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All along his quite eventful life, Din Djarin had to learn how to sleep on any possible surface, regardless of what he was wearing - his full armor plus helmet most of the times - but always with his senses sharp, as duly needed for his chosen profession of bounty hunter. However, as many things had changed since the moment a bounty in the form of a 50-year old baby crossed his path, this was another thing that had changed in his life.
For example, as he woke up in the middle of the night, he had been placidly sleeping in a comfortable bed, holding the sleeping body of his fellow Mandalorian, fierce warrior and beloved wife. Bo-Katan Kryze had also crossed his path as he was focused on his quest to find more of what had been Grogu’s kind, the Jedi, and unbeknownst to him, she would play a very important role in his and Grogu’s life, even if Din had had the nerve to call her not a Mandalorian to her face, right after meeting her, even when she had just saved his life.
How things had changed since then! Many, many things had changed, and even if he had lost his beloved Razor Crest ship and some dear friends along the way - he thought of Kuili, IG-11 and Paz - he had won so much so he wasn’t complaining at all.
Also, this time he had woken up it wasn’t precisely a situation of danger, like an impending attack, a quick escape he had to pursue or an alarm going off in his old Razor Crest as he was trying to doze off during hyperspace; Din woke up as he could hear some cries by their baby daughter at the adjacent nursery to their rooms, as he could hear as well Grogu babbling, perhaps trying to comfort her from his pram.
(Grogu would normally jump from his pram to her crib, but perhaps her current state would have prevented him from doing any swift movements that could make her cry more.)
Din rubbed his eyes as he directed his gaze towards Bo, who was still sleeping.
“I got this, cyar’ika” he whispered as he softly kissed her shoulder, trying not to wake her up, as Bo still asleep mumbled something as she moved her arm to the opposite side and placed it over the pillow. Din thought she might have been really tired, after these first months of adapting to a young baby’s sleep cycle and feeding patterns. Din looked at the chrono aside their bed and it was early for their daughter to be fed, and the sudden bolt of lightning illuminating their piece showed him what could have been the reason why she was crying.
As he stood up and walked towards the nursery, he put on a light shirt to match his soft sleeping pants. It was a comfortable night, with a light breeze from the incoming rain, so as he approached to his daughter’s crib, he inhaled the soft smell of rain droplets falling onto the surface of their planet.
“Patu,” said Grogu as he was awake and had moved his pram near his little sister’s crib, as Din has thought he would do, pointing towards the crying baby.
“Thanks, Grogu,” he patted his son’s head as he approached the crib and took his beautiful baby daughter in his arms, who they had named after Bo’s sister.
“Sssh, it’s okay, I got you, baby girl,” he softly whispered as he held his baby daughter in his arms, trying to comfort her, as he softly kissed the top of her head.
According to her mother, Satine looked a lot like Din, starting with her eyes, which were dark brown as pools of dark honey. However, Din thought he was a perfect mix between both of them, as he softly touched her head, with soft red hair that would look like her mother’s.
Satine seemed to enjoy being in her father’s arms. Din felt his heart full of love for his family: for Grogu, his eldest, the kid who opened his heart to love and showed him there was more beyond the life he was used to as a lonely bounty hunter; for Bo, the woman who showed him love as he never thought he could experience; and for Satine, their baby girl, blood of his blood, fruit of all those nights full of passion and love between Bo and him.
Din would not dare to compare if there was any difference between the love he left for his wife and his children: the intensity his heart beat for each of them was exactly the same. They were his family, though the way he loved them was different, not that he loved any of them more than the others.
The former bounty hunter loved Grogu so much - and worried about him as well, but he knew his son was strong in the Force and after all they had gone through, he knew what the kid was capable enough of. He softly smiled at the memory of Grogu dealing with the Praetorian guards when they were fighting against Gideon, so he knew he still had to learn more about handling his special powers with the Force, but the kid was already quite good.
But with Satine his worries were different. Their daughter was just a baby, and with all the love he found in his heart for this little bundle of happiness that had been given to him and Bo, fear came along as well. Fear of something happening to any of them - he was afraid since both of them had lost their parents at a young age, and he was truly afraid of not being there for Satine when she needed him.
Satine fussed for a bit then calmed, feeling surrounded by her father’s protective hold, as Din softly inhaled her baby scent from the top of her head. It was soothing for him to feel the heartbeat of his daughter against his chest - as if part of his and Bo’s heart now was beating outside of their own bodies.
“Sleep, my little star, daddy is here.”
