AN: Hey guys! Soooo, Even though I finished the actual story of "Never Alone" I wasn't done with that version of Rey and Ben, cause they're super dear to my heart. So I've created this story, which will basically be a collection of one shots throughout the years of their relationship. There won't really be a chronological order to them, like one could take place twenty five years in and the next could be something that happened six months in. I'm even open to taking some requests for things you wanted to see of Ben and Rey from that Universe!
If you haven't read "Never Alone" then you will probably be a little confused about what's going on here, I.E. these one shots will all contain O.C's from that story. But if you like some good Reylo feels, welllll, you'll certainly find them here!
Today we're starting with something written in honor of Mother's day, and takes place during Rey's fourth pregnancy. Thanks for reading!
Yes, Again.
She had discovered very quickly into her relationship with Ben that she very rarely woke before he did. It seemed that even if she woke up at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night to feed one of their children, he was always awake first. So catching him still sound asleep beside her when she woke up was a rarity, and one that she loved dearly.
They'd been together for almost six years now, and she was still struck every single day by how handsome he was. He had his father's roguish good looks, though he'd resent being called scruffy looking, and his mother's regal bearing. He was perfect. He was beautiful. He was hers. He was her husband, her partner in all things, and the father of three absolutely perfect, beautiful little girls. Magdalena had been up all night with a nasty cough, which was probably why her husband was still slumbering beside her.
In the quiet moments like this, it was impossible to believe that six years ago the galaxy had been at war, torn apart and dangerously close to being overcome by darkness. They'd helped put an end to that. They'd been asked time and time again to join in the new government, to be public figures, but each time they'd said no. they didn't need the attention.
All either of them had ever really wanted was a place they could belong. They had that together. They had that on the veranda of the home that had once belonged to Ben's grandmother while their daughter's played in the setting sun, and his arms were wrapped snugly around her waist. They had that in the cries of their daughter's when they needed mama or papa. They had it in the arms of friends and family who were frequent visitors to their home. They had that in their bed when every time they made love to each other as passionately as if it were the first time.
It had been almost three years since Meg had been born, and she couldn't deny that she had started to feel the longing for another child. She'd dreamed of a large family for a long time. Her own family, of her flesh and blood, and the flesh and blood of the man she loved more than anyone. And she hadn't given up hope of a little boy yet. She was still young, and so was Ben, even though some days he claimed that he was much, much too old for chasing after the girls. He always said it with a teasing glint in his eye, the look that reminded her most of his handsome father.
She'd had her appointment to have her birth control implant replaced yesterday, and she hadn't done it. She'd had the old one removed and was prepared to let them place the new one under the skin of her hip, but she'd stopped them, and just gone home. She'd meant to discuss it with Ben, really she had. But Meg had been so sick, and they'd been distracted. They'd been sitting up with her in shifts all night. It was only a few hours ago she'd finally fallen asleep.
And she wasnt quite sure how to broach the topic now. He'd long since gotten over the fear about having children that had gripped him, albeit briefly after Gemma had lost so much of her force ability. She did grow stronger with the force by the day, and Rey knew that it did a great deal to heal his heart. But would he want another baby? Hed said once, years ago, that he would give her as many children as her heart desired. Did he still feel that way?
Her eyes trailed over his face again, flickering to the map of beauty marks and freckles along his skin that was still pale even though he'd spent so many years without his mask. He really was beautiful, like the regal princes in the stories she read to the girls.
"Goodmorning." She starts a little at the sound of his voice. His eyes weren't open yet, but he clearly knew she was awake, and she'd been caught spying. "Don't be embarrassed. I'm flattered."
"Shut up." She giggles quietly as he opens his eyes and kisses her gently on the mouth. "Good morning."
"How do you get more beautiful every day?" He asks, and he cups her cheek in his hand.
"I do not."
