Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me....they belong to whoever owns them ;)
A/N this is my attempt to fill in between Tatooine Ghost and Heir To the Empire. Starts Immediately following Tatooine Ghost.
As soon as the Solo's and Chewbacca were safely in hyperspace Han turned his pilot's chair around to Leia in her navigator's chair. He leaned over and placed his hands on her knees. "So you're saying you've changed your mind." He gave her his patented lopsided grin.
"Maybe, I'm more open to negotiations." She smiled at her husband.
"So when do you want to start these 'negotiations'?" He moved his hands up her thighs. Chewie decided that he should leave the cockpit, to give the Solo's some privacy.
"Well, you know as well as I do that when we arrive back at Coruscant we're not going to see each other much for weeks, maybe months while you're reconditioned. So we can open 'negotiations' then." She bit her lip, "That way it gives us plenty of time for our birth control to wear off."
Han snaked his arms around Leia and pulled her to the pilot's chair so that she sat on his lap. He gave her a deep passionate kiss. When they broke the kiss he put his forehead to hers. "I guess, until then we can practice," winking at her, "a lot."
It had been a little over three weeks since Han and Leia returned from the mission to Tatooine, as Leia had expected she and Han didn't see each other much. A few minutes together most mornings when they got up, and at days end either she would find him asleep by time she arrived home or he would come home to the same situation.
Leia tried to think back to the last time they had made love, on the Falcon just prior to their return. It depressed her, never since their marriage had they gone so long without it. Then something occurred to her. She grabbed the calendar that sat on her desk. She flipped back a month and looked at the date that she and Han had arrived home; the date was circled in red. Every three months on the calendar was the same, the date she and Han would go and take their birth control shots. It was a ritual they took up after their engagement, to keep them both on the same schedule. Only that day they had broken their ritual, with their decision to start trying for a baby after his reconditioning.
While her birth control didn't suppress her from having a period, she would only have a light spotting, something that was much easier to deal with. She realized that she hadn't had that, looking back at the calendar she counted back the weeks since her last. Five weeks. She thought to herself, 'Just because I'm a week late, doesn't mean that I'm pregnant.' Still she was unsure. She couldn't think about that now, she glanced at the chrono realizing that she was going to be late for a meeting.
Wanting to be sure, on her way home from the senate building she stopped at the drug store and picked up a simple home pregnancy kit. It was simple enough, just pee on the stick, it would detect, if she were indeed pregnant the change in her hormone levels. Never in her life was she more nervous about anything. Suddenly her comlink chimed which caused her to jump and drop the package.
Answering it revealed her brother's voice. "Leia is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is fine, why?" She hadn't counted on her twin bond with her brother alerting him to her nervousness.
"Well, you just seem nervous about something; I thought something might be wrong."
"No everything is fine Luke."
"Alright, hey how's Han doing with his reconditioning?"
"Fine, I guess. He and I haven't really gotten much time to ourselves since we returned from Tatooine."
Luke could hear the sadness in his sister's voice, "Everything is going to be alright, Leia."
"I know it's just hard; since our wedding this is the least we've seen each other."
"Hey, how about you and I meet for lunch tomorrow. I want to talk about strengthening your senses."
"That sound good, when I get to the office in the morning I'll make sure my assistant clears my schedule for the afternoon."
"Great! I'll meet you at your office tomorrow. I got to go now, I'll talk to you later sis."
"Alright, bye Luke," she turned off the commlink and smiled. She loved her brother with all her heart, but sometimes their twin bond got annoying. She looked at the pregnancy test that still lay on the floor and picked it up. "It's now or never," she said to the empty fresher.
Han returned to the apartment exhausted from another long day of reconditioning. He was ready to get it over with. He missed his wife, missed having the energy to make love to her. It had been over three weeks since the last time they had made love. He made his way to the bedroom and smiled at his sleeping wife. She was so beautiful, peaceful. He always had loved watching her sleep; while she was awake one could forget how young she actually was, but in sleep she looked her true age, perhaps younger. He smiled, knowing how lucky he was to have Leia and how he couldn't imagine his life without her.
Han made his way to the fresher where something taped to the mirror caught his eye. On a piece of durasheet was his wife's hand writing that said, 'hey daddy.' And attached to it was a positive pregnancy test. Han's jaw dropped, he read the two words over and over before he realized what that meant. 'Leia's pregnant; I'm going to be a father.' He turned around and saw Leia standing in the doorway with a huge smile. "Really?" He asked her.
