I do not own The Mandalorian or any characters in the show or greater Star Wars universe.

Warning: Trigger warning for potential pregnancy loss

This chapter will be more rated M than my other ones because the mature subject matter. There's a bit more cursing in this chapter as well.

Chapter 14: Fear

DJ and his family were spending an afternoon at the shore of the lake. His mother was playing with his new baby --, underneath the umbrella. Father was currently helping Aksel and Amelia build a sand castle. More like, trying to keep Aksel from knocking down the castle, which he found was hilarious. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the water wasn't too cold, and DJ was with his loved ones. Today was perfect.

DJ was looking for shells along the shore, when he spotted a shiny black shell. He walked over, but when he went to pick it up, he noticed that the water had changed color. It was no longer crystal blue but a crimson red color.

Din Junior straightened up quickly, "What?" Then he heard a bloodcurdling scream come from where Amelia, Aksel, and father was. That sounded like Amelia, he thought as he raced back to where they were. "Amelia! I'm coming!!" DJ ran as quickly as he could but instead of seeing his family, he saw the crumbled sand castle covered in blood. "No...no. This isn't right!" Mom and my baby --, I have to make sure their safe, he thought as he raced towards the umbrella.

Before he could reach the umbrella, he heard his mother call to him from the lake. DJ slowly turned around to find his mother standing on the water. She was wearing a white night gown instead of her swimsuit she was wearing earlier. She now had the round belly of pregnancy instead of the flat one she had before. She held her arms out as if waiting for her son to embrace her.

"Mommy!" DJ ran towards the lake and right before he could jump in and swim to her, something terrifying happened. He watched with utter horror as Him stabbed and gutted his pregnant mother. "NOOOOOOO, MOMMY!! MOMMY!!"

"Din! Din! Wake up!" Amelia frantically shook her brother until he snapped awake with a gasp. Tears fell down his face as Amelia pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Amelia, your safe?"

"Yes, everything's okay. See I'm okay, I'm safe." DJ hugged her tightly. Amelia rubbed his back as fresh tears fell down his face. Aksel, who had also been awakened by DJ's screams, waddled over and his made signature gesture of wanting to be picked up. Amelia scooped him up so he could join in on the group hug.

Amelia sent comfort and the feeling of safety and home through the force to them.

After a few minutes, DJ finally separated from them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you guys up."

"Hey, your our brother, if your in trouble, we'll be there." Aksel and Amelia both gave a firm nod of their heads. "But...Maybe we should call mommy -"

"No!" DJ quickly cut her off, "If your safe and Aksel is safe then mommy must be safe too. Mom is finally happy, I don't want to bother her."

" But DJ, mom said if you start having the night mares and visions again, that we have to tell her."

" I know but can't we keep this a secret until she and father get back."

"But, I don't like lying and mommy says it's rude to lie."

"Well it's not lying. It's just withholding the truth for a later time."

Both Amelia and Aksel gave DJ a side look before Amelia shrugged. "Fine but I'm invoking my older twin rights. You have to tell mom and dad when they get back. If you break this decree, Aksel and I have the right to punish you."

DJ sighed and said, "Okay, I will. I promise." Satisfied, Amelia and Aksel got comfortable on DJ's bed. "Hey what are you guys doing?"

"Sleeping with you of course. Aksel and I are gonna keep the nightmares away. Ain't that right Aksel?"

Aksel babbled and nodded his cute little head. DJ sighed in defeat and got under the covers with his siblings.

Even though he knew he was safe and that his family was safe, DJ still had a feeling that something was wrong.

Streams of warm orange light of the early morning streamed into their room through small curtain openings. It was day three of their week long honeymoon. They decided to stay on Terra, neither Star nor Mando wanting be to far from the kids. So their honeymoon was being spent in their cabin. The kids were spending the week with Papa and probably with Andrina's family too.

Star sat with her legs tucked underneath herself on the edge of their shared bed, only a soft black sheet covering her front. Din sat behind her, gently massaging some ointment onto her scarred back and shoulders. The ointment was formulated by Delta to help heal the scars and ease the pain caused by the nerve damage. Star's grip tightened around the sheet as he reached a tender spot along her spine. Din stopped his movement, "Are you okay? I can stop if you want."

Star shook her head, "No, I'm okay. Im still pretty tender along my spine, that's all." She turned her head slightly to give him a warm smile, "and it feels good when you do it." Din still didn't look convinced so she interlocked her fingers with his. "I'll let you know if it gets to be too much."

