Chapter 13

Nomi sat at the table in the kitchenette with Mara. She wondered where Luke was. She had called him hours ago; he kept saying he'd be here in a little while. Nomi decided she was tired of waiting around. Nomi noticed that lately, that she had become more impatient. She wondered did that have anything to do with the time she had been spending here in the city.

Nomi had been noticing changes in her self over the past week or so. It seemed things irritated her more. She was more impatient, she didn't enjoy watching after the little ones anymore. Jaina's perkiness seemed to get on her nerves. She snapped at a security guard earlier that day. She didn't like the way she was changing. It was far for the worse. Nomi was trying just to contribute it to her waiting for Luke and then their talk from this morning. However, something in the back of her mind kept telling her that wasn't it.

"Do you want to go up to Leia's apartment?" Nomi asked.

"You don't want to wait for Luke? I thought you were supposed to meet him back here." Mara was confused on why in the worlds Nomi would want to leave when she was to meet Luke here.

"We've been waiting over four hours. I'm tired of sitting down here. I have a million things I need to do today. I need to call my Aunt and get things straightened out with her. Hopefully I can get her before she calls my father. If not then I'm in a Sith amount of trouble."

"Well, if you want to. It's boring down here anyways. You should really talk Luke into investing into some entertainment. You're going to get real bored real fast down here."

What's that suppose to mean? Nomi wasn't sure exactly how to respond to the statement. Is everyone expecting me to move in here? The thought had crossed her mind while she had been staying in Luke's. Since he had been back, only the few hours, things didn't look like he'd invite her to stay. Well, at least not with him.

Luke had gotten onto her and Mara, as well, about setting an example for his niece and nephews. And they both understood that the children look up to them. Luke was all about setting a good example, whether it's for Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin, or for the galaxy. That was one thing Nomi loved about Luke.

The two of them had gathered their things and were heading toward the door when it slid open right in front of their faces. Mara had had enough training with the Force to know it was Luke, but Nomi had not. She was still having problems telling one person's presence from another. Nomi jumped back and let out a little bit of a scream.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked both Mara and Nomi.

"We were going up to Leia's apartment. I wasn't sure what time you'd be getting home and Mara was sitting here keeping me company," Nomi said.

"Well, Mara, I'm here you can go now. Thank you for keeping Nomi company." The whole time he talked to Mara he was staring into Nomi's eyes.

"Okay, well, then. I'll see you two at dinner then. Bye."

"Bye, Mara," Nomi called out.

The two of them stood in silence for a little while. But Luke refused to turn away from her. He was staring into her eyes. It made Nomi feel like he could see right through her. She refused to look away though. It wasn't because she wanted to show her bravery to stand up to him; she was caught up in those blue eyes.

Luke took a step toward her, Nomi wanted to back up but in a way couldn't. He took, yet, another close step. That wonderful smile she loved so much came across his face. She returned a smile to him. She was glad to see he wasn't angry about the bar or about the baby.

He took another step toward her. He now seemed to be towering over her just a bit. It was times like this that Nomi did notice their couple of inches height difference. He reached up and began playing with a lock of her hair. He was standing so close she could feel the warmth in his breath. She was still staring into his eyes and he into hers. He bent down to kiss her.

Nomi pulled away, she felt like she couldn't breath. Luke could tell by the look on her face that he had got the reaction he wanted. He was only a few inches from her face because he stood up to his full height. They continued to look into each others eyes.

"Hey," Luke wasn't quite sure what to say.

Nomi chuckled; she wasn't sure either, "Hey."

"Will you marry me?" Luke said.

The question hit Nomi as if someone had Force pushed her into a wall. It had broken the trance she had been in. She took a step or two back. A surprised and confused look took over where a goofy grin had just been. "What?"

Luke pulled a red velvet box out of his utility belt. He opened it up to show a beautiful ring inside. Nomi looked at the ring and realized this was no mere game to him. He is completely serious about this. Luke took her by the hand. He would've got down on one knew but he remembered how she always said that was a little weird.

"Nomica Jetta Darklighter, will you marry me?"

Nomi couldn't say yes, at least not yet. "I need you to answer something for me first."

"Anything," a smile grew on Luke's face.

"Why are you asking me this now? Did it have something to do with what I told you this morning, about the baby? Did my crazy aunt say something to you?"

"No. I'd been thinking about it since I saw you at the theater. I couldn't even concentrate on the play. I was so enwrapped in the idea of us being together again. And this time I made myself promise not to let you get away." He was disappointed that she thought he had an alternative motive. But the fact that she asked meant that she didn't want to jump into the relationship blindly.

"Luke, you promise me that you're doing this now because you want to and that you don't feel obligated." Nomi wanted him to be one hundred percent positive of his motives.

"I promise." Luke watched as the worried look on her face disappeared. It was replaced by a smile, and tears welling up in her eyes.

