It was good. She had been expecting her return to her house to be more bitter and rather miserable, but she was fine. In fact, she was rather comfortable now that she was home. The faint mango and coconut scent was making her feel butterflies in her stomach as if the air was hugging her, and she couldn't wait to go upstairs and just lie in her bed all day long… for maybe a month or so.

"I missed this place," she sighed with a sad smile of face, turning to Ben, who insisted on carrying her luggage, flowers and gifts. He had shaved off his beard and his hair was a bit shorter, barely touching his shoulder, though still long enough to play with his locks and twirl them around her fingers. He smiled back and let the gym bag fall off his shoulder on the floor, then clumsily put the flowers and gift bags on the table.

"What do you want to do?"

She tilted her head and grinned before her expression turned into a sad one. She longed to feel his touch and have him make love to her, but she couldn't stop wondering if her memories were going to be once again an issue. This time, it was no longer about the lack of trust and the unknown. It was about the trauma, Kylo Ren's mask and face, his hands touching her and his voice mocking her need for affection and a family. She didn't want to just use Ben to blow off steam only to end up feeling disgusted by him. And with the reminder that her daughter was dead and her third pregnancy was nothing but a false alarm, she was not sure if she could think straight and not let her desperation take over her once again.

"Umm… I honestly want to take a bath, but I also don't wa-"

"Are your memories back?"

Rey blinked at him suddenly changing the subject. She shook her head brushing off her own confusion, then chuckled.

"Mmm… yeah. Yes. I do. Why?"

"I don't know. It's something about you that seems different."

"I am the same Rey, Ben-Ben, with or without memories."

He agreed with a shy smile and Rey took a step forward, but stopped herself from hugging and kissing him by clenching her fists and jaw. There were so many things they had to talk about.

"Ben," she called his name making him look at her. "It was yours."

He furrowed not understanding her remark.

"The baby," she gulped. "I've never cheated on you. It was your daughter."

"I know."

"She was premature and Hux let her die to punish me for trying to escape and… Wait… what did you say?"

"I know that she is mine," he smiled kindly.

But how did he know? With Luke in a coma, she doubted that the police just offered him random information from her statement. And even if it was just a conclusion following the context of her disappearance, why was he so calm and smiling? They were talking about the death of their child.

"Why are you not saying anything else?" she snapped. "You cried more than I did the first time I miscarried that tadpole and now you find out that I gave birth to our daughter and saw her tiny body, heard her coo, then had her taken from me. Ben, I cried and begged and he didn't even let me touch her once. I lost my memories when he threw me the skeleton of another baby and told me that it was my daughter. And then he gave me hope. Hope that she was still alive, but only for one moment, because he told me that despite the skeleton not being hers, she had been thrown in a trashcan in the baby blanket I made her. I had to have the mental image of my baby being eaten by dogs! And you just smile at me and don't show any ounce of sadness!"

Ben held her by the wrists as she kept punching his chest.

"Why don't you care? Why aren't you grieving? Wh-why don't you feel… why aren't you angry? She was murdered , Ben!"

"Rey, breathe," he whispered caressing her head. With her hands now freed, she punched him again, but with less strength and energy. Eventually, she gave up and hugged him weeping. Ben lifted her in his arms and took her upstairs, where he undressed her and filled the bathtub with hot water.

"He killed them too," she whimpered as Ben poured some shower gel in his palm and began massaging her bruised back. "Our moms."

Ben stopped and Rey turned to look at him with a miserable aura.

"He smothered Maz with a pillow as revenge for not adopting him like she did with Finn and me and ran over Mrs Leia to make you go rogue again and break us up."

Ben's lip trembled, then he inhaled deeply and blinked seemingly to dry his tears before they escaped his eyes. It was unlike him to be that calm.

"My mom used to tell me that one must celebrate the living and remember the dead. Hux is dead now and he will be forgotten by everyone, including his family, whereas Maz and mom will always be in our hearts. Our mothers died loving us, but Armitage died as a monster."

"How did it happen?" she asked letting him continue his massaging. "I smelled the gas, but I was pretty much passed out when the explosion happened."