"Well, I just have that test to go by, and a gut feeling." Han moved over to her and tenderly put his hand on her belly, "Don't be afraid to touch." She reached up to put her arms around his neck and pulled him down to a passionate kiss.
Breaking the kiss he looked at her, "So when did it happen? I mean we haven't had sex for over three weeks and we were on birth control before that."
"Well you know that when we came back we were both due for our shots, so it had to happen either on Tatooine at the Sidi Driss Inn, or on the way home on the Falcon."
"Well, either way, you have just made me the happiest husband in the galaxy." He pulled her up into a long hard kiss. "I love you."
Winking at him, "I know."
"So, when are you going to make a doctor's appointment so we can find out for sure?"
"I was going to call tomorrow and make an appointment."
"Good, make sure you let me know, I want to be there with you."
About a week later Han and Leia were at the doctor's office, she sat on the examining table in a paper gown and he on the chair next to the table. Waiting for the doctor to come into the room was nerve wracking. She had already been poked and prodded by various nurses. When the doctor came in she glanced at her chart. "So we seem to be pregnant."
"That's why we're here," Han said.
"Have we begun to have any sickness?"
"No, not really," She answered. The doctor motioned Leia to lie down as she pulled the stirrups out of the examination table. The doctor examined Leia. Soon a nurse came in with Leia's blood work results.
"Well, your blood work does indicate that you are pregnant." She continued to look at the chart, "Looks like we need to test daddy's blood."
Han jumped up, "Why is there something wrong?"
"No nothing is wrong, it's just Leia has a rare blood type, and she is Rh negative," the doctor answered.
Leia looked at the doctor, "What does that mean?"
"Well, it can only pose a problem if daddy here is Rh positive. And with your rare blood type we'll have to prepare if there are any complications. Now, let's get you over to the sonogram room and see if we can have a look at your baby," she added with a smile.
Han held Leia's hand as the doctor prepped her for the sonogram. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her hand when the doctor placed the transducer on her belly. Soon the first image of their baby was on the screen, the doctor paused the image. "Hmm, this looks interesting…," the doctor said.
"What is it a boy or a girl?" Han asked.
"It's a bit early to tell, Mr. Solo as you can see," she pointed at the screen; "He or she is just beginning to develop its arms and legs." She pointed at the screen again, "This is what looks interesting…" She was tracing an outline behind the fetus. "I'm going to run the scan again, I believe, Leia, that you are carrying twins."
"Twins?" Both Solo's said at the same time.
"You mentioned that you yourself are a twin, it's not uncommon." She smiled at them as she started scanning Leia again. "As I suspected," she said as she paused the screen again, "There is definitely two of them in there."
Han pulled Leia into a hug, "Sweetheart, I love you." He kissed her forehead.
Later on Han and Leia sat in one of their favorite restaurants. Han was complaining about how his arm still hurt when they drew the blood sample off of him. "Han will you stop whining about it, they drew a heck of a lot more blood off of me and you don't hear me complaining," she scolded him. "Besides, you're the one who got us into this."
"Oh, c'mon you were just as much an active participant as I was," He gave her a quick kiss.
"Yeah but you initiated it, you were supposed to be recovering…" They looked up to see their waiter stifling a laugh at the couple as he brought them their drinks. A few minutes later they were joined by Luke and Chewie, who they had called to meet them for lunch after they had left the doctor's office.
Leia stood as she gave her brother a hug, "So, little sister, what is so important that you have to tell us?" Chewie growled in agreement.
Han and Leia intertwined their hands and he brought her hand up to his mouth. "Well…,"she began smiling at Han, "Luke, Chewie, I'm pregnant."
"No way, Leia, Han, really…" Luke jumped up and gave his sister a big hug and Chewie ruffled Han's hair.
After Luke sat back down, Han looked at his best friend and brother-in-law. "There's more."
"More," Luke asked.
"Leia's carrying twins."
"That's amazing," Luke answered. He then looked at Leia, "Do you think they're Force sensitive? I mean we inherited our abilities from our father, can I?" Leia nodded at Luke's request to probe her. Upon finding out that she was pregnant she tried to stretch out with her feeble Force sense to touch her babies, but was unable to. She would have to sit down with Luke and practice more. She felt that it was unfair that her brother could touch them and she couldn't.
Luke smiled, "They are strong, very strong." He sensed that one presence was male and the other female, Leia and Han had made no indication that they knew the sexes, so he didn't say anything. Luke smiled at his sister and she looked at him, sensing what he was thinking. They continued to exchange silent conversation until Han interrupted them.
"You guys know that I hate it when you do that." He could usually tell when they were in their own world communicating to each other, buy their facial expressions.
