LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter Eighteen

Padmé was in the hall, waiting for the music to start. She wore a simple but beautiful white dress. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun with the butterfly clip in it and her full curls hanging loose. She wore a little bit of makeup and a touch of perfume. Her father came over with a smile.

"You look amazing. I’ve said it before--you never were a little rich girl." He kissed her cheek as the bells chimed.

"Thanks for noticing, Dad," she said, and hugged her father.

Little Ryoo and Pooja walked out into the grand hall with baskets full of flower petals. Sola and Richard walked out, arm-in-arm, followed by two Jedi women. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon followed the women. The whole Jedi Order was in the room, and the High Council was up front with Anakin. They had their hoods on and formed a semi-circle. Anakin was nervous, but didn’t falter.

Padmé walked down the aisle, arm-in-arm with her father. Anakin smiled at how beautiful she looked, and a few Jedi gasped. Anakin felt proud of himself. If his wife could make people turn their heads and gasp, that made her more important. He could say she belonged to him and nobody else--or that would be true in a few moments.

Padmé stopped, and her father kissed her cheek and stepped off to the side. Anakin took Padmé’s hand, and the two were face-to-face. A holy man came out and read the words of marriage.

They shared their first kiss as husband and wife. People clapped, and Padmé looked at her father, who had tears in his eyes. She knew that, if this were Bail, he wouldn’t cry.

*****

Anakin and Padmé got to their hotel. For a week, they would stay here in a suite. As the elevator took them up, Anakin turned to Padmé.

"As a tradition on my home planet…" He picked her up. "A man carries his wife to their wedding bed." The doors opened, and he carried her to their room.

Two Months Later

Anakin opened the door of his apartment. He loved coming home. Padmé had done a most wonderful job of painting and picking out everything for the place.

She wasn’t in the living room. He looked in the kitchen and dining room and then the office. He walked back to where the bedrooms were. He heard soft music playing. But it wasn’t their bedroom it was coming from--it was the room across from it. He opened the door and found Padmé putting the finishing touches on the room. He looked around the room and saw not just one, but two cribs, a changing table, diapers, everything a baby could need. Padmé turned around. The room was a light green color, with dark green and white polka dots.

"Padmé?" he asked.

She smiled and ran into his arms.

*****

Seven months went by, and Padmé was in labor. Anakin was right next to her as she did what the healer told her to do. A cry filled the air.

"It’s a boy," the healer said. They put a blanket around the crying baby, and Padmé held him. Anakin touched his bald head, and he saw that the boy stopped crying as soon as he was in Padmé’s arms.

"Oh, Luke, you look just how I dreamed." Padmé smiled, and the healer took him away to clean him up. The pain came back, and the second baby was coming. Padmé did what she had done before.

"It’s a girl," the healer announced, but the girl wasn’t crying. She just opened her eyes and looked around the room. The healer gasped. "She looks like an angel." He took her to a table and cleaned her up. Anakin walked over and looked at his daughter. She looked back at him and smiled, reaching out to him as if she knew who he was to her.

"Her name will be Leia," Anakin stated. The two babies were given to Anakin, and he went back to his tired wife. They held their children. "They’re so tiny," Anakin said. Leia gave a small whimper, and Anakin hushed her. He brought her to his shoulder. "It’s okay. Dad’s got you."

*****

It had been ten months since Luke and Leia were born. Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Sola, who was pregnant with her third child, her family, and Ruwee were at Anakin and Padmé’s place. Obi-Wan had Luke on his lap, while Leia was on the floor, occupied with some toys.

"Let’s try this again, Luke. Can…you…say…O-be one? O-be one." Luke looked at Obi-Wan as if he were crazy. "O-be one."

"Obi-Wan, he’s not going to say it." Qui-Gon smiled.

"Yes, he is."

"No, he’s not."

"Yes, he is. His first word will be Obi-Wan, because he’s a smart baby. Right? Aren’t you smart?" Obi-Wan started to do baby talk.

"Obi-Wan, I think you’re starting to scare him," Qui-Gon said.

"No, I’m not scaring him."

"I think you are."

"Does he look scared to you? No."

"I’d be scared if you were talking to me like that," Qui-Gon said.

"What’s my name, Luke? Say it." Obi-Wan smiled. Luke opened his mouth, and Padmé and Anakin were ready.

"Gee gee!" Luke yelled out, and clapped. Anakin howled with laughter, and everyone else laughed as well.

"My name is not Gee gee. It’s Obi-Wan." Anakin got up from the ground, where his daughter was.

"Like you said, Obi-Wan, he’s smart. That name works for you." Anakin took Luke from Obi-Wan. "Come on, Luke. Let’s set the table."

"Gee gee!" Luke yelled out again, and clapped. Qui-Gon leaned back on the couch.

"You want kids, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Not with you." Obi-Wan laughed. "Besides, they take up space, they whine, and they smell."

"They do not smell." Padmé sat next to Leia.

"Yes, they do. Babies smell." Obi-Wan leaned forward. "And Luke worse out of the two." Padmé laughed, and Obi-Wan stood up, picked Leia up, and set her on his lap. "Let’s see if you’re smart, Leia."

"Oh, Gods," Qui-Gon said.

"Can you say O-be one? O-be one." Obi-Wan looked at Leia. It almost looked she was concentrating. "Come on, Leia. You can do it." A very bad smell filled the air, and Obi-Wan felt something warm on his lap. "Now, that’s just wrong."

*****

Everyone was gone after a nice evening. Padmé looked out her window, up at the stars, and Anakin came over to join her.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. Everything was perfect.

Anakin kissed her. "I’ll be in bed."

He got up and went over to the king size bed. Padmé still looked up at the night sky. After years of searching, looking, hoping and praying, she’d found her home, where she truly belonged.

The End.

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