Maura heard her datapad chime with an incoming message just as she lay down. The twins were a handful tonight, she thought, since they'd gotten to see Aric and knew he was coming home. She'd lain awake worrying almost since Aric had left, so she was looking forward to being able to sleep. She almost ignored the chime, since she figured it was something stupid one of her friends had sent her, but found she couldn't close her eyes until she looked at it. She reached across Aric's side of the bed to retrieve the pad, and was shocked to see a letter from him. Her eyes filled as she read, once, then again, the words he'd lovingly sent her. She fell into a deep sleep, her datapad clutched to her chest. He'd be home soon, was her last thought.

Sarai felt Miriah's terror in her sleep and it woke her, panic filling her mind, then it smoothed. Unsettled, the Jedi got up and checked on Devin, who was sleeping soundly, and walked out to the kitchen. Magdalane was already there, having felt the strong emotion as well or perhaps better than her mother. "What do you suppose happened? It wasn't a dream, something did happen, but it seems to have resolved. What do you think, Mom?"

Sarai pursed her lips, thinking. "I can only conclude that something happened, something that had her mind screaming in fear, but then whatever the threat was, it went away. She's calm now, at least."

Magdalane sighed, and retrieved a bottle from the cooler, warming it with the force and her hands. "At least Devin didn't feel it, he's still sleeping, right?" Sarai nodded, rubbing her arms. "Go back to bed, Mom. You're exhausted. I'm taking this to Felix, he's got the next feeding." She smiled, hugged her mother, and went back to her bed.

Sarai was standing at the glass door that led to the balcony when she felt Helena Garza approaching their door, and opened it before the chime sounded. "Helena, what happened?" Sarai asked, seeing the worry on her friend's face.

"I sent my flagship for them, and when they made the transition in lanes, they were met by an Imperial fighter squadron. They're fine," she assured Sarai," but there were only six people who knew where that ship was and who was aboard. With Gregor dead, I would have thought the danger was gone. Now, I know it hasn't." She followed Sarai to the sofa, and chose a plush chair, sitting heavily. "This narrows the possible suspects, but I'll feel better when they're here."

Sarai chuckled softly, "You and me both, my friend. It was so good to be able to talk to them earlier. Devin was more settled than I've seen him since Miriah left, and the twins are so excited that their dad is on the way home." They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"I'm tired, Sarai. I'd like to ask for a favor, not that you all haven't already done so much." Helena glanced at her friend. "I want to take a vacation, and I'd like to do that on Dantooine. Is there a place there that I can go, and just relax?"

"Of course! You can stay in the same room you were in before, and we'll just relax and play with grandbabies!" Sarai grinned, and saw Helena's smile.

Corso sat next to his wife, knowing sleep was out of the question now. Aric sat across from them, rubbing his tired eyes. "I don't think I've slept more than three hours in a stretch since we left Coruscant," Aric said. "I thought I'd left the extended fatigue when I left Havoc." He smiled sadly. "Mir, you okay?"

Miriah nodded, her heart rate had returned to normal but her tired mind was working over the attack. "There had to be a limited number of people who knew about this trip. If we narrow that list down, we have our suspects."

"Unless the filed flight plan was intercepted and rerouted, or there's electronic surveillance, or .." Corso's statement was interrupted by Miriah's kiss, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Just hold me, sugar," she told him, "and let's not try to figure it out until we get back." He nodded and cuddled her, feeling her relax against him, and minutes later felt her breathing even out in sleep.

"She's out?" Aric asked, and saw Corso nod in response. "I wonder if there's someone on Tython, or in the orbital station, who is involved in this," he said quietly. They still had seven hours of hyperspace, then two of flight before landing, and Aric wondered if there would be any more danger. The chairs reclined, and both men tried to get comfortable, Corso with his wife in his lap. They were just beginning to relax again when a service droid wheeled silently up. Its mechanical voice, asking if they wished hot beverages, made them both jump.

"Damn, we need to back off the caffa, I think," Corso chuckled, but he knew caffa was not the problem. Miriah shifted, slipping her hand under his shirt to trace her fingertips across his skin. He covered her hand with his, trapping her wandering fingers and hopefully saving himself some embarrassment, but Aric saw and smirked. Corso braced himself for teasing, but Aric surprised him.

"We are so lucky, Cor, that we have these women in our lives. I love Maura so much, and this little excursion has made me realize that with the activity of the twins and the office, sometimes we forget to love each other. You and Mir never forget. Look at her, she's dead asleep, and she still craves you." Corso blushed at his words, but knew they were true. Aric rubbed his tired eyes. "I just want to be with her, I mean, I want to see Colin and Calleigh, but I want to hold Maura." He sighed, and closed his eyes, trying to relax.

Sarai was still restless, and she supposed she would be until her daughter was back. She wandered through the apartment, picking up a toy here, a stray hair bow there. We're blessed, she thought, with so many little ones. She smiled when she thought of Logan. She'd missed Miriah being pregnant before, admittedly of her own doing, but she was determined to be present for her youngest this time. She turned toward the hallway instinctively when she heard Ian's cry, but realized his father was on hand for him. Maybe, if Ian hadn't died on Coruscant, I wouldn't have been such a terrible mom when Miriah was born. She sighed, knowing this was the distant past. I just need them to be here, she thought.

Corso watched his friend and brother in law, the Cathar finally sleeping. He was nodding off himself when he heard someone speaking, in the hallway. "We need to get there, I know. Garza said she'd cut off pieces of our anatomy that we are fond of if something happens to them."

