Picking up Mama
by: ginchy-amanda
------
"Daddy, when is Mama coming back?"
Luke Skywalker looked up from the Falcon model he was fiddling with, trying to repair the damages Ben had made to it when he decided to "play Uncle Han" and remodel it. "Well, Ben, I think she should be home sometime tonight. Probably after your bedtime."
Ben, who had lit up at the thought of his mother finally returning from the extended mission she had been on, dropped his head at the thought that she might come home while he was asleep.
Luke laughed and reached out to ruffle Ben's bright hair. "Do you really think your Mom won't bypass me at the door and run straight for your room to cover you with kisses and give you presents?"
Ben grinned, nodding enthusiastically. "That's what she did last time! She brought me the Bantha Bop holodisk!" Ben jumped up, hopping excitedly around the room, imitating his favorite dance and humming the theme to the Bop enthusiastically, if off-key. After several wild moments of humming and dancing, Ben stopped, looking at his father with a confused expression. "Where is my Bantha Bop at, Dad? We haven't watched it in a long time!"
Luke didn't have the heart to tell his son that Mara had "accidentally" smashed the disk into millions of pieces and thrown them all away in separate receptacles, so merely shrugged, continuing his ministrations of the model Falcon.
The shrug wasn't good enough for his son, however. Being a Skywalker, Ben wasn't one to let anything go lightly, Bantha Bop apparently included.
"Dad? Dad? Dad?" Ben called his father's name, hopping around Luke in circles on one leg. "Have you seen it? Do you know where it is? I can't find it."
"Can't find what, son?" Luke asked, distracted by the minute wires in the replica he held in his hands.
"Dad! My Bantha Bop ! You're not paying attention to me! You have to listen to me with your eyes, and your ears!"
Luke gave a half grin at the irritation in Ben's voice… and how he somehow managed to add the exact amount of exasperation into his voice that Mara did when she was upset. "Ben, I told you, I don't know where your Bantha Bop is, son. I'm not the one who watches it." Luke looked back down at the Falcon, delicately attaching one last wire…
Ben reached out and grabbed his father's arm, needing to communicate to him the absolute importance of find the Bantha Bop RIGHT NOW.
Unfortunately, Ben grabbed Luke's arm just a bit too roughly and Luke pulled the wire from the Falcon model with a little too much force, causing the toy to admit a squeak and a plume of smoke. Recognizing the signs from years of mechanical mishaps, Luke used enhanced Jedi speed and threw the toy clear of himself and Ben moments before it exploded in midair, raining tiny pieces of shrapnel and emitting a dark cloud of smoke.
"Wow!" Ben cried, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Astral! Do it again, Dad! Wait 'til I tell Uncle Han!"
Luke, still stunned from the toy's explosion, gave his son a look of horror. "Look, Ben… You can tell Uncle Han… But let's not tell your mother… I don't think she'd be too happy about you having a toy that exploded so easily."
Ben's eyes grew round. "You want me to lie, Dad?"
Luke was saved from answering when the chime on the comm unit rang, signaling an incoming call. Ben, who loved to answer the comm, ran for it, answering before it could ring a second time.
Mara's face took up the screen, and she smiled widely at her little boy.
"Mama!" Ben cried, grinning. "Where are you? Are you coming home?"
"Hi, sweetie! Yes… I am coming home. But I need you and Daddy to come and pick me up. Where is your Dad?"
"He's right here!" Ben squealed, as Luke walked up, jumping up and down and tugging on his father's sleeve.
"So he is," Mara smiled. "Have you been eating puff-pies again?"
"No, Mommy!" Ben shouted, as Luke quickly shook his head. "No desserts today."
"You need a lift, Mara?" Luke asked, trying to still Ben's frantic dance in front of the monitor.
"Yes, please. I should be in earlier than I thought; around 2100. Usual bay."
Luke grinned. "We'll be there, early even."
Mara smiled, but her eyes quickly narrowed as she looked intently behind her husband and son. "Is… Is there smoke in the room, Skywalker?"
"It was my toy, Mama, but Daddy said---" Ben was cut off by a loud knock at the front door, and Luke's quietly muttered 'thank you' to the Force.
"Got to get the door, Love," Luke said, picking Ben up in his arms. "We'll see you tonight. Say bye to Mama, Ben."
"Bye, Mama!" Ben yelled.
"Skywalker--" Mara began warningly from the comm, as the knocking on the door grew more insistent. "This isn't over--I want to know what that smoke is from…"
"Mama?" Ben asked, remembering what he'd asked his father earlier. "Do YOU know where my Bantha Bop holodisk is? Daddy and I can't find it."
