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A weight slid under the sheets right next to Mace, waking him instantly even though the Leks pressing against him and the red arms around him relaxed him immediately.
"Welcome back, love," he mumbled as he blindly hugged a Lek, his eyes closing of their own accord with fatigue now that he knew it was his wife and not – yet another – assassin.
"I'm home," Shaak murmured, stifling a yawn into his shoulder before settling back more comfortably against him. "Let's talk tomorrow, if you don't mind."
With a sound of approval, Mace let himself be carried away by the surrounding calm and the coolness of his companion's skin against him. He was asleep less than ten seconds later.
When he was rudely awoken by the contact of a knee that struck his balls without delicacy, he did not feel rested at all, fortunately the joyful, childish laughter in his ears softened the pain and fatigue.
"Shaak! Look after your daughter!" he shouted, rolling onto his stomach to protect his sore sensitive parts.
"She's your daughter too, my love," the Togruta replied from... her bath, probably, as he could hear the sound of water.
"Mum! Dad is being mean, he won't give me a kiss!"
Mace stirred under the sheets, smiling mischievously at his little girl as she clutched his back from where she was astride him, laughing as she clung to him despite his "efforts" to dislodge her.
"Oh yes, I'm the worst father in the world, aren't I?"
"No!" she replied immediately with a huge smile as she threw herself on top of him to kiss and hug him. "Hi Dad, Mum's home!"
"I know, in case you've forgotten she's sleeping with me."
"No, you're sleeping with her," the child corrected, straightening up carefully before wiggling in his arms to move back and get up, looking alert as she looked towards the door.
"Ashla?"
"Dad, let go of me, Master Yoda's out of his rooms!"
Trusting the Togruta to naturally pick up on this sort of thing quicker than he could, Mace let her go and just made sure she did not forget her sandals before leaving.
"Children," he sighed as he let himself fall into the sheets, rolling around happily in bed until he buried his nose in his partner's pillow.
Outside, the sun was beating down on the shutters, but the thick curtains had been drawn, which was why he had not woken up.
"Eeth and Mira are coming for dinner tonight," he said as he entered the tiled room adjoining their bedroom a few minutes later, placing his clothes on a rack before undressing to join the woman who was watching him intently from where she lay in the water up to her nose.
"It's been a while since they last visited us, do you have any idea why they are coming now?"
"I think Mira's pregnant, that's the kind of news he'd like to announce in person."
"While asking you to become the godfather," the Togruta teased him.
"Possibly, after all, he has to make up for being my daughter's godfather," he smiled. "Now make some room for me, woman, because your husband would also like to relax before what will undoubtedly be a trying day."
The water was warm, Shaak liked it hotter than he did for baths, bordering on scalding, so even after a while it was still more than enough for him.
"Oh, sweet heaven...
"Master Vos's hospitality comes with perks that are definitely nice," his beautiful wife agreed as she carefully stretched, moving to lie against him the second he reached out, her back against his chest, sighing with pleasure as he placed distracted kisses on her Montrals while retrieving a bar of soap.
"It is indeed better than the previous Temple.
Partly because this temple had been ransacked and demolished when they fled Senator Palpatine's takeover of the Senate – and therefore the Empire – but also because the largest and most massive city of the Coruscanti Empire made it difficult for them to live in harmony with the flow of life and death around them. Material comfort was not something they considered when trying to live according to the principles of the Force, but it was true that in recent decades the quality of life and the funds available for them had been drastically reduced by further conquests and incessant repression at the borders.
"I hope all goes well, enough for our children to grow up in peace," he murmured, briefly touching the slightest hint of a bump on his wife's belly that would soon reveal even to those with no Force sensibility that they would soon have a second child together.
"I hope so too," she admitted, stepping back so that he could press harder on her Leks and Montrals, which he massaged firmly before moving on to her shoulders. "Ashla still remembers it."
"I don't know if this kind of Darkness can be forgotten, even by the youngest. They forget the reason for the fear, but not the fear itself. Even little Korto is particularly sensitive to these emotions."
"Speaking of which, I'm probably going to meet the Mandalorian now that I'm going to start teaching Vos's son. Any observations or warnings?"
"I've only met him a few times myself," Mace replied while leaning against the rounded edge of the pool, sliding his hands under the water to press against the small of her shoulder blades where she would have found it difficult to reach on her own. "He hardly ever attends banquets and has never appeared at balls or festivals. According to Knight Ventress there is nothing particularly suspicious about him, and she has been investigating."
"Of course she has been investigating," Shaak said with amusement. Ky has all my respect for handling her so well."
"And mine. How about staying around a bit longer this time?"
"I think agreeing to teach the boy made my desire to stay in Kiffex for a long time rather explicit."
"I mean... in general. Ashla missed you."
"Only Ashla?"
Mace pulled her closer to him, offering himself vulnerably in the Force just for the pleasure of feeling their minds touch and meld.
"I can look after our daughter and a newborn baby on my own, but I didn't marry you to have children, I married you to have you."
"You clever seducer... how about we all go away together next time I get the urge to go somewhere else?"
Mace hummed softly. If they did not leave for too long, the Order could do without him, their people were stable enough for that now.
"Let's wait until the baby is born before we start planning."
"Hmm..."
Mace smiled at the back of her neck, whatever he said, he knew she was already thinking about it, she liked to anticipate everything so she could travel with peace of mind... and that was exactly how he loved her.