Rey pulled in front of the Hux's mansion still wearing her red dress and rather uncomfortable shoes. She had missed wearing high heels, but after that night, she would gladly go back to wearing sneakers and flats for the rest of her life. Trying her best not to twist her ankles on the gravel pathway, Rey ran to the front door, ringing and knocking until a young woman answered.
"What?" she yelled barely keeping her eyes open.
"Where is your mother?"
Phasma appeared with her hair wet and wearing silver pyjamas.
"Go to bed, Pheobe," she pushed her daughter. "What do you want? Are you out of clients or do you miss our parties?"
"Where is your son?"
Phasma rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"You have to be more specific."
"The one dating my daughter. Elias."
"What?" she snorted. "Elias is far away from this provincial life. He's studying to become a doctor. If he had the time to date a girl, be sure he would date someone who is classy and from a family like ours, not a seventeen-year-old brat found in a trash can."
Rey clenched her fists, knowing that spending a night in jail for beating Phasma was not going to help bring Anna back or save her from that dreadful boy.
"From a family like yours?" snarled Rey. "So if your son is going to be a doctor is he also planning to kidnap my daughter to keep the family tradition? Or beat her, rape her and kill her like Armitage did to my sisters?"
Phasma slammed her fist making Rey jump startled.
"Don't compare my son to your ex-lover. Elias is too pure for his own good."
The rage building inside her almost resulted in an explosive outburst, but Phasma's last words somehow simmered down her anger.
No ! She shook her head. It was not the time to let herself get fooled by some words, especially ones coming from Phasma.
"Your son is here and he's dating my daughter. I must say that I haven't seen him myself, but they've been seen together and Anna admitted to-"
"I honestly don't care, Rey," sighed the blonde woman. "I know my son and even if he truly were here and dating your daughter, I have nothing to be afraid of. He'll have his fun just like you and your sisters did with Armie and he'll end it as soon as he gets bored. Now please leave my property before I call the police."
Rey took a step back as Phasma slammed the door in her face. She had solved nothing after all. Returning to her car, she grabbed her phone and called Finn. It was late, but it was highly unlikely for him to be asleep at that hour, especially after a gala. The phone rang twice before he answered with a worried tone.
"Hey, sis."
"I need to speak to your daughter," she said on a serious tone as she left Phasma's property.
"Madeleine?"
"You only have one daughter, Finn. I really need to-"
"Rey, I left her at your place. We only took Ernesto. She said she wanted to stay with Anna."
Rey bit her lip. It was a nightmare.
"What's wrong, Rey?"
She shook her head completely forgetting about her suspicions regarding Maddie hurting the twins on purpose. Maybe, just maybe Anna hadn't run away and was with Maddie on a stroll to clear her thoughts and reconsider her behaviour and bad attitude. Sighing, she ended the call without even answering to her brother's question, turned left, then quickly hit the brake. She didn't care about leaving her car door open or about her tired feet in those high heels and just ran to the man walking on the street… but not before grabbing a little gift Luke had left her. She could have been wrong and mistaken him for someone else, but those traits were too obvious and not even his soft features could hide the truth that was his blood.
"You!" she pointed the gun at him with a firm hold that could hide a little her hands shaking. If she had never had the chance to fight her abductor, then she would fight the one putting her daughter in danger. "Where is my daughter? What did you do to Anna?"
The boy was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice her the first time, still walking almost to the point of bumping into her. Once he acknowledged her presence, he parted his lips and blinked confused.
"Where is she?"
"I-"
"WHERE IS SHE?"
"Home!" he raised his voice as well, then looked again at the gun and cleared his throat. "She is at home."
Rey watched him pull out of the pocket a phone and, after a few taps, showed her a bunch of messages, one appearing just as she was reading the most recent ones.
my dad is here i'll call you later
Her muscles relaxed for one moment, but as soon as her eyes met the boy's, she tensed again.
"How do I know these aren't fake and that someone else has her phone?"
"She's home, Mrs Solo. And I know what my uncle did to you and your sisters, but I would never hurt her."
"Don't tell me," she snorted with a disgusted grimace. "You love her."
"No!" he jumped, though he immediately pursed his lips, analysing his feelings. "No," he repeated shaking his head. "She is a great friend… my only friend right now. Even if I were to have feelings for her, I would not risk losing her friendship. I would never expect someone like her to fall for someone like me."
He was right. Anna was so precious, beautiful and smart and he was… a Hux. Yet there was something about the way he spoke that evoked certain memories. She could have sworn that she had seen those puppy eyes and trembling bottom lip before, as well as heard the same insecurities coming from an equally shy giant.
Rey furrowed and let the gun down.
