TRICKSTER GRENADE
Chapter 4
Jaina and Jag had gone off to Mon Mothma Memorial Park, one of the loveliest on the outskirts of the Capital City. It had a clear view of the mountains in the distance and while the lights from the city dimmed the stars a bit, but it was still an incredible view.
Jag had purchased a bottle of white wine, which he opened. He'd produced two paper cups.
"Sorry, I can only drink with the good china," Jag said as he poured one for Jaina.
"I can tell." Jaina was sipping slowly; she didn't want to appear drunk when she got home.
"What time do you have to be back?" Jag asked her.
"Well, my mom said midnight. But she's out at my dad's gig, and they never get home before 0130."
"So we've got a little time."
"Yes, we do."
Jag set his cup down and gathered Jaina in his arms, kissing her neck. Jaina responded to him, and soon Jag had begun to lower her into the grass.
"You're okay with this?" Jag asked her.
"Oh, much better than okay."
"You wanna do this?"
"I just might."
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"C'mon, guys, leave the ale alone! My dad's gonna kill me!" Anakin called out over the din in the apartment. Word had escaped of the sabacc party going on at the Solos and crashers now exceeded sabacc players.
Someone had found the aerosolized whipping cream and was covering another person in it. There were balloons being filled with water and tossed all over. Anakin's efforts to stop the melee were ignored.
Jacen, in the meantime, was on the balcony with Bix and company, smoking blunts.
"Y'know, this is fucking good chronic," Jacen said. "I could get used to this stuff."
"As long as you can pay for it, you're golden," Bix told him.
"Y'know, after this blunt, we'd better call it a night - oh no!" Several party crashers came out on the balcony, some of them soaking wet.
"Hey, you gonna share that?" One of the boys asked Bix.
"No fucking way," Bix said. "We're done here."
Jacen opened the door. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" he shouted to everyone. "I'm gonna get CoruSec on your asses if you don't!"
"Oh, like you really scare us!" Two girls giggled.
"My parents are gonna be home soon!" Anakin wailed. "Please, leave!"
One didn't need Force sense to realize that this was not going to end well.
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"Join us for a drink?" Lork asked Han and Leia as they finished the load out.
"I'm kinda done for, but thanks," Han said. "Unless Leia's up for it."
"I'd really like to get home," Leia said.
"All right, Han my man. Good gig."
"Yeah, it was. See you at rehearsal."
The two headed out in the speeder, Han's gear overflowing.
Leia was now extremely uneasy, but told herself it'd been so long since she'd been out with Han that of course she was going to be nervous. She'd been able to put it away during the show and enjoy herself, but now, heading for home, she sensed she was not going to be happy upon arrival.
"You okay?" Han asked her.
"I'm fine. It was a great show. And now I'm ready for bed."
"That makes two of us."
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Han and Leia were in for the shock of their lives when they saw eight Drednoughts and four members of CoruSec standing in the hallway outside of their apartment.
"Oh no," Leia moaned.
"What in the nine hells is going on?" Han demanded.
"We had some complaints about noise here. Apparently they were having a party and it got completely out of hand."
"Party? What party?!" Leia demanded.
"I just chased fifty kids outta here," one of the Drednoughts told them. "Maybe more."
"Please tell me you're kidding," Leia begged, shutting her eyes, afraid to inspect the damage when she entered.
Han came to the doorway, took one look, and shouted "JACEN! ANAKIN! JAINA!"
The two older boys were desperately involved in attempting to clean up the disaster that had been left by the evening's revelers.
"What in the nine hells?!" Leia shouted. "What just went on here?"
"Where's Jaina?" Han demanded angrily.
The door opened behind them. "I'm here," Jaina said, the glow of being with the boy of her dreams quickly leaving.
"Look, we were just gonna play some sabacc - " Anakin started in.
"I seem to recall saying that there would be no sabacc!" Han shouted at his middle son. "And fifty kids? What the hell were you thinking?!"
"They got crashed - " Jacen began to explain.
"I don't care what they got! And is that Marcan herb I smell?" He looked sharply at his first son, whose eyes were red and manner languid.
