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“Goodnight, Leia,” Anakin whispered, kissing his daughter’s forehead.
“Night night, Luke,” Padmé said, smoothing out the sheet around her son while he nuzzled his cheek into the pillow beneath his head. She and her husband switched sides, both sharing similar sentiments to the other twin as Luke and Leia twisted and yawned in their beds.
“G’night mama. Night daddy,” said Leia, followed by Luke calling out “Night daddy, night mama!”
Anakin tugged on Padmé’s wrist when she went back to give them both one more adjustment of their pillows and blankets. Standing in the doorway of their children’s room, his hand settled in the small of her back and he kissed the side of her head.
“We love you,” she whispered, waiting for groggy responses before slowly pulling the door closed.
In the hallway, Anakin looked at her while they waited. If either of their mischievous twins were pretending to sleep and waiting for them to step away, it wouldn’t be long. When no ruckus came after a few moments, she sighed in relief and grabbed her husband’s hand to stroll down the hall to their bedroom.
“The kids are asleep, or will be soon. You don’t have any projects to wake up early for. And I have a clear schedule this weekend,” she said, sitting at the foot of their bed. “Whatever shall we do with our free time, my love?”
In reality, what they should be doing was sleeping themselves. Life with two very energetic, bubbly, adventurous little ones was more than enough of a reason to just want to curl up in her husband’s lap for a nap. Or a 12-hour long night of sleep. Luckily, the twins had been thoroughly exhausted by their day with Anakin’s mom.
When Shmi offered to do what Padmé could only describe as a saintly act, taking both children to the local harvest festival, the two of them almost felt bad about the speed with which they agreed. Luke and Leia only rejoiced at a chance to spend time with their Mimi, as they always did, and it gave her and Anakin an entire day to clean, dig out the Halloween decorations, and prepare for a relaxing weekend.
One that was finally coming to fruition after washing the face-paintings off their kids with the greatest remorse, listening to an entire recounting of their ‘most funnest day ever’ through a series of broken stories from Luke and random half-facts about birds that Leia had picked up, over their dinner until they could hardly keep their words flowing or their eyes open. Anakin had carried them off to bed while Padmé finished cleaning up the bathroom, and now they were safely tucked away, leaving a rare opportunity to take advantage of.
“We could finally watch one of your shows you’ve been bugging me about?” Anakin offered, trading his jeans and t-shirt in for knit pajama pants.
“It’s so romantic when you say it like that, Ani,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Even if I do occasionally enjoy it, my days are so filled with Paw Patrol and Bluey sometimes, I start to wonder if I’m an animated dog also…”
“Oh, c’mon, I didn’t mean it like that.” He stepped forward, taking her face in his hands. “What do you want to do, Padmé? That’s what we’ll do.”
“Well, I was thinking…” Padmé wrapped her fingers around his wrists, craning her neck toward his face until he kissed her. “It is scary movie season.”
“Really?” Anakin quirked an eyebrow, glancing around the room. “It’s pretty dark in here. You sure you can handle that?”
Padmé scoffed, quickly ducking under his arm to go turn the lamps on both nightstands on before slipping into the closet to change into pajamas. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Anakin. I’m offering to sit through one those dreaded movies you try to force me into all year long.”
“Now who’s being romantic?”
“Me. Obviously,” she said with a smile. She climbed onto the bed to her husband’s side, wasting no time curling herself into his waiting embrace.
Even in jest, it may have honestly been the biggest romantic gesture she had thought up in quite a while because she truly despised scary movies. She had no doubt in her mind he would take full advantage soon enough.
He held her snug against his side, resting his hand on her hip. “What if the twins wake up?”
“Then we won’t be watching anymore of the… Whatever their names are. Jason Myers, Michael Krueger… Hannibal!”
“That was insanely pathetic,” he said with a laugh. “Michael Myers was right there, and you didn’t get that one on your own?”
Padmé shoved him hard, only making Anakin grab hold of her tighter. “I got Hannibal, okay? That should count for something. You’re the one that watches this stuff, not me. If the twins wake up, we put them back to bed. Or turn on something else.”
The latter, she thought, would give her the perfect reason to excuse herself from the all-night fright fest she was signing up for.
“Yeah? Well, okay then. I haven’t seen the new Halloween movie… We could marathon from the beginning if you’re brave enough.”