"I have my share of guilt, but every trauma Anna has is the direct result of your family. Your uncle kept us apart and your mother and siblings, maybe you too, had to humiliate her and traumatise her. So I hope you understand why I don't care about your little friendship or want you near her."
He inhaled deeply then looked at the gun as he exhaled.
"Yeah… I see. But please trust me that I've never said anything about her. I didn't even know until the entire school knew. And also trust me that it haunts me to know that I share his blood and that I might become like him."
He was such a child. Rey sighed and massaged her forehead. She was being ridiculous and now that her panic and anger had simmered down completely, she could now realise that she had exaggerated.
"How old are you, Elias?"
"Almost twenty."
When she was twenty herself, she was a stupid reckless child completely and madly in love with someone so much older than her just because she was feeling abandoned and in need to give love. It all started with a friendship and being there for each other, but only she and Ben knew how things evolved and how quickly it all happened. And just like a flame burning too brightly, they went through so much pain. She didn't want that for Anna. She was aware that she couldn't save her from all the pain - after all, she had failed so many times doing so, but at least she could keep her from becoming a moth drawn to the flame.
"Your mother doesn't know that you're here."
"No, and I would rather not have her know. But I guess you told her and she already called the right people to confirm it."
Rey nodded, though she wouldn't have expected Phasma to actually check on him given that she didn't believe her in the first place.
"Where have you been sleeping?"
"We have an old cabin on our property, but sometimes I just walk and wander around until late and I either don't get to sleep at all or sleep in the park until I can sneak in the cabin to change my clothes and take a shower. I have little cash left and my mom checks our credit cards all the time, so-"
"So what are you going to do when the money runs out?"
He seemed conflicted and completely lost. He had no plan, no idea what he truly wanted.
"I guess this was meant to be only a Sabbatical week? I mean, I guess I've always planned to go back to university. I had hoped to find here whatever it was missing, but that emptiness is still inside and…" He stopped for a moment and looked at Mrs Solo. She looked less feral and had that look for of compassion that Anna always had. "Sorry for boring you," he chuckled nervously. "My mom always says that I am too weak and insecure."
Rey parted her lips but said nothing and just turned to look at her car for a moment, before looking at the boy again.
"Do you want me to take you to your parents?"
He bit his lip and shook his head.
"Then we'll do this. I'll give you the keys to my uncle's place. My husband uses it as his workshop. You can stay there for as long as you need, but only if you promise to stay away from Anna."
/|\
"Still hiding in your favourite spot, aren't you?"
Anna lifted her head and looked at her father entering the greenhouse, the quickly deleted her message and replace it with one that would pause her conversation with Elias for a few hours. Knowing her father, he would not leave her be until he would make her capitulate. She tapped on the paper plane on the screen to send the message, then got up from the floor and sat on the rattan chair, waiting for her father to join her.
"Remember when you were five and you used to hide in here? And I used to pretend that I couldn't see you behind the flower pots."
"Mom used to make me all those crazy buns to look like grandma Leia," she smiled, then she sniffed. "But now my mom hates me."
"I think you were the one who said that specific word. Hate ."
Anna lowered her gaze and pursed her lips.
"Sweetheart, you know I've always supported you and I'm not blaming you for anything. I know that you deserve your privacy and that it's not fair to be distrustful of that boy just because he is from that family. However, I won't tolerate you hurting your mother like that. We've always been honest to you about what happened and you know how much she had suffered. She was really scared when we were called that the twins had an accident and came home to find them like that and you missing and not answering your phone."
But her phone never rang.
"I swear I never thought that it would end up like this," she cried. "He's not even my boyfriend. We were just hanging out together… like mom and you used to do."
Ben snorted.
"Your mom and I got married a year later and now we have four kids."
"You get my point," she licked her lips. "I love our family, but sometimes I need new people in my life and everyone at school is so boring and so fixated that they give me anxiety and make me feel as if I'm locked in a cage. But Elias is so interesting and we talk about everything."
"But he's not your boyfriend ," chuckled her dad.
"He's not!" she pouted. "I mean… he's nice and everything, but he'll leave anyway and look what happened after we just hung out a couple of times."
Ben caressed her dark hair, then pinched her cheek. They were no longer squishy like back when she was a child.
"When did you grow up?"
She lifted her gaze and furrowed as her eyes were filling up with tears.
"Trust me, daddy. Sometimes I wish I stayed a child forever. I'm too scared about becoming an adult and making choices. And sometimes I'm so afraid to leave this house, but I still feel like I need to leave at some point and accept that I'm almost a grown-up. Being with Elias helped me forget for a while all of these worries."
"I can sense a 'but'."