Nomi didn't know what to say or what to do. She hated being emotional, she was always the boyish one. Now however she didn't want to worry about the water gathering in her eyes. The tears were causing her vision to become fuzzy. Oh, who cares? Crying in front of Luke, alone, I can get over. She let the tears of joy run down her cheeks.

Nomi began to shake her head yes as she tried to control the tears. So much had happened between the two of them when they were younger, so much had happened in the past few weeks, so much had happened in that one day.

Luke picked Nomi up into a wookie hug and spun her in a circle. He didn't want to let go. And she didn't want him to. He put her down and they stood there for a second. Luke took the ring out of the box and put onto her finger. It was just right, it wasn't too girly and it didn't say he was cheap either.

They kissed again, this time, deeper than before. The two sat down on the couch, still caught up in kisses.

"I don't think we set a good example for Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin." Nomi said trying to make reference to the talk Luke had had with her and Mara earlier in the day about being good roll models to the children.

The two of them were now lying in bed and Luke was playing with Nomi's hair that lay across his chest. "You're right. But what the children don't know can't influence them."

"Luke Skywalker, are you implying that we lie?"

"No. I'm just trying to figure out how the children would find out."

"Luke, remember how we were. All children have a sneaky side. If they figure out that we aren't telling them everything, they'll try to figure it out on their own. And those kids are in no way slow."

Luke chuckled, he knew this as well. "We just won't say anything around them. And we'll tell Leia and Han to do the same."

Nomi almost couldn't believe what he had said. The conversation was interrupted by the ring of the apartment's door pager. Luke could tell it was Leia but she was accompanied by a few others. Luke looked to Nomi as it registered to them at the same time.

"It's Leia, Mara, and the kids!" Luke jumped out of the bed and hurriedly began to get dressed. "I'll go let them in. You, get dressed." He kissed her and then he headed to the common room door.

When he got there he was greeted by smiling familiar faces. "Hi guys." Luke gestured for them all to enter the common room.

"Where's Ms. Nomi?" Jaina asked.

"She's in the bedroom. She'll be out in just a moment," Luke replied to his over anxious niece. "Sit. Does anyone want anything to drink?"

"Can I have some hot chocolate?" Jacen asked. "Ms. Nomi kept some up here for when we would come visit her."

"Alright then. Anyone else?"

"I want some hot chocolate too," Anakin said. Jaina soon echoed Anakin's words.

"I'm fine," Mara said.

"I'll come help you," Leia said. She said it more to state where she was going than to offer her help. Leia followed Luke into the kitchenette.

Luke was boiling water on the stove when she entered. "Luke, what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong."

"Something was wrong this morning. You didn't come to lunch. Now, you seem to be kind of withdrawn, as if your mind was some where else. Tell me."

"Not now, Leia. Maybe later, but not now."

"Not now what?" Nomi walked into the kitchenette after she had said hello to Mara and the children.

"Something was bothering Luke this morning and I was wondering what it was." Leia hoped if she told her the truth maybe Nomi would tell her. Maybe that's asking too much.

Nomi glanced over to Luke. "You should tell her what was bothering you."

"What?" Luke was surprised at Nomi's reaction. He thought maybe she would want to keep the past, well, in the past.

"Tell her, she's your sister, she has a right to know." Nomi wasn't exactly pleased with the thought of everyone knowing her secret but she knew it would come out eventually. Luke sent her a 'are you sure?' look. Nomi just nodded yes to him and took a sip from her cup. "I'll take the children their drinks." Nomi took the tray with the cups and walked into the common room.

"Okay Luke, you can't tell me nothing is wrong. Nomi just as well admitted it for you. So what is it?" Leia had a concerned look on her face. Luke had only kept a few secrets from her; she wanted to know what it was.

"This morning, when you came by, Nomi and I had been talking." Luke never thought it to be this hard to talk about. "We talked about us back when we were on Tatooine."

Leia could tell Luke was getting more uncomfortable by the second, "And?"

Luke sighed; she wasn't going to make this easy on him. "She told me the real reason her father made her leave. She was pregnant. He didn't want me to find out. He didn't want me marrying her."

Leia could see the hurt that was in her brothers eyes. She was having trouble accepting it all. She wondered how he had done it in less than one day. "So you're a father?"

"No." Luke looked down at the cup of hot chocolate in his hands.

Now, Leia was confused. Didn't he just say that she had been pregnant?

"Nomi lost the baby before it was born." Luke said as if he had read Leia's mind.

How is he able to stand this? In one day he finds out he was a father and only moments later he finds out that the child is gone.

"It was to be a girl." Luke felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes. But he pushed them back.

She knew how much Luke wanted to have a family. Then to have the news that he might have had one and then it was pulled from underneath him. She wasn't sure how to comfort him. She put an arm around him. "Don't worry. One day, it's going to happen."

Sooner than you think. "Yeah." He gave Leia a smile and glanced into the common room to see his bride-to-be playing with Anakin. He smiled inwardly; he then guided Leia into the common room to join the others.