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Obi Wan hesitated at the door to his and Anakin’s bedroom, glancing down at the tray in his hands. Anakin had barely eaten anything in two days and Obi Wan was starting to get worried about him.
It was true that Anakin’s appetite was always a sketchy and unpredictable thing – something that never failed to stress Obi Wan out but he had mostly come to accept over the past twelve years – but now that he was heavily pregnant with twins, it concerned him more than he could say. He didn’t like the idea of Anakin or their unborn children going hungry and he was especially conscious that Anakin may become too weak to safely deliver them if he kept rejecting food.
He knocked tentatively on their bedroom door before stepping inside. Anakin was lying on his side with his left hand up by his face, causing Obi Wan to catch a glimpse of the Force-inhibitor bracelet on his wrist. There was no denying it was necessary, but he still felt a little guilty every time he saw it.
Healer Che had suggested the bracelet towards the end of Anakin’s twentieth week of pregnancy when it was becoming increasingly clear that he was a danger to himself and others.
Obi Wan started noticing that something was amiss around week eighteen, when Anakin would call something towards him using the Force, only to have it fly too quickly and hit him in the face. Once or twice could be excused as Anakin being distracted or a little enthusiastic, but it kept happening, every time without fail. What disturbed Obi Wan, was that even Anakin seemed shocked by this and unable to explain what was going on.
It started happening with other things too. Turning on a tap and nearly flooding the kitchen, passing something to Obi Wan and nearly knocking him out. It then progressed to short-circuiting the entire Temple because he’d walked too close to a power adapter, leaving everyone in darkness for several hours while they waited for it to be fixed. The final straw for Obi Wan had been when he’d been insisting that Anakin needed to be getting more rest and taking better care of himself while his body was trying to support two babies and Anakin had become so distressed that the lightbulb in their bedroom had exploded.
It was to be expected, Healer Che had told them after Obi Wan had absolutely insisted Anakin make an appointment to see her and then practically dragged him to it. And it wasn’t Anakin’s fault; it was just that he was extremely Force-sensitive himself and carrying two extremely Force-sensitive children and that was wreaking havoc on the things around him. It was also likely to get worse as their children continued to grow and become more powerful themselves.
Anakin had agreed, that was something Obi Wan always reminded himself when the guilt started to eat away at him. For his safety, Healer Che had recommended reducing his connection to the Force. Cutting it off completely would be dangerous, she had insisted. It would be too much of a shock to his body, not to mention that his connection to the Force would undoubtedly be supporting his pregnancy. She’d fastened the bracelet loosely around his left wrist so that Anakin was still connected, just not as deeply and intimately as he had been before.
Anakin had immediately become less after she’d done it. Less present, less focused, less Anakin. If Obi Wan had ever needed proof that Anakin was half-Force, here it was. It was like he had lost a part of himself. As crazy as it sounded, he also sensed it had upset the Force too for it swirled around Anakin now in a way Obi Wan had never seen it before, almost like it was mourning its connection to its favourite child.
But it was necessary and it was keeping Anakin, the twins, and undeniably everyone on Coruscant safe and Healer Che promised she would remove it as soon as Anakin had given birth.
Obi Wan tried to smile reassuringly as Anakin wearily opened his eyes. The curtains were still drawn because in addition to losing his appetite, Anakin had been insisting that he needed darkness and became quite agitated any time Obi Wan tried to let any light into the room.
(Obi Wan had checked multiple pregnancy books and with Healer Che and they all insisted that this behaviour was perfectly normal as an Omega approached their due date. It didn’t change the fact that Obi Wan felt like he was going to explode with loving concern from it all).
‘It’s lunchtime, dear one,’ Obi Wan said, trying to ignore the way Anakin merely groaned and buried his face back in his pillow. ‘I made that Tatooine dish you like.’
‘I’m not hungry,’ Anakin said, his voice muffled.
How can you not be hungry? Obi Wan thought wildly. You haven’t eaten properly in days and you’re nurturing two children.
‘Can I get you something else then?’ he asked. ‘Some soup maybe or those crackers with –’
Anakin shook his head restlessly, not lifting his cheek from his pillow.
