A/N: I'm apologizing now for the rollercoaster that I'm sending you all on in this chapter, heh.

Tentatively, my goal is to update this on Thursdays, just to make things less sporadic from here on, and to pace it with my other works. Schedule officially starts July 21st, especially with these larger chapters so I have the time to draft and edit as needed.

I hope you enjoy, as I wanted to add some substantial depth with the fluff. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Ch. 6

It was finally their big day, and one of the most nerve-wracking ones of her life. Between their appointment, this dinner with his mom, and work… By the time they got to the waiting room, she'd somehow managed to put both her and Anakin on edge. Regardless, Anakin was putting on a brave face, for the both of them, and doing everything in his power to keep his cool. But as he was waiting for her to check in, he kept tapping his fingers on the surface of the desk, the receptionist giving him an annoyed look that he ignored. Coupled with that, he'd taken a really sharp tone with anyone that wasn't her, including the poor parking attendant that she apologized to repeatedly on his behalf. He sat down in a huff beside her, smacking the wooden frame of the chair against the wall. Padmé reached for his hand, trying to ease his nerves as she twined their fingers together.

"It's okay…" she whispered, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"I know, I know it is…"

"Anakin," she squeezed his hand.

"Hmm?" he offered, opening one eye to look over at her.

She snorted softly, "You're adorable when you're worried. But really, just take a breath." When he finally let out sigh of relief and unclenched his jaw, the nurse called her name and all the anxiety came flooding back over them both.

Seated inside their room, he was pacing around like some sort of caged animal. She'd already done her labs, and to the best of her knowledge this was all supposed to go pretty fast. She was starting to really hope so, watching him move around her like she was made of glass and he was trying to not bump into her and break her. After four bouts of crying in the last six hours she hardly blamed him, but still.

"Come here and sit down, please?" She reached for him as the doctor slid in the room, avoiding bumping into Anakin, before calmly greeting them both.

Anakin pulled the chair as close to her as possible and put his trembling hand in hers. Was he just as nervous as she was? He's the one that kept assuring her everything was fine…

"Alright, Ms. Naberrie, are we ready?" The doctor asked, turning to the both of them with a smile.

"Beyond ready, believe me," she laughed, adjusting herself on the table. She jumped as the doctor rubbed the cold gel across her skin, Anakin's grip tightening on her hand almost painfully. She glanced over at him to offer a comforting smile, but his eyes were fixed on the screen above them.

"This'll be quick, I promise, but it's definitely the thing I find parents most ready for." Her doctor moved the transducer over her belly and in an instant the image was projected onto the screen. Almost in sync, both her and Anakin gasped, making him chuckle.

"Is this the first time you two are seeing them?" He asked, zooming in. "They both seem to be pretty active, so hopef—"

Anakin nodded wordlessly and she was about to do the same when she snapped to attention, cutting him off. "—Did you just say them and they?" Her heart started pounding as she looked to him. She'd been too caught up to actually pay attention while he'd zoomed in between worrying about Anakin and everything else going on.

"Oh… Yes, I'm sorry, see… Let's see…" he clicked a few buttons, zooming back out and readjusting the probe. He pointed, and before he even started to speak, she saw exactly what she was supposed to be looking at. Two, very distinct, separate blobs. "This…" he circled one, "Is baby A… and then this…" he pointed again, "Would be baby B."

"Baby A and B…tw—she's having twins?" Anakin choked out, his eyes wide as he leaned in, sweeping his thumb now soothingly across her hand.

She flicked her gaze between his and the screen and the doctor, "There's two of them? You're joking…"

"No, no I'm not. There is, and she is," he nodded. "And we can zoom in here and…" a few button clicks later, a rapid thump-thump-thump-thump filled the room. "That's baby a's heartbeat." He paused, giving them both a chance to mutter a 'wow,' before doing the same to the second.

"So, I'll take a few measurements of them both, get some pictures of them together hopefully for you, though B is really moving so… We'll try. And then get you out of here to celebrate your new editions. Sound good?" She could only nod, overwhelmed with the joy she had been hoping would come over her.

