Private Surprise

[Cato Harth]

In the days after their scuffle with the Vandolaes, Cato had been working overtime to keep himself. The reminders Moloch had forced back into the forefront of his mind had done a number on the young knight; And though he still maintained his typical wisecracking facade, in the moments where it slipped, he was noticeably quieter and more introspective.

As days turned to weeks, it seemed to gradually recede, and more of his old self shined through here and there. Cato had never been one to let himself stay down, after all. It was progress, at least.

This morning, though, Inanna would find Cato standing rigid, and ghostly pale in the kitchen. He seemed to be looking down at something, some indiscernible object that was sitting on the table. Perhaps the last thing he could have expected to come crashing into his life.

Upon further inspection, the object was a bassinet. And inside was a baby. A girl it seemed, with dark hair, pinkish undertoned skin, and a pair of unmistakably familiar tawny eyes. Cato was staring at the child, almost unblinkingly. Whatever emotion he was experiencing was subdued and indiscernible. In his tight grip was a note that had been taped to the crib, simply reading,

"It's yours."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Elfangor discovered the baby long before Inanna did, using a chair as leverage to sniff at the bassinet. The creature soon lost interest, however, when Inanna came into the kitchen and put out his food.

She was peeling a banana for herself when she finally noticed something was up. Things had been relatively quiet around the apartment, and any disruption of the routine she’d fallen into wouldn’t go undetected.

Tilting her head, she walked over to where Cato stood with a piece of paper in his hand and a very strange look on his face. Before she could ask what was up, she heard a little whuffling noise so achingly familiar, it froze her in place. The prelude to a sound which had pierced her dreams, waking her up at odd hours of the night and forcing her or Hal to stumble out of bed and stagger into the nursery to see what was wrong.

Newborns spend most of their time sleeping. This one was awake, alert, and swiftly becoming agitated by its unfamiliar surroundings. Though she had locked up at first, the old practiced motions soon came back to her. She went over to the bassinet, checked for a pacifier among the folds of the blanket, and finding none, stuck her little finger in the baby’s mouth to soothe its cries.

The child’s likeness to Cato didn’t register, even as she watched tawny eyes drift closed. All she saw was a kid in distress, and nobody taking care of it.

“Cato,” she whispered. “What’s going on? Whose baby is this?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

A million different thoughts were running through Cato's mind, none of them providing any sufficient answers or courses of action. So he locked up, near catatonic at a sight that seemed to him impossible. Though in truth that belief was naive, at best. Deep down, he believed it. If not because of simple plausibility, then because of the pair of eyes that had been staring back at him, and the innate connection he could feel linked between them by the Force itself.

"It-- She's uh…m…mine." He mumbled, almost unintelligibly.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

For several moments, Inanna just stared at him as his words slowly sank in. She wasn't anywhere near as shocked by the news as Cato was, but it certainly was a surprise.

His face had gone very pale, and he looked like he was about to pass out. "I think you had better sit down," she said softly, reaching out with her free hand to touch his shoulder and guide him into a chair.

She wanted to ask more questions, but until Cato was calmer, she knew she'd get nothing out of it. Spotting the note, she gingerly plucked it from his fingers, searching for more information—and finding none. No names, no explanation, no elaboration. Just it’s yours scribbled in a stranger’s handwriting. Something told her Cato didn't know much, either.

"Who is her mother?" she asked. "She's gone, right? Out of the picture?" Her voice sounded weirdly calm. Inside her emotions were in such a tangle, she didn't know what to feel. Should she be mad at Cato for being careless? Upset with whoever had dumped the baby on their doorstep like this? Should she feel sorry for the kid, just born and already off to a rocky start? All of the above?

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato said nothing, just sitting down as Inanna's hand guided him into a seat. Afterwards he at least seemed capable of moving, as he leaned forward and rested his forehead in his palm. Confusion and guilt surfaced more clearly as he tried to replay the possible scenarios in his head.

Inanna's questions formed a pit in his stomach. A shameful frown, "S-she's gone, yeah, but…" He swallowed, "I-I dunno who she is…" Most all of his romantic and sexual encounters on Narsh preceeding Inanna had been very casual. And evidently, not as careful as they should have been. Now he felt like trash. A failure to Inanna, to the mother, and to his… daughter.

"I can't be a dad, Inanna…" He whined, still not wanting to believe it could be true. This child deserved better than what he felt he could afford.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Cato slumped forward not long after he sat down, holding his head in his hands. Inanna felt a stab of irritation as he admitted he didn’t even know who the mother was, coupled with an urge to blame him for this, but it was fleeting. She looked at the baby girl in the bassinet, still sucking on her finger, and felt all unnecessary things melting away.

