Her life was trapped in a predictable routine.
Every day for the last eight years, she would wake up at five in the morning, shower and dress by five thirty, prepare and finish her usual breakfast of oats and milk by six before hopping on to her red jalopy work truck and driving down to her job as a general labourer at Niima Junkyard. Her twelve-hour work shift would then be spent inspecting and sorting scraps and parts, operating mechanized equipment and performing any other tasks as assigned. That last part was her least favourite, because more often than not, it forced her to interact with the junkyard boss Unkar Plutt—a fifty-something obese man with questionable hygiene and even more questionable work ethics. More than once, she'd seen him ogling at her while she worked, and he would ask her to bring him his morning coffee every day, even though he had a secretary who could do just that. But other than the occasional brush of the fingers when she handed him his cup and those beady eyes which seemed to burn through her clothes, he hadn't done anything to her which would hold up in court—yet. And hopefully, it stayed that way. The last thing she needed was to have to deal with lawyer fees.
Rey sighed as she took off her hard hat and shoved it into her work locker, her eyes instantly on the photo of herself and her grandfather she had taped to the inside of the locker door. Looking at the photo at the end of her shift was also part of her routine, as was reaching out to touch it and trace the smile on her grandfather's face. It had been one of the last photos she had of Ben Kenobi when he was still in the pink of health, right before cancer ravaged his body. She had done everything she could, took several jobs including this labourer job in Niima Junkyard to shoulder the medical bills but it hadn't been enough. The only consolation she had was that it brought her a few months more with her grandfather, more than what the doctors had predicted.
Changing from her work overalls and into a white shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, she hopped back into her truck and headed for home, her thoughts already on the mac n cheese she planned to cook for dinner that night as she drove through the same, dusty roads of Jakku, past the same neighbourhood of far between houses before reaching her own house. It was small compared to others in town, and it was desperately in need of a paint job but it was home.
Parking the truck by the side of the house, she stepped out of the vehicle and took a moment to look up at the night sky—yet another routine of hers. As always, the stars were out in full glory, uninhibited by light pollution which prevailed in bigger cities.
She turned and walked towards the house, ready to start the day's final routine of dinner, a little bit of TV, then sleep—until she saw a little girl standing on the porch.
"Well, this is new," Rey thought, watching as the girl's eyes widened at her approach. She almost never had visitors, least of all a girl of...seven? Eight? "Hello there, sweetie. Are you lost?"
The girl opened her mouth but no words came out. Rey was now close enough that she could see the faint freckles over the girl's cute button nose, the speckles of brown over the hazel of her eyes, the chapped skin of her lips, and the large ears hidden beneath waves of waist-length dark hair. She was also quite pale, which, aside from the pink sweater, red pleated skirt, black leggings and boots she wore, told Rey the girl was definitely not from the desert town of Jakku.
Rey beamed the warmest smile she could. Hopefully the girl will feel a bit more at ease, she thought. "Hey, don't worry. I don't bite. If you're lost, I could go and call for help."
"I...I'm not lost. I think," the girl finally spoke, her voice coming out almost in a squeak. "Are you...Rey Kenobi?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Oh my God!" the girl gasped, hands clasped over her mouth. "It's really you!"
"Uhm...yes, it's really me," Rey parroted, brows knitting in confusion. "Am I missing something?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." The girl giggled, hands now moving to cup her face, her eyes practically sparkling. "I'm just so happy to finally meet you. You're more beautiful than I could ever have imagined!"
"Well, thank you. That's...sweet of you." Rey shifted her weight from one foot to the other, an uneasy fluttering at the pit of her stomach. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"I'm...uh..." The girl looked away for a moment, her face now flushed pink. "Okay. I don't know how else to say this. And it might shock you, but uhm...I'll just go ahead and say it." She took in a deep breath, looked Rey straight in the eye and said, "I'm your daughter."
Rey blinked and stilled. Any other single twenty-seven-year-old who hadn't had a boyfriend in years would've dropped to the floor laughing. To have a girl show up at your doorstep, claiming to be yours when you'd never even seen the inside of a maternity ward was preposterous. But Rey wasn't any other twenty-seven-year-old. And as her mind raced back to a visit to an egg donor clinic nine years ago, it was all she could do to hold on to the porch's railing before the floor rushed up to meet her.
A/N: If the plot device is familiar, that's because I got it from an episode of I think that was the last season of Ally Mcbeal. I could never quite forget that plot device of Ally's surprise daughter suddenly showing up at her doorstep and thought it would be a great trope to use for a Reylo AU fic. But the similarities pretty much end there as this story will be its own.