Anakin was still awestruck as he stammered out his amazement and praise through the rest of the exam. She tried to process all of what her doctor was saying, going over the images, measurements and positions as both babies moved and fluttered around. Twins. She'd barely grasped onto her having one baby and now they were having two. Anakin seemed to be listening intently enough, tapping her arm periodically as the doctor explained what he was doing.

"Is that why my clothes don't fit?" She blurted out interrupting his conversation with Anakin as she wiped the gel from her belly.

Anakin let out a small chuckle, "Please tell her it is, this has been a lengthy topic of conversation in our house…"

"More than likely, but it's still early." He said with a smile, "I'm sorry for assuming you both already knew, just with your severe nausea and constant exhaustion… Your body's working a lot harder to keep up with not just one, but two extra people. But everything looks great, on their end and from my view. Congratulations again to you both. The front office will probably adjust some things for you moving forward, but other than that, I don't see anything concerning so I will let you two have a moment and see you again soon enough," he said, folding his hands as he turned to leave.

"Thank you," Anakin said, Padmé adding a 'yes, thank you,' as he nodded and slipped out the door.

Anakin turned toward her, and she let out something between a laugh and a sob. "Anakin… He said we're having twins… What are we gonna do with twins?"

A wide smile broke out across his face before he leaned forward and captured her lips. She brushed a tear away from his cheek with her thumb and kissed him back. He pressed his forehead against hers, "Padmé, don't worry, we'll figure it all out. We will. But right now, this is the happiest moment of my life…"

The second she hit the seat in the car she sent a picture of their sonogram to her group chat with Sabé and Rabé, unable to hold it in for another second. She hadn't stopped looking at the pictures since they were handed to her.

"You know they're going to be calling you in like…" his words cut off by the phone ringing. "…five seconds," he finished quietly.

"Hel—" Padmé started before the chorus of excited screaming that erupted on the other end.

"Is that yours? Are you serious? You're pregnant?" Rabé was asking questions faster than she could actually respond.

Sabé cut in wherever there was silence with her own before asking the big question, "Hold on, hold on, hold on! Padmé, are those twins?"

Padmé shouted with joy, "Yes, yes, a million times to all of your questions, yes." She held the phone to her chest, sighing, before putting it back to her ear. Anakin's hand came to rest on her thigh, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Wait, wait, who? Skywalker?" Rabé asked, making Sabé giggle.

"Of course, it's Skywalker. The whole thing's been obvious!" Sabé said, almost sounding smug.

"How…" Padmé started, hearing a faint whistle come from Anakin as she turned her attention to him. "Did you say something?"

"I swear! I didn't! Not… on purpose?" He murmured, giving an awkward grin as he kept his eyes locked on the road.

Padmé punched him in the arm, "Who did you tell?!" She was definitely going to kill him. All his talk about keeping secrets and he didn't even do it!

Sabé laughed harder, "Give him a break! It wasn't his fault."

"Hold on! You knew and you didn't tell me?!" Rabé shouted.

"Someone explain to me, right now, what whoever is responsible did," Padmé said, putting the phone on speaker.

"I'll tell because I want him to owe me a favor in the future…" Sabé said, Anakin starting to retort before Padmé glared at him. "Ahsoka did it, it's all her fault."

Anakin nodded his head furiously in agreement as she stared at him with narrowed eyes. "That's convenient, isn't it? The person responsible isn't actually on the call? And you're friends with Ahsoka now? Do you want to tell me what happened, Anakin?" Her entire world was spinning off its axis in the length of a single phone call.

"In his defense! I didn't actually know. I just had a really good suspicion. Especially when he told Ahsoka he was all sad and dejected over you for two months or whatever, the same two months you started being weird, wasn't hard then!" Sabé said.

Padmé looked over at him looking back at her biting his lip while they stopped at a redlight waiting for her response. "The fact that I find that endearing is your children's fault, so they've saved you this time…" She pressed her lips together trying to not smile, especially when his eyes shined with that familiar twinkle.