"I can't be a dad, Inanna…"

She opened her mouth to suggest a paternity test, then shut it. He didn’t sound like he doubted the child was his, he just didn’t want to believe this was happening.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said, wrapping her arm around him and holding him close. “I’ll take care of her, okay? Don’t worry about that part.” She bit her lip, realizing how she sounded. “Until you figure out what to do, I mean.”

But what other options did he have? Dropping her off at an orphanage? Sending her to his parents? Handing her over to the Jedi, if it turned out she was Force sensitive like him? None of those were good options, as far as Inanna was concerned. She bit her tongue to keep from saying so. This wasn't her kid. She couldn't make these decisions for Cato.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Whether Inanna did or not, Cato would very much be blaming himself for this for the foreseeable future. Between the baby and everything else, he had all these responsibilities that felt like they contradicted one another. Was he supposed to abandon the people he swore to help for the sake of a kid he didn’t know he had until now? Was he to raise an innocent child on this trash heap of a planet, all while he continued to fight against crime and injustice, putting them all at the risk of danger? Even something like adoption or surrendering her to the Jedi felt like it was just an excuse to shirk the problems he had made.

Inanna reached down to comfort him, and he quickly took his, raising a hand up over hers. The Shi’ido’s wording got him to look up curiously, and in response he just nodded. There was some desire to say something, but he couldn’t find the words to express his confluence of feelings.

After a beat, Cato slowly stood up, and walked back over to the bassinet. He studied the girl, now with a clearer set of mind. It was still hard to believe what he was looking at. His child. Of that he no longer had any doubts. A test could no better prove what the Force was already telling him. He reached down, gently touching a finger to her hair, then down to her pink blanket and past the baby’s hand. Then, reflexively, she grasped at his finger, just holding it there.

“...I-Inanna…” Cato pursed his lips, uncertain of how to react. He hadn’t exactly spent much time with newborns before, “...What do I do?”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna watched Cato as he touched the baby. Unusual for a newborn, she had a full head of hair, dark and soft as eiderdown. A tiny fist grabbed Cato’s finger as soon as it was in reach.

She was a bit on the small side. Inanna quietly lifted the blanket, checking her stomach to assuage her fears. There were no remnants of a hastily cut umbilical cord or blood around her navel. This baby had been born and treated in a hospital, not… elsewhere.

“Well,” Inanna began, replacing the blanket. “We start with the basics. Go to the store, get some baby formula, diapers, and so on. And a pacifier, can’t forget that. As cute as she is, I can’t exactly stand here with my finger in her mouth forever.” She looked around. “Unless whoever dropped her off left us some supplies as well?”

Inanna felt a weird simultaneous disappointment and pity toward the nameless, faceless mother. She had carried the kid to term and probably tried to take responsibility, but for whatever reason, things must not have worked out. Leaving her with Cato had likely been a last resort, an admission of failure. On the other hand, it was still pretty careless. The baby wasn’t that old; it hadn’t taken the mother long to give up on the endeavor.

“I assume she doesn’t have a name, either,” she murmured.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"...N-no I meant about... my finger..."

"But... yeah... all of those things, too..."

He looked down at the baby again, and shook his head. No supplies, no name, nothing. Cato hadn't even considered the naming process yet, and felt another headache coming on. How do you name a baby? Overly thought out questions and concerns like that were now taking control of his mind.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Oh." Inanna blinked. "That's the thing, you don't get to leave until she decides to let go."

"I'm kidding. Just be gentle. If she has a tight grip, that's a good thing. Means she's strong."

She could sense that she was losing him to his swirling thoughts. "Hey," she said, leaning toward him. "I said I would help, and I meant it." She gave him a long, lingering kiss.

"I'm going to call her Pink for now." Reaching for the bassinet's handle, Inanna noticed Elfangor had gotten a hold of the banana she had been planning to eat earlier. "Would you jump into my grave that quickly, you fuzzy worm?" she asked. Elfangor devoured the last of the fruit, licked his chops, then slithered away.

Inanna sighed. "Let's go."

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato blinked, taking her comment seriously for the briefest of moments until Inanna clarified. She pulled him into a kiss, bringing him back into the moment, "...Thanks."

He looked down, and ran his thumb across the back of the girl's hand, "...She is pretty strong," Then, a blink-and-you-miss-it smile ticked up at the corner of his lip, "Sure. Pink. Yeah." It would do for now, until they could decide on something a little more proper. He managed to slip his hand away, and turned to watch Elfangor slither off elsewhere.