Mara's eyes widened and she subtly inclined her head at Luke. "Shouldn't you answer the door? Bye, my darlings!" The comm call was disconnected from Mara's end.
"Darn," Ben pouted, "Mama doesn't know where it is, either. And I want to PLAY it again!"
Luke imagined all the tiny shards of the Bantha Bop disk that had long become recycled dust in the wind, and grimaced.
"Let's answer the door!" he distracted.
"Yeah! Maybe it's Bil'yu Bantha bringing me a new Bop holodisk!" Ben grew extremely heavy in his father's arms, attempting one of the Bop's more daring dance moves.
"Uh, son, I kind of doubt that," Luke said, striding towards the door.
Ben sighed, sounding much older than his four years. "I KNOW that, daddy. I'm just pretending."
Luke willed himself not to blush at his child's condescending tone, and instead quickly opened the door, causing the young delivery boy to stumble forward slightly.
"Hey, watch it, gravel maggot…" the boy looked up, and flushed, catching sight of Luke, and his young son framed in the doorway. "Oh…. Kriff… I mean…. Luke Skywalker!! I mean… I'm sorry, Master Skywalker…. Oh, stang it…."
"Daddy, Mama said people shouldn't say kriff or stang," Ben said, holding his small hands over his ears.
"Yes, Ben… Mama's right. Young people your age should not use those words. But, let's not tell Mama about this, okay?"
Ben didn't get a chance to reply, as the delivery boy was apologizing all over himself. "… so sorry, Master Skywalker, I wouldn't normally use such language, and in front of a child…this must be a nightmare…."
Luke raised his free hand. "It's okay. Now, what can I do for you?"
The young man looked blankly at the Jedi Master. "Huh? Oh! The package! I have a package for you."
"For me?" Luke took the package. "Uh, no--sorry--this package is for someone on the level below us." He pointed to the address on the package.
"What? Oh, kri--" the man stopped at Luke's warning look. "… stars… no wonder all the delivery jobs are going to the droids."
Ben, bored of the conversation, pulled on the back of his Dad's head. "Is it time to go get Mama yet? I'm hungry."
Luke grimaced at the feel of the small hand still clutching at his hair. "Yes, well… sorry for the confusion, but thanks for the save," he said to the delivery boy.
"Save? Uh... yeah, It's okay, Master Skywalker, sorry for saying those words…" the kid walked off as Luke shut the door.
"What did the man save, Daddy?" Ben asked quizzically.
"Oh, nothing, son… you're hungry?"
"Yes!" Ben bounced up in his father's arms again, and Luke put him down, following him to the kitchen. Ben was already in the cabinets, rustling around.
"I could make you an insta-meal," Luke said, eyeing Ben's forage. He looked at the chrono on the wall. "You'll have to eat it quickly, though. Mama should be in very soon."
"I don't want an insta-meal, I want gelmeat," Ben said, smiling widely at his father as he triumphantly held up a tube of the gooey ration.
"Gelmeat?" Luke made a face. "You like that stuff?"
"Yeah!" Ben exclaimed, attempting to open the tube.
"You truly are your mother's son," Luke said, taking the tube and opening it. "Just… don't eat too much of it…" Luke had definite plans for the evening, plans that didn't include gelmeat regurgitation.
"I won't! Mama says I can only have this much of the tube, anyway," Ben said, indicating only a small bit of the tube. "And I have to eat crackers with it."
Luke located the crackers, and helped himself to an insta-meal, while Ben ate. He was very precise with the tube meat, rationing it out on his crackers in a serious manner that made Luke smile. He obviously wasn't wasting any bit of his 'treat'.
Luke finished his meal and cleaned up, looking towards Ben. "Ready to go get Mama, buddy?"
"Yeah!" Ben cried, through his mouthful of meat and cracker. "But I still have some left to eat."
Luke looked at the chrono again. "Well… we'll put it away, and you can finish it when we get back."
Ben stuck out his lower lip, and Luke cursed himself for perfecting that particular move and passing it on to his son. "But I'm still hungry."
"Well, you know how Mama feels about crumbs in the speeder…"
"I won't get crumbs in the speeder! I'm so hungry, I'll eat all the crumbs." Ben smiled, seeking to convince.
Luke doubted it, but didn't have time to argue. He began gathering the crackers into a small baggy. "Okay, let's go get your Mama."
------
After a mercifully uneventful speeder ride, Luke and Ben arrived just in time to find Mara disembarking her ship.
"Mama!" Ben cried, letting go of Luke's hand and running for his mother, laughing happily as Mara dropped her travel bag and hugged and kissed him. "I'm so glad you're back! What did you bring me?"
