Morning Routine
It was 7 am. Qui-Gon arrived in the crèche to five still sleeping younglings. Obi-Wan was the only one awake, watching Qui-Gon with interest while chewing on his fingers.
"Master Alann." Qui-Gon walked to the corner room and knocked on the door. Ali Alann emerged, his hair tousled and a robe hastily thrown over his sleepwear.
"Yes? Oh, hello, Master Jinn. I'm sorry, I'm usually up before this. I slept in a little late, I suppose." Ali yawned and scrubbed at tired eyes with his fist.
"Master Alann, why don't you get ready for the day? I'll handle the younglings." Qui-Gon offered, placing a hand on the older Master's shoulder.
"That would be lovely. Are you sure you can handle it?" Ali asked.
"Yes, I'm sure I can." Qui-Gon replied confidently.
"Thank you. Give me half-an-hour, and I'll be out." Ali turned back to his room and closed the door. Qui-Gon set off towards the kitchen, walking as silently as possible through the rows of cribs. Obi-Wan held one hand up towards him, the other hand still in his mouth. Qui-Gon couldn't resist, so he leaned down to pick the seven-month-old up. Settling the boy in the crook if his elbow, he continued toward the kitchen. He pulled six pre-made bottles from the refrigerator and set each one in a heating unit on the counter. He pressed the buttons on the units, and the lights on them glowed blue, saying the bottles weren't warm. Obi-Wan reached towards the counter eagerly, finally removing his hand from his mouth.
"Just a minute, young one. They're not ready yet." Qui-Gon glanced down at the bright-eyed boy. Obi-Wan looked up at him, then, while he had Qui-Gon distracted by his eyes, he stealthily reached up as far as he could to wind chubby fingers in Qui-Gon's chest length brown-blond hair. He pulled. "Ow!" Qui-Gon yelped. "Child!" he scolded when Obi-Wan yanked. He pulled the rubber-like fingers out of his hair. Obi-Wan giggled. "Rascal." The lights on the heating units turned red. Qui-Gon set Obi-Wan bottom-down on the counter and pulled a bottle out of a heating unit. He tested the milk on the heel of his hand, making sure it was the right temperature before holding it out to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan pulled it out of his grasp and inserted the nipple into his mouth.
Qui-Gon resettled him in the crook of his elbow, then grabbed two bottles from their units and walked back to the sleeping younglings, who had begun to stir. Obi-Wan was placed back in his crib, happily sucking his bottle. The other two bottles went to the younglings on either side of Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon returned to the kitchen to retrieve the rest of the bottles, then distributed them to the remaining younglings. By the time Ali Alann emerged, looking much better, all six younglings had been fed bottles and baby food, had been changed, and four of them had been dressed. Qui-Gon was trying to wrestle a particularly stubborn Rodian into his tunic. Ali chuckled.
"Rajam has always been a stubborn one," he said, gesturing to the Rodian child. "Let me try."
"Gladly." Qui-Gon moved away from Rajam, allowing Ali to take his place. He went to Obi-Wan's crib and picked him up. Obi-Wan tangled his fingers in Qui-Gon's hair once again. Qui-Gon patiently removed fingers from locks, sat Obi-Wan on a nearby changing table, and dressed him in a tan tunic and dark brown trousers, followed by little chestnut-colored boots. He then buckled a tiny utility belt around Obi-Wan's waist and a rich brown robe came after. The belt and robe weren't really necessary, but Qui-Gon couldn't resist. He stood Obi-Wan up on the table and looked him up and down. "There. Now you look like a little Jedi." He smiled, then picked the child up once again.