WE'VE GOT SOMETHING TO TELL YOU

Chapter 1

Leia and Han were enjoying a peaceful evening. They seemed to occur more often now than when the three older kids were at home all the time. Jaina was a Navy flight trainee, Jacen at veterinary college, Anakin at engineering college. They came to visit fairly often, especially when their laundry had piled up.

School was out for the hot season, and Jarik was spending the night at a friend's in the complex.

"I never thought I could get used to peace and quiet again," Leia sighed happily.

"I knew I could," Han laughed. "Besides, we've still got a ten year old as a reminder that noise levels beyond human strength are still possible."

"And that's really only when his friends are here." Jarik had had three friends over the night before; they'd stayed up long past the time Han and Leia had conked out. They'd become so inured to children carrying on that they didn't even notice the laughing, animal sounds, and slammed doors.

"Sometimes I miss the kids," Han admitted.

"So do I, but I'll admit that I don't think I could have them living here full time. I've gotten used to some silent spaces in our lives." Leia leaned into her husband's embrace. They weren't as thin as they once were, and Han had gone heavily grey, but they were more in love than they were on their wedding day. They'd begun enjoying each other as a couple more and more, as well as pursuing their own interests. Both were writing; Leia an autobiography, Han a textbook on strategies in flight. It was proving to be interesting for them, bringing back memories, looking at the future from where they'd been.

But there was fun, too; no longer was it necessary to wait for a special occasion to take a long weekend or a full fledged vacation by themselves. Jacen, attending veterinary college, was the closest to home of the three, and he'd do his best to pitch in watching Jarik, who was now responsible for his older brother's menagerie. Veterinary college, Jacen conceded, was tough but he'd never been happier. He had more friends now than ever, kindred souls, even a couple that were Force sensitive but chose to apply their Jedi training to the well being of creatures great and small. He finally fit in somewhere.

To add to his happiness, Jacen had been involved for nearly two years with a young woman who was, ironically, a Jedi. She taught the young children at the Temple and from all indications, she was good at it. She was able to handle Jacen's moodiness when it surfaced with kindness and patience and he in turn was grateful and caring towards her. Jacen had brought her home a few times and she loved Jarik as much as Jacen did.

Jaina had had a rough few months; she and Jag had broken up when he went on active duty while she was still in training. He felt that it would be too difficult to maintain a relationship, and it broke Jaina's heart. Han was still trying to control his murderous impulses toward the young man.

But Jaina was tough; she understood well now that doing things often involved something as simple - and as difficult - as putting one foot in front of the other and repeating as often as necessary. She had thrown herself deeper into her training as a refuge, and she had many friends.

Anakin loved engineering college. Anakin made friends wherever he went; the joke around the college was that Anakin never met a stranger, just a friend he didn't know yet. He wasn't romantically involved and for now, that suited him fine.

"For all the mistakes we made, we've got great kids," Leia said happily. She still at times awoke with her heart pounding over Jacen's addiction to synth-stim but they were becoming less frequent, and more and more she saw her eldest son becoming the person he was meant to be.

"I think the only question of survival was ours," Han responded, smiling.

"And here we are."

"Here we are," Han said, leaning in to kiss her. He then kissed her again and his hands began to make their way over his wife's body. She had, in Han's eyes, only become more beautiful over time. He was captivated by both her strength and her vulnerability. She had gotten to the point where neither frightened her. Loving Han and the family they'd created together was the most difficult, and the most wonderful, thing that had ever happened to her. It was her life; she was still Minister of State, and it was proving her father's adage that establishing a new government took a generation. But it no longer consumed her.

"Kids are all gone," Leia said, giving her husband a smile as she tilted her head up to see him.

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Han's green gold eyes shimmered with mischief. Even in his 50s, he still could look like a little boy who just put a tack on teacher's chair. It was just one of the many reasons Leia loved him so very much.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes," Leia said, and the pair kissed, gently and softly at first. It took longer to get to physical arousal for both of them, and it made intimacy for them all that much better.

Han gently laid Leia on the sofa and gently pressed himself against her, kissing her more passionately now. He was unzipping the side of her dress when the door to the apartment opened.

Jacen and Tenel Ka entered.

"I'm sorry!" Tenel Ka said, a bit embarrassed. "We didn't mean to walk in on you like that."

Jacen's face was red. "Sorry, parents."

Leia recovered and got up to hug both of them. "It's nice to see both of you."

"What brings you guys around? You're not carrying any laundry," Han commented.

Jacen laughed nervously. "We're not hear to do laundry."

