Han Solo came home to a mess.
Boxes and crates were everywhere. Packing foam scattered the floor. The couch was covered in some type of clear wrapping. Rolls of adhesive were piled haphazardly on the table. Half of the contents of the entertainment center sat in an open crate on the floor. An Alderaan water globe rested in a box on the table.
Han suddenly felt very, very scared. He began wracking his brain for what important event he forgot or what he had done to make his wife want to move out. Their wedding anniversary was still a few months away. Her birthday had already passed. The twins' birthday was months away. The anniversary of Alderaan's destruction was six months away. He'd fixed the garbage compacter yesterday. He'd even remembered to swap out the burnt out bulb in the bathroom. He'd left early that morning, but feed Jacen and Jaina beforehand.
What had he done wong?
Han quickly debated leaving the apartment to go buy flowers, but decided against it. He had to stop her, now, before the situation went too far.
It took Han a couple minutes to muster up the courage to walk to his and Leia's bedroom. He poked his head in the twins' room to make sure they were still sleeping. He closed the door quietly and took a deep breath.
Time to face the music.
Han began mentally practicing apologies as he walked. Had she found out something from his past and decided to leave? Did she decide she could do better than a two-bit smuggler?
Now Han was in panic mode. His hand shook as he opened the old-fashioned door. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Leia was standing behind the bed, folding clothes and placing them in a box. She looked up at him as he entered the room and grinned.
Han was completely baffled. Why was she so happy?
"Han! You're home!" she exclaimed excitedly as she placed a blue folded skirt in the box.
"What's going on?" he choked out, leaning against the wall, trying to look casual.
"We're moving," she responded as if he had gone mad.
"Why?" Han asked, relaxing slightly. She'd said "we." Sure, that could mean her and the twins, but he could hope. Even if "we" meant all four of them, he couldn't understand why she had suddenly started packing.
"Because this place isn't big enough," Leia responded, biting her lip to stop a grin from spreading across her face. She closed the box with the clothing in it and then reached for another one.
"You already want to split up the kids?" Han asked, surprised. They'd talked about moving to a bigger place to give the twins separate bedrooms, but had decided to wait until they were a little older.
"Not yet, but we need room for a nursery," she responded from the closet.
"A nursery? Why?" Han asked. They had already gotten rid of the twins' baby stuff. Leia had given it all to a refugee orphanage or something.
Leia walked out of the closet with a handful of clothes and dropped them onto the bed. She walked up to him with a huge grin on her face.
"Because, nerfherder, I'm pregnant."
Han's jaw dropped. His first thought was 'Already?' The twins weren't even two yet. That idea quickly flew out of his head. He closed his mouth and started to smile. His feet seemed to have their own idea and took him to stand close to Leia. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
As the kiss ended, Han suddenly had a thought, "Why are you packing now?"
Leia shrugged, "I have the day off. Seems like a good day to do it. We can look at apartments after the twins wake-up. We don't need to decide today."
Han just shook his head. Apartment hunting with the twins sounded downright horrible. Force knew what kind of trouble they would find. It amazed Han how much trouble two not even two-year-olds could get into.
Leia cocked her head and grinned, "They're up. Let's go tell them."
Han followed Leia out of the bedroom and to the twins' room. Jacen was sitting up in his bed, hair sticking up in multiple directions. He was glaring at Jaina, who was looking at the ceiling with a look of feigned innocence. Han could see Jacen's stuffed acklay sticking out from under Jaina's blanket.
"Jaina, don't take your brother's toys," Han admonished as he swiped the toy from Jaina's bed and handed it to Jacen.
Jaina looked up at her father with wide eyes, "I sorry, daddy."
"Tell Jacen."
"Sorry, Jasa."
Jacen snatched the stuffed creature from Han. Han thought it was horribly ugly, but Jacen had picked it out. It was his current favorite animal.
Jaina held her small arms up to Han. He scooped her up, hugged her and set her on the floor. He gently guided her out of the room to the refresher in the hallway. He could see Leia doing the same with Jacen, taking him to the one in their bedroom.
After the twins were finished and washed up, Leia settled both onto chairs at the kitchen table while Han gave them each a cup of blue milk and a couple crackers. They waited patiently for the twins to eat their snack. Prior experience had taught them that the twins, especially Jacen, would become grumpy quickly if his after naptime routine was altered too much.
Once the twins finished, and everything was cleaned up, the family moved to the couch.
"We have something very important to tell you two," Leia said seriously. Jacen and Jaina's brown eyes grew wide at her tone. It was their mother's no-nonsense-better-listen-or-else tone. Han remembered fondly when Jaina had overheard Leia talk to a senator in that tone one day. Jaina asked the senator as he left Leia's office if he had broken her mama's vase and gotten in trouble.
"In a few months, you two are going to have a baby brother or sister," Leia continued, "That means another child will live here. You two will have to watch out for him or her and be nice. Can you do that?"
Jaina nodded firmly, "No bad happen to baby."
Jacen's brow furrowed, "Where?"
Leia glanced at Han, and then laid a hand on her stomach, "The baby is living in here, right now. He'll get to come out when he is bigger."
Jacen looked even more confused. He reached out and touched his mother's abdomen. By the look on his face, Han could tell he was reaching out with his untrained Force skills to find the baby. Jacen suddenly jerked. Jaina snatched his other hand. She put her free hand on his. Han watched in awe as the twins felt their sibling's presence. He looked up at Leia, whose eyes had filled with tears.
Jaina and Jacen pulled back. Jacen looked around the room, and then back at his parents.
"It's messy," Jaina said for him.
"I no do it!" Jacen yelped quickly.
Leia laughed, "I know, sweetie, Mama did it."
"Uh oh," Jaina breathed, "Mama going get in twouble."
"We have to pack all of our things into boxes. We are going to move to a bigger home so we have room for the baby," Leia explained.
Jacen and Jaina paused to process the information. Suddenly, Jacen looked distraught.
"Jacen?" Leia asked as Jaina scooted next to him.
"I go in box?" he asked fearfully.
Leia chuckled and scooped him up, "No, sweetheart, just your toys, but they can come back out."
Jacen looked relieved. Leia suggested they go to the nearby park, much to Han's relief. She seemed to forego apartment hunting for the day.
"Mama?" Jaina asked some time later as they walked along a path the park on top of a nearby building.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Is baby going to be here soon?"
"Soon," Leia said with a smile. Jaina nodded, satisfied with the answer. She pulled away from Leia and ran to the playground, followed closely by Jacen.
Han wrapped an arm around Leia's shoulders as they watched the twins play.
"I have to admit, sweetheart, you had me worried," Han said.
Leia looked up at him and said, "Did you think I was leaving?"
Han looked around sheepishly. Leia chuckled, and then leaned up to kiss his cheek. She began to speak, but was interrupted by Jacen yelling at Jaina. She had knocked over his acklay's home.
"Come on, flyboy, let's go rescue your son," Leia said, walking towards the twins.
Han let out a sigh of relief. One crisis adverted, and now onto the next.
As Han sat in the sand and began to help Jacen reconstruct the acklay cave, he couldn't help but think that this was the kind of crisis he could deal with for the rest of his life. He knew sibling squabbles would increase with a third child, but Han was okay with that. He'd take it any day.