A/N Holy crap, guys! This is it. The last chapter! I may add an epilogue later, but this is the end of the actual story. Thank you so much for sticking with me!
What did you think?
Despite Hanna crawling around on the floor of their suite with her toys, Ben can't keep his hands off his new wife. He unclasps the dress and follows his fingers with his lips, down her back until he's on his knees behind her and spins her to face him, the dress fluttering down around her legs as she smiles down at him.
Looking up into Rey's eyes, Ben holds her gaze and leans in to kiss her navel and then slowly trails his kisses upwards again to capture her lips and kiss her deeply.
"I really wish I had more time before the feast to properly celebrate with my new wife."
He rumbles against her ear as Rey grins and starts to return the attention he's giving her and she carefully opens the buttons on his suit jacket, smoothing her hands over his muscular shoulders to push the jacket off.
Rey closes her eyes to let Ben nibble below her ear.
She has half the buttons on his shirt open and the ends pulled out of his pants when Hanna lets out a squeal of annoyance at the grave trespass her toys seem to have made towards her.
Rey grins at Ben as he blows out a long breath and she dances away from him to grab a robe as he backs away, regretfully, towards Hanna and scoops her up into his arms.
"Thanks for the reminder, little one. We need to get going."
Rey comes hurrying back out in a loose robe, holding a more muted, two-piece, white dress with silver embellishments.
"I'll need your help to get into another of your Grandmother's gowns."
Ben places Hanna down on the bed and repeats his earlier motions in reverse, stooping to kiss every patch of Rey's skin before he covers it with a button.
Almost an hour later, they are the last to arrive downstairs for the feast and another cheer goes up as they make their way towards their friends and family. They pass Hanna over to Chewie's out-stretched arms and settle into their seats.
They all laugh and talk and drink and eat for hours before Leia gets up to follow Maz and Chewie upstairs for the night. Leia approaches Ben, who is making silly faces at an enamoured Hanna, sitting on his lap.
"If Hanna is fed, I can take her to my suite for tonight."
Ben turns back to Hanna with a mockingly serious expression.
"What do you think, Starlight? Want to go with Grama for a sleepover?"
Hanna gurgles happily and makes her father smile again before he hands her over to Leia. Rey leans over and gives Hanna a nuzzle and a kiss before they leave.
After the General has left, Poe gets to his feet and grins at everyone.
"Well, now that the parental element has retired for the night, I think it might be time for some fun."
Rey looks at Ben with a curious but amused expression and he gives her an equally confused, albeit more trepidatious look, in return.
"I'm going to regret this."
Ben mumbles before narrowing his gaze at Poe.
"What did you have in mind, Dameron?"
Poe's grin turns feral with excitement.
XXXXXXXXX
"When Poe said fun, I didn't think the night would end in a big pissing contest over who's the best pilot." Rey says with a smirk.
Laherra is attempting to play cards with Kato, but over his head Poe and Ben have begun staring at each other with a growing look of excitement and competitiveness.
Rose and Finn grinning, with their gazes darting back and forth between the inflated egos of Poe and Ben. Rey stands up and claps a hand each on Ben and Poe's shoulders.
"Boys, I think it's time we settled it… that I am obviously a better pilot than you both."
The looks of astonishment she got from both men makes Rey grin with intense satisfaction as she turns to lead everyone towards the doors of the castle with a loud laugh.
At the doors she turns back and beckons to Ben with a saucy glint in her eye.
"Are you coming or not?"
Ben is on his feet and striding towards her instantly, not caring if anyone follows as he chases a laughing Rey out of the building.
An hour later, they have all sobered up, except Kato, and are standing on the flight deck of the Dreadnaught orbiting Takodana, sussing out the rules of their friendly competition and all side wagers.
Laherra is standing stiffly, adjacent to the group as Rose and Finn start taking bets from all the mechanics and pilots, milling around.
"This is a direct breach of the rules, regarding the proper use of these fighters."
He mumbles, not for the first time, and just as every time before, everyone ignores him except Poe, who swaggers over.
"Hey, don't worry so much. These machines need to be kept in good working order and part of that is putting them through their paces every once in a while."
He says, sliding an arm over Laherra's shoulders and whispering in his ear.
"It's good for moral too because it gets everyone's blood pumping."
Poe's suggestive comments have the desired effect on Laherra and Poe grins wider at the blonde man's sudden speechlessness.
Rey steps backwards towards her A-wing with an excited grin and watches Ben smile back as he heads towards his TIE Silencer. Poe winks at them both from the cockpit of his X-wing.
"First one through the asteroid belt and back wins."
Rey yells out before launching herself over the side of her ship and settling down inside to start the take-off sequence.
Rose is nearly vibrating with excitement as she elbows an equally as excited Finn.
"This is going to be EPIC."
The crowd of pilots, mechanics and maintenance personnel are cheering loudly and still exchanging bets as Rose stands at the edge of the open hangar, just a couple feet from the pressure barrier that separates the atmosphere in the hangar from the vacuum of space. Holding up a red grease rag and eyeing off all three fighters hovering in front of her, she takes a deep breath and whips the cloth down to her toes with a flourish as the ships whoosh over her head and towards the asteroid belt. She spins on the spot to watch the race as the crowd runs up behind her.
Finn tosses an arm over her shoulders as he cheers for Rey and Rose can't help the blush that stains her cheeks.
Not that Finn notices.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"C'mon Darkside, I thought your ship was fast." Poe taunts over the open comm and Ben ignores him to concentrate on charging his boosters so he can glide right by the rusted, old Resistance fighters.
"Yeah Ben, you always go on about your Silencer like it's the best in the Galaxy. Let's see it, Solo."
He had to admit that Rey's teasing hit a little closer to the mark, but he grins as he responds and watches her A-Wing give the slightest of wobbles.
"I'm waiting to see what you've got, Mrs. Solo. But as much as I enjoy the view of your backside…"
Chuckling to himself as he sees the 'fully charged' light turn on above his head, Ben grins as he grips the booster handle and punches it. His sleek Silencer shoots past Rey and Poe to go high above and around the asteroid belt.
In one smooth arc, Ben steers down and comes out underneath the asteroids and gives the ship the last of the boosters to streak back towards the Dreadnaught hangar.
Ben is standing up, leaning his arms over the top of the hatch of his silencer, waiting with a badly smothered smirk when Rey's A-Wing reaches the hangar a nose ahead of Poe's X-Wing.
Mechanics and pilots cheer and credits are begrudgingly transferred on the other side of the hangar, but Ben waits for Rey to pop the top of her A-Wing with a sore but sultry expression and make her way over towards him. She stops a couple meters away and props a hand on her hip to stare him down as Dameron walks over to join her.
"Okay, I have to admit, that was a great move and I concede defeat… this time. But BB-8 and I are gonna work on the X-Wing a bit and then I want a rematch."
Without taking his eyes off of Rey, Ben answers.
"Anytime Dameron."
Poe wanders off to go schmooze their audience and Rey takes a big breath and starts climbing up the side of the Silencer as Ben drops back down into his ship's seat.
Rose yells across the hangar for the newlyweds to join them but Rey, lowering herself down into the tight cockpit of the Silencer, yells back before closing herself and Ben inside and activating the sunshield tint on the viewscreen.
"Soon Rose. But a bet is a bet."
Rose's face is screwed up in confusion, but she dismisses the comment until she notices the Silencer sway slightly a couple minutes later and she loudly and quickly starts ushering everyone out of the hangar with a dark blush across her face.
Kato cackles with laughter all the way out of the hangar.