By the time the next morning dawned bright and sunny, Luke had almost managed to convince himself that the night before had been nothing but a bizarre dream.
Until he woke up with numb arms and a crick in his neck from sleeping upright with Rey crying and an unmistakable smell in the air. Goddammit. Thank the Force Leia had given him a few diapers for just this eventuality the night before. Still, that didn't mean he knew how to change a diaper. "Good morning to you too." Rey looked at him curiously for a moment and then started to cry even harder.
He turned on the overhead light, figuring he needed a little more illumination if he was actually going to be able to see what he was doing. The light spilled over the contents of his small sitting room-the settee Rey was now reclining on, a table, a few chairs, and numerous shelves of books from the Temple Restoration he'd decided to painstakingly undertake. Nothing he could use to help to change a diaper. It looked, for all intents and purposes, that he was on his own. Rey looked up at him curiously as he looked from her to the diaper and back again. It couldn't be that hard; people did it all the time. Yet he was feeling more than a little bit lost as he looked at the diaper's many flaps and tabs that he simply could not seem to figure out. "Okay. This shouldn't be too much trouble." Even he knew he was just lying to himself.
It took him about twenty minutes to perform the actual diaper change-at which point he'd realized he had put the diaper on backwards and it took him another ten minutes to fix the problem. Then he was faced with the question of what to do with the dirty diaper. He could always put it in the garbage disposal, but there was no sure guarantee that it would be emptied within the next twelve hours and he didn't want the dirty diaper to stink up the house. So, in a desperate lack of any better options, he walked all the way to a public receptacle-which took another twenty minutes. Suffice it to say that when all was said and done he was running considerably late for his meeting.
"What am I going to do with you?" he asked, watching as she cocked her head and smiled at him happily. He just knew that he couldn't turn her into Child Services-it was going to make life a lot harder for him, but he couldn't just abandon her. She couldn't go to the meeting though; that would be asking for too much.
He wondered if the Senate was in session today.
~TBF~
"Thank you so much. I have no idea what I'd do without you-"
Leia laughed as she took a squirming Rey from Luke's hands and set her down on a blanket in the middle of the sitting room. "Don't mention it. Just get going-none of this matters if you're late anyway." She hoped this meant he'd decided to keep the baby-otherwise Rey would certainly be at some kind of Child Services by now. Of course, if the unthinkable had happened…her brother was going to need a lot of help.
And Rey needed a new outfit. "How long will your meeting take?" she continued, eyeing the toddler's faded blue dress that had obviously seen better days.
"A couple of hours at most. Not long."
"So you'll have most of the afternoon free?"
"Theoretically. Why?"
"You're going to need to go shopping and buy some essentials." He looked like he was about to protest vehemently so she continued before he could. "We'll make a day out of it. It'll be fun."
He looked like he thought it would be anything except that but at least he headed out the door. "I'll be back soon. Thanks again for looking after her."
"It's no trouble. Ben will love having someone to play with." He was always talking about how much he wanted a little brother or sister, even though she and Han had told him numerous times that option wasn't even on the table. Ben was enough of a handful; Leia couldn't imagine having another kid running around at this point.
Luke left with one last wave to Rey at the same moment Ben started fussing. He hated sleeping in his crib, especially because it meant he had to wait for someone to decide to take him out of it. He'd tried to climb out himself once or twice, with varied results. She picked Rey up easily and went upstairs to check on him. "I'm Leia." she told the baby, in case she'd forgotten in the commotion of the night before. "It looks like I'm going to be your aunt."
On the way to the nursery, she passed the bedroom-where Han was just starting to get up. "It's your turn to make breakfast." she reminded him.
He groaned; Han hated cooking breakfast. "Really? I thought I just made it."
"Nope. You got to sleep in yesterday. And heat up some more baby food-Rey is spending the day with us."
"So Luke decided to take her in?"
"He sounds like he's thinking about it." She didn't want to get her hopes up too early.
Just then, a loud shriek split the peaceful morning in two. "You might want to get Ben up." Han chuckled, still looking like he was contemplating not getting out of bed.
She rolled her eyes. "I suppose so."
The nursery was just down the hall and it was one of Leia's favorite rooms in the entire house; she'd designed it herself to be the ideal room for a child to grow up in-it was airy and spacious with plenty of toys and spaceships hand painted on the walls. Ben loved it-unless he wanted to get out of his crib. He was standing up, leaning against the crib's sturdy wooden railings and jumping up and down empathetically while he crushed his black baby blanket in one fist. She didn't miss the way he glanced from her to Rey and back again; she could almost hear him wondering if Rey was the baby sister he'd asked for the last holiday season.
"Uncle Luke just stopped by. This is Rey." she said, indicating the baby she was placing gently on the rug that covered the nursery floor. "She's going to be staying with him for a while."
