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Omega was a bundle of excitement. She and the squad had just celebrated their first Christmas in their new home at the Bonteri Estate and now they were getting ready to celebrate New Years. Christmas had been fun. Ahsoka had included Omega in wrapping presents, decorating, and making cookies and had gotten each member of the squad (even Batcher) a special ornament for the tree. Omega could barely sleep on Christmas Eve and had woken up just after midnight to ask Hunter if it was time to open presents. When Hunter had given her a very firm "no" and told her to go back to bed, she had crawled in bed with him; too excited to try and go back to sleep by herself. When it finally came time to open presents, Hunter had to hold her back not sure how Lux and Ahsoka wanted to precede. It may have been Omega's first Christmas but it was also Ashla and Anakin's (Lux and Ahsoka's twins) first Christmas. Fortunately, Ahsoka had let the excited little clone open the first present.
It had been a quite day after that; just the squad, the family, and Shaak Ti, Aayla Secura, and Kit Fisto who also lived at the estate. Lux didn't have a lot of family that didn't try to take advantage of his position as senator and Ahsoka couldn't remember her family. But that didn't mean that it hadn't been fun. Ahsoka had wanted to start their own family traditions. There had been a nice dinner followed by games and carols. Now the estate was getting ready to celebrate New Year's. Omega had tried to stay up until midnight last year but had fallen asleep before midnight. This year she was determined to stay up until midnight.
"I'm going to do it this year," Omega told Hunter confidently at breakfast that morning. "I'm going to stay up until midnight."
"You can do anything you set your mind to," Hunter said. "And this year shouldn't be as busy as last year."
Last year, they had been on a mission which was part of the reason Omega had fallen asleep before midnight.
"You two are up early," Echo said coming into the dining room.
"Omega woke me up," Hunter said. "She's excited about tonight."
"Really? What's special about tonight?"
"Echo," Omega said giggling. "It's New Year's Eve. And I'm going to stay up to midnight this year."
"Well keep in mind there's a lot of hours between now and midnight."
"I know and I think I can do it."
"Well, there's no shame if you want to take a nap this afternoon just so you're not tiered tonight."
"I'm not a baby," Omega said, though she knew that Echo didn't mean that she was.
All the members of the Bad Batch (though technically younger than her) cared about her and wanted her to have the childhood they didn't, especially now that they lived on Onderon. Anything she wanted to try, they helped her with, within reason. She had started riding lessons not long after they arrived at the Bontari Estate and Lux and Ahsoka (with permission from Hunter) had gotten her an Onderon mare for Christmas. Omega had named her Mina after Lux's mother and loved her as much as she did Batcher.
"Can I take Mina out for a ride?" Omega asked.
"You know the rules, Omega," Hunter said. "Riding ring only and with supervision until you have a few more lessons."
It had been a rule they had all agreed on when Omega had started riding lessons. It was to keep Omega safe until she was experienced enough to control her horse; especially in the winter when the ground was frozen and icy.
"Could one of you come with me, please?"
"I'll go with you," Echo said. "You can show me what you've been learning. But let me have my coffee first."
"Okay. I'll go put my riding clothes on."
"You have ten minuets," Hunter said as Omega ran out of the dinning room and to her room, "tops."
Hunter's prediction was right. Ten minuets later, Omega re-entered the dining room dressed for riding.
"Let's go!" Omega said excitedly.
Echo finished his coffee and got up.
"We'll be back in a while," Echo said as Omega took his hand and almost dragged him out of the dining room.
At the riding ring, Omega practiced the riding techniques and simple jumps and dressage moves she had been learning. Thanks to Batcher, she was a little more experienced at riding and knew how to guide Mina with the reigns and her knees and heels.
"How'd I look?" Omega asked riding Mina up to Echo.
"You're improving," Echo said. "Keep up the good work and you'll be ready for you first show this spring."
"You really think so?"
"If you keep practicing."
"There you are," Wrecker said as the rest of the batch along with Lux, Ahsoka, Kit, Aayla, and Shaak Ti approached the riding ring.
"You've been practicing," Aayla said. "Your teacher will be pleased."
"I just want to be ready for the show," Omega said. "It will be my first one and I'm nervous."
"It's okay to be nervous," Shaak Ti said. "Just do your best and we'll be proud of you."
"I know. But I'm still nervous."
In fact, the closer the show got, the more nervous Omega got. She turned Mina back towards the stables where she removed the tack and brushed her horse and checked her hooves. Once that was done, she put Mina back in her stall, filled her food trough, and checked her hay net and water. Taking care of both Mina and Batcher were her responsibility and she took it very seriously. They were after all her pets. After tending to Mina, Omega turned her attention to Batcher. The lurac hound barked happily as Omega measured out her dry food into her bowl. She had been waiting for her breakfast. She circled Omega happily waiting for her to put her bowl down.
“Here you go, Batcher,” Omega said.
🎉🎉🎉
Omega yawned as she sat up. She had been watching a movie in her room and fell asleep. Though she supposed it was a good thing. She’d be well rested for tonight. Pushing her fleecy throw off (someone had obviously draped it over her) she got up. There was still an hour or two until dinner. Maybe she could play with the twins. They were so much fun and she had never been around babies before. She never knew something so small could exist outside of a growth tube.
She found Ahsoka leaving the nursery.
“Hi, Ahsoka,” she said. “Is it alright if I play with the twins?”
“They just went down for a nap. But, if you’re looking for something to do, you can help me make some treats for tonight.”
Omega loved helping out in the kitchen. She and Ahsoka made several trays of snacks for the family to eat while waiting for midnight.
🎉🎉🎉
Omega excitedly watched the screen. She had changed into her nightgown and robe hours ago and was wrapped up in her fleecy blanket with a plate of treats and a glass of sparkling cider at her feet. On the screen was an image of Coruscant. A clock was counting down the final seconds until the new year as a golden ball was lowered. She had done it; she had stayed up to see the new year.