Hi, everyone. I'm here in Washington DC, where we got about 28 inches (71 cm) of snow yesterday. So while I was shoveling this morning, I was thinking about how the Solo family might handle a snow day. I hope you enjoy my wintery snowfluff!
Republic City, Hosnian Prime
18 ABY
"They've already announced that schools will be closed for the next three days," Leia told her three children. They all whooped. "And Anakin, please get off the couch." Her boisterous middle child, who was standing on the back of the tallest sofa in the greatroom, took a flying leap onto his elder brother Ben's back. They went down with an oof.
"Ani, quit it! You're messing up my hair!" Ben was thirteen. He had just learned to like his hair.
Four year-old Breha jumped onto the back of the couch. "Me, too, Ben! Catch me too!" She hurled herself at Ben. No fear of heights in that little one.
"Quit it, both of you!" Ben shouted at his siblings.
Oh, great, Han thought wryly. Three days locked in an apartment with this.
Leia noticed his woebegone expression, and added, "The government is also shut down for the next two days. Only essential personnel need to report in."
Han brightened at that. "Are you 'essential'?"
She shook her head and winked at her husband. "Not to them." She answered his mischievous grin with her own. "I don't even have to get out of bed tomorrow."
Ben noticed the way his parents were looking at each other, and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Uncle Luke's," he said suddenly. Where I don't have to deal with this weirdness, he added silently.
Anakin and Breha now had their noses pressed to the window, watching the afternoon sky. "But the snow has started!" Anakin protested. "You can't go. You'll get stuck. You'll freeze."
"It's just a little snow, Ani," Ben reassured the eight year-old. "Easy to walk through. You guys are just soft because Republic City doesn't get a real winter. Lots of people live where it snows all the time, right, Dad?" You handle this, he thought at his father.
Han took the hint. "Sure. No problem. But it's too bad we don't have a Tauntaun you can take out; it might be easier than walking to Luke's." He gestured to Ben's bedroom. "Why don't you pack an overnight bag, in case you get snowed in and have to sleep over?" Ben nodded. Han added half-jokingly, "Hey, and why don't you take your brother and sister along, too?"
Ben tilted his face to the side, put his hands on his slim hips, and threw him a look that Han knew very, very well. It was one of Leia's looks, the 'That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard and I've just about had enough of you' look. Han grinned and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Kidding, Ben. But do come back tomorrow. I'll need help shoveling all the snow on the landing pad."
Grumbling, Ben retreated to his room to pack.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Han awoke and squinted at the sunlight assaulting his eyes like a laser. Damn, they'd left the curtains open last night. The kids had been scared. They'd all ended up sitting on the master bed, everyone curled under one big blanket, to watch the snowstorm and listen to the howling wind. Even Greedo, their silky little Spukamas, had joined the party. But now, at dawn, the bed contained just one annoyed Han and one beautiful sleeping princess.
It's not even five o'clock, Han thought. This isn't fair. I don't even have to get up today. Then: Wait, it's five o'clock. Two kids are asleep, and the one with the good ears isn't home. If this were a sabaac game, I might just have an idiot's array.
He nudged Leia. No response. He rolled on top of her, kissed her closed eyes, nibbled her ear. "You awake?"
"No," she murmured. "Should I be?"
"Yeah, you should be," he whispered breathily. "D'you wanna watch the sun come up? It's really pretty with the snow. It's all sparkly." He continued to kiss her face, her neck.
She moaned, either in annoyance or pleasure or both. "General Solo, it is 04:42. Go back to sleep. I'm getting angry." She rolled away from him.
He rolled her right back around. "You don't look angry."
"How do I look?" She grinned despite herself. They'd had this conversation before. She knew how it ended.
"Beautiful," he answered truthfully. "Exquisite. Sexy. Completely enamored of her husband. Willing to give him anything he asks for…."
She had to laugh at that. "Are you opening negotiations?"
Han thought for a minute, his hands now roaming under her nightgown. "I'll shovel the snow if you give me a massage afterwards."
"I thought Ben was going to take care of the snow." She took his shirt off and began exploring his chest.
