Corso was so deeply happy, holding his wife and unborn child close, looking out over the ranch in the rain. She was holding onto him as if she would never let go. He was stroking her hair, whispering to her, telling her how much he loved her in words and actions. He didn't want to move from this spot, but when he looked up at the path to the house, he spotted a speeder racing toward them, the riders getting soaked in the unrelenting rain. He must have made a sound, because Miriah looked up and saw them too.
"Maura. She's the only one I know crazy enough to pull a stunt like this," Miriah said, shaking her head. "Should we tell them?"
"Up to you, love, are you speaking to her now?"
She sighed, "Yeah, I have to, I know it wasn't intentional but I was just too mad this morning to forgive her." Corso smiled his approval, and went inside to get some towels for their sodden guests, just about to the house now. Miriah stood, arms folded over her chest, waiting for them to dismount and climb the steps.
"Miriah, I'm so sorry," Maura sobbed, lauching herself at her sister. Miriah caught her in a hug, narrowly avoiding being bowled over. Miriah attempted to calm her sister, but it seemed Maura just had to get her cry out before they could talk, so they swayed there , both of them soaked now. Corso came out with the towels and handed one to Aric.
"Thanks, man," he told Corso, standing off to the side of their wives. "She just couldn't go forward until she got this settled. And I feel responsible, too, please know we would never have just gone off without checking if this had been a normal distress call."
"No worries, Aric, I'm fine," Corso told the wet Cathar. "Mir just took it hard, well, because… well,.." he trailed off, not finishing his thought. Aric gave him a puzzled look, but Corso just nodded his head in the women's direction, a blush on his face.
Miriah had guided Maura over to the swing, and Maura had never let go of her little sister as they sat down. Corso moved to put the throw over Miriah, anxious that she might get chilled being wet. Maura's sobs had begun to slow to hiccups, and she lifted her head from Miriah's shoulder to look at Corso. "Can you forgive me? You are one of the sweetest people in the galaxy, and I am so very sorry you got hurt."
"Of course I can," Corso told his sister in law, and smiled his beautiful smile as they hugged.
Maura felt like she weighed a ton less than she had even ten minutes ago, and as she turned her swollen eyes to Aric she grinned at the sight. Even towel dried, Aric was totally soaked and his fur was standing up in places. Miriah saw what Maura was grinning at and had to giggle too.
"Let's move inside, get warm and dry," Miriah said, and led everyone in. Corso went to find some dry clothes for Aric, and Miriah brought out some things Maura had left there before she'd had the twins, which would work while their other clothes dried. Corso got the fireplace going, and the house was cozy.
"The babies are where? At the house?" Miriah asked. Maura was changing, but she was sitting with Aric.
Aric nodded, "They were ready for bed, so I'm sure they're sleeping now. Elara is there, Tanno stayed on the ship. We're only here for the night."
Miriah looked shocked, "You mean, Havoc squad is taking time out of missions to be here?"
Aric smiled gently at her, "You're very important to Maura, to all of us, Spitfire." She had to grin at his nickname for her. "I've never seen you in full on angry mode before, it really was quite a sight." Miriah blushed a little, knowing she'd really lost control of her temper today. "I thought Vik was going 'duck and cover' there for a few seconds. He'd have never lived that down." He chuckled, shaking his head at the memory.
Maura returned, bringing glasses of wine from the kitchen. Miriah took one, but put it on the table beside her. "What about food? Have you two taken a second to eat?" Miriah asked them.
"We did, grabbed some dinner on the flight in," Maura told her, "but if you have any of that cheesecake, I wouldn't turn it down."
Miriah smiled at her sister," When have you ever known me not to have sweets?" They laughed and Miriah stood to go to the kitchen, but found that the sudden change in position caused the room to spin and she had to stand there a second. Which, of course, put Corso on high alert, and he rushed to her to steady her.
"I'm fine," she smiled up at him, as he took her arm.
"I'll get it, you sit," he said softly to her, kissing her on the nose before he settled her back on the couch. When the spots left her vision she saw Maura staring at her.
"What's that about?" her sister asked Miriah, looking carefully at her face.
"I'm just tired, spent most of yesterday getting Corso well, and you know how he hates the kolto tank, so I stood in there with him. Then there was the energy I spent on yelling at various people." She smiled at Maura, who regarded her with a curious look. When Corso returned with dessert, Maura took over and served them all, except Miriah, who not only declined but looked a little pale.
"Okay, what's really going on? I've never known you to ever turn down anything with chocolate. Did you get hurt yesterday?" Maura looked at her sister with panic in her face, "Oh damn it, did you?"
Miriah smiled at her sister, and took Corso's hand in hers. "We're pregnant," she said, and they could hear the joy in her voice. "I had just told daddy here when we saw you guys slogging through the rain." Maura had tears in her eyes when she stood to hug Corso, then Miriah.
"You two are going to be so very good with this," Maura told them. Aric was slapping Corso on the back, and bent to hug Miriah.
Aric put his arm around his wife and told her, "We should go, let these two celebrate, you remember that." Maura blushed, and agreed.
"No, no, guys it's still storming and you just got warm and dry. We have the next month off," Miriah grinned at them.
"Well, we checked weather before we landed, this is going to last a few days. Rainy season on Dantooine," Aric told them. "We'll be fine, and then I can warm her up when we get to our place," he said, pulling Maura to him.
As they gathered their clothes and went toward the door, Miriah stopped Maura and pulled her aside. "I don't know what to do about telling Mags. I know she's been disappointed the last couple of months, and I don't want to upset her, but I know she'll want to know."
Maura thought a second, then told her, "Holo her tomorrow, you know how strong she is in the force, it wouldn't surprise me if she already knew something was up. She might feel a little sad but she'll be ecstatic for you, and it's not as if you could hide it from her." Maura hugged her little sister again. "Love you, Mir."
Miriah fought the tears that suddenly came to her eyes, "Love you too, sweetie. Be careful driving in this, and enjoy being warmed up." They both smiled, and Miriah stood on the porch watching them leave, Corso standing behind her with his hands around her waist.
They moved without speaking to their room, stopping at the doorway to kiss. "I don't want to hurt you or the baby," Corso told her. He trembled a little just saying those words. His baby. There was magic in those words, he thought. He just wanted to hold her, kiss her, love her, but not if it would endanger either of them in any way.
"You won't," she assured him, brushing his now loose hair away from his face. She lay on the bed, motioning for him to join her. He needed no encouragement, knowing just touching her wouldn't be enough. He carefully undressed her, whispering caresses over her as he went. He bent to her middle, and said softly, "I love your mom with all that I am, and I already love you, little one"
"He," she said. That made him stop kissing her belly and look up at her.
"He?" he asked, not sure if he heard her right, since his senses were a little overwhelmed. "Did you say 'he'?"
"Your son, Corso. Our son." She saw the tears fill his eyes, and when he brought his mouth to hers, she could feel all the emotion he was holding inside, he shook with its intensity. There were no more words for quite some time, both of them caught in this spell of wonder, each touch a promise that they would always love each other and their child.
Miriah wanted to talk but she felt the fatigue sneak in, and instead she just put her head on his shoulder and was drifting off when she heard him whisper next to her ear, "I am so happy, and I love you." She didn't open her eyes, but replied to him with a smile. "Love you more."