He did a silent fist pump, and she rolled her eyes, "Okay, anyway, back to the two of you…"

"Yeah! Since I wasn't aware, someone give me the details!" Rabé enthusiastically added, "You know I love some good drama!"

Padmé laughed, "There's no drama! At least I hope not… We…met, we sort of…y'know…"

"Made a couple babies!" Anakin chimed in with a wide grin.

Padmé tried to focus on the skyscrapers as they passed by, not making a comment back to what he just said. Those were definitely not the words she was going to use. "Yeah, that. And… now you already know we're dating," she turned her head back with an adoring smile.

There was silence from the other end of the call as Padmé realized her mistake.

"Did you say baby then dating? Padmé Naberrie! Who are you?!" Sabé said, gasping.

"And you said there was no drama!" Rabé added.

"That's not drama! That's… just how it happened, okay?" Padmé said, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Oh my god. What did your parents say?! Did they freak? Oh, I bet they flipped out… Their perfect daughter…"

"Well, that's the thing…" Padmé winced, thinking about what Rabé just brought up. 'Their perfect daughter' was… not so perfect after all?

"They don't know?! I think I'm honored to know before them!" Sabé said, Rabé agreeing.

"Sola knows… Sola… guessed. Clearly, we're really good at keeping secrets," she elbowed Anakin again and he let out a silent yelp, knitting his brows together. "But we're telling Anakin's mom first, tonight. You know, seeing how that goes."

"Oh, are his folks really stuck up too? That would be a great practice round…" Rabé said with a laugh.

"My parents are not stuck up!" She gasped.

"Padmé… They have 24k gold dinnerware just 'cause. Double staircases, a fucking fountain in the front yard. They're… like next level. And I literally work for millionaires for a living…" Sabé added, softly.

Anakin choked on his water, swerving the car a bit, "They have what?"

She flung her arm out, "Anakin! Watch what you're doing!" The car horns blared as they sped through a redlight.

"You heard me! Ask Padmé about their summer house parties! Or their last trip to Turks and Caicos!"

Padmé cringed, wishing she could shrink into her seat and disappear forever, "It's… not as bad as they're making it seem, they're fine! They're… You won't even notice!"

"They are as bad as they sound, Anakin! But you're probably used to people like that, it'll be fine!" Rabé yelled, Padmé quickly taking the phone back off of speakerphone, seeing him flick his thumb against the steering wheel at a rapid pace.

"Would you two please shut up? My parents are… just… quirky?" She said hesitantly.

Her friends cackled so loud she was sure Anakin could hear despite her efforts, as she noticed his jaw tightly clenched.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want to call them. Uppity was the word that came to my mind, Jobal can be cool though," Sabé added with a huff.

"They are my parents, you know? But… it doesn't matter! They're my children, it's my life. I'm almost thirty!" She turned, rubbing her hand up Anakin's bicep and around his shoulder lovingly.

"I mean, you are right. About all of those things. But…"

"Sabé, can you just… Just please back me up right now?"

"I believe in you! They'll be fine. Even if they're mad, no grandparent is going to be able to resist whatever beautiful babies you and that gorgeous man made when they get here!" Sabé said, emphasizing her description of Anakin which made Padmé blush harder.

"I don't not believe in you, P. And I agree with Sabé, because that man is hot. I'm just making sure you… are prepared…" Rabé mumbled. "But! I'm so happy for you! How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

Padmé slowly slid her hand down Anakin's arm to put her hand in his which he reluctantly offered. This was not exactly how she wanted to spend their time before this dinner, and her friends had definitely let a damn lion out of the bag with that one. It was written all over his face, the creases in his forehead, the tightness in his jaw. And there was nowhere to work this out before they got home…

"I'm feeling a lot of things now but before this I'm…overcome, overjoyed, overwhelmed? I still… It still doesn't feel super real! But then," she hummed. "You should've seen them, it's just amazing. And Anakin…" she glanced over at him who gave her a half smile, "…was just as teary eyed as me for once."

