Miriah worked in the kitchen most of the afternoon, enjoying the relative solitude and making a huge meal for the suddenly expanded group. She smiled as she recalled Corso's excitement at finding another clue about the Castellan restraints, even if he was still having trouble with the decryption. She wondered how Maura and her mom were doing with the little ones, and if Magdalane was resting, as she should be. Corso must have felt her thoughts, and joined her as she chopped herbs for a marinade she knew the family loved, taking another knife out and expertly dicing along with her. They worked silently for a few minutes, content with being in each other's company, when Sarai came in looking for the cookie bin.
"Ah, smells wonderful in here," she said, seeing Corso's smile but noting that her daughter was lost in thought and hadn't looked up.
"The kiddo's okay, Mom?" he asked Sarai, seeing her nod in response. "We'll have things going in here shortly, and I'll come out to help."
"No need, Corso, the boys are racing around and Michi is just waking up, Calleigh has her stuffed kath hound and Michi her bears. Everyone is fine, playing." She looked pointedly at Miriah, but Corso shrugged, not sure what had his wife's attention besides her cooking.
"Mir?" he asked, his voice conveying his concern.
"Hmm?" she replied, glancing up at him, her hair straggling in her eyes and her hands stopping. "What? I'm fine, just thinking about the poor man across the hall, who might be controlling or monitoring him. How close are they, and do they know we're here? Our children are here?" She sighed, "I know that we're guarded, we have people looking out for us, but it's still a worry. I feel like I should be doing more."
"More? Darlin', you haven't stopped moving all day. Maybe that's it, you need to rest for a bit." He moved to put his arms around her, taking the knife out of her hand. "Just relax, cyare, for a few minutes. I'm here, will always be here." He gently rubbed her back, feeling her arms go around his waist, anchoring her to him.
Miriah closed her eyes, feeling herself drift against the firm wall of her husband. She was tired, she realized, and didn't protest when he picked her up and moved to the sofa with her. Devin immediately moved to them, patting her arm when he could get close enough. She smiled at her son, who returned it with his own, then resumed his play. Corso sat, cuddling her, and whispered to her, "I love you, darlin'. I'll finish the dinner prep in a few minutes if you'll lie here and rest." She shook her head.
"No, I'll be fine in a few, and I know you've been busy with the decryption," she told him, kissing his neck. He shivered with the feel of her so close, her lips on his skin, knowing if he didn't move away soon he'd need a lot more time to be able to do so. She felt his response and grinned at him, kissing his nose as she got up, and sat beside him instead, giving him a sideways look as she laced her fingers with his. "We'll have so many here for dinner, I wanted to get it going soon. If you're taking a break from the computer, spend some time with your son." He nodded, and she rose just as the door chimed. She walked over to see Garza there, and welcomed her. The general hugged her as she entered, unusual, Miriah thought, but then these are unusual days.
"Just wanted to lend a hand. I know you all are more than capable, but I feel useless just sitting. " She crossed over to where Corso, who'd been joined by Aric and Maura, sat. "Anything new?"
"Still working on decrypting another document I found, but it's been redacted as well, and I'm not sure how much info we'll get when it is eventually decrypted. It's in progress, though," Corso told them, his eyes on his wife as she returned to the kitchen.
"Same for me, as far as things in progress," Aric said. "We're attempting to figure out the routes that the transmissions from the transponder station were sent to, but the software is good, and so far we're into the thousands of reroutes it took." He put his arm around Maura, "You're getting ready for tomorrow's dinner, right? Studying the dossiers?" He smiled as she nodded, seeing for the first time that day the vague worry she'd been trying to hide.
"You know, if we can't get anything more from Jurin, and we can't figure out where this is all going, we may never know who was behind all this," she said now, and Aric could see it was the main frustration she was having. He felt the frustration, too, and rubbed her shoulder. He looked at General Garza and saw that she was debating on whether to say something or not.
"What is it, General? What do you know that you're not saying?" he asked, suddenly on alert.
"There's some, well, unsubstantiated rumor going around. It has to do with a possible Hutt blockade on a relatively unknown sector, but there's some speculation that may or may not.."
"Just spill it, please," Aric stated, his voice steely. Maura put her hand on his thigh to keep him from rising, sensing the growl underneath his words.
"We may be facing a challenge from the Hutts over a world known only as Makeb. That's all I have on it, its name. There are some reports coming in of the Hutt Cartel forming trade blockades. The best route to Makeb is through Balmorra, and we think that may be why it was so important for the Imps to establish at least some outposts there. The vote to allow more Republic outposts was going to thwart that." She sat heavily. "I don't know what is true. If the Cartel is forming a blockade, or if by provoking the ongoing political unrest on Balmorra provided enough distraction to allow that to happen without us seeing it in time, I just don't know." She looked at the people before her, people she regarded as esteemed colleagues if not friends, and shook her head. "Regardless, the facts are that Balmorra is once again unsettled, we've lost more soldiers than we ever wanted to, and we have the Hutt Cartel trying to stand against both us and the Empire."
