AN: I was going to update early as a Valentine's gift. Clearly, that didn't happen. So . . . happy Single's Day?
Leia was grateful when Rieekan brought her lunch tray to her quarters. Luke stayed with her until the general came; he sat with her in the refresher and made his best attempt at braiding her hair which he had never done before. Leia bemusedly laughed at his efforts, verbally instructing him through every step as he kept up his work. When she made to lean over the refresher bowl, Luke held her braid behind her back and comforted her until the nausea eased. It was shortly after that Rieekan came with her lunch and she ate slowly as she hoped it would help keep the food down.
Rieekan sat with her since Luke had a meeting with the other pilots of Rogue Squadron. "Meetings," Leia muttered with a roll of her eyes, joking as Luke left. When he was gone, Rieekan let her finish her meal in peace, then stood and gestured for her to get up.
"Where are we going?" Leia asked.
"Medical."
Leia crossed her arms, annoyed. "Rieekan, I went to Medical for a checkup a week ago."
"Yes. But that wasn't for your pregnancy. You know, Lelila, you're going to have to get used to regular appointments. You've got a little one to worry about."
"Something about those words really bothers me."
Rieekan smirked. "Hmph. Well, anyway, you aren't getting out of this one. Do you even have any idea how far along you are?"
It only took Leia a moment to consider. "Probably about a month, if I had to guess," she said. Once the words were said, though, they struck her and gave her pause. Could she really be a month pregnant already? "Fine." She eased herself to her feet. "Let's just get this over with."
"That's the spirit!"
"That statement was completely devoid of spirit."
"It was a joke, Leia. It wasn't supposed to be literal."
"I know, Carlist. It was a joke."
Rieekan led Leia out of her quarters and turned down the first hall toward the medical department. "Have you thought any more about how you're going to tell High Command?" Rieekan asked her.
To his question, Leia gave a little snort. "I don't think there are a lot of ways to tell people one thing. I'll just have to spit it out."
"You know, I was thinking that you could make some quick, snide comment and wait to see how long it takes them to get it."
Leia smiled at the general's suggestion. "I like that idea. I just need to plan the scene. I show up at High Command's next meeting. Right when I show up at least twenty minutes late, Mothma turns a deadly glare on me and says, 'oh, there you are, Leia. What kept you?', to which I quickly respond, 'I apologize, Chief-Councilor. I haven't been feeling my best lately and I was in a rush to get ready this morning. Fierfek, I even forgot to take my prenatal vitamins!'"
"Yes," Rieekan smirked. "Do it. Just like that."
"Rieekan, do you think that Mothma or the generals will punish me?"
Rieekan laughed, confused by Leia's question. "Punish you? Leia, you aren't a five year old."
"Still. Mothma outranks me. She could keep me in the sidelines for the rest of the war!"
"Lelila, for the rest of the war, you're going to have a little one to look after. Putting you on the sidelines is the least Mothma could do," Rieekan assured her as they approached the entry door to the medical wing. Leia walked up to the small desk and asked the receptionist droid for a walk-in appointment. Shortly thereafter, a doctor came to greet her. "Princess," the older woman, surprised. "How may I help you?"
"I came to inquire about the confidentiality of your patients' records."
"And that is why it is essential to be sure you are up to date with your contraceptive injections."
Leia bit back a sigh, settling back on the medbunk. "The only reason I ever took them was because it was required. It was just routine. I never thought I would need to take the precaution."
Ka'ila Denun, the aging Ho'din doctor, chuckled wholeheartedly. "Seems like you and Captain Solo got to better know each other better."
"Was it that obvious before Hoth was evacuated?" Leia asked, idly wondering.
The doctor smiled at her and answered, "Janson may have started the betting, but I swear it was Hobbie who first realized it was a possibility. It took a little while to see that you two didn't just bicker because you hated each other so much. Now, may I ask how the coincidence happened that you missed your injection for the first time before leaving Hoth with Solo?"
"I was scheduled to receive my injection in a few days. Tell me about coincidences."
"And how do you feel about it now?"
"Honestly? I'm still trying to understand what's happening."
Denun nodded. "I get ya', Princess." She stepped away from Leia, hanging one of her medical tools around her neck. "Well, from my own inspection, it would seem that your own guess is about on the credits. I'd say you are six weeks pregnant." Leia nodded as she took in the nurse's confirmation. But then, to her surprise, Denun asked her, "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"
Leia blinked. "That's possible? I didn't know you could hear a heartbeat this early."
The doctor looked at her with sad eyes. "Unfortunately, many don't realize that. I can't promise anything, but it's around the fifth week that a heartbeat can be found. Now, would you like to hear your baby's?"
Her mouth hanging open, Leia simply nodded.
Leia still couldn't shut her mouth while she lied on her bed, the sound of a heartbeat like thunder in her ears. With the recording device held tightly in both of her hands, she listened to it for minutes- nearly an hour- on end. She fell asleep to the quick rhythm of beats until Luke returned from his meeting and woke her.
Leia woke up peacefully this time, a pleasant smile on her face. Her happiness was infectious and Luke had to smile back at her. "Good morning."
Leia stretched out her arms, the recording falling from her grasp. Luke found it and carefully placed it on Leia's nightstand. Meanwhile, Leia responded semi-groggily, "Morning. Wait. Shouldn't it still be late afternoon?"
"Don't worry, Leia. It's just about supper time."
"I thought we discussed this a few years ago, Luke. The proper term is 'dinner'."
