It has come to my attention that there are people out there who don't frequent ANY Star Wars message boards and just check here for fic. In fact, I was chastised (by a dear friend so it's all right) for not having my stuff up here. Everything I post today and tomorrow is simply going to be re-posts of something posted on other message boards.
Without further ado, I present "Better Than Fine."
"Will you go to sickbay now?" Han asked his wife as he passed her a glass of water to rinse her mouth out.
She rinsed and spit before bothering to reply. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's probably just the apoxian flu? A few more days and I'll be fine."
"That's what you said last week," he countered darkly and reached out a hand to help her to her feet.
"I'm fine. It'll go away."
If anything, his expression darkened. But his tone was in complete opposition to his glower. "All right. Next time I come home bruised, bloody and tired and I tell you I'm fine, it'll go away and I just want to sleep, you'd best be prepared to tuck me in like a good little wife."
"Fine," Leia ground out through clenched teeth. "Just don't whine at me when they have to amputate your legs from gangrene."
"Deal. And you don't whine at me when they tell you that you have to take three weeks off of work to be treated for Corellian fever when you could have gone in before it got serious and gotten the stupid shot."
"Nerf herder."
"Stubborn bantha."
She narrowed her eyes at him and marched out of the 'fresher back into their bedroom. "Why are you being so insistent on this?"
"I want to make sure you're all right. Call me selfish but I prefer you alive and healthy as opposed to catatonic or dead."
With a rueful shake of her head, she turned to face him. He noticed her hands had gone to the well-worn spots on her hips and knew that she wasn't going to see reason. "I throw up a few times and in your head I'm already in a coma?"
"When is your first meeting today?"
"I have about one standard hour," she said warily, cautious of his sudden change in topic. "Why?"
"I just wanted to make sure that there was enough time."
"Enough time for what?"
"You to go to sickbay."
"How many times do I need to say this? I. Am. Not. Going. To. Sickbay."
"Yeah, you are." A small part of her mind was aware of his intent before he moved; but he was still quicker than her. Within seconds, he'd picked her up and flung her over his shoulder.
"Han Solo! You nerf-herding son-of-a-sith! Put me down!"
"No." He ignored her flailing and carried her out to the main room where Winter and C-3PO were preparing Leia's notes for the day. They started at the sudden appearance of Han with a fuming Leia draped over his shoulder. "Don't get up. We're just making a quick trip to sickbay. She'll be back in time for her busy schedule to start on time and make her even more cranky."
"I'm not cranky," she protested to the small of his back. He offered no reply, just moved for the front door. When she sensed his hand reach for the release, she tugged the side of his trousers. "All right. All right. I'll come along quietly."
He paused and she felt his body relax. "I'm not sure I can trust you. You're worse than a toddler with vegetables when it comes to medical stuff."
"I don't think I have much of a choice. You've apparently decided that I'm going to sickbay. I would rather not make a public scene by showing up flung over your shoulder like you're some barbarian on his way home from a hunt." The irritation in her voice was plan and he winced inwardly. She'd be upset with him for days for making her do something she didn't want to do. But, it was an ire he was willing to live with to get a little peace of mind concerning her physical health. He grinned. Mentally, he knew that she was bonkers. She'd have to be to put up with him as a husband.
"Okay. But one wrong move and it's back up you go," he warned as he set her back on her feet.
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with. I'm looking forward to saying 'I told you so'." Without so much as an angry glare, she shoved past him and pushed the release for the door.
Leia sat silently fuming on the medical examination table. How dare he presume to know what was best for her? How dare he haul her around like some piece of machinery on its way to a tune up! How dare he!
Turning icy daggers on him, she took in his appearance. There were dark circles under his eyes and a weariness in his slouch. Too many nights spent with her in the 'fresher she supposed. And the look on his face spoke of concern, not arrogant victory or smug self-assurance. She supposed he really was just playing the part of a concerned husband as best as he knew how. It wasn't his fault that his methods left a lot to be desired; that was just something she'd have to pound into his brain.
