Wow! So many replies for those chapters! I guess I just have to post a new one, then.
Mousewolf – I'm glad you liked it. Here's some more!
TheRealLeia – Yeah, drunk!Luke is the funniest. In this story (I don't remember if I mentioned it either) Leia did pursue her Jedi abilities, but it's not the focus of the story, so it's very rarely touched upon.
Dovasary – Hehe…yeah, the idea was pretty crazy. The idea was a result of going to my sister's baby showers and a few others in a short amount of time. And I don't get sick of people telling me they love the story – I think it's fantastic!
As for the books, as a rabid H/L fan affected by reading countless anti-EU rants I would personally advise against reading them in favor of fan fiction, but if you really want to, I would suggest starting with Truce at Bakura, and going from there. That is the first book after ROTJ. I never read the X-wing series, but those are next, followed by one of my faves, Tatooine Ghost. The Thrawn Trilogy is pretty good (begins with Heir to the Empire), and it has Han and Leia married and expecting twins. Then there's the Jedi Academy books, which I liked with the exception of the plot line of having the Solo kids away from their parents for two years. Then Children of the Jedi and Darksaber, Planet of Twilight (somewhere around the time of those two books), some books I forget the names of, and The Corellian Trilogy, which a lot of people don't like, but I loved them. There are some more, but I'm too lazy to look, and I haven't read them for a while. I would strongly suggest staying away from The Courtship of Princess Leia (sounds good, but believe me, it's not) and The Crystal Star. And only read the New Jedi Order books if you feel like getting depressed (those are the ones with grown up Solo kids, and are fairly new) or enjoy reading about aliens and technology. So yeah, that list isn't biased at all, but who said it wasn't supposed to be:P
HRHpadmeamidala – Thank you! Oh yes, I know that quite well, but keep in mind 1)this story has Han and Leia married right after ROTJ and it's about five years before Jaina and Jacen are born, and 2)it ignores the EU plotline. So whether or not Han and Leia eventually have Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin is up to the mind of the reader!
From-Heaven2Earth – Uh, I hope I'm not a stalker. I try to keep my stalkerish tendencies on the down low. That's funny I'm predicting your life! Or…weird. Here's some more!
Jade Skywalker – No problem, no problem! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and you're still hanging around my little ol' fic!
SailorLeia – I'm glad you're so consistently loving this! Here's the next chapter!
Chapter 49
The three of them sat on Luke's couches, facing each other. Leia and Han listened as Luke read passages from the book.
"Okay, so it says here that it's good to have a door prize," Luke stated. "That won't be too hard, but I don't know why anyone would want a door."
"Seriously. Who wrote this book, anyway?" Han asked.
"It doesn't say. I don't blame them for keeping themselves anonymous, though. Who would want a door?"
Leia rolled her eyes. "A door prize is a prize that you give as people leave the party, not an actual door. You seriously want to plan this party?"
"Of course. That makes a lot more sense, anyway. So, what do we want to give as prizes?"
"Well, sometimes at baby showers they give out cute little candies, or potpourri, or little frilly…" Leia began.
"No way. Not at our party. We're not gonna have any frilly prizes. Who cares about 'prizes', anyway?" Han replied.
"But Han…the book! The book says to give out little prizes. We have to listen to the book if we want to have a good party," Luke cried.
"Luke, the book is stupid. Let's just buy some drinks, send out invitations, and be done with it," Han insisted.
"I thought that you wanted to plan the party, Han. You were the one who convinced me, so you have to do the work," Leia said.
"I do want to plan the party, Leia. But, like Luke said, I want it to be a good party. Why don't you move on to the next part, Luke? Maybe it's better."
"Okay…this part says that you should have games. It has some listed here."
"Let's not have games. C'mon, Luke. We don't need that book."
"Han, if you don't want to do anything in the book, what do you want to do? How can you have a baby shower if you don't do any of this?" Luke asked.
"We can make everything up. Why would we do any of that stuff if it's gonna be mostly guys at the party anyway?"
"There're games in here that the men will like."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Like drinking contests to see who can drink ale out of baby bottles the fastest…"
"Really? They have that in the book?"
"No, not really. I just made it up," Luke replied.
"Well, that's a good one. What else can you think up?"
"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Leia asked.
"I thought you wanted us to plan it, Princess."
"I do, but what's the point of having a baby shower if everyone just gets drunk?"
Han shrugged. "You still get presents, and everyone else is happy."
"I might as well not go to the party," Leia sighed.
"Don't worry, Leia. It's just one game. You'll love everything else," Luke said.
"Oh, sure."
"No, you really will. In fact, why don't you pick the next game?"
"Okay," Leia smiled. She wasn't going to pass up her opportunity. She took the book from Luke, and glanced at the "games" section.
"This one," she said, pointing to a game at the very end of the section.
Luke looked at the game she was pointing to, and immediately took back what he had said.
"We can't play that game! You said yourself that it'll be mostly guys at the baby shower."
"And you said that I could pick a game. I pick that one."
"What's the game? Is it really that bad?" Han asked.
Luke handed him the book and showed him the instructions to the game. In the game, a computer would randomly select a character from a children's holovision show, and the player had to act out the character. The rest of the party guests then had to guess who they were pretending to be.
"I'm not playing that! What does it have to do with a baby shower, anyway? It's not like babies watch holovision," Han protested.
"And babies drink bottles full of ale?" Leia countered.
"Well, they at least drink out of bottles! It's still with the theme!"
"Well, you're going to have to get used to watching children's programming on the holovision anyway. Might as well start now…ooh!"
"What was that?" Han asked, moving over so that he was sitting close to his wife.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. The baby just kicked me pretty hard, that's all."
"Really?" Han asked, putting his hand on her abdomen. "He's getting strong, isn't he?"
"Yes," she replied with a slow smile.
"I think he was telling you to listen to his daddy. He doesn't want me to be humiliated, ya know."
"No, I think he was agreeing with me. He has to have some way to show that he agrees with me."
Luke stood up and went over to his two friends. "Why don't you guys go home and get some rest? We can finish this tomorrow."
"But we hardly accomplished anything!" Leia said.
"It's fine. We can all think it over so tomorrow we'll have better ideas," Luke suggested.
"I think you're just trying to get rid of us," Leia surmised.
"Well, you guessed right," Luke grinned. "I'm just kidding. Go get something to eat and get some rest. It'll be good for the baby."
"Always the protective uncle," Leia said, hugging her brother goodbye. Han hugged his brother-in-law as well, and the two headed for the door.
"Bye, Luke," Leia called. As they were leaving, Leia turned around so that she was facing her brother. "Oh, and Luke – please throw that book away."
