Fame and Fortitude

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Three months later...

Leia gently brushed the soft, light fuzz from the top of her one-month-old daughter Caylee's head, watching as the baby nursed contentedly at her breast. "I'm still feeling guilty that we couldn't go to Wes and Teneniel's wedding," she told her sister-in-law, who was contending with a very rambunctious one-year-old Ben.

"Wes should have known our younglings would be too young to attend a wedding," Mara said, not sounding nearly as concerned. "If he wanted us there, he could have waited until next year to get married."

"I doubt our attendance over-rode their desire to get married when they wanted," Leia replied with a smile. "We're not that important. At least Luke and Han are there, and I'm sure their attendance matters more to Wes than having us ladies there."

*At least Cub and Little Jedi will be back in three more days,* Chewie barked out, trying to round up Isabell while Malla held the baby Cade. *You should have not allowed him to go to Dathomir, anyway. He will just use this as an excuse to get drunk at Wes's Freeman's party.*

Leia laughed. "After my behavior at Mara's pre-wedding bash, I won't be able to blame him. I'm just happy that Iella and Mirax went along with their husbands. They can always be our eyes and and ears, then report back." In fact, besides Iella and Mirax, both Winter and Tendra were also there - Winter with her husband Tycho Celchu, and Tendra along with her fiance, Lando, which eased Leia's guilt at not attending. The last thing she wanted was for Teneniel to feel badly and believe she wasn't important.

"Speaking of Iella," Mara said, "How is she doing with her new job?"

"She told me that being the Director of the Corellian division of 'Daysun Younglings' Foundation ' is completely different than working for the NRI, but, so far, she loves it even though she has to fly three times a week to work in Coronet City. And Winter still loves being the Director of the Coruscant division, too. We're lucky to have such competent people running the Foundation." Leia sighed, looking back down at Caylee. "I wish I wouldn't need to step back, but with three little children, it makes sense for right now."

"Luke says you're thinking about running for Corellian Senate in a few years, anyway," Mara commented, trying to wipe purple jam off Ben's face.

"True, but that's probably still two or three more years away," Leia said. "A more pressing issue is the communication I received last night from Shiv Palladum and his wife."

"Seriously?" Mara asked, rather surprised. "What do they want?"

"They want to meet with Evin when he returns from Dathomir," Leia replied, looking somewhat grim. "As my husband is so fond of saying... I have a bad feeling about this."

"So do I," Mara agreed. She frowned at Leia, sensing something else from her sister-in-law. "Leia, what's really the matter? Are you upset that our husbands went to Dathomir without us?"

Leia sighed and then said, "Not at all. Wes is their friend and they both needed to go."

"So...you're worried about Daysun's next movie and Krystal Missta? Recording starts in three months, right?"

"I'm not in the least bit concerned about Missta," Leia said with a shake of her head, wondering if Mara would ever stop calling Han by the last name of 'Daysun' or at least call him by what Leia considered his stage-name, 'Evin.' It didn't seem too likely at this point, and she knew that was just the way Mara spoke, so she took no offense. "Well, maybe just a little bit, since Han might end up being so rude to his co-star that she might go on a talk show circuit after the movie wraps and tell the galaxy how mean and awful he was to work with."