12Author's Note: I wrote this story for my Han/Leia fangirl friends in response to the July 2021 prompt, "cake." I'd planned to write a quick drabble, but it grew! Many thanks to my wonderful husband for being such a great beta-reader! I hope you enjoy!
MESSY
Jacen screwed up his face, screamed, and failed his little arms and legs as Han adjusted the purple pointed hat on his son's head.
Seated beside her twin in an identical chair and wearing an identical hat, Jaina turned to Jacen, and her calm composure then devolved into similar screams.
A purple blur flew through the air and landed on the dining table, narrowly missing the holocam Han had readied to record memories of the kids' first birthday. Jacen's hat then rolled off the edge to the floor.
Jacen continued to wail. Han grinned at his son, then scooped him out of the chair and held him at eye-level. "Gotta work on that temper, little buddy. Not gonna help your smashball accuracy." He kissed Jacen's chubby cheek.
The cries stopped.
Han leaned down to return him to his highchair, but felt little fingers tugging his hair. Realizing that the odds of replacing Jacen without losing a fistful of hair were not in his favor, he shifted Jacen to his hip. "Ya know, your mama won't like it if you pull my hair out. She kind of likes it."
"Dada! Dada!" Han heard another little voice and looked down to see his daughter reaching toward him with both arms. Her hat had rolled under their dining table, presumably discarded in solidarity with her brother.
"Alright. Alright. I got you," he mumbled while using his free arm to detach the chair's tray and safety restraint. He reached under Jaina's right arm, grasped the underside of her left leg, and boosted her to his other hip. She stretched up and threw her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him off balance when Leia called out from the kitchen.
"Time for cake!"
A moment later, she appeared in the entryway just beyond the kids' chairs, presenting two small plates, each holding a dark brown cupcake. The sweet, dense aroma of warm Corellian chocolate wafted through Han's nostrils, stimulating memories of their long trip to Bespin, when Leia had practiced and perfected this dish, his favorite dessert. His mouth watered and his heart quickened.
With her hair in a messy bun, flour on her cheek, and an apron dribbled with chocolate cinched around her small waist, Leia remained the woman of his dreams. Han marveled at how throughout her life, she'd excelled in multiple leadership roles: Princess, politician, revolutionary, and now a commander on their home front. He felt as if he'd won the Galactic Lottery.
"Han?"
Leia's query pulled his attention back to the task at hand: Cakes! "Hey Beautiful. Got some for us?"
"Later," she mouthed. Han couldn't help but notice the flick of her tongue as she spoke and mischievous glint in her eyes. An unbidden memory flashed through his mind of her naked body descending on his, her breasts brushing his chest and legs straddling his hips as she licked icing from along his jawline, then proceeding lower until... He swallowed hard.
And felt pain. Kriff! With one hand still entangled in Han's hair, Jacen had leaned forward forcefully, reaching toward a cake seemingly with all his might.
Leia quickly placed the plates on the table and took their son into her arms. Before Jacen could make another move, she had him buckled into his chair and playing with measuring spoons she'd pulled from her apron pocket.
"Next year at this time, they'll probably be Force-grabbing those cakes," Han mused aloud as he placed Jaina into her chair.
"One challenge at a time, Han. We only know the present."
"Now you sound like Luke," he replied.
"Well, he IS wise." Leia paused, then added in her tactful politician tone "In the ways of the Force, anyway."
"Doesn't quite get one-year-olds though." Han chuckled, thinking of the 1000 piece X-wing Spego sets Luke had sent for their birthday. "But neither did we until we had 'em."
"Peas? Peas? Peas?" Han noticed that his pleading son once again was straining toward the sweet treats.
"So polite!" Han praised, patting Jacen's head while Leia placed a cupcake on each child's tray.
"Is dis! Is dis! Is dis!" Jaina exclaimed suddenly, gazing at her icing-covered hands.
Hearing the wonder in Jaina's tone, Han answered, "It's cake. You eat it." Then he dipped his finger in the icing and licked it.
His taste buds went haywire with the creamy decadence of Leia's icing. Damn, that woman can bake. He wanted more.
Jaina promptly stuffed all ten fingers into her mouth then tore into her cake as Jacen squished his into crumbles, then tried to eat the largest chunk, most of which ended up smeared across his cheeks, chin, and chest.
With the kids thoroughly destroying their desserts, Leia suddenly blurted "Han! We didn't get a holo!"
"Well, it ain't over. They're still going like hungry loth cats." He grabbed the holocam from the table and pressed the "On" button, and then aimed it at their children, adjusted the settings, and snapped three shots.
"Won't be pretty." He shrugged. "They're toddlers with cake." To him, they looked like they'd been bobbing for blumfruits in a barrel full of chocolate.
Looking toward those toddlers, Leia placed a hand on Han's shoulder and remarked pensively, "Those holos will be perfect." She turned, and her eyes met his. "Because they'll be real. Messy is real."
She was right. Their life, from the moment they'd met on the Death Star, had been messy. Leaping into the garbage smasher seconds after their first encounter had set that precedent. Then, they'd survived the mess of war. Currently, Han felt relieved in their safer circumstances under the New Republic government, especially now that he and Leia had children of their own. Twins! He shook his head, both incredulous and grateful at the fact that he and the lovely, spirited Princess of Alderaan had created these little people. Their life continued to be chaotic and messy, but in a good way.
Reaching his arm around her waist, he pulled her to his chest and felt the light touch of her hands as she slid them around his neck. She tipped her face up, and he caught her gaze. "And messy's more fun, don't ya think?"
"Don't I know it," she concurred.
Those words in her sultry voice drew him closer until his lips found her soft hair just above her ear and murmured, "So when's later?"
END