Corso stood behind his wife, his hands resting on her hips. She feels…solid, he thought. More substantial than usual. Miriah was humming as she cooked breakfast, already enjoying sleeping in on her day off., the headache of the day before forgotten. He pulled her close, her scent and warmth making him feel happy, too. "There's something in the air today," she told him. "Something good."
"Yeah, those cinnamon buns," he laughed. "I bet Aric will be here any minute, he can always smell these." Even on days off, the sisters seemed to gravitate to each other. Miriah's force ability was another factor, he had noticed. He was about to pull her to sit with him when they heard the apartment door open and close.
Miriah smiled. "That would be your fellow cinnamon enthusiast now," she said, as Aric peeked his head in the kitchen.
"Damn, Mir, that smells so good!" Corso handed his best friend his usual mug of caf and laughed as they all sat at the small table, content.
Mia had slept until she felt Meghan wake, their force bond already strong. The baby has found the best spot to sleep, she thought, smiling at the sight of Devin holding the tiny girl on his chest, his one hand covering her almost completely. She lifted the baby up and Devin came awake instantly, making Mia laugh softly. "Sorry, hon," she whispered. "This one is hungry." Devin nodded as he made his way to the kitchen while Mia changed the wiggling infant. When they were together again, Meaghan smacking her tiny lips as she fed, Mia looked into Devin's eyes. "I got what I didn't know I wanted," she whispered. "We are so lucky."
"I agree," Devin yawned. When Mia looked his way again, he had drifted into sleep. She felt Meghan sigh in contentment, and warm and cuddled together, they all slept until Merida came bouncing into the room, fully dressed.
"My sister!" she exclaimed, and Meghan's eyes opened to find her. Mia put Merida on the sofa and placed the wrapped bundle in her arms, where Merida was enchanted by the infant.
"Who knew our little family would be completed this way," Mia said to Devin, a gentle smile on her face.
"Probably for the best," Devin said, running his fingers through his thick, dark hair. "Can you imagine unleashing two Meridas on the galaxy?"
"I heard that," Merida said, then "yeah, okay."
Tali had been learning and growing, feeling the presence of a new little one at Merida's house. She told Lana, and saw her mom's smile. Today is going to be a very good day, she thought. Eating her breakfast, she waited in the hallway for her mother and brother to come out, running to Merida as she and Declan started off to school. Lana had dropoff today, so she listened to the children chatter, Merida giving all the details of her new sister, as they made their way out of the secure area. Once they were inside the schoolyard, and waved goodbye to Lana, Merida turned to Tali.
"We need to make a plan," Merida said, tossing her raven black hair. Tali scrunched her brow in confusion.
"What kind of plan?" Tali asked, but it didn't really matter as long as they did it together.
"I'm going to be a Jedi knight, defending the Alliance, and you are my healer," Merida stated, her light blue eyes sparkling.
Tali nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see that. I'm in!" They hugged, and went into school, each dreaming of the future.
Miriah heard her apartment door again and wondered if Maura had decided to hunt her spouse down. When she felt the pure, sweet force of a baby, she hurried out of the kitchen, leaving Corso and Aric chatting. Spotting her eldest son, she gasped and hugged him. Behind him, she saw Mia holding a blanket wrapped bundle and was struck anew at the pure force light. "What's going on?" she whispered, holding her arms out for the baby. Mia gently transferred the bundle and Miriah felt tears on her cheeks. They went into the family room, joined now by the men and Miriah sat gingerly on the sofa before opening the flap of the blanket. Devin explained how they'd been blessed, but Miriah was focused solely on the baby in her arms. She looked into the deep blue eyes, and stroked the blond whips of hair, and realized the baby actually resembled Mia. Yes, little one, I love you already, she thought. Tuning back into the conversation, she realized that Devin had said the baby's name, but she wasn't sure what she'd heard. At her confused expression, Devin repeated it.
"Meghan Miriah," he said, and Miriah drew in a shuddering breath.
"She's beautiful, and so force aware," Miriah murmured.
"Most force sensitive babies are very stong, and begin to lose some of it as they grow, before embracing it fully," Mia explained. "Merida was different, and you were too, when she was very young."
"True," Miriah nodded, then Corso's arms were around her, looking down at the baby. After a bit, Devin stood.
"I need to get to the office, but we're both still a little in shock and so very happy," he said, smiling as Aric cradled the little girl on his shoulder. Corso hugged his son then turned to his friend.
"That's my grandbaby, get your own," he joked, and Aric held the baby out for him to take.
"Speaking of, I need to get to work too, and check on Coleen." They filed out until it was only Miriah and Corso again.
"Wow," she said, and Corso laughed, pulling her down to the sofa again.
Lana worked through the morning, conferring with Maura on troop movement and sizes around the Alliance. She noted that Shae and Arcann were fighting on Ruhnuk, their armies working with Arn Peralun on Manaan, and wondered what that planet looked like. She was deep into working on the immigration documents when she heard quick footsteps in the hallway. Without the Commander's guard, it really does echo, she thought. The steps ended quickly outside Devin's office and she went to see if she could help.
"The Commander is off today," Devin told the technician. "I can take the call." Devin stood, but the tech was shaking his head vigorously.
"This is for the Commander only," he explained. Devin sighed deeply, he knew how his father hated it when his mom had to work on her designated days off.
"Okay, wait here," he said, and Lana spoke up.
"They can transfer the call to the apartment, we just did a security update there," she said, and Devin nodded. Using their force link, he told his mother that a very important call was being put through, for her eyes only, and felt her acknowledgement. Nodding at the tech, Devin told him to go ahead. Lana remained in the doorway.
"I hear congratulations are in order," she said, smiling. Devin's grin stretched his face.
"We have been very blessed," he said. "She's such a beautiful baby. You'll have to come by later and see her."
