Private I Want to be Prepared

[Jasper Kai'el]

I Want to be Prepared
Niv Hani
Tags: Valery Noble

​

"Wow..."

Jasper had not expected the new home of the Nobles to be so large. His estate was... small. Modest, even. It was a dwelling that was important to his family, but really only the right size for just that: One family. This was certainly a far more impressive abode. He couldn't help but take in the sight a bit before he made his way to the doorbell.

The Sentinel of Harmony was here for advice. He very often went to Valery for such, of course. She was one of his most consistent mentours after all, given that he had never found a stable Master. It seemed that even as he found himself a knight and on the Jedi Council such conditions were unlikely to change. He was here now about his student, Braze . Not because he was having trouble teaching, mind you. No, this was for another reason entirely. The bond that they shared had been blossoming as of late, and more and more Jasper began to see himself in a role far different than simply a teacher. With no true legal guardian, the Sentinel was looking to try his hand at being more than just that.

He wanted to be a father.

Unfortunately, having not grown up in a family unit himself, Jasper didn't know where to begin. But the Nobles? Six children, two adopted, and more on the way... It seemed like the most logical course of action to lean on the wisdom of Valery once again.

So, with a deep breath, Jasper would ring their doorbell.

 

[Valery Noble]

Niv Hani

​

Outfit: Wedding Ring
Tag: Jasper Kai'el

"Hello, Jasper,"

Valery opened the door and offered the Knight a warm smile. She had received his message asking to meet, and invited him over to her home for once. Usually, she'd have met him at the Temple, but she was 8 months into her pregnancy, so most of her time was spent at home. It wouldn't be long before her son was born, after all, and she had chosen to give birth at home this time around. Just with the right professional close, to be safe.

"Come in, I've got some tea ready and cookies too." With more free time available, Valery enjoyed preparing good meals and snacks for the family. After a long day at the Temple or a mission out in the field, it was nice for Kahlil, Aris, Vera and Colette to just enjoy a meal, and not have to worry about preparing anything themselves.

After closing the door behind him, Valery walked into the living room and gently lowered herself down onto the couch. A hand settled over her pregnant stomach, and the other gestured at a cup of tea and the homemade cookies.

"Make yourself at home, and I do hope everything is alright?"

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Niv Hani
Tags: Valery Noble

​

"Come in, I've got some tea ready and cookies too."

"Thank you," Jasper responded with a smile. "I'll make sure to try some before Vera gets to them."

Valery was pretty far into the late stages of her pregnancy from the looks of it. Another little Noble running around was certainly a heartwarming thought. Of course, there were other concerns that floated around in the knights head too. He could only hope that the other children weren't forced to have an encounter with their grandfather. What had happened to Vera still deeply upset him. Perhaps there were some things he had been lucky to avoid in regards to family.

Jasper would sit down in one of the Noble's living room chairs, perhaps more tense than anything else. His mind was swimming with all kinds of things he had never thought about before. It was hard to make heads or tails about them.

"Everything is alright," the knight insisted. "I just... have had a lot on my mind, and I'm not really sure how to proceed."

He sighed, reaching out to pluck a cookie from the tray. They were quite good. Cooking was black magic to Jasper, as he had never quite managed to make more than instant pasta. These were like being handed ancient curses, but like the really tempting kind that you just couldn't resist. Whatever the case was, he was going to need to keep his hand away from them.

"So Braze," he continued. "I'm not having teaching issues or anything, but... I've been feeling really different about all of that recently. He... came to me to perform an Echani coming of age ritual not too long ago. Typically it's supposed to be performed with a father..."

Pride and shame swirled about him at once. Never had he been more excited and more scared.

"I... I want to be that for him," Jasper affirmed. "But I have no idea where to even begin. I don't really know the first thing about being a parent. I didn't exactly have any..." He frowned, shifting in his seat a little. "But you've got experience six times over, y'know? So I figured I'd swing down here and ask what it's like and all..."

 

[Valery Noble]

Niv Hani

​

Outfit: Wedding Ring
Tag: Jasper Kai'el

"Well, I might be able to offer some help," Valery said when he mentioned that he wasn't sure how to proceed with what he had on his mind. She then watched him rather intensely when he plucked a cookie from the tray and tried it — she wasn't as good at baking as Kahlil, but she wanted her guests to enjoy what she made. The shift in his expression told her more than enough. He at least seemed to like it.

The mention of Braze snapped her focus back to the conversation.

Valery listened quietly and bit her own cookie in half while Jasper explained what he had been thinking about. Not long ago, Valery and Kahlil had adopted Colette as their own, so this situation felt rather familiar. It was still highly uncommon, of course, and it came with some tricky things, but it wasn't impossible.

"Well, being a parent is both the most beautiful and most stressful thing in your life. It's a little easier if they're older and less dependent, but a true parent will never stop worrying about their kids. The responsibility is something to take very seriously, and there will be hard days. But..." she paused and smiled while her hand shifted over her stomach.

"Nothing feels more special than being a parent. If it feels right to you both, I think it can be a wonderful thing."

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Niv Hani
Tags: Valery Noble

​

"I... guess that makes sense," Jasper nodded.

He sighed, hanging his head.