His face fell slightly as she helped him climb out of the crib. "She's not my little sister?"
"Nope-but she'll be here all day if you want to play with her."
Ben's face lit up with happiness and he ran over to talk to Rey. "I'm Ben. What's your name?"
"Rey." Rey replied, beaming up at him. Leia could already tell they were going to be the best of friends.
They spent a good twenty minutes in the nursery, with Ben showing Rey every single toy he owned while she looked on in delight and the air slowly filling with Corellian spices as Han made breakfast. In fact, they almost looked sad when Leia suggested they all go downstairs-at least until she mentioned breakfast was involved. That was enough to get Ben going-and Rey was right behind him, following as fast as she was able. It had been less than an hour and they were already getting along beautifully.
Crisis averted.
~TBF~
Going shopping for baby supplies wasn't exactly Luke's idea of a fun afternoon-but he'd be the first to admit that Rey needed some of the essentials. They made a day of it; everyone went further into the city to a few choice stores that Leia and Han insisted would have everything he needed. As there was nowhere convenient to leave the children for a few hours, they came along too.
Han examined the large shelf of diapers; they came in all shapes and sizes to serve all different species. "The more the better." he said, grabbing a huge cardboard box of diapers and placing them in the bottom of the empty cart. "Believe me, you'll need them." A Dug looked over at them almost curiously; Luke supposed that they were bound to attract a few odd glances being such a big group. "Once she gets older, you're going to need to decide what kinds of diapers you want to buy-there's a wide variety." It was making Luke's head hurt just thinking about it.
Next they stopped in the food section so Luke could purchase cans of baby food, bibs, and even a high chair-while Ben and Rey looked with interest at the proceedings and Ben spouted questions like an ever present fountain.
"Be glad that she doesn't talk that much." Han told Luke with a smirk. "Once she learns more words you aren't going to be able to shut her up."
"That's not such a bad thing." Leia replied. "At least you'll be able to sleep through the night again."
That didn't sound promising. "What do you mean?"
"You'll find out." She checked a few more items off on the list of things they simply had to get-it was as long as her forearm. "That just about covers all of the essentials-but you still need baby toys, a crib, a couple of pacifiers, and clothes."
Right. Because that sounded simple.
They tried to find a crib next. Luke was able to find an acceptable one after about ten minutes of looking around; it was painted white and could play soothing music if he programmed some in. He also bought a crib runner covered in little pictures of starships and a mobile with tiny X wings that circled around an even tinier model of Coruscant. Rey liked it immediately and seemed upset when he tried to put it in the back of the cart with the rest of her things.
"What's that?" Ben asked every five minutes, pointing to one thing after another-signs, shelves, even the clear support tubes that ran from the ceiling to the floor and delivered out-of-stock items to eagerly waiting customers. At one point he tried to stand up on the hovercart to get a better look and very nearly fell on his head. That was enough to quell his rush of curiosity-for the time being, at least.
"He's very…interested." Luke remarked as he grabbed a handful of pacifiers.
Leia nodded. "Ben has questions about everything. Even I don't always know the answers. It'll be so nice once he's old enough to use the holonet."
He glanced at Rey, seated upright next to Ben and laughing as she played with her recently acquired mobile. "I'm still worried I'm making a big mistake."
"Give yourself a chance, Luke. You haven't even had her for a week yet. I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit."
He hoped she was right-but he was just as positive things could go completely and utterly wrong.
Then it was time to search for clothes. Luke almost turned around right then and there because there were so many of them-and in so many different styles. There were sundresses, rompers, and even tiny little pilot costumes, lined up in neat rows that stretched to the back of the store. It was impossible to know what to get.
He started with pajamas first and grabbed a few pairs with interminable patterns of starships and white-yellow galaxies carefully stitched around their edges before moving on to play clothes. Rey seemed to have plenty of input, often reaching out of the cart to grab the sleeve of this shirt or the leg of that romper. In fact, it took a lot less time than Luke would have imagined to fill the cart with enough clothes to get the little girl through the next three months at least. The pilot costume went in last; he planned on raising her on tales of rebellions in the stars.
Finally it was time to shop for toys and books-Rey and Ben's favorite part of the entire day. Ben ran from one side of the store to the other, critically examining one toy after another for obvious design flaws. Every so often he would run back to Han or Leia with a toy that he had decided he simply could not live without-and he was invariably turned back with a rebuke-not only did he have all the toys and books he could possibly need but his birthday was fast approaching. Still, Ben was not happy with this news and took to standing in one corner and sulking.
Rey took a different approach, toddling from one colorful display to another and cocking her head curiously as she took in remote control X wing fighters that would fly by themselves with the push of a button and stuffed Ewoks that squeaked adorably when they were cuddled. Her eyes were filled with wonder as she looked around at everything; Luke was almost positive she had never seen a toy store before.
