Thrawn sat in the quiet, neatly furnished little room, staring at the screen in his hand. He knew what the other Chiss thought. Perhaps it is for the best that Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Mitth'ar'alani are childless. Perhaps no child should have to be the son or daughter of such a father. Perhaps it is time for him to give up.
Perhaps ordinary logic was on the side of the other Chiss. Perhaps. But Thrawn was not a Chiss to give up easily. He lifted his gaze to the room around him, its walls adorned with lovingly chosen artwork. One day, it would belong to his child, the heir to his legacy and knowledge. He keyed on his communicator.
"Thara, please come to the child's room."
A minute later, the door opened and his wife entered. "Did the Agency contact us?"
"Yes." He motioned for her to join him on the small bed and held out the datapad. "She was given to another family."
"But we were first on the waiting list." Thara took the pad and glanced at the brief, polite message that said Thrawn and Thara would not be allowed to adopt the eight-year-old girl. "They promised."
"It would seem someone at the Adoption Agency has doubts about my fitness to be a father." He could find no other reason for their actions. "It is time we expand our search. I have compiled a list of other adoption agencies within a reasonable traveling distance. Just touch that button."
Thara scrolled through the list, one blue-black eyebrow arched. "You have everyone except the Vagaari."
"They… do not have an adoption agency." He could always count on Thara to find humor in any situation. "There is one more not on the list. I was unable to contact the Lysatrian Adoption Agency."
"Lysatra? Are you thinking of adopting a Human child? They're a lot of work, you know. And if you wanted a genius, you might be disappointed."
"Who said I wanted our child to be a genius?"
"You want him to be Thrawn the Second, don't you?"
"Are you saying that I think I am a genius?" This time, he couldn't help laughing.
"No, I'm saying that I think you are." She pecked his cheek. "You're going to be a wonderful father, no matter what anyone says."
Thrawn watched the control panel on his personal ship as he prepared to drop it out of hyperspace, replaying the call in his mind.
"We are working with the Lysatrian Adoption Agency to help place some of their children," the man from the Wild Space Adoption Center had explained. "Would you be interested in adopting a newborn Human boy?"
The little boy's mother was currently in a birthing facility at a medcenter. By the time Thrawn and Thara arrived on Lysatra, Baby Vanto should be born. His unmarried parents were young teens and none of their relatives were able to care for the baby. The couple had at last made the painful, difficult decision to give their child up for adoption.
"A Human baby," Thara's voice broke the silence. "I wonder what he will look like."
"He will look like our son."
Thrawn dropped their ship out of hyperspace and proceeded to the coordinates they had been given. A representative from the Lysatrian Adoption Agency was waiting for them at the spaceport.
"You're really Chiss!" she gushed in fluent Sy Bisti, a trade language frequently used in Wild Space. "I mean, you're real, and you're blue and your eyes really glow."
She stopped, her checks flaming red to match her guests' eyes. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me. It's just that I've never seen real Chiss before. I've only heard the stories…." She drew a deep breath. "Let me try this again. Welcome to Lysatra, Mr. and Mrs. Thrawn. I'm Susan Nesmit. Please follow me to our speeder."
Thrawn and Thara followed their guide, barely hiding their amusement. Once they were safely in the speeder, Susan Nesmit overcame her amazement.
"I'm glad you were able to come," she said as she drove them to the medcenter. "Baby was born about twelve standard hours ago. He's doing very well, considering how young his mother is and how early he was born. He's a tiny thing!"
"How prematurely was he born?" Thrawn hadn't even seen his son yet and already he wanted nothing more than to protect him.
"Five weeks before term. Republic standard weeks, that is."
"What are his measurements?" Thara squeezed the blue baby blanket she had brought with her. "You said he is tiny."
"He's four pounds, three ounces and fifteen inches long, in Lysatrian measurements. I don't know what measures Chiss use."
"Do not trouble yourself." Thrawn's gaze was fixed on the medcenter. His son was indeed "tiny". "We understand your measurements."
At the medcenter, a nurse led them to the preemie ward. Along the way, they passed several mothers with healthy, full-term babies, but Thrawn barely noticed. Each step brought him closer to their son. Yet mingled with the joy and wonder was the heart-breaking realization that their gain was another father and mother's loss.