"Well… we fought, then Luke and his dad barged in. They argued, Luke tried to make him surrender, but his father told him how much of a disappointment he ended up being and pulled a gun on him. I saw the open door and I assumed you were there, so I ran with Luke behind me to get you. I think Hux tried to follow me too and that was when his father shot him. That's why I don't have any severe burns and Luke is still alive, whereas they were charred."

"You risked your life for me," she murmured feeling bad for her most recent breakdown.

"Of course. I love you the most."

He spoke on such a soothing tone and he was so certain of each word he said that Rey couldn't help herself. She reached for his hand and laid her head on the edge of the bathtub, lifting her chin. Ben chuckled and pressed his lips against hers, while his hand touched her neck. There was a certain possessive undertone in his gesture that once used to make Rey feel turned on. However, this time she cringed and whimpered.

"My body still hurts."

It was not that much of a lie. Her body did hurt, but it was the mental trauma keeping her from dragging him in the water with her, not her bruises.

"I'm sorry," she said as he poured some shampoo on her hair.

"You needn't apologize. The right half of my body requires ointments every couple of hours."

"Umm… not that. I'm sorry for how I treated you. I can't imagine what you've gone through trying to find me all those years and then I had to betray you like that."

"Don't ever apologize for anything that happened in our past. I am the one who fell for the lies of others and my own paranoia. I didn't allow myself to move on and love you as you deserved, out of fear and stupidity. I shouldn't have allowed Kaydel to kiss me just because I was drunk and upset. So if there's someone who needs to apologize, then that's me."

Rey shook her head.

"I could never hate you, Ben. Even when my poor memories were pointing at you, I still hoped and tried to find clues that it was not you."

She claimed to not being capable of hating him, but he could not brag about the same strength and faith in her and their relationship. Luke had mocked him for screaming about how much he hated her, but it was true. He did hate her. His love for her did die. It all happened for a short time, but it still happened and it was torturing him knowing how easily he had given up on her.

"Ben?" she called his name and he finally noticed her eyes reading every pout and furrow. They were so close that he could see every freckle and tiny scratch and that glimmer in her eyes that made him fall in love with her. He cleared his throat fighting the urge to kiss her again and have her once again fear his touch.

"May I… Can you please tell me what happened?"

She avoided his gaze and let him continue massaging her scalp. There was no need to be more specific about his request.

"I was sick," she sighed. "And the doctor Phasma recommended me was Armitage Hux. He told me that I had a brain tumour and I… made the first mistake when I kept it a secret believing that I could go through the surgery and not tell you anything. The second mistake was flirting with him. I don't know why I did it. I was so depressed and afraid of dying and I felt like I couldn't tell you, but he knew and kept comforting me and distracting me. He made me laugh when I thought all hope was gone. And with him being the one to perform the surgery, he was also my saviour. But I swear that I never once intended to make him believe that I had a thing for him. Maybe it was a crush, but my heart has always been yours and my plan was to save you the pain of seeing me sick. I wanted to live for you and for us. And then… she happened. I saw her and heard her heart beating. I wanted you to come with me and find out what we were about to have. I already had names planned and ideas for the nursery."

She stopped to catch her breath, but the emotions were too overwhelming. She cried as Ben hugged her until she felt ready to speak again.

"Anyway… the day I found out about the pregnancy, I met him and it was all so awkward. I told him that I wanted to keep the baby and that I would go see another doctor if he insisted on putting me first. He later told me that whereas he didn't want me to die, he didn't want you to replace me and be happy with everything I would have left behind. So he abducted me that evening at the fair. Actually, I went to him believing he was you. He had the same car you had too, but I never looked at the plates or paid attention to any other small details. I became suspicious only later and he hit me before reacting. That's when I lost the scarf Finn gave me."

She paused and let Ben rinse her hair.

"At first I still foolishly believed that he was you and that it was just a stupid game, but he was just too cruel. He kept me locked in the bunker where you found me. I usually spent my days thinking of ways to escape and singing to our baby, but the solitude and confinement were torture. I was sometimes going crazy and he punished me each time by beating me and drugging me to stay docile. There was another girl too. She tried to save me, but I accidentally gave her plan away and apparently he killed her."

Ben cleared his throat.

"Margaret Shay. I had to identify her body. That's when Luke first started believing that something was more than odd about your disappearance."