"I'm sorry, we already had dinner. Would you like something?" Leia offered.

"No, we ate, but thank you," Tenel Ka said.

"C'mon in and have a seat then," Han invited them with a sweep of his hand.

Jacen and Tenel Ka sat down on the sofa. Both seemed ill at ease, which was odd; Tenel Ka had never struck them as the nervous type, and Jacen only rarely was in a mood when he visited. Tonight, he fidgeted and didn't look his parents in the eye.

"How's teaching going?" Leia asked Tenel Ka, trying to put her at ease. Tenel Ka usually spoke at length about her classes, but tonight, she simply answered, "They're fine."

Leia had that sinking feeling. Please, if there are any gods out there, please don't let my son relapse.

Tenel Ka took Jacen's hand in hers.

"Uh Mom, Dad?" Jacen started, almost mumbling.

"Speak up. My hearing's not what it used to be," Han urged them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Solo, we have something we need to tell you," Tenel Ka told them, and her usual composure was missing.

"We're, uh, me and Tenel, we're - "

"I'm not going to bite, son," Han said, a little more gently this time. Leia knew he was worried, but he was good at hiding it.

"We're pregnant," Tenel Ka announced quietly.

And then, the silence was deafening.

Leia was the first to break the silence.

"Have either of you talked to each about what you want to, for lack of a more delicate term, do about the pregnancy?"

"Whaddya mean, what do we wanna do? If we were gonna not keep it, we wouldn't've said anything," Jacen said, scowling.

The parents contemplated that. "You're sure it's not twins?" was Han's first comment.

"We don't know."

"I'm only two and a half months along," Tenel Ka said to them.

"I was joking about the twin part," Han said. He sucked in a deep breath.

"Have you seen a medic?" Leia asked them.

"Yeah, we just found out today," Jacen said. He and Tenel Ka were clutching each other's hands tightly.

"I know our place is small, but we'll manage," Tenel Ka said. She and Jacen had been living together for over a year.

Han wanted to say yeah, I've seen your place and I can barely turn sideways in it, but he kept that thought to himself.

Leia knew the neighborhood where they lived very well. It was not nearly as safe as she would have liked, but she also knew that life was not without danger; she was a senator and she'd been captured by the Empire before she turned Jacen's age.

"What of getting married?" Leia asked them.

"Well, yeah, we wanna, but we're gonna wait till the baby's born. It's not like we can afford a wedding right now," Jacen said, still not looking up at his parents.

Leia was not pleased with this development, but she was determined to be positive about it. "Congratulations to the both of you," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"What other plans do you have?" Han asked them.

"Such as?" Tenel Ka said, frowning a little.

"What're you gonna do for credits, for one," Han replied, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

"Well, there's my job at the Temple. It doesn't pay all that well, but we'll manage," Tenel Ka told them. "We'll live where we are now till Jacen finishes veterinary college and has a job."

"I've only got one more year of training," Jacen said, finally looking up. "Then I'll get a job and we'll get married and move somewhere better."

"You know that a baby is a huge responsibility," Leia said to them.

"I know. But I love kids," Tenel Ka told her. "I always wanted to be a mom, and while it's sooner than I expected, it's still something I really want to do."

"Jacen?" Han said, looking at his son, who'd finally stopped with his fidgeting and looked into his father's eyes.

"What?"

"Are you really sure this is what you want?"

"Yeah, it is." Jacen looked at Tenel Ka. "We'd better be going, it's getting late."

"Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Solo," Tenel Ka said.

"Talk to you later," Jacen said as the couple were given a brief hug by Han and Leia.

Han and Leia stood in stunned silence.

"We're going to be...grandparents," Leia said, trying to assimilate the information Jacen and Tenel Ka had given them.

"Apparently so." Han was even more in shock than Leia.

Han took another Alderaanian ale from the chiller and poured Leia a glass of emerald wine. "I think this occasion warrants drinking heavily, starting now."

The two drank in silence for several minutes, Leia slowly, Han rapidly. He went to get another ale from the chiller.

"Go easy on that, flyboy. You're heading out first thing tomorrow," Leia warned her husband.

"Yeah." Han shook his head. "The kids have no idea what they're in for."

"Did we?"

"No. But we were married, we were employed, we had some money. None of which they have. Okay, Tenel Ka makes some money teaching baby Jedis, but that's not much."

Leia was thinking. "We could open his trust account."

"We both agreed that the kids couldn't go near them before they were 25."

"I wasn't planning to be a grandmother before that, but here we are."

"Yeah. Here we are."