle for ten times, she finally felt that she trusted herself enough to speak to him again. After all, she really couldn't stay mad with Anakin for long. He was one of her biggest weakness and strengths, she admitted begrudgingly, stealing a swift glance at him.
It seemed that everything would soon be alright by the time they got home, for Anakin was already shooting sad apologetic looks in her direction, when out of the blue, the speeder swerved to the left out into the sidelines of the main traffic lanes, so suddenly she was slightly displaced, and forced to clutch onto Anakin's arm.
Prickle by prickle, she felt that all-too-familiar anger seep back inside her. Breathe, breathe.
"Just what was that for?" her voice, though seemingly calm carried a threatening precarious edge.
Anakin was gripping the controls tightly, his eyes widened with what seemed like horror and fear as he turned to her. For once he was oblivious to the look on her face.
Padmé felt her heart soften a little. In a quick change of heart she had the strangest urge to be wrapped in his arms and comfort him. And then Anakin had to shoot off that mouth of his again.
"Padmé-what if-what if you're not having twins, but triplets?"
Anakin's voice shook with genuine panic and alarm but she couldn't care anymore. She had enough.
Slowly, Anakin noticed her face. She was livid, incensed and it was a miracle she even managed to utter the words out of her mouth, but she did.
"Get.back.into.the.lane. Go straight home before you kill us all and get a fine. Don't stop or even move so much as an inch from route, and don't you dare ask that question again."
Swallowing with a manner of resigned finality, Anakin steered and reentered the traffic lanes. It was going to be a long painful ride home.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
She didn't speak to him for the rest of the evening and night.
Other than polite civilities so that the twins wouldn't launch into a crying panic, Padmé hadn't said a genuine word to her husband.
Oh and he'd felt it, she knew. Give him the cold shoulder for a few hours and he would begin to feel the pain. It worked all the time.
Now it was past midnight and she had been lying restless for an hour or so. She couldn't sleep properly. She turned to lie on her right side and was faced with Anakin's bare back against her. Even in the last dregs of her anger, she cracked into a tiny smirk.
They always slept in this manner after an unresolved argument, and in the morning she would almost always find herself snuggled right next to him or an arm around her waist. Honestly, they were quite hopeless at standing firm.
Padmé stared at his back for awhile, in two minds. She was still annoyed nonetheless, but the last traces of her anger was ebbing away and she did miss having him hold her at night. She finally came upon a decision.
It was her duty as a mother not to let the baby starve and Anakin's duty as a repentant husband to indulge in his wife. Padmé inched closer towards his still body then placed a tentative hand on his arm.
"Anakin?" she whispered, planting a soft kiss on his shoulder. There. She was not about to hurt him anymore.
Very, very slowly, he shifted and moved till her was now facing her.
"I'm sorry angel." He whispered before she could say anything.
She smiled impishly at him. "Forgiven."
Anakin grinned back at her. "You couldn't go to bed without forgiving me angel."
A sweet smile. "Don't push it Anakin. You were bad enough today."
He grinned accordingly as he said, "But you know you couldn't. I'm right and you know it."
Padmé didn't say a word, but of course Anakin was right. She just didn't want to admit it then. Let Anakin think he was off the hook? Not that fast.
"Ani? I'm hungry."
A look of incredulity crossed his features as his eyes flickered to the bedside. "It's one-thirty Padmé…"
"I'm serious Anakin. I can't sleep…" She said imploringly. Then as an afterthought, she took his hand and placed it on her stomach. "The baby's hungry too."
Anakin's face was blank for a second, as if deciding if that was worth getting out of bed for, then his lips curled into a tiny crooked grin. "Alright…what do you want?" he sighed dramatically.
"I have a sudden craving for lavein milk…" her eyes lit up.
"You want me to make some for you?" He looked highly amused at the thought of going into the kitchen at this hour, and actually cooking.
Then to her surprise, he sat up and began putting on his robes. She had expected some form of protest, but then, she reminded herself, it was only right he was making an effort to redeem himself.
"I did promise your father after all that I would take care of you…" he remarked as he bent down to kiss her. "I am a trustworthy man."
His eyes gleamed roguishly and Padmé laughed despite herself.
"Hurry up!"
…………………………………………………………………………..
Anakin clutched the warm mug in his hands as he made his way carefully towards their bedroom. In the low lighting, the thick cream colored milk emitted faint trails of steam.
A sense of pride rose up in him as he admired his handiwork. The milk smelled and tasted delicious. Padmé would have to admit he had done a pretty good job, considering he had only seen Jobal prepare it twice.
He's spent thirty minutes in that kitchen of theirs that he had barely set foot in. Fifteen for finding the milk, ten for the spices and five for the actual boiling process.
Anakin felt quite proud.
Approaching their bedroom, he carefully pushed the door away, hardly waiting to catch the delighted look on his wife's face.
The dim light from the hallway shone into the room, illuminating the bed and Anakin's anticipating expression gave way to a tender loving, though somewhat resigned and disappointed one.
Crossing the threshold softly, he placed the warm mug on the bedside. It was just as well this was his punishment.
She was sleeping.
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Hey! Thanks so so much to all of my lovely reviewers! The response is overwhelming, way better than I expected. I do appreciate every one very much. Thanks for the encouragement. This story is my baby! And for one reviewer, to answer your question, no, I'm not British, though quite close. I'll leave you guessing.
And I was just thinking, do you want the Jedi Council to know about their marriage, or just Obi-Wan to know. I can't quite make up my mind, because I might use this in a future chapter, so I wanted your opinion and I'll see where I should take it from there. I'm sorry for the longer wait than usual, but break is over now. So my updates, latest, should be about a week. I'll try my best to make it five days though.
I hope you like this! Review!