"How far out are we now?" another voice asked.

"Five hours, give or take a few minutes," the first voice answered. "We won't get the landing coordinates until we enter orbit, so there will be less chance of an unauthorized welcoming party."

Corso heard their footsteps heading away from the lounge area. Five hours, he thought, and closed his eyes, Miriah sleeping in his arms. Five hours, and we get some of our lives back. He drifted to sleep, Miriah's hair in one of his hands.

They were all able to sleep until they docked, which surprised Corso. The clunk of the docking clamps woke them, and Aric jumped up, and leaned over to help Miriah stand. She was a little shaky, he noticed, but her color remained normal. They made their way to the air lock, ready to see their family. The major found them there.

"Your loved ones are not at the spaceport, for security reasons," he told them. "They haven't been informed that you're here, not yet. General Garza has a plan." They waited with the major until he'd received a message in his relay, which he acknowledged with a quick nod. He entered a code in the hatch pad, and the air lock released. They were met by the dark interior of a vehicle.

"This is a hazmat truck. Armored, no windows, nothing for anyone to see. We use it to transport weapons normally, but today it will take you into the military compound and underneath your building. Garza will meet you there." He turned to them, bowed at the waist, and saluted Aric. "It was an honor to be a part of your return. Thank you, for all your group does for our boys." They thanked him and walked down the ramp to the waiting truck.

"Never figured I'd be thought of as hazardous," Miriah joked, trying to keep her anxiety at bay. All she wanted was Devin, and the seemingly endless delays were beginning to annoy her. They sat on the benches inside the cargo area, and Corso took her hand, knowing what she really wanted.

"Just a few more minutes, darlin'," he told her, seeing her slight smile in the very dim light from the strips along the floor. When the truck stopped, she jumped up, standing at the doorway. The panel slowly rose, and Garza came into view.

"Welcome home, Advantages. Let's go see your family," she said, already walking to the elevators where four soldiers stood at attention. They said nothing, but Miriah was vibrating with anticipation by the time they reached the twenty-ninth floor.

Inside the apartment, Maura was yelling at General Garza's assistant. "We know they're en route, why can't you tell us? We're not the ones who let them be fired on by Imperials." She kicked the holo panel, ending the call. It was then that she noticed Devin. He'd run to the door of the apartment and was standing there, bouncing, his grin huge. He knows something, she thought, just before the door panel slid open.

"Mama!" he yelled, and launched himself at Miriah. Thankfully, Corso was behind her, and kept her from being tackled. She ignored the hisses and protests and lifted her son in her arms. Devin buried his face in her shoulder, grabbing his customary handful of silky black hair. They didn't need words, their tearful reunion consisted of touch and unspoken relief. Corso merely held them both in his arms, and his own eyes filled when Devin reached out and stroked his face.

Aric had a child on each hip, but his attention was squarely on his wife, who had her arms around his neck. "I love you, Maura," he whispered, and her kiss was all the answer he needed. Colin wanted to hear all about where he'd been, and Calleigh just wanted to be close to him. They moved to the living area and sat.

Corso finally led Miriah, still holding Devin, to the same area. The joyful voices were suddenly interrupted when Magdalane came into the room, holding Ian in her arms. "Mags! Bring him over," Miriah encouraged her sister. Devin wasn't budging, but she wanted to see Ian. Mags sat beside Miriah, holding Ian so that her sister could see him. "He's quite handsome, Mags. I'm so glad everything went okay," she told her sister, her eyes shining.

"Devin was instrumental in his birth," Mags told her quietly. Corso caught this, and his worried frown made Mags smile.

"Did he run into you, put you into labor or something?" Corso sighed, the boy was a force of nature, for sure.

"Oh no, he helped, so much! I was unable to summon enough force to deal with late labor. Devin could feel this through the force, and gave me his." Mags shrugged, not really knowing how to explain it further. "He is your son, Mir, he can no more ignore someone in need than you ever could." Her smile told them there was more, but Mags wanted to wait until they were more settled to tell them how powerful their son was.

Devin lifted his head from his mother's shoulder and smiled at her. "Mama, Daddy, home. Miss you. Not go again." He reached for his father then, but didn't let go of his handful of hair, which made Miriah smile. "Love you, Daddy," he told Corso, before he snuggled into his dad's shoulder.

Sarai cooked dinner for them, and they realized then that their security force had been doubled. Corso went to the kitchen to help, Devin going back to his mother's lap. She was quietly talking to him when Corso brought them both a snack. "Thanks, sugar," she smiled at her husband, Devin holding his cookie.

"Want Mama to eat," he told her, holding his cookie out to her. "Need to grow baby." He smiled at her obvious shock, holding the cookie to her mouth. "Bite, Mama," he said, giggling. She took a small bite.

"Now you take a bite," she told him, laughing when he did so with exaggerated motions. He's so different, she thought, or maybe I'm just noticing he's growing up so fast. She hugged her little boy tightly, making him giggle harder. Corso spotted them and smiled, his heart feeling full.

Aric sat with his arm around Maura, feeling whole now that he was with her. The twins were reluctant to get too far away, and that was fine with him. Magdalane and Felix were in the chairs, Michi playing with the twins, Felix feeding Ian. There was a peace in the apartment, Sarai thought, with everyone here. There's a feeling of completeness, of wholeness, that's been missing for days now.

Their evening of peace was hard won, and would prove to be too short.