"There's that little bodega nearby. Should carry some basic stuff like that," That, and it was owned by someone who he trusted not to swindle them or cause problems. Another one of the neighborhood folk he had helped one time or another. And another reason why he couldn't just up and leave.

---

The door slid open with a soft chime, and at the front counter, a tooka cat popped up curiously. The owner of both the shop and the cat, a Klatooinian man, soon waltzed out to greet them, "Cato? Heyyy, welcome back. Ah…" He trailed off, immediately noticing the bassinet he was carrying.

"It's uh… a long story," It really wasn't. But it wasn't one he either wanted or even felt like he could explain.

The shop owner seemed to pick up on this, and raised his hands, "I ain't gonna grill ya, man. Already saved my hide once, don't owe me shit."

"I appreciate it. You got some, like, baby stuff around here, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah over there towards the back. Take it easy, man."

"Thanks… Thank you…" Cato quickened his pace towards the back of the small store, already searching for some of what they'd need, "Let's see uh, pacifier. Diapers. What else?" He was obviously stressed and overwhelmed, despite the simplicity of it all. He even had to take a second to wipe at his brow, before continuing his search.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Hey,” Inanna greeted the Klatooinian behind the counter. He and Cato knew each other, so she let him do much of the talking.

In the meantime, she was a woman on a mission. She ran through a checklist she had made in her head, and sought out the items they would need. But she soon realized she couldn’t wander too far from Cato, who seemed to be teetering on the edge of a breakdown at any moment.

“The wipes should be over there, too,” she said, her voice coming from the next aisle over. “They come in those big bulk boxes. There’s a million different types, just go with whichever says ‘sensitive’. Save us all a headache.”

Though she tried not to think about the past, this was already bringing back memories. She hadn’t been as terrified and unprepared (or sweaty) as Cato was, but there had been a similar awkwardness at first. And she would forget to buy things that were either incredibly obvious, like baby clothes, or things she didn’t even know existed, like clippers designed for tiny fingernails.

“Don’t freak out when you see how much it all costs, I’ll pay for it,” she muttered, turning the corner with her arms full of stuff, none of it frivolous. “Babies are expensive, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Uhhh, yep, okay," Cato took a big box under his arm, precariously balancing the rest of it on the box's edge. When it was all said and done, they were both decked in baby supplies. Another thing he hadn't even considered: the cost. For the briefest of moments he felt a headache rising again, until Inanna said she'd pay for it, "Yeahhh…" Normally Cato would be much more inclined to insist otherwise, but in this situation he was latching on to whatever ease of mind he could get. For all the precarious circumstances he'd found himself in over the years as a Jedi, never before had he felt so ill-prepared as he did now.

"This everything?" He checked with Inanna as he set his things on the counter. The shop owner gave Cato an almost worried look, before he just started scanning. Cato just nodded at him as if to assuage any concern, although the antsy look on the Jedi's face probably indicated things were hectic, to say the least. Once everything was through, he looked back at Inanna guiltily for payment.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna, who could find humor in any situation, placed the bassinet on the counter as well and jokingly asked the shop owner, "How much for this baby?"

"You look like you're about to pass out," she said to Cato as she handed her credit chit to the shop owner. "Do you need a minute?"

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

The Klatooinian found it in him to quietly bark a laugh, "For you? Free of charge. Seems like you might need it." Still he gave the Jedi another concerned glance, before to committing to scanning all the items.

Cato slowly turned his head to Inanna and stared, still processing what she asked, "No- No… Nah I'm… Just uh, not really what I was expecting to wake up to this morning." He tried to chuckle, but the brief widening of his eyes showed that this series of events was still hitting him in waves. He sighed, and seemed about to say something, when the shopkeeper spoke again.

"Alright. That's everything. Have a good day, folks. Cato," He nodded assuringly, before turning around to tend to something behind the counter. The took cat popped up again, and meowed at Pink, who in return made a funny burbling noise. Cato stared again, before grabbing the bassinet and bringing it back to his side. With the groceries scooped up, he began to slowly walk back out of the store.

"We're gonna have to buy all that stuff regularly?" Obviously, but it was more rhetorical than not. How he would be dealing with any of this without Inanna here was impossible to say. And just made him feel embarrassed again.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Yup. Most of it, anyway.” Inanna took the majority of the groceries, seeing as he already had one hand full. “By the way, they make things that are easier to carry a baby around in, if you don’t want to be lugging her around in her bassinet everywhere.”

She smiled at Pink when she mewled back at the cat. “I’m surprised she hasn’t started crying for food yet. Or because she’s uncomfortable. Or tired. Or scared. Or just wants attention. Are you keeping her calm with the Force, or something?”