"Yeah… he used her until he got me. He wanted you all to believe that she was me, but you found out the truth and he punished me by burning off my tattoo."

She lifted her wet strands of hair and revealed her scar once again.

"After her death, he behaved nicely and kept gifting me things to keep me entertained, but he was getting too close."

"Rey, did he…"

He did not dare say the word, so Rey looked at him with an empty gaze.

"Does it matter?"

His mouth opened in a silent exclamation, not knowing what to say. He wouldn't have blamed her or acted like a jealous husband, but he needed to know. The way she cringed and withdrew from his touch… she had already gone through so much. He just wanted to know how wounded was her soul.

"No," she sighed. "He refused to… do anything while I was carrying your child, though he was getting rather touchy and once he… Anyway!" she shook her head. "After I gave birth, I guess he took me to the hospital and I had that surgery."

"Yeah, he used Margaret's ID card. That's why no one in the hospital noticed that you were the missing girl. And that's how Luke found out that you had a surgery and we managed to piece together all the clues. Because you had a surgery, but the patient was a dead girl few people knew of."

Rey covered her face and for a moment Ben thought he heard her sobbing, but she just rubbed her eyes and got up. He gulped seeing her beautiful body and immediately covered her with a large towel.

"I spent a long time in a coma and then recovery," she continued her story taking a pair of black silk pyjamas from the drawer. "I have memories from back then, but they're just irrelevant. I was just a toy he was fixing… until he broke me for good."

This time she was truly sobbing and Ben approached her fearing her reaction. Fortunately, she hugged him and let him hug her back.

"It's not your fault," he said pressing his lips against her forehead.

"I know. But I still fucked up."

She let him go and looked at his neck. Oh, how she wanted to kiss his moles and every inch of his body.

"I…" she licked her lips. "I need to show you something."

She looked around the room until she noticed her scrapbook among the photo albums. She opened it to the page where she had cake ideas and names for their baby and ripped off the tape holding them glued to the thick page.

Some things never change , she chuckled to herself, then took out a sonogram. She looked at the shape of her baby mango and covered her mouth. That was all she had left.

"She didn't even have a name," she said with her voice trembling as she showed him the sonogram. "I saw her only for a moment when she was born because she was not crying, then I heard her cooing once."

"She has a name," smiled Ben taking the sonogram and touching the shape of the tiny body that once grew inside his wife. The tiny body he had helped create.

But as touched she felt by the love in his eyes, Rey couldn't help herself from wondering if Ben was fine. When she left over a week before, he was a complete wreck and during that time, he spent a few days in jail, found out that his wife had been kidnapped again, found out that his mom was murdered on purpose, that he had a daughter who was also dead, and he fought his evil doppelganger before being caught in a fire and having his last living relative end up in a coma with severe burns. He was too calm to be fine. Maybe he was still under the effects of sedatives or was on medication. Was he even realising that baby Solo had been dead for three years?

"Ben…"

"Do you want anything to eat? I mean the fridge is empty, but I can order something."

She parted her lips, then shook her head.

"No. I think I'm going to bed. Just… umm… where's Bee?"

"She's with Rose. Poor thing must have thought that we've abandoned her."

Speaking of abandonment, why was he leaving the bedroom? He ran to the door and blocked his way. Ben looked her in the eye and chuckled cupping her cheek.

"I'm not leaving you, sweetheart. I'm just going to put your flowers in water and make some tea."

"Let them dry!" she almost yelled, then grabbed his hand and pulled him in bed. She couldn't sleep all alone. Not in her first night back home.

/|\

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When Rey woke up the following day, for just a mere second, her mind mistook the ceiling of her bedroom to the one in the bunker. She jumped startled, then, breathing heavily, let her eyes adjust to her surroundings. She was home and it was already afternoon. She had spent the entire night talking with Ben, too afraid to fall asleep and wake up back in the bunker, but despite the friendlier reality, her mind was not helping. Sighing, she got up, went to take a shower, brushed her teeth, combed her hair in a ponytail, then put on a loose asymmetric teal shirt, which still had the price tag on. She chuckled reminding how pretentious she'd been without her memories and how ironic it was that she was feeling good wearing something new and pretty expensive. However, she remembered that shirt being longer and now she found herself roaming for a pair of pants or leggings.