Inside the preemie ward, the nurse brought them to a door. A little blue sign read "Eli Vanto", if Thrawn understood the Aurabesh letters correctly.
"Oh, dear." Susan Nesmit inspected the sign. "Birth parents are not supposed to name the children. I'm sure this is not official."
Thrawn had to swallow twice before he could speak. "We do not care what his name is. This… does not mean that …Eli's parents have…changed their minds?"
"They haven't said anything to me, and I'm their case worker." Susan Nesmit tapped the sign gently. "See? The agency case number is still listed here. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Now, let's meet your baby."
She opened the door. Thrawn and Thara stepped inside. The baby's nurse looked up and gasped as the two Chiss entered.
Thrawn only had eyes for baby Eli. He lay in an incubator, IV lines and control panels partially obscuring him from view. Slowly and tenderly, Thrawn let his gaze roam over the baby. Downy brown hair covered his head. His eyes were closed; his full pink lips, half-parted. An oxygen tube was attached to his perfect button nose.
A pressure on Thrawn's arm told him that Thara's hand gripped him. They both moved closer.
"He's perfect," Thrawn breathed in Cheunh, the Chiss language. If only the birth parents would not change their minds. Yet how could he ask them to give up Eli?
"Don't worry, when the doctor comes, he will take the tubes off and we will take him out. He's just being monitored," the nurse explained in passable Sy Bisti.
Thrawn nodded. "I was not complaining," he responded in the same language. "I was saying that he is perfect."
As he spoke, baby Eli began to wave his arms and kick his legs. The nurse laughed.
"That's the most I've seen him move. He must like his new parents."
Before Thrawn or Thara could reply, the doctor bustled in. His eyes widened briefly at the sight of the two Chiss, but he quickly regained his composure and greeted them in Sy Bisti.
"I'm sure you're anxious to hold this little man. Let's see how he does when we get him out."
Thrawn watched with his heart in his throat as the doctor and nurse unhooked the IV and oxygen tubes. The nurse lifted Eli out of the incubator and held him out to Thara. She wrapped him in the blanket and cradled him lovingly. After a moment, she turned to Thrawn.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes," he managed to whisper. He slipped one hand under baby Eli's head and wrapped the other securely around his tiny body. He almost forgot to breathe.
He had held Chiss babies many times and even babies from several other species. Holding Eli was more like holding a wisp of cloud- small, soft, barely there. Pulling the baby closer to his chest, he hoped the doctor would not say they had to put Eli back in the incubator. He couldn't give him back. Not to the nurse. Not to his birth parents.
Eli's birth parents had signed legal forms, terminating their parental rights. And yet, Thrawn knew he should give them the chance to be sure. For their sake and for his.
"Miss Nesmit, would it be possible for us to speak with Eli's birth parents?" he asked.
Thara reached out to touch Eli's soft baby hair. "I would like that, too."
"Of course. If you're sure you want to. It can be hard."
"It would not be right to leave without speaking to them." Thrawn lifted baby Eli higher, pressing a kiss to the top of his downy head.
Eli stirred and his eyes opened. This time Thrawn did forget to breathe.
Brown. Eli's eyes were a rich, chocolate brown. And they were staring up at his new father.
"Hello, Eli." He kissed him again, this time on his forehead, and snuggled him close to his heart.
"Oh, Eli, you're awake!" Thara added her own kiss to his forehead. "Just in time."
Eli's nurse led them to another hall and another door. At Susan Nesmit's knock, a young Human male appeared in the doorway.
"Hello, Miss Nesmit"- He broke off when he saw the Chiss and whispered something in Basic. Thrawn caught "take" and "baby." He held Eli a little tighter.
The young man turned to Thrawn and spoke in Sy Bisti. "Did you bring him so we could say goodbye?" The young man's tone held sorrow and acceptance, not anger.
"Yes. We would also like to thank you and Eli's mother. May we come in?"
"Sure." Vanto opened the door all the way. Inside, Eli's mother lay on a medcenter bed with her own collection of tubes and panels.
"Hi," she said, also speaking Sy Bisti. "I'm glad to meet you. I'm Lydia and this is my boyfriend, Daniel. I'm so glad you're the ones getting little Eli. I hope you don't mind that I named him. I know I wasn't supposed to, but..." Her words trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.
