The next week brought something completely unexpected to your door. It had been a bad day for you, the farmer's market had dragged along for most of the day with barely any sales, and you'd had a lot of time on your hands to watch the children run around the stalls while parents browsed the market offerings. It made your ovaries hurt.
It wasn't like you were running out of time till menopause hit, but you definitely could hear the biological clock ticking louder now than it used to. When you were working labor & delivery at the hospital you'd seen hundreds of babies come into the world and dreamed of when you could make that happen for yourself.
But without a partner, without a large enough income, without family around to help, a baby wasn't in the cards yet. There would be a time and a place, but it wasn't here and now. You just got a little sad about it every once in a while, that's all.
A knock sounded at the door, interrupting your pity party and quest for chocolate in the upper kitchen cabinet. A harried-looking Obi-Wan was standing on the stoop, clearly agitated.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt your evening, but I need a favor." He asked, blue eyes imploring you for help.
"Sure, anything." You reply, surprising yourself a little. You weren't usually the ready-to-help type, but it must be urgent if he was knocking on your door when you'd barely been acquainted.
"There's been an emergency at work, a pipe burst. My office is in danger of flooding and I need to save as much of my work as I can, I'm in the middle of a huge project-"
"You need me to watch the baby?" You ask.
"Yes, I just put him down. He should sleep soundly till I get back, but I can't leave him-"
"Yes, of course." Obi-Wan's shoulders visibly slump in relief and you check to make sure your phone is in your jeans pocket still before leaving the house. Obi-Wan is walking quickly, so you have to jog a little to keep up. He's running his hands through his hair nervously as you walk across the street. He pauses at his Prius, patting his pockets down to make sure he has everything.
"Keys, wallet, phone. Oh - If there is an emergency, you can call me. If I'm not swimming, I'll answer." Obi-Wan pulled a worn leather wallet out of his back pocket and flipped an embossed business card out of it.
"Thanks, I'm sure we'll be fine. Not my first rodeo."
Obi-Wan gave a tight smile and ducked into his Prius, rolling out of the driveway and speeding off down the street. You looked at the business card curiously, fishing out your phone to enter his number in. The title was for "Obi-Wan Kenobi, M. Arch., Temple Design Group". An architect, interesting. You would have guessed professor or writer based on appearances. You sighed and turned to go inside, suddenly a little apprehensive of what you might find there.
On first glance, it was surprisingly neat. Sure, toys and books littered the floor of the front room, but underneath the day-to-day clutter was a fairly tidy house. It felt homey and warm. Not a sound came from the bedroom, so Anakin was still down for the count. You decided to explore a little just to try and gain insight into what Obi-Wan and Anakin's life was like.
The front room boasted a fireplace, large squashy couch, and a reading corner with an armchair and floor-to-ceiling shelves. Art from both toddler hands and professional artists was framed on the walls, and you proceeded into the dining room/kitchen area to see what else there was to see.
The dining room and kitchen both were very plain, it almost didn't look like a toddler lived there, aside from the booster seat in one of the dining room tables and a collection of sippy cups drying in the dish rack. Upon further inspection, the fridge was covered with fun magnets and family photos, including one of Obi-Wan holding an infant Anakin with a onesie on each of their heads for laughs.
The adjoining hallway led to several closed doors, so you quietly poked your head into each. The bathroom was clean aside from a large bucket of spilled bath toys, and you took a moment to check out your hair in the mirror before moving on.
Next was Anakin's room, which was an utter disaster. The kid himself was facedown, butt up, snoring softly as the nightlight in the corner slowly shifted from red to blue and back again.
That left the last door to be Obi-Wan's room, and at the last second you stopped yourself from peeking inside. That would be weird and rude, wouldn't it?
Now to find something to do to pass the time.
You decided to work your way back to the front of the house, picking up as you went. That meant starting with the spilled bath toys, and then finding other things to tidy.
Upon further exploration, you found a small laundry room off the kitchen that you'd mistaken for a pantry. A basket of clean clothes was sitting on the open dryer door, which made you laugh. You could fold them while you sat and listened to music, then finish off with picking up the toys.
It was quiet work, listening to an acoustic Spotify playlist and folding. Time slipped by as you tidied, and soon you came to the end of your tasks. With no TV in sight, that left you to either play on your phone or explore some of the books lining the walls of the room.
You were looking for an outlet behind the armchair when a title on the shelf caught your eye. It was a gardening book you didn't have yet, the exciting second edition of a book on what plants paired well with others for maximum growing potential. Forgetting about your phone, you curled up in the armchair and eagerly dove into the book.
It was past midnight when a bedraggled Obi-Wan came in the door toting a large plastic bin of papers with a computer monitor balanced on top.
"Can I help?" You ask, pulled away from the last chapter of the gardening book.
"No, darling, thank you. It's just one more load for tonight, the rest will stay in the car."
Obi-Wan disappeared into his room to deposit the bin, then made a second trip to and from the Prius, this time carrying an expensive-looking computer tower and a tangle of cords.
"It was sheer pandemonium." He said wearily when he returned, collapsing on the squashy couch. "Dozens of architects, engineers, computer people, all dashing about, trying to save all their work. The offices at the west side of the building had significant water damage, I was fortunate enough to be on the opposite side. But the structural damage will be enough to keep us out of the building for the time being, and I simply cannot lose any time on this project."
