Chapter 39AE
'Those Summer Nights…Tell Me More'
'ROTS: Return of the Spouses'
'Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig'
'Doctor Recommended'
Anakin arrives home to a quiet house.
"Honey! I'm home."
He sets his bags on the floor in the foyer and calls again.
"Isabel, I'm back…" He glances up trying to sense the presence of anyone in the house.
"Hello? I'm home! Where the hell is everyone?" Anakin dumps the contents of his pockets into the porcelain tray on the console table then kicks off his walking shoes. He slides his feet into the nuna leather slippers next to the table. He knows he is no longer in the jungles of Yavin4 because there are no pebbles or sand in his slippers. Now, if he can only locate his family.
Hobson, the elderly butler greets him.
"Welcome back, my lord." His sudden appearance startles Anakin. "Hath thou enjoyed a pleasant journey?"
"Hath who?"
Hobson does not respond to the master of the house. The elderly butler attempts to gather the luggage with some difficulty.
"Your bags, sir? I will take them forthwith."
"Don't bother with the bags, Hobson. I'll take care of that later. Where's my dog?"
Hobson stops for a moment then turns to face Anakin but he is determined to struggle with the luggage, dragging the pieces against the marble and granite floor. There is a puzzled expression on his face.
"The dog, sir?"
"Yes, the little white dog with the pointy ears…red collar…barks a lot…"
Hobson suddenly remembers.
"Ah, yes, my Lord. Master Skippy is working today, sir…at the retirement home."
"The what? What do you mean, he's 'working'?"
"Little Miss Ana-Lena has taken him every day for the past few weeks, sir."
Hobson continues to struggle with the bags. Anakin listens to the wheels of the larger suitcase screeching across the freshly polished floor. He tries to be patient and not lose his temper.
"Oh…." Anakin is about to ask another question but decides not to bother; he is not going to get the answer that he is looking for. Instead, he points to the bags without looking at the elderly man. "Leave the bags, Hobson. You are free to go."
Hobson quickly lets go of the bags. The luggage lands on the floor like a ton of Mustafar Lava rocks. A leather travel satchel falls on its side. Hobson abruptly walks away.
"I'm relieved, sir."
Anakin glances at the old man then shakes his head. There is mail on the foyer table. Most of the mail is addressed to 'Master of the House' or 'L. Skywalker'. He wonders why Luke is still getting mail at the house. Anakin sorts through the rest of the mail when he hears another set of footsteps. He smiles as Isabel greets him with a kiss.
"Oh, I am so glad so see you. I was beginning to wonder where everyone was."
"Why wouldn't I be here to welcome my husband home?"
Anakin remembers that he has an appointment with his wife. He pulls away and folds his arms across his chest. His smile disappears.
"So, who are you, the ghost of 'Befana Future' to show me the error of my ways?"
"Oh, Anakin, we're going to have fun."
"I'm not feeling it. You underestimate my power to defy you and your crazy ideas to get me to do crap that I really don't want to do." He tosses the mail onto the console table. There is a look of consternation on his face. "I haven't been home for five minutes and you already have crap for me to do."
Isabel senses his anger but remains calm. Qui-Gon reminded her long ago to catch Anakin before he has a chance to rest if she wants him to do something against his will.
"Uhm…okay…Leia and I just thought it was a good idea for you to go away. You look great." She runs her fingers through his hair. This is another tactic taught her by Qui-Gon. Cajoling Anakin will surely wear him down…eventually. "Did you enjoy your trip with Han?"
"That's because I had to make a pit-stop to recover. I should have never allowed you and Leia talk me into going on that nightmare trip."
"Leia told me you and Han had fun." Isabel seems amused. He has a feeling she already knows about his misadventures.
"Oh…she did?" Anakin is suspicious because he is sure that Han gave Leia an earful upon returning home. Isabel leads Anakin into the living room. She glances at the luggage strewn across the foyer floor.
"Why is your luggage on the floor?"
"I'll get to that in a minute. I want to know what you're up to."
