A/N: It's been such a long two weeks working on this. It went through so many iterations and scene additions and subtractions before it became what is now being given to you. I do hope you all enjoy and I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments! Have a great weekend! Thank you for your continued support!

Ch. 7

Managing to get a half-sleeping pregnant Padmé up to her apartment was way harder than he anticipated. In fact, wrangling drunk people may be easier. Maybe he'd test that with her down the road – for science, and all. She haphazardly dragged herself into the bathroom, washing her face and barely getting through her nighttime routine before she demanded his shirt – off his body – to change into and crawl into bed. Whether she did any of it with her eyes actually open was up for debate, but he left her situated, water on her nightstand, with a kiss to the forehead.

She pawed at his arm, whining when he tried to step away. "No, don't go…"

He chuckled, cupping her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere. I have to take a shower, you won't let me in the bed if I stink, will you? Promise, I'll be right back."

"You promise you're not leaving me?" She said, her bottom lip jutted out in a pout.

She had to be the most beautiful woman he'd ever met, even more so when she looked at him like that. And he still wasn't sure what he'd done right in his lifetime to get to this place. He knelt down beside the bed, blocking the glow of the lamp from hitting her face, and brushed his thumb against her cheek. "Padmé, look at me." Her eyes opened hesitantly, squeezing shut again before opening as wide as they would go. "I am not leaving you. Ever."

Her lips parted into a grin after he kissed her softly, her eyes falling shut again when he stood. "I'm holding you to that, you know. Hurry."

"I want you to," he said, unable to keep from smiling at her even if she wasn't looking at him.

Part of him was tempted to stay and watch her rest if nothing else. He couldn't get over dinner, it was like she was a sort of missing link in his life – the last puzzle piece and the most important one. For a second, before he had to cheer her on to get her through brushing her teeth, he thought about leaving for the night. They'd been through so much in one day, maybe they should have a break. It may be good for them, or him at least, so he could go off and think about just what an idiot he was.

He could've called Shmi. Anakin was sure his mom had a lot more to say about his life decisions she'd not yet heard about. Or Ahsoka, who would probably burst at the seams when she found out the whole truth about him and Padmé. Or, he could've been just another shirtless guy, wandering around the streets of New York talking to himself late at night. Though that last one might cause more trouble than it would fix. But if he had gone, he'd only be missing out on one night with her. One night in her kind, warm, presence, in her king-sized bed that felt like he might be laying in an actual cloud, surrounded by his family since that's who she was now… Nope. That was a stupid idea. No way in hell was he missing a second of this. He couldn't be pried away from her side with the world's strongest crowbar tonight. Or any other night.

She left the lamp on for him, scooting to the other side of the bed facing the door while she waited. Her eyes drooped, thoroughly exhausted but desperately wanting to be up when he came back to bed. Back to her, so they could fall asleep together, their regular routine. This day was almost more than she could take, between learning they were having two babies in not so many months coupled with meeting his mother. And that didn't even account for that stupid fight, and all she wanted was for everything to be okay when she closed her eyes. The…need…for him was starting to be concerning. This was so not like her. Feeling like she might not be able to breathe anymore if he walked out the door. But she…wanted him. And adored how much he seemed to want her, them. Maybe that was stupid. Foolish, definitely. To hell what someone else, everyone else, might think though. She wasn't a child; she was free to move as slow or as fast as she wanted. Especially now. But they had problems that needed addressed, the things they needed to talk about that made it seem so foolish to feel this way about him. So much riskier.

The bathroom door opened seconds before he appeared in the doorway. She reached her hand out for him as he finished roughly drying his hair with the towel, leaving it hanging on the door handle. He took her hand in his much larger one as he crawled into the bed. The warmth of his skin instantly warming her as well when she was wrapped in his arms again. Without hesitation, she practically crawled on top of him, getting as close as possible. Exactly where she wanted to be.

"Thank you…" he said quietly, kissing the side of her head.

"What are you thanking me for?" She twined her fingers with his, resting against the center of his chest.

"For tonight. For everything. For being so…patient, I guess, is the word. Or forgiving. You're supposed to be the skeptical one and now you're—"

If she ever wanted him to be honest, she should probably kick things off. His other hand snaked around her hip, gripping it tightly. "I am still skeptical, Anakin. Especially…because of today. You don't talk to me or trust me. That's a problem. And a big one. I'm trying to be as optimistic as you were being," she sighed. "But it's hard for me to do when your first instinct is to run away."

