MY FATHER WASN'T AROUND
Saw isn't in the loop for the drama at the Kallus place and he hasn't gotten a chance to hear about Molly and Ezra. He's just trying to get through the stress of a wife in the hospital, a baby on the way, and two kids who he loves more than he thought possible.
Kate Gerrera gently placed the needle onto the revolving disk and began to sway in time to the music that floated from the amplifier as she made her way back into the apartment's tiny kitchen. She smiled at her son, laid a hand on her big belly, and stopped humming only long enough to take a taste of the sauce that was simmering on the hot plate. "Needs a little more cream I think."
She sashayed her way over to the conservator in the limited space and Saw's eyes lit up when he caught a glimpse of the jogan pie that his mother had hidden behind the liter of blue milk.
She must have heard him gasp because she turned with a smile and pressed her finger to her lips.
"What's that for?" The little boy whispered.
"Your Papa's comin' home tonight, Baby!" She beamed. She set the cream on the counter and took Saw's hands, twirling him around and taking up the lyrics of the song with the crooner on the recording.
He giggled until he noticed the pot beginning to bubble over. "Momma, look!"
"Oh osik!" She hurried to see to her cooking but glanced back over her shoulder with a grin. "Sorry, baby. Guess that's another credit for the swear jar."
Kate returned to humming and swaying her hips to the music while she focused on preparing the meal. She didn't hear the front door opening.
This time it was Saw's father who indicated the request for quiet with a wink.
Saw covered his mouth to keep from laughing aloud and watched as the man silently put down his traveling bag to sneak up behind his mother and wrap his arms around her.
Kate squealed in shock and dropped her spoon into the pot before her husband spun her around to face him and then they were dancing and singing and laughing and little Sawyer Gerrera never wanted it to end.
But it had ended and not more than a few months later. Steela surely hadn't been walking yet when momma plopped her down at Saw's feet. "Watch your sister," she ordered as she made her way to the record player.
"Momma?" Saw knew she had gotten a comm. "Momma is Papa coming home?"
She lifted the disk from the turntable and studied it for a moment before slamming it down and smashing it to pieces.
Saw jumped and Steela began to cry. The little boy hugged his sister and rocked her even though he felt like crying himself. Momma said a lot of words that she should have put credits in the swear jar for but Saw had a feeling they'd never be going on that promised trip to Bisneyland.
Momma smashed a few more disks too, but not all of them. The rest she packed into a big box.
And the next morning she acted as if everything was back to normal except for the fact that she picked up the big box of disks and Steela's carrier and she gave her credit purse to Saw to carry. "You're the man of the house now, Baby. I'll need you to help Momma out."
He smiled and nodded and stayed close by her side as they walked to the transport stop. She told him which chits to put in the little machine for their trip and how to press the signal when it was time to get off. There were still several blocks to walk to the dance studio where she worked.
It looked like the box and the baby were pretty heavy but she didn't complain. She just kept walking and asking Saw to name the letters and colors he recognized on the signs they passed by.
He was focused on sounding out the word on one of the signs when someone coming the other way up the street called his mother's name.
"Ms. Gerrera?" It was a young woman with a round belly like Momma's had been just a few months ago before she had Steela. "It is you! I was hoping I might see you again while I was in this part of town but it looked like the studio was all closed up."
"I was just about to go and open it." Kate juggled the box and the baby carrier. "Miss Rash, wasn't it?"
"It was." The girl grinned and showed off the ring on her left hand. "It's Mrs. Melaana Tandin now! That's why I wanted to come and see you."
Steela squirmed and cried out from her carrier.
"But you have your hands full. What can I do to help?" She reached out for the baby carrier.
Kate hesitated for a moment before she handed it over. "Thank you, Mrs. Tandin."
"Oh it's the least I could do. Please call me Mel." The girl gazed down at Steela and then winked at Saw. "And this is your son?"