"Oh, I'm sorry honey, "Leia smiled to her husband and gave him a light peck on his lips. She smiled back at Luke as she gave him one final silent thought.
Later Han and Leia lay on the couch together watching the latest Smashball game. Han rested his hand on her belly. He smiled at her and realized that she had fallen asleep. He thought that she would need a lot of rest these next months, and hoped that Mon Mothma would cut back on her workload. He hated that the next day he would have to go back for further reconditioning. There had also been talks that they wanted him to start negotiations with several smugglers to get them to work for the New Republic. He was not looking forward to being away from Leia during this time in their lives. Their marriage was still new, just past seven months, and he counted his every blessing that Leia had married him.
He knew that he would never change any of the events in his life that led up to this moment. He held back a laugh when his princess let a little snore out. He often thought about that day on the Death Star, how at first he didn't want to go rescue the princess, 'better her than me,' he had said. After knowing Leia all these years, he would gladly die for her if it meant that no harm would ever come to her. Leia began to stir in his arms; she smiled at him with half-closed eyes.
"Did you have a good nap sweetheart?"
"Mmm, yes," she said as she yawned. "I can't even remember the last time I took a nap in the middle of the day."
"Well I hope the next eight months you remember to take them more often." He took her hand which he had intertwined his fingers with her and brought it to his mouth. "I don't want you pushing yourself to exhaustion anymore."
Leia rolled onto her back while Han stayed on his side. He lowered his head to her and gave her a deep and passionate kiss. He then moved so his head was over her belly and kissed her there twice. Leia smiled at Han as he looked up at her. "Expecting-fatherhood agrees with you, General Solo."
He trailed kisses from her belly until he came to her lips again, he hovered his body over hers, not daring to crush her under his weight. He was about to tell her that being an expectant mother agreed with her when she suddenly had a look on her face that told him he'd better move. As he moved away from Leia she got up quickly and ran to the sink in the kitchen where he swore her lunch and at least half of her breakfast came up. He wanted to wretch at the site, but he kept his wits about him as he got her a glass of water to help her rinse her mouth out. She leaned back to his embrace, "I guess being an expectant-mother's not really agreeing with me yet." Han chuckled a bit.
"Do you want some warm milk or crackers?" He suggested. She nodded. "Ok, why don't you go lay down and I'll bring them to you."
The next few days didn't go so well for Leia; she had spent many nights awake in the fresher. Han was always so sweet; he'd bring her stuff to settle her stomach and helped her with everything. He never once complained about not getting enough sleep. He was back in his reconditioning but he somehow always managed to be home when she returned from her own work. In several meetings she had to quickly excuse herself when the nausea set in. She would get worried looks from Mon Mothma and rest of the council. She knew she would have to tell them soon. She wondered how the twins were getting enough nutrition with her throwing up all the time; the doctor insisted that it was perfectly normal and that it should ease by the end of her first trimester. Leia didn't think that she could last another two months with this sickness.
Leia had decided to heed Han's advice and take naps throughout the day. It would put her behind on her work but usually after a ten or fifteen minute nap she usually felt better. She was awakened when she saw Mon Mothma staring down at her. She sheepishly smiled at her as she sat up.
"Ok, Leia tell me what's been going on with you," the older woman glared at her. "I haven't seen you this worn out in ages. Have I been giving you too much work?"
Leia shook her head, "No it's just," she paused, then bit her lip she really wasn't ready to tell anyone yet but Mon Mothma was concerned enough to come and ask so she smiled at the older woman, "I really don't know how to say this," Leia took a deep breath, "Han and I…"
Mon didn't wait for Leia to finish, "Is Han reconditioning causing problems in your marriage?"
Leia shook her head, "No of course not, well it would be nice to see him more than a few hours in the day, but we're as happy as ever, perhaps happier with each other."
"Does it have something to do with the day you both took off?"
"Yes, in a way it does, I had a doctor's appointment that day." Leia looked at Mon Mothma, "I'm pregnant."
"Oh, Leia that's just wonderful." The way she had said it left Leia believing that she really wasn't that thrilled, but her suspicions were confirmed with Mon Mothma continued, "Don't you think it's a little soon in your marriage, you and your husband haven't even been married a year." Leia knew that Han wasn't who she would have chosen for her to marry, she may have presided over her marriage but Leia knew that secretly Mon Mothma had wished that she had married Isolder.
"Well, these things happen you know. Actually we hadn't actually planned on getting pregnant this soon; we had planned to wait until after his reconditioning. Apparently the Force had other plans for us."
