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Chapter 4
Leia wasn't quite sure what to expect from Han's father. On the other hand, she suspected that Han might well be feeling the same way.
She turned on to the last causeway toward their apartment, feeling less comfortable than she would have liked. Han's father had a criminal record. What kind of person had he become over the years? What possessed him to attempt to find his son after all this time baffled her. She hoped he had some pretty good excuses.
But her anger was mitigated by Han's acceptance of her biological parentage including Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader. She had been frightened to tell him, but she knew she had to. Han felt that blaming one's parents after a while was ridiculous. They were adults and could make their own decisions.
Then there was the fact that Han had never entertained the thought that his father might be alive. He'd told her he was orphaned and, in fact, he was when Jonash was sent to work the Kessel mines when Han was two. She was grateful she had high level clearance, but she still felt rather guilty about using it for private reasons.
She knew that Han, being a 'still waters run deep' person, would not easily confide his emotional state in her, but she sensed already that this was going to be a major event in his life. It was not in her nature to go confessional, either. Both understood this about each other, and had their own ways to communicate with each other.
She took in a deep calming breath, such as she did when she was about ready to enter into negotiations that were likely to be intense or malicious. She knew she could hold herself together, but she had a lot of questions for Han's progenitor.
Leia walked over to the bank of lifts that went to their floor, took in one more breath, and headed upstairs.
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"That smells real good," Jonash called out to the kitchen. He was in the living room, talking and getting to know his three grandchildren. The kids seemed to have liked him from the get-go; Han was worried that they might form an attachment to him and Jonash would vanish like the sun at night. He told himself, it's your brain playing tricks on you. Han was about as unsettled as he'd ever been. Cooking the traladon stew was useful for soothing him and he was able to see the kids interact with their newly discovered grandfather. Right now, the kids had conned him into reading 'The Little Lost Bantha Cub.' He hoped that Jonash was willing to read it more than once. Han had lost track of how many times he'd read the damn story, but he smiled. It was a memory they'd all share. He didn't have any memories of his own parents.
"Nothing fancy," Han called out as he prepared the wastril bread he'd learned to bake from Dewlanna.
"I wouldn't know from fancy," Jonas informed him.
"C'mon, Grampa, read the story!" Jaina begged.
"Interrupting in the middle of 'The Little Lost Bantha Cub' is punishable by death!" Han reminded him.
"It is?" Leia entered the apartment. She went over to Han and he picked her up off her feet, holding her and kissing her. Then setting her down he took her hand and led her down to the living room.
"This is my wife, Leia Organa Solo," Han said to his father, who looked up and smiled.
"Ah, Han, she's even more beautiful in person. I'm so glad to meet you, Minister," Jonash told her. He stood up and extended his hand.
"How are you?" Leia asked him.
"I'm the happiest man in the galaxy," Jonash said, smiling at her. The smile was shockingly similar to that of his offspring.
"C'mon, Grampa, read!" Jaina ordered.
"Excuse me, but duty calls," Jonash said as he smiled at Leia, and then continued reading to the kids.
Leia returned to the kitchen, where Han had poured her a glass of Emera wine. "How are you doing?" she asked Han quietly.
"Get back to me on that one, will ya?" Han said to her, popping the tab on an Alderaanian ale, and slipped his arm around her. "The kids like him, anyway."
"They're four and a half and three," Leia reminded him.
"They're Force sensitive," Han told her. "Remember when we took them to your department's summer picnic and how they'd cry around certain people and not others?"
"Yes. But they're still little kids."
"He's done a lot of prison time, I'll grant you that." Han took another swallow.
"I'm well aware of that. You didn't think I wouldn't check him out, did you?"
"I'd have done it myself if I'd had the chance." Han stared off for a moment, contemplating. "At least he's got an interesting story. We were just getting to the part where he tried to buy me back off Shrike. Of course, it took him four hours in the WompRatHole to get to that point."
"You couldn't take him anywhere decent to drink?" Leia was surprised.
"He's a dive bar kinda guy. I mean, really. Can you see him in a fern bar?"
"I'm not sure where I can see him," Leia remarked, her tone dry. "I'm worried that the kids will start to like him, and then he'll vanish again for the remainder of his natural life. And I did look up his criminal history."
"You married me and I had one."
"Expunged due to your service to the Rebellion. And, I know you. What do you think he wants?"
"I have no idea what he wants, beyond meeting you and the kids."
"Is he ill?"
"I dunno. He packed away four ales and a large nerfburger. Sick people don't usually care for either."
Leia looked furtively at the man. She did notice a resemblance. Granted, Jonash was thinner than his son, more wrinkled, but the green-gold eyes were full of mischief and the laugh was familiar. Like Han, he read the story to the kids with the same kind of sound effects and great inflection that Han did. Even without the genetic testing, it was obvious that this older man had been directly involved in creating the younger one she loved so very much.
"I just hope he's being straight up," Leia said to Han. Despite the obvious physical links, she was still uncertain about Jonash Solo.
"Yeah. Me, too," Han murmured.
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Dinner was served, and the family sat down at the table.
"This is beautiful," Jonash said of the table and chairs. "I've never seen anything like it."
"You won't, either, because Han handcrafted all of it. In fact, he's built nearly all of the wood pieces in the house," Leia said proudly.
"I have a hard time sitting still when I'm not flying," Han explained. "Of course, these days, these three guys keep us running," he said, smiling as he indicated the children. Han had made baked tubers instead of fried strings, which meant that they weren't demonstrating their skills at stuffing the tuber strings up their noses. Anakin, of course, was pushing his food around as opposed to eating it. The child was averse to nearly everything that was consumable.
