BLENDED FAMILY

Tav pulled his speeder into the museum parking lot. He had gotten the okay from the parentals to take his little cousins out for the morning and had made sure to have the proper booster seat installed for Pascal. It wasn't like he was going to take any chances where his baby was concerned. Tav loved that speeder. He grinned as his sister and the kids piled out and he pressed the button on the keyfob and heard the locking mechanism engage with a chirp.

Kiara rolled her eyes. "Looks like they're not even open for visitors yet."

"Sandor said he would come and let us in." Mel was practically bouncing with excitement. She pointed at the transparisteel door and waved at the boy who was standing behind it.

"Hey," the Fence's son greeted them and did a sort of mental headcount as he unlocked the door and let them all go past him into the foyer. He didn't want to unlock and relock it too many times and cause greater suspicion.

Then he was saved the worry as Molly rushed in and breathed, "Okay we can start, but we'll have to make it quick because I have to be back at the restaurant in an hour."

"Where's Ezra?" Kiara teased her cousin.

"Zeb commed, said he had to check in." There was a definite rise in color in Molly's cheeks. "He thought Zeb might want to head back to the Ghost since they didn't have any spare room at Aunt Sierra's. He wanted to make sure he could stick around and help us out."

"Staying in Kat's old room?" Kiara pressed.

"Well, she's not using it," Molly sighed impatiently ready for Sandor to lead them on to the site of the crime.

"The painting exhibit is this way." He made a face at Mel who suppressed a giggle.

But Kiara seemed to have to fill the silence. She whispered to Molly, "Is it true that Katooni moved in with Petro but told your parents that her roommate was just one of the other nurses?"

"Technically Petro is just one of the other nurses."

Tav pushed ahead of them and held back the crime scene tape that was blocking the entrance of the gallery. "Come on, ladies. We're here to work. You can gossip on your own time."

"The cams are controlled from the security office but the cops took everything there." Sandor led the way into the gallery that once contained Girl With Mandalorian Lilies. "The best angle's from that cam in the corner; it covers the whole room."

"You guys only have the one camera?" Kiara raised an eyebrow. "I thought your mom was more paranoid than that."

Sandor glared at her. "Mom's not paranoid; she's careful. You would be too if you had her job and that's why her offices have twice as much security. And we can get other camera angles from the cams in the hallway."

"Yeah but not of the painting." Melaana had pulled out her holocomm and scrolled through the pictures she'd taken during her previous visit with Steela. "They focus more on the people than on the artifacts."

"That's what Dalla would want to keep her eyes on," Tav mused.

"Why would you steal the painting in front of everybody?" Mel asked. "If I was gonna do it I'd come in when the museum was closed. Maybe through the ventilation…" She looked up to the ceiling. "Did anyone check the vents?"

The others looked at each other.

"I don't think the cops did," Sandor admitted.

"I know they didn't," Molly tented her eyes against the lights and squinted hard. "There's something inside."

It took ten minutes and a few force tricks from both Tav and Kiara ("I told you, you have to hold your hand steady otherwise you're going to drop it!") to remove the vent cover and extract …

"A selfie stick?" Molly gaped in disbelief.

"What?" Pascal didn't seem to know what to make of the long, thin contraption.

"You put your comm unit in it to take holos." Molly explained. "Why would the thief want it?"

Kiara swore under her breath. "I can think of a reason. Remember when Aunt Steela did that heist while she couldn't get to her gear and she had to make do with what was on hand?"

"I remember her smuggling a data chip out with a stick of chewing gum."

"Yeah, and she fooled the security system by programming her comm unit to show a picture of the room, putting it on a selfie stick, and propping it in front of the cam. All the cam saw -."

"Was an empty room."

"Low-tech but bold," Tav said. "The thief obviously came back for his comm so why did he leave the selfie stick? That's evidence."

"It's huge. Maybe he couldn't sneak it out?"

"Then why not just throw it away so no one would think twice about it? The thief wanted this to be found. In fact…" He looked up and around the room. "He wanted all of this to be found."

Mel wrinkled her nose. "Why would they want to get caught?"

"If they were trying to get someone's attention." Tav nodded to himself. "The theft in broad daylight, leaving the selfie stick? It all screams 'look at me.' They want someone to see how smart they are."

"If they're bragging to the police then why try to kill Swain?" Molly asked. "Kinda useless if there's no one to hear them."