"I don't want to run away, and I do trust you. It's just…" He turned his face away staring at the blades of the fan slowly spinning. "I've never really done this before, and I guess I'm just not—"

Never done this before? She knitted her eyebrows together letting go of his hand to lean up on her elbow. "What do you mean? Never done what before?"

A bright red spread across his face. "Uh… Um, well… This? Like, you know, where we live together and stuff?" He tilted his head slightly, a small hesitant smile on his face, not covering the embarrassment in his eyes or his blushing cheeks. "Where we talk about a future and… meet each other's parents and… All of that."

Sometimes it was easy to forget how young he was, when he was being so dedicated to taking care of her or discussing his clients and work life. Or discussing how over the moon excited he was to be a dad. Other times, it hit her over the head like a ton of bricks. She tried to keep her cool, but it felt like her eyes were trying to escape her skull as she let her gaze drift off away from him.

There went all feeling of tiredness again, though she was starting to wonder if this was a fever dream that she'd wake up from any second. All the words in the English dictionary ran frantically through her mind attempting to figure out how exactly to say how insane it was that this man's first real relationship was about to involve raising children together, without sending him (or her) spiraling all over again.

"You… Oh, you really never fail to surprise me with the things that come out of your mouth." She gently pried his face back to look at her after he looked away. "Are you saying you've never been in a serious relationship? You didn't think that…might come up? Or be noticeable at all? You've been in a relationship before though, haven't you?"

"I didn't think it would matter, no. Because everything was… We were doing fine, at first," he said with a groan. "But yeah, of course. I was with someone in high school. Wasn't much to it though… You know, being a kid. We spent a lot of time together, then she went off to UCLA, and I went to Cornell, so it was over. Then, in college there was someone, but she left me right before I got my internship with the place I work at now. So, after that, there were a lot of other girls, but nothing… I didn't want to marry them or anything, we just—"

"Had a lot of sex," she said bluntly. The corners of his mouth twitched upward as her eyes widened slightly.

"…yeah," he said quietly.

She laid her head face down on his chest as uncontrollable laughter came roaring out of her. Why could there not be anything normal about this, ever. "Oh my god Anakin!" She lifted her head back up pressing her lips together tight to stop her giggling because of the slight frown on his face. She held his chin, running her thumb against his bottom lip. "You are truly one-of-a-kind. You've never actually been in a relationship and the first one you get into is with me? Why would you do that and take on all of this?"

He cupped her cheek, holding her face, "Because this isn't like any of that. You are…" He dropped his head with a sigh. "I don't wanna say it, you'll make fun of me."

She smiled, propping herself up more against his broad chest, "No I won't, I promise. And I really want to know how you got to be so enthusiastic about being a dad and this from everything else you just said. Especially when I gave you an out. A very, very, clear one. You still chose to take me on. Me, Anakin."

"I didn't want an out… I meant what I said about wanting to be a dad and not having one. I wanted—want to be with you. You're the only person I've ever wanted to be with. I don't know why so I can't tell you why. It's just a feeling I have. I love being here with you, or anywhere with you. When I'm not, I can't stop thinking about you. And then, well, we have them now and I thought I'd figure the rest out as we went? But now it sounds stupid saying it out loud. And maybe a little pathetic, or creepy."

She hummed, staring back at him. Anakin was by far one of the most genuine men – no, people – she'd ever met. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, exposing himself for the entire world to take advantage of if they wanted to. She wasn't sure she'd ever been that vulnerable with anyone, or ever could be, in the same way he was. Her background, her family, her job – they all would've eaten her alive in one way or another if she hadn't gotten rid of that raw emotional edge he had yet to shed. Something about him made her think he probably never would.

"It…doesn't sound stupid. And it's not creepy, I wouldn't have taken you home from the bar if I thought you were creepy. Or continued seeing you. It's really sweet. Maybe a little wishful thinking thrown in there, but…" He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at her. "Stop it! It is sweet."

"But you think I'm being unrealistic. Or childish. Don't you?"