"He's not eating again," Leia grumbled. "He lives on pasta, one kind of cereal, and milk."
"He looks pretty healthy to me," Jonash offered. He smiled at Anakin and the toddler held his arms out to him. He turned to Han and Leia. "May I pick him up?"
"Sure. Good luck finishing your dinner," Han said to him.
"It's very good, you know," Jonash told him.
"Thanks," Han said. Leia noticed the tenseness in her husband's body. She'd have to knead his shoulders, neck and back later on. Not that that bothered her. He was always appreciative, and it was, to her mind, that she was the only person who really now how much tenderness was in Han.
Anakin was happy in his grandfather's lap. Jonash turned to Jaina. "Did you know that your name is the one your daddy's mommy had?"
"You mean my gramma?" Jaina said, frowning.
"Yeah, your gramma. Her name was Jaina."
"But it's my name!"
"Yes, it is, but you were named for your gramma."
Jaina seemed puzzled. "Okay," she said, shrugging.
"She was a beautiful lady, and when you were born, you were as beautiful as she was, so you had to be named for her," Jonash explained.
"Where is she?" Jaina asked.
"She died, honey," Jonash said softly. "I'm so glad your mommy and daddy gave you the same name. You look a lot like her."
"But she's dead," Jaina looked confused again.
"Let's leave it for now," Leia said, speaking in the soft tone she used to dissipate tense diplomatic situations. She smiled at Jonash, who smiled back at her.
"It's been a long time since I've been near little kids," he explained.
"No worries," Leia assured him.
"We got some chocolate lava cake when we walked back from school," Han said, grinning at her. It was Leia's favorite dessert.
"I think I had that once, a long time ago," Jonash said, standing up. "Here, lemme get the dishes."
"You really don't have to do that," Leia said.
"Yeah, I do. I've had the most wonderful meal in almost forty years." He continued to collect dishes from the table, placing them carefully into the sink.
"Han's the cook," Leia said.
Jonash grinned. "Nice to know he's got a few skills."
"No thanks to you," Han said tartly. But he smiled.
"He has his talents," Leia said, picking up Anakin. "One of them happens to be bathing the kids. You can leave the dishes for later."
"No, I'm fine with cleaning. Did a lot of it in prison."
Jacen frowned. "What's prison?"
Han gave his father a warning look. "Let's keep it kid friendly for now, m'kay?"
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After Jonash read for the little ones, Han and Leia tucked them into bed.
"They're beautiful children," he said sincerely to their parents.
"We like 'em. Most of the time," Han said, smiling wryly.
"Your daughter really does look like your mother," Jonash told Han. "Anyway, you were talking about trying to buy me back from Shrike."
"I'd been on Kessel, sentenced to twenty-five to life in the spice mines. Most sentients who went there, died there. I was determined not to let that happen."
"They're pretty rough," Leia said. "We still have problems stemming from using slave labor, which is illegal under the GFFA charter. I seem to end up there at least twice a year."
"Good luck with that one," Jonash told her. "Anyway, I got twenty-five to life for shooting an Imp officer while I was trying to protect my wife and kid." He turned towards Han. "You were two and a half."
"You only did twelve years, from what I've read," Leia mentioned. "It's unusual for someone sent to the Kessel Mines to get off early for good behavior."
"Good behavior had nothing to do with it. I escaped. As you may have noticed, I've been presumed dead for a while," Jonash said to her. Nici the Specialist helped with that, and I've got so many aliases I've lost count."
"Two generations of loyal customers at the Glow Spider," Han remarked wryly.
"It was pretty risky of you to come here. CorSec doesn't mess around," Leia remarked.
"Well, since I'm presumed dead, it makes things less complicated," Jonash smiled at her. "I've done some time since then, mostly because I was starving, but it wasn't a lot. And I'm pretty good at escaping." He grinned, somewhat smugly. Leia remembered that grin from the time Han had said, 'Not a bad bit of rescuing. Y'know, sometimes I even amaze myself.'
"How have you been supporting yourself?" Han asked.
"Odd jobs, mostly paying under the table," Jonash said with a shrug. "Kind of like when I started out. That's the irony of it all." He rose. "I'd keep talking, but I'm pretty tired. Got in touch with an old friend earlier. He's at the Krabbis Inn, down near the Jedi temple. I couldn't impose on you."
Secretly, Han and Leia were relieved; they were beginning to like Jonash, but trusting him was a different animal.
Leia gave him a friendly hug good night; Han gave him a slap on the back. He wasn't quite ready to give a buddy hug yet.
Jonash turned to them. "Okay if I walk the kids home with you?" he asked Han.
"That'd be fine," Han assured him. "Are you staying for dinner tomorrow?"
"If it's not too much trouble," Jonash said to Han and Leia.
"It's not," Leia said to him.
Han and Leia turned to each other. "Whaddya think?" Han said.
"Still not quite sure. He seems very nice and the kids like him. What about you?"
"I'm still getting used to the idea." She knew that the situation was tense for Han and his body was giving it away.
Leia put her hands on his shoulders. "I think someone could use a shoulder and back massage."
Han closed his eyes and smiled. "You're awesome, you know that, don't you?"
"I am. And don't you forget it," Leia responded, her tone light with laughter.
"Oh, I know if I do, you'll remind me."
"Get in the bedroom, flyboy."