‘No, nothing,’ he said snappishly. Then he sighed heavily. ‘I-I just can’t.’
‘Are you feeling sick?’
Morning sickness had plagued Anakin for the first few months of his pregnancy. Mercifully it then died down but Obi Wan had caught him retching in the fresher a few times over the past few weeks so although Anakin never mentioned it, Obi Wan had a sneaking suspicion that it had made a return.
Anakin seemed to think about the question for a moment before shrugging. ‘No. I don’t know. I just don’t feel like eating.’
Obi Wan set the tray down on the nightstand before perching on the edge of the bed. Even through the blankets, he could see the curve of Anakin’s heavily pregnant belly and it felt remarkable that they had come this far when it seemed like only yesterday their twins were conceived.
Anakin had always been eager to start a family so it made sense that no sooner had Master Yoda informed the Jedi that he was relaxing the strict “no children” policy than Anakin was straddling Obi Wan’s thighs in their bedroom, begging him for a baby.
There were plenty of reasons to say no. Anakin was only twenty-two years old, they were in the middle of a war for crying out loud, and they’d only been in a courtship for just over a year. But Obi Wan had relented.
He told himself it was because he saw the desperation in Anakin’s eyes and sensed how much he needed this. But he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t also because he was worried about the darkness he sometimes felt brewing around Anakin and that part of him hoped that having a baby may do something to hold that at bay.
Even as he’d agreed, part of him felt sure that it would most likely take several months to conceive a child and yet he’d discovered how wrong he was about that mere hours after their first attempt.
‘Morning dear one,’ Obi Wan had said, reaching out to tuck a stray curl behind Anakin’s ear, but Anakin sat up too quickly to give him the chance to do so. Obi Wan watched as Anakin sat ramrod straight, lightly resting his hand – his flesh hand, he noticed – low on his belly.
‘Oh,’ he said, his voice very soft and his gaze taking on a distant, faraway quality.
‘Are you all right?’ Obi Wan asked, immediately sitting up beside him and placing his hand firmly against the centre of his back, ready to spring into action for whatever Anakin may need.
Anakin exhaled slowly. ‘Yeah,’ he said, a smile Obi Wan could only describe as radiant breaking out on his face. ‘Yeah, I’m great.’ He turned to face Obi Wan and pressed a firm kiss to his lips. ‘We did it, Master. We’re going to have a baby.’
Obi Wan looked at him in shock. ‘You can feel that already?’
Anakin gently rubbed his belly and nodded. ‘Yeah. Can’t you feel it? In the Force?’
Obi Wan tried but all he could see and feel was Anakin, if it was even possible, burning more brightly than he usually did.
‘No,’ he confessed. ‘But that’s not surprising given that it’s happening inside you and you are far stronger in the Force than I, dear one.’
Anakin sighed contentedly and lay back against the pillows, pulling the blankets up over his body.
‘I can’t wait to meet him,’ he said, looking more at peace than Obi Wan had ever seen him.
A boy, Obi Wan thought, because he’d seen enough to know not to doubt Anakin’s intuition. We’re going to have a son.
Obi Wan took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Me too,’ he said. ‘Now how about we get up and I can get you some breakfast?’
Anakin shook his head and buried more deeply under the blankets. ‘No, I want to stay here,’ he said, glancing down at himself. ‘Just to make sure the baby takes properly. It’s still…’ He frowned slightly. ‘It’s still really early and it doesn’t feel settled yet.’
Obi Wan wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about but Anakin was the one with the Omega instincts and who was so strong in the Force he was basically psychic so who was he to question him.
‘Okay, dear one,’ he’d said. ‘Whatever you need.’
It was hard to believe that that was almost nine months ago and now they were mere days away from meeting their twins.
Now, Anakin glanced at the clock on the nightstand. ‘It’s good you woke me up,’ he said. ‘I’m supposed to see the Chancellor today.’
As Obi Wan watched him try and fail to disguise a wince as he struggled to push himself into a seated position, something inside of him felt uneasy.
It may have had something to do with the state Anakin had come back in after his last visit with Chancellor Palpatine. Obi Wan had been sitting down with a cup of tea when Anakin – thirty-five weeks along and struggling with the strain of carrying two almost full-grown babies although he’d never admit it – had staggered into their quarters, looking like he was about to drop where he stood.