"We don't mind." Thrawn shifted Eli so that Lydia could see hm. "Of course, we will have to add our family name onto it."
"Mitth'eli'vanto." Thara smiled. "That sounds just right."
"It's perfect." Lydia was crying in earnest now. "When Miss Nesmit told us about you, we were kind of scared. We'd heard the stories, you know. But then I remembered the first story I ever heard about the Chiss. It was about a Chiss couple who adopted a Human child. They loved him and took good care of him. I hope that story was all true."
"We already love Eli." Moisture was beginning to gather in Thrawn's eyes, too. "I promise you we will care for him and protect him as long as we live."
"I'm so glad," Lydia repeated. "Daniel and me, we made a mistake, but little Eli shouldn't have to pay for it." She lowered her gaze. "Something went wrong and I don't have any milk for him. He won't take a bottle. They were talking about putting a tube in him. In the story, the Chiss mother could feed the baby her own milk. I'm sure hoping that part's true, too."
"He won't need a feeding tube." Thara fingered the blue blanket that was now wrapped around Eli. "The bond is already forming. I will have milk for him."
"She told them you would." Daniel squeezed Lydia's shoulder. "They didn't believe her. I'm real glad he's going to be loved. He's so scrawny. I've been worried about him."
"You don't need to worry anymore." Thrawn carefully stroked the baby's cheek.
Little Eli whimpered loudly, his mouth drawing up in a sucking motion. Thrawn tightened his grip on his son. Eli was hungry and Thrawn would have to give him to Thara.
Susan Nesmit approached him. "It's time to let your wife have him now. We can find a quiet room where she can feed him, while we finish the paperwork. You do want to adopt him, don't you?"
Drawing a deep breath, he passed Eli to Thara. As he slowly released the baby, a pink hand latched on to one of his blue fingers. Bending down, he kissed Eli's fingers, then reluctantly removed his finger from the baby's grasp.
"You must eat now, Eli. I will see you soon."
Reaching into his pocket, he took out a small device and handed it to Lydia. "We do not want him to grow up without knowing who you are. This communicator will allow you to reach us on our home world, so that you may talk to him."
Lydia took it with trembling hands. "Thank you. For everything."
With the paperwork finished, Thrawn hurried to the room where Thara was nursing baby Eli. All that was lacking now was her signature and Eli would be legally theirs. Legally his. He hoped the feeding session was going well. His small son could not afford an eating problem.
He found Thara in a rocking chair, the blue blanket spread over her bosom.
"Is he eating well?"
In answer, Thara slipped the blanket down, revealing the little brown head nestled against her blue skin and the pink mouth working hungrily. "He's having seconds. Since he's so underweight, the doctor said to let him drink as much as he wants."
"Excellent." Thrawn offered her a stylus and held the datapad while she signed. When she finished, he leaned in and kissed them both. His wife and his son. "He's ours."
"He's ours." Thrawn wondered how many times he and Thara had said those words to each other since signing the papers at the medcenter. Now, seated in Eli's room, cuddling him close, he couldn't help saying them again. "He's ours. Our son."
He hugged Eli gently and kissed his cheek. They had found the cuddliest, softest baby in the universe. "We should keep him in our room for now. He will need frequent feedings and changings for the first few months and it would be a more convenient arrangement."
"And you want to keep him close to you?" Thara teased.
"That is another benefit." He kissed the baby's other cheek.
"What are you going to do when we have to send him to school?"
"Perhaps we will teach him ourselves. You can teach him how to create art and I will teach him how to understand it."
Thara laughed. "I knew it. You only married me because I'm an artist."
"Perhaps." Little Eli began to wail. "As I said- frequent feedings and changings."
"I'll do the feedings and you can do the changings," Thara smirked.
Thrawn smiled back. Changing Eli meant caring for him. And he was glad to care for him in any way. "Not a problem. After all, he's my son."
Author's Note: I know in the books, Chiss practice a merit-based adoption like the ancient Romans, but maybe they do love-based adoption, too. This fluffy story just came to me and I had to write it! I hope you enjoyed reading about Thrawn and Baby Eli as much as I enjoyed writing about them.
Thanks and God bless you!