Author's Notes…
Decided to go with a modern AU this time.
"It's my belief we're all crazy." (after Trudy, the bag lady)
"I don't want to run your Goddamn business!"
"What the hell is wrong with you, Ben?!"
"I don't know, Dad, what the hell is wrong with you?!"
"You're being fucking ridiculous."
"Well, not as ridiculous as you!"
"Watch your tone, son!"
"Watch your tone!"
"That's it. I'm done, I can't fucking deal with this anymore." Han stood up from the table. "He's your son, you deal with him!"
Rey opened her mouth to protest, indignant at his choice of words, but Leia got there first. "He's your son, too, Han," she said with heat.
"Not anymore!" Han threw his cloth napkin on the table and stormed out of the room. Leia and Rey watched him go, and it wasn't long before Ben followed suit, right on his heels. Their muffled shouts continued from down the hall.
Rey picked up her glass of wine and took a long, long, long sip until it was empty. Once she was finished, she set it back down and looked at her fiancé's mother. "He didn't mean that, right?"
"No," Leia said sourly. She helped herself to another serving of the green bean casserole. "This happens every holiday. The important ones, that is. Ben never shows up otherwise."
Rey licked her lips, still tasting the rose wine. She picked up a roll and began to shred it over her plate. She needed something to do with her hands. Her foot was tapping nervously against the floor, and her gaze kept flicking toward the hall. It was taking all her strength to sit there and not interfere.
"I mean, is it so bad that he doesn't want to be a criminal?" Rey asked.
"No, dear," Leia replied. "But you're fooling yourself if you think Ben hasn't picked up any criminal activity on the side."
Rey didn't know what to say to that.
Her future mother-in-law gave her a wry smile.
"I'm glad we can, er… talk about this so casually, then," Rey said.
"Here. Have some more wine." Leia poured her a healthy glass, far more than the first one. Rey wasn't complaining.
"How do you turn a blind eye?" Rey took a smaller sip of the wine. She knew for a fact that Leia wasn't involved in any of this risky business.
"I've tried to reform him over the years. It doesn't work, and I don't want to leave him, so I pretend it's not happening. It's easiest."
"And you're a senator," Rey said slowly. "Does that make it easy to cover it up?"
Ben came back into the room, but not to stay. He was headed straight across it. The situation had reversed, and Han was doing the following. Both were nearly purple in the face from their screaming match.
"Should we stop them?" Rey asked.
"No. Pass me the cranberry sauce?"
Rey gave it to her without lifting her eyes from the other exit of the dining room. She craned her neck, trying to see what was going on, but a smartly placed plant was blocking her view. Damn. This was her first holiday with the Solos, and they had been five minutes into dinner before hell had been unleashed.
"I really think we should do something," she said.
"There's no point, I promise," Leia sighed. "At least this year I'm not sitting here alone." She leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, and drank her own healthy dose of wine. She closed her eyes and got comfortable.
Ten minutes later, Ben returned, throwing himself into the seat beside Rey. He savagely grabbed the turkey plate and began heaping pieces onto his own, along with sampling all of the other food on the table. He started shoveling it into his mouth at the speed of light.
Rey put her hand on his knee. "Are you okay?" she whispered.
He gave her a very dirty look, chewing furiously.
Han came in five minutes after Ben, sitting beside his wife. The two glowered at one another across the giant table as they ate.
"Welcome to the family, Rey," Leia said without opening her eyes. "And Happy Thanksgiving."
