First baby steps and words

[Jessica Med-Beq]

These past few months away from her family, away from Ziana or her wife [member="Summer Sovereign"], were filled with adventures that she would love to tell about: she was one to purchase laminanium, she was one to tell the story of how she fought off jakobeasts to get a shipment of Hijarna stones, and how said Hijarna stones would be able to improve the defenses of the ships equipped with them, with Hijarna stone inlays in cap drains that are connected to the shield generators. And also she decided to have the laminanium armor, for which the materials were purchased on Sullust using futures. Although she knew that futures were mostly materials sold as securities, which technically must be delivered to their holder at a future date, often definite (hence the name, but on primitive worlds, futures are instead used to secure a supply of materials due to the slowness of transportation means), in practice, the people speculating on futures have no intention of actually taking delivery of what they purchased the futures for. Jessica would probably be overjoyed not to have missed the two key things to watch out for in babies, as told by the servants of the royal palace, when she sets foot in the palace again for the first time in months:

"I spent so long, perhaps too long, away from the royal palace, but did I miss anything important about Ziana?"

"No, Your Highness. At least not if by important, you mean the baby's first steps and the baby's first words"

"I know, virtually every Omwati and their families, regardless of whether they are Omwati or not, watch out for these two things"

"Your Highness, what led you so far away from home?"

"I had a lot of business to attend: contracts from major factions regarding several of the companies I own, the cap drains with Hijarna stones, the Jedi Council on Eol Sha..."

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer had spent these last few months just taking care of Ziana, she had been very restless and had started teething, that was a big process. Summer had never been so happy to see Jessica in her life

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Of course Summer would be happy to see me at this point: she could sense that something important will happen soon. While in species that have large pregnancies, that is, carry a lot of babies in one go, the first words or first steps of a baby may not be that big of a deal to the parent(s), but to most Near-Human species, it is a significant event in both parent and child's lives especially in a firstborn, and [member="Summer Sovereign"] knew it, too. While Jessica was brought to Ziana, which was a near-perfect copy of her at that age, she realizes that the baby is crawling in the ornate, but wooden, crib, in an attempt to get up and walk on its own feet, while still wearing diapers. She might have trusted Summer in full for the baby, just that for something of that magnitude in Ziana's life, much like Ziana's first day in school will be in the future, or other significant milestones (knowing that the first tooth is not usually considered to be on the same level as the first steps or words) she had to be there.

"I apologize, Ziana: I was never here for you when I needed to, beyond your first few days after birth. However I know that Summer has been a good mother to you"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would have handed Jessica Ziana to hold, she had grown very attached to Summer through these last few months. But ZIana would open her eyes and smile at her mom. She would giggle as she reached up played with Jessica's hair

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I can't blame you if you're playing with my hair: you're happy to see me after I spent so long away from the palace. One day you will have the very same hair I have now"

Jessica smiled towards the baby that [member="Summer Sovereign"] cared for during all these long months. It was nice to see the baby try to play with her mother's body so long as she is not trying to take the hair off. Ziana can see Jessica standing in front of the changing table, where she observed little Ziana falling over in an attempt to walk on the soft, cushioned surface of the changing table. She knows that she has to be encouraging especially this early in a person's childhood. Letting a child being a child was key: she knew that some Omwati parents and, for that matter, non-Omwati, were so zealous to see their children succeed that they engage in hothousing to the point the kids collapse. The Sith Inquisitor is rife with such stories where such-and-such is hailed as the next Jessica (or some other genius in another field). For each "wannabe" Jessica that actually make it, there would be at least fifty, and more likely a hundred or more that don't achieve that kind of fame. True, Ziana will have a lot of pressure on her plate because of her future station, regardless of what attributes her parents might have had. To be frank, she realized that being the child of a genius of her kind will never be easy, especially if the parent became famous because of what they used their genius for, so she refrains of making any direct attempt to pressure her precious little Ziana, who was nevertheless close from walking for the first time.

"Almost there... you're just a few attempts away from actually being able to walk!"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would look on, these last few months had been a rollercoaster, ups and down a plenty with little Ziana. Summer had anticipated this moment coming for a long while, she had hoped that Jess would return before this happened. She had done just that, Little Ziana would look at Summer who had moved to Jessica's side whilst Jessica spoke to Ziana. Ziana would smile her blinding white single dimpled smile, the one thing that Jessica didn't have that Ziana did.

As Summer put her arm around Jessica's back Little Ziana would struggle to her feet and slowly unsteadily make her way over to her parents

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Now little Ziana has begun walking!" Jessica exclaimed, upon looking at Ziana now that she made her first steps.

Jessica was overjoyed to have returned just in time for Ziana to walk her first steps, and [member="Summer Sovereign"] was equally overjoyed, while, at the same time, feeling that there is more to come when it comes to Ziana and that often happen at very similar stages in the baby's life. But she could readily imagine the life of the half-Omwati queen being a big rollercoaster while being away from home with little Ziana. As with any caretakers that would be watching over the baby in the first few months of the baby's life. Now, if everything was alright, she could grow up to be another highly intelligent lady, regardless of what she's using it for: I'm not judging her for that. Just that I'm not to hothouse her, and Summer isn't to do that either, she thought, while she could hear Ziana babbling in an attempt to speak actual words.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would watch intently as her little girl began to babble, she would do this for a moment before clearly speaking the word "Mommy" As she did this Summer nearly fainted, this was two big landmarks in one day, this rarely ever happened to any child. Summer was so proud of her baby girl

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"That's a miracle!"