Obi Wan had immediately sprang into action, wrapping his arm around Anakin’s waist and guiding him to the couch, making sure to sit in such a way that enabled Anakin to press his nose against the scent gland in his neck. Anakin inhaled deeply and Obi Wan felt his body relax somewhat until he tensed up again as something seemed to jab Obi Wan in the side.
‘Are those kicks?’ he asked, as Anakin moaned and rubbed his hand restlessly around the curve of his belly.
Anakin nodded helplessly. ‘They’ve been like this since I met with the Chancellor,’ he said, sounding absolutely exhausted. ‘And they won’t stop, no matter what I do.’
Obi Wan knew that the intensity of the twins’ movements had been hard on Anakin for a while now. Together, they’d come up with a few things that tended to help; walking around, rubbing circles against his skin, taking deep calming breaths, and drinking something warm. But Obi Wan had never felt the twins as unsettled as this and it had taken a long time to get them to calm down.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Obi Wan said, internally cringing at his choice of words. Anakin had long suspected that Obi Wan didn’t like the Chancellor and it was something he intensely disapproved of. ‘I mean,’ Obi Wan added quickly, ‘it’s quite cold outside and I don’t like the idea of you and our babies having to travel that far when you’re so close to giving birth. Please, dear one, I’d feel so much better if you stayed here today.’
He wasn’t sure if it was his words or the sheer exhaustion that was written all over Anakin’s perfect features that persuaded him.
‘Okay,’ he said, resting his hand over the top of his bump and looking a little overwhelmed. ‘But what will I tell the Chancellor?’
Obi Wan tried not to let his surprise that Anakin had been so agreeable show on his face. Anakin had had many symptoms during his pregnancy but ‘going along with what Obi Wan wanted’ hadn’t tended to be one of them.
‘I’ll take care of it,’ he said.
And he would too. Although he denied it to Anakin, he had to admit that he’d never liked his relationship with the Chancellor. He had always seemed far too interested in Anakin and sometimes Anakin would say some strange ideas that Obi Wan was sure came straight from the Chancellor’s lips. Obi Wan also didn’t like the level of curiosity the Chancellor had about their unborn children which seemed to go beyond the excitement others felt for them. What made it worse was that Anakin trusted the Chancellor so he was far more accommodating of his questions and – Obi Wan was not making this up – lingering touches than he would have been with anyone else.
He sent a message to the Chancellor’s office using his Commlink before turning it off, not caring to see what the response was. Then he glanced at the two cribs Anakin had already set up at the end of their bed, remembering the precise moment when Anakin had told him they were expecting two. He had been around five weeks along and he and Obi Wan were taking a shower together. Obi Wan was tenderly rubbing a sponge over Anakin’s belly, which had already started to round out below his belly button despite him being so early in his pregnancy, when Anakin had murmured a soft oh of surprise.
‘I’m sorry,’ Obi Wan said, immediately dropping his hand. ‘Did you not like that?’
‘No, that was fine,’ Anakin said, sounding a little shaken and distracted. ‘It’s just that…Master, we’re having twins.’
‘Twins?’ Obi Wan repeated. ‘You can feel them?’
Anakin nodded. ‘Yes, there’s definitely two. A boy and a girl, I think.’
An ultrasound the following week confirmed it.
Obi Wan smiled fondly as he remembered how shy Anakin had initially been about his pregnancy, insisting that although it made him very happy, he didn’t want anyone to know, and being careful to always wear his cloak or to carefully layer his robes to conceal the changes to his body.
That worked until about week ten, when for the fourth Council Meeting in a row, Anakin had to excuse himself before dashing out of the door, his urgent footsteps echoing all the way down the corridor to the fresher.
Obi Wan couldn’t help but notice that everyone in the Council Chambers was determinedly avoiding eye contact with everyone else until Master Yoda matter-of-factly said, ‘Challenging, morning sickness can be.’
Obi Wan inclined his head as everyone murmured in agreement. ‘It has been difficult,’ Obi Wan said. ‘He is doing his best though.’
