CHAPTER 3

The Third
Day 24

By the end of this month, your baby will have completed a period of growth that involves the greatest size and physical changes of its lifetime. In five days, it will be 10,000 times larger than the fertilized egg though, in actuality, not much bigger than a grain of rice! You may have noticed that you're experiencing some of the same emotions that often precede menstruation: moodiness, irritability, tearfulness…

Mara trudged home from an Alliance meeting tired, hungry, and annoyed. She rode the turbolift to her floor and stepped off into the hall, brushing past a crowd of Bothans that had recently taken up residence. As she got closer to her apartment door she could feel the light of Luke's presence and pictured the grin that she knew would still be on his face. The grin that hadn't left his face in seven long days, since she had told him of her pregnancy.

She wasn't sure how he had managed to keep their secret under wraps, but he had. She should have known that he would be able to. After all, he had kept their relationship a secret for over a year. But the promise of a child seemed too big a secret to keep, especially from Leia and Han. And this secret came with a definite expiration date, but Mara kept pushing that thought from her mind. There was too much to think about and all it did was serve to make her more tired. Grouchier.

But still, even as annoyed as Luke's euphoria could make her, it still touched a part of her deep inside. He would be an excellent father. She could not have chosen a better man to be a partner, a lover, a father to her child. The only problem was that up until seven days ago she had had no interest in making him a father, not now or ever, really. Their lives were too complicated, the least of those complications telling Junior the story of just how mom and dad met.

Mara sighed and stopped in front of her door. Her brain hurt from all of these thoughts. She needed to forget about the baby and huge decisions for the night. What she really wanted was a stiff drink, but that was definitely off the menu. She scowled with the thought and stepped inside the door, eyes narrowing at the half-lighting of the room. "Luke?" Delicious scents were wafting from the kitchen and her mouth watered. So far she'd been lucky enough to dodge morning sickness and planned to eat every bite while she still could.

He stuck his head out from the kitchen. "You're home!" He came out to greet her, and sure enough the large grin was still attached to his handsome face. "I missed you." He pulled her into a kiss and she went willingly, the sheer happiness he was radiating in the Force helping to ease her grouchiness. A little, at least.

"I was only gone a couple of hours, Farmboy." Pulling back from his embrace she eyed the straight lines of his tunic. "Why are you so dressed up?" This tunic was black, but more formal than his usual style, impeccably cut. It emphasized his broad shoulders and tapered waist and suddenly Mara felt slightly underdressed in her leggings and belted tunic.

"Hm?" Luke looked down at himself. "Oh, just something different," he said, pulling her further into the apartment. "Besides, I made dinner for you and thought I'd make an effort to clean myself up a bit."

"Okay." Mara looked at her dining table and noted that actual candlesticks were set out, their tips gently blazing. Two formal place settings were also set out. She turned back to Luke, gnawing suspicion sharing space with the fetus in her belly. "Skywalker…"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I can't make dinner for the mother of my child?"

Mara made a face at that description. But her growling stomach betrayed her. "Depends on what you made."

He stole a kiss. "Smart woman. Baked flatbread, ribenes, and russets."

"You can make me dinner anytime."

Luke liked that answer and gave her a kiss on the forehead in gratitude. He ushered her toward the table. "There's some non-alcoholic spritzer on the table."

Mara made her way to the table and picked the bottle up, making a face at it. "He's thought of everything," she murmured, reassuring herself in her mind that she was not talking to the baby. She wasn't ready for that yet. She wasn't sure that she would ever be ready for that. Beyond the lethargy, hunger, and a missed cycle, nothing really signaled the fact that a baby was being created in her womb. It was disconcerting to know that she was pregnant but to have so little proof. She had examined her stomach in the mirror only to find it as flat as ever. In fact, had she not taken the test, she would have just continued to believe she was just overworking herself and tired. Part of her wished that she had waited. That she still had a few more days of blissful ignorance.

