I suddenly remembered that Anakin canonically did not know of Padme's pregnancy until she was what? In the eighth month or something? (The timeline of ROTS is, as many a Star Wars movie timeline, incredibly confusing and frustrating). But the point is, now I have a mighty need for an AU where for some reason the whole save Palpatine mission in the beginning of ROTS was given to other Jedi and Anakin and Obi-Wan don't return to Coruscant until Padme has already had the twins. I mean, think about it!
no Anakin murdering Dooku (not sure what happens to Dooku in this AU, actually, he might have been killed in the fighting by the unspecified other Jedi who had to rescure Palps, or he might still be running around)
it's actually I think Bail Organa who finally organizes for Anakin and Obi-Wan to come home to Coruscant because Bail knows about the secret marriage and he knows about the twins and he is the best friend ever and he can organize things like this without it raising too many questions
(this, among other things, like his ongoing help during the pregnancy and the long friendship he and Padme share, earns him godfather status for Leia)
so, Anakin comes home, and is greeted by Padme similar to canon, only the thing she is about to tell him is not that she's pregnant, it's that he's a father
so, with Bail deliberately distracting Obi-Wan and the other Jedi, she ushers him to their home where Dorme is babysitting and is like.... surprise! Look at out babies!
Anakin has to sit down. Hard. And he is not getting up any time soon. Babies? His babies with Padme?!? This does not compute.
Padme, who has had a whole pregnancy and the, like, two weeks it's been since the birth to get used to this, is giggling, which is not very helpful (Dorme has discreetly left the room and is like, cancelling all Padme's appointments for the day, because she's the best)
eventually, she hands him the on of the babies, and sits down next to him with the other, and for a second that stops him from gaping, and then he looks at them and feels them in the Force and is back to gaping, because oh dear, they are perfect, and they are theirs, and it's very sweet and loving and a very nice family moment
the first day is just spend looking at the twins in wonder
(and Anakin insisting that Padme rest, it's only been two weeks since the birth, he wasn't there to help, pregnancy is dangerous, Force he's worried. She laughs but let's him fuss)
then however they have to start actively thinking about the future
because they love the twins but this was not planned and what are they going to do?
Padme has not announced the birth of the twins yet
Anakin tells her he's going to leave the order. He has something other than the order to live for, now, something more important, and he desperately wants to be a good father
Padme insists that she can't retire, though, because the Republic is on the brink of falling and she needs to stop it
also they're both not sure it is the best idea for Anakin to stop being a general in the war with the way things are going
but Anakin also genuily doesn't want to be away from the twins any second longer than he has to and Padme really likes the idea of him being home more often
eventually they decide to announce the birth of the twins as only Padme's kids, making them Luke and Leia Naberrie Amidala, and to hold of until the end of the war to announce the marriage and Anakin's paternity, but to try and make sure Anakin stays on Coruscant as much as possible
(meanwhile, it's been like two days, and Bail is really wondering how much longer he is capable of holding up the distraction, he's down to small talk here, this is bad)
the dreams about Padme dying in child birth are unsettling, but also obviously untrue, because it happened and Padme is clearly fine, so Anakin has a much easier time ignoring them. Much less grounds for manipulations by Palps due to that and due to Anakin not murdering Dooku
Bail babysits a lot, he's the best at it. The handmaidens, too. Mon is not quite as good as them but she tells them lots about rebublic law until they fall asleep. Obi-Wan gets brought in, too, and doesn't even try to pretend he doesn't know they're Anakin's babies. He glares in Anakin's general direction the whole time. He knows nothing about babies! What if he breaks them? There was a reason behind the code!
The fact that Anakin is the twins father eventually becomes like, this completely open secret in both the order and the senate, but most people are too polite to bring it up, and anyway, there's a war going on, people have bigger problems
(aside from the tabloids. The tabloids have a field day with this)
due to the twins paternity being more or less common knowledge, the Jedi council gets their heads out of their asses long enough to realize that sending Anakin to spy on Palps might be a bad idea
also someone with sense in the council decides that maybe Anakin staying on Coruscant is not that bad an idea (I feel like it was Depa Billaba. She seems sensible. She glares at her old master Mace until he relents and helps her, and that’s how Depa Billaba saves the universe, her padawan Caleb Dume will later insist)
at the same time, Obi-Wan is twitching every time he thinks about it, but he makes a point to stay near Anakin, because, okay, Anakin is an adult and a general and should be old enough to be trusted not to do anything stupid without adult supervision, but he also though Anakin and Padme were old enough not to do things like get secretly married and start a family in the middle of a war, and here they are, so obviously he's going to have to stay here to make sure Anakin doesn't do anything even more stupid
Anakin is happy because all his family is here! Only Ahsoka is missing!
Ahsoka actually comes to Coruscant, too, when she hears about the Amidala twins. She is a bit shocked at first, but makes up for it with lots of snarky commentary and babysitting. She's the absolute best auntie/older sister. Anakin is absolutely delighted
all that extra time with Padme and Bail and their strong political opinions and arguments for democracy, plus the fact that once Palps starts creeping around the twins Anakin actually realizes how creepy it is, combines to an Anakin who does not fall
Palps keeps putting of pulling the trigger on Order 66 because he was hoping for Anakin to be his apprentice by then, damn it, this pregnancy was supposed to be his final piece of seduction, but instead it's bringing Anakin farther and farther away from him?
Problem for him is that now there are Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka on Coruscant, not distracted by the war that much, deliberately staying on Coruscant but also not that busy when they're not looking after the twins
they look through old files and stumble across the chips
you would not believe their righteous fury
with the help of Padme and Bail and Mon and their allied senators as well as Shaak Ti they quietly deprogram the clones and disable all the chips
then Padme and Bail and Mon use their evidence to dethrone Palps
(it's Padme who calls for the vote of no confidence. It was her who got him the chancellorship through this years before, so it's fitting for her to be the one who takes it away from him now with the very same means)
(Bail is elected chancellor. His first move is to initiate peace talks, and to prepare laws that will prevent future chancellors from amassing power like Palps did)
(Mon more or less accidentally becomes the main spokesperson for clone rights. They all are passionate about the clones being given full rights, but … this woman would lead a terrorist group in another universe. She has a talent for talking to soldiers, even though she does not know why)
peace comes more quickly than anyone anticipated, especially once Dooku flips on Palps and gives a full statement to the senate
Anakin leaves the order before the twins first birthday, and is very happy to be a stay at home dad to the twins and a trophy husband to his awesome senator wife
everyone gets lots of therapy and a happy ending