"It's going to be great, you'll love it, but first, tell me more about your trip."
Meanwhile, at the Solo house, a similar discussion is happening. Leia is excited to hear about Han's summer on Yavin4. She gives Han some time to relax on the living room sofa before he vents his feelings.
"So, tell me all about your trip"
Han points an accusing finger at Leia. She responds by folding her arms across her chest. There is a smirk on her face as he rants.
"First of all, don't you ever talk me into going on another road trip with your father. This is the last time! He is the most impossible person I have ever known."
"Han, you must have had a good time. Tell me more. You two stuck it out for over two weeks. That says something."
"Yeah, it says a lot! It says your father is crazier than I thought, and I will never travel with him ever again…I mean it."
"No you don't. You love my father."
"He has more meltdowns than a Mustafar Lava flow."
"Well, he'll be in couple's therapy for the rest of the summer. You're free of him."
"I keep hearing that but it seems I get pulled back in on one of these misadventures. Why don't you send him away with Obi-Wan; they're friends...or has the old wizard wised up too?
"Obi-Wan adores Daddy. The twins are taking a nap so you can tell me more about your vacation."
"You want a debriefing? Well, how many hours do we have before the kids wake up?"
"Okay then, tell me about the fun parts."
"Oh, well, that I can do in 60 seconds and it all involves him being out of my sight."
"Han, did you do something to Daddy? I know you. If you played any practical jokes on him…"
"It didn't start out as a joke…stuff just escalated."
"Escalated, eh?"
"It was kind of funny." Han points his finger at Leia. "But he had it coming."
"I'm sure. You know that Daddy is going to give me an earful when I see him."
"It's not my fault he didn't ask the waiter to translate the menu. Anyway, he got his revenge."
"No…he's not done with you yet…I have a bad feeling about this."
"What more could he do to me that he hasn't already done?"
Meanwhile, back at the Skywalker residence, Isabel pitches the next project to Anakin.
Anakin kicks off his slippers and flops on the newly upholstered chaise. It is no longer the burgundy velvet before he left home over two weeks ago. The chaise is now an ivory chintz fabric with bold cobalt blue stripes. He is tempted to make a comment but the chaise is comfortable and looks nice in the sunny living room.
"Anakin, I've got the best project for us. It's what Dr. Melfi recommended to get our marriage back on track."
"What? I thought we settled this nonsense before I left for Yavin4." He picks up a magazine from the coffee table and flips through it. He notices a hologram of a sofa that looks oddly familiar. The list price on the page is 4,000 credits. He turns his head to examine his chaise then looks at the image again. Isabel continues to talk.
"Anakin, this is going to do wonders for us. We'll get to spend lots of quality time together."
"What are you talking about? We spend quality time together. I see your beautiful face each morning at the breakfast table and when we go to bed each night…heh…heh…heh…"
He shifts his eyebrows like a scheming Lothario.
Isabel interrupts him.
"…other than the bedroom, Anakin."
"Oh, brother! What else did that quack doctor say?"
"Anakin, this is serious! We need to participate in activities outside the house and outside of 'your' comfort zone."
"I like my comfort zone…why do you think it's called a 'comfort zone'? I don't want to be uncomfortable. I spent two weeks being uncomfortable on Yavin4 with Han."
"We need to make friends with other people…other than Obi-Wan and Bunny."
"What's wrong with Obi-Wan and Bunny? …Besides the fact that he drinks a lot and she's a former stripper."
"That has nothing to do with it. I adore Obi-Wan and Bunny; but, Anakin, we need to widen our circle of friends."
"I've got plenty of friends. You've got plenty of friends."
"That's the point, 'You' have friends…your pod racing, sabacc playing, gambling pals."
"Don't be judgmental, Isabel. It's not becoming. My friends cannot help what they are. What about your shopaholic, tea totaling, society friends with the big hats? What do they call themselves? 'The Busybody Social Tea Society'?"
"Don't bring my mother into this; besides, the 'Bimmisaari Tea Society' does a lot for the community. They raise money for charity here and across the galaxy."
