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CHAPTER XXVIII

Han loved making Imperials speechless. There were certainly some doubts in his head about whether or not they’d be successful in the mission, but he should’ve known that his luck was always on his side. Not to mention Leia, Luke and several other of the bravest and most intelligent people he’d ever met.

Leia. He still hadn’t heard her voice throughout the entire exchange. He felt his chest tighten. It was very likely that she was perfectly fine. She was with Luke, after all. But that didn’t stop him from feeling the need to hear her voice or see her face in confirmation that she was okay. He had to resist the urge to ask for her over the Imperial communications.

Not wanting to sit around and wait any longer, he was about to go and find her, but he had only gotten the door to slide open when the object of his desires appeared in front of him, once again as though she had read his mind.

“You okay?” he asked, pretty sure just by looking at her that that was the case.

“Sure, you?” She smiled and he simply pulled her into a hug.

“What are you doin’ up here? Wandering the corridors by yourself?”

“Luke is fine, he can handle things down there. I needed to make sure you were okay. And right now all we really have to do is wait for confirmation that the air strike team is on its way.”

He leaned back to look at her. “You think this is really it? You think we’re really all gonna be okay?”

She nodded. “I have a good feeling about this, Han. I really do.”

“Good. I like it when you have good feelings.”

“Well, speaking of feelings, if you like that, you’re going to love this,” she began.

“Han, Leia? Come in!”

Luke’s voice came over their private comm channel and Han immediately went to answer. “Solo, here. Go ahead.”

“Why don’t you two come back to the Command Center. We got word that the fleet is headed this way with reinforcements from Corellia and Duro, a few others to follow soon after. It’ll make things easier if we’re all in the same place.”

“Understood,” Han replied. “We’ll meet you there in three minutes. Solo, out.”

It felt good to have everything coming together and Han took Leia’s hand and led her towards the door before stopping abruptly. “Wait, were you gonna tell me something?”

She hesitated for a moment and then shook her head. “It can wait.”

“You sure?”

She pulled his hand along. “Come on, let’s go.”

***

Leia felt as though a tremendous weight had been lifted off her shoulders. They’d done it. There were still a few things to take care of but the first part of their plan had worked. She reached down and rubbed her stomach, smiling and giddy with anticipation of telling Han what she had sensed.

Just knowing they were having a baby at all gave her all sorts of things to think about for the future. But knowing its gender gave it a much more concrete reality. Maybe sometime soon they could start to pick out clothes and she’d even be able to picture them on her child.

She felt slightly devious when she looked at Han, feeling like a little girl who had a reason to tease someone with, “I know something you don’t know!” Just to drive them crazy. She couldn’t wait to see his face.

They made it to the Command Center where Luke had remained and Lando, Chewie and a few of the other Wookiees had already arrived. There were general greetings of congratulations and pats on backs and handshakes, although there was still some apprehension as there was still some waiting to do before they’d know that things were entirely under control.

“Luke, have you heard from Madine yet?” Leia asked.

“They should be here in the next thirty minutes. They’ve got quite a fleet with them. It shouldn’t take long. They figure that they’ve got the Imperials backed up against a corner. With the core worlds turning on them it would be impossible for them to maintain control. They just don’t have the resources. And once the big ones start joining in with us, it will make it easier for the others to follow.”

“Gods, I’m so glad to hear that,” Leia said. Her body was pressed up against Han’s side and she wrapped her arms around him when she heard the good news. It seemed that things were finally going to be all right.

Han turned her to face him. “I knew you’d figure out how to save us all again,” Han said.

“Me? Hardly. There were a lot more people involved than just me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if anyone else would’ve come up with that whole server droid thing.”

She laughed. “Leave it to the pregnant lady to be completely preoccupied with food. It’s enough to drive a mother crazy already. First our son likes to make me want to throw up, and then he gets hungry…”

Han suddenly looked incredulous. “Wait, did you say son?”

She looked up at him, smiling and nodding.

“So you know?”

She nodded again. “Just before we sprung the attack I sensed him. He feels a lot like you.”

Han was torn between laughter and tears, but he still remained speechless.

“We’re going to have a baby boy, Han.”

He pulled her into a hug and squeezed her as tightly as was appropriate without crossing the boundary into crushing her bones. Her voice was muffled against his chest when she spoke. “I guess maybe you’re happy about the news?”

She felt his body shake in laughter before he kissed the top of her head and leaned back to look at her. “I’d be happy either way, but it’s still just even more exciting to know what we’re having.”

“Do you want to tell everyone else?”

Han looked around the room and took some time to consider his answer. “How about we enjoy this victory first, then we can get everyone excited about my baby boy.”

“Your baby boy? Which one of us is doing the work here?”

“You know I’m only kidding, sweetheart. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Me neither.”