Mostly filler in this chapter and the next, but it was about time things slowed down a bit. I have a lot of ideas for this story and it will take a while to build up to them so look forward to a long story! As always, I apologize for the long waits on this and all my other stories. Most of my motivation right now is for this story and Daddy's Little Princess (which will be my next update!) but the delay is mostly because I have so much work on my plate it is nearly impossible to write as much as I would like. Good news is winter break is coming up! Bad news is I will probably still have projects because college.

Enough of my real life, which isn't nearly as interesting as this.

Happy reading!

-DFD

Chapter 6

"You have to invite your Aunt Nita, she'll be heartbroken if you don't," Jobal said sitting at the head of her sister's dining room table as she sifted through her address book.

Padme rested her head on her folded arms on the table, "She hasn't called, let alone seen me since I was in preschool," She argued. "I don't think she'll be as heartbroken as you say. Besides, Anakin and I already decided we don't want a big wedding. We just want you, dad, Sola, Darred and the girls, and friends from work."

Her mother shook her head, "Nonsense. The entire family missed the first wedding, we're not missing the second," She said, scribbling the name down on the guest sheet.

Padme smiled and picked her head up to look through the wedding binder Sola and her mother had been kind enough to assemble for her. The past two months had been hectic at work for both her and Anakin. Two of the ORs were in the middle of renovations, leaving only four functional ORs in the hospital and meaning the surgeons had to work longer hours just to keep up with the number of patients coming in. They had so little time to actually plan the event that Sola had offered to help at least get the ball rolling and throw some ideas at them. This of course eventually led to her mother getting involved and thus the list of guests tripled overnight.

"What about Palo?" Jobal asked, raising her eyes to look at her younger daughter.

"My high school boyfriend Palo? What about him?" She asked with a raised brow.

Her mother shrugged, "Oh I don't know, I just remember the two of you had been close, I thought you might consider inviting him."

Padme didn't even need to think about it, "No, once we broke up all contact ended," She said, turning the page in the binder to the ideas her sister had about cakes. She looked over at her sister sitting across from her on her laptop looking up save the date templates. "Do you really think the cake needs to be as tall as me?" She asked, pointing to the 5-foot-tall cake concept her sister had taped into the binder.

Sola smiled and turned her head to her, "If I had to chance to get married again, I'd go all out," She said.

"You know," Padme started, "I'm thinking about something, something you need in order to have a wedding. It's green, made of paper, and has presidents on it. Do you know what it is?" Sola rolled her eyes and gave a mock laugh before turning back to the computer.

The sound of laughter preceded the sound of the side door opening and Anakin and Darred came in. They were in the middle of talking about something and she only realized it was cars when one of them said 'engine'. Padme looked up and saw both of them had grease on their hands and clothes. Her eyes narrowed at him, silently telling him to get cleaned up. He caught her eye and gave her a wide smile before walking over to her and picking up the bag of clean clothes she smartly convinced him to bring.

"How's the planning, ladies?" He asked, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"Swell," Sola answered, "Though your fiancée has some pretty demanding requests," She said before turning to Darred and gesturing for him to go get cleaned up.

"Is that so?" He laughed. Padme rolled her eyes at her sister. "Well, whatever it is, she can have it. Just tell me when to be there," He said, taking a moment to look down at himself, "I'll be right back," He said, disappearing around the corner to the bathroom to get changed.

Both her mother and her sister eyed her after he left. "What?" Padme asked, darting glances between them.

Sola looked back at her computer but her mother gave her a knowing smile, "If I were a few years younger-"

"Mother!" Padme's cheeks went red as she hissed the word.

Jobal raised her hands, "I'm just saying, he's a keeper," She said, "He's a much better boy than I initially thought when you first told me about him. Back then, I hated the thought that a boy we never met married you. And then when you broke up…" She paused and shook her head, "But, since he came to ask your father and me for permission to marry you… I have to say, he truly is a better man now. And I'm glad you found one another."

Padme smiled and reached for her mother's hand with both of hers, squeezing the hand tightly, "Thanks, Mom. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Her mother smiled, "All I want is for you to be happy, and I can see that you are, and I can see that he will go above and beyond to keep it that way," The smile on her face dropped, "Now all I have to do is convince your father."

She released her mother's hand and let her gaze return to the binder, "He still isn't happy, is he?"

"It's not that he isn't happy," She started, "He just… can't see beyond what he did the last time. He's afraid for you."

Padme shook her head, "He has nothing to be afraid of," She argued. "We've been dating, we've been living together, we've talked about the future; this will work out."

Jobal smiled, "I know that. But, he's your father. And fathers are always over protective when it comes to their little girls."