Amused, Luke shook his head and he muttered, "Alderaanians. How are you? Rieekan told me that he took you to have an appointment. How did it go?"
"Just fine. The doctor I saw said that I'm six weeks along. I can hardly believe it's already been that long."
"So, are you going to have regular checkups now?"
Leia nodded. "Rieekan made sure I scheduled another appointment in a couple weeks. It's barely been a week that I've known and I can hardly stand your guys' protectiveness."
Luke laughed aloud at that. He said, "I think that's part of our job descriptions now."
"Well, chill out because I can take care of myself."
Luke paused to hold Leia's gaze. Her jaw dropped. "That's why you two are being so protective? Okay, fine. Maybe my track record begs to differ, but this is completely different. I know that. This isn't just me that I'm taking care of. I'll do better."
"That's right, you'll do better! You aren't going to skip meals, you're going to cut back on your work, and you're going to do whatever else it is that you need to do. But, Leia, even if you were well known for taking care of yourself, General Rieekan and I would still pester you. You're not getting rid of us."
"Good," Leia said with a nod. "Because I really need you both," she added softly.
Luke smiled to himself. Leia got to her feet and brushed through her hair, cleaning herself up. She slipped shoes on and Luke frowned. "Where are you going?"
"I've hardly seen Chewie since we got back to Home One," she said as she stood before the mirror in her refresher and straightened out her braid. "I should talk to him. Plus, I need to tell him that I'm pregnant."
"You know, that'll just be another person who's going to be protective of you."
"Lucky me, then." Leia turned to Luke, saying, "I'll be back in a short while," then left.
Leia found Chewbacca sitting with the pilots of Rogue Squadron, caught up in the middle of an intense game of sabacc. She sat several feet away with many others, watching the game as Wes Janson's pot grew and Chewie's consistently dwindled away to nothing. When the game was finished, Chewie only walked away with a sour expression on his face. "You can't win them all," Leia soothed the wookiee, reaching out to hug him as he approached her.
[Hello, Princess. How are you?]
"I'm alright, Chewie. Thank you. I really miss Han."
[We both do,] Chewie agreed. [I promise we'll find him soon.]
"I hope so."
Chewie paused, looking at Leia very carefully. In a long series of growls, he remarked, [I don't mean to sound rude, but you look sick, Princess. You're very pale. Now, I promised Han I would take care of you. Is there anything I can do?]
Leia laughed lightly at his frantic concern and she shook her head. "I'm alright, Chewie. Really. But, maybe you could come with me so we can talk in private." Though the wookiee was covered in fur, making it very difficult to tell apart his smaller features, Leia could have sworn Chewie raised a brow at her as his suspicion grew.
"Hey, Chewie!" Lando greeted, looking up from his project. He sat stop the Millennium Falcon, hard at work on repairs. Seeing the wookiee enter the docking bay and make his way for the Falcon, Lando scurried down a ladder to meet Chewie and grinned. "I finally got the hyperdrive to agree with the engines," he announced happily. "And the sublight engines couldn't be happier. You should hear them si-"
Reaching where the jaunty man stood, Chewie grabbed him by the neck and started to squeeze. Lando's eyes bulged. His hands flew to his neck, but Chewbacca showed no mercy. With gurgled and suppressed screams, Lando begged him to let go, but Chewie's grip only tightened.
Lando caught sight of quick motion over Chewie's shoulder and was relieved to see Leia hurrying over. "Chewie, stop!" she yelled and grabbed a fistful of his fur when he didn't let Lando go. "Let him go, Chewie! Stop it! This isn't going to make anything better! This isn't going to bring Han back." Her voice had turned so soft with the last sentence and, her tone striking a chord within himself, Chewie let go of Lando and watched him stumble back as he gasped for breath.
"What the kriff was that for?!" Lando demanded as soon as air returned to his lungs. "What did I do now?"
Leia crossed her arms, stepping back. "Chewie is just upset. You'll have to forgive him. I'm sure he won't do anything like that again." She said this while giving the wookiee a hard look that made him shrink back.
"Yeah, he better not. What was that for? Just out of nowhere?"
[The princess just told me of another reason why I should have let you die back on Cloud City.]
"Chewie," Leia said, warning.
"No, I already apologized a dozen times, but what have I done now?"
Before Chewie could resume harassing Lando, Leia jumped back in, explaining in a quiet voice, "I just told Chewie that I'm pregnant."
At once, Lando's face fell. "Wha-? You're-? Oh, fierfek, Leia! If I had known-! But, Han never told me!"
"That's because Han didn't know," Leia said.
Lando's guilt only grew.
"Even I didn't know yet."
Lando forced his mouth to close as he more carefully regarded the pale-faced, somber looking woman before him. He asked her, "H-how long has it- are you . . . ?"
"I've only known for a week," Leia supplied. But my medical tells me I'm six weeks along."
"Oh, kriff," seemed to be the only words Lando could manage as he realized that all this meant Leia had been at least a month pregnant when Lando had met her. And he'd taken away a child's father. "Leia, I am so sorry."
Leia's features were so soft and relaxed. Lando was surprised that she wasn't helping Chewie choke him. She shook her head, dismissing all his tries to make her understand how sorry he really was. "You already apologized, Lando. You didn't know."
Lando noticed the absence of an 'it's fine' and was almost glad. She wasn't about to pretend that she was okay and Lando already knew that. His guilt had been bad enough when it had been Leia's love that he'd taken away, but a child's father was too much for Lando. He had a whole bounty of his own to pay Leia and he had no idea where to start.