Comedia sang to herself as she boiled some water and poured it into a teapot where she'd already placed one of the bags of the thé des luxure tea. The instructions said it needed at least ten minutes to seep in. Plenty of time to get Ki-Adi to the park and for Carmine to meet them there with Ms. Susy.
Comedia carefully placed the teapot into a special basket with some cupcakes decorated with gummy bears that she made herself.
Ki-Adi was just getting done with training some younglings, when Comedia approached him.
"Hi, Daddy." Comedia smiled, her tail swishing like a happy dog wagging its tail.
"Hello, Comedia. What have you got there?" Ki-Adi said.
"Just a little special treat I put together. It's a nice day out, so I thought maybe we could go to the park to enjoy these. What do you say?"
Master Mundi thought about it. It was definitely a nice day outside, and since he didn't have any more missions or anything to do today, he figured, why not?
On the way, Comedia shot Carmine a text that she and Ki-Adi were on their way to the park.
Carmine got Comedia's text, and he took that as his cue to pick up the picnic basket, and find his mother as she was freshly showered and dressed after a long day teaching ballet class, when Carmine arrived with a picnic basket.
"Mom. How was class today?" Carmine asked.
"Productive, as usual." Susy said, when she noticed the basket. "Oh! I see you have a picnic basket. You taking your beautiful wife on a date?"
"Actually, I was hoping to take my beautiful mother on a date. The weather's nice on Coruscant, and I happen to know a park where it would be perfect to enjoy a picnic with a special guy."
Susy couldn't help but feel touched that Carmine put together something nice for her. It'd been a while since she spent time with him, just her and Carmine.
"Oh, Carmine. This is so sweet. I can't believe you did this just for me."
"You have no idea. Shall we, Mother?"
Comedia brought her father over to the park and found the table at which she was to meet Carmine and Susy. It was definitely a nice day today, a perfect day for a picnic. And sure enough, Carmine was arriving with Ms. Susy at that very table.
"Oh, hello, Ms. Susy. Carmine." Comedia said.
"Hello, Comedia. Master Mundi." Carmine greeted.
"Fancy running into you two." Ki-Adi said.
"I see you and your daughter had the same idea to have a picnic today." Ms. Susy said.
"You have no idea." Comedia winked at Carmine. "Since we're all here. Would you two care to join us?"
"That sounds lovely. What do you think, Carmine?"
"Yes. Let's have a picnic together." Carmine said.
Carmine and Comedia set out the two picnics. Comedia set out two teacups and poured some of the luxure tea in.
"What kind of tea is that?" Carmine asked, getting a whiff of it.
"Some new peach tea." Comedia said. "Something new to try."
"Hmm. Peach tea. Sounds delicious." Ki-Adi said.
"Peaches are my favorite." Susy said.
When nobody else was looking, Comedia shot Carmine a text, telling him it was time to ditch the two for the surprise date. So, they each made up an excuse to leave.
"Oh! What do you know?" Carmine said. "I forgot something. I'll just pop over to a convenience store! Bye!"
Comedia rolled her eyes. For someone who lived a double life as a pop star, Carmine was not very good at lying on the spot. She tried to come up with a more believable excuse.
"Uh-oh! I think I forgot Benny Bear before coming here." Comedia said. "I'll just go get him. Be right back. Don't wait to start enjoying!"
Key word: tried.
And Comedia flew off, leaving her father and Ms. Susy alone at the picnic table, where they began to notice things they didn't see before. There was chocolate, pink napkins, and little flowers on the baskets too. All things that looked… romantic.
Ki-Adi and Susy saw as their kids rushed away, which seemed strange at first. Their children invited them to the park, where they just happened to meet each other, only for the alicorn and human to ditch them for some reason? And that was when they started to put two and two together. Both of them groaned and facepalmed when they realized what was happening.
"Carmine and Comedia led both of us here on purpose!" Susy said.