"Nah, he doesn't even know how. I'll do it." The nightgown came up and off. "Do you still have any of that citrus massage oil left? What's that fruit called?"
"Orange," she said huskily. "And yes, I still have some. Can we stop talking now?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Daddy!" Breha shrieked. "It's all white outside! Daddy! WAKE UP!"
Han opened his eyes with a few thoughts entering his consciousness simultaneously. There is a child jumping on my bed. I am naked. Her jumping is moving the covers off of me. Leia is not here. The covers are really sliding here. Some help would be good.
Anakin came tearing into the room like a vornskr, and jumped onto the bed with his sister. The blankets continued their inexorable slide towards the floor. Uh-oh. "Can we go outside and play in the snow? I've never seen snow! Daddy, you wanna go outside with me and 'Rey?"
Leia glided in, wearing a robe and holding a cup of something hot. "With Breha and me," she corrected gently. "Put yourself last." She handed Han the caf, stroking his fingers as she did. "And I think Daddy needs a few minutes to get dressed and have breakfast before we go outside, okay? Let's let him get up slowly while we find our warmest pants and sweaters." She herded the children out like nerfs to the pasture.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Soup for lunch, I think," Han announced, contemplating the kitchen. He shook the snow out of his hair. He got out a cutting board and knife, and handed Leia an onion. "Can you chop these?"
She looked doubtfully at the vegetables he was lining up on the counter for her. "Maybe." Leia was nearly hopeless as a chef. He'd been teaching her for over a decade but progress was excruciatingly slow.
Han stood close behind her and put his hands over hers, positioning the knife. "Small, even slices. Don't get your fingers too close to the big sharp knife." Distracted by his scent and his proximity, Leia turned to kiss his neck. "This is why your cooking skills never improve," Han scolded.
"I have other skills," she murmured, pulling his face down towards her mouth.
The front door whooshed open, and a snow-covered Ben entered the kitchen. "Hi." He stopped short when he saw his parents' embrace. "Bye." He turned on his heel and headed for his room, shaking his head. Don't they ever get tired of each other?
Han had to laugh. Oh, adolescence. "Hey, kid, hold on a sec." Ben returned…grudgingly. "Before you change out of those wet clothes, why don't you help me get the snow off the landing platform?"
"Dad," he whined, "I just spent four hours with Uncle Luke doing Jedi training and then walked a kilometer and a half through the snow—"
"So your muscles are all warmed up," Han countered gleefully. "But I was thinking there's an easier way. You could do something practical with that Force of yours."
Ben raised one eyebrow. "It's all practical."
"Yeah, sure," Han snorted. "I was thinking you could use the Force to move the snow away."
"I can't," Ben protested. "The snow is…well, it's a liquid. You can't just move it easily."
Rather than arguing that dubious scientific theory, Han pointed at the vegetables that had already been cut by the very quiet, very focused Leia. "Could you put those into the pot for me?"
Ben took a step towards the stove. Han stopped him. "With your mind."
Ben's hand lifted gracefully, and the vegetables floated into the pot.
"Was that hard?" Han asked.
His son smirked, a Solo smirk. "Dad, even Breha could do that."
"So what's the difference between the veggies and a little snow?"
"It's…it isn't...oh, okay," Ben surrendered with a sigh. "I'll go outside and give it a try."
"A try?" Han mimicked Luke's disapproving-teacher voice.
Ben rolled his eyes. "I will move the snow." Halfway to the door, he turned back. "Is mom cooking? Because, uh…I already ate. At Uncle Luke's."
Han gazed into his son's dark eyes with comprehension, and winked conspiratorially. "No, she's just my sous-chef today. I'm cooking."
Leia finally looked up from the vegetables. "What's wrong with my cooking?" she asked plaintively.
Ben and Han exchanged a wordless look.
"Well, I'll be outside," Ben said abruptly, and ran for the door.
Leia frowned at her husband, hands on hips.
"Oh, c'mon," Han soothed her. "You have other skills."
"Yeah, well, you just lost your massage."