CHAPTER FIVE
Obi-Wan just stared at Anakin, not displaying any emotion.
After what felt like an hour, Anakin slowly turned his head to see his old master's expression.
Obi-Wan just stared at him. He wasn't surprised, or angry, or confused, or happy. He just stared at Anakin.
"Please say something." Anakin said quietly.
Obi-Wan turned his head to face the front of the speeder. He adjusted his sitting position to a more comfortable place. He expelled a deep breath, as if he was exhausted.
"Anakin…"
Anakin turned to face the front of the speeder once again, not being able to look at Obi-Wan.
"What are you going to do?" Obi-Wan said at last.
Anakin frowned, "Aren't you going to say something along the lines of Anakin, why did you do it? Or, Anakin what were you thinking? Or—"
"No," Obi-Wan interrupted, "It would not make sense to dwell on the past. Just… What are you going to do? You have to tell the Council."
Anakin nodded, "I know."
Obi-Wan nodded and then just sat in his seat for a moment. "Anakin, I did come here in my own speeder… So I don't necessarily need a ride back to the Temple."
"What are you saying?" Anakin frowned.
Obi-Wan opened the passenger door and stepped out. He looked at Anakin, "You should probably go back in."
Anakin almost wanted to smile. He leaped out of the speeder and gave Obi-Wan a thankful bow of his head. Then he ran back to the medcenter.
Obi-Wan just chuckled and shook his head, heading back to his own speeder.
Padmé had just finished trying to feed both of her children. She had Leia in her arms while Luke was being rocked by the young doctor that had come to be Padmé's friend.
"I can't begin to express how thankful I am for you, Beatrice." Padmé beamed as she saw her companion rocking her son, "I can't believe how lucky I was to find a doctor that could keep my secret."
The doctor smiled, snuggling Luke, "Being a mother myself, I know how it's important for you to protect your babies. And my job as a doctor is to keep any information about the patient a secret."
Padmé smiled, "I know people in the Senate always look at me questionably, but no one ever dares to ask. I wore strange dresses to hide my growing belly." She laughed at the memory. "It was so scary though. I knew I had to find a doctor once I started to grow abnormally large. I would have never imagined I would have twins."
Padmé reminisced about the entire ordeal. Now thinking about it, she was amazed she went through the whole thing without her parents or Anakin. "To be honest, I wanted to have the twins on Naboo. Out of the drama here on Coruscant."
Beatrice nodded, "I suppose the stress about your job called for a somewhat premature birth. No matter, though. They are very healthy."
Padmé nodded grimly, "I guess you have heard then?"
The doctor nodded, "I was actually very surprised when I saw Anakin Skywalker himself—the hero of the whole fiasco—showed up here!"
Padmé chuckled, "Anakin and I are close friends."
The doctor nodded, a smile slowly etching on her lips. Very close friends.
Padmé looked down at Leia in her arms. This new sensation of being a mother was overwhelming for Padmé. If only their father could be here to experience it…
As if on cue, the door slid open and in walked none other than the father himself.
Padmé grinned from ear to ear.
Beatrice smiled and stood up. She handed Luke over to Anakin, "I need to go talk to a nurse for a moment, excuse me."
Anakin smiled and took his son to cradle in his arms.
Right after the door shut behind the doctor, Padmé squealed, "Oh, Anakin! What ever happened?"
Anakin sighed and shook his head. He carried his son over to the sofa and sat down.
"I told him."
"And? What did he say?"
Anakin bit his lip, "Not much. Actually, he barely said anything. He indicated no form of emotion or reaction to the ordeal. All he said was that I must confront the council, which I was going to do soon anyway."
Padmé nodded, "Of course."
"Master Yoda said he would be arriving to the Temple in the morning. We will hold another Council meeting then. I guess I'll tell them at the meeting."
Padmé sighed. She observed her husband. He was looking down at Luke in his arms. He was smiling and snuggling him. Padmé beamed. Anakin set Luke down in his lap and continued to watch over him. Padmé felt a pang of sorrow. Did Anakin ever see his son as a Jedi? Anakin had always dreamed of being a Jedi, ever since he was very little… Padmé closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What would the future hold for them? What would the Council do to Anakin? Would they let him keep his family? Would they split him away from them?
Padmé knew that this was not the time to hold such thoughts. This was supposed to be a happy time. This was the night that terror ceased throughout the galaxy, and the night that two wonderful individuals were brought into the world. Her children…
Dawn was peeking through the window shutters.
Padmé groggily opened her eyes. She sat up and took notice of her surroundings. Anakin was still sitting on the couch with an arm propped up on the arm rest and his head resting on his fist. His eyes were shut so Padmé figured he was still sleeping. Luke and Leia were in their separate cribs, each soundly asleep.