Mara laughed, reaching out for Luke's hand as he made his way to their side, and tilting her head up to receive his welcome kiss. Ben quickly grew impatient with the show of affection between his parents and wormed his way in between them, breaking them apart.
Luke looked a bit disgruntled, but smiled at the happy look on Ben's face at being back in his mother's presence. His grin grew even wider as Mara's voice rang through his head. Don't worry, you'll get yours later, love, she said, showing him a picture of what exactly she meant by 'his'.
"Did you bring me a new Bantha Bop, Mama?"
"No, I'm afraid not, kiddo," Mara said, ruffling Ben's hair. "And you'll just have to wait until we get home to see what I brought you."
Ben heaved a sigh. "Oh, stang…" he said, quite forlornly.
Mara's eyes widened until they threatened to pop out of her head. "What did you just say, Ben Skywalker?"
"Uh… Let's head back to the speeder," Luke said, tugging on Mara's hand, and scooping Ben up into his arms.
"I want to know where he learned such a word, Skywalker…" Mara said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and falling into step with her husband.
"Daddy didn't say it, Mama," Ben defended from Luke's shoulder. "It was that man, the one at the door. He said another word too, but I don't remember what it was. Daddy said I shouldn't say those words."
"Well, your Daddy is right," Mara answered, smiling at her son.
"He always is," Ben said, resting his head on his father's shoulder, content in his knowledge of his father's omniscience.
"'Bout time someone told your mother that, Ben. Thanks, son," Luke winked at Mara, rubbing Ben's back.
Mara rolled her eyes, but wrapped her arm around Luke's waist for the long walk back to the speeder. Ben was nearly asleep as Luke placed him in his seat in the back.
"It's not quite his bedtime yet… What did you do with him today to wear him out so?" Mara asked, grimacing as she sat on a sticky gelmeat and cracker baggy that had been thrown in the front seat of the speeder. She held up the bag. "You gave him gelmeat? And let him eat in the speeder?"
"It's what he asked for, and we had to come pick you up, that's why it's in the speeder. And… Nothing out of the ordinary," Luke said, piloting the speeder out of the parking garage, back towards home. "Played some games… Watched some Holonet…. Played some more games… The usual."
"Uh-huh," Mara didn't sound convinced. "And just what was that was smoking when I commed earlier?"
Luke slid a look to Mara from the corner of his eye, and smiled. "Maybe that was just me, burning and yearning for you."
Mara snorted with laughter, and Ben awoke from his light doze in the back.
"Oh, Daddy! Did you tell Mama about the exploding toy Falcon you said not to tell… oops…" Ben's 'oops' sounded contrite.
Mara turned in the speeder and pinned her young son with her eyes. "Exploding toy? Are you both all right? And… wait… Daddy told you not to tell me something?"
"Ummm…" Ben bit his lip, not meaning to implicate his father. "I just want to know where my Bantha Bop disk is, Mama!"
"Yes, Mama, where IS the Bantha Bop disk?" Luke asked, silently thanking Ben for the save.
"Um… maybe I'll have something you'll like even better in my bag when we get home, Ben." Mara hated distraction, but if it worked…
You know we'll have to tell him one day, or buy a new copy of it, Luke sent to Mara through their bond.
Not if I can help it, farmboy! she answered smartly.
"Yeah!" Ben exclaimed. "What's in the bag? I hope it's not a dumb puzzle or something…" And Ben was off, mumbling from the back, listing all the toys and games he hoped were hiding in Mara's travel bag.
Mara placed her hand on Luke's leg and leaned back in her seat, listen to Ben prattle on.
"Good to be home?" Luke asked, placing his own hand over hers on his leg.
"Oh, yeah," Mara answered, squirming on the crumbs in her seat. "But even though I don't like to be separated from either of you, I think it's good to give you two some time alone together on occasion."
"….and a Bil'yu Bantha cub and … oh! KRIFF! That was the other word!" Ben crowed from the backseat, apparently remembering the other curse he'd forgotten earlier.
"Son…" Luke began, only to be cut off by one angry mother.
"What was that, Ben?" Not waiting for an answer, Mara rounded on Luke, squeezing his thigh a little harder than necessary. "Check that, Skywalker! I'm never leaving the two of you alone again!"
The Skywalker speeder headed through the traffic, the chorus of proper curse word instruction diluted and swept away on the wind, much as the pieces of a long discarded Bantha Bop holodisk.
------
This was based on a challenge from the SJRS: Write Daddy!Luke trying to handle a sticky (child) situation all by himself. Include the following things: the word "nightmare", the phrase "bantha bop", an exploding toy, and a delivery man who interrupts something. Hope you all enjoy: )