Leia was glad that rest of the council was pretty much happy about her and Han's new addition to their family. When she and Mon Mothma had gone to the next meeting she had told Leia to tell rest of the council so that they wouldn't worry about her frequent leaving of important meetings. Leia wasn't really ready to tell and wasn't going to say anything until Admiral Ackbar had asked if anyone had any issues to bring forth to the meeting, and Mon had announced that Princess Leia had something to say. She now stood with General Rieekan who seemed to be the happiest of all. Of course Rieekan was one of the few people who thought that Han and Leia were the perfect couple and that he knew that since Hoth that they'd end up together.
"Oh Lelila, I'm so happy for you. And your father would feel the same." Leia nearly winced when he said father, but she knew that Rieekan meant Bail Organa not Anakin Skywalker. While she made peace with him somewhere on Tatooine, the word father still made her shudder.
When Leia had come home Han hadn't arrived, but it was still early. She thought about Rieekan's words. She'd often thought about Bail and what he would think of Han. Would he truly be proud of her, marrying a former smuggler turned general. Of course Bail would want her to be happy, that that she was. Han was the constant light in the darkness. Rieekan definitely liked Han well enough, and he was a close friend to her father. She could imagine what her aunts would think of him; in their eyes he never would have been good enough for the sole heir to Alderaan's monarchy. She also wondered what it would have been like if she had met him at another time, if the war had never come along, if she had been raised as Leia Skywalker, would they still have found each other and fallen in love? She had no answers; all she knows is that the circumstances that she was put in brought her to where she was now.
Leia was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around her. She hadn't heard the door open, nor had she sensed him come in. She would really have to get with Luke and strengthen her senses. He put his lips on the back of her neck and whispered in her ear, "Thinking about me?"
"Does it always have to be about you?" She smiled up at him.
"Well don't you know that you're all I think about," he turned her around and kissed her firmly. Leia began to get lost in the kiss when she suddenly felt nauseous. She pushed Han off of her and ran for the fresher. Han was about to go after her when the door bell chimed.
He opened the door to see Luke behind it. "Hey kid, what ya doing here?"
"Leia needs to work on her senses, since she's home I figured it'd be a good time to help her."
"Do you have any Jedi skills that can take morning sickness away? Poor girl can't keep anything down."
"I don't think the Force was made to make pregnancy go any easier, but maybe we can figure something out. You know I still don't know everything about it."
"You know I'm beginning to believe that at least one of the twins is a girl, I heard that morning sickness is worse with girls."
Luke just laughed, Han gave him a funny look, "I guess Leia hasn't told you what I sensed when you guys told me about the babies."
"And that would be? Wait a minute, you're telling me that you know what my children are going to be even when the doctor's say it's too early?"
"Yep," Luke grinned.
"And Leia knows?"
"And Leia knows what?" Han heard his wife's voice say as she entered the living room.
"What are children are going to be?" Han walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She nodded. "And they're going to be?"
"A boy and a girl," Leia said. She rose on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She looked a Luke, "Maybe we should get started while Han prepares supper."
"Sure you're going to be able to keep it down, Princess?"
"Probably not, but I still have to try; maybe if you keep some of those Corellian spices out of it." She smiled at him, "I think I felt a lot sicker last night after I ate that stew you made last night."
"I thought you liked that."
"Oh I did, it was delicious," she told him, "I just don't think the twins agreed with me," she looked down at her belly, "You guys didn't like daddy's cooking did you."
"Hey, they're going to love my cooking, a lot better than they're going to like yours. Luke, don't you think Leia looks a bit nuts talking to her belly that way."
Luke raised his hands up, "I'm staying out of this; I'm just here to train Leia."
As the weeks went by Leia tried to cut back on her workload but she stayed just as busy as always. She had strengthened her senses and often stretched out to find her brother's presence and to touch the two little presences within her. She still struggled with her ability to move objects, but she knew with time and practice she'd master that too. She could often feel that something was bothering Luke, but he didn't ever confide in her. She was worried about him, but knew he come to her in time, it still didn't stop her from sending Threepio to him from time to time to check on him.
Han was fully reconditioned into the New Republic military now, but it didn't bring him home any earlier. They indeed had decided to send Han out to talk with some of his old smuggling buddies, although none of them had bit at the chance of going legit. Han did his best to only be gone a few days at a time; he hated these contact missions just as much as his wife. He thought about his three-month pregnant wife and how much he missed her, it had been that long ago since he had set foot on the desert planet, he was ready to get this over before it even began. He was ready to spend some quality time with his wife and unborn children.