SNOW DAY

Coruscant was famous for its 'wintry mix,' meaning that for three months of the year, the western part of the planet, where most of the population was, driving, whether ground or airborne, was on the order of a Drednoughts versus Glop Monsters smashball game - chaotic, violent and dangerous.

Han was still recovering from the head on collision by an errant Rodian female who seemed to have no idea what she'd done wrong. He had been very tired when he'd first arrived home from the medcenter, but six weeks had passed, and he was rapidly growing bored. The kids had gone back to school a few days after the end of Winter Fete and Leia had gone back to work. He'd seen every smashball tournament that the holos could provide and played more holosabacc than one person should be allowed. The All-World games took two weeks but they were long over, and most of them had been less than stimulating. He'd even watched the Droid Gladiator Games and put down a few bets. The only thing left was the Mini Speeder Go Cart Games, which were far less exciting than they sounded.

Pit fighting had been outlawed as had the Demolition Games, which was, to Han's mind, one of the few worthwhile things the Hutts had ever brought to the galaxy. Han had resorted at times to playing the kids' 'Grand Theft Star Ship' games. He discovered they were only fun when playing with his kids or Luke, who to his mind was still 'the kid,' despite being five minutes older than Leia. Luke, Mara and Ben had departed the day after Winter Fete had ended and were back on Yavin 4.

He had a class of new flight trainees coming in when summer started, but that was another six weeks away, and doing repairs to the Falcon was something he'd tried the previous week and ended up in so much pain that he nearly had to crawl to get to his speeder. Jaina and Anakin offered to do the repairs but Han was not about to let a ten and eleven year old start tinkering sans supervision. He did so on weekends, but during the week, school reigned supreme. And there was a limit to his kids' mechanical skills at this point in their lives. And Chewie was working on some of the more complex problems, which made Han even edgier; Chewie was second only to Han himself in his knowledge of the idiosyncracies of the Falcon, but the fact was that Han was always a little insecure with regards to his ship.

To make matters worse, Leia was off on Mamendin for a conference on forming a galaxy wide health plan. Many planets on the Core Worlds had adopted it, but it was far from universal, and some worlds balked as their tax base was insufficient. Others simply believed that if you were ill and you died, well, that's the way it went. It had to include every species, and there were medics now coming through the system who had expertise in that area, but it was slow going. The inhabitants objecting the most strenuously tended to be on the Outer Rim. She'd left three days prior and wasn't due back for another four, assuming some sort of agreement was reached. She promised she'd be home at the designated time but might have to return later.

Han was even more lonely for her than usual. For one thing, sex was one of the few things he could indulge in (albeit more carefully than usual). And he missed being able to talk to her in the evening, after the kids were in bed, just being in her company.

His comm went off. He was hoping it was Leia. Instead, there was a message from Jarik's daycare, saying that with the coming storm, all children needed to be picked up by 1400. Chewie had been doing the drop off and pick up, but Han figured he could manage a two year old by himself.

"Okay, here goes," Han said to Marsune, one of the pittins who'd been sleeping on him. Han would never admit to it, but he liked the pittins, despite their limited entertainment value. They did make comforting sounds and were warm on a cold day, which today was.

"You know," Han said to Marsune, "I'd like to get up one day, preferably soon, without looking like I'm 90 years old."

Marsune gave Han a look of supreme annoyance at being moved and then one of utter boredom as he settled back into his early afternoon nap. Han grabbed his parka, gloves and scarf and headed out, very slowly, towards the lift that would take him from the 83rd floor to the speeder parking area underground.

The reason for the comm became obvious once he exited the portal; not only was there heavy freezing rain and wind, but thick, white flakes of snow, falling rapidly to the ground. The problem with vehicles on the ground was sliding; the ones for airborne speeders was visibility. Han could barely see what was in front of him.

"There'd better be no idiots going the wrong way," he growled as he inched his way towards Jarik's day care facility. He'd been worried his piloting skills had deteriorated, but was relieved to learn that his instincts were still good. He'd made it the way there with no damage to himself or his vehicle.

He was about to enter the security code when his comm pinged again. It was the middle school where the older kids attended, indicating that they, too, had to be retrieved by 1400 hours. Well, Han told himself, I'm out here already.

