Surprised myself twice with this chapter. Didn't expect what happens to happen in this chapter, and I didn't think I was this close to finishing this chapter. So yay! Two updates in less than two days! It's a new record!

Happy reading!

-DFD

Chapter 4

She couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep but when the alarm went off the next morning, she wished it were their day off, but it wasn't. Hitting the snooze, she rolled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom for a shower leaving Anakin to slumber for another fifteen minutes. When they had first moved in with one another it had taken a few weeks to get into a routine that worked for them both without complicating things in the small bathroom. They had tried showering together in the morning, but that hadn't worked out very well and had resulted in being late more than a few times. And sharing a sink wasn't a particularly easy task especially on mornings when he needed to shave. But after a while, they figured out what worked and it is almost as if they had always lived together.

By the time she stepped out of the shower the alarm started to go off again before it was silenced. Wrapping a towel around her body she walked over to the mirror and started to brush through her hair. Anakin entered the bathroom at that point. Bending over he kissed her cheek lightly but she scrunched her face and pulled away at the feel of prickly stubble against her cheek, "You need to shave." She said, watching the amused smile on his face as he moved in to kiss her again before stepping into the shower. Padme spared a single glance at his naked body watching as the water cascaded over his magnificently perfect form and was beyond grateful that she could say he was hers. To her, as well as many others, he is physically very appealing with sharp blue eyes, and roguish good looks; and while that is certainly a bonus, there is so much more to him that only she has the right to see. He had bared his soul to her- told her things he hadn't even told Ben about. Told her about his childhood and the days when he would only have one meal. He even told her things about his father. And while that part of his life was still mostly unknown, the fact that he had wanted to tell her meant so much to her.

Padme retreated into the bedroom to get dressed while Anakin took the time to shave. He stood in front of the mirror with a grey towel wrapped low around his hips and white shaving cream on his face and neck. He watched her in the mirror as she dressed and she cracked a small smile as she buttoned her shirt before going out into the living area to pick up the clothes they had left the previous night. There had been a time when finding their clothes on the other end of the room surprised her, now it happened so often she rarely started cleaning up where it started. Her shirt had ended up next to the table next to the front door while his pants rested against the wall next to the bedroom. Draping the clothes over one arm, she brought them back into the bedroom and placed them in the near full laundry hamper. One of them would have to do the laundry tonight. Padme groaned hoping it wasn't her turn.

"What's with the face?" She turned her head back to the bathroom. Anakin stood in the doorframe wiping his face with a hand towel.

She shook her head, "It's nothing." She said, "Speaking of nothing, what were you really thinking about last night?" She flashed him a confident smile, knowing that now he couldn't escape.

Anakin gave a shrug and walked over to the dresser, pulling out clothes and throwing them on the bed before unwrapping the towel around his hips. "I think you already know the answer to that."

"Oh no you don't." She started, leaning her back against the dresser, "Tell me." His eyes met hers and she could clearly see the fight in them as he debated what to say. "Is it about Ahsoka?" Padme watched his eyes go wide for a moment before he turned his head away and pulled on his boxers and jeans. "You never think they're going to leave until they do." She said, "But you taught her well. Wherever she goes, you know she is going to be great."

Anakin nodded his head, "I know, I just…" He shook his head, "I was looking forward to having a cardio fellow."

"Don't we all?" She asked, smiling ever so slightly, "It gives us more time to do the more exciting cases." Anakin nodded in agreement before turning to face her. She lifted her hand to smooth out the collar of his shirt, "You have a patient in need of a transplant status 1B. They have the organ ready to go, but an incoming trauma with a 1A status comes in. Who gets it?"

His brow furrowed as he looked down at her, "The one with the 1A status."

She nodded her head, "So, your transplant surgery now belongs to someone else. You and your patient are rightfully upset, but knowing that the other patient would die in a matter of hours without it, can you really say it was wrong?" He shook his head and she smiled. "Ahsoka is that stolen organ. You wanted that surgery, but it had to go to where it was needed most." Padme brought her hand up to cup his cheek, "Whatever happens, she will go where she needs to be."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, "I love it when you speak medical." He said, lowering his head to kiss her softly.

She smiled into the kiss before pulling back. "We have to go." She said, turning and making her way out to the living area, "Got everything?" She called back.

"Just a second." He said as he picked up whatever it was he needed and joined her at the door. "Ready." He flashed her a smile and held the door open for her as they made their way to work.

[][][][]

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," Anakin said as he leaned against the wall by the coffee cart. Ben smiled as he handed the cashier the money and took his coffee. "You know she almost found it this morning? And she is definitely noticing I'm acting weird."

"Then stop acting weird." Ben suggested, "Or better yet, just get it over with. You live with her, does it really have to be this grand romantic thing?"

Anakin blinked at him in shock. "Yes." He said immediately, "It has to be perfect. You know how I proposed the first time?"

Ben took a sip of his coffee, "No, but from the way you're saying it, I don't think I want to."

"I asked her right after we had sex."

He scrunched his face and groaned, "I said I didn't want to know. But as a side note, really?"

Anakin shrugged, "I was nineteen. I wasn't really thinking. But now I am and I want to do it right."

