Star Wars does not belong to me. Just Skylar & Co.
Sorry for not updating last Friday. Stupid Writer's Block. That, and the past few episodes really haven't given me much inspiration either. I mean, Sky can't show up in every single event of the Clone Wars, can she?
Knowing her, she probably could. But something tells me that she's got enough on her hands as it is...
Big thanks to Fidgeymugato and Janizary for reviewing!
And we'll be getting to the mission in a few, I promise.
As soon as the four of them entered the apartment, little Tea came flying out of the kitchen to greet them and Fives was immediately struck with an image of a slightly older Teanna with a little toddler tagging along behind her. In his mind's eye the child was a girl and she looked exactly like her mother. But the baby could be a boy too. Won't find out for another three months. Osik, that's still a long time, no matter what Gabe says.
"Mama! Daddy!" When Teanna reached them, Fives scooped her up and she immediately hugged his neck as tightly as she could. The exuberant greeting his little girl was giving was close to the one she'd given him just this morning and it was enough to make him feel bad. Again. I haven't even noticed until now how much she's grown while I've been away. I swear, she's at least three inches taller. One of those three inches were her little montrals, which were no longer just little tiny points on the top of her head. And her lekku are longer too.
Cade, who'd followed the little Togruta out of the kitchen, raised his brows, "How did it go, S'ika?"
Gabe chuckled from behind the ARC Trooper, "Very well."
The ordnance expert from Aran gave them a confused look, "Okaaay." He looked from Fives and Sky to Gabe and Deena, then back to Skylar, "Then why in the manda did the three of you take Sky to the medcenter for some kind of checkup if nothing's wrong?"
"You had a checkup, Mama?" Tea questioned, tilting her little head curiously like her mother did sometimes.
Sky took the little girl from Fives' arms and hugged her tightly. Fives opened his mouth, about to remind her that the medic had told her to not be lifting anything heavy. While Tea was still little for her age, she wasn't a lightweight either. He snapped his mouth shut as Skylar gave him an irritated glance. But she still set their little girl down.
"That's not until later on, F'ika," his wife said irritably.
"Later on?" Cade and Tea asked in perfect unison. Even their tone was the same. I'm thinking that Kot's got some competition for 'favorite uncle'.
Deena nodded her head, "Yes, but I think Skylar wanted to tell all of you at the same time. Is the rest of Aran still here?"
Cade nodded, "Fidget's got Briika. And I think they're all watching the bolo-ball game." By the way the strawberry blond clone scrunched up his face, Fives could tell that the ordnance expert really wasn't into the sport even if the rest of his squad loved it. Sky had told Fives that Cade preferred cooking over sports, which had led to him being the brunt of most of his brothers' jokes. Doesn't look like he lets it bother him, though. "So, what's the big news, Ori'vod?"
Sky shook her head, a secretive smile on her face, "Oh no, you're not getting anything out of me." Cade looked to Fives and Skylar cleared her throat pointedly, "Or my husband for that matter. Not until we're all in the living room, eleck?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever you say, Sis."
He knows, or he's at least guessed. Sky's brothers have already been through this with Deena, I'm the only clone in this family who's never been around a pregnant woman before. At that thought, Fives wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. A baby. Who would have thought?
It was at this point that Cordav really wished that her Buir was still alive. He would have loved this, just as much as he would have loved Tea and Briika. She remembered how he used to joke that she'd give him a whole bunch of bu'ad'ikase. He should be here. More and more lately, she was wishing that they'd known about his health problems before his heart had given out. I haven't told Fives about that yet. I mean, he knows that my Papa's gone, but I never told him what happened that day, when I found Buir...
Fives must have seen the sadness on her face, because his arms tightened comfortingly around her shoulders as they sat on the couch. His fingers rubbing comforting circles on her left upper arm. She met his concerned brown gaze and gave him a reassuring smile. Now's not the time to dwell on the past. This is a shereshoy day. Buir wouldn't want me to forget him, but he wouldn't want me to mourn for him either. Especially not today...
Cade turned the game off, earning a couple of annoyed groans and even a few brotherly insults from his squadmates. Tea climbed up into Fives' lap, her little creamy fingers playing with her father's other hand. Sky couldn't help but smile as moments like this were few and far between, which made them that much more precious.
Deena settled in the lone recliner and Gabe parked his hoverchair beside his wife. Even though he and Wreck shared the same title, Gabriel had always been the alpha male of the Cordav siblings. Which meant that the other boys immediately shut up when the former sergeant cleared his throat.