"That's beautiful, really, and also a little sickening that you two are so…" Sabé made a gagging noise that broke some of the tension. Not enough between the two of them in the car though, suddenly seeming to be on different planets.

"That's so sweet, you guys! Padmé you're gonna be a great mom!" Rabé added.

"God, I hope so! Look, I have to call you back, we're pulling into the garage. Love you both! Someone tell Ahsoka I'll be looking for her," she laughed again before they said their final goodbyes, her rushing to get off the phone.

Anakin had fallen deathly quiet since her friends had involved her parents in everything. She should've seen that coming but was too busy trying to stay optimistic. That's what she gets for listening to him about how everything would inherently be all right.

He put the car into park with a jolt and frantically unbuckled himself, reaching for the door handle. Feeling the color draining from her face looking at his, she reached for his arm. All evidence of the boyish charm he usually had, twisted into something that made her feel a little unnerved.

"Anakin, wait… What are you doing?" She said, trying to control her tone.

"We have to go, or we'll be late for dinner with my very not rich, ordinary, mom. Hope she doesn't disappoint you, but better lower your standards now," he snapped with a shrug, pulling away and getting out of the car.

Padmé's words caught in her throat watching him storm off, her eyes stinging from the tears she felt coming on. Hastily tucking the sonogram pictures into her purse, she bolted after him as fast as her legs would take her. She expected him to be upset at this point but not… at her…

"Hey! You don't get to yell at me and then just run away," she said, sliding between him and the door, "We're supposed to be a team, Anakin."

He groaned, turning away from her again and starting to walk in the other direction, searching for another door. "We don't have time for this, we have to go, Padmé."

"You need to make time, right now, because I'm not going anywhere with you like this," she marched after him.

"Maybe you shouldn't come then!" He threw his arms up flippantly, "I'll take her somewhere in my own tax bracket instead."

"Anakin! You—why are you being like this? Just talk to me!" She picked up her pace, lunging to grab the back of his shirt once he was within reach. "I don't even know what I did to make you so upset."

He spun around so quick she jumped back away from him, now glowering down at her. "Talk about what, Padmé? I want to leave! I don't want to talk to—"

She clung to his arm as he looked like he was going to turn away again. "Tell me what's wrong! Is this… What did I do? Is this really about what Sabé said, about forks and knives?"

All of her worst fears had suddenly materialized before her eyes. The voice in the back of her mind reminding her of how much they didn't know about each other. Maybe she was in way over her head…

He shook his head, "No… Yes, I mean, but no. It just confirmed it…"

"Confirmed what? We've never even had a discussion about this…" Which was mistake number one. "Hey, come here. Look at me," she said, gently shifting to take his face in her hands as he kept trying to nudge her away.

He clicked his tongue, trying to shake off her touch. "Obi-Wan was right…" he said, muffled by his own attempts at concealing his emotions as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Obi-Wan? What does he have to do with this?" Her brow furrowed, dropping her hold on his face. How naïve was it that she thought the big conversation about money would just go smoothly…? You should've known better, Padmé.

He ran a hand through his hair, sadness taking over his features. "He said…" he hesitated, Padmé's eyes scanning his face, "that I don't know what I'm doing, being with you… That we're too different… And he didn't say this, but—"

"When did he say that? And you believe him—that's what you think of me? I'm that shallow to want someone for money?"

"Last week… And no. I don't but—"

"Last week? Y—you've been thinking this for over a week? After our weekend together and everything?"

She was flabbergasted at his sudden insecurities. All he'd been since she met him was this confident, bordering on cocky, guy thinking she'd have no choice but to fall for him. And now it was like her entire world was falling apart in a parking garage on what was one of the best days of their budding relationship.

"I just don't understand why you'd want someone like me, is all… He made it seem so… He was telling me I can't give you what you want, that you don't really…" he sighed, pulling away from her again.

She pressed her palm to her forehead, closing her eyes and reminding herself to breathe. "Anakin, stop."

He froze. She could feel the warmth of his body close to hers as she tried to collect her thoughts about how she could convince him about something he clearly didn't trust her on. The absurdity truly lying in the fact that he did have money, just not…as much as her family.

