(Star Wars) Gangsta #TheRiseAwards

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning when Padmé returned home, Jobal was sitting at the coffee bar with tea and fruit waiting. "Good morning, sunshine. How was your night?"

"It was perfect, Momma." She went up and hugged her mother, kissing her cheek. "Is it cool if I go get cleaned up real quick?"

"No, you need to eat and tell me how everything went." Jobal guided her daughter to the stool beside hers then poured Padmé a cup of tea. "You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to, but I at least want to feed you." She then started slicing up a Shurra fruit for them to split. "Well, I worked until about midnight last night - same as always." Padmé took a sip from her mug, grateful that her mother already added honey to the drink. "V came and got me, then we went back to his house." Jobal nodded, a grin forming on her lips. "So how was it then?"

"How was what, Mom?"

"Your first time." Padmé nearly spat out her drink, choking it down instead with a few coughs. "Mother!" Jobal started laughing, rubbing her back. "Oh sweetheart, it's okay if you slept with him. I'm not going to be mad at you." Her daughter took another long sip of her drink. "When we got back to his house, V made us a quick bite to eat then let me use his shower. I'll admit... that we almost did it, but he didn't want to push me. Instead, we just laid together in his bed and watched movies until we fell asleep." She paused, taking a bite of her Shurra. "It was honestly one of the best night's sleep I've ever had."

"Yeah, curling up with your partner does that for you." Jobal was impressed; this young man really went above and beyond for her little girl. Most men would've kept going and not asked whether or not she wanted to. Vader earned a lot of brownie points in her eyes, making her even more grateful that he was a part of their lives. "I know it's Sunday but do you have any plans to see him later?" Padmé shook her head, happily munching on her favorite grapes now. "No, he's got some work to do today and said something about seeing me tomorrow instead."

"Okay, I've only got one more question and then I'll stop pressuring you about your time with him." Jobal set her fork down, turning to face her daughter. "Did he see you naked?" The blush on Padmé's face couldn't have been any redder. "Like I said, we didn't end up doing anything but... yeah, and I saw all of him too." Her mother started squealing, clapping her hands together. "My baby's got a man... Did you like what you saw?"

"You already used your last question, Mom." Padmé shook her head, eager to change the subject. "How was your night? Did you and Pop go out or anything?" For the past few weeks, Qui-Gon had mad an effort to take Jobal out at least once a week. Usually, they'd eat at the diner and hang around until closing before going out; this was most often on Saturday nights when their kids usually had plans. "No, we didn't actually. He came by and we had dinner, but his back was hurting so I told him to go home and rest." Jobal took a drink, humming as she remembered something. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I got the weirdest customers last night after you left."

"What do you mean?" Padmé raised a brow. "These three men came into the diner about eight last night. It was three men - a Twi'Lek, a cyborg, and one man who never took off his helmet." Her mother took another bite of fruit then continued. "They ordered only drinks, at least the two without the helmet. They stayed until close and barely spoke; I only caught them whispering a few times... It was very odd." Both women remained quiet for a moment, thinking things over. "Do you think they were... like, up to something? That's kinda disturbing if you ask me." Padmé commented. "Yeah, it did kinda rattle me for a bit. I was thinking about asking Ben to ask some of his boys to keep an eye on the place in case they weren't really here for drinks."

"Do you want me to see if Vader's got a man or two he can spare?"

Jobal shook her head, taking one of her daughter's hands. "No, that's alright. I think for now, I'll just see if Ben can maybe help upgrade the security around her. Maybe he can put up some cameras around the place just to be safe." She gave Padmé's hand a squeeze. "It's not that I don't want Vader's help, sweetie. He's a very busy man and I don't want him worrying about us. From what I've seen, he'll try to turn this place into a fortress and that wouldn't be good for our business." Her daughter nodded in understanding. "I get it, you're right. He's very over-protective..."