Din knew he looked at Bo-Katan with admiration since the first time he laid eyes on her, even behind that judgmental attitude at her removing her helmet seconds after they met. He still remembered the way she fought those Quarrens, with such grace and ferocity. And such admiration just increased, as he had the chance to fight alongside her, being rescued constantly by her, and not in his wildest dreams he would have imagined that he would become the one she loved.
Being the princess of the Clan Kryze and the ruler of Mandalore, Din Djarin knew she could have had any man she wanted, and for reasons he would never understand, she had chosen him to love him and be loved by him. And yet, she kept surprising him. Din admired his wife so much, how she was able to do it all, to lead Mandalore and raise a baby on top of it all.
He didn’t mind being awake as he held softly his baby daughter in front of him. Din appreciated this gift Bo had given to him - he never had the opportunity to hold a baby so new, and he never imagined he would have a chance to do it, even less his own offspring. Of course, Grogu would be always their eldest, and they loved him beyond any blood ties or the kid’s actual age; and he loved him so much as he loved Satine. He just enjoyed this novel sensation, to see her grow bigger day by day and wonder which traits she would inherit from each of her parents.
Bo woke up with a jolt - not because of the thunderstorm, but because she suddenly felt the other side of the bed was cold and empty.
She couldn’t help but notice how after all those long years on her own, she had easily and quickly gotten used to sleep aside Din.
Bo-Katan didn’t mind at all her change on sleeping arrangements, quite the contrary. However, her present concern was where her husband was, and as she heard some babbles coming from the nursery, she stood up and walked quickly towards the source of it.
Since the first moment she had seen Din with their baby daughter in his arms, she would invariably feel her heart melt at the sight every single time.
And it would melt even faster if the sight included Din softly singing to their baby girl.
There’s no reason to weep
Lay you head down to sleep
Little star
Bo knew Din could be fiercely protective with those he considered his people, especially her and Grogu; but that increased tenfold when Satine was born. But even at his most fierce, he would manage to act so tenderly with their little baby, and if she wasn’t already so in love with him, she would fall even more.
Never forget who you are
Little star
Never forget where you come from
From love
Judging by the way little Satine’s gurgles were slowing down, it seemed like Din’s singing to her was working to soothe her.
Satine. If only her baby’s aunt was able to see her now. If only her sister could see her and her family now.
Perhaps she would have liked to have her little niece named after her. And she probably would have approved of Din, regardless of him being part of the Children of the Watch. Her heart would always feel sad at the thought that she had wasted so much time with her sister. They had contrary views, but if something she knew was that when she was little, Satine loved her, and she loved her sister too.
Bo still regretted the last time they saw each other, when she had just replied proudly to Satine that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, as if the fact that they were sisters and perhaps they should unite again and solve their differences wasn’t important at all. There was no more time for them, and Bo-Katan would always wonder if she had another chance, how different things could have been?
But all she got was the present day, and the wonderful opportunity to apply what she had learned so bitterly for her family and for her people. Mandalorians would always be stronger together, regardless of their differences. And with this little girl who Din had wisely suggested to name after her late sister, she had another chance to make a better tomorrow. She had been given the opportunity her sister didn’t have.
“I didn’t want to wake you up, cyar’ika,” Din softly told her with a smile as she approached to him, as he was softly pacing around the room with their baby in his arms, “she’s okay, I guess the thunder woke her up and scared her.”
“Thank you, love. She’s back asleep” Bo mused as she bent towards Grogu's pram and picked up their son in her arms as she leaned on her husband, enjoying a peaceful moment with her little family.
Part of her would try to make her doubtful, like a negative voice trying to tell her she didn’t deserve all of this. For all the good she had done, she had been on the wrong side and committed crimes on behalf of what she thought it was right. But the price she had paid for it had been steep, and after a long life of fight and struggles, she knew she deserved this: the love of good and honorable man, who had saved her from herself when she was at her lowest, who loved her so much even before any of them would dare to express what they felt about each other, and that had given her the love of a family and two children she loved with all her heart. Bo-Katan of Clan Kryze never thought she had a maternal bone on her body before, and there she was, becoming the mother of a brave little green Jedi that had taken over heart like his father did, and experiencing bringing a little daughter to the galaxy.
There were so many challenges yet to face, because the galaxy would always be an unforgiving place and Mandalore had a long way to resemble a bit what it used to be, in terms of civilization and infrastructure, and that was by itself a challenge without considering the fact she was raising a baby and a little Force-sensitive boy, which made it quite interesting with the added fact she was still tired, her body getting back to the way it was; however, she would not change this for anything in the galaxy.
As she leaned her head on Din’s shoulder while she enjoyed the silence and bliss with her little clan of four, as Satine and Grogu went back to sleep, she softly smiled as Din kissed softly her forehead.
All was well.