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Breha finished reviewing the last of her reports of the day, something about the upcoming harvest festival. Usually she could focus her entire attention on the harvest, especially considering how much she enjoyed putting on festivities for her fellow Alderaanians. However, her focus that afternoon in particular wasn't with her duties as a queen but rather those as a mother. And a wife.
She checked the time on her desk chrono, moving her gaze immediately to the window that afforded her a generous view of Aldera in the distance. It wasn't the city that interested her, but rather the skies above it. The Tantive II, the royal family's flagship and her husband's primary mode of transportation to and from Coruscant, ought to have arrived by now. Bail always made time in his busy senatorial schedule to be back on Alderaan for the harvest, and this year was no different. She had expected him to poke his head in when he arrived, even if it meant a brief interruption in her work. But he hadn't done so yet.
Breha stood up, gathering her datapads into a neat stack and smoothing down the front of her dress. "Visaiya," she called out, knowing her palace advisor would be within earshot. Sure enough, the young woman appeared in the doorway a moment later, her chin inclined questioningly. "Has the Viceroy's ship been delayed?" she asked. "I was expecting him earlier today."
"The Viceroy arrived about two hours ago, when you were meeting with the Minister of Agriculture. He chose to go straight to the residence and to the princess rather than disturb you."
"Ah," Breha said, unable to keep the smile from her face. Yes, she would have preferred that her husband stop by to see her as he usually did, but knowing that his priority was, today, Leia, well, Breha couldn't fault him for that at all. "Thank you. I believe I'll head to the residence myself, unless there's something else that needs my attention first?" They both knew that the question was a formality. Unless it were an emergency, Breha was signaling to her Visaiya that she was done for the day.
"No, your majesty, there's nothing else."
Breha touched the side of her head, tucking some flyaways back into their braids. "Very good. Have a good evening, Visaiya," she said with a friendly nod. She knew the young woman was just as eager as she was to return home to her own family, even if might still be another hour or so until she let herself pack up and leave. Her advisor nodded and backed out of the office, the door sliding shut a moment later.
It didn't take long for Breha to make her way from the executive offices of the palace to the private family wing, mostly because she walked quickly, nearly at a jog, her skirts whipping around her legs. She slowed once she arrived in the wide hallway of her family's quarters, tilting her head to take in the sounds. It was quiet.
After finding the first two rooms she looked in empty, Breha quietly opened the door to Leia's bedroom. It was a little late for the two-year-old to be napping, this close to supper. She stepped inside, the late afternoon sunlight bright, a warm breeze causing the curtains to sway and dance. At first glance, Breha thought the room was empty as well, and she turned to leave before she noticed a familiar sound.
Her husband, snoring even though he insisted that he didn't. Short, soft snores stuttering through the silence. Breha crossed the room quickly and discovered Bail asleep on the lounger facing the window, his face bathed in sunlight. Leia was curled up on him, her feet tucked under herself against his leg and her cheek tipped against his chest. Three of the fingers of her left hand were pressed into her mouth. It was a habit Breha just couldn't let herself to try and break her daughter of. Her entire body rose and fell with her father's steady breathing.
Breha pressed a hand to her chest, her breath quickening at the sight. She fought to keep tears pricking at the backs of her eyes. Breha wasn't sure there was anything better than the sight of her husband daughter sharing a nap in the afternoon sunlight.
Leia opened her eyes first, wide brown eyes that blinked tiredly up at Breha before her focus narrowed. She gave a light whimper and yawned. "Mama," she said around her fingers before removing them from her mouth. The toddler turned onto her stomach and poked her fingers against Bail's cheeks. "Papa's fuzzy."
Whether from Leia pushing on his cheeks, where a few days' worth of growth shadowed his face with a goatee, or Breha's burst of laugher, Bail startled awake. He had the forethought, at least, to wrap an arm around Leia so she didn't tumble right off of him.
Leia began laughing too, squealing really, as she rolled off of Bail and reached her arms up until Breha scooped her into her arms. Her daughter wrapped herself around her and pressed her cheek against the crook of her neck.
"I'm sorry," Breha said, bending down to kiss her husband's cheek. Bail never was a good waker, and he still looked half-asleep, weary as well from his traveling. His goatee scratched her jaw. "You are scruffy-looking," she murmured fondly. In her arms, Leia's shoulders shook with her giggling.
Bail ran his hand back through his hair and half-snorted. "It's still growing in," he muttered. She was well-aware that he much preferred to wear his goatee full but neatly-trimmed, and the only reason that it wasn't grown in now was because he recently lost a bet with his oldest sister and had to shave the previous iteration off. It had been some time since he'd worn it like that, since the weeks after he'd brought their daughter home to her.
His eyes met hers. "You like it," he teased, "I know you do."
"I'll like it more when it's not tickling me every time you kiss me," she said. She shifted Leia in her arms. "I was worried you'd been delayed when I didn't see you earlier."
"I had a surprise for Leia," Bail said. "I came straight here to get it to her."
Breha looked between father and daughter with an arched eyebrow. "A surprise?" she asked. "And what kind of surprise was this, exactly?"
Bail looked sheepish as he stood up, adjusting his traveling clothes. It must have been a pretty big deal if he hadn't even taken the time yet to change. "A surprise I'm not entirely sure you'll approve of," he said.
Breha opened her mouth to ask just what exactly he meant by that, but before she could say anything, Leia squealed directly in her ear and squirmed, shimmying out of her arms and down to the floor. "Kitty!" she exclaimed, toddling over toward her bed where a very large - very large - animal was stretching, its back arched and its tail curled.
"Bail," Breha said carefully. "What did you do?"
Leia climbed up onto the bed and wrapped herself around the cat, burying her face in its fluffy gray fur. "Papa brought kitty," she said proudly. The beast was nearly the same size as the two-year-old, and Breha looked at Bail in disbelief.
"Surprise," he said, reaching out for her and taking the opportunity to envelop her in his arms. For the moment - for only this moment - she ignored that she ought to be cross with him for surprising Leia with a child-sized pet without talking with her about it first and instead enjoyed the feeling of being in her husband's arms after months of being apart.
"We're going to discuss this later," she said as firmly as she could, but with his fingers finding the hair at the back of her neck, she feared it came out more of a sigh than as a command.
"I know," Bail said. He pressed his mouth to her forehead, smiling. "I promise to make it up to you later."
She rolled her eyes at the innuendo but didn't object. "Very well," she said, "just as long as that thing doesn't think our daughter is its food."
Her husband kissed her briefly and turned them both toward the bed, where Leia was sitting with the cat sprawled out on its back, all four paws up in the air while the little girl rubbed its belly, giggling all the while. "That cat," Bail said, "is the most docile and friendly of its kind that I have ever met. Nothing to worry about."
"Mmn hmn," Breha said, pressing a palm flat against his chest. Bail caught it in his hand and kissed the inside of her wrist then her palm. She shivered a little. "Welcome home, B," she whispered.
"There's nowhere I'd rather be, love."