Vestara smoothed her swim tunic and inspected herself in the full-length mirror. Satisfied, she grabbed a hair tie and an oversized towel before joining Ben.
"You look beautiful!" Ben pulled her into a snuggle and kiss. "Are you ready?"
"I guess. Just find me a nice lounge chair to nap in."
"But first, we're going to swim." Ben arched his eyebrows coyly. He wrapped his arm around her and led her out the door.
"You're supposed to carry me, remember?" She laid her head on his shoulder as they rode the turbolift down to the Rec Dec.
A mixed species group bustled around the Rec Dec lobby, getting directions, picking up supplies, and chatting with friends and family.
"Hi, you two." Lando strode across the lobby to greet them. "How are you feeling this morning, Darlin'?"
"Me or Ves?"
Lando gave a longsuffering sigh and looked at Vestara. She swatted her husband.
"I'm fine. I still have five weeks left, you know."
"Yeah, but I hear twins have a habit of coming early." Lando frowned at her stomach. "I need you two scamps stay put, at least until I give your Mama back to your grandparents.
Vestara patted the unborn twins, who rewarded her with a flurry of kicks. "I don't think it works that way. Come one, Ben. I want my nap."
Shouldering his knapsack, Wynn palmed the door release and entered the Naboo Swimming Pavilion.
"You came!" Desha rushed to his side. "Now let's have some fun."
She slipped her arm through his, tugging him towards the pool. A couple of meters from the edge of the pool sat a deck chair with conveniently wide arms.
"I think 'I'll do my relaxing right there." He nodded at the chair.
Desha snatched his knapsack. "Did you bring datapads?"
"You wanted me to relax. Working on my plans relaxes me."
Desha's lekku waved. She rubbed her forehead. "That is not"-
"Wynn!" Allana streaked across the room with surprising speed, considering the toddlers perched on her hips. She stood on tiptoe and pecked his cheek. "I'm so glad you made it. And Uncle Lando let you bring Pocket!"
Chance followed, holding little Hayden's hand.
Wynn took Adam, freeing one of Allana's arms. "I wouldn't have stayed without her."
Allana laughed. "And Uncle Lando knew better than to make scene with the GA Chief of State."
"Mama! Daddy!" Daisy waved her pudgy arms, bouncing in Allana's grasp.
Ben and Vestara waved back to their daughter. Ben guided his wife to a lounge chair.
The four oldest Twins climbed onto their mother, patting her belly and talking the babies. Ben reached down to rescue her, scooping up an armload of Twins.
"Jedi Skywalker?" A silky voice brought Wynn's head around.
Vestara gasped.
"A Sith!" Ben dropped the Twins back onto Vestara and Force-leaped over the chair to place himself between the lavender-skinned woman and his family.
"She's from Kesh." Wynn raised his hand in a gesture of calm. "Not necessarily a darksider."
"Thank you, Chief Dorvan." The Keshiri woman inclined her head. "Do you know I thought about voting for you? I was merely curious to see for myself is there is any truth to BAMR's allegations about Jedi Skywalker and his wife."
Vestara bristled visibly. "I'm a Jedi, too."
The Keshiri pursed her lips. "Forgive me, Mrs. Skywalker, but from where I'm standing, you seem to be more of a Jedi-producer."
Wynn fixed the woman with a stern stare. "Excuse me, Miss…?"
"Khass, Luri Khass."
"Miss Khass, Kesh entered the GA as a free, equal planet and I have taken many measures to ensure that your people are not harassed or mistreated. That respect is accorded with the understanding that the people of Kesh will also refrain from harassment."
"Harassment?" Luri Khass shook her head, making her dark hair dance. "You are very quick to put Kesh in its place. You seem much less interested in Jedi conduct."
Wynn considered revealing that he had in fact authorized social services to investigate Vestara's treatment. A few months after the Jedi had reopened the Temple, she and the Twins had been taken to a secure, Ysalamiri-filled location, where she had been gently questioned and thoroughly examined. Five hours of interviews and three therapy sessions had resulted in a sobbing, angry Vestara alternately begging and demanding to be returned to her husband and in-laws.
