In truth I should be working on my final project for the semester... but I got this sudden spark for writing again and there was no way I was going to let it get away after escaping me for the weeks where I actually had time to write! Hopefully next semester my muse decides to hit me at more convenient times.

Anyway,

Happy Reading!

Chapter 13

"But Mom! All my friends are going! It's supposed to be the biggest fair to ever come to the city in ages!" Luke whined as he dramatically melted into the couch, so in awe of the scale he and his friends seemed to exaggerate. She knew it was a big deal for him. She remembered seeing the flyer for it a few weeks ago when he came running home waving it around in his hand as he told her all about it, and how could she possibly say no when he smiled like that?

But going tonight on the opening night when they already had plans, was out of the question. Ignoring his whining, she pulled out the potato salad she had promised to make and grimaced as she poured it out of its store-bought container into a large Tupperware. She had little doubt that everyone probably knew it wasn't homemade, putting it one of her own tubs was just a little thing that made it feel like it wasn't so obvious.

"We talked about this last week," Padme sighed, "It's your aunt's birthday, don't you want to spend a nice evening with your family? Besides, I promised I'd take you on the weekend."

He groaned, "But everyone else is going tonight!"

"I'm sure there are others not going tonight."

Luke shook his head, "Oh, I'm certain. I'll be the only one who didn't go. It's not fair!" With dramatic flair, he slouched back on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest as if him pouting would change anything. Unfortunately for him, she was raising him to be better than how he was acting now.

"Alright, it's time to go, get in the car," She ordered, giving him a nod towards the door. Luke pretended he hadn't heard her. Typical. With a sigh, she picked up her purse and the Tupperware and came to stand directly in front of him. "Luke," She prompted, "Get in the car. Or do you want me to go to the party alone and have to explain to everyone why you're not there?" She could barely hear him mumble a short 'I don't care,' but she knew how to get him to care. "Fine," she said with a shrug, turning and walking towards the door. "I'll go alone. But don't expect to go to the fair at all then." She knew her words had his head lifting towards her even though her back was to him. She opened, the door, stepped outside and by the time she finished placing the salad in the front passenger seat, she heard the front door slam shut followed by the angry stomps of her son as he climbed silently into the backseat, keeping his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Padme felt the corner of her lip curl in a small smirk of victory as she went back to lock up the house before getting in the car to drive them to her parent's home. It was times like this where she really felt like she had parenting under control and yet it was also these moments when she clearly heard her mother tell her 'sweetheart, that's when they really find a way to throw you a new one.' And so far, those words have always proven to be accurate. After Luke was born, it was a much larger adjustment that she thought it would be. Nursing was uncomfortable, she was barely sleeping because of late night feedings and diaper changes… and by the time she was starting to get used to it, Palo had all but left, and she noticed Luke slowly developing a little personality and growing faster and it wasn't long until he started to crawl which soon turned to running, and turning her home upside down. But over the years he calmed down, especially once he started school and made close friends. Things have been so calm but every now and then she can't help but wonder if this simple peace, was just the calm before a large storm, especially now that he's ten and it is only a matter of a few short years before he is a teenager.

Most of the family had already gathered at her parent's home by the time she parked along the curb next to the house. Despite Luke's sour mood, he gave a tight-lipped smile as his grandmother zealously kissed his cheeks and gifted him a kingsize bar of his favorite candy before sending him back to the yard where his cousins were playing with their grandfather. Padme brushed her fingers through his hair as he jogged past her, and smiled as she watched him go, his mood already seeming to brighten though she knew he was still greatly disappointed at not spending the day with his friends instead.

"Padme," Her mom whispered as the two women embraced. "Sola was rather driven to meet you out here herself," She started, "But I'm not letting her push herself too much, not while she's under my roof." Over the past month, her sister's pregnancy had been getting so much harder as the due date neared. Back pain, a jumpy baby, and cravings for food she isn't allowed to have… it has been rough and every day she seems to grow more and more impatient.

Padme smiled as she followed her mother through the house to the backyard. "Padme!" Seated in one of the deckchairs by the glass table, was her sister, surrounded by a pile of crinkly-wrapped packages and wearing one of her daughter's princess tiaras. Slowly, she started to try and rise, and Padme quickly walked over to meet her so she wouldn't have to go too far on her feet. "I am so ready for this baby to pop!" She said through gritted teeth, and Padme couldn't help but agree. She was so big!

"Happy birthday, Sola," She said, giving her a tight hug before helping her to sit and taking the seat next to her while their mother took the seat on Sola's other side.

"Today has just been so wonderful so far!" She said. "Darred and his little sous chefs treated me to breakfast in bed, he gave me a nice foot massage…" She said with a languid smile, "now all he needs is a vasectomy so he doesn't do this to me again!" She laughed, not meaning a word of what she said, making all three of them laugh. "But, enough about me," She said, leaning forward as best she could. "I think mom and I are both more interested in the real reason your flight was delayed."