"What's taking so long?"
Han's voice startled her out of her pondering and she almost jumped at the sound.
"I don't know, Laser Brain. This was your bright idea."
He closed his eyes and she almost wished that she hadn't said it. But, his behavior was inappropriate and if he thought he was going to get off easy, he was sadly mistaken. Besides, he was always very thoughtful and sweet when he was trying to get back on her good side. She liked to take advantage of those moods when they hit him. Selfish, she knew, but she cherished the loving he attention he lavished on her when he thought she was mad at him. A small smile lit her face and her features softened. Just as she was about to speak, however, her comlink beeped, demanded her attention.
"Sith," she muttered and dug it out of one of her pockets.
"Is that thing attached to you?" Han queried. He'd honestly thought it had been left back in their apartment. No such luck apparently.
Leia ignored him and flipped it on. "Yes?"
"Your Highness?" It was Winter. "Mon Mothma has asked that you meet with her briefly before your first meeting today. If you're still in sickbay, I can always call her back and-"
"No no!" Leia interrupted despite the sour look Han was giving her. "They've already looked me over. I'll be there shortly."
Before she'd even slipped the comlink back into her pocket, Han had his arms crossed over his chest and was scowling fiercely at her. "We're not done here."
"They've looked me over," she repeated firmly. "All we're waiting on are results. I'm not needed for that. If it's life threatening I'm sure they'll call me." With that, she hopped off the table and headed for the door. Before leaving, she looked over at him sitting forlornly in the chair. "I'll be home in time for dinner."
"Yeah," he whispered to the closing door. "Sure you will."
Later that afternoon, Han was on his way out of a briefing when his comlink chirped.
"Solo," he answered.
"General Solo?"
"Yeah?"
"This is Doctor Hiark. You requested we call when we had the results on your wife's lab work."
"I thought I told you to call her," he groused. No doubt she'd be only all too willing to gloat over his over-protective streak that had dragged them both to sickbay.
"Yes, Sir, you did, but she's in a meeting. I thought it best I get in touch with one of you right away."
Something cold lodged in the pit of his stomach and he put a hand out to the nearest wall to steady himself. "Well, you've got me. What's wrong with her?"
"Oh! Nothing's wrong with her! Quite the opposite in fact!"
"Doc, I got no patience and a wookiee friend whose hobbies including ripping arms out of sockets. Either you tell me what's going on right now, or I go find the wook and tell him I found him a new play toy."
There was a long silence on the other end and Han grinned as he thought of the other man squirming in his office.
"There's no need to make threats, General. I'm merely trying to give you some happy news."
"About what?"
"Your wife, Solo. She is the reason I called," Dr. Hiark said slowly, as if speaking to a child.
"What about her?"
"Well, there's no other way to say it than this: she's pregnant."
Han dropped the comlink.
"So did the doctor call?" Leia finally asked when they'd finished dinner and were beginning dessert. He'd been waiting for her to ask, he knew she would. She liked to make him wait before bringing up a topic she thought she was right on when he'd taken the other side.
"Yeah," he said to his plate. Dinner had been a quiet affair with Leia making most of the conversation while Han started mutely at his food. Occasionally he'd offer a one or two word response, or nod, but it was clear to her that something was amiss.
"Well? What'd he say?"
And suddenly Han found himself faced with telling his wife that their lives had changed forever. That in under a year they'd be parents, responsible for another human being. He was faced with telling her that they'd created a life and she was carrying it within her womb at that very moment. How would she react to such news? They'd never talked of children, never talked of the family that they had unwittingly started. His own mind had already dealt with the information and settled on one emotion: ecstatic. Life was offering him something he'd never known he wanted and there was no way he was turning away from it all. But Leia...she had duties, responsibilities that included more than a tramp freighter and a wookiee who shed heavily in moments of distress. What would she think to knowing her life would be turned upside down and the cause that she'd dedicated her life to would have to take a back seat to the child she hadn't planned on.