Feeding her was the first order of business when they got home. With Cato still reeling and a sense of urgency dogging her, Inanna went through the motions of sterilizing the bottle and mixing the formula without trying to explain what she was doing or teach Cato how to do it. The process was almost automatic for her, like muscle memory. Even though it had been fifteen years since she’d cared for a baby, she did it in what might’ve been record time.

So intent was she on making sure the kid didn’t go hungry, only after she had scooped Pink up and found a place to sit on the couch did she pause and ask, “Would you like to feed her?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato blinked and looked down, "Right. Probably a good investment." It was a nice arm workout, at least. Or at least that's probably the kind of joke he normally would have made. Inanna's question then made him wonder, "No? I— I don't think so." Just like that it was all he could think about, "Are some babies just… quiet? Is it a bad sign? Do you think it's a bad sign?" Did it mean something else was wrong with her? Were they just on a lucky streak? As much as having an impromptu baby dropped on you can be considered lucky…

At the house, Cato set down the bassinet on the table again and watched Pink intently. She was more awake now, wiggling her limbs and staring curiously at her surroundings, her father especially. He smiled awkwardly, which apparently agitated her. Pink started with a few quiet whines and squirms, and seemed quite on the verge of a noisier outburst right up to the point that Inanna picked her up.

Cato joined them both on the couch, and took another moment to process her question, "Oh… Sure, yeah," He carefully took Pink in his arm, a bit awkwardly at first, and right as she started crying, he had set the bottle on her lips, immediately shutting the baby up as she drank up the formula. His gaze flicked between her and Inanna, "So… do I just… sit here like this, then?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Are some babies just… quiet?"

"Ye—"

"Is it a bad sign?"

"N—"

"Do you think it's a bad sign?"

"... No." She suppressed her laughter, but not her amused smile. "It's a good sign. If she was crying all the time, then I'd be worried."

He seemed very protective already. She caught him staring at Pink like he couldn't bear to take his eyes off her for a second. Inanna had been the same way with her children, though they hadn't been suddenly dropped on her doorstep. That was the way of newborns, though. You could watch them for hours. Maybe it was some parental instinct, a need to keep them in your sight at all times.

At any rate, Cato jumped at the chance to bottle feed her. Inanna handed her over at once, taking the towel from her shoulder and laying it over his. "Just make sure her head is supported." Pink's whole body fit in the crook of one arm.

With Pink no longer crying, it was suddenly very quiet save for the sound of the bottle being emptied. Inanna watched Cato, making sure he wasn't doing anything wrong... until she couldn't bear to watch any longer. It wasn't Cato and his daughter that she was seeing anymore, but the past. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes tightly, as though it could shut out the vision.

"Cato, what's your mother's name?" she asked softly, her eyes still shut.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato sighed in relief when Inanna assured him it was alright for her to be a bit quiet. He wasn’t fully aware of it yet himself, but that protectiveness was steadily overtaking him. Part of all his staring was almost a sense of fascination; Like he could still hardly comprehend that he was seeing his own flesh and blood. His child. There was some sense of undeniable familiarity, combined with something completely new that made for a liminal experience. But that irrefutable connection is what was quietly swaying him into a different point of view.

Cato took Inanna’s advice, making sure to keep Pink supported as he fed her. Suddenly, everything felt very quiet. Quieter than the entire rest of the morning had, and Pink wasn’t even all that noisy until just a few seconds ago. Like his endless stream of thoughts was finally settling, and he could, at least for a little bit, just exist in the moment. Let the already long string of events from today process.

Cato felt a weight rest on his shoulder, and instinctively leaned over a bit himself for Inanna, to better rest her head, while his head fell beside hers. “Hm?” He asked, glancing down at her in the corner of his eye, then to Pink, then to a blank nothingness straight ahead. His mother’s name?

“Uh… Serena,” He actually had to think about it for a moment. It had been too long. Leo and Serena Harth. “Why?”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“That’s a very pretty name,” Inanna said, her approval audible in her tone. “Serena Harth. And I imagine it would make your mother happy if you named her granddaughter after her.” Did Cato even have much of a relationship with his parents anymore? Either way, she liked the name.

“I couldn’t come up with any good names either,” she murmured, speaking in the past tense. Her eyes had opened again when she felt his head touch hers, and she idly ran her thumb over one of Pink’s tiny feet as she spoke. “So we used Hal’s parents’ names. Ophelia and Galahad. Ophelia was older when we adopted her, around three, but Galahad wasn’t much bigger than this. His mother died giving birth to him on a refugee ship.”

She heaved a sigh. This was what had been hanging over her from the moment she first laid eyes on the baby that morning. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to get all heavy on you.”

Cato Harth​