"Don't fight me on this. I won't give in. Not when I'm right." He says firmly, leaving no room for arguing. She sighs and twists her face, kissing his palm. She takes a moment to feel through the house with the force, finding all three girls still asleep. It wasn't surprising. Meg was sick, and now that she was settled, she'd be out for several hours. Amara always slept like the dead. Gemma had stayed up well past her bedtime trying to play nurse for her sister, and would likely sleep as long as her sisters did. "What's on your mind?"
"Hm?"
"Your head. It's sort of...jumbled. Like you've got a lot on your mind. I knew you wanted to talk to me about something yesterday, but I never got a chance to ask." His fingers trail along her shoulders and he pulls her into his arms. "So, I'm asking now. What's going on?"
"I want to have another baby." She says without ceremony, and she feels his surprise.
"You...you want to have another baby?" He repeats, twisting back so he can look at her face more easily.
"I went to my appointment yesterday, and I was going to get the implant again, I really was. But then I thought about it, and I realized, I didn't want to get it. I want you to get me pregnant again." She admits, and she feels her cheeks flame. "I know we already have the three girls, and I'm very happy with that, I love them all so, so much, but I just think we could handle a fourth, and I still do want a boy- so I guess, what I mean to say is...well...we've talked about having more children, and I think now's the time."
"Say it again." Ben says, and when she catches his eyes she sees how dark they are.
"I want another baby?" She says, and he shakes his head.
"No, the other thing. You did say one day you'd ask me…" He trails off as if caught in a pleasant memory, and suddenly she remembers too. She sits up and grabs his hands in her own, biting her lip shyly. She's almost nervous, even though she's positive she knows what his reaction is going to be.
"Ben, I want you to fill me with your child again." her voice trembles even though she's sure of what she's saying. "I want you to make love to me, and put another baby in me." She kisses his knuckles, and delights in the obvious effect her words are having on her husband. "Ben, please, would you make me pregnant again?" In mere seconds he's got her pinned to their mattress, the delicious weight of him pressing her into it.
"Force, that's the sexiest thing you've ever said to me!" he growls, and he kisses her hard. She gasps in delight as his mouth trails down to her neck, and his teeth nip along the line of it. She revels in his attentions for a moment, and then pushes him back with a little aid from the force. She climbs over his lap, and pins his hands over his head, twining their fingers together.
"You didn't answer my question." She says teasingly as she kisses to the sensitive spot just behind his ear.
"Mm...maybe you'll have to ask me again." she sits up and releases his hands, making quick work of the pajama shirt she'd been wearing- the one that matched the silky bottoms he was wearing- and she wraps her arms around his neck, pressing the skin of her chest against his as he sits up to embrace her.
"Ben, will you give me another baby?" She whispers, and he kisses her with more tenderness than before. And then kisses her softly twice more. "Well?"
"Yes." he nods once, and she can't keep the giant smile from spreading across her face.
"Yes?" She confirms, and he kisses her again.
"Yes." He gently pushes her back so that she's lying on the bed, her hair fanned around her head like a halo as he gently pulls her underwear down her legs, leaving her bare before him, and absolutely trembling with need. "So beautiful…" He kisses his way up her leg slowly, and she squeals with impatience, not giving a womprat's ass that she's not being dignified. When he finally reaches her apex, he lets out a low, possessive growl; she's always ready for him, but she's rarely so hot and desperate.
"Ben, I need you. Right now." She gasps, and his eyes flash up to her face, the look in them enough to tip her over the edge. He pulls off his clothes quickly, and climbs up her body, peppering her skin with kisses along the way. She twines their fingers together above her head, and keeps her eyes locked with his as he presses home inside of her. The bond that runs between them is singing, and she feels so close to him that her heart could burst. They'd made love more times than she could ever count, but she'd never be used to the way it felt, the physical and the emotional. And she never expected it to be intense enough that they're bodies were enveloped in a purple glow, and yet…
"I need you to come for me." He whispers in her ear, and kisses her lips hungrily. Her body seems more than willing to obey, pulsing with pleasure as he finds his own release. She feels it deep inside of her, and she nearly comes again just from the feeling. They stay tangled together for what could be seconds or hours, and he finally rolls off of her and onto his back, tugging her with him. She nuzzles into his chest, which is still her favorite pillow even after all this time.
