It almost felt awkward when Memily was working in the kitchen early the next morning and Sabé came in. Memily froze where she stood, a carton of eggs in her hand. Sabé didn't even look up to acknowledge her at first, but she came to sit at the counter and smiled lightly at her. "Morning," she said.

Immediately, Memily put down her carton of eggs and skipped to an apology. "Sabé, I am so sorry. You were right. It wasn't in my place to do that to you and I feel awful-"

"Whoa, there! Memily, chill out!" Sabé furrowed her brow and made a funny look. Realizing that she wasn't angry with her and was joking, Memily laughed, dropping her hands on the counter. "It's okay. I get that you were trying to help me and you were right. I needed to tell Ducchi."

"And you did."

"Mm, hm."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. Just wait, I guess."

"Are you guys going to tell anyone else?"

Sabé shook her head. "Can you respect that?"

Memily threw her hands into the air. "Hey! You told Ducchi! I can't get on your case anymore. I understand that."

"Thank you."

Memily nodded. "Can I just ask you something? How did you manage to hide this from Ducchi for two weeks? He dotes on you like a little pittin. How on Coruscant did you keep this from him?"

Sabé smiled proudly, patting her stomach and eyeing the nearest clock. "Perfect timing," she answered. "Every day at about an hour after Ducchi leaves for work. That's when the morning sickness kicks in."

"Okay. How did you keep it from the rest of us?"

"Uhhh, acting normal. That, and Leia is far too preoccupied with her own little ones. Funny how that works."

Memily laughed, returning to her work. "Well, it won't be long until Leia starts to notice. You can't expect to just pass under Leia's radar."

"I know. I plan on doing the same thing I did with Ducchi: never tell her until I'm forced to."

"Ah! What a brilliant plan."

"I figure that, by the time Leia starts to notice the little things, I will have already miscarried and it'll be over before she knows it."

Memily sighed, setting a pan on the stove and cracking open a couple eggs. "Alright. Let me try to explain my thoughts to you in a way that you understand. So, say that you do miscarry soon like you assume you will. Don't you think it would be nice to have Leia there to help you through that? I mean, that's something she understands. Don't you think it would be different if you didn't tell Leia until you actually miscarried?"

"Memily, I don't want to talk about this right now."

" . . . Okay. I'm sorry." She turned to the medicine cabinet and dug through Leia's prenatal vitamins. She dumped a couple into her hand and held them out to Sabé. "At least give this baby the best chance you can, though."

Sabé rolled her lips between her teeth, but accepted the pills and swallowed them. Her gaze wandered for a moment. "Is this how you're always going to treat me now? Baby me like this?"

"I'm not babying you. Have you been babying me for the last twenty years? I'm doing the same for you as you've always done for me. When I came here, you watched over me. You took care of me and taught me things to help me out. I'm going to help you now. Is that alright with you?"

At first, Sabé didn't respond. Her eyes flicked to the pill canister in Memily's grip and she asked, "If I resist you, you're going to tell Ducchi, aren't you?"

Memily, seeing how Sabé was twisting her words and making her out to be the bad guy and saying she was taking on a pattern of horrible behavior, considered. After a short moment, she shook her head. "It's as simple as this: don't make me tell Ducchi."

"But you're not going to tell Leia, right?"

"No. I promise I won't tell Leia."

True to the apparent schedule, Sabé was bent over the refresher bowl the next day roughly an hour after her husband had left for work at his shop. Her energy drained, she sat on her knees with her head and arms sprawled over the bowl's lid, absolutely willing to fall asleep right then and there.

At the sound of the bedroom door's knob jiggling, though, she pushed herself up with her hands and lazily looked to the refresher door. "Hello?" she called out in what almost sounded like a drunken slur, but was really just a tired drawl.

Then, hurrying into the refresher came Ducchi, his facial expression reading alarmed and worried. "Sab," he said in a moan upon seeing her in this state. At once, he fell to his knees by her side and she made a vain effort to convincingly shake her head and bat him away. "I'm fine, honey. Just fine. Just . . . tired. I'll be out . . . soon."

Not so reassured, Ducchi put an arm around her back. "How soon?" he asked.

Sabé considered. "Eh . . . a few minutes. If I'm lucky." Immediately following her response, Sabé's stomach rolled and she fell back over the bowl to resume emptying her stomach. Sabé found comfort in Ducchi's embrace as he rested his other hand on one of her shoulders and his first arm tightened its grip on her. "Has this been happening frequently?"

"Honey, I'm pregnant. What do you expect?"

Ducchi helped her sit up against the wall when she was finished and grabbed a cloth from the counter, dampened it, and used it to clean off Sabé's mouth. "Was this how you realized?" he asked her, his voice soft. Curious. For once, Sabé could not detect an ounce of worry. He was just asking to ask. He was curious. Him and his optimism, he was just excited and he wanted to know. He's so good with kids; a natural father? Did you know that about him? Memily's voice echoed in her mind and Sabé almost smiled. She bit her bottom lip to keep from doing such a thing.

Taking the cloth from him to wipe a trail of vomit from her hand, Sabé told him, "Actually, no. It was my missed period. And the constant cramps. This came a little later." She eased herself up and walked out of the refresher albeit a little shakily. Ducchi was quick to follow close behind. She sat on their bed and he joined her. Scooting over to close the space between them, he revived their conversation by suddenly asking, "I've been thinking, Sabé, do you want me to start cutting down my hours yet?"

Sabé eyed him carefully. "What do you mean?"

"You know." He switched his position so he sat beside her legs so was looking straight at her, then moved forward a bit. He held his hand on her hip. "Now that we're expecting a baby, I should cut down my work hours to be here with you."

"Ducchi!" Sabé shook her head and he leaned back in disappointment. "You don't need to do that. . . Wait. You said you've been thinking about this. I told you just last night. It's not even the afternoon yet!"

"I couldn't sleep. Now, stop trying to change the subject."

"Fine, but really, Ducchi. We talked about this last night. You and I both know that it's a miracle enough this happened. You can't start counting on it lasting over a month."

"You always have to remind me," Ducchi smiled sadly. "Something wonderful has happened to us, Sabé. Something so perfect and wonderful, it could change our lives forever. I love you, Sabé, but don't you want to rejoice in this?" He paused a moment, staring deep into her eyes as if he was looking for something. "You, my dear, are so gorgeous and perfect. The only thing that could make you more beautiful," Ducchi started, reaching out and tucking a curly lock of chestnut hair behind her ear. "Was if you just had a little faith."

Sabé took his hand and pressed her own cheek into it, soaking in its warmth. She leaned into his embrace, trying to focus on him in hopes that it would chase away her coming tears. It didn't help but made it worse. With Sabé sitting in his lap, her back against his front, Ducchi dropped his hands so they landed in front of her stomach. Gently, gingerly, he laid one hand flat against her shirt there and stroked the area. Sabé's head lolled to the side and it took all her strength to hold in the tears.

"You aren't the bad guy," Ducchi whispered in her ear, "for being afraid. I know how excited you are, how happy this makes you. I know you're so amazed by this. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so afraid. It's okay to be afraid, Sabé. You shouldn't let it control you, though. You shouldn't let it ruin these moments for you."

He left her with those words, grabbing his comm from the nightstand and pulling his arms through a coat. Halfway out the door, he told her, "Comm me if you're not feeling well. Please, Sabé. I'll be home in a jiffy." He came back to give her a kiss, then left. "Love you, darling."