"This isn't funny, Finn," Rey hissed over the phone as her best friend cackled over the receiver. "I've got an eight-year-old who looks like me in the kitchen right now, cooking mac n' cheese."

"While you're nursing a bump on the head with cold steak," Finn finished. "Seriously? You don't find the situation funny?"

"No. And you wouldn't either if it happened to you," Rey shot back and groaned. She readjusted the steak over where her head had hit the railing. Damn her for forgetting to put in some ice in the fridge.

"Ain't happening to me, peanut. Poe and I are adopting."

"Oh, really? When?"

"Not anytime soon , love." Rey heard a pause from Finn's end of the line before he continued with the same mirthful tone. "Hey, if you don't like the kid, maybe you can have us adopt her."

"You're kidding right?"

"Of course I'm kidding, Rey. She's all yours."

"Apparently, she's not." Rey took a peek in the kitchen and saw the girl—her daughter, she shivered—still stirring a pot of mac n' cheese. She had insisted that Rey rest and that she knew how to cook. By the smell of things, the kid was telling the truth. "She said she lives with her dad but she wouldn't tell me his name or where she lives. Seems she doesn't want to go back."

"She ran away?"

"Most likely." Rey sighed heavily and went back to where she had been lying down earlier on the couch, her headache increasing tenfold when she realized all the trouble she might get into for harboring this girl. "Looks like I'm going to have to try to pry information out of her and get her home ASAP. God forbid, her dad might charge me for kidnapping."

Finn laughed again. It was starting to grate on Rey's nerves. "Well, good luck with that, hon. And hey, I might visit one of these days. You've gotten me really curious about this little Rey spawn."

"You better visit soon." Rey gave a sideways glance at the girl in the kitchen before adding in a low voice, "I'm hoping she won't stay here long. I don't know how to take care of kids."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, peanut," Finn reassured. "You did well back when Poe and I had you take care of BB8 for a while."

Rey rolled her eyes. "Hannah's not a dog."

"Hannah? Is that her name?"

"Yeah. She told me that much at least." Rey chewed on her bottom lip—a nervous habit of hers. "Now I just gotta find a way to trick her into giving me her last name."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Finn said in such a way that inspired confidence, and Rey relaxed once more. "If there's anything you need at all—diapers, baby bottles, baby clothes—just let me know."

"Very funny, Finn." Despite herself, Rey managed a smile. Her best friend always did manage to lighten her moods. "Actually, there is one thing. I seem to recall you mentioning Poe knows this hotshot lawyer. I need to know my rights as well as ways to protect myself in case Hannah's father ends up suing my ass."

"No promises on that, peanut. That hotshot lawyer's a senator now so she's quite busy." Finn was quiet for a moment. "But you're right. I'll see if Poe and I can do something. Meantime, give my love to Hannah."

"And give my love to Poe and BB8." Rey said her goodbyes before ending the call and heading for her small kitchen. Hannah was still cooking. The scene reminded Rey of when she used to cook for her grandfather when she was little. She used to cook a lot for Grandpa Ben back then…

Hannah looked up and beamed a wide smile, her dimples—astonishingly similar to Rey's—deepening on her cheeks. "Hey, Mommy. Dinner's almost ready."

Rey shuddered at the term 'mommy'. "Right. I'll go...set the table."

Putting the steak back in the fridge, Rey hurried to set the table while Hannah carefully took the pot from the stove and poured the mac n' cheese into two bowls.

Once everything was set, the girl plopped on to her seat and began to eat. Rey stared at her for a moment then began to say grace, stopping Hannah mid-eating before she followed suit, hands clasped in quiet prayer until Rey finished.

"I'm sorry," Hannah apologized. "I...we don't really say grace at home. At least, I never saw Daddy do it."

Rey decided she already didn't like Hannah's dad. "My late grandpa taught me food is a blessing, so we should always be thankful."

"Okay, Mommy."

Rey cringed again, and after a few spoonfuls of mac n' cheese, which was surprisingly good, she set her spoon down. "Hannah...maybe it's best...that you don't call me Mommy."

"Oh...why?"

Rey bit her lip. She could see the girl was trying her best not to appear hurt, and so she chose her next words carefully. "It's not that I don't want you to. It's just...I feel like I haven't earned it. I'm almost a stranger. Besides, your mommy might get hurt if you call someone else mommy."

"I don't have a mommy," Hannah informed, making Rey's brows rise to her forehead. "You're my only mommy."

"You mean to say your daddy doesn't have a wife?"

Hannah shook her head, her dark, wavy hair moving from side to side. "Daddy's single. He's never been married."

"But he must have had someone..." Rey hesitated. How in the world was she going to tell this kid about the birds and the bees especially when the situation was more complicated?

"Daddy had a surrogate," Hannah supplied, much to Rey's astonishment. "You gave your egg to the clinic, then they mixed it with Daddy's sperm, then they injected your fertilized egg into the surrogate who then gave birth to me."

Rey opened her mouth to speak, but found she couldn't. At least, not for a good few seconds. "H-How did you..."

