Maura dragged herself to the nursery with a bottle in each hand. I'm so tired, she thought, and it's just midmorning. She'd worked out a system to hold both Colin and Calleigh so that she could feed them both, but diaper changes still had to be done individually. She relied on the droid to do laundry and clean, but the baby care was all hers since the droid almost dropped Colin one morning. His fine motor skills left something to be desired. She sighed as she realized she'd left the new package of diapers in the other room, hoping there were a couple still in the bin in the nursery.
Colin was already awake, cooing quietly in his crib, kicking his legs. Those sleepers are almost too small, Maura thought. How do they grow so fast? She changed her son and sat to feed him while Calleigh slept, enjoying the one on one time with her son. They would be eight weeks old tomorrow, and that meant she only had four more weeks of maternity leave. She wondered how this would all work on the ship, how would they all manage?
Aric had gone for more baby supplies and had just returned, looking for his wife and figuring by the time that she was feeding babies. He carried the supplies to the nursery, and saw that both babies were fed and sleeping, and so was Marua, in the rocking chair Miriah had given her. He had to smile, he knew she was tired. The twins were going through a growth spurt, both of them, so they had their parents up again in the middle of the night, hungry. He prided himself on being involved, he knew dads who never held their babies but he was right there with Maura, whatever needed to be done. His wife had recovered well, and they'd stared combat training together last week. If anything, he thought, she was more centered and stronger than she'd been before. He felt sure they'd be in top shape and ready to go when their leave was up and they returned to active duty.
Maura must have heard him when he came in the room, and slowly opened her eyes to smile at him. He emptied his arms, quickly put things away, then took Maura's hand and led her to their room. They didn't need words, their passion for each other had grown since the babies were born, and they'd learned to take advantage of the moments that presented, knowing that they were not predictable.
They were snuggled together, Maura lightly sleeping, when they heard the cries from down the hall. "I've got them, sweetie, you rest," Aric told her, kissing her before he sat up. He located clothes and padded down the hall. The first thing he saw was Calleigh, her teary silver eyes blinking at him from her crib. Colin was awake but was quiet, looking around. Aric quickly changed both, then took them downstairs, where a soft blanket had been left on the floor. As he put them down on it, and joined them there, Calleigh prompty rolled over, smiling at her dad. He just stared for a moment, then moved out of her sight again. She rolled over again, eyes searching, smiling when she saw him. He laughed, "Calleigh, you're a wonder, just like your mom." He never thought he'd enjoy being on leave for so long, but he was loving every day, every minute with his family.
Maura came down the stairs, smiling at the three of them on the floor. Aric pulled her down beside him, both of them stretching out to watch the twins. "Watch Calleigh," he told her, then proudly showed off her new skill.
"That's excellent! Way to go, Calleigh," exclaimed Maura. She nuzzled her daughter, who tried to reach out to touch her mom's face but her baby coordination wasn't quite there yet. Marua put her down on the blanket again beside Colin, who had fallen asleep beside Aric, who also had his eyes closed. She sighed happily, enjoying the closeness of their tiny family. She put Colin in the portable crib they kept downstairs, and soon Calleigh followed. She touched Aric's shoulder, and pointed to the couch. He joined her there, and in the quiet early afternoon, everyone napped.
Felix and Mags had chosen the house with the nursery and huge back yard, and in a few weeks it would belong to them. It was almost exactly between the ranch and Maura's house, making it perfect as far as Mags was concerned. She still hadn't talked to Grandmaster Shan, but had almost decided to just plan on children anyway, she was so taken with the twins. Felix was all for that plan, but he would never push or rush her to make a decision. She'd never been happier than she was with him, she thought, and he makes things so easy. As if she'd conjured him, Felix walked into their quarters aboard the ship, smiling at her as he crossed to the desk to kiss her. I'm so lucky he can feel things in my aura, that I don't have to say, she mused, as he drew her up from her chair and gently lay her down on their bed.
Later, as they joined the crew for dinner, she noticed she had mail, and clicked the icon on her datapad. "Magdalane Iresso-Chantalle, you are due for your yearly physical. Please schedule to be on Tython one month from today for this mandatory screening. Thank you."
She sighed, but realized this might just be perfect timing. She could talk to Satele, and also find out if she would even be able to have children. It made her smile to see her name written out on the message- she hadn't seen it before and it sent a little thrill through her. She transferred the date into her organization program, and tried not to be anxious about her unanswered questions.