AN: You know I don't own Star Wars. This was written for a fic exchange with my friend MasterOf4Elements. It was meant as a one-shot, but then it got long, so I decided to divide it into two chapters. Also, Ben's toy tooka Mr. Tookie is her creation.
"Ben's First Day of Daycare"
By EsmeAmelia
Han felt like his stomach would explode as he and Leia led three-year-old Ben down the brightly-lit halls decorated with paintings of animals and cartoon characters. It looked friendly and inviting, but Han damn well knew about how looks could deceive.
"Han," Leia said, putting her hand on her husband's shoulder, "it's gonna be fine. You'll be here to help Ben get used to his first day."
"And what about his second day?" Han asked. "Or his third? I ain't gonna be here every time."
"He'll be fine," said Leia, patting his shoulder. "Besides, he won't need to come here every day. And if he doesn't like it here, we can find another daycare that suits his needs better."
Han looked down at Ben, who was looking around at the painted walls while clutching his toy tooka, Mr. Tookie, to his chest. Ben hadn't spoken much since they arrived and Han couldn't tell if that was because he was scared or curious. "Hey buddy," he said, bending down to his son's level, "the walls are pretty, ain't they?"
"Yeah," said Ben, running his hand over a purple bantha with a big smile.
"We're gonna have a lotta fun today," Han continued, trying to convince himself as well as Ben. "You do lots of fun stuff at daycare – sing songs, draw pictures, hear stories. It's gonna be great."
"I don' wanna," said Ben, still staring at the wall.
Han released a sigh. "I know, doin' something new can be hard, but Mommy and me can't always stay home with you."
Ben whirled around and threw his arms around Han's legs. "Stay!"
Han reached down and ran his hand through his son's hair. "I will be stayin' today. I can come with you today cause it's your first time."
"Good," said Ben.
But once again, Han found himself worrying about Ben's second day.
. . .
"Hello!" greeted a middle-aged human woman when the family reached Ben's assigned daycare room. She had dark brown skin and black hair tied up in a bun and was wearing a shirt with a flower garden embroidered on it. "Mrs. Organa and Mr. Solo, so nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Handen," said Leia.
"Oh please, call me Carda," said Ms. Handen. "It's what all the kids call me."
"Okay, Carda," said Han.
Carda bent down to Ben's level, causing Ben to instinctively look at the floor. "Hey, you must be Ben," she said in a gentle voice, giving a sincere smile. "I'm Carda, I'm very happy to meet you."
Ben said nothing.
"He's shy," said Leia. "Sometimes it takes him a while to open up to people."
"Not a problem," said Carda. "A lot of kids are nervous on their first day." Again she addressed Ben. "Yes, it can be scary to start something new, can't it?" She gestured at Mr. Tookie. "But it looks like you've got a tooka friend to help you. Does he have a name?"
"Mr. Tookie," Ben mumbled, still looking at the floor.
"Mr. Tookie, that's a very nice name," said Carda. "I'll bet he's a very good friend."
"Yeah," said Ben, though he still didn't look up.
Carda seemed to understand that Ben didn't want to talk anymore, so she rose to her full height and once more addressed the parents. "So, I understand that Mr. Solo will be accompanying Ben for his first day?"
"Yes," said Han, restraining himself from adding that he wanted to stay with Ben for all his other days too.
"Great!" said Carda. "A lot of kids do much better when they have a parent with them to help them adjust to the first day. Come on in so Ben can get settled before the other kids arrive."
The parents and child followed Carda into the spacious room. Like the hallway, it looked warm and friendly enough. A rainbow was painted on the back wall with little puffy clouds floating around it and birds flying around the clouds. Toy boxes lined the wall under the rainbow and a holovid and music player sat in the corner. Kid-sized tables surrounded by kid-sized chairs sat on half of the carpeted floor and each table was a different color – Han supposed that was so the kids could easily tell which table to sit at. The other half of the floor, meanwhile, was open space, probably for naptime and for games that required movement.
"This looks lovely," said Leia.
"Thank you," said Carda before once more approaching Ben. "Ben, you can pick out a toy to play with if you want."
Ben scrunched his mouth, as if deciding whether or not to take the strange lady up on her offer, but then he wandered over to one of the toy boxes and picked up a toy taun-taun. He proceeded to make the taun-taun have a conversation with Mr. Tookie, which Han took as a good sign.
"Well, I have to go to work," said Leia, heading over to Ben and kneeling so she could give him a goodbye hug and kiss. "You be good, sweetheart," she said in a gentle voice. "You do what Carda says, okay? She's a nice lady. You and Daddy are gonna have lots of fun today."