Wynn had personally returned her. He had reminded the Skywalkers that investigation was simply part of the Accountability Agreement between the GA and the Jedi. He had assured them that he had never suspected them of wrongdoing. He had even pointed out that the Jedi had the right to investigate his conduct, if they wished.
Completely ignoring him, Mara had gathered her four grandchildren while Luke took his tearful, pregnant daughter-in-law in his arms, soothing and petting her. She clung fiercely to him.
"Please don't let them take me away again, Papa Luke!"
"We won't, Sweetheart. We've given all the cooperation they're getting."
Luke had followed the statement with a look that made Wynn hope the Force did not allow Jedi to freeze people with their eyes.
Ben had come in then, taking Vestara from his father. "I would never hurt her!" It had appeared he had been crying, too.
After finally winning their forgiveness, Wynn had convinced them to take advantage of Coruscant's wide variety of mental and physical health services. Vestara's role was not easy, but she could not be better cared for or more loved.
"I assure you; Jedi conduct is always of interest to me. And since there are six Jedi in this room and just one of you, I suggest you find another swimming pool." He motioned to the two Jedi women and Valin who were watching from the pool.
Luri Khass smiled tightly. "I suppose I'll be on my way, then." She offered a stiff bow before leaving.
"Interesting." Nek Bwu'atu peeled off from the wall by the door. "She seemed very invested for someone with just a casual interest."
"Maybe BAMR knows about the social services incident," Natasi, hanging on arm, suggested. "She might have been trying to get a statement from you, Wynn."
Ben frowned. "You think she's a journalist?" He turned his frown on Wynn. "And you just let her go?"
"If she harasses you again, I will deal with her." Wynn carried little Adam to the wading pool and carefully placed him in the water. "BAMR hasn't broken any laws. They're always very careful to word their slander as supposition instead of fact."
"Isn't it against the law to use camera drones to spy on people in their homes?" Vestara sat up slowly.
For a moment, Wynn wondered what she meant. "Ah. The "barefoot and pregnant" holo. You're right. I don't see how they could have obtained that legally. I'll authorize and investigation immediately."
Wynn pulled his on of legal pads out of his bag, found a deck chair and quickly got to work.
Ben's frown deepened into a scowl as he absently bounced Daisy on his knee. Vestara understood his feelings. Slippery BAMR had escaped permanent closure before, rebranding as a gossip-filled holo-tabloid and sensationalistic talk show channel. True, they were no longer a respected news outlet, but their influence and popularity continued to increase. Chief Dorvan needed to shut them down, once and for all. Instead, he was playing fair while they played dirty.
"Ben, Vestara?"Admiral Bwu'atu knelt beside her. "I need to know if you two actually felt darkside energy from Miss Khass."
Ben's scowl eased slightly. "A little. I don't think she's very strong in the Force, but she's had some training."
Vestara nodded. "I think she spends a lot of time with real darksiders. I could feel it on her. Kind of like when you've been with someone who was wearing strong perfume."
"So you think she was sent by the real Sith," Natasi concluded, squeezing into Nek's lap.
Vestara dropped her gaze. "Unfortunately, some of my people still think they can make their own rules."
"It's not your fault." Allana claimed Daisy from Ben and put in the wading pool with the rest of the Twins. Chance joined her and they sat on the edge, dangling their feet in the shallow water.
"No," Vestara admitted, "but I would still be one of them, if not for Ben and his parents."
A wave of water slapped Vestara and Ben full in the face.
"Hey, Gloomies!" Jysella called from the pool, "this is a cruise. It's supposed to be fun. Come swim!"
"It would be more fun with less holo-journalists," Ben groused.
Vestara sighed. "As long as we're already wet, we might as well swim." She held up her arms. "Carry me."
Author's Note: I decided BAMR should also have a talk show channel, where they probably just try to find ways to make the Jedi look bad. Maybe Palpatine should have started a holo-tabloid (under a false identity, of course). Anakin would have provided plenty of material for shocking headlines, don't you think? Or perhaps the tabloid could have a scandalous article about Obi Wan and Satine.