Comedia had played pranks on Master Mundi before, but he could see this wasn't even a prank, yet she still managed to fool him. He felt like he should've suspected something when he didn't sense anything involving whoopee cushions, fake bugs, or a rubber chicken.
"How did I not sense Comedia was setting me up on a date?" Ki-Adi said.
"Has she done that before?"
"Well… no. Pranks, yes. Elaborately silly methods of escaping trips to the vet, only once. But, I've met other women before, every single one being introduced to Comedia at one point, and only one point each. It did not end well with any of them, all because they could not deal with my having a daughter who is an equine."
Susy looked sympathetic. Despite that she and her son both walked on two legs, that didn't overturn the fact that one was a Twi'lek and the other was a human. Her son also had magical powers of his own while she had none, thus making her unable to teach him the way an enchanted mother or father could. And sometimes, it wasn't even their difference in species that made people look oddly at Ms. Susy and Carmine.
"I see. You wouldn't be the first to be treated in such a way. When I first adopted Carmine, there were many a time folks would ridicule me, a Twi'lek, for having a human son, and sometimes just for being a single mother. People would question who's going to teach him to be a man? It's not like I haven't been around men before to learn how they should and should not behave."
Ki-Adi also sympathized with Susy. They at least knew they had that in common; they'd both been ridiculed for having an inter-species parent-child relationship, but neither let that stop them from caring for their adopted children and loving them as their own. They'd each adopted their children at the age of fourteen, and raised them by themselves, facing many challenges along the way, including people asking them when they were going to make an honest man/woman out of themselves and marry so they wouldn't have to be single parents anymore. And both of them also had relationship troubles in the past.
Neither of them knew, but Carmine and Comedia were watching their parents from afar, and so far, it looked like the date was going well. They were actually talking to each other, and they hadn't even drunk the tea yet.
The two adults were laughing when they came to terms with how they had to admit it was clever of their children to plan this whole thing, and very sweet of them to want to try and help them out with their love lives. But, they also agreed neither was sure they were ready to step back into the game after their nasty breakups in the past.
"Well, we don't want this tea to go to waste." Ki-Adi said. "Why not enjoy it before we go find the children?"
"Agreed. I'd hate to see this picnic they put together go to waste too." Susy said, picking up a cup.
Comedia felt victorious as her father and Carmine's mother clinked the teacups and took a sip of the tea. Except, something happened that she didn't expect. Shortly after they sipped their tea, Ki-Adi and Susy were looking into each other's eyes, and suddenly, they were holding hands… and feeding each other?
"Okay…. That, I didn't expect." Comedia said, cringing a little. "Dating must've been different back in their youths."
Carmine felt like he was about to throw up in his mouth a little.
"Okay, that, I really didn't need to see." Carmine said.
"Well, at least their date's going well." Comedia shrugged with her wings.
As soon as they were done eating and drinking tea, Susy and Ki-Adi were arm-in-arm on a walk, lost in each other's eyes.
"Ki-Adi…" Susy sighed. "I never realized how incredibly handsome you are."
"And I never realized how incredibly hot you are." Ki-Adi said.
Okay, now that had Comedia throwing up a little in her mouth. Now she knew another reason her father never took her on dates with women he'd dated before.
"Okay, I think we can leave the rest to them." Comedia said. "Partially 'cause I can't watch them act all gushy like this anymore today."
"You and me both." Carmine said.
Comedia got back to the Temple and started to work on an assignment for one of her Jedi classes, and she felt glad knowing her father's date was going well.
Carmine, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth as he was on a face call with his friend Sanjay. Ever since they were roommates in high school, besides his wife, Carmine felt like he could be himself around Sanjay, and tell him anything.
"Ms. Susy dating a Jedi?" Sanjay said. "Now I've heard everything."
"Yeah, but still." Carmine said, pacing again. "I mean, what if this date goes really well, and they really really like each other? They couldn't get married! Could they?"
"I'm pretty sure they're both of legal age for marriage. So, I guess you'd have two moms and two dads, since if Master Mundi did marry Ms. Susy, he would then technically be your stepfather."