"That was…"
"Possibly the best yet?" He finishes for her, and she grins at him. One of his hands comes up to span across her stomach, and she clasps her hand on top of it.
"Do you think it happened?" She asks, glancing up at him.
"Impossible to say yet." He shrugs. "But I am more than willing to keep up the effort."
"Ben!"
"Over and over again, really. I will not rest until you've got my baby growing inside of you."
"Ben…" She bites her lip and feels her skin flush.
"And why stop there, when you're so sexy when you're full of my child?" His hand starts to trail down her abdomen and she trembles in anticipation. "I think I'll have to keep making love to you every day for the rest of our lives. You're too beautiful, too tempting for anything else." He sweeps her up in another kiss, and she thanks the maker that the kids are still sleeping soundly.
…
She wakes up in the middle of the night two weeks later to find her husband staring at her, his eyes wide, and his hands trembling a litte. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and props herself up on her elbows.
"What is it? Ben? Did you have a nightmare?" She asks softly, and he shakes his head. "Is something wrong?" He shakes his head again. "Ben it's the middle of the night, what…" He reaches out his hand and pushes up the tank top she'd put on before bed, exposing her midriff to the cool night air. "Ben?" She chokes as he presses his lips above her navel, and then up to her mouth. "Did you...what's going on?" She sits up quickly now, and puts a hand on her flat stomach. He puts his hand over hers, and closes his eyes, delving deeper into their bond, pulling her with him, and she gasps. Sure enough she feels it, a flicker like a candle, a force signature alongside of her own, almost as if it's braided with the strings of hers.
"You're pregnant." he says softly, and she throws her arms around his shoulders. He laughs softly as he wraps his arms around her waist, and kisses her hair over and over again. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"How did you know- did it wake you?" Rey asks, pulling back just far enough to look into his eyes.
"No, I...Couldn't sleep tonight." He says and she frowns. "Hey, it's alright. It's a happy occasion, I'm so glad I was awake for it."
"But you were...you couldn't sleep?" She asks anxiously. He wont meet her eyes. "Oh Ben…"
"It's fine. Really. I don't want to think about it. I just want to think about this baby." He kisses her forehead, and traces his hand over her stomach. "I wonder if I finally made you a boy."
"It really doesn't matter. I'll love them boy or girl." She assures him. "But you...Oh."
"Right. Oh." He mutters as he slowly withdraws from her.
"Hey- don't do that. Come here." He doesn't move, so she grabs his hand and clutches it tight. "I know that today is always going to be hard for you-"
"And it should be!"
"Ben, you know that your father forgave you. Even while he was dying, you know he forgave you for it." She says, tracing her thumb over the back of his hand. "I saw it in his eyes in your memory. I know he did."
"I...I know. But I can't accept that. Especially not today. Not when he's been gone Six years." His voice is thick with emotion, and his eyes glimmer with unshed tears. "I'm sorry." He slams his fist into the mattress, and she rolls over, pressing her full weight against him and kissing his lips very softly. "He might have forgiven me, but I'll never forgive myself. And seeing the girls...I think he would have loved them, in his way. He would have tried really hard for them. And I...I took away his chance."
"No. no, he gave you yours." Rey whispers. "His death, however horrible it was, it was what broke you open. I may have slipped in through the cracks before him, may have opened them wider, but his death was what really made you doubt Snoke, doubt the darkness. It prepared you to break free for Gemma. He gave you your best chance the only way he knew how. You're a father, Ben. I know you know how he felt. I know you'd die to save any one of our children. Wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would, I love them!"
"And you'd forgive them anything, wouldn't you?"
"Yes."