The miracle of the baby, little Ziana, accomplishing both milestones spaced so short apart was so great [member="Summer Sovereign"] fainted from it. Usually it would take weeks, for most human/Near-Human toddlers, after one for the other milestone to be achieved, assuming the baby wasn't mute or didn't suffer from a form of palsy, and that time was often a stressful time for parents, especially the longer it stretches on; often parents expect the other milestone any time soon. Jessica then approached her visibly shaken wife after herding Ziana back into the crib. Phew: it was all worth it to me to come back here now! That is going to be one big moment for me to cherish at any time the topic of the baby is brought up, she thought, while fetching a cup of cold water for her wife to drink afterward, feeling that Summer might have had some fever after she witnessed such concentrated emotion. As for Jessica, she feels good about the baby and especially the timing at which she came back for that very moment.

"Summer, are you all right?" she asked Summer with the cup of cold water in hand.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

"y-yes I am alright" She said catching her breath, she couldn't believe that her baby had just made two huge bounds forward in the same day, that was very extraordinary. She would take the water and take a drink before regaining her feet and walking over to the crib

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Stephanie would have just arrived on planet about the time the events described above were taking place, she would with her carry a large trunk, inside would set nigh the most beautiful armor she had ever seen much less made in her life. SHe would make her way to the palace and she would knock on the door

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Your Highness, there is someone carrying a large trunk, postmarked under Beskar Ring Forge" a valet announced to Jessica inside the royal bedroom.

"Ah yes, the suit of... laminanium armor"

I can't believe that a month and a half would elapse so quickly, she thought. But that was all worth it, especially since a magnificent suit of armor fit for a princess who is also a Jedi Master is going to be a lasting piece of equipment, thanks to the laminanium. To [member="Stephanie Brown"], Jessica was the big-ticket client that is part of her ticket to beskar-powered fame. Stephanie will finally have the chance to see [member="Summer Sovereign"], and what the same-sex marriage she entered with Jessica really is. So Jessica gets out of the royal bedroom with Ziana taken care of in the crib, dressed in an elegant dress, so that she can take delivery of what she ordered, custom-made, from Beskar Ring Forge. She would never imagine that it would take that long, but the bill for the labor and electronics of the suit of laminanium armor is pretty expensive, for six weeks of full-time work. Often the price of beskar'gams was compared to the price of a luxury yacht and the labor part being ascribed to costing the same as a main battle tank. She cuts a check for Stephanie after having opened the trunk containing the laminanium armor...

"Wow! Now that's a suit of armor worth the price I paid all that hand-forging for" she commented upon seeing the suit of armor and putting it on herself.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

As Stephanie was lead inside to see Jessica, she would carry the very very heavy trunk inside. Once she would set it down and receive the check, she would then open the Trunk, inside sat the most beautiful and elegant metal working that probably anyone had seen. It shone brightly, the light bouncing off of its silver exterior, in it was also inlaid very very beautiful and extravagant markings, they shone brighter than the rest. Once Jessica would take all of the Pieces out of the trunk Stephanie would have the second of her trunks brought in, inside it sat a specialized case for holding the armor. In the very bottom sat a sword that Stephanie had forged Just for Jessica as a thank you for the order. She would set up the case on the wall

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"My wife would probably want to commission another one in beskar with the same level of polish. Perhaps you may wish to ask her so that measurements may be taken"

A polished finish and... a beskad? So, while a workshop making beskads, beskar suits of armor, would result in a certain number of commissions to be handled at once, even though each item isn't necessarily the only one processed at any given time. And then [member="Summer Sovereign"] would get a beskad and a beskar suit of armor from [member="Stephanie Brown"], provided, of course, that Summer accepts to have the beskad made from her. In that case, Jessica uses telekinesis to get both trunks to the royal bedroom, where Stephanie is being led; once Stephanie is inside the bedroom where Ziana is, both Summer and Ziana will realize that Jessica's suit of polished laminanium armor is a truly magnificent piece of armorsmithing, even though it's not like beskar. The laminanium suit was highly irregular, but perhaps Summer will ask for, or maybe even demand, beskar rather than laminanium.

"Look, Ziana, the beskarsmith that made mommy's armor: she is there to take measurements of Summer so that Her Majesty can have another suit of beskar armor" She then turned to Summer: "What do you think? Would you like Stephanie to make you a suit of beskar armor that will look like this one but at your size?"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would gaze at the armor, it looked amazing on Jessica, and it fit like a glove. Summer knew good forging when she saw it, this was amazing workmanship. Summer would look at Stephanie taking in the sight of her, she was a short thing but her arms were rather the size of cannon barrels, no doubt from forging. Summer would quickly tell Steph she did want one. "it is amazing." She said.

Summer would just strip right in front of the whole of the group, Steph would take the measurements blushing the whole time especially as she measured the waist and inseam

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

To see [member="Stephanie Brown"] blush all the same as she did in front of Jessica when her own measurements were taken was one thing. True, Omwati blue-ish complexions were often a little weird to beskarsmiths that were otherwise used to deal with humans and Near-Humans of species with complexions more like Jessica's, and Jessica couldn't hold it against her. She knew that Stephanie blushed in front of Jessica because Jessica was perhaps too pretty to be true, she was among the sexiest ladies in the galaxy after all. But perhaps Stephanie's beauty standards were a little different due to [member="Summer Sovereign"]'s complexion. Yet, somehow, she could feel that Stephanie was quite different from the run-of-the-mill dark-sider, and that she isn't afraid of dealing with lightsiders in a limited capacity. Perhaps Stephanie somehow does a few beskar suits for those Mandos who use the light side of the Force alongside their lightsabers, while most FU Mandos who would let a dark-sided Mando forge their suit of beskar armor use the dark side themselves, with a red lightsaber to top it off, she thought.

"Please keep in mind your Force-sensitivity when discussing equipment with Stephanie, my love"