Star Wars doesn't belong to me. Just Skylar & Co.
Big, big thanks to the wonderful emjalen for beta reading! Couldn't have done it without you. :)
And thanks to my amazing reviewers: Vadersfist501st, Kelana-ti, Delta808th, LadyZelthePen, and Janizary for reviewing!
For some odd reason, every time I try to type 'medbay' my fingers want to spell out 'medbaby'. They have a mind of their own, I swear... :P
The 'nerf guts prank' is told in my one-shot Ni Partayli.
"And why doesn't Darman know about his own son? Wouldn't he have noticed the changes in his girlfriend over the past nine months?" Skylar kept her voice carefully controlled. Devrin had christened that tone her 'deadly voice' on account that she only used it when she was royally pissed.
"Six months, actually. Etain kind of 'helped' her pregnancy along." Skirata looked ashamed of himself. As he should be. Darman was a member of Omega Squad, and one of the boys that Skirata had trained on Kamino. Kal, like her father had, treated his men like his own sons. Except he never adopted any of them, but that's a moot point. Ba'vodu's the only father his boys ever had, and a father should never hide his son's children from them. I don't care what his excuse is.
And Etain. General Tur-Mukan? Wow, that boy sure knows how to reach high. Wait a minute...six months. That explains why Tur-Mukan was on Qiilura for so long. She'd met the woman a few times and had begun to respect the Jetii enough to keep an eye on her, therefore, she knew that the female general's mission to the backwater planet had ended a while ago. Which means that the baby's not really a newborn anymore...
"How old is the boy?" Not once did she let her voice waver out of control, not once did she allow her features to show the anger that was boiling in her blood. No one should ever be kept in the dark about their own child. Clone or not.
"A few months." Her uncle was watching her warily. "You have to understand, Sky. Dar isn't exactly ready for kids. He's a soldier and still a boy-"
"So? Fives is younger than your boys and my brothers. When he married me, my husband also took on a child that wasn't his own. If an eleven year old can do that, then a twelve year old is very capable of the same, Kal. But you'll never know that because you won't even give him the chance." By the time she'd finished her tirade, she'd moved close enough to poke her finger against his armored chest.
Skirata narrowed his eyes at her, "It's not that, Skylar Cordav. Darman can hold a child, but that doesn't mean he's ready for parenthood or that he won't be distracted on the battlefield. Don't think I take pleasure in hiding this from my son. It's just for his own good."
Skylar hadn't heard the last half of what he'd just said as her mind was still trying to make sense of what he'd said first, "What do you mean, 'Darman can hold a child'?"
"I introduced Kad to the boys... as my grandson."
This time, there was no concealing her fury.
"You did what?"
Several hours later, and Skylar was still stewing. I can't believe Ba'vodu did that! The very fact that her uncle, a man she trusted, had let Darman hold his newborn son and didn't tell the commando who the boy was made her so shabla furious. He told Dar a half-truth instead. As far as I'm concerned, a half-truth is just as bad an outright lie. Shab, just when you think you know a person.
Then there was a knock on her office door. Whoever that is, he'd better get his shebs away from my door if he knows what's good for him. She tried to ignore the knocking, but it was persistent. And only her brothers could be that annoying.
She pressed a button on her desk, not even looking up as the door whooshed open, "Doz, I swear, if you're trying to plan some ridiculous prank-"
"Last I checked, I wasn't a commando."
Skylar jerked her head, giving the clone a mock glare, "You're really not much of a Null either. Can't even keep a secret."
Mereel tilted his head, giving her an impish grin as the door closed behind him. That was the kind of look that normally had shallow women swooning at his feet. It had never worked on her. She never let on, but she knew that Mereel had played a part in the nerf guts prank that Devrin had played on her so many years ago.
She stood and the Null pulled her into one of his bear hugs, "Sorry, Sky. I thought they already knew." He pulled away, "I mean, most of the boys here have already figured out that you've got a soft spot for that ARC Trooper."
"And most of them keep their mouths shut. I see you haven't inherited your father's ability to keep the truth hidden..." she trailed off, her sour mood very evident in her voice and expression.
Mereel winced, leaning against the door, "Buir mentioned that he told you about Kad'ika."
"Did he also tell you that I gave him haran for it? And an ultimatum?"
"That he has a year to tell Darman or you'll do it yourself? Yeah, he wasn't too happy about it, but he understands where you're coming from. Even if it won't change his mind... He'll tell Dar about Kad'ika when he thinks the time's right. Trust me, Sky, you don't want to get into it with Buir."
Skylar sighed, slumping into her chair, "I know, Mereel. But this isn't right." And I don't blame you for following your father's di'kutla decisions. I'm just worried about what's going to happen when Darman finds out that Kad's his. "Fine, I won't say anything. But you tell your Buir to expect all of haran to break loose when the osik finally hits the fan." As much as I want to make Kal tell Dar, Mereel's right. Ba'vodu's gonna do what's he's gonna do and he'll do it in his own time. It's not worth creating a rift and suffering from the backlash. That, and my stress levels are already sky high right now.