"Could be another boast, or it's not the police they want the attention of." He looked over to where Sandor and Mel were taking holos with the selfie stick and sighed. "Speaking of attention-seeking behavior."

Mel stuck her tongue out at him before snapping one last holo.

He took the selfie stick from her, sleeve pulled down so he wouldn't touch it with his bare hands. "The good news is he might have left some evidence behind. Who's up for pulling some fingerprints?"

"There you are!" All of the kids jumped at the sound of Saw Gerrera's voice from behind them. The retrieval specialist looked rather harried but focused on his two stepchildren. "What are you guys even doing here? This is a crime scene."

Sandor whipped out an excuse. "We just wanted to check it out."

"I just hope you didn't touch anything." Saw shook his head. "Nevermind. Mel and Pasc, it's time to go visit your mom."

Pascal went easily but Mel dug her heels in. "I'll see her later."

Molly laid a hand on her shoulder. "The medcenter's not a scary place. Katooni says everyone who works there is really nice."

"And your mom is really looking forward to seeing you." Saw held out his hand. "You all should leave anyway; the museum's about the open and gods know the last thing we need is for any of you kids to get picked up by the police."

Mel snorted. As if she'd allow herself to get caught by police. Still she didn't want to disappoint her papa so she slunk after him.

…

"Pasc, that's great! You read the whole page all on your own and I didn't have to help once." Saw lifted his hand in a gesture for a high-five, which the little boy proudly accepted and then hugged his stepson who was settled on his lap in the visitor's chair in Soniee's hospital room. "Hasn't he come along in his reading?"

"He has!" Soniee beamed.

The visitors' hour when the children were allowed to come up and see her and they could all be together as a family was sure to become her favorite time of the day, as long as she had to be stuck here. If only all of them wanted to be there.

Soniee attempted to draw her daughter's attention away from whatever it was she was staring at outside the window. "Don't you think your brother has improved, Melaana?"

The girl looked over her shoulder and half smiled. "Yeah, it's really good, Pasc." She kept her eyes away from the hospital bed and her mother in it and instead directed her question towards Saw. "Can I go and get a snack from the credit machine?"

"If that's okay with your mother?" he waited for Soniee's nod before he lifted Pasc off his lap and stood, patting his pockets for evidence of some loose credit chits they could use in the machine. "Come on. We'll find something that won't completely ruin your supper?" He recognized that the two children might each want some one on one time with a parent and didn't press the issue of having Pascal come along.

As Melaana skipped out of the room Saw gave the little boy one last pat on the head, "You watch out for your, Momma and we'll bring you something back as well, eh champ?"

"All right." Pascal watched them go and then took the opportunity to obey his mother's summons and climb up onto the bed next to her. He still had his holopad in one hand but he placed the free one on her round belly with a smile.

"You know when Mel was your age, you were the one in there and she and I would read for hours and hours."

He nodded, and then his eyes grew wide when they both felt the baby kick.

"Are you excited to be a big brother?"

"I already am a big brother." He grinned and kissed his momma's belly.

It was sweet that he thought so and Soniee stroked his hair but he continued, "I'm glad Ben has Buir in Manda."

She froze. "Ben?"

"My baby brother," Pascal said confidently.

"Ad'ika, this baby is going to be a little girl. We haven't chosen a name for her yet."

"I know," he answered. His forehead furrowed as if he didn't know why he had to explain this to his mother. "Ben has Buir and my baby sister has you and Papa and me and Mel."

How could he have known? He was only a baby and Korkie had never even really accepted that there was another child. A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away so her son wouldn't notice but he always noticed.

Ahsoka and Tav had expressed to her their opinions that Pascal was possessed of an affinity with the Force and she may have even suspected it herself.

"Ben is… alright then?" She couldn't help but ask him. "And your little sister?"

Pascal looked into her welling eyes, full of concern. "She's excited to come out and meet us but I told her she's got to be patient."

Just then another kick made Pascal laugh with pure joy but Soniee's heart had started racing.

"Momma?" he clouded over with worry.

"I'm alright, ad'ika." but was she? She must have been in denial. The empire had been wiped out, sure, but they had been seeking to destroy every being in the galaxy who was like her boy. There were probably still those out there who misunderstood and distrusted what he could do. And what exactly was he capable of? His dreams were probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Soniee gasped as her belly tightened and the monitor to which she was connected began to beep out a warning.