'But it made me think of other things. Other insecurities. Other fears."
She pinched her own cheeks, hiding her head in her knees, then let out a loud grunt.
"It was supposed to be just an innocent date! I swear, daddy, I'm convinced Maddie did something to the twins!"
"Why would she?"
"I don't know… Everyone likes her and I know she's my cousin, but she gives me chills each time she's around. And I'm sure she hurt the twins on purpose just to punish me for leaving her take care of them."
"I'm sure it was just an accident."
"Alex and Holly were fed, their bottles for the night were ready, we have an electric teapot and I doubt she just wanted to make soup at that hour."
Ben shook his head and Anna crossed her arms on her chest, rolling her eyes.
"See? No one believes me."
"It's not that I don't believe you. I just want to make sure that we're not accusing her without any proof. Now, how about we go check on them?"
Sighing, Anna got up and followed her father upstairs. Alexander and Holly were sleeping holding hands and James was sleeping next to them. Smiling, she laid next to Jamie, burying her face in his chestnut locks, while she traced loops with the tip of her finger on the twins' foreheads.
"I'll protect you," she whispered. "I promise."
She fell asleep embracing her younger brother. That evening had been so exhausting that she didn't even flinch when her parents joined them.
"She's so beautiful," murmured Rey tired as Ben kissed her neck. "We're lucky it took her so long to get her first boyfriend."
"At least we'll know what to do by the time our other kids grow up."
Rey looked at Jamie's long eyelashes and adorable freckles, then at the twins' chubby cheeks and plump lips.
"We made some beautiful kids, Ben-Ben. We're not the best parents, but I think that we'll get over this and make it."
\|/
"John bought a pack of crayons and gave four to his sister. What fraction of the crayons did John give to his sister if a pack has twenty crayons?"
James bit his pencil, furrowing, then looked at his sister and made an uncomfortable grimace.
"Math sucks."
"I know," she laughed.
When Anna woke up, her parents were not home, so she went to change her clothes and prepared breakfast for the twins and Jamie. She had expected to feel more tensed and while she did feel a certain pressure in her chest, things were quite nice. The sun was shining, it was a warm day, surprisingly, and the twins were quite ok that morning. They even felt the need to make her chase them the entire top floor until she finally managed to dress them in something comfy for the rest of the day.
"Bember, Anna!" ordered Alex while Holly was throwing cheese bites on the floor for Bee to eat them. That poor old cat must have been very strong to survive all the Solo kids. Smiling at the cosiness of their kitchen, Anna went to the fridge, took out a cucumber, washed it, then cut… twenty thin slices.
"Ok, young James," she smiled proudly. "We have twenty slices and I am about to give four to Alex."
James pursed his lips and noted something down, then tilted his head.
"So… it's like one fifth?"
"Bing-"
As she was praising her brother, she heard the door getting unlocked. She didn't turn to see who it was, because the breeze made sure she felt her perfume.
"Mommy!" jumped James out of the chair and ran to Rey.
"My beautiful boy!" she hugged him back. "How come you're awake so early?"
"Anna's teaching me fractions."
"Oh, is she?"
Anna held her breath, trying to read her mother's voice. Had she killed her entire love for her? Was Rey going to ask her to leave the house as soon as she turned eighteen and forbid her from seeing her siblings?
"Mommy!" jumped Alex and Holly in their high chairs, reaching for her. Rey approached them, not saying anything to her eldest child, with James still hugging her, and picked them up one by one for a session of kisses and tickles.
"I wuv you, mommy!"
"I wuv you, pumpkins."
"I love you too!" pulled James her sleeve.
"And I love you too, my peach!"
With her back turned, she could not see her daughter's bottom lip trembling, nor the tears in her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to battle the jealousy demon, she couldn't help, especially knowing that her mother no longer loved her. She sniffed and took Jamie's book to check what else to ask him to solve. What would he do without her helping him with his homework and teaching him lessons before his teacher did in school?
"Anna?" she heard her mother's voice and lifted her head to look at her with her big dark eyes. Her mother saw the tears and she parted her lips as her face softened.
Anna stood up and swallowed both the saliva in her mouth and her pride.
"I'm sorry," she uttered and Rey's eyes grew wider, so Anna cleared her throat and insisted. "I'm very very very sorry. You're the best mom I could've ever had and even though I can't remember much or anything from back then, I'm sure I loved you since I first met you, probably because I loved you since I was in your belly."
It was time for Rey's eyes to fill up with tears, remembering her swollen belly, the excitement she felt being pregnant again after that miscarriage, but also her fear for the baby's safety. She always saw the kicks as a way of communication between the two… or three in the twins' case, and now she could remember some of Anna Benjamin's kicks. Then her tiny hands as she approached her to ask for the toy elephant she still slept with in her bed. And then how she fiercely demanded to be allowed to go with her parents before she even knew they were her parents.