Stomping her feet, Rey went downstairs minutes later, wearing a pair of pretty uncomfortable faux leather pants. Maybe she should have stayed in her pyjamas all day long.

"Ben?" she called her husband with no one responding. It was weird that Ben was not… was that a cat meowing?

"Bee!" she smiled excited as her beloved cat ran to her and purred joyful as she lifted her in her arms. "Oh, my own little heart!"

"Hey, look who's here!"

She stopped petting Bee for a moment and looked surprised at Finn, Poe and Rose dressed in nice clothes and passing plates and cutlery to one another. Why were they in her kitchen and why were they serving a huge meal so early in the morning? Why were they in her house in the first place? She had expected only solitude after she refused seeing anyone while in hospital.

"What's going on?" she laughed hugging each one of them and feeling surprisingly comfortable despite the rather tensed relationship they had before her disappearance.

"You missed your long-awaited Easter meal, so we've decided to improvise one to welcome you back," smiled Rose holding her hands. "I know it was your job to organise everything, but we hope it will make you feel a bit better."

"And remind you that you've got people who love you."

"How sweet of you," she smiled putting Bee down and staring at the dishes. Honey glazed carrots, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, roasted potatoes, politiki salad, roasted pork loin with herb stuffing and some things which were on the countertop and which she could not see well.

"You shouldn't have," she teared up.

"Shut up, we all love you!" laughed Finn putting her hand around her waist, completely ignorant of the now uncomfortable look on her face.

"Let me show you the lemon cheesecake," snatched her Rose while giving her a deviled egg. Rey took the egg and ate it suddenly feeling hungry.

"Hey, Rose?" she said admiring the seemingly perfect cheesecake.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I swear I've-"

"No need," smiled her friend. "I overreacted and I am sorry for treating you like that. I did feel betrayed and used, but I should have let you speak at least. And as far it concerns me, the cafe is going to be closed only until you're ready to come back."

"I'm… thank you," she nodded not sure what to say. "I guess work will help me get over everything. After all, people have been very kind to me."

Rey giggled and turned to point at the table still covered in gifts from her most faithful clients. Ben had said he would take the gifts and put them somewhere else, but only the flowers had been moved.

"Where is my husband?" she asked furrowing and suddenly panicking. Were they trying to distract her from something? "Where is Ben?" she demanded to know.

"Is she not here yet?"

"He went to bring her."

Rey clenched her jaw as Poe and Finn kept whispering as if she was not present. Who was she ? What was going on?

"Rey, let's go take your gifts somewhere else and let the boys set the table."

Rose pretty much dragged her out of the kitchen. They took the gifts and walked into the living room to drop them on the sofa. One of the smaller packets feel from Rey's hold and she bent over to get it while turning up her nose at the red wine stain on her perfect carpet. She had worked like crazy to raise the money to buy it and now it was pretty much ruined with that old stain looking liked dried up blood. She felt her stomach revolting and hurried to grab the packet and stand up. Oh, it was a periwinkle lingerie set from Dahlia's new collection. She pursed her lips blushing. Too bad she wouldn't get to wear it anytime soon. Sighing, she put the packet on the coffee table and took another bag. It was a set of three silver elephants of different sizes. They were too cute to leave them in the bag, so she took them out and placed them on the fireplace mantel. There! Like a perfect family. She ran to grab another bag, but her excitement immediately turned into a bitter surprise. A children's book and a cardigan for a small child. Someone must have mixed up the bags or made a really distasteful joke on purpose. And someone else as well, because she found a pair of pink sneakers for a little child and a matching pink tiny cap, then a denim jumpsuit trimmed with lace, two pairs of pyjamas and some toys, but also a photo frame decorated with cakes, balloons and a large number three.

Oh… she let a tear escape her eye. It would have been her daughter's birthday. Though she couldn't ever know the exact date, she must have been born around that time. But why were her clients gifting her presents for her dead daughter? Were they all sick people trying to make her go crazy?

She threw the jumpsuit on the teal armchair and inhaled deeply.

"Rose, can you please take care of these? I'm not feeling well," she said storming out of the room and heading towards the bathroom. However, as she got out of the room, she bumped into her husband as he was just entering their home. His face turned from surprised to glad to serious and worried in just a matter of seconds. He needn't ask her anything to make tear up and cuddle at his chest.

