Hello! This story could easily be a sequel to my ROTS AU A Choice but it could also just be a standalone story. Either way, I hope you all enjoy it!

The pain had dulled significantly in the aftermath of the birth. She was still sore and exhausted and every movement sent waves of pain down her spine but none of it compared to the absolute bliss and pure joy she felt. Padme groaned as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep but she knew it must have been a few hours from the sharp rays of sunlight that cut through the drapes in her room. Her eyes slowly drifted around, slightly disoriented but slowly getting her bearings. Sitting on the edge of the bed by her knee was her husband. Anakin was hunched over, his hands gripping the edge of the bassinet and his entire focus directed at the beings sleeping peacefully inside. While she couldn't see his face, she was certain it wasn't a happy one like she had hoped for.

The past few weeks had been absolutely horrible. His dreams had only gotten worse, he'd been closing himself off from her, they'd barely even talked about names for the baby which they hadn't even known at the time was actually babies. Twins. The discovery had only been made when they arrived at Varykino and had another Emdee evaluate her and that only seemed to further frustrate her husband. Anakin had tried to return to Coruscant a few times, trying to convince her that he could get help, that there was a way to save her from the death she and the Emdee were certain wasn't going to happen and he had gotten so close to leaving that if her labor hadn't intensified at that exact moment, he would probably already be there deep in the search for a solution for a nonexistent problem.

Slowly her hand stretched down, seeking contact with him. It required her to uneasily sit up, hissing as a tinge of pain shot down her spine. Anakin didn't even move. It was only when her hand squeezed his thigh that his head turned slightly towards her. His eyes were bloodshot and heavy showing exactly how exhausted he truly was. His deep blue eyes were swimming with questions and confusion and held a small hint of relief. His dreams had not come true. He had spent so long worrying about his dreams and the birth that they had not talked too much about the aftermath. They were parents now. How did he feel about that? He was a father and she a mother. She'd had nine months to think about it and make what preparations she could, but it had only been after their daughter had been born and both babies placed on her chest that she had truly felt like a mother. She wondered if it was the same for him.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, his eyes directing their sharp focus back at their babies. "They're… so tiny," He whispered, his hand twitching as though he wanted to touch them, but he hesitated. "How… I don't…" His voice trailed off as his fingers twitched at the rim of the bassinet. Part of her wondered if he ever thought about having kids. They never truly talked seriously about the subject. They'd had little fantasies, dreams about raising a family on Naboo but was that really his dream? Or had he just been indulging her fantasy? Even after she got pregnant his mind had been so preoccupied she couldn't really talk to him about it.

"How are you feeling," She asked, rubbing her hand along his thigh.

His eyes widened as his head spun to look at her as if registering for the first time she was really there. "I-I should be asking you that," He said.

Padme smiled and gave his leg as firm a squeeze as she could muster. "I feel wonderful," She said.

"Are you sure?" He asked, sliding further up the bed until he could touch her face. The palm of his left hand felt sweaty and trembled lightly as the fingers stroked along across her forehead and down her cheek. "Are you sore? Lightheaded? Any pain? Or-or—"

Taking his hand in both hers, she dragged his palm to her lips, kissing it lightly before pulling back, "Ani, I'm fine," She reassured, "I'm a little sore, but I've honestly never felt better." He didn't look convinced but before she could say anything one of the twins started to whimper before breaking out into a full cry. Anakin visibly stiffened at the sound and she could see his fear shining clearly in his eyes as he leaned over to pick up the crying baby but froze. Padme didn't even notice the pain as she shifted to sit up further. "Ani? Pass 'em to me," She asked, already starting to undo the top of her gown. She watched as he nodded once and carefully leaned down, taking extreme care as he lifted the crying infant into his arms before gently passing him to her. Their son. Her smile seemed to widen as she whispered calming words to her son, before easing her nipple into the baby's mouth. It was a strange feeling and yet it felt so natural. "Isn't he beautiful?"

"Yeah…" He said.

"What are you thinking?"

He sighed as he forced a smile and looked at her, "Nothing," He said.

"Don't do this, Anakin," She said, "Tell me what you're really thinking."

The motors in his mechanical hand whirled as his fingers clenched and he inhaled deeply. "How… how are we going to do this?" He asked. "I-I never had a father. How… How am I…"

He was nervous about being a father. Unlike her, his experience with children was significantly less. She had been a part of several humanitarian efforts and had experience from her two nieces but Anakin… his experience was vastly different. Jedi weren't known for their interactions with children. Often there were some who even thought them kidnappers who forced parents to give up their Force Sensitive children to be inducted in their cult-like organization. Padme knew those stories weren't entirely true but she did recognize that raising a Jedi was vastly different from how most people raise children. For Anakin, it probably felt like completely new territory.