"Hey! My friends contribute to the less fortunate."
"Oh, yes…those friends…the illegal gambling, tax-evaders…okay… that was a cheap shot. I take it back."
"No…let's talk about that. You never get on Han's case about his past."
"What's his past got to do with us?"
"A-ho! Now we're getting somewhere. Back, when Han was carting stuff on that Millennium Falcon, everything he picked up fell off the back of a shipping container. Everyone knows that anything on his ship came from a Kessel Run. He was transporting more than spices. He's no saint."
"First of all, I didn't know Han back then, nor did I know anything about his business dealings."
"You knew enough."
"What? He was the person Leia was dating. That's all I knew about him then."
"You were close to Luke and Leia all those years before we were married and you knew she was dating him."
"She wrote and told me she met a guy. I didn't stop to ask if he transported stolen merchandise. Why are you bringing this up now? You want to start a fight so you have an excuse not to go to this workshop."
"Is it working?"
"No! You're going to that workshop."
"What do you want, Isabel?"
"We need to make new friends together."
"Why? I'm happy the way things are. Enjoy your Bimini tea and cracker club. I like things just the way they are." He notices the look on her face. Isabel is losing her patience with him. He stops making jokes and listens. "Okay, what do you have in mind?"
Isabel's eyes light up as she joins him on the chaise.
"I signed us up for a cooking class."
"Oh, Geez! Kill me now why don't you!"
"Stop being melodramatic."
"You already know how to cook, and I'm the Lord of the grill…Heh-heh…" He stops himself before he makes her angry. "That isn't the point of this exercise, is it?"
"No. It's about meeting other people, teamwork…getting to know one another..."
"Teamwork? You keep talking about teamwork. Isabel, we are a team… Do we get matching jerseys?" Anakin grins. "Come on, what's the difference from what we were doing before? We're fine." He gently strokes her hand and smiles. "You know what? This can all be resolved…I haven't seen you in weeks…let's go upstairs…"
Isabel can tell he is not taking this seriously.
"Stop talking! Anakin, you say you understand but you are not listening. Doctor Melfi says we need to broaden our horizons…do new things…make new friends…"
"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that. What about your friend Lara and her husband? Blaise is a bit stiff but he's an okay guy. They're tolerable. We haven't seen them in a long time…if I say 'Yes' to this cooking class thing, will you let me go upstairs, take a shower, and scream?" He sits up and rubs his forehead.
Isabel waves her hand at him. She is done talking and gets up from the chaise.
"Go."
Anakin rolls his eyes and walks past her. He feels victorious that he has shut down this talk about 'teams' and 'workshops'. The victory is short-lived and not so enjoyable. Anakin missed his wife during his time away. It would be horrible to hurt her on his first day back home. He is about to go upstairs when he turns to face her.
"You really want to do this?"
"Yes…Yes I do."
"Okay…I'm in…I can be flexible…See? I can be a team player. I have the readiness to do what must be done. I'm happy if you're happy…See? I'm doing a jig." Anakin manages a forced smile then performs a dance step. He stops and looks at his wife. "Ta-da! May I go upstairs now and take a shower?"
"Of course. Oh, the plumber was here. The shower handles are vertical now instead of side-by-side. The hot water handle is on top and the cold-water handle is on the bottom, beneath the steam button. I didn't want there to be any surprises when you turn on the water. "
"Thanks for the heads-up, honey. I wouldn't want to get burned."
"Why is your luggage lying in the foyer?"
"Oh, I'll discuss that with you later."
"What does that mean?"
"We have a staffing issue."
"You want to talk about it now?"
"No, I have a workshop to prepare for…gotta keep the harmony."
He repeats this mantra as he heads up the staircase:
'I am a team player. I am caring, smart, supportive, loyal, and fun. I will continue to work on my attitude…I am open to change…I will defend and protect my wife and children without hesitation…marriage is a sacred union… small sacrifices yield a lifetime of happiness…my family is killing me.'