"What's wrong?"

That was not Ben's voice. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, then looked behind him at Kaydel. She could now see her better than that day when she was being taken care of by the paramedics and could observe the reason why her abductor had thought that he had killed her. She was indeed pretty badly hurt, even with her black eye and bruises healing. Moreover, for a moment, she was reminded by the cruel reality that Kaydel was like that because Hux used her to get to her . However, her mouth was faster than her empathy or sense of guilt and she snarled at the young woman.

"Are you here to kiss my husband again?"

Kaydel parted her lips surprised by her question, but immediately shook her head and laughed.

"No. I'm here to see my sister."

Rey furrowed and looked at Rose, but her friend shrugged with an awkward smile. Then, she looked once again at Kaydel, who was now taking a photo out of the box she was carrying. She handed her the photo and Rey took it hesitantly. It was a family. Two parents, a grandmother or elder aunt and three children. Without too much patience to analyse it, she turned the photo and read the scribbles on the back.

Caiden and Reyne Shay with grandma Margarita and daughters Kaydel (5), Rey (3) and baby Margaret (11 months) and dogs Saturn and Juno.

Rey blinked and let out a whimper as she covered her mouth. She kept looking at the young woman in front of her and then back at the photo, while her mind was trying to remember poor Margaret Shay. The resemblance was uncanny, though looking at her own three-year-old self, her mind was trying to tell her that she had seen that nose, puffy cheeks and chestnut hair somewhere else than in the mirror. She brushed off the thought and her gaze softened as twenty-year-old memories of three little girls playing in the backyard and chasing the dogs resurfaced.

"I'm your older sister, Rey," whispered Kaydel as her eyes were filling up with tears. She seemed genuinely happy and surprisingly, she was too.

Sometimes, one has to think things clearly. In her case, Rey knew about Kaydel that she had been the only one supporting Ben emotionally and helping him get back on his feet during those three years. Although the house was full of people who loved her, they all had reacted differently to her disappearance, and whereas Luke had always protected Ben, he had been more focused on the case that on his nephew's mental and emotional state. But Kaydel did care about such things. She took Ben to therapy when he was depressed and suicidal. She got him a job and bonded with him like she and Finn used to before he became famous and shallow. And, she liked it or not, Rey had her own abandonment issues and had misinterpreted their relationship. Yes, Kaydel did kiss Ben and she had most likely acted shady and duplicitous those past weeks, but it wasn't her fault either. She knew she was guilty herself of having flirted with the doctor, but not guilty of anything else he did. So it would have been unfair to treat Kaydel like a villain after knowing what he had done. He seduced her with lies and toyed with her feelings. He slept with her and got her pregnant by pretending that he was someone else, then beat her until she lost the baby and almost killed her. And yet she still helped Ben and Luke find her … her sister.

Rey let go of Ben and went to Kaydel with firms steps. She had big eyes like their mother and despite Rey and Margaret looking more alike, it was Kaydel's smile that reminded her of the poor drugged and abused girl who tried to rescue her. They all suffered because of her history with Hux, who managed to ruin the lives of three sisters.

"Oh, come here," pulled her Kaydel in her arms.

/|\

\|/

After a half an hour spent crying and hugging each other, the two sisters joined the others at the table. It had been years since the last time any of them had enjoyed such good company. The jokes and laughter made them all forget about their worries for a few hours and the entire reunion had been overall satisfying. Finn promised to stay in town for at least a couple of weeks to mend his relationship with his sister and make up for the lost time, while Poe would help Ben repair the greenhouse and redecorate one of the guest bedrooms. However, business was business and he made Rey promise that she would guest star on a couple of videos for his online show. Then, after the confusion and mess created regarding the cafe, Rose and Rey agreed to become co-owners and open another cafe in the big city, one that would be run by Kaydel, hence she knew the best how to run a business. Meanwhile, Ben had already come up with some design ideas for the new name - Shay's.