‘Good of young Skywalker to still fulfil his duties, it is,’ Master Yoda said. ‘But care of himself too, he must take.’
That seemed to be a constant theme with Anakin, even when he wasn’t pregnant. Obi Wan was pleased to find that he was at least a little more receptive to these types of conversations now that he was carrying two precious lives but still, old habits seemed to die hard.
‘I believe congratulations are in order,’ Master Windu said, when Anakin had returned looking a little pale and shaky. He had been absolutely mortified but managed to murmur a thank you with good grace.
Since then, Anakin had remained private and covered-up in public, but very open when it was just him and Obi Wan. Which was why Obi Wan had been regularly treated to the stunning sight of Anakin dressed in robes that framed his pregnant belly, showing off just how beautiful he was with their children inside of him for the past few months.
Anakin suddenly shifted, a small gasp escaping from his lips as his hand flew to his belly.
‘Are they kicking again?’ Obi Wan asked sympathetically.
Anakin nodded, rubbing his hand against the skin just to the left of his belly button. Obi Wan could see his skin stretch and bulge at the twins’ movements. It looked very uncomfortable and he could only imagine what it was like for Anakin.
‘They’re getting so strong,’ he said. ‘I know it’s a good thing, but it hurts when they move now. Although, they seem to have moved away from my ribs so that’s something of a blessing.’
‘Let me help,’ Obi Wan said, placing both of his hands on Anakin’s belly and sending a soothing sensation through the Force. ‘I’ll try and get them to calm down so you can get some more rest.’
Anakin sighed. ‘Thanks, but it’s not just that. They’re getting so big that I feel like they’ve taken over my entire body. I can’t remember the last time I felt comfortable.’
‘I think that’s to be expected,’ Obi Wan said soothingly. ‘But you’re doing such a great job. And you’re so beautiful with our children inside of you. You’ll have to be careful or I may decide that I want you like this all the time.’
‘I wouldn’t say no, Master,’ Anakin said, his tone very serious. Then he rubbed his chest with an uncomfortable expression on his face. Heartburn, Obi Wan knew. He’d been suffering from it since his third trimester and it didn’t even seem to be linked to eating anymore. It just seemed like there wasn’t any more room left inside of him. ‘But maybe give me a few months to recover first. And try not to fill me with twins next time.’
Obi Wan smiled and pressed a kiss to his temple. ‘You can have as much time as you need, dear one. And as for twins, I think you can only blame yourself. You were never one to do things halfway.’
Anakin hummed, his eyelids falling closed for longer and longer periods of time. ‘I’m so tired,’ he said, for some bizarre reason sounding disappointed and upset with himself.
‘Then sleep, dear one,’ Obi Wan said. ‘I’ll be here when you wake up, okay?’
Anakin seemed to try and resist for a moment before he finally closed his eyes and Obi Wan felt some peace that at least he was getting the rest he needed.
*
Obi Wan awoke in what he sensed was the middle of the night with an unshakeable feeling that something was wrong. He barely had time to register that the entire bedroom smelled of distressed, pregnant Omega before Anakin was anxiously shaking his shoulder.
‘Master,’ he said, when Obi Wan immediately shifted around to face him. His eyes were wide and fearful and he was trembling all over. ‘I-I don’t feel well.’
Obi Wan immediately reached out in the Force and was reassured to sense their babies – two very bright lights with Anakin’s Force signature wrapped around them tenderly like a blanket – felt just fine. That was, at least, some relief.
‘Okay,’ he said soothingly, cupping his hand around Anakin’s jaw and stroking his cheek with his thumb. ‘Can you tell me what’s going on?’
Anakin glanced around wildly for a few moments, looking a little lost and overwhelmed. The Healers had warned Obi Wan about this: that carrying two very-Force-sensitive children was going to put an enormous strain on his body and that this would probably have some impact on his thought processing and emotions too. Obi Wan had been more than a little worried because even on his best day, Anakin wasn’t exactly what you’d call stable but he had managed a lot better than Obi Wan had feared. The responsibility of caring for their children seemed to centre him, even as the physical challenge of doing so wore him down.
‘I don’t know,’ he eventually said. ‘I just feel so strange and I don’t know why.’