A nurse raced into the room, taking in the situation at a glance and she called down the hall for assistance. While she proceeded to take the patient's vitals and check the monitors, a second nurse swooped in and picked the little visitor up off the bed. "I think I saw your Papa and big sister down by the credit machine. How about if I go take you to find them?"

Pascal looked back over his shoulder before she led him out of the room, "Don't worry, Momma."

"Your son is adorable." The attending nurse smiled while she changed out the bag of fluids on Soniee's IV and increased the frequency of the drip of the medication.

"Yes, he is. He takes after his…" Soniee hesitated, "father." Korkie's father was a Jedi. It must have skipped a generation. "Can I have my comlink?"

The nurse studied the monitor again with a practiced eye. "I really think it would be better if you just rest…"

"I only wanted to ask my sister-in-law if she would come and pick up the children," Soniee insisted. She needed to talk to Ahsoka. Ahsoka would understand.

Just then Saw burst into the room and rushed to her side. "Are you okay?" and then his focus turned to the nurse. "Is she okay? Are they okay?" He squeezed Soniee's hand in both of his and kissed her fingers.

"Oh Saw," she cried. "Pascal has powers and I don't know how to teach him to control them and Melaana thinks it's okay to just take anything she wants and now we have another baby coming maybe any time now and how are we supposed to do this?"

He looked to the nurse for affirmation.

"What we really need for you to do right now, Mrs. Gerrera, is to calm down." the nurse instructed while she worked. "I don't think it's a bad idea for your husband to comm your inlaws and have them come and collect your children. They're welcome to come and visit again after you've had a rest."

Saw pulled out his comlink and started a text to Lux. "You see, Nya, the doctors and nurses have you and the baby taken care of here. We've got Ahsoka to help us out with Pasc." He chuckled with relief and gave his wife an encouraging smile. "And Steela will gladly help Mel to learn to channel her gifts into a positive direction."

Soniee stared at him incredulously until he looked up from the device, allerted by her silence. "What?"

She glanced at the nurse who seemed to be studiously ignoring their conversation and then returned her emerald gaze to her husband. "I don't like the idea of my children being brought up with the assumption that… thieving is an appropriate profession."

"You're not serious." Saw was baffled.

"I'm completely serious," Soniee countered. She was trying to remain calm as she had been advised by the medical professional but she was trembling and the monitors clearly posted her elevated heart rate.

Saw paced a few steps away from the bed and back again. "You knew before we got married that this is what my family and I do. You've worked with us."

"Well, you were retired and then you…" One of the machines began beeping again but he could hear her clearly over the sound, "And then you got me pregnant."

"This really isn't helping her calm down," the nurse interjected. "Maybe you should step outside and see to your children?" She gestured Saw towards the door.

"Y-yeah, maybe," he answered brokenly.

"Saw," Soniee called after him and tried to sit up but he didn't turn around.

The nurse gently pushed her back against the pillows. "Just take it easy now. There will be time for all that once we've got you and this little one stabilized."

Soniee took a deep shaky breath and nodded her obedience.

…

Lux Bonteri sat on the edge of her bed listening intently. The Force only knew how he had even gotten in? Soniee was supposed to be resting with no visitors but then she supposed that the Mastermind of the Onderon con men could charm his way into just about anywhere.

She had been hoping to speak with Ahsoka but this might be even better, to have the guidance of a non-force user who had managed to raise two children who possessed that talent nearly to adulthood could be invaluable. And yet since he had entered the room, Soniee still had yet to mention Pascal.

Lux was very easy to talk to. Soniee imagined that it was exactly how he got his clients to open up to him about their… problems. His team had done an awful lot of good in the galaxy. But still…

Soniee sighed, grateful for his calming influence or maybe that was the meds. "Your sister warned me that Saw and I might be rushing into things."

A grin spread across Lux's face. "You would actually take relationship advice from Sierra? I thought you were smarter than that." He chuckled and she blushed.

"Well she and Alex…"

"I'll admit that she did finally stumble into Mr Right, but even Alex in the beginning, we were certain, was just the next in a line of very bad choices in my dear sister's life."

"So she's had a lot of experience… with mistakes."

Lux leaned forward and took her hand. "You and Saw being together is not a mistake. That much is obvious. And you didn't rush into anything. If anything we were all wondering what took the two of you so long."

"When I had the chance, I chose Korkie," she said softly.