Later, after the bottles of wine began piling up on the countertop and Finn and Poe started getting too touchy, they all decided to call it a day. Surprisingly, the two lovers managed to go upstairs and reach the guest bedroom without help, while the girls took the other guest bedroom. Rey looked at a lonely Ben remaining behind, in the kitchen, to clean up the mess, but said nothing. It was quite clear that after learning that his mother's death had not been an accident and with his uncle in a coma, it was difficult for him to be surrounded by her friends and family. She sighed and joined Rose and Kaydel with a heavy heart. She needed some girl time, especially with her best friend and her older sister.

"I can't imagine how horrible it must have been for you," caressed Rose her shoulder while the three of them were sitting on the bed. She had borrowed the girls some pyjamas and now it felt as if they were throwing a pyjama party.

"Sometimes I feel as if I'm fine or at least better, but then I keep remembering how much time he had stolen from me and how many people he hurt."

She looked at Kaydel who was avoiding her gaze and pretending to be concentrated on petting a purring Bee.

"He made Ben go rogue during college and kill Han in that car accident, then he killed Maz, Leia, Margaret and my baby girl," she put her hand over Kaydel's. "And he killed your baby and almost killed you."

"No," she shook her head. "I don't think I would have kept it anyway. And it is my fault for being an idiot anyway. Had I not been so desperate and had I spoken to Ben sooner, we wouldn't have ended up like this. But my heart was hungry and I ended up eating as many lies I was being fed."

Rey touched Bee's paw understanding her sister's conflict.

"I want to forgive him, though. I can understand that he was probably mentally ill and had his childhood issues haunting him, but I… I just can't get over it. I can't!"

"Same," whispered her sister. "I mean I don't have really a reason to forgive him, but I don't want to waste my time hating him either. I want to forget."

"But I can't do this either," smiled Rey with sadness. "I can't brush it off or lose my memory again."

"He's dead now and he can't hurt you anymore, but what's done is done," uttered Rose hugging a pillow. "He didn't really pay for anything."

"But his family will," snarled Kaydel and Rey looked at her with huge eyes. "Phasma knew that you two knew each other and she used her blog and followers to accuse Ben instead of going to the police to tell them about your supposed affair. I mean… I accused Ben too and I am ashamed of it, but this way we got Hux's fingerprints and found out that there were two people. Also, his brother knew about his surgery. They were complices and I want them to pay. I will bring all my former classmates from law school and have them crushed!"

"Law school?" raised Rose an eyebrow ignoring the rest of her speech.

"I have two degrees," explained Kaydel. "And one master's and I'm currently working on my doctoral thesis."

"Wow," chuckled Rey. "You're a smart cookie."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "I've been told before. I'm pretty, smart and rich, but unlucky and unloved."

"Come on," Rey punched her gently in the shoulder. "At least you two each have gone to school."

"Yeah, Rey," snorted Rose. "It's not as if you have the rest of your life to go to school and get a degree in something."

Yeah… she still had the rest of our life, unlike her poor younger sister.

"What's wrong?" hugged her Rose as she started weeping.

"It's Margaret," she sniffed. "It's my fault she's dead. I gave away her plan and he killed her. She's been his prisoner just because she looked like me. She was barely twenty and she had also gone through the death of her baby and years of abuse and addiction. She didn't share our luck. I was so blessed to be adopted by Maz, even if I didn't get to go to school and I had to work since I was a kid. Kaydel was-"

"Not loved by her parents, but had nice nannies and lots of money."

"Yeah," laughed Rey for a moment before turning serious again. "But what did Margaret have?"

Kaydel took off the lid of the box she had brought with her and put the box between Rey and her. There were various photos from their childhood. In one, Rey was riding a pig while eating an ice cream, whereas in another, Kaydel was being awarded a prize for a contest. There were photos of their dead sister too from back then when she was just a happy baby loved by her parents and siblings.

"I had someone investigate my past to find my biological family, but I was told that my sisters had died with my parents. He still gave me these photos from the other relatives he managed to contact. But while you were in the hospital and Ben told me about his theory that we might be sisters, I called him again and he managed to find some information about Margaret. She was taken in by a family when she was a toddler, but they used her only for the social benefits and she ran away when she was maybe twelve years old. The rest…"

"Drugs and prostitution," said Rey with sadness. "But I swear, Kaydel! She was such a nice girl. She had no reason to help me escape, yet she risked her life to do so. And it's not fair what happened to her. Life was unfair! She even had a son and the poor thing didn't survive because of all the drugs she was on."