"Not helping, Sanjay! I'm really freaking out about this!"
"Okay, look. Carmine, is there something wrong with this guy?"
"I don't know. We don't talk much. All I really know about him is that he can be a little too serious sometimes, and could stand to rely on more than logic, which I guess is why he got matched with a pony as silly and playful as Comedia."
"I know it's been some time since we graduated, but if I remember correctly, Ms. Susy is a smart woman. And she always knew how to dance her way through more than classes and performances."
"Yeah, but after her disaster wedding, I don't want the same thing to happen to her again, and the guy used to have four wives at the same time, for crying out loud! How am I supposed to believe he won't break her heart with another woman too?"
"Well, his kid probably knows more about him than you and I combined. Have you tried asking her the story behind that?"
"I think she said something along the lines of endangered species. But, you know the excuses cheaters make. Remember your breakup with Sandy Goldman?"
"Shh! Phoebe might hear you."
Sanjay had to admit, he didn't have a perfect romantic past either. But who really did? Sanjay had met pretty girls in high school, and even had a girlfriend junior year, only for her to cheat on him with one of the seniors, leading to a nasty breakup. But, Carmine played a song to cheer him up. Helping Carmine deal with a potential stepparent was another story.
"You know, Carmine. I'm starting to think it's not the thought of having a stepfather alone that really scares you."
Carmine wasn't sure how to respond to that. Unfortunately, Sanjay had to cut the convo short, as he had to get back to rehearsal with the band, but he did advise Carmine to try talking to Kara, seeing as she had a stepmother now.
So, Carmine did decide to see his sister. As luck would have it, Kara wasn't far.
"Kara, can I ask you something?" Carmine said. "I think I need big sister's advice."
"What is it, Carmine?" Kara asked.
"Well… you know how my mom is your stepmom now?"
Kara didn't need to be reminded Shmi wasn't her biological mother. She grew to calling her 'Mom' by now, but it was obvious Kara wasn't related to Shmi in any way, and not just because Kara had the darkest skin color, which she also inherited from her birth mother. Regardless of the fact that she was a grown woman, like any child with widowed or divorced parents, she was hesitant when Qui-Gon announced his long-awaited engagement to Shmi. She'd never even known her birth mother, and the fact that a lot of stories featured evil stepmothers didn't really help either despite knowing those were fictional.
If it could happen in a fictional story, it could possibly happen for real, and it had in many real-life murder stories she'd read in the news. A classic story about a gold-digger who marries a rich business person, then stages an "accident" purely to claim the inheritance, only for their plot to be foiled by learning the victim left everything to their children or someone else. But in the end, the gold digging stepmother got her comeuppance. Still, Kara had seen too many to count.
Unlike in classic stories, however, Kara was actually related to the two stepbrothers she got from her father marrying her now stepmother. And, Kara was not made to do all the chores like Cinderella, and she was already a princess.
"Have you been noticing something I haven't about our parents' relationship?" Kara said. "It's perfectly normal for couples to have disagreements."
"Yeah, that I know. But, you know I technically have two moms since I was adopted by Ms. Susy, so if she met someone, I could potentially get a stepfather."
"She's met someone?" Kara smiled. "That's wonderful!"
"Except… she was almost married once, but her groom did the maid of honor minutes before the I do's. And the guy she's on a date with is Master Mundi, who's been married to four different women at the same time!"
"You know that was because his species was endangered, right?"
"So, I hear." Carmine said.
Carmine sighed and sat down. But, like Sanjay, Kara had the sense Carmine was afraid of something other than a stepparent mistreating him or getting made fun of for having a horse for a stepsister.
"Carmine, you know having horses has changed a lot of Jedi for the better, and I've never seen you this worked up about anything with your adoptive mother, not even last Mother's Day. What are you really afraid of?"