"That's right." Kate readjusted the box in her arms and nodded. "He's Sawyer and the little one is Steela. We've just a little further to go."
"It's nice to meet you Sawyer. I'm sure you're a big help to your momma." She had a beautiful smile and blue eyes and wild dark curly hair. Saw nodded back in greeting and agreement and took his responsibility of keeper of the keys even more seriously.
He ran ahead of his mother and the other young woman in an attempt to get to the door and have it unlocked before they could even ask. He held the door open wide so Momma could bring in the box and the other woman could carry in Steela.
Melaana Tandin placed the carrier down gently and then rubbed her back with a, "Whew! Those things are heavier than they look."
"I haven't made you over do it, have I?" Kate asked worriedly. She set down her own burden and then went to the younger girl meaning to lead her to a chair to sit down. She called back over her shoulder, "Saw why don't you let your sister loose from that seat and I'll get our guest a drink of water."
Saw did as he was bidden and Steela started to crawl around on the hardwood floor while the two women continued chatting.
Melaana and her husband had taken dance lessons here several months ago. It was actually where they had met when Melaana was given the lessons with a different partner but things hadn't worked out between them and they had each ended up with someone else.
After a while, once the young woman had regained her breath, she stood again and began to look through the box of records that Momma had brought with her. "I still can't believe that you're going to part with all these."
"Just need a few ready credits till I can get the studio up and running again with some paying students."
Melaana didn't ask why the teacher and her two young children were suddenly in need of funds. She seemed to know that Kate Gerrera was a proud woman who wouldn't want her pity. She simply continued to scan the disk cases until she found something that looked interesting. She pulled one of the sleeves out of the box and read the song titles silently to herself. "I believe you played some of these for Dane and I to dance to at our lessons."
"I believe I actually played them for you and John Bonteri but the two of you switched partners while my back was turned." Kate laughed.
The young woman grinned mischievously and rubbed her big belly with her free hand. "Can you blame me? You know Mina and John just had their baby as well. It was a little boy and they asked Dane and I to be his godparents."
"It's good to hear they're doing well." But Kate looked a little sad. It must have been hard for her to hear about two couples that were so happy so soon after her own relationship had dissolved.
Melaana frowned and looked back down at the disk case. She tried to disguise her discomfort as focus on the item. "How much are you asking for this album?" she asked.
Kate named the price. It wasn't much.
The young woman dug around in her purse and pulled out a high denomination credit chip. "I'm afraid this is all I've got. I don't suppose you have change? Or no, don't worry about it. I'll come back another day and get it from you then." She smiled and it was clear she didn't need or want anything in return.
"Thank you," Kate said sincerely.
"Oh no, thank you!"
…
"Are you sure?" Melaana asked. Her stepfather was much taller than she was, taller than Buir had been, and yet he was saying that if she completed the motions as instructed she would be able to land him flat on the mat where they were practicing in the gym that had once been his mother's dance studio.
Just being there brought back all sorts of memories but he pushed them to the back of his mind so he could focus on his stepdaughter. That's why they were here, so that they could build some new memories.
That and to teach her a useful skill. Not that she didn't have plenty of skills already. It had been Melaana who had jimmied the lock for them to get in here to train.
Saw had told her they weren't going to make a practice of that because her mom didn't like it. She had rolled her eyes at him and just said they'd keep it between them.
Soniee was comfortable and well taken care of at the med center, with Pascal curled up by her side watching a holo and her datapad to keep her busy. Saw wasn't sure what she wanted the thing for but even if she was playing solitaire it was keeping her mind off of the stress of the current situation so he was glad to make the most of this time with Mel.
"Just trust me and try it."
He stood behind her as if he were about to grab her but before he could she took hold of his arm and crouched as if she were about to roll forward. Her momentum pulled him down and over her shoulder just like he said it would and the big man landed with a flump on the mat. Even though he had been expecting it, the landing still knocked the air out of his lungs.
