Eating Ice Cream – Han and Leia

Leia swayed from side to side as she stood in the kitchen, running her hand up and down the part of her robe that covered her baby bump. "It's all right, sweetheart," she murmured to her stomach. "Daddy's gonna come home with our food any minute now." She tapped her bare foot, wondering what was taking him so long. Surely there weren't a lot of people grocery shopping this late at night.

Finally she heard the door to their apartment slide open, causing a grin to dig into her face. "Your daddy's here!" she exclaimed to her stomach as Han came staggering into the kitchen, his hair still disheveled from being woken up in the middle of the night, his pajamas peeking out from the jacket he'd thrown on over them, but holding up the shopping bag containing the object of Leia's cravings.

"Here it is," Han said in a breathless voice. "Shoberry ice cream, just as the baby ordered. He gave a long yawn as he placed the bag on the kitchen table. "Kid better appreciate what his daddy does for him."

"You don't know it's a him," Leia chided.

"Him, her, whatever." Han yawned again as he let the jacket fall to the floor and slumped down on a kitchen chair to remove his boots. "Either way, it's got a big appetite and seems to love keepin' Daddy from gettin' a good night's sleep."

Leia practically dove down on the kitchen chair next to him, ice cream scoop, bowl, and spoon in hand as Han finished removing his boots and tossed them under the table. "And he or she appreciates his or her daddy very much for it." She leaned over and kissed her husband's cheek. "I'll bet Daddy would love to join Mommy for ice cream, wouldn't he?"

Han looked at her with sleepy eyes that were blinking slowly. "Tell the baby that Daddy would like to go to bed now."

Leia pouted at her husband as she scooped the ice cream into her bowl. "But what if the baby gets lonely?"

"How can the baby get lonely?" Han cocked his head at her. "He or she or whatever always has you around."

"But if Mommy's lonely, then the baby gets lonely," Leia protested. "The baby will sense Mommy's feelings."

Han gave yet another yawn. "Fine, fine, Daddy'll join you so the baby won't get lonely. Wouldn't want the baby to get lonely – then he or she might want Daddy to go out in the middle of the night again." He groggily fetched his own bowl and spoon, after which Leia scooped him his own ice cream.

The ice cream was so delicious – perfectly sweet and fruity and satisfying. "The baby loves the ice cream," she said between bites. "Daddy was so nice to go get it."

"Well tell the kid thank you," said Han, dreamily eating his own ice cream. "Yeah, it's pretty good, not sure if it's get-up-to-get-it-in-the-middle-of-the-night good, but good. Why can't the kid time these cravings better?"

"Han, the baby doesn't know night from day yet," laughed Leia. "It's always dark in the womb no matter what time it is."

Han snickered. "Wonder what the baby'll think when it sees light for the first time."

"It will probably be really overwhelming – for both of us – when the time comes."

"You mean all three of us," said Han. "I'll probably be a nervous wreck."

"Probably," Leia responded with a knowing smile, trying to ignore the twist in her stomach. Even though she had a noticeable baby bump now, it was still difficult to imagine actually having the baby. Some people said childbirth was the most painful experience in the galaxy, though Leia had difficulty believing that after experiencing Vader's mind probe. Still, what would it be like?

And what would it be like after the birth, when she and Han would be solely responsible for raising a little life? Her heart was suddenly racing. A million things could go wrong during pregnancy and a million things could go wrong after pregnancy. Would they be able to handle it?

A loud snore jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked to the side and saw that Han had fallen asleep with his head on the table and his hand in the process of spooning ice cream out of the bowl. She giggled slightly at the sight. "Well, baby," she whispered as she stood up and put the ice cream tub in the freezer, "it looks like you've managed to tire your daddy out again." She put her own bowl and spoon in the sink and gently pried Han's spoon out of his hand, which didn't seem to disturb him one bit.

After rinsing the dishes off and leaving them in the sink for a proper washing tomorrow, she gently shook her snoring husband's shoulder. "Han, wake up, let's get back to bed."

Han's eyes slightly opened. "Did you just wake me up just to go to bed?"

"Well, the baby doesn't want its daddy to have a sore neck and back in the morning."

Han smiled as he reached over and put his hand on Leia's abdomen. "Okay, the baby's got a point."

"Besides," Leia said as Han got to his feet, "Daddy needs to be rested in case the baby gets another craving."