"As much as I hate to say this, vod'ikase, meshgeroya isn't important right now."
"Then what is?" Kendan asked, an annoyed look on his face. He ran a hand over his buzz-cut dark hair, "I don't see-"
Wreck cut him off with a look before turning his gaze to his sister, "Judging from your face, Sky, you've got something you want to tell us."
Cordav nodded, but didn't elaborate immediately, staring at nothing in particular as she tried to figure out how she was going to tell them the news.
"Could ya, like, hurry, S'ika? The game's in over-time and I want to miss as little of it as possible." Ken had never really been good at hiding his impatience. He had to be the most impulsive of her brothers. Which, surprisingly, isn't always a bad thing.
Fives fixed the sniper with a glare and Sky rolled her eyes, "It's okay, he's always like that, F'ika. Tea?"
"Yeah, Mama?" Her daughter's dark hazel eyes met her own, "Why did you go to the doctor? Are you sick?"
Skylar shook her head, gently stroking the little girl's right lekku. I swear she's getting bigger by the minute. "No. I just needed to have her check something for me."
"Check what?" Wreck seemed apprehensive, "Gedet'ye tell me that you're not thinking that you have heart problems like Buir did." Kendan and Fidget stiffened, and Cade fixed Sky with a fearful look. I've never seen any of my boys that scared before.
And she was quick to reassure them, "No. Definitely not. In fact, it's something much better."
Aran shared confused looks, making Gabe and Deena chuckle. Sky looked to Fives and he nodded, taking the cue. Her husband turned their daughter around so that she was facing them, "Teanna, ad'ika, you're going to be a big sister."
Kot nodded to Doz, "I'll go call Skylar now. The sooner, the better, I guess."
Doz nodded, "If you want to take first watch over Top tonight, you'd better take a shower too, alright?"
Kot nodded, "'Kay." With that, the former trooper walked out, the door hissing shut behind him. For a full minute he just stood in the hallway, fingering the personal comlink in his belt. Sky didn't have the resources, or the knowledge for that matter, to set up secure links in her boys' buckets. But she did know the Nulls, Mereel in particular, well enough to set her own boys up with a multitude of secure codes.
He patiently waited as the comlink beeped. After several minutes, someone finally picked up. But it wasn't Sky.
"Cuy, ner vod."
Gabe. It wasn't unusual for him to answer his- their sister's comlink, but Kot needed her right then, not the former sergeant. Skylar was the only one who could calm him down when he was this worried, "Hey, Gab'ika, is Sky around?"
"She is, but she and Fives are trying to talk to Tea." If anything, the man sounded tense.
Trying? Kot didn't forget Top's predicament, but he couldn't help but to be worried about his oldest niece. Tea never ignored her family and that went double for her parents. Which meant that something must have happened. "Is everything all right, Gabe?"
Gabriel sighed, "Teanna thinks that Fives and Sky are going to replace her."
"Why would she think that?"
"I'll let Sky tell you that, it's not really my place to say anything, vod'ika. Speaking of which, what did you want to talk to S'ika about?"
"Top's injured, we're heading back to Triple Zero right now."
Kot could practically hear the fear in Gabe's voice when the man responded, "Is he okay?"
He nodded, even though the older clone couldn't see him, "Sort of. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. In fact, Doz is stitching him as we speak."
"But..."
"But D'ika's worried about infection. It was a shrapnel wound, so..."
"I'll let her know. Do you still want to talk to her?"
"I can wait. I think Tea needs her more than I do right now."
Gabe was silent and Kot immediately knew that his brother was thinking of the suicide attempt. "Don't forget that you're important too, okay?"
Kot couldn't help but feel frustrated at that. I'm not 'Thirteen' anymore and I'm not gonna stoop that low again. Okay, breathe. Calm down. He's your brother and he loves you. That's all, he's not trying to make you mad. It was just easier to get mad though as it helped him forget his worry about Top. But it's not fair to Gabe.
"I won't, Gabe. Tell Tea that I love her, okay?"
"Will do. K'oyacyi."
osik = crap
manda = heaven
ori'vod = big sister
eleck = yes
Buir = Papa
bu'ad'ikase = grandchildren
shereshoy = joyful, happy (basically means 'lust for life')
vod'ikase = little brothers
meshgeroya = the beautiful game (bolo-ball)
gedet'ye = please
ad'ika = little one
cuy = shortened form of 'Su'cuy gar' (so you're still alive)
ner = my
vod = brother
vod'ika = little brother
k'oyacyi = stay safe
Please R&R.