Satisfied with her assurance, Din relaxed and continued massaging, taking extra care as he rubbed along her spine. To help distract her, he left gentle kisses along her shoulders and along her neck. Star arched her neck, happy to give Din all the access he craved. "If you keep this up, we will miss breakfast." Star pointed out, giggling as he left kisses on the marks he gave her last night.

"Hmmm, that is a tempting offer but it seems our stomachs are making the choice for us." Right after he said that, both of their stomachs let out a loud growl. "I'll let you get dressed, ill cook breakfast today." Din placed a kiss on her cheek as he got off the bed. He retrieved his helmet from the night stand and placed it on his head before heading down stairs.

Star waited a moment before leaving the comfort of their shared bed. As she rose, she let the sheet fall off her naked body. Star walked into their bathroom and turned on the shower. As she waited for the water to warm up, she looked over her back using the mirror above the sink. Thanks to Delta's ointment, the scarring was less deep and were becoming more smooth to the touch. She ran her hand over the small baby bump forming on her abdomen, a gentle smile appearing on her face. After observing herself in the mirror, Star proceeded with her shower.

About ten minutes into her shower, Star felt a sudden, very painful abdominal cramp. She gripped the side of the shower and let out a pained gasp. Before she could even recover from the first cramp, another more painful one racked through her body. She gave a yelp of pain and gripped her stomach. Fear started to fill her very soul when she saw blood beginning to fall from between her legs and onto the shower floor. No. No this can't be happening! Please goddess, don't let me lose this baby. Star thought as a third cramp flooded her system, causing her to fall to the floor. "Din! Din!" Star shouted with all her might. Star was beginning to feel light-headed from the blood loss and pain. "Din, please help me!"

Downstairs...

Mando had just finished making breakfast and setting the table. He had just started to enjoy a cup of coffee when he heard something that made his heart drop to his stomach. The sound was the frantic screams of his wife from upstairs. Coffee forgotten, Din bounded up the stairs and ran to the master bathroom. The sight that awaited him made his blood turn cold. Star was laying in a pool of her own blood on the shower floor. She was curled in on herself and was sobbing from both physical and emotional pain. Din quickly shut off the shower and grabbed a towel to cover her. He knelt down next to her, placing her head on his lap. He called Delta and quickly gave her as many details as he could, then hung up. He took off his helmet and kissed her forehead softly and held her in his arms."Shhh. Shhh. It's going to be okay, I'm here, I'm here. I called Delta and she's going to be here soon."

Star weakly clung to Din, too weak from the pain, blood loss, and crying. "I'm so tired Din," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey, you can't go to sleep yet. Just wait til Delta gets here." Din said softly as he held her. He felt the sobs fill her body once again, "Din, I'm scared. What if...What if...I lose our baby?"

"Hey, that's not going to happen. Even if it did, we will face it together." At that moment, the sound of the front door being slammed open and pairs of frantic steps making their way upstairs could be heard. Din quickly put his helmet back on.

A few moments later, Delta burst onto the scene with Andrina and a nurse droid right behind her. "Din can you pick Star up and put her on the bed please." Delta half asked, half ordered him to do. Din gently picked Star up bridal style, receiving a small grunt of pain from Star, and placed her on their bed.

Andrina came over with IVs and blood bags, and got to work sticking those into Star's arm. Delta rolled up her sleeves, "Nurse droid, begin ultrasound while I prep for a physical exam. Andrina, take her blood for testing." Delta gave out orders which they followed. Mando was sitting next to Star, holding her hand, offering as much comfort as he could. Delta walked over to the pair and knelt down next to Star. "Hey sweetie. Don't you worry, we will take good care of you. I'm just gonna check on baby and the placenta. We have you hooked up to an IV and some blood to help with the pain and blood loss. I will be performing a pelvic exam as well. Did you want Mando in here for that?"

Star tightened her grip of Din's hand and nodded. "Please. I want him to stay. Just save my baby Delta."

Delta stood up and said, "I will not make any promises, but I will work my hardest to make sure both you and baby are safe."

By the time the last of the exams were done, Star had fallen asleep due to the mixture of exhaustion and sedatives. Delta helped Din dress Star in a night gown, careful not to pull on her IVs. "Mando can we talk downstairs for a moment. Andrina can stay with Star."