"And we have a very high-ranking Republic SIS agent who has no recollection of who forced him to give up information," Corso sighed. He got up then, going to the kitchen to help Miriah, where he saw that she'd heard it all by the expression on her face. He started preparing the ronto meat, seeing she was almost finished with the marinade, and together they worked. When it was done, they were washing up when he took her hands in his, his arms around her, both of their hands under the warm water. He took the soap and lathered her hands, massaging her small slender fingers in his. She leaned back against him, relishing his warmth and the care he always gave her, and when he turned the water off and her to face him, their kiss was long and passionate. "At least it all makes some sense now," he murmured to her, feeling her nod and pull him in for another kiss.
"We won't be going home soon, will we?" she whispered in his ear, her tongue tracing the outer edge. He pressed himself against her, then forced himself to stand back, knowing he was becoming too far gone to control himself much longer. He grimaced at her statement, but nodded. He knew they would do whatever was necessary to continue the mission and resolve the outcome to the best of their ability, but he also knew he was much more interested in keeping his wife happy and safe than he was in the actual mission itself. Sarai chose that moment to enter the kitchen, already knowing what was going on in there but needing to talk to them both.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I have something important to tell you. I can feel that Devin's force aura has grown, and kids, I think it's time to test him." She took in the pallor on her daughter's face, and the resignation on her son in law, and realized they'd already noticed their son's increasing force presence.
"We've been talking about it, Mom. It won't change anything about how we raise him, and love him, and teach him. We were going to test him, but this mission got in the way." Miriah started to pace then, not really wanting to know how force sensitive her little boy was at that moment.
"I would say nothing different, Mir, but he just moved some toys. And not with his hands." Both Corso and Miriah looked startled, and as one moved toward the play area. When they arrived there, they saw Colin and Devin lying on their stomachs, pushing a small convoy of speeders toward the blocks they'd set up as ramps.
"Devin?" Miriah said softly, seeing the joy in the little boy's eyes as he looked up at his mother, and caught him in her arms as he ran to her, his little arms circling her neck.
"Mama, play with toys. We play," he told her, his excited face showing only happiness.
"Yes, sweetie man, you are playing. Having fun?" she asked him, laughing at his enthusiastic response. "Dev, Mama is going to borrow your finger for a second, okay? It might sting a little, but I need to make sure you're growing alright." She almost choked on the lie, knowing it would only hurt for a second but that the result could forever change his future. She took him into their bedroom and pulled her sampling gear out of her med pack, preparing and taking the blood sample as effortlessly as she breathed. Her son never flinched, his chatter about playing and speeders and rontos continuing without interruption. Corso held him while she sampled, and when he was back playing with his cousins, he walked with her to the spaceport. She wanted to do the testing where she could control the information, not through official channels at the capitol planet.
They sat, waiting for the equipment to warm up, Corso finally voicing the inner fears they both had. "Okay, what if he's not off the chart but more than we thought? What then? Do we send him for training? Does Mags need to figure that out or is it based solely on a number? What age does he need specialized instruction?" He had started to pace during his questions, and missed hearing the chime that signaled the results, only realizing it was done when he heard the small cry his wife made.
"He's a seven," she said, sitting heavily. "On the one to ten scale, he's a seven. Mags was a ten. I was a five. Maura a four. He's a seven." She looked up, and the tears she'd been holding back were unleashed. Corso knelt at her feet, trying to soothe her and himself.
"What does it mean?" he asked her. She shook her head, not really sure.
"Let's go back, talk to Mom and Mags. They'll know more," she said, and he agreed. They made their way back to the apartment, clinging to each other the whole way. When they entered, all Sarai needed to do was look at them to know, and they called everyone to the workroom.
Miriah stood, shaking, and started to speak. "Mom saw Devin move toys today with the force, and I took a blood sample to test. He's a seven," she said, looking at her oldest sister and seeing the calm, pleased look there, saw Mags' slight nod. "What does that mean, for his future?"
"It means that he may or may not choose to be trained. I've known many Jedi who tested at only five who are now very strong in the force, and I've known those who tested at a nine who can barely command a light saber." She stood, rubbing her belly, her own son stretching there. "It will be up to him, Mir. No one will come in the night and take him from you, I can assure you that." At that, both Miriah and Corso relaxed somewhat. "And as far as helping him understand the force, you have me and Mom as guides. I will work with him as much as you all want, since I'm fairly sure Ian will be force sensitive as well." They looked at her in shock, but Felix had already suspected as much. "He can choose, Mir, much as you did and Maura did, what he will become. He will always be your son, no matter what." They sat, silent, contemplating, only breaking the spell when Devin himself entered the room, bringing his dad a speeder with a wheel missing.
"Daddy, fix dis?" he said, his voice hopeful, his deep brown eyes a perfect match to his father's. Corso grinned at him, fixed the toy, and went with him back to the other children to resume playing. Miriah still hadn't moved, when Mags took her arm and sat her down in the chair of Corso's workstation.
"Mir, it will be just fine. He's Devin, your firstborn. He's a wonderful little boy, smart and articulate, who happens to have a very special connection to the force. That's all. He's no different now than he was this morning, or will be in the morning. " She lowered her voice, looking into the silver eyes of her youngest sister. "The son you are now carrying, he may be force sensitive as well. It's too soon to tell." She watched as the shock of those words flowed over Miriah, saw her pulse quicken and her breathing alter. "He's perfect, by the way," she added, "and no, I'm the only one who's felt him." She left her sister there, trying to wrap her mind around the situation, and went to find Corso, bringing him to her side. She left him with a smile on her face, and he went to Miriah.