"Osik!" she swore, very unladylike, and pressed her hands over her mouth in surprise. "I didn't think it would really work! Are you okay?"
Saw coughed once and laughed, smiling up at her. "Fine, fine. That was great! I knew you could do it!"
He had a daughter now and he was proud of her. He was about to have another and he wanted his girls to be able to protect themselves. He of course would give his life for either of them and for Pascal but he wanted to be there for them like he hadn't been there for his sister when she was their age.
He rolled over and hopped up from the mat. "Alright, should we try it again just to make sure you've got it?"
"Are you sure? It looked like that one almost did you in." Melaana teased.
With a growl, Saw grabbed her up in a hug and kissed the top of her head. She squealed with delight. Buir had rarely had the time to wrestle with her to burn off her excess energy. She missed her Buir but she couldn't help but love her new Papa.
They were both still laughing when the door opened and they both looked up.
"There you are!" Sandor Wallace smirked at Melaana.
"How did he know you were here?" Saw mumbled crossly. Probably the same way his mother had known Lux had come to the med center yesterday so she could march in unannounced and make threats against their family.
But Melaana just swatted her stepfather playfully with the back of her hand. "I commed him when we were on our way here."
She struck a fierce pose and faced the boy. "Papa was just teaching me to defend myself."
"Oh really?" Sandor laughed. "Well the rest of us are getting together at Hero's restaurant to…" He glanced at Saw.
Melaana saved him from revealing their secret mission. "You wanna see what I've learned so far? And then we'll go if that's okay with you." She looked up at Saw with a pleading expression.
He wasn't sure about just letting her go off with the fence's son but he could hardly resist those green eyes that were so like her mother's. So he gave her a wink. "Come on over here, Sandor, and you, Mel, like you did before."
Melaana prepared herself pusing her fiery hair off her shoulders and out of the way.
"Here, Mr Gerrera?" Sandor asked.
"That's right and put your hands out like this like you're going to grab her from behind."
He did so hesitantly. He didn't want to hurt his friend. "Like this…"
Before he could finish she took the boy's arm, rolled into a tuck, and flipped him head over heels, flat onto his back on the mat. He laid there dazed for a moment while Melaana danced around victoriously.
"That's my girl!" Saw praised her.
"Osik." Sandor picked himself up off the mat carefully.
Mel went to his side and half compassionately, half in pride at her accomplishment asked, "Did I hurt you?"
"Nah," he brandished. "So what about going to the restaurant?"
"Can I, Papa?" she begged the light of youthful exuberance still dancing in her green eyes.
Saw made a show of deliberating. "You have your unit so you can comm me when you get there?"
"Of course, Papa."
"And you'll remind her?" He asked the boy.
"Yes, Sir." Sandor practically saluted like a proper Northern sailor.
…
"It was really smart of the thieves to use the selfie stick idea." Mel skipped down the sidewalk a few steps and had to wait for Sandor to catch up. "I wonder where they heard about it."
"Maybe on the holonet," Sandor suggested.
"Or at the museum." She smirked. "Since we were talking about it a few weeks ago."
Sandor didn't even blink. "I guess that's possible."
"Come on Sandor, I know it was you."
This time Sandor stopped walking.
"Are you going to tell my parents?"
"Are you kidding? This is way more fun than being stuck in the stupid medcenter all day." Melaana resumed her skipping. "I just wanna know why. It's not like you can sell it without your mom knowing."
"I wasn't going to sell it. I was just going to get it out of sight for a few days and then bring it back to show Mom I could do her job." He sighed. "But then Hannah got attacked and I didn't want her to think I had something to do with it."
"Did you?"
"No!" Sandor swelled with indignation. "Sometimes I get annoyed when Mom hangs out with her but I don't want her to get hurt. Mom says she and your family are looking for the people who did it but no one knows anything. What if they try again?"
"Papa said Uncle Alex thought it might be someone she knew." That was comfort enough to Mel; she knew her Uncle Alex was good at solving mysteries. "They've probably got it almost figured out."
