"Supreme Leader, I've prepared a document I'd like you to sign."
Ren's office was rarely occupied. The man would rather hop in a ship and chase down his pet missions or skulk about his own quarters. The Supreme Leader loathed paperwork, even though Hux took care of the brunt of it. Yet here he sat, overwhelmed by a backlog of things that needed his approval and authorization. Ren sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What is it?"
"This is a personal matter." Hux sat down in the chair opposite Ren's desk. "Personal to me. You alone can amend the situation, unfortunately."
"What is it?" Ren repeated, not entirely disinterested.
Hux realized that winning this decree didn't guarantee any sort of future in which he was married to the mother of his child. Aurelia could simply relish in her new found freedom and deny his proposal. Still, he motioned to the guards. "In private, please."
Ren lazily motioned and the guards marched out. "What is it?" His curiosity was apparent. "You've never asked me for a personal favor, General."
"Grand Marshal." Pursing his lips, Hux slid the datapad over and watched anxiously as Ren read through the decree.
"The girl from the gala?" Ren asked, looking up in surprise. "Really?" The front legs of his chair hit the floor with a thud. "You slept with a married woman?" Amusement lit up his face. "I didn't know you had it in you. Usually you're such an asshole about the rules."
"I didn't know she was married," Hux said firmly. "She separated from him for her safety, joined the order and changed her identity to escape." After a moment, he defensively added, "I'm no cad."
Now Ren was tapping into his own datapad. "Smitte. Human Resources?" He looked up. "She's not even an officer. Have fun explaining that to the rest of your generals." His voice was dripping with utter amusement.
Knowing Ren was seeking more details, Hux sighed and offered them up. "We met the evening of the victory party. Things progressed quickly. I'm only trying to amend the situation. She's agreeable to the annulment. Her signature's just there."
Enjoying the game, Ren grinned. "Plenty of officers father illegitimate children on this ship and no one cares enough to do anything about it. But not you." He leaned forward and put his hand out, reaching for Hux's face. "You love this girl? Show me."
"Oh, come on," Hux snarled as he felt Ren pry into his mind. Then Hux saw her: smirking after a quip, her hair splayed over the pillow as she slept, the freckles under her eyes. Her nervous grimace as she sat in his office to tell him she was pregnant, her mischievous smile as she pulled him away from the party with a drink still in her other hand. Her loud laughter, steady snoring, passionate gasp. Her scent. Her feel. The pride of knowing she loved him, and the slightest swell in her stomach was something he created with her. Aurelia. Kriff, how had he ever gone without loving her?
Ren sat back. "All right." He slashed his signature across the document and handed it back to Hux. "Annulled."
Halfway stunned, he took the pad and held it firm in his hands, afraid it was an illusion. "Thank you."
"By the way," Ren added, "the child is a girl. Congratulations."
A girl! Hux clutched the datapad against his chest. "A daughter?" Yes, that would do nicely. Someone strong yet delicate, able to conquer the world and put it back together again. Females were so much more eloquent in everything they did, and he was truthfully relieved to hear the news. Sons hadn't gone so well for the individuals in the room, after all.
"Oh, there's more."
"More?" Hux's heart pounded into his throat. "You didn't say anything at the gala - what more is there? Is she healthy?"
He smirked. "Oh, yes. She's strong. And she's Force-sensitive."
"What?" Hux spat. "That's preposterous. She's my child."
"Yeah. Well, she is. Gotta go," Ren said, grabbing his cloak and striding toward the door, a rare wide grin on his face.
"Ren," Hux called. "How can that be? Ren! Is this a joke?"
It was near midnight. Aurelia huffed and rolled over in bed; sore and moody, frustrated at how she broke the news of her marriage to Hux, and most of all, starving. The day had been nothing but a shit show. The nausea and churning in her stomach wasn't entirely caused by the fetus sucking nutrients from her.
Hux was supposed to show up with a document that said her marriage was annulled and then propose in a spectacular fashion. Instead, Aurelia waited. When lunch time came around and the footfall of boots never came, Jory grimaced and shrugged back at her. At dinner, she couldn't bring herself to to go him. She was proud, too, and wasn't going to go crawling, a married woman begging her lover for his attention and forgiveness.
Now she missed him desperately. Giving up on sleep, Aurelia stretched and sat on the edge of the bed, immersed in thought. She was utterly in love with the grand marshal. She hadn't gone a day without spending time with him since before she revealed her pregnancy to him. Out of tears, she sighed and put on a silk robe and headed to her kitchenette to find something to eat.
She'd just blended a smoothie out of magenta berries when a familiar knock rang through the apartment. The whirring of the door sliding open followed.
"Aurelia?" Hux lingered in the doorway. "I'm surprised you're awake."
Holding up the glass of pink slime, she shrugged. "The kid's hungry."
"I'm glad." His eyes flickered to her stomach and his lips ticked upward for a moment. "Did- did you eat dinner?"
She set the glass down with a clink. "I can't do this; act like this morning didn't happen. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I thought if I could convince myself I was Aurelia Smitte, then maybe it'd eventually be true and Rylee's problems would go away. I never meant for any of this."
"One of your problems did go away," Hux said, drawing his datapad from his coat. "You're officially an unwed woman. Decreed by our Supreme Leader."
She snatched the pad and stared at the notice. Her heart thudded. There it was, at the top of the lengthy document. The marriage of parties Rylee Lackey and Vero Corren is hereby void and null by decree of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.
Still standing in the doorway, Hux nodded to a trooper that marched by in the hall. "I was going to wait until you came by for dinner to tell you, but I took your absence as a sign that you wanted to be alone." He cleared his throat. "I tried to sleep, but hated the thought of you feeling badly."
"Come in," Aurelia said, handing back his pad. She gulped down the rest of her smoothie and rinsed out the glass, using the exercise to catch her breath and prepare herself.
Hux settled rigidly on her small settee. "Eating without you was strange. It hasn't been long, but I already missed you." He dared a smile. "You didn't eat from the meal plan, did you?"
"No." She laughed. It's now or never. "Permission to propose an idea?"
Perplexed by her formality, he nodded solemnly. "Permission granted."
"Marry me."
A parade of emotions crossed his face. When one finally stuck, he blurted, "Did you just propose to me?"
"Yes. Please don't faint."