"Why am I with you? Is—"

"—other than the babies."

"Okay. Hold on," she threw her head back, a frustrated groan escaping her throat. "You think… Oh my god, Anakin. If you'll recall, and I so hope you will, I told you to leave if you wanted to when I said I was pregnant! Now you're asking if I'm with you because of that? Do you actually hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

He started to stutter out a response before she waved her hand.

"Don't even answer," she turned back to look at him, "Just… please listen to me now."

He lifted his eyes to meet hers. His nose was red, sniffling, as he wiped his face again with his hand taking a deep breath, "Okay…"

"Maybe we made a mistake in the last month, by overlooking too much…" she started, watching the last bit of hope fall from his expression. "But I don't care about your money. The things I do care about you can't…buy. Okay? Like when you bring me food. Or try to work from home if you even hear I had a bad day. Holding me til I fall asleep, telling me stupid jokes. You give me back rubs, you watch my tv shows that I know you hate but you pretend to like them anyway. You don't try to take away my agency, you… Well, until now, I thought you didn't even care about everything I had," she stammered a bit, her words getting harder to say without losing her composure. "I have money Anakin. I don't need someone else's. I need someone that… lets me be who I am and loves me anyway. I thought…" She shook her head again, her hands coming up to cover her face. The words felt so ridiculous coming out of her mouth. "I just thought that might be you one day."

He started stammering around almost immediately, before sinking to his knees and burying his face in his hands, silencing his own sobs. Her head was pounding, only made worse by all the yelling that had echoed off the concrete.

"Anakin…" she said, taking a hesitant step toward him. "Anakin, come on. Get up."

She inched a bit closer, and he wrapped his arms around her legs, pressing his forehead against her stomach, muttering something too quiet for her to hear.

"Get up before someone sees us like this, please?" she asked, quieter, gently running her fingers through his hair. She tugged on the shoulders of his shirt and while he didn't stand, he reluctantly peered up at her. His eyes were bloodshot and probably a reflection of hers, and she didn't even want to think about how they might look to anyone passing by.

He shook his head and started rambling again, "I'm so sorry, I messed up. I don't— I don't know why I did—said—any of that. Just… Obi-Wan was telling me I was too young, wasn't good enough, and then— then all that stuff your friends said about your parents, and how I'm not prepared…"

She took a deep breath to center herself. Satine's husband sure has a lot of opinions about this and me, she thought.

Untangling his arms from around her, she bent down to be face to face with him. She calmly tucked a longer curl behind his ear. "But you put all of that above me and what I think, Anakin. You didn't even talk to me about it. You can't do that… I don't want you to snap at me like this again. You're supposed to be my partner."

He took her face in his much larger hands, his eyes locked on hers, "I am… I am your—I want to be. I'm sorry, Padmé. I just…I wanted to be able to handle it, the criticism, my doubts, without involving you…"

"But it does involve me, that's what I'm trying to tell you. We have to talk to each other, and I'm not the best either, but you can't just not say something because feelings might be hurt. Because mine are really hurt from you trying not to. I've—we've—been living in a dream of cuddling and kissing and… this has to be more than that, there has to be trust," she said quietly, sliding her hands around to the nape of his neck, busying them in his hair.

"I didn't mean to hurt you…" his eyes slowly drifted away. "I just… your parents are going to hate me. Just like they all said. I grew up in public housing, Padmé, while you took summer vacations to Italy! I—what am I even going to talk to them about? I'm just some guy who—"

"Hey," she lifted his chin, "You're not listening to me. It doesn't matter. What did I tell Rabé? This is my life, and these are our children… I'm more than a rich girl that summered in Italy, you're more than a boy from public housing. Right? And we chose to be together. You're not 'just some' anything to me."

"I don't want to lose you, or them, to mess this up…and I got scared… and…" he sighed.

"Well, you had a real funny way of showing it when you went stomping off, leaving me behind. Telling me basically to get lost just because you were upset," her voice growing quieter as her eyes fell closed and his thumb softly brushed the tear away from her face.