"Jeez, this is all so strange," he noted. "I... think I'm afraid more than anything. I wanna be there for him, y'know? I'm just scared I'll mess everything up and set him back. A-and I have like a legitimate problem with not feeling fear. I used to throw myself at Sith Lords and crime bosses all the time. If Iris Arani hadn't told me to cool it, I would have wound up dead. A whole war later, all of that darkness and evil, and only here am I terrified."

Jasper reached out to take another cookie. He really needed to not do that, but the stress of all of these things he had been considering was really starting to get to him. Maybe one more wouldn't hurt.

"Is that normal?" the Knight asked. "Am I just overthinking this?"

 

[Valery Noble]

Niv Hani

​

Outfit: Wedding Ring
Tag: Jasper Kai'el

"It's very normal," Valery was quick to point out. "Jedi are trained to be selfless and most of us are willing to sacrifice ourselves to save others. We all have our fears, whether we admit it or not, but we learn to manage them." She paused for a moment and thought about her own family for a moment. The way she felt whenever they weren't safe at home, where she could watch over them and protect them.

Even her own husband.

"Kahlil is one of the strongest Jedi I've ever see, but even when he's out there and gets injured, I feel... uneasy. I can't sleep, I can't focus on anything and all I want is just to be there with him and take his place in the fight." She chuckled a little, knowing how strange that could potentially sound.

"With the kids, it's the exact same thing. You'll never not be worried, but you can still learn how to control it. Family is just different from everything else. If you have people in your life that you love that much, it's not always going to be easy. But the strength they give you far outweighs the worry."

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Niv Hani
Tags: Valery Noble

​

The strength far outweighs the worry...

"I... hope so," Jasper noted.

He liked the sound of that. There was something comforting about it all. Maybe all of this was a way for him to grow as well, along side supporting Braze. Their bond was, after all, a mutual one. Jasper wanted to foster that.

"Alright," he nodded. "I wanna learn. Is there, like, a list of important skills or something I should learn?"

Would he need to learn how to cook? That seemed responsible given his current diet of pizza and deli sandwiches. There were probably loads of things he could do to better himself going into all of this. If Jasper wanted to model skills that Braze should learn, he should probably learn some things himself, right? It made logical sense in his head.

And from there he just needed to throw himself in head first. He was good at that, at least.

 

[Valery Noble]

Niv Hani

​

Outfit: Wedding Ring
Tag: Jasper Kai'el

Valery chuckled at the question and leaned back into the couch with quite the smile on her lips. It was rather adorable to her, seeing him so excited and determined about this, yet also worried and eager to learn. Jasper had always felt comfortable coming to her with questions, but these were the ones she probably enjoyed the most.

"For Braze, it's a little easier because he's not a little kid. So, I'd personally say that the most important thing is how you communicate. You need to be able to show him that you care about him, but you're also responsible for him. If he causes trouble or does something he shouldn't, you're the one who needs to correct it." Both as his Master and as his parent.

"All-in-all, it's just important that you're there for him when he needs you, and that you're not afraid to approach him as his father, rather than a fun father-figure. There will be difficult days."

She took another bite from her cookie and turned her gaze down the hallway — Aurra, the little blonde NFU of the family, was standing there, watching the two from around the corner.

"If you ever start a family with young kids, there is more to learn, though."

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Niv Hani
Tags: Valery Noble

​

"I've... been trying to work on reigning him in. He's... reckless," Jasper sighed. "It's like looking in a mirror, y'know? Maybe I wasn't quite as loud, or socially tone deaf... but I see things in him that I had. I don't want to helicopter him, but I don't really want him winding up, well, like me, I guess. Does that make sense?"

Braze was so eager to go off and fight, to become a hero and prove his worth. It was a trap young Jedi couldn't help but fall into, and as a nobody with no natural talent to speak of Jasper fell especially hard into this trap. He wound up a cyborg for a reason. The war had not been especially kind to him, but neither had he himself. The knight saw a path forward that saw Braze wind up similarly broken. It was not a future that he particularly liked thinking about.

"Should I learn how to cook?" he asked abruptly. "I feel like that's something I should do. Is that weird?"

Families seemed to cook all the time from what he saw. He wasn't really sure if emulation was a good route, but families did things because they worked most of the time, right? This was all so alien to him.

 

[Valery Noble]

Niv Hani

​

Outfit: Wedding Ring
Tag: Jasper Kai'el

"It makes a lot of sense. You've seen my kids in action, right?" Valery smirked, knowing it wasn't exactly a secret that Vera had been a difficult kid at times. "It's a balance that you as a parent will have to find. It's different for every kid, so it's hard for me to say how to do it exactly. But you'll figure it out - it's trial and error. Don't be afraid to make mistakes." Raising Vera had come with its own challenges as well, and all those lessons learned helped with the triplets.

Even with Aris and Colette, and their upcoming child.

Valery then blinked at the random question and smirked, "It doesn't hurt. If you learn how to cook a few things, you can always offer a good, balanced diet. I personally also just enjoy cooking, and Kahlil is even better."

She paused.

"...don't tell him I said that," she decided to add. Kahlil Noble was already smug enough about his baking skills — she wasn't going to give him another easy win.

"Mommy?" Aurra had finally mustered the courage to speak and quickly waddled over. She climbed onto the couch and sat down beside her mother. "Can we read?" she asked and Valery smiled.

"Soon, sweetie. Mommy has a guest now. This is Jasper," Valery said, and two little blue eyes turned to the Knight.