Obi Wan tried to help him narrow it down.
‘Do you think it’s our babies?’
Anakin placed his hand over his belly button and took a few deep breaths, his eyes going distant in the way Obi Wan had come to associate with him looking inwards to detect their children in the Force.
‘No,’ he said, slowly. ‘No, they seem okay. A little restless but they’re probably picking that up from me. I –’
He broke off with a gasp and went very still. Obi Wan opened his mouth to ask what had happened when he felt something warm and wet spreading over the sheets and onto his sleep pants. He immediately knew what had happened.
Anakin’s water had broken.
‘Oh, dear one,’ Obi Wan said, his throat feeling choked with emotion. ‘You’re going into labour.’
‘What?!’ Anakin said, sounding absurdly panicked given that he surely had known this moment was coming for the last nine months. ‘No. No, I’m not ready. I’m not sure if I can –’
‘Shhhh,’ Obi Wan said soothingly. ‘Of course you can. You’re going to be just fine. And I’m going to be with you the whole time. Just take some deep breaths and let me know if you’re in any pain.’
Getting Anakin into a birthing chamber at the Halls of Healing was something of an ordeal. He seemed terrified that he was going to be separated from Obi Wan and while he insisted that he wasn’t having any contractions and he was fine to stay in their quarters for a little while longer, the way he frequently had to pause and brace himself against the wall seemed to belie that statement.
‘I just want to be left alone,’ he whimpered, as Healer Che helped him onto the bed and quickly checked the babies’ heartbeats and felt between Anakin’s legs to see how far along he was. ‘There’s still ages to go, I don’t need to be here.’
‘He’s already five centimetres dilated,’ Healer Che told Obi Wan quietly. ‘So he’s a lot further along than he thinks. I also suspect he’s been in labour for longer than he’s letting on given the state of his body.’
Obi Wan opened his mouth to come to Anakin’s defence before he realised that delaying telling him about his labour was exactly the kind of thing Anakin would do. Anakin hated being fussed over and he especially loathed it when he was in pain. Toughing out labour alone for as long as he could seemed very in character for him.
‘I guess that’s Anakin,’ he said resignedly. ‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s fine but I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to leave him alone as much as he’ll want. I need to make sure that everything is going as it should, especially given he’s carrying twins.’
‘Do what you need to do,’ Obi Wan said, and meaning it. ‘I’ll do my best to appease him.’
Unfortunately, labour was hard on Anakin. It wasn’t long before he was sobbing as his contractions peaked, all the while trying to shy away from and eventually kicking Healer Che as she checked his progress. Even with his bracelet, he still managed to shatter two lamps and put a decent crack in the window of the birthing chamber before Luke and then Leia were safely delivered into Healer Che’s arms.
Anakin was extremely agitated and unwilling to be comforted as the twins were taken away to be cleaned, weighed and wrapped in blankets but he relaxed immediately when they were placed on his chest. Obi Wan stroked his sweaty curls and marveled at their two perfect children as Anakin rubbed their backs and carefully scented them in a way Obi Wan had never seem him do with anyone else.
Then he glanced at Obi Wan, looking a little uncertain. But Obi Wan knew what to do.
‘You’ve done so well, dear one,’ he said. ‘You’ve given us two perfect children and I couldn’t be more grateful or more proud of you.’
Anakin absolutely glowed under the praise. Obi Wan watched as Healer Che carefully cut the bracelet and let it fall from Anakin’s wrist. The effect was instantaneous: Anakin let out a happy-sounding gasp, his cheeks filled with colour and the Force seemed to rejoice around him.
‘Oh,’ Anakin said. ‘That’s so much better. I-I didn’t realise how much I missed it until I got it back.’
Obi Wan felt him reach out with the Force and call a baby blanket into his hand. As he grabbed onto it, he laughed, his face joyous as though he had been reunited with an old friend. He always looked beautiful, but Obi Wan had forgotten just how radiant he was when he was connected to the Force.
Obi Wan held him close and pressed a long kiss to the top of his head. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘For doing this for us.’
Anakin gazed at their children for a long moment before he spoke. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Thank you for letting me.’