"I shouldn't have done that. I'm… God, I'm sorry…" He leaned in and placed a kiss to her forehead, lingering for a moment before he sat back on his knees.

"Stop apologizing and just promise we can be honest moving forward," she cupped his cheek, gently rubbing his cheekbone with her thumb. "Please?"

"Promise," he pressed his forehead to hers, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

"Okay…" She broke away from him, standing back up as his hands reached out to steady her. "We're not done talking about this, and I wish we didn't have to but… we need to do something about dinner, your mom. The reservation…"

He stood after her, checking his watch. "Maybe we can still make it? If not, I'll tell her it was all my fault… Unless… you probably don't want to come now, do you? I-I wouldn't want to if I were you."

"I probably shouldn't is more like it. I'm about to meet your mom on the single day I've cried more than I think I have my entire life and after all this… Not a great first impression, and now I don't even have time to change," she took his hands in hers. "But I can be there, and civil, if you can."

"No. She's gonna love you," he said, following her inside. "And I really don't want to do this without you…"

And there it was. The kindness, somehow bleeding through the rest of the noise that had overtaken them. If they could talk, if they could…trust… start to, build on it, maybe they'd work it out again. She could only hope.

"When we get home—or tomorrow because it's been a long day that isn't even over yet—we have to talk. A lot more, about all of this. And I want you to tell me how you're feeling. Can we?" Padmé asked, not really as a question, just trying to not make any demands.

"Okay…" He said, pressing the button for the elevator.

"Thank you," she murmured, wrapping her arms around one of his, taking a moment to just occupy his space, his warmth, his scent.

She probably needed about ten hours to ice her face, but they had all of ten minutes to do everything and be back in the car. Here's to hoping she doesn't fall asleep at the table.

"Ani!" His mom shouted, practically leaping from her seat to wrap her arms around him.

"Mom!" He laughed, hugging her tightly as she squeezed him. Padmé stood hesitantly to the side before his mom finally relented her grip on him and patted his chest on her release.

The car ride had been more awkward than he could've imagined. More awkward than anything else they'd done, and that was… How was that even possible? Both of them seemed to default into being unsure of what to do, or say, or how to move around one another. Despite the entire point she made about how honest they were going to be. Padmé busied herself, fixing her hair and makeup he tried to assure her she didn't need, and he eventually turned on the radio to drown out the deafening silence.

"And who is this?" She said, with a wide smile stepping toward Padmé.

Anakin's hand flew out, grabbing at the air for her to take his hand. She slid her hand into his, intertwining their fingers and graciously put a big smile on her own face. "Mom… This is Padmé Naberrie, and she's my—"

"Skywalker, party of three?" The host yelled, searching the area. He wanted to throw something if one more moment of this day went off the rails. Instead, he did his best to keep the huffing, sighing, and eye-rolling inside, and calmly said, "That's us," before following the man to the table.

He'd never quite been in the situation before of deciding who and in what order he should pull out the chairs to be as gentlemanly as possible, but he'd already fucked up so badly with Padmé there wasn't an ounce of hesitation when he did so for her first, releasing her hand only after she sat. Shmi smiled at him and patted his cheek as she took her seat afterwards so he must not have done too bad. The waiter came by quickly to fill their glasses with water and drop off the dinner menu.

"You were saying, dear?" Shmi said, leaning forward to look at the both of them.

Padmé spoke up, "I'm Padmé, sorry for the interruption. It's really great to meet you, Anakin's told me so much about you I feel like I do know you." She smiled, reaching across the table to shake her hand.

"Oh, don't be so formal!" Shmi said, getting out of her seat and wrapping Padmé in an equally tight hug. Anakin was pretty sure, judging by her eyes, that was not what she was expecting. He coughed to cover his laugh as Padmé cleared her throat and his mom sat back down.

"Right, yeah so… Padmé's a lawyer! Actually."

"Really? A lawyer? How did you meet a lawy—Anakin you didn't get in any more trouble did you?" His mom eyed him. His cheeks felt like they were on fire, especially as he felt Padmé's eyes on him too.

