Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, George Lucas owns the parents and the children belong to whoever created them (Zahn for the twins, I believe. I don't know who the genius who created my Anakin is… :))
Author's Note: The following will be an
indefinitely long series of vignettes of total fluff involving the Solo family.
The EU has had a horrifying lack of relationship between the family members, so
I kind of had to be creative in the relationships between Jaina, Jacen, and
Anakin and their parents.
Hope you all enjoy!
Snapshot One: Little Monsters
Han Solo's Point of View
It's Salu San, the birthday of some forgotten god-figure of some forgotten race on some forgotten planet. The galaxy has adopted it as the day we all exchange presents and young children wake up at an ungodly hour to see if Salun, the Salu San gremlin, has arrived with goodies.
We didn't celebrate it much when I was growing up. But Jacen and Jaina, now three, are finally old enough to fully fathom and anticipate the coming of this holiday.
Almost as precious as the twins' laughs, smiles, and squeals while opening their presents is my wife's beautiful, adoring smile as they make obvious their approval of the presents "Salun" (we) has chosen for them. They are now exploring their new toys in the living room, as quietly as three year old Jedi twins ever can be, especially when they are Solos and it is Salu San.
Anakin got gifts as well, but at eighteen months he does not really understand what is going on. Besides, this year he only seems to want one thing: Mommy.
"Here. Anakin, sit here with your brother and sister for a minute while I clean up. Look, what does Jasa have? Will he share with you?"
"No," Jacen says poutily, pulling the stuffed Ewok away from bright blue eyed Anakin as Leia tries to set him down. "Tries" being the operative word.
"Mommy!" our youngest wails, causing more noise this morning than he probably has since he was a colicky newborn.
"Jacen," she admonishes with a scowl, looking exasperatedly over our stubborn children's heads to me where I am grudgingly helping Threepio clean up after breakfast. Anakin cements his hands in her long, unbound hair and buries his face into her shoulder as she sighingly replaces him on her hip. I try not to grin as she tries to untangle his fingers, sticky from Salu San candy. I can't help but think she is beautifully cute when she is so wound up, especially over our (hers and mine, who'd a thunk?) devilishly lovable kids.
Unfortunately, I am beginning to think Luke is right.
"Try not. Do, or do not."
I definitely did not hide my half-smile and she gets even angrier, storming over to me with a now grinning Anakin in her arms.
Stang, I love her.
"Relax, sweetheart," I soothe, "He's just got good taste in who he's attached to, that's all. If I had the chance to be around you constantly, I'd pitch a fit to do it, too."
Her eyes soften as she listens to this and watches her beloved baby boy refuse to come to my offered arms with a shake of his dark head and a tightening of his hug.
"You already have. Still do," she teases, a grin returning to loosen the tightness of her pretty face. "You pitched a fit to marry me and have these little monsters, if I remember correctly."
I return her smile and kiss her quickly as Jaina pipes, "Monsters? Where?"
"Right here," I growl, rushing over and sticking a twin under each arm, "flying" them around the room amidst their gales of laughter.
"We're…Not…Monsters," Jacen says breathlessly between laughs after I've dropped them on the couch.
"Oh, yes, you are," I assure them with a tickle on each tummy.
"Nuh-huh! Where our claws, 'den?"
"Yeah. Or fangs?" Jacen backs up his sister's question with his own and a bearing of teeth to go along with Jaina's extended hands.
"Right there," Leia answers from beside me as I stand over them, motioning to their exhibited body parts. "Can't you see them?"
"No!" they squeal in unison.
"Oh, they're very big and scary! Bigger than Uncle Chewie's!" Leia continues, making her voice even more captivating as she leans closer (Anakin is still on her hip) and kisses each on the forehead.
"Ew!" Jaina cries, "You kissed mon-i-sters!"
"Yuck-yuck!" Jacen grins.
"So now you see the claws and fangs?"
"No!" they object again.
"What about you, buddy?" I ask Anakin, who gives me a tiny-toothed grin as I wink at him. "Can you see the claws and teeth on your siblings? Can ya?"
"Yeah!" he shouts, squeezing Leia's waist tighter with his legs as he lets go to throw his hands in the air for effect.
"No!" the twins continue to giggle, rolling all over each other in laughter.
"What about you, Uncle Luke? Can you see Jaina and Jacen's fangs and claws? They're monsters."
Luke, who has just entered the disaster area, puts on his very best solemn face. "Yes, I'm afraid I can see them. This is very serious…"
"Unca Luke!" they scream, leaping up and scrambling over to throw themselves at his waist. Anakin fusses to finally be put down and totters over to wait his turn impatiently.
"They're Skywalker-Solos; they're genetically destined to be a handful," I grin gently as I wrap my arms around my princess's waist from behind and kiss the top of her head. "Good thing they're cute like their parents."
She laughs and relaxes against me as we watch them climb all over their uncle, shouting things like "We not monsters!"
I love her most of all on mornings like this, without the Republic worrying and busying her. This is Leia, not that woman that the rest of the galaxy sees on the Holonet. All she's really needed all of these years is a family. I am more than happy to oblige. I just want her to be happy.
Anakin is bored with his uncle now and interrupts our kiss with a tug on my pants and her skirts, whining for his beloved to hold him again.
A princess and a guy like me? Hell yeah! Thank the Force. We've even got little demons to prove it.