They had landed on some neutral no name planet somewhere in the Outer Rim to resupply and to stretch their legs. They had been in space for what felt like days and the crew of the Razor Crest needed a break, especially the stir-crazy little green child who was becoming more and more restless as days went on.
The coastal town that they landed near was quaint and the smells of the ocean mixed with the smell of rain filled their noses as they walked down the gangway. The small child flapped his arms in excitement when he felt the breeze on his face, the sun hidden behind gray clouds but he didn't seem to care. The excitement nearly launched the child out of Cara's arms as he tried to free himself from her grip. "Hey!" She cried out, pulling him tighter, it was quite the drop from the top of the gangway to the ground. "Give me a minute!"
Din chuckled as he shook his head. "Impatient little monster." He commented as they finally reached the sandy floor at the bottom.
"He's practically gnawing on my arm." She said, pulling her arm out of the reach of the sharp teeth and then set him on the ground. "Go be free, you little monster." He ran as fast as his little feet could carry him through the grassy sand, he fell a couple of times before jumping up and running further.
"Bye, I guess," Din said lightly with a chuckle as they followed leisurely behind him, but keeping a close eye on him. He was fast for something so small, but the uneven terrain gave them an advantage.
Cara stopped and waved lazily. "I didn't think we were that bad of company." She said with a laugh. "I guess we can split up? I'll watch over the runaway and you can go scope out the town?"
Din agreed. "Good, because I don't want to go for a swim. . ." He said as the child made it to the main beach and zeroed in on the choppy water.
"Oh wait! Hang on!" Cara called taking off after him, running the distance between them and the child. "Bean! Stop."
He could only watch and laugh, the boy loved the water and normally splashed it everywhere. He watched her run to the beach and his green little feet tried to run faster and he started to squeal excitedly as if it were a game of loth-cat and mouse. She caught him just as his toes hit the wet sand and could hear her loudly telling him off for running away mixed in with his happy screams. He grabbed her face and brought his forehead to hers with a big loving smile on his face that gave Din a rush, the boy adored Cara and from the tone of her voice and the playfulness in her action, the feeling was mutual. She was such a good parent to him and he was lucky that she took on the role with him.
He shook the thoughts out of his head as he walked into town to stock up on supplies.
The town was quiet and it seemed like most of the shops were in the process of closing up. Din was quick to get what he needed in each shop, which wasn't really different because usually, they were trying to keep the kid from touching things, the shops were trying to be accommodating as they closed up. Din assumed it had something to do with the darkening skies.
He reached a shop that sold ship parts and the old man got up to greet him. "We haven't seen a Mandalorian in a long time." He greeted, wiping his hands on a rag.
"Not much of us left anymore," Din said nonchalantly with a shrug, his instincts told him that he didn't have to worry about the shop owner. "I need some parts for my ship."
"I probably have what you need, but I'm about to close up shop, we've got a hurricane coming." He said.
The feeling inside his stomach dropped. "A hurricane?" He asked.
The old man nodded. "Yeah, you've arrived at the peak of hurricane season, I'm afraid. You may want to lock up your ship and bunker down at the inn. It shouldn't be more than a couple of days and I can get you the parts you need."
Din nodded. "Thank you for the warning, we may just leave and try another planet."
The old man looked beyond Din at the gray sky. "It'll be unsafe for you to hit atmo now, especially if you need parts for your ship."
He was right, he didn't want to chance a storm. "Okay."
"The Inn will be safe for you until it passes." The old man recommended kindly.
"Thank you," Din said and gathered his stuff, quickly starting his trek back to the beach. The sky had gotten darker and the wind had started to pick up. He had no way to know that this planet had hurricanes, so he needed to make sure that the ship was secure and that Cara and the child were safe.
As he neared the beach, he could make out Cara sitting in the sand with the child next to her digging in the sand. The beach beyond them was being crashed with angry waves. Cara's hair was blowing with the wind when she looked up and noticed Din approaching her. "There is a hurricane coming."