She pondered it carefully. There was a time, probably even a few minutes ago, where she would've been inclined to say yes. But… maybe not. Maybe it should be, but it didn't feel like it.

She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned in slowly kissing him, pulling herself up to mold her mouth against his. He slid his hand around to her nape, his tongue immediately pressing against her lips. She parted them, hers moving languidly with his. It was every bit as tender as it was desperate, her trying to give him all the things she couldn't quite put into words. Her own feeling that couldn't be explained. His fingers tugged at her hair, pulling her closer. She tilted her head, further deepening their kiss until it felt like she couldn't breathe.

Drawing back, she kissed his cheek. "No. I don't think you're childish, I think you're more optimistic than I will ever be, but I also… think I need that, from you. Do you… remember what you told me when we went to dinner the first time?"

"Was it something embarrassing? I might've blocked it from my memory," he said, adding a small laugh at the end.

"Well, it was, but for me, not you. You told me I was hard to get along with. Said you understood how I was probably good at my job, which I know actually means I'm cold. You also told me we don't agree about anything, like… last week. So, to summarize… I'm a real pain in the ass, right?" she said. "Who works way too much and doesn't make time for a man."

He eyed her carefully as she ran her fingertips over the features of his face, mapping them. "I'm…not sure where you're going so, I don't want to agree…"

She snorted softly. Such a smart man. "Well, I know I'm right. And then there's you."

"What about me?" His brow furrowed just as she slowly drew across the top of his eyebrows, his eyes flicking up to watch before back to her face.

"You're a really young, flight risk of a guy who's never really been serious with another person. What a pair we make." She said, twirling his hair around her finger.

He narrowed his eyes. "Doesn't sound very good when you put it like that. You know that right? We just sound crazy. Like we should be put somewhere for our insanity."

"I know. That's my point. This shouldn't work, ever. Under no circumstance does the guy who can't commit make it work with the girl married to her job. Especially not when she's…half a decade older." She quickly covered his lips before he could interrupt her as his jaw dropped. "But I want it to, even if I don't know how to… wear my heart on my sleeve like you do and say it. I do. I don't want to be without you. I don't want to do this without you." She brushed her fingers against his cheek. "Don't walk out on me. Come to me, talk to me. I'm right here with you, always."

He nodded, covering her hand in his and turning his face to kiss her fingers. "No more running away."

"No more running away," she repeated, holding onto his arm tight as she laid back down into his side.

"God, you're too good for me." He nuzzled his face into her hair, kissing the top of her head. "I really... I don't mean to keep thanking you like you were playing a role or something, but just… You were so great with my mom tonight. By the way."

"Really? I felt like a nervous wreck. I felt so terrible about spending so much time in the bathroom… But I hoped— I thought she seemed to like me okay. She didn't look at me like I'd corrupted you or something."

"Corrupted me? She offered to adopt you at one point," he said, making her laugh. "Pretty sure she likes you more than me. Besides, you're the one actually responsible for giving her grandchildren, I'm just…here. So, instant brownie points."

"I don't think I'd be here without your contribution to the grandchild initiative, so I'm sure that's working in your favor if it is in mine," she said. She rubbed up and down his arm slowly, sliding her fingers between his and shifting his hand down to the lower part of her abdomen. "I'm gonna fall asleep on you soon, but I think we should really spend the weekend talking. I don't want to go out, I'll cook or something and we can just… be lazy. You can tell me all the things you think I'll find weird, and I'll tell you just what a disaster you decided to try out dating with."

He rubbed small circles with his thumb on her skin, a low sound coming from his throat that sent a small tingle down her spine. She pushed the feeling down, rubbing over his hand lovingly.

"I've never heard a better idea in my life, but I don't think you'll say anything to make me think you're a disaster, I mean… look at me," he said before kissing her one more time and turning them both over to their typical sleeping position.

"Maybe we're more similar than you think."

She shifted backwards, pressing her back into his chest as his arm came back around her. It was almost second nature, the way they fit together. He held her close, feeling his other arm slide beneath the top of her pillow. She never really liked cuddling in the past, never wanted to be held onto like a pillow or an item of comfort. It had always felt more like suffocation and annoyance. But being held like him felt like a kind of worship, something spiritual. To be wrapped up by him and in him… She should've known he was trouble, the second she laid eyes on him, but maybe that's what she'd been missing all this time. A little trouble in her otherwise prim and proper world.