"I'd love that," Lana replied, and then sobered. "Did the tech say who was calling Miriah?"
Devin sat back down, his face suddenly serious. "No, and that is something I should have asked. I guess I'm not totally focused today."
Lana smiled. "With a new baby in the house, you have a lot of changes happening quickly. Don't be so hard on yourself." She saw him take a few deep breaths and felt him relax in the force.
"I"ll check in with Mom later, see what the urgent request was about," he said, and Lana nodded. She had a feeling they would all know very soon.
Miriah was in front of the holo, her face serious as Tau Idair came into view. "Tau, how are you?" she asked.
"I am so glad to see you, Commander. I have bad news. We've lost contact with our team on Elom, the people we sent to dig into the ruins of Darth Nul's fortress." Miriah considered her words. Malgus was searching for an object that Darth Nul used, and they'd been tracking his movements for some time now, the last place was Elom, where Darth Nul had a fortress. Tau continued, "I was on Ossus with most of them, and they're the best. This isn't faulty equipment or someone asleep at the comm. Something has happened. We need to get there now."
Miriah felt the truth of Tau's words. "I can leave now, how are we getting there?"
"Uh, I was hoping…" Tau looked uncomfortable. She sighed. "I'm on your orbital station. I guess I need to ride with you."
Miriah nodded. "We'll be there in two hours. Get some food and a little rest. See you soon." Miriah ended the call and saw Corso's face. "I know, but I believe her. Something's gone wrong, and if it requires our presence, I can't send Devin with a new baby at home." Corso nodded, resigned.
"I'll grab our go bags, round up who you want to go," he said, but she could tell by his tone he wasn't that upset. Miriah hit the holo frequency for Lana.
"Lana, I just spoke to Tau. We need to go to Elom, so get your arrangements made. She's on the station, so we have a couple hours."
Lana hid her surprise well. "Will do. Nico's home for a few days, so the children are covered. I'll meet you in the hangar." Miriah nodded and dialed Aric, with the same news. Before she could call Caly, she considered the mission and decided to just cook herself or bring rations. No need to alarm the whole base, she thought. This may just be a search and rescue. Turning, she made her way to her closet, pulling the Alliance green cortosis tunic over her head and reaching for her gunbelt. She saw Corso putting on his cortosis as well, and had a quick flashback of being much younger, just the two of them, on her old ship. The though made her cross to hug him, and Corso pulled her close.
"I love you, sugar," she said softly.
"Love you, darlin'. We're going to be very careful here, no grandstanding. Hopefully their comms are just being blocked or something. At any rate, we're together, wherever you go."
"Together," Miriah confirmed, and felt a peace settle over them.
Aric was gathering his gear when Maura rushed into the apartment. "Thank the force you're not gone yet," she said, breathless. Aric guided her to a nearby chair.
"Sweetheart, I wouldn't leave without kissing you goodbye," he said, grinning at her. "You don't need to be running." He waited until she had regained normal breathing, worried that she'd overexerted herself.
"I hate that you're leaving so suddenly. Do you know where you're going?"
"Elom," Aric answered. He wasn't totally clear on why, but Miriah had mentioned the planet. "With Tau Idair. Mags is going, Lana, me and Corso. We should be back soon, and everyone here is doing well."
Maura nodded. "I know why Devin is staying. Why so many people?"
"Lana and me for security with Corso. Mags for any healing, and Miriah, because she's the Commander," he chuckled, and Maura smiled. He knew she hated sitting out, but her health was more important. He stood and pulled her into a hug. "We'll be fine, and back soon." He hoped his words were true.
The main hanger was like hornet's nest, everyone rushing around, supplies being loaded into the Commander's ship, on top of the normal operations. Miriah had dismissed her guard detail at the entrance, hoping to slip by and board her ship without too much fuss. With Corso leading the way, and Aric following, she was surprised to see Lana standing on the ramp. As they approached, Miriah saw Lana blush.
"Everything okay?" Miriah asked softly, and Lana nodded.
"I'm actually excited to be going," she replied.
"We're picking up Tau on the orbital station. Don't tease her too much," Miriah said with a smile.
Lana's eyes gleamed with force power. "Oh, good! Now I'm more excited! Let's jet!"
Miriah laughed and joined Corso on the bridge, where Aric was already doing the preflight checks. "Ready, darlin'?" Corso murmured to her.
Miriah took a deep breath and let it out. "Ready."
Calypso ran through the war room. If I hurry, I can catch Mom, she thought. She saw her brother as she almost ran headlong into a barrier, and he steadied her. "Devin, where is Mom?" she asked.
"On her way to Elom," he replied, then frowned. "Why?"
"I…just wanted to talk to her," Caly said, "I have some exciting news."
"Tell me," Devin said, and saw his sister squirm.
"This is really something I need to tell Mom directly," she said, shaking her head. "Maybe she'll be back soon."
"I hope so, too. Hey, you haven't heard about Meaghan yet," he told her, grinning. He explained about their new family addition and Caly hugged him hard.
"This is amazing! I'm going now to see her." Caly started to rush off again, but Devin caught her arm.
"Mia is heading this way to get the gang from school," he explained. He noticed that Caly stood a few steps from him, and wondered what she was thinking. His force etiquette didn't allow him to pry, but his curiosity was peaked. Time will tell, he thought, and then Mia and the stroller she'd bought the day before came into view, and he was consumed by his wife and baby. Caly hugged them both, held Meaghan for a moment, but left them to school pick up, hurrying to her apartment. Torian was waiting for her, and twirled her around, making her laugh.
"I missed Mom," she finally told him.
"No worries, hon, she'll be back. We'll just keep mum til then." Caly hoped it was a quick trip. She wouldn't be able to hide for long.