Pregnant Pause

by Lelila

Leia sighed, rolling over onto her other side, away from her slumbering husband. She glanced at the chrono. 00:14. She had to get some sleep. The uproar the galaxy was currently in due to the insurrection of the Imperial remnant had worn on her nerves, and she'd been running pretty much just on thrusters for several weeks now.

It didn't help that her own body was taking its toll on her as well. Being 5 1/2 months pregnant with twins just was not conducive to her wearying schedule. Her back ached, her feet were constantly sore, her breasts were tender and swollen, and her appetite and digestive system just could not make up their minds what they wanted from her. One day, she'd have an unbearable yen for Alderaanian dessert wafers smothered in Corrillian hot sauce, and the next day the mere idea of food was enough to make her want to retch. And when she did eat, she was never sure if what she'd eaten would stay down, much less agree with her.

She reached out to Han's sleepy presence, hoping that she'd be able to adopt the feeling as her own. He'd really been wonderful through all of this, putting up with her mood swings, and her even wider desires for sex. There had been days early in the pregnancy where the idea of him even touching her turned her off, while the exact opposite had been true for the last few weeks, at least when she wasn't dead on her feet. There had been an incident a about 10 days ago when she had been so overcome with desire at having Han home from whatever errand he'd been on that she'd practically thrown poor Chewie out of the apartments so she could have her way with her husband. She'd surprised even herself at that. And he'd been incredible; satisfying a need she thought, at the time anyway, couldn't be filled.

Leia flipped onto her back. Han's presence, while sleepy, was still too restless to allow her to sleep. The moment she settled, however, she realized her mistake. Lying on her back this way, the twins rested on her bladder. Muttering a Corrilian epithet to herself, she got up to use the 'fresher. After re-emerging, she paused momentarily in front of her vanity mirror to ponder her changing form. Her bosom was larger than it had ever been, and while she was not exactly flat-chested, she'd never been horribly buxom either, so she supposed that was not such a bad thing. If only they didn't hurt so much! And her ever-increasing belly was a constant source of wonderment. The twins were a good healthy size for their age, the doctor told her, and they showed it. Leia was a small person in almost every way, so despite the fact that she wasn't due for over three months, she looked just about ready to explode now. She couldn't imagine what she'd look like when the time actually did draw near. And while Leia was not a horribly vain person, there were moments, in her hormone-induced haze, that she thought she really looked terrible. Fat, puffed up with water, with blotchy skin and hair that had more of a mind of its own than it usually did. But, bless his heart, Han had never given any indication that he was less than enraptured with her, nor did he condescend by saying she looked more wonderful than she ever did.

As gently as she could, Leia settled back into bed, and, taking a breath, started into a relaxation exercise that Luke had taught her. It was just beginning to work when the twins started moving around. Oh, go back to sleep, she thought irritably, but resisted the urge to send that thought to them through the Force. Luke had cautioned her to only communicate positive things to them. "No point in taking any chances," he'd said.

She sighed and tossed a bit, finally winding up on her back again, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes would just not stay closed. The babies were even more active now. She frowned and stroked her belly, hoping illogically that the caress would find its way through her body to them and calm them down.

"What's the matter, Sweetheart?" Han's voice came out of nowhere.

Leia gasped, the hand on her belly going up to cover her heart. "You startled me."

"I'm sorry. What's goin' on? You seem awful restless."

"Your children are keeping me awake."

"Is that so?" Han said, rolling toward her and placing his hand where hers had been only moments before.

"Yes," she replied. "It seems like whenever I want to sleep, that's when they decide it's a good time to play smashball."

Han's baritone chuckle sounded close to her ear. He snuggled close to her, pressing his body to hers, and proceeded to stroke her swollen abdomen. "Now listen, you two. Your mom's a busy lady, and she needs her rest. So why don't you just settle down and let her get some sleep. Trust me, we'll all be happier if she does."

Leia was about to toss a snide retort in his direction when she noticed that their busy babies had seemed to quiet down. "Hey," she said in a hushed voice. "I think the old Solo charm worked again."

Still caressing her belly, he breathed into her ear, "Of course it did. You think I might get it to work on their mom?" He dropped a kiss behind her ear.

"Hmmmmmm," she sighed pleasantly, "as wonderful as that sounds, I really am very tired." She let a mischievous smile curl her lips, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "Maybe in the morning."

"Or tomorrow afternoon," he whispered sensuously in her ear. "You can throw me over the desk in your office."

She chuckled, "Don't give me any ideas."

He snuggled close now, holding her tightly. "I love you Sweetheart, and I have to tell you, I really admire you. Saving the galaxy yet again, and having the courage to bring two more lives into it while you're doing it. I'm not sure I could be that brave. The whole idea is very amazing to me."

"What idea is that?"

"Having children. I never really thought about it before; about what people go through. Now it's almost all I think about it. I guess I'm so used to dealing with the end of life that the idea of the beginning of it is really awe-inspiring."

"I think it'd be pretty awesome even if we weren't in the business we were in," she replied. "Still, I do worry about them, and about the atmosphere we're bringing them into. But somehow," she took his hand into both of hers, "I know deep in my heart that it's going to be okay. That they're going to be okay."

By way of response, he pressed his lips to her temple and pulled her tightly to him. "Thank you," he whispered into her ear, "for being the mother of my children."

She felt tears spring to her eyes, and turned her head to kiss him long on the lips. "Thank you for being the father of my children," she returned.

And with Leia's hands resting atop Han's, which lay over their still growing children, the Solo family drifted off to sleep.