After a bit of hesitation, he followed Delta downstairs and into the living room. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that baby is safe and healthy. The bad news is, there is an abnormality. The baby is developing too quickly. Star is half Fyrstan. Fyrstan women carry their children for up to 12 months and there are 4 trimesters. Each trimester lasting about 3 months. From what Star has told me, she carried the twins for 12 months despite being only half Fyrstan. Anyway, after our exam, we have found that the baby is in its 2nd trimester. We are worried that Star's body may not be able to handle the rapid growth."

Mando was taken aback, "Wait but Star has only been pregnant for 2 months. How is this possible?"

Delta tightened her grip on her data pad, "Him is what happened! They must have experimented on her both while and after she was pregnant. That bastard!! They were probably trying to develop a way to pop out force sensitive babies quickly. Star would have been a perfect test subject especially after giving birth to twins with high M-counts. That would explain some of the scar tissue we found on her reproductive organs."

"Damn it!" Mando wished he could have been the one to gut that fucker. "What does this mean for Star? Is she going to be alright?"

"I don't know. I'm worried that at the rate the baby is growing, we might have another incident like this one in the future. She might not survive if she carries baby full term. So, we have two options. One option will put the baby at risk and the other one may put both mom and baby at risk but could save them both. The second option is a bit more experimental though."

"Can you give me more details about both of them?"

Delta nodded and pulled up the information on her data pad. "The first option is inducing labor and delivering the baby early. The baby would have to stay in the infirmary for awhile and would be at risk because it would not be fully developed. The second option is a method that Star's mother and I developed for situations like this one."

Delta pulled up the specs and presented them to Mando. "It's an artificial womb that will allow the baby to fully develop as if it were still inside Star's belly. It has been tested and we have had great success, but it does come with some risks. Star would have to undergo surgery where we would remove as much of the placenta we can along with the baby. Then we would move baby to the artificial womb. There will be two teams of surgeons, one working on mom and one working on baby and the artificial womb."

Din looked over the specs as he listened to what Delta said. "Have there been any deaths?"

"For both procedures, yes. For the first one, we have had baby's that didn't make it or mom couldn't handle the surgery. If the case is really bad, we have lost both. The second procedure, we had 2 moms bleed out and pass on. We have had only one baby pass while in the artificial womb."

"How many times have you conducted the new procedure?"

"About 200 times across 10 different species."

Din mulled over the information and the specs. The artificial womb sounds promising and it's been tested with mostly positive results. On the other hand, the other procedure has been done before 100s of times with overall success. "I think I should discuss this with my wife first, so that we can make this decision together." He handed Delta her data pad back.

Delta took the pad and said, "I understand. Right now, we have nanites repairing the tear in her placenta. So as soon as that's done and it's deemed safe, we can let you see her. I'm going back upstairs to help Andrina, I'll call you when we're ready." She gave Mando a reassuring shoulder squeeze before heading upstairs. Halfway up the stairs, she paused and said, "I called Xander, he's gonna be over soon with the kids. I thought he should know about his daughter. I hope you don't mind."

"No I don't mind, I was about to call him anyway, thank you." Mando said and with that, Delta continued upstairs.

30 minutes earlier...

Papa, Leon, and the kids had just finished breakfast when Papa received a transmission from Delta. He quickly answered his comm link, "Hello Delta! How are you this morning?"

"Xander, you need to come to the cabin right away...and you might want to bring the kids with you."

"Delta, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"Xander it's Star. There's been an incident, I'll have Mando debrief you when you get here. I have to go." With that, the line went offline. Papa stood there, frozen in place. A fear he hadn't felt since his beloved Nova got sick filled his very being. No, not again. Please, I can't lose my daughter too. He prayed to any deity that would listen. He was snapped out of his daze when Amelia pulled on his hand, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"

"Leon, help your niece and nephews get dressed. We need to go to your sister right away."

"Dad, what's going on? Is everything okay, did something happen to Star?"

"I don't know what's going on but we will find out when we get there. Now everyone, go get dressed and meet me at the speedster in 10 minutes."

10 minutes later, everyone was boarded onto the speedster and heading for the cabin. DJ and Amelia gripped each other's hands as thoughts of DJ's night mare from that morning came creeping back. DJ can you hear me? Amelia telepathically asked him.