At the total opposite end of that spectrum was Luke. He had already downloaded information guides and a day-by-day calendar to pregnancy. She had the feeling that he would have shared them with her datapad, but didn't want to freak her out more than she already was. He had somehow ended up with flimsy brochures for obstetricians, and had helpfully placed them on her bedside table, where they remained, untouched. She would go to the doctor soon enough. But there again, Mara knew she couldn't put anything off too long. Decisions would have to be made, and sooner, in this case, rather than later.

Two of her best goblets sat on the table and she filled them with the spritzer, the candlelight flickering off the glasses. The worry that he was going to propose to her popped back into the forefront of her mind. Because, really, what else could this set-up be? And he knew that she knew that. He was too smart to think he was pulling one over on her. But just because she was now pregnant didn't mean her thoughts on marriage had changed. It was still a terrifying prospect...even more so now.

She didn't have time to fall further into panic. Luke chose that moment to enter the room with their plates. He sat hers in front of her with a smile and then sat across from her. She opened her mouth to cut him off at the pass, but he picked up his fork and started eating. Mara's eyes narrowed as she waited for the catch, but he didn't take a moment to stare deeply into her eyes, or slide himself off his chair and come to kneel in front of her on one knee.

Stopping in mid-chew he looked up to watch her watching him. A half-smile appeared on his face, but he tamped it down and finished his bite. He swallowed. "Aren't you going to eat? The sauce is just the way you like it: spicy but not overwhelming."

Still, Mara was looking for the catch. She even reached out across that ever expanding bond that had formed between them in the days after the events on Wayland, but nothing presented itself other than the usual combination of his love and care for her. "You're hiding it well, Skywalker," she muttered, but picked up her fork and took a bite.

He gave her a 'who, me?' look that he must have stolen from Han. "I don't know what you mean."

She meant to roll her eyes at him but the spice on the ribenes wasperfectly done just the way she liked it, and the meat was tender, falling right off the bone and into her mouth. "This is good." She didn't mean to sound so grudging in her admittance, but damn it, she knew what this dinner was about and it was driving her mad that he didn't just cut to the chase.

"It is good," he agreed, and something in the way he said it let her know that he didn't just mean the food.

She let the comment slide in favor of dipping her flatbread into the ribene sauce. "Very good." She took a healthy bite and eyed him as he methodically finished the food on his plate. And if she was honest with herself, she wasn't just talking about the food either. And he knew it. Damn the man. She cast about for a safe subject to discuss. "Did you make dessert, too?" She grimaced. After a dinner this big she shouldn't eat dessert. She would have to spend extra time in the gym to work it off…Mara trailed off in her own mind.

Oh.

Luke didn't notice her momentary disquiet. "I didn't make it," he said, in reference to the dessert. "Bought it at that bakery Leia found in the new commerce district." He took a drink of his spritzer, managing to look as if he enjoyed the taste. "Frosted Drizzle-Spun Chocolate Cake."

Mara's mouth immediately watered, even though she had been starting to feel full of the delicious meal he had cooked. They both shared a weakness for chocolate, though he often liked his in the form of that hot-chocolate drink that was hard to come by, even on Coruscant. "Sounds good." And it did. She was beginning to relax somewhat, the food, candlelight, and lack of an engagement ring lulling her into what was probably a false sense of security.

"I'll go and cut us a slice, then." He took her plate and his and headed into the kitchen. She listened to him putter around, opening cabinets and emptying the plates into the recycler. He knew her kitchen better than she did, not that she minded. He often cooked for them on nights when they had the time and hadn't ordered in. He returned with the cake and placed a generous slice in front of her.

She half-smiled her thanks at him and dug in, the rich chocolate exploding over her tongue and relaxing her even further. She couldn't help a slight moan of approval, and looked up to see Luke smiling at her. He'd moved his chair next to hers and she was instantly back on guard.

"You look like you just saw a Sith," he teased, reaching out to rub at her lip. "Bit of chocolate," he said, explaining his move.

Mara's heart raced as she anticipated a ring or some show of marital intent. But he just smiled that gentle smile at her and went back to eating his cake.