Ben squeezed her back, holding Mr. Tookie in one hand and the taun-taun in the other. "Mommy go?"
"Yes," she said. "Mommy has to work, but Daddy's staying today." She kissed her son's cheek. "I love you, sweetheart. I'll be back this afternoon and then we can all go home together."
"Love you too, Mommy," said Ben.
After planting another kiss on Ben's head, Leia rose and turn to her husband. "Now you behave yourself," she said with a grin. "I don't want a bad report from Ben."
"Has that guy been tellin' on me? The nerve!" He gathered his wife's face into his hands and kissed her lips. "But seriously, he's gonna be fine. This'll be a great day."
He hoped he was right about that.
. . .
When the other kids arrived, Carda asked Ben and Han to stand at the front of the room, much to both their dismays. Once again Ben stared at the floor, squeezing Mr. Tookie, curling in on himself like he wished he could squish himself into a ball and disappear.
"Everyone, we have a new friend today," Carda was saying, gesturing at Ben. "This is Ben Solo. Say hi to our new friend Ben!'
"Hi, Ben," the kids said in unison, some sounding more enthusiastic than others.
Now Carda gestured at Han. "And this is Ben's daddy, Han Solo. He'll be helping us out today."
"Hey kids," said Han, waving at the small group of ten or eleven kids and hoping his smile was warm enough to make them feel comfortable.
"Hi, Mr. Solo," said the kids, waving their little hands back, one little Mon Calamari girl even waving both her hands at once.
"Okay," said Carda, "now we're gonna have a fun day today. First of all is music time!"
The kids cheered, rushing up to the front of the room, several of them nearly running into Han in their rush to slide into a sitting position on the floor.
"Ben dear, why don't you and Mr. Tookie have a seat on the floor?" Carda said in her gentle voice. "You too, Mr. Solo."
"Hey, just so we're clear," Han said as he sat next to his son, feeling a bit awkward in the semicircle of little kids, "it's Han, not Mr. Solo."
"Hi Han!" said the little girl sitting on Han's other side, a human with blonde curls who looked around Ben's age. "I'm Delia!"
"Nice to meet you, Delia," said Han. Okay, should he introduce Ben or wait for Ben to introduce himself? Should he encourage Ben to play with her or just see whether or not they wanted to play? He didn't want to force Ben to try to make friends, but he also didn't want Ben to be alone.
Fortunately, Carda sat in front of the kids and clapped her hands to get the kids' attention. "Now," she said, "today we're gonna sing a clapping song! Every time the tooka in the song claps his hands, we clap our hands too! Like this!" She started singing in a high, slightly flat voice. "There was a little tooka who loved to clap and dance, he danced in a circle and he clapped ONE TIME! ONE!" She clapped once. "ONE!" She clapped one time again. "ONE!" Again she clapped once, and by now some of the kids were shouting "ONE!" and clapping with her.
"Great job!" she exclaimed! "Now let's all sing and clap together!" She turned on the music player and a happy, bouncy tune started blaring out. Han glanced over at Ben, hoping the loud music wasn't bothering him. He wasn't covering his ears and he was even bobbing his head in tune with the music, so hopefully that meant he was okay.
"C'mon Ben," Han said, grinning at his son. "Let's sing and clap with the song!"
Once the singer on the music player started singing, "There was a little tooka who loved to clap and dance," the kids immediately burst into song and clapping – some of them didn't even wait for the tooka's clap to start clapping themselves – and that was when Ben covered his ears, once again curling up into himself.
"Ben, Ben, it's okay!" Han exclaimed, quickly scooping his son into his arms.
"Loud!" Ben whimpered.
"Yes, it's loud," Han said. "Hey, Carda!" he said, having to raise his voice to be heard over the kids.
Carda turned off the music. "Yes, Han?"
"Could you turn the music down a bit? It's bothering Ben."
Carda's mouth crinkled a bit, as if she were trying to figure out whether or not turning the music down was the best thing for him, but then she nodded. "All right." She addressed the other kids. "Everyone, let's start singing and clapping again, but this time let's be softer." She whispered to emphasize the last word. "We don't want to be too loud."
"Okay," the kids responded, though some of them sounded a bit disappointed.
"There, see?" Han said to Ben. "It's gonna be softer now. Think you can sing and clap with 'em now?"
Ben gulped, his head still hanging, but finally he nodded, and Han desperately hoped Carda would continue to be understanding.