Padmé leaned back into his hands as his thumbs gently pressed into the knots of her lower back. Another weekend come and gone, regretting the moment that was coming all too soon when he'd throw his duffel bag over his shoulder and leave her in the space clinging to another shirt that she'd stole from him. She was getting quite the collection just to have the familiar smell of him continuing to wrap around her until the next time. Despite their rollercoaster, nightmarish Friday, she'd slept until noon on Saturday, nearly passing out at her own behavior that Anakin told her was the most normal thing she'd done so far.

Graciously, they'd stuck by her plan. She'd fixed all their meals, Anakin chipping in only minorly to chop something or stir a pot while she slipped off to the bathroom. He wanted to help but he was only getting in her way. He'd been so shocked that she could actually cook, she didn't have the nerve to tell him everything he saw was due to them being a limited number of specialties she'd acquired after living alone. Even more after she decided to go completely vegan and had to figure that out before it was 'trendy' and more widely available. Her sister could barely boil water before she got married and had her daughters. Her mom still struggled and much preferred catering or having their cook prepare their big holiday meals. However, they had enough issues talking about how she grew up without mentioning the housekeepers, gardeners, nannies…

And the rest of the time they laid around watching movies. Anakin forcing her to watch The Godfather and Goodfellas, while she returned the favor by making him sit through Sleepless in Seattle and Letters to Juliet. Despite his protests, Padmé was nearly certain she saw him start to tear up, and she secretly loved Goodfellas already but wasn't going to take it away from him that he'd 'introduced her' to his favorites.

Then they talked, extensively. He was worried he freaked her out by being so clingy, by how much he wanted to be with her. He hadn't, but even after saying it she didn't think he believed her. She rambled on about her time at her all-girl's academy, leading to a lot of interesting questions from him. And they talked about what it was like for both of them growing up with siblings, though his was much different with his stepbrother being so much older. She'd never found someone so endlessly interesting. Whatever thought came to his mind just rolled right on out of his mouth, but charmingly so. Endlessly charming. She almost hated it.

"I still can't believe you dated that scumbag city councilman," he said sliding his knuckles up her back.

"Rush and I dated in law school, he wasn't meeting his full scumbag potential yet," she said. His hands came up, wrapping around her shoulders as he kneaded the base of her neck with his thumbs. A soft sigh escaped her as he worked his way back down, rolling her head from side to side. "Besides, he's just incompetent, he hasn't really done anything awful for anyone."

"Being incompetent keeps us from doing jobs for clients, you know," he said, sweeping her hair over one shoulder.

"Well, don't blame me. I was young and we had similar goals back then," she bit down on her lip as his lips brushed over and across her shoulder.

He kissed a spot just behind her ear, making her suppress the moan dying to escape her throat as she tilted her head back. "I'm not. I just don't like the guy, and I don't like the idea of him ever being with you."

"Can you stop talking about my ex-boyfriend while you're whispering in my ear and kissing on me like this?" She reached back, swatting his arm.

"Sorry." He chuckled, planting a final kiss on the side of her neck. "I should probably stop and get going anyway before it's super late. I know you like to go to bed like a grandma on Sundays."

"Because my day starts at 5:30 in the morning, Anakin. I can't believe you made me sleep so late this weekend. I'm gonna be thrown off all week," Padmé said, shifting herself around before he got up. She wasn't ready to be done, with her massage or their time together, but he had a point as she glanced over and saw it was getting closer to 7 already. "I actually want to talk to you about something you said though, before you go."

He closed his eyes with a sigh. "Was it one of the stupid things I said? Because if it was, I swear I didn't—"

"On Friday, you told the doctor my not fitting my clothes was a topic of discussion in 'our house' and then you said we 'lived together' when you said you'd never been in a relationship like this."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I know we don't live together; I didn't mean it like that," Anakin said, moving uncomfortably in his seat. "Of course, I wouldn't mean it like that, because that would be—"

She pulled his hand over into her lap, his fingers instantly wrapping around her thigh. "Anakin, I think we should." Maybe it was some kind of domestic bliss coming over her, but nothing had ever sounded like a better idea than what had just came out of her mouth.