"Yes. Lia, what if my vision came true? What if...what if mom is -"

"No! Mom is not gone, we would have felt it if she was."

"I hope your right Lia."

Amelia tightened her grip of his hand, "I know I'm right." She said, instinctively pulling Aksel closer to herself.

20 minutes later they arrived at the cabin. As soon as the speeder was parked, Papa jumped out and banged on the front door.

Back to Mando's POV

Mando nearly jumped when he heard loud knocking coming from the front door. That must be Papa, he thought as he quickly went and opened the door. As soon as the door whooshed open, Papa bursted through with the kids and Leon closely behind him.

"Where is she Mando? Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay." Papa said as he gripped Mando's shoulders. Even through his Baskar armor, Mando could feel the tightness.

"She's upstairs, she's resting. Delta said there was a rupture of the placenta wall but they were able to fix it. Star is fine." Mando explained. Papa let go of his death grip on Mando and let out a breath he didn't know he was even holding

"Can I see her?" Papa asked, his voice small. Mando nodded and he watched as Papa headed upstairs.

Mando turned his attention to his kids and brother-in-law. Amelia was holding Aksel in one hand and had a death grip of DJ's hand in the other. Mando got down to their level and before he could say anything, he was tackled to the ground by their hugs. Amelia had begun to cry and DJ started to sniffle, trying not to cry and be strong for his sister. Aksel, feeling the anxiety and fear in the air, clung to Mando. "Hey it's okay, it's okay." He said softly as he rubbed small circles into their backs. "Your Mom is going to be okay."

"Is baby okay?" DJ asked, his voice trembling.

"Baby is okay."

"Can we see mommy now?" Amelia asked shakily.

"Not right now. She's asleep, and we don't want to bother her. So, how about we go to the flower field and pick her some get well flowers." Mando wasn't exactly a pro in the comfort department so he hoped this would be a good distraction.

"I don't want to leave Mommy. I want to see her!" Amelia stated angrily.

DJ calmed his sister and said, "Lia, mom needs her rest. And think about how happy she will feel when she sees the flowers we picked for her."

Amelia chewed on her lip as she weighed her options but soon gave a nod of approval. "I guess your right." With that, Mando, Leon, and the kids headed out to the flower field.

Meanwhile upstairs...

Papa rounded the corner to Mando and Star's shared bedroom, but despite his eagerness to see his daughter, he hesitated. He looked at the closed bedroom door, his hand lingering on the door switch as memories from the past flooded his mind.

11 years ago...

Papa paced in front of the birthing chamber, anxiety and fear making it impossible to relax. Nova, his beloved, had gone into premature labor. He had sent a transmission to Star to get back to Terra immediately before she lost the chance to say goodbye to her mother. The pregnancy was high risk and he had to sit back and watch as his wife withered and grew more and more ill.

Star, oh Star, she tried to stay strong but Papa knew. She was only 15 and she had to watch her mother slowly die. That's why when she saw an opportunity to get off world, and took it, he didn't stop her. Nova understood, and didn't protest once. Papa knew he should have some hope that she might not die, that she might make it but...

He stopped pacing when his eyes met the golden browns of his daughter's. Tears streaked down her face as she ran up and embraced her father. He reciprocated, hugging her tightly and finally letting all of his pent up sorrows out. Sobs racked his body, "I lover her and I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose our son either."

"Shhhh...shhhh. I'm sorry Papa, I shouldn't have left, I should've been here."

Papa wiped his tears and looked his daughter in the eyes, " No, your mother and I saw how this effected you. We knew you needed to get away from this. Your mother never complained and always boasted about your adventures. All that matters is that your here. Now."

He gave her one last hug, "Your mother wants you in there to help with the birth. Scrub up."

Memory end.

Back to present..

Papa shook off his thoughts and opened the door. Star was laying asleep in the bed she shared with Mando. Life support was attached to her. Papa walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. He gently placed her hand in his, "Star, my beautiful daughter. I'm here, and I'm not going any where. When your mother died, you suddenly had to take on her role for Leon. Even though I was your father, you ended up taking care of me too. You sacrificed your dream of adventure to be there for us." He gave her hand a small squeeze, "and now. I'm going to take care of you."


Authors note:
Thank you for reading and sticking with this story despite all my delays. Life has just been crazy lately and I finally have time to focus on this. Again please let me know if I got any Star Wars jargon wrong and feedback is always welcome.