Just under the wire: for November’s @hanleiachallenge. Prompt: Thankful.
Han Solo had forgotten that babies came this tiny. They grew and changed so much in just weeks; it was easy to lose sight of how small a bundle of three and a half kilograms actually was, until you held one who was less than a full day old.
He had remembered the swaddling technique, so his new granddaughter was now securely wrapped in a thin blanket like a little Ormachek dumpling, quiet and content for the moment. He held her in front of him, her tiny body cradled in his palms so he could study her, watch her.
He remembered nights like this long ago, watching baby Jaina while Leia slept, studying her little cheeks, her fuzzy hair, wondering what the galaxy held in store for her. Hoping it was something good.
Well, this was something good, for certain.
The baby’s eyelids fluttered, and her eyes opened to look at Han. Still that newborn blue, but you could already see that she had Jaina’s eyes. Leia’s eyes. So watchful, so deep, like they held whole star systems behind them.
He remembered the first time he’d seen eyes like these, attached to a mouthy princess who’d argued with him between blasts at the Stormtroopers following them. If they hadn’t been escaping an Imperial battle station at the time, he would’ve been inclined to stop and stare, to wonder at this woman complaining about her own damn rescue and taking out Imps left and right.
And somehow, through dumb luck and his own stubbornness, he’d gotten the spirited woman behind those eyes to fall in love with him, to fight alongside him. And they’d had a spirited daughter with those same eyes, that same drive to fight for good. And now his baby, his Jaina, had her own spirited girl.
The baby began to wriggle a little, and her face screwed up slightly, like she was gearing up to fuss.
“Shh,” Han soothed, jostling her gently to quiet her down. “’S okay. I’m here. Nothin’ to worry about.”
The wriggling increased, and she whimpered slightly. Uh-oh. Time to bring out the big guns.
It had been a while, but he still mostly remembered the old Corellian lullaby he’d sung to his children to get them to sleep. Something about a ship’s captain, coming home after a long voyage.
I’ll be home, home, home, home,
Larel, I’m coming home….
He sang softly, and his granddaughter gradually stopped fussing, instead blinking at him with those same watchful eyes. He knew that babies couldn’t really focus this early, but it was like she saw him. Han couldn’t feel the Force like Leia and Luke and his children could, but something in her eyes told him that she had that power too.
He didn’t realize Leia had come in until he felt her arm slip around his waist. He finished his song, but kept gently rocking the baby as he turned to look at Leia.
“You don’t know how attractive you are right now,” she said with a smile.
Gods, he loved the look on Leia’s face, like she saw him, too. And loved what she saw. He smiled back at her.
“She’s fine,” Leia said. “Just in that place where she’s afraid to go to sleep in case the baby needs something.” Her grin grew wider. “Told her we’ve got it.”
They both turned back to the baby in Han’s hands, watching her. She blinked back at them.
As Leia rested her head on Han’s shoulder, their granddaughter in his arms, a feeling came over him. He was grateful, for whatever force (or the Force) in the universe had brought him this, had given him this family, this love, this hope.
“Thank you,” he said, and Leia gave him a squeeze, like she understood perfectly.