Carmine was scared to admit it; there was more to what he was afraid of. He did want to see his adoptive mother happy, and he was terrified of seeing her get hurt. But ironically, he was scared of seeing her in a successful relationship too. He started to worry, what if Ms. Susy really fell in love with some guy, then she married him, and eventually forgets all about her son? And if her future husband did have kids of his own, what about her falling in love with her stepchildren too?
"If this date goes really well, and she and Master Mundi really like each other…." Carmine felt tears come to his eyes. "What if my adopted mother loves him more than she loves me?"
It wasn't as though Carmine was a stranger to being tossed aside when it came to foster families. Ms. Susy was the only foster mother who actually adopted him. How many people do you know who would adopt a fourteen-year-old?
"Carmine, listen to me," said Kara, getting Carmine to look at her. "Susy would never abandon you. When we first met her, she went on about how in all that time she was trapped in slavery, she could never stop thinking about you. She tried everything she could to escape, but felt guilty when she couldn't. She would've given anything if it meant she could be there for her little prince."
And it was true. Ms. Susy cried herself to what little sleep she'd gotten over the years, knowing her son was left alone with his pregnant girlfriend, and they were both only seventeen. Underage, pregnant, and without any other family to turn to. She couldn't imagine what they had to go through. It was hard enough for thirteen-year-olds in the foster system, heaven forbid it came to that, but a seventeen-year-old? It was amazing how something as simple as age could pose a problem to where one could seek help.
When little kids ask for help, people often assume the kids are making things up when it's about something serious, because the grownups always think to a kid, not being able to reach a high shelf is as serious as a heart attack. But when a teenager asks for help, they either get treated like babies or people comment how they should know how to do things themselves because they're reaching adulthood, and when adults ask for help, too many perceive it as them being weak. And Carmine had been treated that way his whole life by everyone but his father and grandmother, and spent all his time in foster care having to fend for himself. So, it wasn't surprising he was afraid to ask for help from anyone, unless he was under his Count Crescendo guise where Caroline was merely seen as his manager doing her job.
"She really said all that?" Carmine said. Sure, Ms. Susy told Carmine herself that she missed him and dreamed she'd see him again, but Carmine heard it said that it was the things that were said about someone behind their backs that showed someone's true colors.
"And more. You're precious to her, Carmine." Kara nodded. "She wouldn't trade you for any man. Much like Father with Shmi, Ms. Susy wouldn't marry anyone if she didn't believe he would care for you the way she does."
Kara hugged her little brother, and Carmine started to feel a little better. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought. He knew his adoptive mother was a smart woman. And Comedia wouldn't be a bad stepsister, although he might end up dealing with being a victim to more of her pranks, as siblings were sometimes known to play pranks on each other.
"Thanks, Kara. I really needed that." Carmine sighed as his sister wiped his tears away.
Later, Comedia was ready for dinner, but she realized her father wasn't home yet. So, she tried calling him on her phone, but it went to voicemail.
"Hi, Dad. I was just wondering when you were gonna get back."
Comedia waited for an hour, but Master Mundi still wasn't home or answering his phone. She started to get worried and very hungry, and unfortunately, she didn't know how to cook for herself that well. She could concoct pranks, but not culinary arts just yet. So, she decided to rush to the Commissary to see if anyone there heard from him. Except, when she got there, she found him already there, and he wasn't alone.
Ki-Adi and Susy were sitting at a table together, sipping a strawberry milkshake together, like you might have seen teenagers do in one of those rom-coms or something. Some other Jedi thought it looked romantic, but the younglings, they looked ready to throw up, some of them.
"No dessert could ever be as sweet as you." Ki-Adi sighed, looking at Ms. Susy.
"You're so sweet, I got diabetes." Ms. Susy sighed.
"Bleh!" Caleb grimaced. "Why do grownups get so mushy when they're in love?"
"I think it's so romantic." Katooni said, smiling at how the two seemed so in love. "Look at the way they're looking into each other's eyes."
Comedia had to admit, it looked like the date went really well. But she was still mad at her dad for not calling her back.
