The Skywalkers

Chapter 11

Anakin switched the ship into out-drive as he spun around to look at Luke. They still had 20 minutes until that got home and Luke hadn't slept the entire trip back from the medical centre. The tiny boy had been on the verge of tears and was continually whining. Anakin got up and gently unclipped the restraints holding Luke in his seat. He picked the boy up and held him close to his chest. Luke fussed a tiny bit before settling down as Anakin wrapped him in a tiny baby blanket. On the other side of the room, Obi-Wan smiled at the fatherly instincts of his former Padawan. He never thought that Anakin would have ever become a dad, especially because, having met the man when he was just a 9-year-old boy, he was extremely reckless. He watched as Anakin walked over to him, sitting back in the chair he had been not even 5 minutes before. He had a swaddled Luke in his arms, who Obi-Wan could immediately tell was distressed and unhappy. The boy's eyes were red and teary, and he looked like he really wanted to sleep but couldn't. As Anakin tried to resume piloting the ship, Obi-Wan gently took Luke out of his arms. Anakin gave him a quick thanks before he began to pilot the ship again. Obi-Wan looked down at Luke and sighed. Even through his clothes and Luke's, he could feel the unnatural heat radiating from him. He rubbed his hand through the toddler's hair and watched as the sick boy buried further into the blanket. Knowing that the only way to actually get Luke possibly to sleep was to rock him. Obi-Wan got up and gently began to rock him as Anakin landed the ship. He got up out of the pilot's chair and held his hands out for Luke. Obi-Wan obliged and placed Luke into his arms before he went and opened the back of the ship to get out, taking the folded-up stroller with him. Anakin followed behind him, walking a bit slower. When he finally got to the house Obi-Wan had already put the stroller away and was grabbing the spare set of keys.

"See, ya in a little bit, going to fetch Leia." He spoke quickly. Anakin gave a thumbs up from underneath Luke's head. Obi-Wan chuckled before speeding out of the house and back towards the ship. Anakin watched from the window as the ship lifted off the landing pad and headed, in a completely different direction to the way they had come from the med centre, to fetch Leia from daycare.

Afterwards, Anakin took Luke upstairs and gently placed him into his crib. Instead of trying to sleep like Anakin though he would, Luke immediately stood up and held onto the crib railing, starting to wail. Anakin immediately picked him back up. His crying died down but did not go away. Anakin carried him into his bedroom before placing him on his bed. Luke continued to whine as Anakin took off his shirt before picking Luke back up and getting into the bed. He lay Luke down on Padmé's side of the bed, facing him, as he lay on his side.

"What's wrong bubba?" Anakin asked, brushing Luke's sweat-soaked fringed off his forehead.

"Lukie no sleep, wanna." He mumbled, shutting his eyes forcefully and tensing his body. Anakin grumbled under his breath. Of course Luke had insomnia like he had when he was little. He had hated it so he wondered what it would have been like for a sick 18-month-old. He got out of the bed again and picked Luke back up. He quickly took him downstairs and grabbed the insomnia medicine. Looking at it quickly he got a baby medicine syringe and thanked Yoda that it was a liquid and not tablets. He looked at the medicine amount for Luke's age before filling the syringe with the required amount.

"Open your mouth, Luke." Anakin instructed. Luke looked at the syringe in distaste before turning his head, pout etched on his face. "Come on Luke, it'll help you sleep. I promise." Anakin pleaded. Luke kept his face buried in his shoulder, avoiding the medicine. "Ok, deal, you take the medicine, I'll give you a treat when you are feeling better." Anakin bargained. Luke removed his face from his shoulder and looked at Anakin, not the medicine.

"Pomise?" He asked, botching the pronunciation of the word.

"I promise," Anakin replied. Anakin brought his prosthetic arm up to Luke's mouth, and Luke opened it a crack. Anakin slid the syringe into his mouth and gently pushed the medicine into his son's mouth. The boy frowned and Anakin watched him swallow the medicine.

"Icky," Luke stated. Anakin chuckled. He knew Padmé had never been a fan of medicine and he guessed Luke had gotten that gene.

"Is it gross?" Anakin questioned. Luke briskly nodded before yawning widely. " Oh, I'm sorry to keep you up, little man," Anakin said. Luke didn't reply, instead, he rested his head on Anakin's shoulder and yawned again, shutting his eyes. "Never realised how quickly that stuff works. Guess I never had the chance though cause I'm the only one who's used it." Anakin muttered to himself, plonking down on the couch with Luke's dozing form in his arms. He draped a blanket on him and Luke before turning the tv on and turning the volume down. He switched channels and saw a cameraman on Tatooine, he was videoing a pod racer event. He watched it for a little while and began to cheer when anything funny happened or someone got thrashed by another racer. Every now and again, Luke would stir and Anakin would immediately quieten down and rub his shoulder to help him settle back down. Eventually he got up to get a drink and when he came back in, he saw the back of a head. The head was female.

"Ah, the old days, I remember you in one of those racers. Dangerous sport, wasn't it, nearly got yourself killed by that Sebulba dude."