Mara looked around. Was this it? Did he not have some grand master scheme of proposal? She took another bite of the amazing cake and considered him. He looked handsome in the flattering glow from the candles, his hair a bright contrast to the shadows at his cheeks from the play of light. She found herself idly wondering if the baby would have his cheekbones and swallowed her next bite with a bit of difficulty.

The baby had cheekbones. At least, it would have cheekbones at some point. Some point very soon.

Luke seemed to sense her unstated sudden panic. "Mara?" He reached out for her hand. "What is it, love?"

"Cheekbones," she muttered faintly.

"What?"

"…I…" She shook her head and blinked her suddenly damp eyes hard. "I think I just realized that this pregnancy is going to result in a real, live baby."

"That's usually the way of it."

"I like it when you try to be sarcastic." She took a deep breath and another bite of cake, chewing slowly as she was struck by just how normal everything was, her hormonally induced tears excepted. Before the pregnancy, this is how they spent their evenings. The precious nights they could carve out to be together. Things had become comfortable for them. Good, like Luke had said earlier. Betterthan good. It had become something she never expected. It was love and she… loved it.

Loved him.

"I have a gift for you." His face betrayed no sign of nervousness. In fact, he was grinning as he held out a box to her. A box too big to be a ring box. "Well, it's for you and the baby."

Cheekbones and a first gift. The kid was having quite a day. Mara reached hesitantly for it and held it gingerly.

"No Sith in there, either," Luke teased.

Mara rolled her eyes, and opened the box. She pulled out a baby rattle. "Oh." She shook it lightly. "Baby's first toy." She shook it a little harder and frowned as something rattled inside of it that sounded out of place. She pulled it closer for inspection. "Is there something—" Her heart stopped as she realized just what was inside of the rattle. But by then it was too late, and Luke was kneeling at her feet. She turned the rattle and saw a ring inside the bauble. "You got me," she whispered.

"Not yet." His own voice was hoarse. "Mara…" He took her hand in his, and kissed it. "You're cold…I wish this didn't scare you so badly."

She had nothing to say. He knew her past. She put the rattle down to look into his eyes.

Those eyes were burning with earnest need. And love. Always love. "I know I said I would wait forever. And that's still true. But I can't…I can't not ask you to be my wife when you're pregnant. With our baby. Ourbaby, Mara. I love you. I already love our baby. And I want you to be my wife. Mara—" He took the rattle and popped open the bauble, removing the ring. "Marry me?" His voice was barely a whisper.

She had thought that her mind would race with terrifying thoughts and 'what-if's at this moment, but it didn't. In fact, her mind was almost blank. The surreal events of the past week were suddenly not so much pressing on her, but rather surrounding her, enveloping her instead of engulfing her—much like his love. The love that had helped her to forge a new way of life, and that had made their baby. She knew then that her protests and worries over marriage were rooted in fear, of her past and an unknown future. And she would not let her child's future be dictated by that fear. Given all of that, her answer wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. "Yes," she murmured.

Luke's eyes and sense in the Force lit up. "Yes?"

She laughed, and swiped her thumb over his lower lip. "Yes."

He pulled her into a kiss, dragging her from her chair to sit on the floor with him. The kiss lingered softly, their bond awake and alive, crackling with their combined emotion.

She pulled away and let him slip his ring onto her finger. "It'll be our daughter's, one day," he said quietly.

"Daughter?" Cheekbones were insignificant to the baby having a gender. "We'll see."

He grinned. "Yes." He kissed her forehead. "So…now we can tell everyone we're a couple, right?"

Mara huffed an amused laugh. "Yes."

"And start planning for the baby."

She nodded.

"And start making wedding plans."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Um…"

Luke took a breath and turned to her. His face was so close that she could only fuzzily make out his features. "'Um'?" he echoed.

"Well, it's just...you said you'd wait forever, and...I don't want to get married while I'm pregnant. That's hardly waiting forever."

He pulled back so she could see his pursed lips and questioning gaze. "I see…" But after a moment his grin was back, full force. "Okay."

Mara frowned. "Okay?"

He nodded.

And again, she was left to look for the catch. Because somehow, in the blue depths of his eyes, it seemed almost that he had taken her marital condition….as a challenge.