He swallowed past the lump in his throat and tried to force the words out but all he managed was a dry croak. Carefully, he took a sip of wine.
"Um, he said that nothing's wrong with you." If she caught his unusual emphasis on the word "wrong," she didn't show it. Her face lit up with a triumphant grin.
"See? What did I tell you? Everything is fine." She turned partly towards the kitchen. "3PO! We're done here! You can clean up whenever you're ready."
With a slightly arrogant spring, she popped up out of her seat and headed for her office. As she passed Han, she ruffled his hair.
"You're sweet to worry about me, Han. Really." She dropped a quick kiss to his cheek and, for the second time that day, left him sitting alone in a chair wondering what in the galaxy had happened.
Leia was hunched over her computer terminal when she felt Han's presence in the door behind her.
"What it is?" she asked distractedly. The terms for the Moldovian treaty glared up at her and she was determined to hammer out any kinks before she went to sleep.
"How about you and me take a vacation?"
Not looking up from her reading, Leia sighed. "You know I can't do that, Han. I've got a lot to take care of. Mon Mothma is depending on me. The New Republic is depending on me."
He took a cautious step into the room. It had been like this between them lately. A few months back from their honeymoon, Leia had started getting so caught up in her work that she barely had time to breath, let alone spend time with her husband. Han took it all stoically; just happy to have won her hand in marriage that he was content to let her work herself into oblivion if that's what she desired. None of that mattered to him so long as he got to hold her in his arms at night, kiss her lips before she hurried off in the morning. But a child meant she'd have to learn how to divide her time between work and home.
"I depend on you too," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
Hearing the tone in his voice, Leia turned to face him. "Oh, Han...I'm sorry." she pushed to her feet and walked over to him. "I know I've been working a lot. It's important though and when we get things in order, I'll have more time for us." She laced her hands behind his neck and gently pulled his face to her shoulder. "I love you, Nerf Herder.
"Love you," he mumbled to her neck as he curled his arms around her waist. Tentatively, he pressed his lips to her collar bone, pushing past the fabric of her clothing to do so.
"I'll make you a deal, Solo," she whispered as he continued trailing white hot kisses up the side of her neck. "You let me do this one paragraph and when I'm finished I'll let you do me."
He grinned up at her, not quite a leer, and shook his head. "No deal. Now or never."
She blinked. That most definitely was not his usual response to such an offer from her. He was more prone to readily agree and run off to prepare candles and whatever else his mind, and body, desired for the evening. The last paragraph deal was more to allow him to prepare than to let her get any real work done. Besides, she never could concentrate when Han Solo was in seduction mode.
"You're changing the rules of the game?" she inquired playfully and nipped his ear.
"Nope." He backed out of the office and used his grip on her waist to bring her with him. "I'm changing the game."
"Mmmm, sounds like you're up to something, Solo."
"Always," he promised as they reached their bedroom. His hands found the fasteners for her robes. "Always."
Sometime before dawn, Han lay restless in the bed he shared with Leia. Their love making had been as fiery and passionate as usual, but Han's emotions were tinged with the guilt of not having told her of her pregnancy.
His brain tossed up images of a small girl with dark hair smiling up at him while he showed her the controls for the Falcon for the first time. A boy the same age and very similar in appearance was clamoring for attention at his feet.
Han smiled in the darkness. He didn't know why he was picturing twins in his visions of fatherhood, but it wasn't an unwelcome scenario. Suddenly, he was compelled with the urge to share his joy with the woman who would be giving him his children. In that instant, he wondered what had made him hesitate in telling her. She would welcome the news as he did. It might take some time to get used to, but in the end she'd be just as overjoyed as he.