"You want to do it right? Try just keeping your pants on. And stop telling me things I don't want to know." Ben said with a groan. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Satine needs a cardio consult."

Anakin smirked, knowing that wasn't the only reason Satine asked him. When would Ben realize the two of them would make a good couple? Reaching into his pocket, he felt the soft velvet of the ring box. It was a good thing Padme hadn't gone through the pockets of his jeans when she gathered their laundry. But it was also a clear sign that it needed to happen sooner rather than later. She was starting to notice his behavior. It was getting harder to hide his nerves the longer he waited. Two more days. Two more days and they are both off from work. Two more days and he will change both of their lives for the better. He can't help the smile on his face as he thinks about it. Falling to his knee before her, ring in hand, the smile he hopes will grace her beautiful face; he hopes he can get the words out without stumbling over them like an incompetent fool, but if he can't he knows she loves when he is at a loss for words. He is pulled from his thoughts when his pager started to go off. Glancing down at it, he smiles. What are the odds Padme would page him when he was thinking about her? Pulling his hand from his pocket he walks quickly for the radiology wing.

"I need you to stay perfectly still for just a few moments," Padme said though the microphone to the patient in the machine.

Anakin leaned against the doorframe as he watched her activate the MRI machine in the other room that was separated by the glass. "I was just thinking about you." He said as she leaned back in her seat.

Her head snapped to him and she smiled, "I'm glad you're here." She said, beckoning him closer with a wave of her hand. He took the vacant seat next to her as she pulled up the patient chart on the tablet. "Two vehicle MVC, she was in the passenger seat of the second car. Laceration across her forehead and bruising on her chest. I'm worried about a cranial bleed but she also has some discoloration on her chest, I suspect there's also some thoracic bleeding as well. I would have paged you to examine her sooner, but she had a stroke."

He nodded his head once, understanding how delicate timing can be in these situations. "Getting scans?"

"Or course." She said turning back to the monitor that was just starting to pull up the first set of scans. The outline of the patient's head slowly cleared up enough for Padme to get a good look at what was happening. "There." She said, pointing to the lighter blob of white near the temporal lobe.

"Pretty big bleed." He said.

"I'll probably need to relieve the pressure on the brain to allow it to drain." She said, "But once I'm in it might turn into a craniotomy if it is worse that it looks."

Anakin nodded his head, "Let's take a look at the other scans." He said, giving her a moment to order the second set of scans. When the scans were ready, it was apparent there was cardiac damage. The area surrounding the heart was painted white from the abundance of fluid leaking into the chest. "Looks like we have two problems." He said.

"Two surgeries like this is a lot for one person to take." She said.

Anakin nodded in agreement, "If she bleeds out too much into her chest, she'll lose the ability to breathe and her heart won't be able to get enough blood to the rest of the body."

"But any amount of damage to the brain risks brain damage." It was a tough call. Without cutting into the patient, it was not easy to tell the full extent of the repair needed. "You go first." Padme suggested, "You drain and repair the bleed in the chest cavity and I'll monitor and try fluids to drain the temporal hemorrhage until you finish. Then once you're done I can go in and make the repairs."

"And if it gets worse?" He asked, "If I have her open I won't be able to stop until I'm finished.

She gave a shrug, "I'll do my best to avoid that, but it all depends on when it happens."

It isn't often these types of cases in serious need of neuro and cardio surgery happened at the same time. There were serious risks no matter how they handled them, but they had little choice in the matter. "Alright." He said, "I'll book an OR."

"I'll prep the patient."

[][][][]

The bar was crowded as it normally was after most of the surgeons got off. Glancing over his shoulder he looked at Padme sitting across from Satine deeply engaged in conversation. Anakin shook his head, "You really need to loosen up," He said, turning back to Ben who was seated next to him. "I mean, is moving in really that big of a deal? It took you long enough to actually ask her out, is that how it's going to be with you? The waiting increases the bigger the step?" He shook his head, "No girl would be willing to wait that long."

Ben didn't look at him. Instead, his gaze focused on his beer in front of him. "She still doesn't know." He said. "About Siri."

Anakin leaned closer to him, his arms resting on the counter, "You need to tell her," He said. "If she knows, she might be able to help-"

"I don't need help," He argued, "I'm fine. I just… I want to take things slow this time around. That's all."

Anakin scoffed, "If you keep going this slow you'll both be old and grey by the time anything interesting happens." He sighed and glanced back at the girls, Padme caught his eye and she smiled at him. He returned her smile and wished he could tell her what Ben's problem was, but the thing with Siri was not something he had the right to tell her. Siri had been a close friend of theirs when they had been in the army before being discharged. Her death had rattled them both, but none more than Ben who had been much closer to her. They had been lovers. And that loss had weighed heavy on him ever since they lost contact with her helicopter.

"I know what you're thinking," Ben said, waiting for him to turn to look at him before continuing. "You want to tell Padme. And I understand why you would want to, but please-"

"Relax." He said, "I wasn't planning to. I want to, I hate hiding things from her, but… this is your thing. And she understands that." Anakin gave a shrug, "Besides, you didn't tell her about my mom when I asked you not to. I'm not about to betray your trust now."

