Not How Your Stories End

Chapter 20 - FINALE

Hera's mornings still started early. Turns out peace could only be so peaceful with a newborn around. Not that she was complaining.

Jacen Syndulla was born the day that the Empire fell. Kanan said it was a work of the force. A cosmic sort of gift, representative of the peace and the hope that they had all given so much of their lives to achieve. Hera just chalked it up to good timing.

Ezra took to Jacen like Purgill took to the sky. There had been some initial hesitancy when she and Kanan first found out that they were expecting. With Ezra still fairly early in his recovery, the idea of adding another big change to all of their lives was more than a little scary. But when they told the crew... Hera didn't think she'd ever seen Ezra so happy before. It was sweet, and he fell into the roll of big brother incredibly well.

Which is why Hera was not at all surprised to see Ezra already awake that morning, warming up a bottle for an already cleaned, changed and dressed Jacen.

"Mornin', Mom," Ezra smiled over his shoulder at her and she returned it in full force. Him calling her 'mom' was still fairly new, and it felt special every time she heard it. At first, they all justified it through Ezra's recovery. 'Mom' was easier to say than 'Hera', and on the days that words were more difficult for him, it would be a good shortcut. Now the justification was that it would be less confusing for Jacen. But the whole crew knew that their reasonings were hollow. It had been a long time coming.

"I made caf already," Ezra grabbed his crutch and turned back towards where Jacen was sitting in his high chair, bottle in hand. "It's over there." He tilted his head back towards the counter where a fresh pot of caf sat, just awaiting her.

"You're the best." Hera leaned down to where he was settling down and kissed the top of his head, which he pretended to bat away. Hera was trying to be better about showing affection ever since Ezra had first gotten sick. There's nothing quite like nearly losing one of the people you love the most to put some things into perspective for you. And it seemed to help his recovery along, as well. That physical assurance of love and support. The promise that even though his whole universe had been flipped on its head again, this time he wasn't going it alone.

"Do you and Kanan have any training plans for the day?" Hera threw the question over her shoulder as she poured herself a cup of caf.

Ezra didn't process her words right away, his focus entirely on Jacen. He held the infant in his arms, holding in a coo at the little sounds he made as he took his bottle. It was perhaps the most precious thing he had ever experienced in his entire life.

Hera cleared her throat a bit, catching his attention this time. She settled down in the seat next to him, reaching out to hold Jacen for herself.

"Sorry, what was the question?" Ezra's brows furrowed as he passed Jacen to his mother. It had taken Ezra nearly a year to stop getting frustrated with himself every time he couldn't make out the words he was being told. He still struggled with the anger sometimes. For all the danger that he had been in throughout his life, it had seemed so... innocuous that an illness would be the thing to alter his life and body so permanently. Granted, he'd recovered better than the doctor's expected, but he'd most likely forever have mobility issues. And conversations could still prove challenging on some days. Everything would be fine one moment and the next it was like everyone else was speaking a different language.

"Are you and Kanan doing any training today?" Hera repeated, hoisting Jacen up against her shoulder and patting his back gently now that he was done with his bottle. Ezra appreciated her normalcy. She was never one to patronize, and after everything, the steadiness of her attitude was a balm against an open wound.