Pointless Fluff for Your Sunday Evening

This is a little nothing piece I wrote a while ago for reasons I can't quite recall.  Push had read it and I had no plans to do anything with it, but might as well get it out there anyway, right?  There is no plot.

***

Leia Organa Solo was no stranger to lack of sleep.  Throughout her time in the Rebellion she had spent more nights lying awake than she cared to remember, haunted by bad dreams and the constant worry that she could at any moment let down all those who were counting on her, among others, to save them from the wrath of the Empire.  Once the war ended she had basked in an unusual stretch of peace that had included more restful nights than she’d ever experienced.  Well, restful for the most part, except when she was being kept awake by a certain roguishly handsome ex-smuggler who had made his way into her bed and shown her several much more pleasurable ways to stay awake at night, and it didn't take too long before the two of them were married and spending every night together.

But as was inevitable with such activities, eventually she wound up pregnant and was currently holding one of the two pieces of concrete evidence of how Han and Leia liked to spend their evenings.  It was a joyous time in their lives, and something they had been hoping for.  They did not regret it, but at the moment, they were being shown what it was to be truly sleep deprived.  She wasn’t sure if it was because she was older or because she wasn’t constantly running for her life, but raising twins had left Leia in a hazy fog of exhaustion at levels she didn’t think possible. 

Baby Jaina was curled up in her arms, sound asleep after a feeding.  Leia was enjoying a blessed moment of peace as she leaned back against the couch cushions in her and Han’s home, closing her eyes and hoping to maybe catch a brief nap of her own. 

Sometime later, though she had no idea how long, she felt the weight of someone sitting down next to her and the pleasant aroma of her husband’s distinctive scent hit her nostrils.  She smiled without even opening her eyes and then felt a warm, strong hand reach over and squeeze her thigh.  “Is Mommy feeling a little tired?” he asked quietly.

“Mommy is on a break.  You’ll have to come back later.” 

“Hmmm… I don’t know.  What do you think, Jacen?  You want Mommy to wake up?”

Leia peeked through one half-opened eyelid and saw through the haze of exhaustion that Han was holding their son in his lap so that he was sitting up.  A few wisps of hair crowned his head and wide little brown eyes peered up at her. 

Catching her eye, Han held little Jacen’s arms up in mock excitement.  “There she is!  Mommy’s awake!”  Han bounced the baby up and down and Leia heard his infectious giggles.  She couldn’t help but open her eyes then to see the wide, toothless grin on their little baby boy.  The twins were still so young that they had only barely begun doing such a thing, but both parents were already addicted to the sound. 

Leia smiled back at the sight of Han and their happy child, and then another distinctive aroma found its way to her nose.  “Um, Han?  I think one of these two needs a new diaper.”

Her sense of smell had always been more sensitive than his, but it only took a moment of concentrated sniffing for his expression to change from joy to mild annoyance.  “I know we read about this stuff before we had them, but I swear it’s impossible for two people this small to produce so much waste.” 

“I think I’m more impressed by the huge smiles they usually have on their faces while doing it.”  As she said it, she looked at Jacen who was busy trying to stuff his own foot into his mouth.  “So, is it yours or mine?”

Han lifted Jacen up to his face and inhaled through his nose.  This entire concept would’ve been completely repulsive to either of them only a few months ago, but now it had become routine.  It was an unfortunate side effect that they’d just have to get used to that sort of smell being a part of their lives on a daily basis.  The look on her husband’s face told her all she needed to know.  “Definitely this one.  Why don’t you let me hold Jaina and you can take care of this.”

Leia knew he was mostly kidding, but she had to admit she’d tried that sort of tactic from time to time, just because there was nothing to lose.  “No, no.  This is my baby.  We’re playing man-to-man defense here.  You can handle it.”

Han only looked mildly disappointed, Leia suspected because he already knew his request would be denied.  “Well,” he started as he stood up, “at least this means that it won’t be much longer before my baby is the sleepy one and your baby is the smelly one.”

Han carried Jacen out of the room and Leia looked down to see that Jaina was still fast asleep before shutting her eyes again. 

A few moments later, she heard her husband’s voice from the other room.  “Leia?  Are you sure you have Jaina in there with you?”

Leia started to get a little bit annoyed.  Was he still trying to get out of diaper changing?  She looked down to see the sleeping form of their daughter, still out like a light in her lap.  “Pretty sure, Han.”

“Yeah, well, unless Jacen’s penis fell off sometime today, I think he's actually the one sleeping in your lap.”

Leia’s eyes opened wide and she sat up almost quickly enough to startle the baby she held awake.  She looked down to find it still sleeping in the flowered little onesie she would often dress her daughter in.  Being twins, obviously their children looked very similar, especially since they were still so young.  And Leia had to admit that given her exhaustion, her vision hadn’t exactly been crystal clear lately.  Looking a little more closely at the baby she held, she realized that it was, in fact, her son and not her daughter.

Moments later Han came back holding his baby in a fresh diaper and a plain, tiny t-shirt and stuffing her fingers in her mouth. 

Han walked toward her  and pointed with the hand not holding the baby.  “Are you dressing my son like a girl?”

Leia felt mildly mortified that she had somehow mixed up their children.  “I’m sorry, I’m just so tired!  I was half asleep when I was getting them dressed this morning!”

Han just smiled and sat back down next to her.  “I guess we should be glad that we had one of each or we’d probably mix them up and never be able to tell which was which.”

“I promise not to put him in girls’ clothes again.  What about putting our daughter in boys’ clothes?”

Han looked down at the little girl he was bouncing on his knee.  “Well, that’s not so bad.  If she’s gonna be Daddy’s little helper she’s going to have to get used to wearing clothes that can get dirty.  Right, baby girl?”  Han lifted Jaina in his arms and started blowing raspberries on her stomach while she screeched in delight. 

Leia smiled at the father/daughter exchange.  She hadn’t doubted that Han would make a wonderful father, but nothing could’ve prepared her for the joy she’d feel at watching him interact with their children. 

He put his baby back down on his lap and turned back to Leia.  “Tomorrow night, you’re going to go to sleep and stay there until you’ve been that way for at least ten hours.  You got it?”

“No, I can’t do that.  You know they’re going to wake up.”

“Yeah, I do know that, and I’ll deal with whatever.  But you need some sleep for just one night at least.  What if next time you put Jacen in a dress?”

Han smiled and she realized not only that she couldn’t say no to his offer, but that she didn’t really want to.  So she simply replied, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  And to make it up to me, the next time these two are asleep we’re going to have some special Mommy and Daddy time.”

“Deal,” she said just before she felt and then heard the baby in her arms stirring.  Then he started to cry.

“Oh, see, he just realized that Mommy put him in his sister's clothes.”

Leia looked down at her son.  “Sorry, baby.  Mommy is very tired.  But Daddy is going to get you dressed in some other clothes, right?”  Leia looked up at her husband imploringly.

He grinned at her and shook his head.  “I don’t think so, sweetheart.  Man-to-man, remember?  That’s your baby.  Mine is all changed and happy and hopefully ready to fall asleep with Daddy while he takes a nap.”

As she stood to take the fussy son in to change his clothes, she said to Han, “We’re all going to be able to get some sleep eventually, right?”

“Someday, sweetheart.  Someday.”