"Daddy! Why didn't you call me back?" Comedia said, approaching her father. "I got worried when you didn't come back for dinner."
"That's nice, Comedia." Ki-Adi said, not looking away from Ms. Susy's eyes.
"Dad!" Comedia sighed. "I take it the date went well?"
"All will be well as long as I'm with my Susy Cutesie." Ki-Adi said.
"And I with you, Ki-Adi Kitty." Susy said, stroking Ki-Adi's mustache.
Okay, that got Comedia nauseated again. They'd already gotten nicknames for each other? It looked like the date went well. But… maybe a little too well.
"Ick! I think I'm gonna skip dinner." Comedia groaned. "I just lost my appetite."
Comedia was glad to see her father seemed happy, but she didn't think she'd also find it sickening to her stomach. Carmine and his siblings saw it too, and so did a few other masters. Some of the masters couldn't help finding it sweet that Ki-Adi found a special woman he was choosing to be with for love rather than to just save a species.
"I wonder if we'll be seeing another wedding soon," chuckled Master Fisto.
"Bleh!" Carmine feigned barfing. "Don't even go there. It was one date. One date!"
"That, I agree with you." Comedia said, grabbing herself a salad. "I don't think even Anakin talks that mushy with Padme."
"Maybe because I reserve the baby talk for actual babies." Anakin said, then he looked at Luke. "Isn't that right, Little Lukie?"
Luke then threw mashed peas onto Anakin's eye.
"And usually that happens." Anakin sighed, making the others laugh.
"You'll get used to it, Comedia." Boba said. "Older lovers have a bit of a habit of getting gushy like they're in a rom-com. Trust me, I've seen all my grandparents do it lots of times when they thought they were alone."
Qui-Gon rolled his eyes at that remark.
Comedia really hoped Boba was right. But even after dinner, Ki-Adi and Ms. Susy were still gushing over each other like hopeless romantics under a spell.
"Okay, that's it! I'm going to bed." Comedia said.
So, hoping to get over her nausea, Comedia drank some ginger ale she found in the fridge, brushed her teeth and got into some new starfish patterned pajamas and cuddled with Benny Bear to get to sleep.
The next morning, Comedia woke up to her phone ringing, and she answered it to find that Master Anakin was contacting her.
"Morning, Anakin." Comedia said.
"Sorry to wake you, Comedia." said Anakin. "But do you have any clue where Master Mundi is? We're having an emergency council meeting, and he's not here."
"I imagine he had to have returned last night. Maybe he's still sleeping." Comedia said. "I'll go get him."
So, Comedia went to her father's room to see if he was sleeping, but she walked in on something worse. Ki-Adi and Ms. Susy were making out!
That time, Comedia ran to the bathroom and actually threw up!
"Okay, that I didn't need to see!" Comedia told herself when she was done puking. "Looks like I'm skipping breakfast too."
Comedia went back to her father's room, this time grabbing a rubber chicken to chew on so she would be calm enough to hold back from regurgitating again. But that was hard when she walked back and saw her father and Ms. Susy acting all mushy again.
"I could wake up to you forever, Master Lovebug." Susy cooed.
"You make me happiest of all, Sweetsie Girl." Ki-Adi cooed right back.
"Dad! Can you please stop talking like that long enough for a Council meeting?" Comedia said. "You're needed at the Council Chambers now."
"I'm already in a very important meeting with a beautiful babe right here."
That was definitely unlike anything Master Mundi would say, at least, that Comedia hoped. She decided to bite Ki-Adi by the robes and pull him to the meeting, but the moment he was away from Ms. Susy, he freaked out.
"Don't take me from my love!"
"Come back, my heartstrings!" Ms. Susy cried, running after the Cerean being dragged.
Comedia rolled her eyes at how crazy both these two were behaving. She really hoped they would tame it on the baby talk quickly.
"And yet you were giving me a hard time about dating Remix." Comedia said through her teeth.