"And it was the right choice at the time by evidence of your two beautiful children."

She nodded. "Saw adores them."

"Evidence that you've been given a second chance?"

She rubbed her belly and considered his words. Then her door cracked open just far enough to admit a little blond blur who raced to her bed and scrambled up beside her.

"Ad'ika, what's wrong?" she hugged him close to her.

Pascal looked up at his mother with his wide blue eyes. "She's coming."

Soniee's hand went again to her stomach, thinking he might mean his baby sister but the meds seemed to have stopped the contractions at least for now.

"Who's coming?" Lux asked him, but in another moment he knew.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Soniee's head snapped to the source of the voice. A dark-haired woman about her own age stood in the doorway, arms crossed. At some point her nose had been broken and left to heal crookedly, and her cheeks were dimpled with a poisonous smile that didn't reach her eyes. She immediately got the sense that this was not a woman to be trifled with.

"Dalla," Lux said. "Wasn't expecting you here."

"I could say the same for you," Dalla's gaze swept over Soniee critically. "This doesn't look like helping Selkie."

Soniee tightened her grip on Pascal. "What's going on?"

Lux gestured between the two women. "Soniee, Dalla Blackwell. We're helping her lieutenant out of a tight spot."

"With apparent breaks for family visits," Dalla interrupted him, not even trying to hide her contempt for the situation. "I appreciate the concern for this controlled situation while someone's trying to cut Selkie to pieces."

Lux's patience wore out. "I left the house for twenty minutes to pick up a kid. Are you stalking me?"

"I don't need to. I'm capable of recognizing a pattern and I've noticed that twice now Selkie's been thrown under the bus for this woman's convenience. So tell me Lux, what's so fired important this time that you ignore her after she narrowly escaped an assassin?"

"Selkie, who we encountered at the auction?" Soniee's hand flew to her mouth in horror. "She's so young! Is she alright?"

"She escaped with minor injuries." Dalla turned her death glare to Soniee.

"Thank Manda," Soniee breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so sorry we put her in danger however accidentally. I didn't have a chance to properly meet her but she seemed like such a sweet girl."

(Even if she was stealing an amulet off Soniee's neck at the time.)

"She reminded me a bit of my daughter Melaana actually. It must be the hair." Or the penchant for theft. "Oh and Mel has said such nice things about your son Sandor. I'm so glad she's made friends with people her own age here on Onderon and I do hope that we can be friends as well."

The fence's lip curled. For all her dislike of Soniee she could tell when a statement was sincere, and Soniee had to admit her anger at the con men's apparent disregard for Selkie's welfare was justified.

"My best wishes for your pregnancy, Mrs. Gerrera." she said. "I hope the situation remains under control."

"If there's anything I can do for Selkie let me know immediately. I may be stuck in this bed but I can still use a computer."

"Believe me I will." Soniee was willing to take her word for it. "And Lux, I'll leave you to get back to the case. I'm keeping my eyes open, so no need to update me."

The Mollymauk turned to leave gracefully as one of her namesake birds but before she could make a full exit Saw arrived in the doorway. He must have come looking for Pascal.

Saw and Dalla levelled a cold glare that neither seemed willing to break. They circled each other as Dalla made her way to the door and Saw further into the room. Once both had reached their destinations Dalla about faced down the hallway, the silent challenge broken.

As soon as she was gone Saw shut the door and hurried across the room. "What was she doing here? Threatening you?"

"In so many words, yes." Lux sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's worried about Swain. I'm honestly surprised she hasn't tried something like this sooner."

"That still doesn't give her the right to barge in here and good as attack us." He nodded an "excuse us" to Soniee and gestured for Lux to follow him into the hallway. "What's she going to do next time, bring a weapon?" He asked as soon as they were alone, the tight, pressured sentences seeming to shoot out of his mouth. "If she keeps acting like this why don't you just cut your losses and let her go? It's a big galaxy; there are other fences you can get in with."

"Switching fences isn't like switching grocery stores. Do you know how much Dalla has on us, and vice versa? Besides, we still have Swain to think about."

"Forget her! If Dalla's so worried about her she can deal with it."

Lux fixed his brother with a look. "You're talking about Alex's daughter."

"No, I'm talking about baggage from his ISB days."

"You can't be serious."

Saw went on as if he hadn't heard him. "I get he feels bad about what happened but he needs to move past it. She's obviously - ."

