1.

Aric staggered up the ramp of the ship, coughing violently. Dammit, it's got to be that flu, he thought. He stopped short before the twins could see him and diverted to the medbay, hoping Dorne could give him something. Even if she couldn't, he didn't want the twins sick. They were getting teeth now and irritable anyway, and it had been a long mission. He loved them but all he could think of right now was a hot shower and bed.

Elara turned when she saw him, and gasped. He leaned against the cot, coughing again. She ran a scan and identified the virus. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, I can help you with the fever and cough, but it just has to run its course otherwise," she told him, injecting him with a stim labeled "cough relief". As he turned toward their quarters, Elara reminded him to wash his hands so that he wouldn't infect the babies. He took the long way around to quarters, and went straight to the shower. When he came out, Maura was there with some soup and cold water. He didn't say much, his throat tortured from the cold air on Ilum and all the coughing he'd done, but the icy water felt terrific, and he was grateful to have someone who took care of him.

"I'd kiss you, hon, but I don't want you to be sick, or the twins," he told her, a longing look in his eyes. She just shushed him, and went to get more water for him. When she returned, he was already asleep, but his skin felt cooler. She went back to care for the babies, thinking she'd just put them down to sleep in medbay and she'd stay on the couch in the lounge area, just to let Aric rest and maybe not get sick herself.

When she woke in the middle of the night, she knew she'd failed. Her fever had her looking for water, and with a bottle in her hand she found the mini scanner. Yep, there it was, Transdoshian flu. Wonderful, she thought. She tiptoed into the medbay to scan the twins, who were, thankfully, not infected. Yet, she thought. Transdoshian flu was contagious even in open areas, on a ship in a confined area, it had to be everywhere. She wanted to lie back down, but with the thought of two sick babies, she instead started disinfecting, reactivating the ship droid to help her. When all the surfaces they could get to were virus free, she headed for their quarters, telling the ship droid to inform the crew that they were in quarantine there, and to limit any other infections only the droid would bring them food and water.

"Intercom me if there's any issues with the babies, and tell Elara I'm sorry," she told C2. He acknowledged her request, telling her "Master, all will be well. The twins will be well looked after."

She crawled into bed beside Aric, who opened his eyes but didn't really wake up. She was shaking, chilled, and when she snuggled into his warmth, he put his arms around her. She fell asleep, exhausted from her disinfection spree.

She woke to the intercom, C2 informing her that the babies had been scanned again and were virus free. She could hear them happily chattering away in their chairs, just starting finger foods and loving the adventure of them. The droid was bringing an assortment of breakfast things shortly, he'd said. She sat up, waking Aric up when she did.

"What are you doing here, you're going to….wait, you already are, I can tell you have fever now," he told her as he frowned. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I was hoping you wouldn't get it."

"The babies are ok, and C2 and I disinfected the ship last night, so maybe we'll get lucky and they'll escape it. I started treatment last night. As of now, we're under quarantine here until we're both virus free."

He sat there a few minutes in silence, and turned to her. "You mean, we're here, in our quarters, alone—we can't leave and no one can come in here? Hell, Major, we should have gotten sick a long time ago." He grinned at her, and she had to laugh.

2.

Corso looked up at the clear, blue of the sky above him and the herd of bantha that he and the ranch foreman, Rizzo, were tagging, and was happy. It was a clear crisp day, first one without rain in about two weeks, and they were behind culling this herd for market. They'd started early, he'd left Miriah sleeping well before dawn, and were almost done. He looked up when he heard the high-pitched whine, and saw her coming across the pasture on the little one person speeder he'd gotten her when they'd bought this place, thinking it would be easier for her to get around that way. Now, it just made him cringe, thinking about her crashing it.

He crossed the small enclosure to greet her, helping her off and stealing a kiss in the process. She looked radiant, wearing a grey loose sweater that made her eyes look almost clear and her hair up. She still didn't have a baby bump, he thought, but soon. He grinned at her when she pulled a picnic lunch out of the tiny cargo area, and led her over to a lumbering tree to sit in the shade. "This is great, kitten, it's already been a long day but we're almost done here." He explained to her what they were doing and why, and she nibbled along on the lunch she'd brought. The nausea was gone and she'd managed to put two pounds of the eleven she'd lost back on, and he didn't worry so much about her now.

"It's been quite a day of talking," she was telling him. "Risha thinks she would like to take over operations at Port Nowhere. Guss is staying home for now. Bow is thinking of going with Risha as an enforcer, and Akaavi would like to stay here. So now, I have to ask you what it is that you want to do. I have to give Garza an answer next week." She looked up at him from where she'd stretched out on the blanket. He'd actually already been thinking about it, but was no nearer an answer that he thought would make them both happy than he had been a month ago.

"Well, I'd be happy for Akaavi to stay here, and any of the others who would want to. Risha will do an amazing job at the Port, and that would be one less thing for you to worry about." He shifted around to put her head on his thigh. "I don't want to entirely give up the missions. I enjoy them. I just think that maybe we don't renew for the supply cycle and take them on a case by case basis. Especially as you get further along, I think that flexibility is important."

"We've always been attuned to each other," she grinned up at him, "I told Risha and Akaavi almost word for word that same thing." She sighed in satisfaction. "So that's settled. I know you're anxious about me in space again, but believe me we won't be putting this little guy in harm's way. I don't want to take anything until he's here, that is, if that's good for you?"

"It's perfect, love, and thank you for this. You're right, I'd be worried every second, I can't help it." She reached up to put her finger on his lips.

"We'll go to Coruscant next week after my doctor's appointment?" He nodded, kissing her fingers.