"No! God, mom, no I didn't… That would be so…bad anyway," he said, quickly taking a drink of his water and loosening his tie.

"We met through our friends, actually. Some people that he works with know a friend of mine from the firm I interned for, they're married actually!" Padmé said, saving him once again. He could feel the sweat on his brow.

"That's really wonderful, so… what exactly do you—" she paused, "I'm sorry, my son is… Ani, what's the matter with you?" She eyed him, knitting her brows together.

It had to be 100° in here, with the air running. Padmé rubbed down his thigh under the table, presumably to be comforting but it made him feel more nervous instead. She steadied his leg that he'd been bouncing, pressing her fingertips into his knee.

"Yeah, Ani, what's the matter?" She teased gently, using the nickname only his mother and a few others had ever said.

He smiled at her, taking her hand and bringing it to his mouth to kiss to give him something to do. If he didn't say it now, he was definitely going to blurt it out at any second. "Do you… Or should I…?" He offered.

She grinned back, and for a moment it felt like they were 'them' again. "Should we just… show? Her?" Padmé said, raising her brows and gesturing for her purse.

"What is it…" Shmi started before he took the sonogram photo under the table from Padmé and slid it across the table to his mom.

The two of them sat in anticipation, nervous smiles on their faces as they waited for a reaction.

"You always said you wanted grandkids, right? Hope you meant it," He added with a half-laugh. "Because… we kinda got you a two for one special?"

Padmé smacked his arm, "They're not even here yet and you're insulting them."

He nudged her with his shoulder as she leaned on him, "Am not, everyone loves a good special."

They were filling the dead air with their quips and laughter before either of them had actually registered Shmi didn't respond. Glancing away from Padmé, still giggling and now claiming his hand to hold in her lap, he looked to his mom still staring at the photo in front of her.

"Mom? Are—are you upset? I'm sorry I didn't—we just found out…"

"Babies? My baby… He's…" She looked up at them, her eyes misty. "Ani! I thought you were just finally introducing me to a girlfriend and now… you two!" She jumped back up, coming around to pull them both in for a hug.

"Mom," he said, rolling his eyes playfully. "I am introducing you to my girlfriend, she just… we had some bonus news."

After three waves of the hand, the waiter came over despite his fourth wave, "Does everyone know—"

"No, we need a minute," he said gruffly, cutting the man off. Padmé's fingernails dug into his palm. "Just a few, sorry, we've never been here before," he corrected, the pressure easing from his skin as the waiter politely nodded and walked away.

"I think we should look at the menus, then we can talk? I'm sure you have a lot more questions for me, or us, Mrs…."

"Lars. Skywalker Lars, technically, but that's… Lars is fine. And yes! I want to know everything!"

Padmé gave a polite smile, "Of course, and of course! And I want to know everything about you and what this guy…" she jostled his arm, "Was like when people still called him 'Ani' all the time," she grinned, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

The waiter came back around to take their orders, Anakin letting Padmé order the gnocchi for him after she assured him, he would like it. He trusted that he would if she said so. She ended up ordering for the table, only because Shmi and her decided to split a large vegetable stir-fry. She was being awful sweet. An almost playful mischief dancing in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. Who was he to complain, though? He could've lost her, and for good reason, earlier and now… He leaned over and kissed her temple softly. Taking a moment to look at her while she chatted with his mom, an undoubtedly stupid smile on his face.

"If you'll both excuse me, I need to…" Padmé let go of his hand, scooting her chair back with a subtle nod to the back of the restaurant.

"Of course, go. Don't let us hold you up!" His mom said, waving her on. Padmé smiled, leaning down and giving him a quick peck on the cheek as she left.

As soon as she was out of earshot, his mom leaned forward, "Anakin Skywalker, what did you do?"

He gaped at her, "I didn't do anything! I mean, outside of the obvious?"

"Ani, she's beautiful and a lawyer? How are the two of you getting along? How long has this been going on? Why did you not tell me about her? These two…" she held up the photo, "Were not part of the original plan, hm?"