Padme bit her lip and looked between her two interrogators, both giving her knowing smiles. "It's not what you think—"

"That you went to hook-up with this mysterious co-worker of yours we still know nothing about?" Sola said, nodding her head, "I could tell you were nervous when you called mom to pick up Luke and watch him for a bit. So I checked the weather," She shrugged, "it might have been raining here, but it was just cloudy in Philly. Nowhere near the torrential downpour you claimed it was."

Her nostrils flared as she exhaled audibly, "It wasn't a hookup," She argued. "We just had dinner at his place and watched a movie."

"Which is normally followed by sex."

"That didn't happen," Padme said.

"But you wanted it to, right?" Sola probed. "You wanted him to whisk you off your feet and give you the ride of your life."

Her eyes widened as she felt her cheeks heat up and her eyes darted between her mother sitting across from her. Sola's words seemed to make the older woman a bit uncomfortable and predictably, she excused herself to join the innocence of the grandchildren in the yard.

"You wanted it," Sola said again, smugly folding her arms in front of her.

"That's not what I want," Padme argued.

"No," She agreed. "You want a relationship. And I think it's safe to say that you do have something like that with this guy, right?"

Her silence was just as incriminating as a full confession and her sister ran with it, asking every possible question she could about him, none of which she wanted to answer. She and Anakin had only just started talking about moving forward with their relationship. She wanted to slowly introduce him to Luke, and he seemed okay with the idea. But that's all it was right now. An idea. There was no solid plan in place, there wasn't even a rudimentary plan yet. Padme glanced towards the yard where her father was teaching Luke how to pitch a baseball. In an ideal world, she could see Anakin doing those things with Luke. She could see him teaching Luke how to play hockey, the three of them playing in the yard, his infectious smile and his arm wrapped low around her waist while he holds Luke's hand.

It is a dream of a future that brings her more happiness than she thought possible but it is also one that terrifies her. She and Anakin are nowhere near ready for that step. And there are just so many things that could go wrong between now and then but try as she might to try and distance herself from that dream so she can view it rationally, the clarity of it all is just too tempting not to get lost in the thought when she thinks about it.

"I think I love him," She said, shaking her head slowly, "It's crazy and irrational—"

"Most love is."

Padme turned back to face her sister, "I just— I don't— how would you do this?" She asked, "If you didn't have Darred, how would you introduce someone to your kids?"

The smile on her sister's face dropped as she seriously started to think about it. As much of a jokester she is, Sola knew when to be serious (most of the time) and right now, she wasn't her teasing sister always looking for a juicy piece of gossip to hold over her head. She is her wiser older sister who she could always trust to answer all the questions she was too afraid or embarrassed to ask their parents about. Padme bit her lip and watched her sister glance at her girls in the yard. Her eyes started to glisten as she seemed to lose herself in thought for a moment. It wasn't an easy answer she was looking for and for once, maybe Sola didn't have anything more than just a few supportive and sympathetic words for her. But those would do little to help Padme figure out how to make things work out the way she wanted them to and as unlikely as it was, she wanted Sola to just hand her a list of every step she needs to take— something the small stack of books on her nightstand seemed to always be missing.

Sola heaved a large breath as her hand ran soothing circles over her enlarged abdomen, "Don't introduce him as your boyfriend just yet," She said, "At least not to Luke yet… maybe… find a way for the two of them to know one another. And then…" She gave a small shrug as she turned back to face her, "I don't know," She said, "I think you have to go with your gut on this one, sis… Kids can be a real damper on romance and it is a constant juggling act."

"I know, and he's been so good at understanding that but… I don't want it to be as much of a back-and-forth thing as it's been."

"You want stability," Sola said with a smile, "Problem is he lives six hours away and anything you do risks upsetting the stability you've established with Luke."

And that has always been the problem. The last thing she wanted to do was make Luke feel like she wasn't making him her priority. But she also didn't want Anakin to feel like he came second to Luke. And while he is understanding, part of her worries he will grow tired of being okay with her sometimes not being able to join him because of Luke. Sometimes she thinks she would have been better off if she'd just declined his first invite to dinner but… he makes her feel something she hasn't felt in a long time. She feels desirable, she feels more a woman than a mother, it makes her happier than she's been in a long time. Padme sighed tiredly a little disappointed by her sister's less than detailed answer but fully understanding that what she was asking wasn't easy to answer. When most people think about dating, there aren't any kids involved. And when they are, most people think it all works out just fine in the end because those are the only stories that will be on TV or in novels. Seldom do they talk about the millions of times and ways that don't end with a 'happily ever after'. But whether her story is one that has a happy ending or not, she will never know unless she tries.