Chapter 4

Luke stared at the comm unit screen and beheld his son for the first time in more than a decade. Ben's hair, once a bright red, had softened over the years to a strawberry blond, but his blue eyes had remained the same. He's a man, my little boy is gone and sitting in his place is a man. Luke thought.

Told you, said Mara.

"Hello, Father," said Ben, his intense eyes regarding the Jedi master solemnly.

"Ben, it's…so good to hear from you," said Luke, his voice catching with emotion. "I….we were hoping ….how are you, son?"

"We're fine, Father. Is…uh, Mom there, too?" Ben shifted in the comm chair seat, looking uneasy for a moment.

"I'm here, Ben. How is Rachel?" Mara asked, pulling a chair up next to Luke.

Ben smiled, his face softening. "She's doing really well. No more nausea, but her feet are so swollen, she can almost fit into my shoes."

"The things we women have to put up with to bring new life into this galaxy," said Mara, rolling her eyes. "The kids are well, also?"

"They're good. Nirice has a new boyfriend which I'm not too thrilled about, but he seems to be a good kid. Tiann won first prize in his school's science fair and is particularly hard to live with right now," Ben admitted.

"Tiann is twelve, right?" asked Mara, as she seemed to memorize every feature of her son's face.

"Yes," said Ben with a laugh. "Mom, it sounds like you're better than I am at keeping their ages straight."

There was an awkward pause in the conversation as Ben seemed to struggle for something to say. Several emotions flitted across his face as he took a deep breath and looked back up at his parents.

"We've received the invitation and have been talking about it. I'm concerned about Rachel traveling so close to her due date, but she and the midwife said it should be fine. She also thinks it's time the kids meet their grandparents. And I guess, well…I think it is, too," continued Ben softly.

Luke exchanged an excited look with Mara.

"That's wonderful, Ben!" said Mara beaming. "Do you have all the information to send in to the committee about accommodations and such?"

"Don't worry," grinned Ben, "Rachel will take care of all of that. She has us working like a well oiled machine out here."

"We can't wait to meet her, son. We're so glad that you and your family are going to make it," said Luke, smiling broadly.

"Yeah, well…I guess it really is about time you meet everyone….speaking of which, here's one of your grandkids, now."

Luke joined hands with Mara as he looked impatiently at the empty comm screen with his wife. A cute red-headed curly top came into view, as she climbed into the comm chair and begin to talk.

"I'm Abby," announced the cherub, smiling.

"We know," laughed Luke, "but, I thought your name was Abilee."

"They only call me that when I'm in trouble and right now I'm not in trouble."

"It's early yet." Luke heard Ben call from somewhere out of view.

Another face suddenly appeared inches from the screen, but this one belonged to a freckle face boy with sandy blonde hair and what looked like cookie crumbs around his mouth.

"I'm Caleb. I'm a boy and I look like you, Grandpa," informed the youngest grandchild.

"Why Caleb, it's like looking in a mirror," responded Luke, his eyes filling with tears. "And how old are you, young man?"

"I'm this many," said Caleb trying his best to hold up three fingers.

"My turn," announced a serious faced young girl as she pushed her brother out of the way. "Hi, Grandma and Grandpa, I'm Emia and I'm six. Abby is only four but…..STOP THAT CALEB! You have to wait for me to finish!"

"Don't want to," said Caleb, trying to get back into the chair, "I want to look at Grandpa Mirror."

"It's not your turn…."

"Get off, poopy head," shouted Caleb.

"Da-ad, Caleb called me poopy head, again."

"Poopy head, poopy head!" taunted the young boy.

"No more with the poopy head words, Caleb or you'll go to bed early again," reprimanded Ben from somewhere out of view.

Luke could barely contain his laughter and noticed that Mara didn't even try. He heard Rachel trying to restore order while Caleb was holding on to the comm chair with a three year old's determination. Several blurred images passed by until he saw Ben trying to remove the young boy's grip with little success.

"Help me, Grandpa!" shouted Caleb as his fingers finally came loose from the chair.

"Sorry about that," said Ben into the comm unit as he flung Caleb over his shoulders to make room for the next speaker.

"Hi Grandma and Grandpa, I'm Tiann. Dad says I look a lot like his cousin Jacen. I can't wait to travel off-planet for the first time and see Tatooine, though Dad says it's mostly sand and very hot because of the two suns. I was wondering, how do they keep the radiation emitted by the two suns from affecting…."

"Tiann, enough about science!" sighed a pretty teenage girl, nudging her brother out of the chair. "Hi, I'm Nirice. Everyone says I look a lot like my mom, except I'm taller, but then almost everyone is taller than Mom. I can't wait to meet you…uh, I have some things I'd like to talk to you about."

"We can't wait to meet you, too, Nirice. How is your boyfriend?" asked Mara, glancing over at Luke with a shrug.

"Da-ad!" groaned Nirice, as she got up from the chair, "I can't believe you told them about Dalen."

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker…oh, that's not right. I mean, I should call you Masters Skywalker," said Rachel, as she sat down, finally getting her chance at the comm unit.

"Oh Rachel, please call us Luke and Mara. How are you feeling?" Mara asked.

"Good, I'm really doing well," said Rachel, hesitating a moment.

Luke noticed Rachel looking behind her as Ben left the room with Caleb still slung over his shoulder. Emia followed close behind giving Caleb ample opportunity to make faces at her.

"I just wanted to thank you for inviting us and say that I'm looking forward to meeting you both," said Rachel, her eyes shining. "I'm also hoping that, well…this will be the first of many gatherings with all the family."

"We do, too, Rachel and thank you for all the communiqués and pictures of the children you've sent over the years. It has meant so much to us," replied Mara, her eyes beginning to well up.

"You're welcome, Mara. Although I have to say they are a lot noisier in person, so prepare yourselves," beamed Rachel. "Well, I'll get all this paper work sent in for reservations and such. Ben still can't believe Anchorhead has a nice hotel now. So I guess it won't be too long until we'll be standing face to face, Thanks again."

Rachel signed off the comm unit leaving the Skywalker's living room in silence. Luke caught Mara's eyes as they both burst out laughing.

"They're coming! They're finally coming!" said Luke swinging Mara into an embrace.

"I wonder what changed his mind after all this time?" asked Mara, tying to catch her breath.

"I think it was his lovely wife," smiled Luke, ready to burst.

"She is attractive, isn't she? Do you think Ben has finally come to terms with whatever's been plaguing him?"

Luke released Mara and grew serious for a moment. Part of him didn't want to examine his son's motives for his sudden reversal, but the other part… "I'm going to do everything I can to mend this rift, my love. And that includes letting Ben take charge of what role we play in his life."

"You're going to let this play out? You? Mr. Luke, I have to fix the galaxy's problems, Skywalker?" asked Mara, skeptically.

"I didn't say I wouldn't help…I said I'd let him take the lead," said Luke. "There's a difference."

Mara snorted and crossed the room to her data pad. "In what Alternative Universe are you living in?"

"Just wait, you'll see," Luke promised, his face shining.

The rest of the evening was filled with preparations and shared smiles. Ben Skywalker was finally coming home and bringing his family with him.