But none of that changes how I feel about this shabla mess... Needless to say, she didn't trust Kal Skirata as much as she had before.
A month had passed since Kot had rescued Zephyr from Gaon's and now he was finally fitted with a prosthetic. He flexed his fingers as he sat at the kitchen table, marveling at how normal they felt and looked with the synthflesh on. It doesn't even look like I was missing an arm.
Zephyr came into the kitchen and froze in the doorway. He offered her a small smile, but the four month pregnant Wroonian girl just stared at him, eyes wide. He almost rolled his own eyes, but managed to keep from doing so. It's not her fault. She's not used to seeing me with two hands. Zephyr still hadn't recovered from the nightmare that Gaon and Cales had put her through. She barely flinched around him and the regulars at the apartment anymore, but if one detail was changed, like the furniture being rearranged or a non-regular showing up at the apartment, it took a lot of coaxing to calm her back down. Usually, he was the only one who could do it.
"It's me, Zeph." He peeled back the synthflesh of his left forearm, "See? It's just a prosthetic. It's not gonna hurt you."
She placed a hand protectively on her belly, which had grown significantly in the past month, "I know, Kot. It's just-"
I know," he smiled, patting the seat next to him and having a hard time keeping his gaze away from her stomach. Zephyr and Skylar's pregnancies fascinated Kot and he found himself looking forward to meeting the two babies. Five more months before the first one comes. I don't think I can wait that long. Being an uncle was a blessing he'd never expected to have in the first place. Hearing Tea call him by that name was one of the many things in this family that made him feel like he mattered.
Zephyr eased herself into the chair, breathing a sigh of relief as she made herself comfortable.
"Your back okay?" Kot asked, knowing that a three month pregnant Skylar had been complaining of the very thing only the day before. He figured that pregnant humanoid women would probably suffer from the same symptoms.
"My back's fine, it's my feet that are killing me," she answered, wincing. I stand corrected.
"Kot?" her voice took on a frightened note that he hadn't heard since that night at the bar. He met her gaze in time to see that her yellow eyes were watering. "Do you really have to go tomorrow?"
The commando nodded soberly, "Yes. My brothers need me, Zeph."
"You'll be careful, won't you?" A small tear tracked its way down her blue cheek as she looked at him.
Kot reached up to wipe the tear away and she flinched again, but she allowed his thumb to caress her face. This is better than it was before, though, he thought as he rested his right hand on her cheek. She's actually allowing me to touch her now. That's gotta be a good sign, right?
"I'm always careful, Zephyr," Kot responded as reassuringly as he could, his brown gaze not once wavering from her.
"Hi, Daddy! " little Teanna called, waving excitedly at the holoimage of her daddy.
Fives chuckled, waving back, "Hey, Squirt. You been good for your mother?"
"Mmhm. But I still don't get why I have to have a baby brother or sister. Isn't just us three okay, Daddy?"
"You'll change your mind when the baby gets here, T'ika," Mama said gently.
"Think of all the ways you can help, ad'ika," Daddy said. "And I have no doubt that baby will love you just as much as we do."
The little Togruta squinted at him, her expression turning to a glare when he chuckled, "You sure?"
"I would never lie to you, Squirt. You know that."
While she knew that Daddy was telling her the truth, Tea still thought that her parents were not thinking straight. Why would they have another kid when they said that she was the best daughter ever? It just didn't make sense to her.
"About the baby, cyar'ika," Mama said, giving Daddy one of those gooey looks. Gross. Her mother stood, moving closer to the comlink that was perched on the dresser, "He or she's grown quite a bit. Want to see?"
"Still not too fast, right?"
"Right," Mama said turning to the side so that Daddy could see her stomach. Or 'baby belly', as Aunt Deena had called it. Mama's belly was smaller than Zephyr's, but it was very obvious that there was a baby in there too.
Her father's face turned sad, "I wish I could be there with you two. I mean, three."
"Just one more month, Daddy. You still got my Tooka?"
Daddy chuckled, holding up the toy for her to see, "Sure do. And you know what, Squirt?"
"What?"
"You were right, she kept away the bad dreams. Just like you said," he finished, winking at her.
"Speaking of bad dreams, how's Commander Tano doing?" Mama asked as she sat back down on the bed and pulled Tea onto her lap.
"She's fine. Almost completely recovered. Kix is having a hard time keeping her in the medbay. Aside from General Skywalker, Rex is the only one she really listens to, you know."
"Does she like Uncle Rex, Daddy?"
"That's a very good question, Tea."
ba'vodu = uncle
Jetii = Jedi
shebs = backside
buir = papa
haran = hell
di'kutla = stupid
osik = crap
ad'ika = little one
cyar'ika = little one
Please R&R.
