Miriah was beginning to get irritated with her husband. She'd learned from Maura that Mags was on the planet, and they'd started toward her house, a mere sixteen kilometers away. Only problem was Corso was driving so carefully that it would take them an hour to get there. She sighed, and since her arms were around his waist, she pinched him, hard.
"OWW! What was that for?" he yelped as the speeder halted under them.
"Cor, I can walk faster than this. Drive normally, please, I will not break. Remember, we talked about this and…"
"Okay, okay, I know, you're right," he conceded. "Just…please hold on tight?" She bit her bottom lip and sent him a sultry smile, quirking one eyebrow at him. "You know what I mean, kitten." She loved that she could arouse him with a look, and giggled as he blushed. He returned to the path with normal speed, and they arrived in a few minutes. Corso dismounted the speeder and turned to help her off, like he always did, but when she started to stand she knew without a doubt she was going to faint. Corso saw it too, and caught her against him, picking her up and moving toward the door, that Mags had opened just as she saw Miriah go down.
"She's pale and sweaty, typical low blood pressure problem, but she's never.." Mags trailed off as she put her hands on Miriah's middle, and her eyes went wide with wonder. "Oh… oh Mir, I… oh, he's so perfect! Corso, does she.."
"Yes, that's why we came over, to tell you guys. The past week has been pretty rough for her, and she's not eating much, at least not much that stays down. I've been making sure she stays hydrated, though, and thought we'd beat this fainting problem. It is warm today, maybe that was it."
Mags wasn't even aware of the tears on her face as she knelt beside her sister, who was lying on her couch. Corso had elevated her feet, and she was beginning to wake up. "S-s-sorry guys, the change from sitting to standing sometimes gets to me," she smiled sheepishly at her sister. Mags was beaming, her force aura shimmering. "You saw him, Mags?"
"I did, he's wonderful. When we entered the atmosphere last night, I felt a really bright, but small, pulse of pure joy in the force, and this morning I had a vision of him." She stopped talking when she saw Miriah's expression—it was full of fear.
"So he will be force sensitive?" she asked Magdalane.
"No, no more than you are, sister dear."
"But I'm not, at all—I remember the blood test Mother insisted on, I barely registered anything at all."
"That's what you remember, but that's not how it was. You know the scale is one to ten, you scored a four, which is not enough for training, but how else do you think you're able to 'hear' me when I call you with my mind?"
Miriah looked stunned. She surely didn't remember it that way, but Mags wouldn't lie to her. She looked at Corso, but he only reflected love. It didn't matter to him at all. She sat up slowly, blinking. They heard the door open and Felix strode in, stopping short at the sight.
"Felix, stop! You still have flu virus in you, you can't be near Miriah right now—the baby is theirs." He looked puzzled for a second, but then made the connection, and his face lit up with happiness for them.
"Well just to be safe I won't get near you either, Corso, but congrats man!" They grinned at each other over the women's heads, Felix seeing the younger man's joy.
"Mags, if I had it a few weeks ago, I'm immune, right?" Corso asked her. She nodded, and the men shook hands. They moved into the kitchen, and Magdalane shouted after them, "Just wash your hands before you come back in here."
"We both had the flu, I had thought at first that's why I felt crummy,"Miriah said. "Then when it didn't get better, I started counting and the numbers added up. I did a scan last night."
Mags looked at her youngest sister, her color had returned to normal, and held her hands. She could feel the fatigue and slight nausea that persisted and cleared them with force healing. The baby was very healthy, but Mags could tell that Miriah had already lost weight, close to seven pounds now, and that had to be corrected. "Mir, you've got to find a way to gain back some weight."
"I know, but how can I? I feel hungry and take a few bites, then have to stop. Sometimes I get to just feel bad, sometimes it just won't stay down. I tried crackers this morning, and that helped, but I haven't been able to eat anything else since morning. " Just talking about food had made her go pale again.
"Soups, fluids, toast, little meals several times a day—just a few bites each. Warm tea. Always combine a little protein with anything you eat, you need it. He'll take from you, until you have nothing left."
"It's all kind of surreal, isn't it?" Miriah asked, as Corso and Felix came back into the living area, carrying a couple of cups of tea and some crackers. "Thanks, sweetie," she smiled at Corso.
Corso turned to Mags, "Felix said you had a vision of our son. Tell me about him." She could hear the excitement in his voice, the need to know everything he could about his unborn child. She smiled at him then started to speak, a dreamy look on her face as she recalled the infant.
"He will have your black hair, Mir, but Corso's eyes. Dark skinned, like his dad, and the sweetest smile. In my vision, the card on the table beside where I was holding him said he weighed nine pounds at birth, and that he was very healthy. There was this.. I don't know… feeling about him, he was just so serene and knowing. He's going to heal you, somehow, Mir. I feel it."
Miriah frowned at her Jedi sister, not understanding how her child could heal her, but trusting Magdalane. "Nine pounds? Oh stars, that's big." She looked down at herself, wondering how she was going to be able to move if her son got that big. She sipped her tea, feeling a little stronger.
Magdalane got up, moving to the nearby chair. "When are you going to tell Mom?" she asked, knowing that would be stressful. "You can always wait until after your first trimester, that's pretty standard, but you will have to let her know."
"Awww Mags, can't you tell her? You told her about our wedding, and that was fine. You know if it comes from you it's a hundred times better than if it comes from me." Miriah set her cup down, and grabbed a cracker, already stressing about contact with her only parent. "She will only say, 'oh that's nice' or something anyway, and it will just piss me off, and I'll lose my temper with her, then there will be that to get over." She looked at her family around her, "This is my family, and Maura and Aric. I don't really care what Mom thinks anyway." She turned to Corso, "You tell her, love. She likes you." She gave him a hopeful smile, but it faded when she saw him shake his head.
"Your mom does love you, beautiful, she just doesn't always know how to approach you. You can be a little intimidating," he told Miriah. He could see the wave of fatigue wash over her then, and moved from the chair to sit beside her, holding her close, trying to will his strength to her. Mags saw it as well, and knew that even moving it aside with the force would only stall it. Her sister needed nourishment and rest.
"Corso, take her home. I'll be over later, but she needs rest and food more than anything else at the moment." She smoothed Miriah's hair, helping her stand. "Can you ride, sweetie? Here, hold onto me while Corso gets the speeder turned." She helped Miriah onto the speeder, and when she was convinced they'd make the short journey without incident, kissed her sister's cheek and then Corso's, and told him to keep her cool and still once they got home.
They set off, and before they'd turned onto the main path Miriah was asleep, resting on Corso's back. When he felt it, he slowed down, worried that she wasn't holding on well enough. When they arrived home, she startled awake, embarrassed. Corso supported her, not wanting another fainting episode, walking with her into their cool, dark room. As he got her settled on their bed, tears started to roll down her face, and she was unable to hide or stop them.
"Oh, Corso, I'm so tired. I hate feeling so helpless, but I want Devin to be healthy. I know it seems stupid, but would you stay with me for a few minutes?" She looked almost sad, but he knew she was just beyond tired.
"I'll stay with you forever, sweetheart," he teased her, getting only half a smile. "I'll ask Risha if she'll make that soup you like, that might work well." He pressed her head down gently on his shoulder, softly rubbing her back, knowing she'd be asleep in minutes, if that long. He listened to her breathing, and closed his eyes, recalling Mag's description of their son, and just couldn't keep the smile off his face. He drifted off to sleep with his wife, still smiling.