"I know and this is another reason why I am so set to make the Hux's pay. I don't care about friendships and parties. Their brother abused me and my sisters and they knew important information but kept their mouths shut."

Kaydel kept insisting on getting revenge, but that was not who Rey was.

"But they have kids…"

"Technically, the three of you also did," spoke Rose reminding Kaydel of those couple of days when she actually thought that she would have a family with the man she thought she loved, and Rey of how she begged him and how she held those remains. Even if it weren't her daughter's, they were still her nephew's. Finally convinced, Rey nodded agreeing with her sister's plan as Rose held her hand.

"You know…" she spoke to her friend. "You're an orphan and have a dead sister and so are we. Maybe we all should be sisters."

"I appreciate your offer to adopt me," she smiled touched by the healing bond between her and Rey. "However, only with the condition of never forcing me to accept Finn as my brother. It would be weird anyway."

"Yeah, same," laughed Kaydel. "He pretty much stole my boyfriend and I pretty much almost stole your husband as well, but I'm not making out with him in the room across the hallway."

"Fine!" chuckled Rey and then she bit her lip with excitement. She was beginning to love having an extended family, even though she would never stop seeing Ben as her main one. It would take time to heal, but as the girls said, she was still very young. As long as Ben still loved her as he claimed, then their relationship was going to be as wonderful as it once used to be. And once they were ready, they would try again and have children. Kaydel was right - she needed to forget too and not let him ruin her life even dead.

Stretching her arms, Rey got up later and snuck out of the bed. The girls had fallen asleep and even though a pyjama party usually included the girls sleeping in the same bedroom, her thoughts were like a thunderstorm and she didn't want to bother them just because couldn't sleep yet. She turned off the lights and slowly opened the door, stepping outside. It was quiet and dark downstairs, but she could see light coming from under the master bedroom door. Inhaling deeply to muster all the courage, she knocked once and opened the door without waiting for an answer.

"Hey," she smiled shyly. "May I?"

"Sure," said Ben on a soft voice and tapped his finger on the bed, inviting her to join him. Giggling, Rey jumped next to him and covered herself with the duvet. Although the weather outside was finally getting warmer, the nights were still rather chilly.

"So? How was your gathering with the girls?"

"It was nice," she said cuddling at his chest. Oh, how she had missed his scent and warmth and those big hands caressing her body.

"Did you open your gifts?" he asked her before kissing her on the forehead.

"Yeah…" she murmured remembering all the clothes and toys, then got up enough to look at him. "Umm… do you know why would people gift me things for a child right around the birthday of our dead daughter?"

Ben blinked confused, then parted his lips and made an uncomfortable grimace.

"Oh, I… I guess someone must have mistaken the gift bags."

For some reason, she didn't really believe him.

"I'm so sorry if they made you uncomfortable. I should have checked before, but I didn't want to go through your things without your permission… again."

"It's ok," she shrugged. "Maybe we can keep them and use them in the future."

She looked at Ben with an innocent look on her face, unsure of his reaction. However, her adorable giant smirked and kissed her on the cheek, making her entire body feel a nice tingling sensation.

"I'm sure we will use them very soon."

Oh! she smiled excited as her cheeks turned pink for a moment. She bit her lip again and got on her knees unbuttoning the silk pyjama top.

"There is something I liked among those gifts. I think you might like it too," she said revealing her periwinkle lace bra. "It would be such a waste if w-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Ben pulled her back in his arms and kissed her pulling down her top and the straps of her bra.

"Do you mind?" she moaned between kisses as she was straddling him, but Ben only answered with another kiss and with his hands hastily pulling down his own pyjama pants.

"Promise me you'll always love me," she breathed heavily. "And promise me that we'll always be together."

"I do. I promise," he kissed her, gently touching her.

"Tell me you love me as much as I love you!"

"I love you," he giggled. "I love you the most… for now."

For now? she furrowed, but without saying anything. Ben managed to distract her with his delicious lips and magic fingers. They had to talk, just not yet. Maybe later, after they'd finish making love or… Ben licked her neck, slowly pushing her on her back to make his way down her breasts.

Maybe in the morning.

Yes.

In the morning.