It's like his mom was playing the worst game of rapid-fire questions with him, trying to interrogate it all out of him before Padmé got back.

He took a deep breath, holding up a single finger for each answer as he gave them, "Yes, yes, and thank you. We're fine. It's been going a few months. You've been on vacation. And… no, not really, but we're thrilled."

"Fine? Just fine? What did you do?" Her eyes narrowed as she took the plates and food being delivered by a waitress.

"Now why do you think I had to do something?" He scoffed, moving things around on the table so that everything would be perfect when Padmé got back.

"You're doting on her," she motioned to his current behavior at the table.

"She's my pregnant girlfriend, shouldn't I be?"

Shmi took a sip of her water and shrugged, "Yes, Anakin, that's how I raised you. But fine, don't tell me. She's just the first person you've been serious about, that I've ever been told about. And it seems you two are very… loving and committed."

He sighed; the stupid truth was probably written on his forehead. What was the point of trying to hide it from his mom? "I did something stupid earlier, I yelled at her, now she's overcompensating and so…"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because she's…" he leaned in close, speaking in a hush tone, "her and her family are filthy rich, she's older than me, and I… my buddy told me I was just something fun she was doing until she wanted to be serious with someone else…"

Her fork clattered against the plate, "Please tell me you did not accuse the woman, pregnant with your child, of that or I'll have to disown you right here and adopt her instead."

He shook his head, scrunching his eyes, "Of course not, mom! I…just implied that I was too poor to date her…"

His mom's eyes bulged as she choked on her food, "Are you kidding me? Anakin. Why… And she came here anyway? If your… If Cliegg ever said an idiotic thing like that, I swear I would've—"

"Shhh!" He waved his hand, silencing her as he saw Padmé come around the corner.

"I am so sorry. I should've known food would come when I did, that's how that goes," she smiled, taking his hand again as she sat. "So, what are we talking about?"

"Mmm," Shmi noted, taking a bite. "Padmé your taste is…phenomenal, this is great. I can't believe you got my son to put a vegetable in his mouth, let alone this," she added, glaring at him, clearly still making her previous point.

She laughed, plating her own portion of the food, "It wasn't easy, it's still an ongoing process. He's…" she looked at him. The way she looked at him made his heart pound. "He's something else sometimes. But I'm sure you know that. He's an amazing man, though, so I should really be thanking you. We-" she brought his hand to her belly, "-couldn't be luckier."

Fuck me. Mom's call is gonna be the longest of my entire life when I get home tonight, he internally groaned. And here Padmé was being some sort of saint.

Her pleasantries and conversation with his mom went on long after the meal had ended, the plates were gone, and the tab had been paid. When it got to the point where she could hardly finish a sentencing without yawning, he gently wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her side.

"Not that I want to cut this conversation short, but I think we should probably be on our way. We're exhausted. And I'm sure mom needs to get back to her hotel. Cliegg probably thinks you've been kidnapped or something," he laughed, as Padmé leaned over and laid her face against his chest.

"Absolutely, besides, we'll have plenty of time to do this again and again. With your stepfather and brother next time. And maybe eventually Padmé, your family?"

Padmé perked back up, nodding and trying to maintain her smile, "They'd love to, and I'd love to meet the rest of the family. We'll all be one big happy one before long," Anakin offered her a hand to stand up, as she stretched.

His mom came, wrapping her in a hug before doing the same to him. Before she pulled away, she whispered beside his cheek, "Don't you dare be an idiot again with her." She could trust him on that – he had no plans to. He only smiled in response, wanting to keep that note between them.

On their way back home, the quiet no longer felt cold and sterile, it was warmer and comfortable, like a favorite cozy blanket. Padmé gently made small circles on the palm of his hand that she'd yet to let go of, her eyes closed.

"Can I ask you something?" She mumbled, her voice sounding like she may already be asleep.

"Anything. Anything and any time."

She ducked her chin to her chest, a shy smile crossing her face, "Can I start calling you Ani?"