He hadn't thought there had been enough room in the speeders for all the supplies as it was, much less all of the toys and books he ended up buying. Yet somehow they managed to make it work, stuffing plastic airplanes in between rompers and sundresses and placing carefully colored picture books underneath the framework for the incomplete crib. Rey and Ben sat sandwiched between piles of supplies as they wove through the late afternoon traffic to Luke's house, looking out the window obliviously while Luke shook his pocketbook-which was now considerably lighter.
"Did you have fun?" he asked, hooking a sharp right as they soared around the newly refurbished Old Senatorial Building. It was no longer the meeting place for the Galactic Senate; that honor belonged to the planet Hosnian Prime; but it was still one of the last and most potent reminders of the great Republic of old. It was also a very popular tourist destination; beings came from all over the galaxy to find their system's pulpit in the vast chamber. Luke had been there once or twice for various ceremonies after the Rebellion recognizing his valor in the battles of Yavin and Hoth-he'd never had any great interest in going back, as the whole place gave him vertigo.
"Yeah!" Rey cried, while Ben nodded in agreement. She was holding a soft foam Y wing fighter, making little airplane noises as she pretended to make the plane 'fly'. She grinned back at him, eyes shining in delight as they caught the last rays of the setting sun.
~TBF~
Once at Luke's house they immediately set to work getting a nursery put together for Rey. Luckily for all involved parties, Luke had a spare guest room that was reasonably clean and a nice view of the city planet. This was unanimously voted in as the new 'nursery'.
Han ripped open the box that contained the crib framework and winced as dozens of wooden pieces varying in size and shape fell onto the carpeted floor. He plugged the instructions cartridge into his data pad and winced as the instructions swam into focus: a neat mess of blue lines and hard to read sentences. "Can you make out any of that?"
Luke tried and shook his head. "It looks like gibberish."
"Hmm." Han hammered a couple pieces of wood together experimentally. "Do you really think we need them?"
"Probably not." Luke replied, handing him a couple other pieces that seemed to fit together. "I think that goes there."
Working together, they managed to (somewhat) put the crib together. Luke supposed it wouldn't really matter all that much; Ben would be moving to a toddler bed within the next few months and Leia had already said Rey could use the crib he'd vacated. As long as it wasn't going to fall apart sometime that night, he was happy.
"What do you think?" Han asked when everything was done. The crib looked normal. Mostly.
"It looks good." Luke said, tossing the cartridge back into the box absentmindedly. "Not too bad considering we were just guessing the whole time."
"We weren't guessing. We were just using common sense."
"I hope it doesn't fall apart."
"It won't. Trust me."
Han was right enough of the time for Luke to think this was a reasonable decision.
The rest of the evening was spent designing the nursery-Rey's crib was pushed to the back of the room, the closet and chest of drawers were filled with outfits, and the cabinets that lined one wall were filled with toys and books alike. Within three hours, they'd managed to change an overall appealing (but nothing special) gust room into a nursery that Rey seemed to love.
They finally ate dinner late at night, when the kids were almost falling asleep. Luke surveyed his living room, now filled with Rey's toys, and shook his head. Things were finally starting to fall into place; it was starting to occur to him that he'd actually more or less 'adopted' a child he'd just met the night before-and that nothing was ever going to be the same. It was almost intimidating-but now that he had more equipment he was actually starting to wonder if he could actually pull this off.
He glanced over at the living room couch, where Rey and Ben were cuddled together sleepily. "They seem to like each other."
"It looks like it." Han said, ruffling Ben's hair carefully. "We should probably get him to bed; he gets cranky when he has to wake up before he's slept for ten hours. Think you have everything you need?"
"I hope so." he replied honestly. "Any last words of wisdom?"
"Enjoy the quiet-once she hits her second birthday you won't be able to shut her up. And get her flying at a young age-God forbid she's scared of heights." He scooped Ben up, who blinked sleepily a few times before turning over in his dad's arms and falling back to sleep uninterrupted, and headed out to the waiting speeder.
"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Leia asked, taking one last glance around the front room as if to make sure they hadn't missed anything. "You have everything?"
"I hope so. That shopping trip just about bled our funds." He couldn't believe how much everything had cost, when it all came down to it.
"Good. It'll take some getting used to…but it's all going to work out. She's going to adore you."
He sighed, looking towards Rey who was still fast asleep on the couch with her stuffed tauntaun clutched tightly in one hand. He hoped that by taking her in he was giving her a chance-a chance he'd always been denied. "I hope so."
Once the Solos had left and they were left alone, he put Rey to bed in her new crib and her new blankets. She barely even stirred, even when he said goodnight and left the door slightly ajar in case she needed anything during the night.
Whether or not he'd been expecting something like this, it was too late to turn back now.
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