Secrets and Suspicion (Book 1)

Still Young

"So, how much longer until the baby is born?" Ahsoka asked at the dinner table.

"Thr-"

"Three months and 26 days," Anakin interrupted Padmé. "Bam! I said it first!" He stood up, smacking the table. "What do I get?"

"You get a kiss," Padmé said.

Ahsoka laughed.

"That's all? How about a day off?" Anakin asked desperately.

"That's it? Isn't that enough?" Padmé said, laughing. "Anyways, I'm not the one who can get you a day off."

"Yeah, I know," he said, annoyed. He leaned back in his chair at the dinner table, folding his arms behind his head and crossing his leg.

"Hey, we need to keep working on the baby's room. By the way, we're painting it blue."

"No paint! We don't know if it'll be a girl or a boy."

"Okay, well, we need to put the crib in. That's a project for you tonight, Ani. Assemble the crib and put it in our room."

Anakin rapped his fingers on the table. "Fine..."

Ahsoka and Padmé both laughed.

"Wow, Master, you better not be this lazy when you really are a father..," Ahsoka said.

Anakin shot her a look. After a minute, though, he smacked his hand on the table and stood up, stretching. "Guess I'd better get started."

"Guess so," Padmé agreed.

"Too bad ultrasound is too scarce around here," Ahsoka sighed.

Anakin and Padmé both whipped their heads around. "What?" they asked in unison.

"Ultrasound. It's a special system thing that tells you during pregnancy if you're having a male or a female."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Where do you find this stuff? Things, whatever."

"I have no idea. Probably somewhere really far away where you have to pay 1,000 credits to get in."

"I'm in," Anakin said.

"No!" Padmé said. "Don't, Anakin. We'll find out when the baby comes. Get your butt in the living room and get started on that crib!"

"Good thing I took that class on doing everything you're wife tells you to do," Anakin muttered.

"What was that?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, babe. I said, you're the best woman ever!"

"That's what I thought," she said, turning back around to the dishes on the table.

Anakin went to the bedroom, and he walked back into the living room with the parts of the crib. He set them down in the floor, ripping the plastic wrapping off of the package. He sat down cross-legged. Ten minutes later, he was more than halfway done, the four legs of the crib were assembled, and the three sides were up.

Padmé walked over to Anakin, leaning down and wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. She kissed his cheek, and as she leaned down, her mane of thick dark curls trailed down her back.

He turned around and brought her down to the floor with his arm.

Laughing, she said, "It's just like a few years ago in the meadows. Except now my back really hurts." She started to laugh even harder, Anakin laying down next to her.

"We were young," he said.

"And now I'm pregnant," Padmé said. "Anakin, you're still so young. You're only 23."

"Yeah, I know," he said, playing with a small, curly strand of Padmé's hair. "You're only 28, so I guess we're both still young."

After a minute, Anakin brought his body up from the floor sit-up style. "I guess I'd better keep working on this crib."

"Anakin, can you help me get up?" Padmé asked, lying on the floor, propped up with her elbows. "Please?"

"Yeah," he said, taking her hands and gently pulling her up.

"Thanks," she said. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you more," Anakin said.

Padmé walked away into the kitchen to do the dishes, with Ahsoka at her side to help her.