The tension in Ben's shoulders faded as he let out a relieved sigh, "Thank you."

"But you really should tell her the truth," He added. "She cares about you. If she knew why you're being… aloof, then maybe she'll be more willing to give you the time you need."

"Or perhaps she'll treat me like a charity case," He countered with narrowed eyes, "You forget, she's a pediatric surgeon they're not exactly known for indifference."

Anakin groaned, resisting the urge to bang his head against the counter, "Oh, come on Ben; you're worse than me before I got back with Padme. Just… grow a pair and tell her." Lifting his glass to his lips he took a long swallow of his beer, hoping the alcohol would help relieve the tension he was feeling from Ben's stubbornness.

"Oh, God, she's coming over." He heard Ben groan. The older man slumped in his seat as Anakin smirked.

Satine came to stand on Anakin's other side, "I hope I'm not intruding," She said, her voice clear and level. "I was hoping Ben and I could talk."

Anakin was quick to stand up and gestured for her to take his seat, "By all means," He said, a smile on his face. "I'm just going to go enjoy a drink with my girlfriend." He said, eager to finally have a moment with Padme. Ben gave him an almost pleading look, but he disregarded it as he walked over to the booth where she was sitting.

"Everything okay on your end?" She asked as he slid in across from her.

He shrugged, "Depends what you mean by okay," He said. "Ben's just being stubborn. Change really isn't his thing. Sometimes it feels like an episode of the Big Bang Theory."

Padme laughed and shook her head at the comparison. "Well, Satine is pretty torn up about it." She said, "When he gets like this it's hard for her to tell if he really likes her or if he's just with her because he's too nice to break up with her."

"Oh, he's really into her." Anakin assured, "He just… doesn't know how to show it properly."

She reached across the table and he instantly placed his hand over hers. "Is it me, or are we suddenly what everyone calls 'relationship goals'?" She asked.

He raised a brow, aware that the term is something kids seem to be fond of, "Is that something Satine said?" He asked, believing that to be the most likely source of the term.

She nodded, "She said that's why she always comes to me with these issues. Because you and I are like the power couple of the hospital." Padme shrugged, "Though I don't know why anyone wants a building falling on them just so they can get the guy."

Anakin couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth. It wasn't funny, but the way she said it was- a straight face and a casual shrug was not what he had expected. They had talked about that incident many times over the past two years and it wasn't very often they joked about it but whenever they did, it was always her to make the first crack. Anakin cleared his throat, "Well, if I'm being honest," He started, "You already had me by then. I was just being an idiot." They both spared a glance at their friends who, so far seemed to be in a very calm one-sided conversation noted by Ben's closed mouth and how Satine waved her hands every once in a while as she spoke. "I'm glad we got all our problems sorted out." He said.

Padme sighed as she watched them, "Not all of them." She said, turning her attention to him. "My parents still aren't too fond of you." She said once his eyes met hers again.

He resisted smiling and telling her the good news and instead gave a shrug, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "Give it time, angel," He said. "They just want what's best for you."

"You are what's best for me."

He smiled and brought her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her ring finger, "I'm glad you think so," He said. His heart fought with his mind as he tried to determine if this was the moment. If this was the right time to ask her. He had the ring, she gave him the perfect lead in. All he had to do was fall to his knee and ask. His heart screamed Yes! But his mind kept reminding him of the private, romantic dinner he had been planning for the weekend. He had champagne, a nice roast duck recipe, a freshly pressed suit; it was all planned. And yet this moment felt… right. And before he knew it, he was doing it.

Sliding out of the booth, he shifted to her side before dropping to his knee before her. Her eyes were wide, surprised yet excited as he reached into his pocket. He was smiling from ear to ear as he pulled out the velvet case. Her hands came to cover her mouth. The world felt as though it were moving in slow motion as the world around them faded until it was just the two of them. Opening the box, he gave her a moment before he spoke. "Padme Naberrie," When he had planned his dinner he had also planned the words he would say, yet as he ran them over in his mind at this moment, they sounded wrong. Too complicated, too cheesy- he was cheesy, but he realized he wanted to be genuine. He wanted this moment to be real- to express what he felt, what he wanted. And cheesy wouldn't cut it. "I love you," He said simply, "You are smart and wise, you have compassion and you were able to forgive me for my faults, and even love me for them. You push me to be a better doctor, a better man; and I love you. I want to spend the rest of my days with you." Anakin swallowed the lump in his throat, only now just realizing how nervous he is, "Will you marry me?"

The moment he finishes, Padme lunged for him, her hands cupping his cheeks as her lips crashed against his. The shock overwhelmed him for a moment, unable to respond at first but as their lips separated, he heard her voice. "Yes." She whispered, "Yes." She said again before their lips met once again. The words released the tension in his shoulders as he relaxed into her hold and his arms wrapped around her waist. He isn't sure how long they stayed like that, nor was he even aware of the applause around them. She was all that mattered. Pulling back, he took the ring from the case, and gently took her left hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. He took a moment to admire the ring as it finally took its place on her hand. It was perfect.