"Grandma told me." Hannah helped herself to more of the mac n' cheese before continuing. "I know where babies come from. But I didn't come naturally, that's for sure."

This surprised Rey, and not just because the girl seemed so knowledgeable for her tender age of eight. She had never, in her life, heard of a single unmarried man opting for an egg donor. "If that's the case...your father must have really wanted to have you..."

Hannah sighed. "I wouldn't say Daddy wanted me as much as he needed me."

Rey's brows knitted. "What do you mean?"

Silence. Rey looked up to see Hannah staring at her bowl, her lips tight in a fine line.

After a moment, the girl shook her head and smiled. "How's the mac n' cheese?"

Rey blinked at the sudden change of topic. But she wasn't about to give up on talk about the girl's father yet. "Good. It's good. Did your daddy teach you how to cook?"

"No," Hannah shook her head, her smile disappearing. Already, Rey realized talking about her father upset Hannah. "Daddy isn't around enough to teach me. He's always working."

Ah, Rey thought. Now they were getting somewhere. "Is that why you ran away? Because your daddy doesn't have time for you?"

Rey watched Hannah take a spoonful of mac n' cheese before chewing it slowly. The swallow seemed even slower.

Then, the girl shrugged and carried on eating.

Rey leaned forward, her food already forgotten. "Hannah, sweetie, I'm sure your daddy is only doing what's best for you. Why, he's probably home right now, worried sick about you."

"No he's not." Hannah pouted. "He's never around. He probably won't know I'm gone even when he does get back home."

"Honey, you don't know that."

"Yeah, I do," Hannah replied with conviction. "I've run away before. He didn't even know I was gone for two days until my grandma called him."

Rey found herself tightening her fingers around her utensils. How could a father be so neglectful as to not even notice that his own child was gone? What if something bad had happened to the girl while traveling to Jakku? And by herself no less?

Keeping a sudden bout of anger in check, Rey breathed out and said, "So...where did you go? When you ran away last?"

"To my grandma's." There was warmth in Hannah's voice when she mentioned her grandmother. "She taught me how to cook and take care of myself. But grandma is so busy these days too so I couldn't really go to her."

"And...is that why you decided to go to me instead?" Rey asked.

Hannah seemed to think for a moment. "Yes and no. I mean...I've wanted to meet you ever since I learned about where I came from. Of course Daddy wouldn't tell me about you. It was grandma who tracked you down. For my birthday last year."

If Rey had food in her mouth, she probably would have choked. The girl may be smart for her age, but not knowledgeable enough of legalities surrounding her birth. How could Hannah's grandmother have gotten information about her? How could the clinic give away her personal information? As far as she could recall, her contract had a right to privacy clause! Rey began to wonder if she could sue both the clinic and the grandmother. Unless Hannah's father sued her for kidnapping first...

Seemingly perturbed by the silence, Hannah piped in. "All I wanted for my birthday was to know who you are. Grandma tracked you down for me, and now, I'm here and I'm very happy. You're so beautiful and nice."

Rey's smile was strained. Hannah's smile however was bright, if not adorable. She really did want this, Rey thought. She wanted so badly to meet her mother. How could she take that away from her?

Still...

Rapid knocks at the front door interrupted Rey's musings. She stood up from the table, holding her hand up to Hannah as she did. "Stay here, Hannah. I'll be back."

The knocking continued, even more frantic this time.

"Coming!" Rey called and hurried to the door. As if her night wasn't already exciting enough, she thought sarcastically. "Hold your horses, I'm coming."

Rey reached for the knob and opened the door wide, thinking it was probably one of the neighbors off to borrow some tools again.

She should've known tonight was different from most nights.

There, standing on her porch, was a tall man in a business suit, his dark, wavy hair reaching down to his nape, and combed in such a way as to hide a pair of clearly oversized ears. His eyes—shielded by a pair of rectangular glasses—were dark and intense, his lips curled down to a frown.

"Where is she?" the man asked in a deep baritone, his tone putting Rey on her guard.

Before Rey could respond, the man walked past her and quickly made his way through her small house, reaching the kitchen in no time with his long strides before emerging with a struggling Hannah by his side.

The sight of the girl being dragged by her arm was what finally made Rey speak up. "What do you think you're doing? Let her go!"

Almost on instinct, Rey pulled Hannah away from the man's grasp and positioned herself in front of the girl.

"Just who do you think you are?" the man flared up.

"I should ask you the same thing," Rey fired back. "How dare you barge in here and try to take my daughter away? I should call the cops on you."

"Your dau—" The man trailed off and stared at her for a long while. Astonishment clear in his eyes, he turned to Hannah and shook his head. "Hannah, what have you done?"

Rey blinked and turned to Hannah, who was peeking up at the man from behind her. "Sweetie, do you know this man?"

Hannah said nothing. Only buried her face at the back of Rey's shirt.

"Of course, she knows who I am," the man seethed. "I'm Ben Solo. And I'm Hannah's father."

A/N: Yeah, I'm still feeling the Stormpilot feels so that stays. Besides, it's also for the plot. Hope you guys enjoyed this one. Until next time!