"I hope so." He dithered before the door of the restaurant before they entered. "Tav seems so sure that the assault and robbery are connected."
"Well I won't tell him that you were the thief."
"Thanks." He smiled and opened the door for her.
"You know I said how badly I wanted to meet her when I thought she was just Selkie but I think maybe I already have back when she was training with Uncle Alex…"
Sandor stopped her before she could continue with the story. "Don't forget to comm your Papa. You promised you would as soon as we got here."
"Oh yeah!" While he led the way to where the others were already gathered, she pulled out her comlink and tapped in the message.
At the table in the far corner Molly and Ezra were sitting next to each other but there was a noticeable space between them and their gazes were fixed determinedly on their plates rather than on each other as they had been the last time Mel had seen them yesterday.
Something must have happened. Mel glanced at Sandor inquisitively but he just shrugged. Kiara was sitting across from the one time couple grinning wickedly and Tav was standing flipping through some holodocs.
"Did you get the copies of the case files?" Sandor asked, guessing that must be what their mastermind was perusing.
Kiara laughed, "Ezra was kind enough to provide a distraction so I could get them."
The padawan glared at her.
Tav ignored the drama and tried to get down to business and pointed to something on the doc. He asked, "Moll, have you cross referenced this to see if it might be a lead?"
The junior hacker jumped when she was addressed, "Er, no I haven't had the time to get around to it."
"I still think there has to be a connection."
As promised Mel stuck up for her friend with a smile, "Hannah might not have anything to do with the robbery at all."
Tav continued to give vent to his own contrary theories but Sandor nodded his thanks of her loyalty. "Hey," he asked. "Can I see your comm unit? Maybe there's a clue we missed in the holos you took."
"Sure." Mel passed the device to her friend before quietly excusing herself. "Gotta use the fresher."
"So what did you want Molly to cross-reference?" Sandor asked.
"A few of Hannah's arrests have records for robbery." Tav explained. "If Molly searches the galactic registry she might find other records that could help us narrow down the list."
"What makes you think this is a list we need to narrow down?"
"Well unless you or your parents have new information it's too big of a coincidence to ignore. Who else has reason to go after Hannah?"
"You mean, who might have a bone to pick with an imperial defector who now works for my mom?" Sandor asked, deadpan. "Safe to say a lot of people."
"If we don't need these stupid things then why did you send me into Aunt Sierra's jaws to copy them?" Kiara scoffed. "We should have just made Mel go and do it. She likes that sort of thing and even if she got caught Uncle Saw wouldn't have punished her anyway. He lets her get away with murder."
"Hey where is Mel?"
"She just went to the fresher," Sandor said.
Molly stood up. "I'll go check on her."
Once his ex-wife was gone Ezra found it fit to contribute to the conversation. "Last I knew the only people who were going after defectors were the partisans, and they're history. Besides, they weren't the art theft type and rebel intelligence heard they learned a hard lesson about messing with the Mollymauks."
Sandor whistled. "Oh, you have no idea."
"I don't know who else there is." Ezra threw up his hands.
Molly rushed back to the table. "Guys, Mel wasn't in the fresher."
"Well she must have her comlink on her. I'll just give her a comm." Kiara shrugged and did just that.
The unit in Sandor's hand rang and all eyes went to it.
He numbly keyed off the comm. "She gave it to me to look through her holos. She'd never leave it behind."
Silence fell and then Molly looked to Ezra for the first time. "Ez, can you … with the force?"
Ezra nodded. "She's not here."
That was all Tav needed. "Uncle Hutch, Aunt Hero! We need you!"
…
Saw had kept a close eye on his comm unit until Mel texted that she and the Wallace boy had made it safely to the restaurant. He had never doubted that they were capable or that she would remember. She had been good about checking in since he gave her the device before he and her mom had left on their honeymoon. There had been a few times while they were up north and didn't want to be disturbed that he wished she wasn't quite so good at updating him on her status.