Jarik was napping when Han arrived at the two year olds room. "How do you get him to do that?" Han asked one of the teachers.

"Oh, we keep them on a schedule."

"Yep, that'd be our problem." He went over to the small cot and brushed his toddler son's brown hair. "Hey buddy, time to ditch this place." Han bent down to pick him up, put the little boy's head on his shoulder, and felt as if someone had just stabbed him. "Uh, ma'am?" Han said to the teacher. "I think I need a little help here."

The teacher, Jordin, went to retrieve Jarik, but Han held him fast. "Actually," Han said, feeling quite embarrassed, "I need you to help me get up."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Jordin said to him, taking his free hand. "Let me get Jarik's things." She returned a few moments later with Jarik's lunch bucket, sippy cup, jacket, mittens, beanie and scarf, and helped Han put them on the little boy, who so far hadn't so much as blinked. Han lugged him to the speeder, strapped him in, and slowly made his way towards the middle school. Every parent on Coruscant in the Capital City was out in force, and it taxed Han's patience.

"Give me wide open space any day of the week," Han muttered to Jarik, who continued to nap. "This is ridiculous." His accident had made him, if anything, more impatient with the local traffic. Outside the middle school it was a madhouse.

Han comm'd Jaina, Jacen and Anakin to let them know he was waiting and that they needed to make a break for it. He couldn't believe how much his joints were aching already. The medic had told him, repeatedly, that the enzymes needed at least three months to regenerate the damaged tissues. He began to understand what they were talking about.

The snow was now falling in thick clumps, further impairing visibility.

"Can we get ice dots?" Jacen whined slightly.

"The only place we're going right now is home. And we'll be lucky to get there in any reasonable amount of time."

"If we get a snow day tomorrow, we could go ice boarding!" Jaina said to her father.

"Uh, you guys threaten to turn me into your mom and then you think I'm gonna take you ice boarding?"

"If you take us, we won't say a word," Anakin promised.

"Snow around here usually lets up fast," Han said to them.

"Yeah, but look at it!" Jacen said. "Jarik, my man, does that look like fun stuff to you?" Jarik laughed.

"I don't think it's going to last," Han prevailed stubbornly.

"Dad, you ever gone ice boarding?" Jacen asked.

"No, can't say that I have."

"How about Mom?"

"She used to, when she was a kid."

"Mom was never a kid. She was born old," Jaina grumbled.

"I'll be sure and pass that on to her," Han said, glaring at her.

"Then I'll tell her you were driving," Jaina retorted.

Han impatiently text comm'd the kids again. "Get your butts out here soon or you're walking home." At that moment, Anakin jumped into the speeder, throwing his backpack to the floor.

"Hey Dad. I thought Uncle Chewie was coming to get us."

"I was home when the message came. So I thought I'd try driving again."

"Mom says you're not supposed to."

"Is that a fact?"

"She's gonna get mad at you."

"So what else is new?" Jaina and Jacen arrived, their backpacks thudding like an asteroid hit. "I was about to make you guys walk home."

"You know Mom said you're supposed to let Uncle Chewie pick us up," Jaina reproached him.

"Yeah, well, Uncle Chewie's out at the hangar and if he has half a brain, of which there are moments when I question that, he'll stay there."

Jarik awoke with a start and started to whimper.

"Hey, li'l dude, take it easy," Jacen said, rubbing his baby brother's tiny hand. Jacen was Jarik's favorite, and Jacen was able to comfort him and interpret his requests better than his parents at times. Now Jarik was smiling - and wide awake, as his three ring circus was all there.

"Dad, we're like not moving," Anakin said to Han.

"Thanks for pointing that out. In case you haven't noticed, you can barely see in front of you."

"Okay, well, there is that," Jaina concurred. "Are you okay, Daddy?"

Han looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "I'm fine. I can't come and pick my kids up when they're let out of school early?"

"Mom said not to," Jacen reminded him.

"Okay, you can all walk. Except Jarik, because he's too young to have that much of a mouth on him. Yet. I'm sure you'll all contribute to corrupting him."

"Like you did for us," Jaina reminded him.

How did I get so many smartasses for kids, Han muttered to himself as he inched the speeder along.