"Hannah Swain is just as much a member of this family as Soniee, Mel, and Pasc." Lux stared Saw down. "And if you can't accept that, then you need to take a long, hard look at yourself before your kid is born."

Saw exhaled and broke the staredown. "Okay, that came out wrong."

"You can't say stuff like that. What if Alex or Swain heard you? What if Dalla heard you?" Lux shook his head. "This is what Thrawn wanted, to alienate us. To make us destroy one another. He must have known Swain was working for Dalla and was just waiting for the bomb to go off. Now our only option is to try and work things out."

"Guess I'll have time for it."

"What do you mean?"

"That retirement package, it's bound to have gone up a little since I left it behind?"

"You cashed it out last year so there's some but not a lot. You're not thinking of taking it."

"Soniee's worried about the kids being brought up around crime and maybe she's right. Pasc is so quiet and Melaana … Dxun I don't even know where to start with her. Having more focus on the kids couldn't be a bad thing."

"But you and retirement went together like oil and water." Lux countered. "Remember how antsy you were? You were practically begging for jobs before we got back in the game."

"I have a family to keep me occupied now and I don't want to lose them." Saw shrugged though Lux could see his heart wasn't fully in it. "You guys have Alex to take over my job, so it won't be too hard on the team."

Lux stood in silence for a while longer.

"If this is what you want then I'll respect your decision," he said. "But because you've already said one thing I know you didn't mean, I just want to make sure you're not doing something you're really going to regret."

Saw looked over his shoulder to the hospital room. "If this is what I have to do for them, I'll never regret it."

Before Lux could speak up again to protest Saw continued, "Guess you've got to get back to sealsitting?"

"Eh… yeah. Guess that is the priority. I'll get the kids back to the house first though."

"Thanks." Saw nodded sincerely. "I know she'll feel a lot better knowing they're in good hands. I'll go get Mel."

Lux watched him go down the hall before he turned back into the patient's room.

Soniee was just telling her son to be a good boy for his aunt and uncle and she smiled at Lux.

"You ready to go?" Lux clapped his hands and then held one out toward the little boy.

Pascal kissed his mother's cheek and then hopped up obediently.

"Thanks again." Soniee intoned before Lux could usher the boy out.

"It'll all work out." She knew he was talking about her and Saw.

"I hope so," she said softly. "I know I hurt his feelings. I'm so sorry…"

"Well, tell him that, not me." Lux smiled.

She shook her head. "I know. You're right. I will."

It was another several minutes after Lux left that Saw worked up the courage to enter the room again. Soniee had to admit that she was glad for the hesitation to work out her thoughts as well.

"How are you feeling?" Her husband asked, not yet approaching the bed where she lay.

"Alright. A little sleepy, I think that's the meds working."

"Do you need anything, anything I can get you?"

"Not right now but I would like my datapad later, get some work done."

"Are you sure?" he worried, taking a step closer. "I don't want you to get too stressed."

"No, it'll help, I think, focusing on something, getting my mind off everything else."

"I'll get it for you then." He promised but he didn't make a move to leave immediately.

They both spoke at once and then he chuckled, "You go ahead."

She nodded. "Saw, I wanted to say, I'm sorry. I accepted your proposal before I even knew about the baby because I love you and I know that you love me and my children. You are loyal to your family…"

He took two long strides to her bedside. "I am loyal to our family, to you and our children. Nothing else matters." He took both of her hands in his and pressed them to his lips.

"I never meant to insinuate that there was anything wrong with the way that you provide for us. I think you're a wonderful role model."

Saw shook his head. "No, you were right. You have a moral compass that I never had. If you want Mel and Pasc and…" he placed his hand on her stomach and the baby rolled over, getting more comfortable in her environment. "If you think we should put some distance between them and the… business, then we will."

"We have time," she answered noncommittally. "We'll figure it out."

"Yeah." He looked deeply into her green eyes and then kissed her desperately.

Her heart rate sped up a bit on the monitor but not enough to set off the alarm. They both laughed.

"So what do you want to do? Watch a holo?"

"I think maybe just listen to some music. I'm not sure if I could stay awake for anything else."

"Alright." He sat next to her on the bed and pulled out his comm unit keying up a playlist of some of their favorite instrumentals.

As she drifted off he sang the lyrics:

Oh little darling, where you've been so long?

Oh little darling, where you've been so long?

Korinna, Korinna

I love you so