A/N: i adore every last one of you who reviewed! (and yes, even those of you who just read it) but this ch is only being posted 4 and because of my wonderful reviewers! and i'm sorry that this ch is a little shorter than the others, but it was necessary for day 7 (the last one) to be a good length. i hope you enjoy this as much as the others, and if you'll be so kind as to review, i think i just might be so kind as to post the last chapter! heehee

Day 6: Changes

She was late.

Padmé dropped to the edge of the bath. She had never been late. Not even by an hour, and now it had been over a day. Her body was like clockwork, she couldn't even remember the last time she was even less than an hour off. That was probably because she never had been.

26 hours late.

She uncharacteristically muttered a curse that would put a Sith Lord to shame. If she was pregnant… Padmé knew there was no if involved – she was pregnant. Not to mention it was with Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Her head dropped into her palms and willed the tears that formed in her eyes to hold themselves back. It wasn't that she didn't want to have his child, it was that she knew she couldn't. If the Jedi Council found out about this, he could very well be cast out of the Jedi Order. Padmé couldn't let that happen. If anybody figured out that she was carrying a Jedi's baby… She lifted and shook her head to herself and allowed her thoughts to float away and the tears began to release themselves in fast, steady streams down her burning cheeks.

But that didn't mean that she couldn't tell Obi-Wan. He had every right to know – the baby was after all, just as much his as it was hers.

Did she just call a child 'it'?

Padmé mentally made a note to always refer to 'it' as either the baby, child, he or she. Not 'it'.

Under any other circumstances, she would have been thrilled to carry this baby, the child of the man she loves. But it wasn't different circumstances.

She had to tell him.

Taking a deep breath, although not a very cleansing one, Padmé rose, hoping her shaking knees would have the much-needed strength to hold herself up. She gripped the edge of the counter and stared at herself in the mirror. The image that looked back at her was wide-eyed and trembling.

Gathering every reserve of force that was stored away in her muscle she turned and opened the door. Only to stop dead in her tracks when Obi-Wan's body stood in the doorway.

Obidala

Obi-Wan had the fleeting thought that if he didn't stop frowning there would be a permanent crease between his eyebrows, but quickly his mind returned to the issue at hand as he stared out at the expanse of nature before him. He leaned his hip on the rail and fought to keep a clear mind.

He could be wrong.

Maybe he wasn't connecting properly with the Force since his constant contact and – yes, he knew for sure – love for Padmé. Maybe he was simply feeling what he subconsciously wanted to feel. But he couldn't want to feel the life that he thought was growing in her abdomen.

He was a Jedi, that is where his life was and would remain.

Obi-Wan couldn't become a father, especially with a Senator. What would Anakin say? He instantly rebuffed the question. Anakin had nothing to do with this. It was about Obi-Wan and Padmé.

And the baby.

He corrected himself – if there was a baby. But it was useless to dwell on things he didn't even know were true. Padmé might have simply been feeling ill from the memorial service they had help for Cordé.

There was only one way to find out.

Obidala

Padmé looked up at Obi-Wan. Her eyes grew larger, her cheeks became flush and her mouth became parched and dry. "O-Obi-Wan. Wh-what are you doing?" Stop stuttering.

"Padmé…"

Here come those fateful four words…

"We need to talk."

She nodded after she attempted and failed to form any kind of word that would suggest she hadn't become dumb – in both senses of the word. He gently took her arm and led her from the bathroom and into her bedroom. Obi-Wan shut the door, assuring at least a small amount of privacy. He sat a stiff-boned Padmé down on the edge of the unmade bed and knelt down in front of her.

"Obi-Wan," her voice sounded like it came from a different source than her own mouth. "I think I'm pregnant. No, no. I know I'm pregnant."

He sighed. Whether it was out of relief that he hadn't had to ask her or because he had secretly grown anticipation of becoming a father to her child, he didn't know and frankly didn't care to dissect himself in the process of finding the truth. But it wasn't disappointment; he knew that for a fact.

"What are we going to do?" she asked in a tiny voice teetering on the edge on disparity.

He rose to his feet and walked around the bed to stare out the long and wide windows. "I don't know. If the Council finds out…if anyone finds out…"

She stood and turned to face him. The fact that even Obi-Wan couldn't finish a sentence heightened her stress level. "But what about the baby? This is bigger than you and I, Obi-Wan. A child is involved in this, whether it's an inconvenience to us or not. And don't even bring up the choice of terminating the pregnancy." She warned.

He turned around then, "I would never ask you to do that to our baby."

The soft-spoken promise caught her off-guard. Our baby. "Well, what do you suggest we do?"

Facing the window again, it was a long moment before Obi-Wan answered honestly. "I don't know."

"Well, we better figure something out before long. Our-"

A hesitant knock on the door froze Padmé's words in her throat. "Master Jedi Kenobi? Master Yoda and Master Windu have requested to speak to you."

The mention of the two High Council members validated Obi-Wan and Padmé's concern over what would happen, should someone find out their new secret. She stood stock-still and her heart began to race.

"Alright. I'll be right there," he called. Obi-Wan made his way to the door, but turned back to Padmé before opening it. "Don't worry, Padmé. We'll figure this out. But until then I don't want you on your feet, you should be resting."

"Obi-Wan-" She was talking to an open doorway.