"I didn't do that!" Anakin protested. "He and his stoner buddies did!"
"Jacen, you'd think after six months of incarceration you'd get a hint!" Leia snapped at him.
"I didn't smoke!" Jacen protested.
"The hell you didn't," Anakin shot back. "You and Bix were doing blunts out there!"
Leia turned to her daughter. "You said you'd be home by midnight. Instead, you stroll in here at 0149 and act like it's perfectly okay!"
"And why's your shirt inside out?!" Han shouted at her. Jaina blushed crimson.
"Where did all the water come from?" Leia said, examining the wet furniture, rugs and bare floors. "And where's Jarik?"
"I think he went to bed," Jacen said.
"You think?" Han hissed at him.
Leia had already checked the boys' rooms, and found Jarik asleep atop Jacen's bed, fully clothed. Leia groaned. "Jacen, you were responsible for him, and you managed to completely screw it up."
"He was playing cards!" Jacen snapped back.
Both parents stared severely at their three older children.
"I hope you'll all be enjoying each other's company," Han hissed at them. "Because for the next month, you're gonna be the only people you'll see."
"For a month?! Why? It's not my fault the game got crashed!" Anakin protested.
Han stuck his finger at Anakin. "I can always make it two months."
"Ani, shut up already," Jaina said glumly.
"Now, your father and I are going to bed," Leah said coldly. "The three of you, on the other hand, are going to clean this apartment and when I wake up, it had better be immaculate!"
The two stormed off to their bedroom. The original plan had been for some amourous activity but the mood had been, well, spoiled.
"What are we doing wrong?" Leah moaned, her face covered by her hands.
"I have no idea," Han said, sitting dejectedly next to her. "Apparently we have no control at all."
"I wanted them to have the freedoms I never had, but I wanted them to respect our limits as well," Leia responded. "They don't understand that our goal is to raise them to be responsible adults, and so far, we're failing miserably."
"I dunno. I think there's always gonna be testing the limits. Mostly of my patience," Han quipped. "But I didn't think there was gonna be outright giving us the finger. And Jaina? You and I both know damn well what happened."
"Han, I've taught her about contraception and hygiene. I don't know what else I can do."
"I thought she had a better head on her shoulders than that."
"She's sixteen and in love."
"Yeah, well, she better get over it quick. And Jacen's a complete moron. We have him under house arrest for six months, first weekend he's got some freedom and he completely screws it up."
"And Anakin was told NOT to bring the sabacc game to our apartment. We've got a rec area where they'd be free to play and carry on, but no, he's got to bring it here."
"He had to call security on his own party," Leia said. "One of the guards told me."
"Well, he should've listened in the first place. Gods, Leia, I keep asking myself, what're we doing wrong?"
She sighed and shook her head. "I have no idea."
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"You two are fucking idiots," Jaina complained, glaring at her brothers. "You hadda go and spoil it for me."
"Oh, and you didn't come in late, did you?" Jacen snarled at her. "With your shirt on inside out. You do it with Jag?" The last question was more like a taunt.
"Shut up," she snapped at him. "At least I'm not some lowlife stoner!"
"All I wanted to do was play sabacc," Anakin grumbled. "And it was all cool till the idiots crashed the place."
"That's crap," Jacen shot back. "You guys were drinking up all the ales. Dad's gonna have another freakout when he finds out."
"Yeah, well, freaking out's our parents' middle names lately," Jaina said. "I'm done cleaning up this mess. I didn't make it and I'm not doing anymore. Good night!" She flounced off angrily.
"I'm surprised Dad grounded her, too," Anakin said, mopping up the now liquid mess that had been whipping cream. There were other food substances about as well. "Usually she's Daddy's little princess and gets away with everything. It's not fair."
"When did Mom and Dad get to be so horrible?" Jacen complained. "They really suck. All they care about is keeping us 'safe.'" He did the air quotations. "How're we supposed to have any fun?"
"They don't care if we have fun," Anakin complained. "It's not like we're out stealing from people, which is what Dad did when he was a teenager."
"Yeah, well, at least he had no parents bugging him."
"It'd be nice, wouldn't it?"