"No kidding," Darred said as he came to stand beside his wife. "Remember when I first asked you out?" He asked, looking down at Sola, "Your dad kept me standing out on the porch," He started, shifting to stand up straight and crossed his arms over his chest like her father often did, "In the freezing cold, the front door wide open, his arms crossed, eyes glaring at me while we waited for miss perfect to finish getting ready." He received a sharp blow to the stomach from his wife. Darred hunched over and held his belly, "What? It's true. Back then you took forever to get ready."

Sola's eyes narrowed at her husband, "I did not."

Padme and Jobal exchanged looks, "Yes you did," They said simultaneously.

"Whenever we had plans to go to the mall I gave you a time thirty minutes before we had to be there just so we would arrive on time," Padme said.

Jobal nodded in agreement, "And on trips, we had to wake you two hours before everyone else just so we could all get out of the hotel on time," She added.

Darred smiled, "Yeah, good thing all that changed once you popped out the girls." The other two women at the table nodded while Sola narrowed her eyes at them.

Anakin appeared a moment later dressed in a clean tee and jeans. "Did I miss anything?" He asked.

"What do you think of these for the save the dates?" Sola asked, desperate to get the attention off of her.

Padme rolled her eyes at the attempt, but let her sister change the subject. Anakin clearly felt out of the loop, but she would be sure to tell him all about it when they got home. Until then, it was best they at least tried to finalize at least a few things.

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His eyes darted up to the resident across from him more often than he normally did. He couldn't help it. Ahsoka had to make her choice of which hospital offer she was going to take very soon and he hasn't asked her about it in weeks. It wasn't easy to avoid asking, but Padme assured him it was the best he could do if he wanted her to stay. Constantly pestering her about it had a very good chance of pushing her towards the other offers on the table.

"You can stop staring, SkyGuy," She said, barely even lifting her eyes to him, "I know what I'm doing. You taught me well."

Anakin smiled under his mask, "I know…" He said, biting his tongue.

"Wedding got you in jitters?" She asked.

He laughed and shook his head, forcing himself to pay attention to what Ahsoka was doing, "No. The planning sucks, though. So many little details like what color ribbons to put on the flowers, and if the table covers should be white or ivory. I really don't see a difference."

Ahsoka called for suction to clear the chest cavity and inspected region carefully before locating the tear and calling for sutures. She really didn't even need him there. He hadn't needed to guide her even once throughout the entire surgery. And the knowledge that he was largely responsible for her teaching filled him with a sense of pride.

"I don't think anyone does," She said. "Oh, I got the save-the-date," Her eyes met his for a moment and he knew she had a smug smile on her face, "The picture is really cute."

The save the dates had a large picture from their last visit to the City Garden Park just outside the city. They had taken many pictures that day all so they had a variety of images to pick from for the cards. In the picture, Padme sat between his legs on the large porch railing of the main building. He had his hands wrapped around her middle while her hands covered his, the engagement ring clearly visible on her left hand.

Anakin narrowed eyes narrowed at Ahsoka, "You do realize I can make sure you don't get any cardio cases indefinitely, right?"

Despite the threat, her eyes didn't show even a hint of fear, "You wouldn't dare. I'm the best resident you have."

"Don't be so sure. Lux might not be interested in cardio, but he could easily take your place if he wanted."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, "Please, he's a trauma guy. All he focuses on is damage control. He can't possibly be as precise as I am."

"You sure?" He asked, peering into the chest cavity and noticing a flaw in her sutures.

"Shit," She hissed, moving quickly to apply another suture, the smile on her face now gone and a light blush forming on her cheeks.

Anakin shook his head, "You're not a cardio surgeon just yet," He said, "Precision is something you get from experience and you haven't had nearly enough to get cocky."

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They watched as the patient was rolled out of the OR through the glass window in the scrub room as they cleaned up. Anakin glanced over at Ahsoka once more and his impatience got the better of him. "Have you decided yet?" He asked, startling the girl.

"Huh?"

He sighed and turned off the water, grabbing a towel and drying his hands. "I shouldn't ask, I know I sound desperate, but I gotta know… are you leaving?"

She was silent a moment, her eyes locked on the OR instead of him. "You've taught me everything I know, given me opportunities most interns and residents would only dream of…"

"But?" He coaxed.

Ahsoka turned and faced him, bracing herself on the sink, "But I have to find my own path. It's not that I don't want you to teach me, I do. Really, I do… but I need to learn somewhere else if I'm to truly be as great as you tell me I am. A new hospital, new opportunities, new teachers." She paused a moment and took a breath, "Your experience in the army made you and Ben great surgeons. You probably had more teachers than me, in so many different specialties; can you honestly say you would have been just as great with only one?"

He shook his head.

She gave him a sad smile, "So you know why I have to go." It wasn't a question. He knew. He understood. He wasn't happy about it, but he understood.

"Promise me one thing," He started, forcing himself to give her a smile, "Just be brilliant. Show those other fellows why you're the best. Take pride from your victories, and learn from your defeats."

Ahsoka returned his smile and nodded, "You got it, SkyGuy." She said.