The End... And a Beginning

CHAPTER XXX

The ride to the hospital seemed to take an eternity. Leia’s hand clenched Han’s as various pains he didn’t understand periodically swept through her body. It was impossible for him to tell which of these pains were normal and which might mean something was wrong. Either way, his chest constricted every time her small fingers squeezed hard around his hand and he saw her face contort in discomfort.

Against his wishes, she was whisked away without him upon their arrival, told that he would have to be sanitized and fitted with sterile clothing before he could join his wife. Somehow restraining himself from lashing out in anger, he followed the instructions and within three minutes was back by Leia’s side as her eyes immediately found his, reaching out to him in relief.

“Don’t you leave me again,” she said through clenched teeth as she reached out and took his hand once again.

“Never. I promise.”

It was a while before Han could hear much of anything aside from his heart thundering in his chest, Leia’s occasional exclamations of pain, various medical monitors and words exchanged between doctors and nurses. Able to remain by Leia’s side as her hand clenched his tighter and tighter, he wanted the whole thing to be over both so his wife would no longer be in so much pain and so they could finally meet their son.

He felt as though he couldn’t breathe, and then he felt Leia’s grip finally relax and simultaneously heard the beautiful cry of their baby boy. His eyes traveled down to Leia’s feet as he saw the tiny little being revealed to him, held up briefly by the doctor before being handed off to the nurse and quickly cleaned and wrapped in a blanket.

Han took a moment to lean down and kiss Leia’s sweaty forehead, thinking how amazing it was that she had brought their child into the universe and being immensely glad that he was not the one who had to do what she had just done.

No words were exchanged before the little baby was handed to his mother, wrapped up tightly in a light blue blanket. Leia cradled their son in her arms, tears of joy lightly trickling down her cheeks and Han saw his son immediately relax within his Leia's embrace, relieved from the turmoil of suddenly being removed from the safety of his mother’s womb.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Leia said quietly, placing a gentle kiss on the infant’s forehead. The baby’s brown eyes were fixed on his mother’s for a few seconds until they traveled up to meet those of his father gazing back at him. Leia noticed where his stare went. “That’s your daddy, honey.”

Han held his hand out and touched the tiny fingers that reached out to him. Never having had the opportunity to see a newborn baby, he had no idea that any human could possibly be this small. “Hi, baby,” Han said in a voice he almost didn’t recognize as his own.

Leia looked up at her husband and he smiled back at her, still in disbelief that this entire situation could possibly be real. There were no adequate words to express what he was feeling, so he simply said, “I love you,” to his wife, and she mouthed the words back at him before he leaned down to kiss her gently. “He’s perfect,” Han said, his finger still wrapped in his son’s fist. “What are we gonna name him?”

Leia smirked in thought and then said simply, “What about Chance?”

Their son made a happy little gurgling noise at the sound of the suggestion and Han had to agree that he liked the sound of it. “I think it’s perfect.”

As Leia gazed down at their son, it felt as though all of the hardships they’d fought through had been worth it. Most people likely would’ve given up long before she had, and she’d often wondered herself if there was anything left worth fighting for when it always seemed to be an uphill battle.

She looked up at her loving husband once again, wondering if she’d ever seen such joy on his face. Then she looked down at the tiny baby they’d created and knew that somewhere deep down she’d always been fighting to be able to enjoy this very moment. She had a family again and the universe was a safe place for them to grow. In Chance’s eyes she could almost already see the young boy he would all-too-soon grow into, looking so like his father, running through a vast field with flowing grass up to his knees. She even thought she could see a little girl running behind him, slightly younger with long, brown hair. Perhaps the little sister she and Han would soon give him. In the vision she saw Han run up behind them, scooping the little girl up into his arms and chasing after her brother. They would finally get the happiness and contentment they deserved.

She leaned down and kissed her son’s forehead once again, Han following right after to do the same and then turning to kiss Leia and once more whisper, “I love you.”

Warmth spread through Leia’s exhausted body at the words. She knew that from then on, everything would be all right.