"I think...I think your father knew, going out onto that bridge, that he wasn't going to be leaving alive. He had such an air of finality about him. Even I sensed it, and I could barely figure out what the force was at that point." She strokes his hair away from his eyes, and brushes a few errant tears off of his cheeks. "He sacrificed himself so that you'd have the best chance at finding yourself again. And you did. You honor his memory every day by being the best damn father and husband in the galaxy. By calling your mother, and making sure she's alright, and that she knows she's loved. By passing on his bloodline, and making the galaxy safe for them...Ben, don't you see? That's all he ever wanted for you." He kisses her softly, and she tucks her face into the crook of his neck.
"I am sorry for not controlling this...I wanted the memory of finding out about this child to be-"
"Don't. Don't you dare." She shakes her head. "I'm so, so happy about this child. About giving you another child, about getting to hold them and love them. About telling the girls they're going to have a new sibling. You haven't made anything bad, Ben. I wouldn't change a moment."
…..
They decide not to tell anyone for a little while, and keep it between themselves. He's more protective now, like he always was when she carried his child, but she didn't mind. Most of the time she thought it was sweet. And he was extra attentive to her every need, be it waking up to get her a glass of water, massaging her sore ankles, or taking the girls out on an adventure so she could sleep when she needed to.
They manage to keep it a secret for almost a whole month, and even that seems an amazing feat since their daughters had all seemed suspicious for weeks. More than once she'd caught Amara and Gemma whispering to each other and staring at her. Even Meg would look at her with narrowed eyes, as if finding a change to her mother but unable to put her chubby little finger on what it was. In the end it's Gemma who outs her.
"You aren't sick, are you mommy?" her almost six year old asks as she clutches tightly to a pretty doll that her grandmother had sent her. Amara and Meg had both been put down for their naps, but Gemma had stubbornly insisted she didn't need one. She had finally settled in for a cuddle on the sofa with mama while her father was picking up the mess he and Amara had made playing some goofy made up game.
"WHat? Of course not my love." Rey shakes her head.
"I didn't think so. Amara said you were, but I said she was wrong." Gemma says proudly.
"Did you now?" Rey asks as she strokes her daughter's beautiful ebony curls.
"Mmhm. I told her it was okay. You were just having another baby." across the room, Ben drops the toys he'd been picking up and they fall with a clatter.
"W-what?"
"Well you are. That's how you feel like. I remember when Meg was in your belly. That's what you feel like." Gemma shrugs. "Amara doesn't remember, cause she was too little, but I do remember, cause I'm a big girl."
"You are. You're mama's big, beautiful girl." Rey kisses her forehead, and holds her close, remembering when Gemma had first been placed on her chest. She'd been so small, and she'd looked so very much like her father. She'd loved her while she'd grown inside of her, but the moment she was in her arms, she'd felt that love swell to new heights she hadn't known were possible.
"Don't cry mama!" Gemma gasps, dropping her doll at once to catch the tears that had started to spring from her mother's eyes. "Papa, help! Mama's crying!"
"Sometimes, Gem, when mama is having a baby, it makes her cry even though she's not sad." Ben says as he kneels in front of them.
"You're not sad?" Gemma asks suspiciously.
"No sweet girl. I'm very happy. And I love you very much." The little girl holds her closer, and Ben wraps his long arms around both of them, holding them tightly to his broad chest. Rey grins even though she's got tears trailing down her cheeks. So many memories play through her mind, of evenings on the Rebel Base, and even during Gemma's first month of life back on the Finalizer. Her holding Gemma, so tiny, so light and precious against her chest while Ben held them both. The overwhelming sense of awe that the tiny life form inspired; the fact that the tiny, beautiful little girl had made her a mother. Had been the start of her own family.
When she glances at Ben, she swears his eyes are shining too. She kisses his hair, and then the crown of her oldest daughter's head, and lets herself revel in the overwhelming love she feels for them.