Her eyes fell to her son hungrily suckling at her breast, soft sounds of contentment hummed from his lips and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. A piercing cry came from their daughter still in the bassinet and immediately he was leaning over to check on their daughter. His back stiffened as he slowly reached down and brought the baby to his chest. He started to rock awkwardly as he tried to soothe their daughter. He may not know exactly what he is doing, but it worked and slowly the baby started to calm. The sight brought tears to her eyes as she watched his face relax as if getting the hang of holding the baby. Love was in his eyes as he focused on their daughter and immediately she knew that he was wrapped tightly around her tiny little finger. "You're already an amazing father," She said, pulling his attention back to her. His brow was furrowed in confusion and she gestured her head towards their daughter already slowly starting to fall back asleep in her father's embrace.

"I don't know about that," He muttered.

Padme shook her head. "You are," She said. "What these babies need more than anything is someone to love them. And I've never met anyone with a greater capacity for love than you. You are exactly what they need."

His lips curled slightly into the first smile she'd seen since she woke up and leaned down to press his lips firmly to hers. "Thank you," He whispered, keeping their foreheads touching.

She smiled as she shifted her son to burp him, righting the front of her dress before lightly patting his back until she felt more than heard the air in his stomach pop. "That's not to say it will be easy," She continued, "But, whatever happens, we'll get through it as a family."

He bit his lip and turned from her, "We don't know that for certain," He said.

"Perhaps," She agreed, "But I know you. And you've never been one to back away from a challenge. And when you love someone, there is nothing you won't do for them." She smiled as she shifted the baby in her arms to rest in the cradle of her arms, "I have faith in you, in us that we can do this together."

His lips met hers in a passionate kiss, "I love you so much," He said against her lips, "So much…"

Padme giggled as she pulled back and placed her free hand on his cheek. "And I love you." The twins gurgled between them and she pulled back from her husband only to lean down and place a kiss on the crown of her babies' heads. "Our babies love you too."

His eyes fell to them and his brow furrowed. "But… what if I'm no good at any of this?" He asked. "I looked for some holos on parenting but… I never read any of them."

"Neither have I," She said, "I read enough to help me get through the pregnancy and everything. Diet-wise, what to expect and everything, but I never got around to the actual parenting part."

"I'm afraid I'm going to screw up," He admitted.

"To make mistakes is human," She said. "No parent is perfect. We are going to make mistakes but we'll learn from those mistakes."

"We don't even have names picked out," He pointed out, reaching out with his flesh hand and lightly touching the wrap that their son was nestled tightly in. "We didn't even know there were two of them, and now we're only half ready what—"

"—One thing at a time, Ani," She said, reaching across and pressing her finger to his lips before he started to spiral into a panic. Names seemed to be the easiest problem to resolve first and having been aware of the pregnancy much longer than him, she had been thinking about a few names for some time now. She never settled on a single name, wanting Anakin to very much be a part of the choosing process but that hadn't panned out exactly as she had initially planned. But now they were here. His dreams no longer keeping them from talking, their prospective careers no longer taking their time away from one another.

Their daughter stretched her hand up in the air, the little fingers dancing as they felt the air around them. Anakin smiled as he pulled his hand away from their son and pressed his index finger to her palm. The tiny digits wrapped around his much larger finger, the tips of her fingers just barely touching in her grasp. Slowly, he started to wiggle his finger, gently moving the hand that held onto it. "Leia," He said, his eyes never leaving their daughter.

"Leia…" Padme tested the name on her lips and brought her hand to the tiny wisps of brown hair sprouting from the baby's head. "It's beautiful. Perfect… Leia Skywalker." She had long since decided that once her baby was born, their secret would be reviled. She refused to let her children grow up with a name that wasn't theirs or have to lie about their heritage. Regardless of the fallout, there would be no shame in bearing children born from their love. And Anakin seemed to swell with pride hearing their daughter's full name. Padme glanced down at their son, running through the list of boy names she had been considering. From the very beginning, she had been certain she was having a boy and so her list of boy names had been much longer. There were many names that she liked but as she ran through the mental list, one name stuck out from the rest. One name that just felt right. "Luke," She said, glancing up at her husband to gauge his reaction. "Luke Skywalker."

Anakin whispered the name under his breath as he looked at his son and after a moment his back straightened and he beamed as he said, "Luke and Leia Skywalker… It's perfect. They're perfect." Careful so as not to disturb the sleeping babies, Anakin shifted to bring his feet up onto the bed to sit beside her. Padme scooted closer to him, gently resting her head on his shoulder. "I feel like I'm going to wake up and find all of this is just a dream."

"What do you mean?"

He gave a half shrug, "I… I never really thought any of this would happen," He said. "On Tatooine… none of this seemed… possible to me. And as a Jedi, this is forbidden." He shook his head, "All of this feels like a distant fantasy but… it's not." His lips curled at the corners, "I… I'm a father."

Tears welled in her eyes as she snuggled closer to him. Happiness seemed to radiate off of him now and while there were still things he was nervous about— things they both were nervous about, none of it seemed to matter. For just this one moment, there was peace. The fallout of their love and actions would come soon and the war that plagued the galaxy for three years still raged. But for one shining moment in the afterglow of twin births, the problems of the greater galaxy were distant thoughts.

The End.

In all honesty I did juggle with the idea of turning it into one of Vader's nightmares but I decided against that, finding this story just too beautiful to torture Vader with. Let me know what you all think of this story!