Padmé ran her finger up and down his sternum, adjusting her cheek against his shoulder and watching his bare chest rise and fall with every slow breath he took. How he could relax at the prospect of those movies she didn’t even want to know. “Whatever Halloween movie you want to see, now’s your chance.”
“Padmé… It’s not a Halloween movie, it’s the—You know, never mind. Let’s just see how long you last.”
The answer to the million dollar question was: not long. Maybe just under an hour. Could’ve been less, or more, all time felt like an illusion. Before she knew it, she was burying her face in the crook of his neck, wincing even without the visual component. She tried to control any of her gasps and to muffle her shrieks of horror into the softest of squeaks but it wasn’t long before her husband was frantically pausing the movie, and cuting off his laughter.
“Mommy?” Leia murmured. “Is mommy okay?”
Padmé quickly lifted her head to see both kids in their room. Luke’s eyes squinted from the glow of their lamp lights, while Leia had a secure grip on the stuffed unicorn held against her chest.
“Oh, come here. Mommy’s fine. I’m fine,” she said, reaching both hands forward while they made their way to the bedside. She pulled both toddlers in the bed with her and Anakin while he continued to shake his head, hiding his mouth with the palm of his hand. Later, she would have to hear all about how he knew that was going to happen.
“But…” Leia started, rubbing her face with a fist and yawning again. “But you—”
“Mama sounded scared. Like when daddy has to look for monsters in our room…” Luke mumbled, wedging himself between Padmé and Anakin.
Padmé ran her hand over the back of his head slowly, adjusting Leia at her side while she clung to Padmé’s pajama shirt. Though she was glad to be free of the promise, she’d made to Anakin, scaring the twins was not her goal in the slightest. Anakin turned onto his side, scooping Luke up into his side while resting his opposite hand on Leia’s back, lacing his fingers with Padmé’s.
“I promise I’m okay. I’m so sorry I scared you,” she whispered into her daughter’s hair before she kissed her head, then Luke’s. She met Anakin’s eyes, the amusement still present in his eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“Knew you couldn’t handle a marathon.”
“What was matter?” Luke asked, rolling toward Anakin’s chest.
“Mama just got scared by a movie. That’s all, buddy,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go back to bed.”
Leia looked up at her and pushed her toy up toward Padmé's face. “Do you need Sparkle to be brave like me?”
The small, pink and purple horse was, by far, Leia’s most cherished toy. Sparkle was practically a member of the family, albeit inanimate, but the one thing everyone from their parents to their neighbors knew was that no one else touched that toy. Not even Luke on days when his sole focus was getting even with something his sister had done to spite him.
“Oh, Leia,” she said, letting out a small laugh. “That’s so sweet, baby girl, but no. We just had to turn off the movie. Now I’m okay. See?” She brushed dark hair away from her face and smiled. “All better. Sparkle would rather stay with you.”
“Okay…” Leia said, still sounding completely unconvinced. “Can we stay in here? Just in case?”
“I thought you two like sleeping in your big kid beds. Thought you were too cool to stay with mommy and daddy now that you’re in school,” Anakin teased, tickling Leia’s side.
The whole reason Sparkle existed in the household was for Leia’s valiant efforts in school. The same applied to Luke’s Bluey toy, though he was looking to replace that with something ‘cooler,’ or so he told Padmé after pre-k last week when she found him stuffed in the bottom of his bag.
“We do, daddy,” Luke said, tapping Anakin in the chest. “But you’re warm. ‘m so comfy. Can’t we stay? We’ll be good!”
“So, so good!” Leia seconded, slipping herself next to Luke and forcing Padmé and Anakin to opposite sides to make room for squirming children. “Please, mama?”
The yawns and closing eyelids were back and both of them would be ready to carry back to bed soon enough, leaving some hope that they could get back to their movie watching. Not that they were getting back to the original plan, since she still wanted to sleep that night herself. But maybe after scaring her, her husband would feel bad enough to put on a romantic comedy.
Anakin’s thumb swept over her knuckles, glancing down at Luke and Leia before back at her. Padmé shrugged a shoulder. What was a few minutes going to hurt, anyway?
“Okay, you two. You can stay.”
A yawning yay and one small fist being held in the air were their grand response. Not ten minutes had passed before the soft breathing and small shifts in the covers were what remained of their brave mission to make sure everything was well in the house. It was the perfect interruption, showcasing the sweetest and purest motivations from the most perfect humans she’d ever known. Anakin’s hand squeezed hers and without looking, she just knew he was thinking the same.