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•10•

"There, there, my new apprentice. You'll still get to do something on this mission... kill Anakin Skywalker."

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The next morning, Anakin dragged himself around the kitchen. He was so exhausted; the night before Padmé thought she was having contractions and wanted to leave. They got back from the medcenter two hours later, as a result of wait time and getting out of there through the crowd of people.

Padmé laid out on the couch, watching the holoscreen with Leia at her feet. Luke ran to his mother, lifting his arms up, begging her to lay with her.

"Mama. Mama. Mama! Luke sit with you! Luke come up and sit with Mama!" he cried, his little blonde eyebrows furrowed.

"Okay, okay," she said, smiling. She patted her legs. "Climb up and you can sit with me. I can't lift you."

He did his best to climb up on the couch, his little body not doing him much good. But he managed.

As soon as he climbed up, he was confused as to why there was much less space to sit. "Luke can't sit here!"

"Don't be silly, Luke. There's still room," Padmé said, pulling him up so his head was on her stomach. "You can lay right here."

"Mama? Why is your tummy so big now?"

"There's a baby in there. Remember, you're going to have another little sister of brother." Padmé smiled, running her fingers through his blonde curls.

All of the sudden, Luke squealed, lifting his head. "Something hit my head!" he said, pointing to Padmé's stomach.

Padmé guided his hand towards her and set it on her stomach, holding it there. "Do you feel that, Luke?"

He nodded, smiling. "What is that?"

"The baby's kicking inside me. It wants to get out."

"Then why can't it get out now?"

Padmé laughed. "It's not time yet."

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"How much bigger is your tummy going to get?"

"Not much. Soon, it'll be time for the baby. Not yet, though."

"Oh."

There were a few minutes of silence where the twins just watched their cartoon on the holoscreen. But then Luke looked at his mother with curiosity and spoke.

"How did it get there?"

Now that was a question Padmé had never thought of answering. She felt so stupid. She should've expected it. She was not prepared.

"Well," she said slowly, contemplating her thoughts, "What do you think?"

"I think that the baby wanted to be my sibling and it said, 'Maybe I should come in Mommy's tummy and surprise everyone!' And then you and Daddy were so happy that it did that and you told me and Leia, and we said, 'Yay! We're gonna have another brother or sister!'"

Anakin and Padmé smiled at each other from the kitchen, and she tucked a curl behind Luke's ear. "Yes. That's exactly how it happened."