He shook her shoulder gently. "Hey, Princess?" She mumbled in her sleep but didn't wake. He shook her again. "Come on, Princess! Wake up!"
"Solo," she said to her pillow. "If Imperials aren't bombing the city, I'm going to maim you."
"I gotta tell you something!"
"Great. Leave a message with my office and I'll get back to you in two weeks."
Frustrated, he leaned over and bit the shoulder he'd been shaking. "Up Your Worship!"
"Ow!" She was immediately sitting up rubbing the offended area. "What the hell did you do that for? You'll be lucky if I don't shave you while you sleep!"
"Go ahead," he countered with a good natured smile. Tenderly, he reached out and caressed the spot he'd bit. "Sorry 'bout that. I just wanted you up."
"Well I'm up Nerf Herder," she groused. "This had better be good."
"You didn't let me finish at dinner tonight," he said, ignoring her threatening look.
"Finish what?"
"What the doctor told me."
"You said he told you I'm fine."
"No," he corrected. "I told you he said nothing is wrong with you."
Again his emphasis on "wrong" didn't seem to click with her. He shook his head in wonder. There were times when things went right over her head. Times like those, he found it amusing that she was one of the best diplomats in the galaxy.
"Same thing."
"Wrong again. There's definitely something up with you, but it's not wrong."
"What it is then?"
"It's a baby," he blurted. Not the best way to tell her, he realized with a grimace. In retrospect, he'd wish that he'd planned a nice dinner for her with flowers and wine and music, the works. But, in typical Corellian (though some would say Solo) fashion, he'd broken life altering news to her with all the force of a ship colliding with a planet.
"Excuse me?" Leia found herself a little short of breath and wondering if she'd heard her husband right. It was late, she was tired, perhaps she'd just been imagining things. He looked decidedly sheepish.
"Umm, that maybe wasn't the best way to tell you that."
"Did you just say that I'm pregnant?"
"Yeah."
"As in a baby?"
"Well, unless Alderaanians have a very different sort of pregnancy, yeah."
"I'm not ready for this Han!"
He shrugged and offered a roguish smile. "You think I am?"
"Han! This is serious! I can't be a mother!" Her voice was high and frightened and Han instinctively wrapped his arms around her. She latched onto him and buried her face in his neck.
"You can and you will. Sweetheart, you've been taking care of me for nine years now. A kid should be a walk in the space park." There was a muffled laugh and he gently took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. "We're in this together, Doll. You handle the giving birth part and I'll handle the holding cute babies part."
She gave him a scathing look that made him chuckle.
"I don't think so. If I handle the birthing part, you're taking care of the dirty diapers."
"Sounds like you've got this all thought out," he whispered an instant before he touched his lips to hers. It was a sweet moment, sweeter than any they'd ever shared.
When they broke apart, she raised an unsteady hand to his face. Softly she traced his eyes, his forehead, his cheeks, his nose... When she reached his lips, he kissed each finger in turn.
"You're going to be a father."
"Yeah," he grinned brilliantly at her. "A little me running around screaming who I can teach sabacc and flying to."
"Oh no. No no no. Our child is not going anywhere near a sabacc table with you. And what makes you think it'll be a little you? Why wouldn't it be a little me?"
Watching her features relaxed and happy, he wanted to tell her his desire for twins. But it was nothing they had any control over and he didn't want her to get as attached to the idea as he seemed to be.
"Well, think of it this way. That kid is going to be a Solo. Would you want a female Solo running loose in the galaxy?"
She shoved his shoulder a bit more roughly than he'd expected.
"Well I was hoping that the x chromosome would override the Solo gene."
"Nice. You don't listen to her," he said to her stomach. "You go right ahead and be a boy. And if she gives you any guff about it, just give her a swift kick to the bladder."
She was fighting back tears. Never had she seen such an endearing sight as a half-clad Han Solo addressing her stomach. "Who knows? Maybe I'll have twins and it'll be a both."