He had kept every silly little emoji she had sent him saved on his unit. He still couldn't quite believe that these beautiful kids called him Papa. It was almost harder for him to comprehend that he could have any more love for this new baby than he already possessed for Mel and Pasc.
Soniee and her children were his everything and yet he still hadn't taken the final step to propose that he officially adopt them. He had checked into the legality of it. They would still be entitled to their inheritance, meant to be used for their education, once they came of age. And to Soniee's great relief, the law of succession on Mandalore had been changed so they would never have to carry the burden of leadership of the system no matter what legal name they acquired.
So what was it that was holding him back? Maybe he was a little worried that they would say no. What if calling him Papa was enough for them but they still wanted to officially carry the name of their real father? He couldn't blame them if they did. He was just guarding his own heart from the rejection.
But the look on Mel's face today when they were at the gym training, he knew she was worried as well, worried that this new baby might usurp her place in his heart. He had to let her know that that would never ever be the case.
There had to be someone Saw could speak to about the situation. He ran through a mental list of the father figures he had known after his own had skipped out of town, not that he had ever been around much to begin with.
Dane Tandin had been his foster father for a while before he too had left to fight and die at Aargonar. After that the General and John Bonteri had sort of stepped in to fill the gap but Saw had claimed not to need a father by that point. He could take care of himself.
John had been great though, to all of their mixed up family, and Lux had truly learned from the best. Still Saw didn't think his brother would quite understand this present situation. His kids had been his very own since birth.
What was it Lux had said, that Swain was as much a part of the family as Mel and Pasc? Now that was an interesting comparison. Kallus had practically adopted his trainee before having a kid of his own.
Maybe it wasn't the best time for Saw to bring up that particular conversation, however. Kallus had as much said the other day that Saw should never have a daughter.
He entered the med center and waved at Katooni at the nurse's station on his way to the lift. That's when it dawned on him. Hutch had two daughters; the first he adopted and the second was biological.
Why hadn't he thought of it before?
Saw was already entering Hutch's ID into the comm unit before he thought better of it. They were still on their anniversary trip. He didn't want to disturb them but this was important. He almost second guessed himself and ended the comm before his brother's voice picked up on the other end.
He caught a note of tension in the greeting. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Hutch's tone was uncharacteristically humorless. "Nothing but cutting our trip short to come back home for a marriage annulment."
"What?" Saw nearly choked. "When did this happen? You two have been together forever?"
"No no no, not Hero and me. We're rock solid especially since she decided she's the Rupings new number one fan." He didn't sound terribly thrilled by that fact. He sighed. "It's Molly."
"Molly?" That didn't make any more sense to Saw than the previous assumption. "She's just a kid. She couldn't possibly…"
A little of the humor returned as if he were grasping at it like a lifeline. "According to Katooni, your wife encouraged Molly to secretly get married to Ezra Bridger."
Hutch must have enjoyed listening to Saw rattle on a bit about how Soniee would have never done such a thing and they didn't know that anything like that was going on. But he finally let his brother off the hook with a, "Yeah, I know. So what did you want to talk to me about?"
So Saw laid it all out: how he loved Soniee's kids and he wanted to be able to call them his own and for them to have a stable, loving home, but he didn't know if they would accept.
Hutch was more than glad to share from his own personal experience how scared he'd been when Hero came up with the idea to adopt Katooni but how he had never regretted it. Except for maybe when they'd found out that she'd gone and moved in with Petro and how he was pretty sure that that had more to do with Molly's secret elopement than anything Soniee had said to her.
There was a scuffle in the background on Hutch's end of the comm and he stopped speaking for a moment. Saw realized that he must just be over at the restaurant if he and Hero had indeed returned to the planet.
Then he heard Tav's frantic voice, "... We can't find her."
"Slow down." Hutch asked, "who can't you find?"
There was a babble of confused explanations but only one name rang in Saw's hearing "Melaana!"