Padmé saw a glass of water on a nearby nightstand and realized she was thirsty. She stretched her arm, but to no avail. She tried swinging her legs over the bed to get up, but Anakin shot up from his seat and prevented her from standing.
"What are you doing?"
"I just wanted a drink."
Anakin shook his head, as if he disapproved. He walked over to the nightstand and grabbed the glass to give it to Padmé.
"Next time, just call me to do it."
Padmé rolled her eyes and took the glass, "I'm not some weak woman, Ani."
Anakin chuckled, "Okay, okay. I know."
Padmé sat back in her bed with her glass of water and Anakin sat back in the sofa.
"So now what?" Padmé asked, taking a sip.
Anakin shrugged, "When are you allowed to leave?"
"Soon, I hope." Padmé said.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Padmé answered.
The door opened, and one of the nurses that was present at Padmé's labor entered.
"Good morning, Senator."
Padmé smiled at the nurse, "Good morning. Is everything alright?"
The nurse glanced down at a datapad in her hands, "Everything is splendid. You may be able to leave by this afternoon according to the records left by your obstetrician."
"That's great!" Padmé cheered, "Where did she go?"
The nurse shrugged, "Not sure, maybe she'll drop by before you leave."
Padmé nodded, and then the nurse left.
Anakin clapped his hands together, "Well, time to feed the children!"
Padmé laughed.
Padmé was packing up the last of her things. Anakin had gone back to her apartment earlier and brought back some fresh change of clothes. He also managed to get his hands on two infant seats for the twins for the speeder ride home.
"Is that everything?" Anakin asked.
Padmé nodded, "However, I never saw the doctor again. But the nurse said I was able to go."
"Good enough." Anakin determined.
Once everything was situated, the family went out to the speeder.
The twins proved to be very behaved children. They didn't cry when they were strapped in their chairs. Anakin and Padmé smiled at their efforts and then sat in their own seats at the front of the speeder.
After activating the vehicle, Anakin effortlessly maneuvered the speeder through midday Coruscanti traffic.
"What ever happened to the Council meeting you were supposed to have this morning?" Padmé wondered.
Anakin shrugged. In all honesty, he forgot all about it. His family had occupied all of his thoughts, and for a few hours he thought of himself as a father—not a Jedi.
"Maybe Master Yoda had to delay his return for something." Padmé suggested.
"Maybe." Anakin agreed.
The speeder soon reached their home at 500 Republica. Anakin and Padmé brought the twins inside. Artoo, who had been in Anakin's speeder all this time, rolled out to find his droid companion.
Threepio came shuffling out to see if he could assist with anything, "Oh my! You had twins!"
Padmé chuckled, "Yes, Threepio."
The two droids came closer to have a better look, "What are their names?" Threepio asked.
"Luke and Leia." Anakin answers, "Threepio, do we have any cribs?"
Padmé bit her lip, "I had not thought that far ahead. Wow, I'm proving to be a great mother so far." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Anakin smiled, "It's fine. We can order some cribs from some baby place or something."
Padmé chuckled, "Some baby place or something? Okay." She went to the HoloNet.
Anakin laid the two infants on a soft sofa in the living room.
Fifteen minutes later, Padmé returned. "I ordered a few things for them. The store I ordered from has an emergency delivery system, so the cribs should be arriving very soon."
Anakin raised an eyebrow, "An emergency delivery system?"
Padmé shrugged, "Don't ask me! Besides, you never know when you might have a baby emergency. Maybe you ran out of diapers or something."
Anakin laughed, "Coruscant is so weird."
Padmé laughed along, "Oh well, maybe we will just end up moving back to Naboo anyway."
Anakin nodded, his laughter dying. Maybe we will just end up moving back to Naboo anyway… If I am expelled from the Order.
Padmé saw the look on Anakin's face. She took his real hand into hers and pressed it against her cheek, "Everything will be okay."
Anakin nodded, lifting his prosthetic hand up to caress her other cheek. "Everything will be more than okay, because nobody is going to come between me and my family anymore."
So I figured I'd be nice and update this story a lot quicker than I usually do. Maybe it's because it's the holiday season and I am feeling jolly (and have more time on my hands). I stayed up all night tonight trying to finish this chapter because I wanted to update it simultaneously with my other fic, The Apprentice. I know it sounds like I'm just winging it with this story because I literally waited until the last minute to write it, but don't worry because I know how this story will play out. I actually started a sequel-thing story that is supposed to occur at the same time of this fic, however it would be more in the sense of Padme's point of view and this fic would be directed more towards Anakin's. But after much thought, I just combined the two stories. No sense in making things more confusing. But someday I DO plan to make a sequel to this story to show how I imagine the twins would grow up with both of their parents. It will probably just be a series of one-shots, but who knows? Oh well, I'm done rambling on for now. Have a great New Year!