Ben fumbled with his keys as he tried to balance the takeout with his briefcase and water bottle and mittens and still stay warm against the raging windstorm that threatened to steal his scarf. The house was dark when he got inside, so he set the food and his things on the kitchen counter and wandered into the living room to find his wife. Rey was hardly visible beneath the layers and layers of blankets she had bundled herself in, curled up on the couch. He watched her for a moment as he removed his coat and scarf. She gave a little snore, and he smiled.
He hung his scarf up and then returned to put his frigid hand against the warm skin of her neck.
She squeaked and flailed and fell onto the floor, glaring up at him. "You're cold!"
"It's cold outside," he laughed. "Come eat. I got Thai."
"I know it's cold outside. I've been out in it all day!" She stood, keeping one of the many blankets tight around her. "The plastic panels on the greenhouse blew off, and I chased them through the neighborhood." She shuffled to the kitchen, kicking off the extra blankets, keeping just one around her like a cape. "And then I duct taped that cheap greenhouse back together because I'm going to murder the weather if my peas freeze or if the strawberries die out."
"Not the strawberries," Ben lamented, fishing chopsticks out of a drawer. "Do you want the soup or the curry first?"
"Soup, Babe," Rey answered, coming over and planting her forehead against his chest.
He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. "I'm sure you wind proofed the greenhouse spectacularly."
"It was awful," she groaned into his chest. "Each time I came back, another panel had flown off. I hope the duct tape will hold."
There was a knock at the door.
"I've got it," Ben said, patting the top of Rey's head before he spun her to face the food on the counter.
He went to the door and opened it to one of the neighbor's foster children, Temiri.
"Can I crash here for a bit?" He whispered.
Ben stepped aside, nodding. "Yeah. Are you okay?"
Temiri shook his head as he came in, dropping his backpack on the floor.
Ben closed the door to the wind outside and ushered the boy into the kitchen.
"Hi, Tem," Rey greeted. "Are you hungry? Do you want some Thai?"
He looked at the containers and shook his head.
"Have some of the noodles before Rey eats it all," Ben coaxed. "It will help you feel better." Ben took paper plates and bowls from the pantry, and he scooped noodles onto a plate, making sure to get extra chunks of meat on top and held it out to the boy.
Rey looked back up at Temiri and frowned. The ten, almost eleven year old boy looked awful. His eyes were red from crying, and he sniffled into his sleeve, but he obediently took the plate and went to the table to sit down.
"Hot cocoa," Rey instructed Ben as she took her bowl of soup to join the neighbor boy at the table, grabbing a spoon and fork from the silverware drawer on her way over, and placing the fork next to Temiri's plate. "Do you want to talk, or do you just need to not be at home right now?"
"It's not gonna be home anymore."
Ben's head snapped to look over at them as he was putting water on the stove for hot cocoa. "What happened?"
"They're moving, and it's outside the foster agency's lines," Temiri mumbled into his noodles, putting a piece of meat in his mouth. Tears dribbled over his cheeks, but he refused to take his eyes off his plate.
Rey put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know that they were such good guardians for you three. How are Ara and Oniho handling it?"
He shook his head. "They just told us. I don't know."
Rey rubbed his shoulder and looked back to Ben setting a pot of water on the stove. He looked back at her, frowning. Rey was promptly dragging Ben to his office and shutting the door behind them. "We need to adopt them. All of them."
"Rey!"
"No, Ben Solo, listen to me. I know what it feels like to be a foster kid and passed around. We're stable! We have the extra room! We can take them in!"
He looked between her and the door. Gradually, a smile covered his face. "I was thinking the same thing, you know."
"Really?!" She threw her arms around his shoulders.
They hid their excitement that first night, first going over to their neighbors and discussing the situation. They let Temiri stay in the extra room, telling him that they were just letting his guardians know where he was. They drove him and the other two to school the following morning before they joined the children's guardians at the fostering agency, and they went through detail after paperwork after interview. With the process started, they felt both a sense of comfort settle in their souls and a sense of anxiety fall over their chests. They were sure that they would be able to parent these children. They were already good friends with them after having lived next door to them for a few years. They were worried that they would be given to someone else, that they would fail some home inspection, that they wouldn't actually be up to the standard.
They refused to say anything to the children before everything was set in stone. Rey was the one to make that decision. She knew about getting her hopes up, and she refused to let the children feel that same disappointment that she had encountered in her own childhood.
Ben, though, was already jumping into action. He had been looking over the floor plan of their single floor home. It had their master bedroom, the guest bedroom, and an office. He knew he was willing to give the office to one of the children, and the guest bedroom would certainly be one of the other's. Rey found him late one night sketching out an additional room at the back of the house and setting out notes to take to a contractor in the morning.
"Until it's finished, do you think Oniho and Temiri will mind sharing a room?" Ben asked Rey.
Rey threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "I don't think they'll mind at all."
The home inspection went off without a hitch. Ben had already had the contractor start on the new room, and he had worried that their interviewer would say something, but she had been impressed.
"How long do you plan on fostering?" she asked.
Ben and Rey looked at each other. Rey reached out her hand for Ben's and looked back at the lady. "We want to keep them. Not just until they turn 18. We'll foster them for as long as they want, but we hope that we'll be able to adopt them all, give them the family they need."
Ben and Rey invited everyone over for dinner, the couple and the three children.
The guardians smiled with a knowing gaze as they entered the home behind Temiri, Oniho, and Arashell. Rey took each child in a tight hug when they entered, and Ben kept his smile as low key as he could. He knew that Rey wanted to be the one to share the news.
She ushered them all around the dining room table and retrieved the manila envelope from the counter.
"What is that?" Arashell asked, taking her normal seat beside the window.
Rey bounced on her toes as she opened it and passed a very official looking letter to her. The girl scanned it, and understanding dawned on her face. She read the most important sentence aloud, "Ben and Rey Solo have been granted guardianship of Temiri Blagg, Arashell Sar, and Oniho Zaya."
Temiri and Oniho shot up to look over her shoulders at the letter.
"You were approved?" the wife exclaimed, taking Rey into a tight hug. "I'm so grateful for you both!"
"You're taking us in?" Oniho said, looking up at Ben and Rey.
"We'd miss you too much, kid," Ben told him, letting his smile take up his entire face. "All of you."
"Here, I want each of you to choose out your bedroom," Rey said, pulling herself away from the hug to take Oniho and Arashell's hands and nodding for Temiri to follow. "The boys will have to share until the construction is finished."
"I thought you were building a greenhouse!" Temiri gasped.
"Nope, a room just for one of you, whoever wants it."
"I was so worried today would be the last day we'd get to see you!" Arashell said, her pigtails swinging as took in the sight of the former office, now empty except for a plain wood dresser.
"Nope, you're stuck with us," Ben laughed.
"You're not going to move anytime soon, are you?" Temiri asked, narrowing his eyes.
"We're building a full room and taking in three bright children in the middle of the school year, and we both have our own jobs that keep us here, and my mother is dying to meet you three. We are not moving anytime soon. We're putting down roots."
Rey's eyes widened, and a tear escaped. "We're putting down roots."