She made a face. "Great." She said sarcastically. "I mean I could've guessed, with how big those waves were getting. We moved further back to stop the temptation of going swimming didn't we, Bean?"
The child turned and grinned at both of the adults as he dug his hands into the sand. "The shopkeeper said there is an inn in town, it would be safer than trying to reach atmo at the moment, especially since we still need to make repairs." Din explained.
Cara nodded in agreement and moved to put her boots on. "Come on Bean." She said and Din extended his hand to help her to her feet. She took it without complaint, had it been a few months back she would have just brushed his hand away, but it was different now.
Din picked up the child while she wiped the sand off her pants and Din did the same thing for the kid, wiping the wet sand off his tunic and his feet. "You are completely covered." Din commented and the boy responded with a wide grin.
"I couldn't stop him." Cara answered with her hands up defensively with a laugh. "I could barely keep him from getting into the water. I'm sure the tiny menace is some sort of amphibian."
Din only shrugged. "Come on, little frog, we've got to lock down the ship and head to the inn before it starts to rain." He grabbed the bag of supplies and together they walked up the beach towards the ship as a rumble from the distance made them walk quicker.
"Might be too late." Cara said with a chuckle, the wind blowing her hair in all directions. She growled as she gathered her hair and twisted it into a messy knot, fastening it with a leather band that she kept as a bracelet on her wrist. "Ugh, this wind."
When they reached the ship, they divided the work up. Din held on to the child as he began the lock down sequence on the ship while Cara gathered her go bag which had the child's things inside of it, before she grabbed Din's from his room. It paid to be prepared, as another loud clap of thunder shook the ship.
The rumble was followed by a small cry from Bean and the low murmuring from Din trying to comfort his son.
Cara met Din at the gangway, he had another bag packed and he held the loosely swaddled baby in his other arm who had tears streaming down his tiny face. He held out his arms for Cara to take him, seeking her comfort over his Din, which wasn't unusual because Din was wearing his armor and Cara's body was softer. "Come here baby." She said taking him into her arms and he tucked his head into her neck, practically trembling when another rumble of thunder crashed over them.
Din watched their interaction for a moment, it warmed him up to see this maternal side of Cara, she was so good for someone who didn't do the baby thing. He carefully unhooked the backpacks hanging off Cara's shoulder and shouldered them himself as he followed her down the gangway so he could finish locking down the ship.
It had started to rain and Cara covered Bean's head with the blanket, while her hair started to get soaked. Normally the child really enjoyed the rain, but the thunder and now lightning, was stressing him out. She whispered softly in his ear and rubbed his back to soothe the tremors away.
Din removed his cloak and wrapped it around her, placing the hood over her head to help keep her head dry and warm so that she didn't have to find her jacket within her stuff. "Thanks." Cara said as they started the trek to find the inn, Cara tried to not get distracted by his scent and warmth that now surrounded her.
When they finally reached the Inn at the center of town, they were greeted by elderly keepers who immediately pulled them inside out of the rain. "Oh sweeties, come in! Come in out of the rain." Said the woman. "Let's get you into a room so you can dry off and rest up. Sal will bring you up a warm meal when it's finished cooking. . ."
Neither Din nor Cara could get a word in edgewise as she all but dragged them up the stairs and into the furthest room on left. "The windows have been boarded up and this building has been here for 200 years, so it's a safe place to bunker down."
"Thank you for taking us in." Cara said genuinely as she walked passed the older woman into the room.
"Of course, dear. Can't leave a family with a small baby out in the storm." She said, she could see Bean swaddled in his blanket under Cara's cloak. Din followed Cara into the room, stopping only to hand the woman some credits. "Don't worry about that now."
She couldn't see Din raise his eyebrow under his helmet. "You can settle that later, for now dry off and get comfortable, this storm should pass in a couple of days." She said, handing Din the key to the room. "There is a chance we may lose power, please don't fret, we do have generators, they just take time to kick on the ambient lighting. Should you need anything, Sal and I live in the first room next to the desk."