He froze, his breath catching. "Wh-what did… We should what?"

"Live together. When I didn't know… When I worried that you were going to leave, I started really thinking about us. I told you I wanted to do that and about what our life is going to look like. And I just think we should live together. You're here all the time anyway, but I don't have room for all of us, obviously. And you… Well, I've only been there once but you barely have room for yourself. And we're not really planning on co-parenting, just regular parenting. Since the twins are going to be with me completely, at least through my maternity leave, I just thought we could get a place, together…"

She was really hoping he'd cut in at any moment and save her from this endless rambling she'd started. Instead, he just sat there, his face expressionless, his hand having fallen away from its place on her thigh. "Unless you don't want to, and if you don't that's fine, I guess. If it's too fast. But then we just need to think about how we're going to do living arrangements, moving them around, and… Hey. Are you listening to me?" He shook his head a bit, bringing his hand around and pressing the back of it to her forehead. She scrunched her face up, "What are you doing?"

"Checking to see if you're sick, making a suggestion like that makes me wonder." His eyes lit up, smile beaming. "Doesn't feel like you have a fever though."

She slapped his hand away, laughing. "Be serious! What do you think?"

"I think… that it sounds perfect, Padmé. If that's what you want, I don't want to miss a second with the twins and I already worry about you when you're alone here. And I hate leaving on Sundays, even if you are about to go to bed when it's only 7:30. I can play Xbox on your couch just as well as I can mine," he said with a grin on his face.

She rolled her eyes, playfully smacking his cheek. "Great, you can game away while I snore like the old woman I am. And it's not an invitation to worry over every little thing I do every moment of the day, but I'd feel better if we were all together too… and until they're here, the idea that we'd be together."

"You're starting to sound like me, you know. Making big declarations like that. Saying loving and adorable and ridiculous things."

"Oh, shut up," she said, grabbing him for a kiss before he moved away. "If you're on board then… This weekend we can have an honest conversation about money, mine and yours, without all the drama from before being an issue, and get a budget ready so we can talk to an agent? We should make a move soon, with the way the rental market is, and all the packing. I'm going to be useless sooner than I want to think about. I don't want to get too far away from my work though, for when I'm as big as a bus but still on the go, or when I can't wait to get back home to you three after a long day. But we should still think about your commute. And then childcare. And their pre-school, to figure out what our options are. Oh, and probably go furniture shopping. But we should start with the registry and figure out—"

"Padmé you're spiraling." He covered her mouth with his hand. "You're barely showing, we haven't even told everyone, and you're talking about pre-school. We'll stay close to here, my commute is fine, and once we find a place we'll get to work on the other stuff. Right now, we're moving in together, that's settled. We'll make a budget, it's settled. And since we're still living separately, I'm gonna go. So you can get your rest, and have a good start to your week. Okay?"

A wide smile stretched across her face when he pulled his hand back. "Okay. I'm sorry. It's all been on my mind, and I haven't had a chance to say any of it out loud, then it all came out like alphabet soup."

"No, I love it, I've been thinking about it too. I really don't like going back to my place every weekend, or every night after work when I'd rather be with you. We got this, right?" He stood, taking her face in his hands to kiss her forehead.

She tilted her chin up toward him, poking her lips out slightly until he kissed her properly. "We 'got this,' indeed."

"That sounds so weird coming from you. Maybe don't say that again." He grinned, jumping back as she slapped at him. He threw his duffel bag over his shoulder, grabbing a bottle of water before he headed toward the door. "But, that's the spirit. Team Skywalker for the win!"

She glared at him with narrowed eyes. "You are not calling us that! I'm not even a Skywalker."

"Not yet." He shrugged, opening the door. "We make a good team, and we'll have almost enough Skywalkers to put on the court for basketball. What else can I say?"

"On the court… You can 'say' literally anything else!" She said as he walked out the door, laughing as he went.

She sat there with her hands in her lap, suddenly feeling so warm and contented with their decision. The first real decision they'd come to and worked out together. Having him be the calm one to stop her from overthinking, from not knowing when to turn off. The idea of him only being a few steps away in their living room, playing his games and relaxing in his own way, while respecting her routines. And here he thought she was the one too good for him. If only he understood how much every bit of it meant to her.