"Ironic, isn't it? An office of architects has structural failure." You say lightly. Obi-Wan groans.
"I've heard that one enough today, thank you. The lead partners are furious at this turn of events, there might be media coverage that could be bad for business."
"But you didn't design your building, right?"
"Thankfully." He draped an arm across his eyes and sighed deeply.
You sat for a moment in silence before you realized you should probably leave now.
"Erm, well, I'm going to get going then. Let me know if you need me to babysit again, I'm more than happy to."
"Right, right." Obi-Wan hauled himself off the couch and went to get the door for you.
"Um, mind if I borrow this?" You ask sheepishly, holding up the book.
"Certainly, my dear. Keep it. I hardly have the time for gardening."
"Well, goodnight." You say as you step out. To your surprise, Obi-Wan followed you out.
"A gentleman always walks the lady home." He said, giving you a tired smile. "It's the least I can do, don't think I didn't notice the tidying you've done."
"It's nothing." You flush in spite of yourself as you both walk across the street. "I needed to stay awake and you work so hard, might as well make it easier on you."
"You are so sweet."
He walked you all the way to your door, and gave you another tired smile when you said goodnight.
The next day you were out weeding and watering when a familiar voice scared you out of your gardening zen.
"Hello there."
You squeaked in surprise, toppling off your gardening turtle.
"Oh, blast." Obi-Wan said, hurrying around your picket fence and into the garden to help you up.
"Sorry, my dear, I didn't mean to frighten you."
"It's all right, I was just really in the zone." You panted, adjusting your sunhat so you could look up at him.
"I won't keep you from your flowers for long, I just needed to come and scold you for folding my laundry for me."
"Oh, you found it. I didn't know if you would once I moved it."
"You are simply too kind, darling. You deserve a night out. Let me take you to dinner."
"Oh, gosh." You flush. "You really don't have to, I was just helping..."
"And I want to thank you for your help. You barely know us and you've already done so much."
"It's nothing." You flush even harder at his passion and persistence.
"It's not, darling, and I don't want to hear another word out of you about it. How about next week? Thursday?"
"O-okay." You stammer.
At that moment a tiny voice across the street interrupted what ever Obi-Wan was going to say next.
"Obi? C'mon, want pancakes." Anakin called.
"Duty calls." Obi-Wan said to you, rolling his eyes with a smile. He picked his way back across the street, his feet bare as usual. He scooped up Anakin and started dunking him up and down, making the toddler squeal. Your ovaries gave you a familiar pang. Obi-Wan whispered into Anakin's ear, and they both waved at you, making your heart turn to mush. You waved back, and watched the two disappear into their house for pancakes.
You heaved a sigh and returned to your flowers, your mind turning to Thursday and dinner, bringing a flush up your neck that was not entirely due to the sunshine beating down on you.
The week came and went. You did your usual work, teaching an intro medical terminology class at the local community college and tending flowers to sell on the weekends. The spring rain had done wonders for all your plants, and it would soon be time to harvest early vegetables alongside your bigger crops of flowers.
You'd tried really hard not to get too worked up about dinner with Obi-Wan. It's not like it was a date, and you didn't need to try and impress him or anything. It would just be two friends sharing a meal, right? You'd get to know him a bit more, have one beer, then come home to your respective houses. It would all be fine.
Thursday morning came and you hadn't heard any plans yet, so you decided to text Obi-Wan. You'd saved his contact info when you babysat, so after a little deliberation you sent him a message.
Hello, this is Flower Lady. Are we still on for tonight?
Less than a second later, your phone was ringing, surprising you. It was him.
"Hello there." He said before you could even greet him.
"Hi." You tried not to internally melt a little at his deep voice.
"I would love your company tonight, I was thinking we would go to my favorite little bistro. Their soups are divine."
"Okay, sounds nice."
"I'll pick you up around seven?"
"Mhmm."
"What are you doing? Didn't see you outside yet today."
"I've been starting seeds for the later summer garden crops in my grow racks and just paused for a snack. I'll be out to water later."
"Hmm... it's lovely out. You should get some sun before I steal you away tonight."
"Kay."
You were about to reply when there was a scuffle at the end of the line, and Anakin's little voice came over the line.
"Hi Flower Lady, I played trucks today."
"Is that so? Tell me about it."
"I played with my red one and my blue one, and I made them go weally weally fast before booooooooom! kapowshfdlkbghbli" The call broke off as the phone went flying and crashed to the floor. You could faintly hear Obi-Wan scrambling to get it.
"Hello? Hello?"
"I'm still here," You chuckle. "That was adorable."
"Little maniac." Obi-Wan grumbled.
"So, seven tonight? I'll be waiting." You say, trying not to lean into it too heavily.
"Yes, yes. I shall pick you up promptly at seven for our delicious soup flights and white wine."
"All right, thank you Obi-Wan." You disconnect, then stared around your kitchen aimlessly while you came back down to Earth. He was the sweetest man, but you barely knew him. It wasn't good to rush in, even though your curiosity was burning. You checked the clock: only a few more hours until seven.