She excused herself, with the soft click of the door behind her. Cara pulled her hood down, her wet hair plastered to her face. "She's got to be the nicest person in the galaxy." Cara commented and Din nodded in agreement.
The room was decently sized, more upscale than either Din nor Cara usually frequented and had a couch with a holoprojector, a small kitchenette, and a reasonably sized bed for two adults to be comfortable in.
Din sat the bags down on the dining table while Cara pulled off the cloak with one hand, the other held the swaddled Bean to her chest. "Is he still awake?" Din asked, taking the cloak from her to hang it over the chair to dry.
Cara looked down, awkwardly craning her neck to see his face, but it was buried into her collar bone. "I can't tell." She said, turning so Din could see if he was awake.
The child was out like a light. "I'll take him, so you can dry off."
She passed him over and straightened her cramped arm, which was sore from the cold weather. "Thanks." She said and grabbed her pack from the table to head into the refresher to dry off. "Holy shit, this place has an actual bathtub."
Din laughed with the shake of his head as the door shut behind her. This hurricane was going to turn into a mini vacation, he guessed, maybe when the storm died down he'd go into town and get her some bath oils and what not to thank her for being so good to the kid.
He carefully changed the kid out of his sandy clothes and into his sleeping clothes. They didn't bring the pram, so he sat him in the middle of the bed until they figured something else out. They had time, the innkeeper was going to bring up something to eat at some point.
Cara returned from the refresher wearing a large chunky sweater that hung off her shoulders and some comfy looking pants that were rolled at the waist. Her wet hair had been combed out and put in a neater knot at the back of her head. "I can't wait for it to stop lightning-ing? Lightning to stop?" She started and questioned her verbiage as she sat her utility belt down on the table. "Lightning to stop, so I can use that bathtub. Your turn big guy." He nodded, grabbing his bag as she began meticulously setting her stuff out to dry, out of reach from little green hands.
Din took his turn in the refresher, and honestly, he may have to take a turn in the massive tub that probably took more water to fill than the Razor Crest. He quickly removed his armor and his heavy jumpsuit that soaked up all the cold rain before soaking his underclothes.
He got a glance at himself in the mirror, he needed to shave.
He could hear a knock on the door and Cara answered it, Din waited as a creature of habit, to see if she needed back up. But the sound of her voice was light and cheery, non hostile, which he assumed it was, being a mom and pop environment. He took a moment to wash his face before he changed into dry clothes, consisting of gray sweatpants and a white long sleeve shirt.
He hung his clothes next to Cara's in the shower to dry and it struck him just how domestic this whole situation was. They have been living together for months, but mostly kept to their own spaces with their own stuff, him hanging his jumpsuit next to her pants was almost intimate.
He shook his thoughts away, as he exited the room carrying his armor, setting it neatly in the corner. Cara sat on the couch with her legs folded with a mug in her hands. "Norma brought us some caf and tea, they will be making the rounds for dinner soon." Cara said, he assumed it was the woman who showed them the room. "She also brought us a bassinet for Bean to sleep in tonight." Motioning to the wooden feature near the closet.
Din nodded and moved to wake the kid up, if he let him sleep this late, all three of them would be up all night. The boy stirred a little bit, and Din expected him to be grumpy, but it was quite the opposite, and immediately began to look around the room with interest. Din picked him and sat him on the floor in front of the couch, while Cara reached for her bag to pull out some of his toys to keep him contained for a moment.
Cara sat back on the couch and Din took the seat next to her, both watching the child play, but it didn't last long. Another clap of thunder and a flicker of the lights had him reaching for Din to pick him up, he cuddled himself to Din's chest with his soft toy in his hand. "You don't think he's got an earache or something?" He asked, his large hand on the kids back. "With the pressure changes?"
She shook her head. "I think Thi