"I love you, mommy," she teared up.
Rey touched Holly's hand, then asked James to go to his seat.
"I love you the most, my mango," she opened her arms and invited her much taller daughter to hug her. "And I'm so sorry for hitting you. I shouldn't have. I should have listened to you and… your dad told me about your suspicions regarding Maddie and I do trust you. When your dad comes back, we'll go talk to your uncles. Ok?"
"Ok, mommy," she sniffed not wanting to let go of her mom. But the twins were getting fussy and James was looking all confused at them.
"Ring-ring?" said Holly rubbing her eyes.
"Oh," said Rey taking her phone out of the pocket. "It's Rose. Can you take care of the grocery bags, my love?"
Anna nodded with a big smile and ran to pick the grocery bags from the car. When she returned inside the house, her mother was no longer in the kitchen and James was giving the twins the slices of cucumber. Furrowing, she put the bags on the counter and went to pick up Bee before the twins would consider throwing twenty slices of cucumber on the floor and leave it to her to clean it up.
"Where's mom?"
"In the living room."
Her mom never left the room to talk on the phone, unless one of the kids was sleeping or she had to yell at someone.
"Hey," said her dad entering with a huge box in his arms and a crate on it. He put them down and took his coat off. "What's wrong?" he furrowed observing the confusion on Anna's face. "Are you and your mom still-"
"No, we're perfect. But I have a bad feeling."
Saying so, Anna ran inside the living room and sought her mother, who had a serious look on her face.
What's wrong? she mouthed and Rey pointed at the teal armchair. Anna sat down and Ben followed her but remaining at the entrance so that he could still hear the other kids and see them only by turning his head.
Rey tapped something on her phone, then put it on the coffee table just as Maddie's voice started retelling her previous night.
"I was feeling so guilty for not taking care of the twins as Anna asked me," she cried, "that I lied to you and ran away to think things clear. I was so angry at myself and so frustrated and… then I met Anna's boyfriend."
Anna's lips parted and she gasped.
"At first he comforted me, but then I lashed out at him for taking Anna. He then hit me and tried to comfort me again once I started crying, but the comforting turned into touching and he…" She stopped to let out a loud cry and Anna shook her head. "He raped me!"
"She's lying!" jumped Anna. "She's lying just like she lied last night about the twins' accident!"
"Rose told me that she has bruises and that her clothes were torn apart."
Anna shook her head feeling the frustration grow inside her.
"I know you don't know Elias and have no reasons to trust him, especially given the bad blood between our families, but I was on the phone with him last night."
"But not all night," said Ben on a serious tone and Anna turned to look at him with a desperate gaze. He was right. She had paused their conversation, but then completely forgot about him.
"But I was," said Rey and soon two pairs of dark eyes looked at her in shock and disbelief. She licked her lips and continued. "I thought you left with him and that you were in danger, so I went to his parents' house, but he wasn't there. I eventually found him on the streets and after we talked, I took him to Luke's house. I'm not saying that Maddie is lying, but given the suspicious circumstances around the twins' accident and that between your arrival and me finding them wasn't that much time, maybe…"
"She's a lying witch!" the girl slammed her fist, but before they could conclude Elias' innocence, there was one more thing to be added.
"But I just came from Luke's house and it was empty," informed them, Ben, still rather pessimistic. He had wanted to support Anna and her little teen crush, but if that boy was already following in his uncle's footsteps…
"Do you know where he might be?" he asked his daughter, ready to block her way, in case she was going to run after him. But Anna shrugged lost. He hadn't called her or texted her since last night.
"I told him to stay there until he was ready to leave, so…" said Rey getting up as she grabbed her phone. She was no longer willing to listen to Maddie's voice and her pleas. "I say we pack the kids and go to the farm for James' riding lessons and make a stop at the train station. We might have to apologize to someone and prevent him from having someone ruin his life."
/|\
Elias yawned and stretched his arms and legs. Mrs Solo had offered him that nice place to crash, but he had been too nervous to sleep and curiosity made him roam around and find some old files about her disappearance. And if he remembered correctly and matched the dots, that was the house of the man in charge with finding her… the one who died because of his uncle and grandfather. And he had no right to be there.
He checked his phone to make sure that his little nap on the bench in the train station didn't make him lose the train. He was going to go back to college and deal with his mother's anger from afar. He had hoped that his time spent with Anna would make him see things more clearly, but the guilt was still strong and he knew that everyone was right - he had to cut all ties with her and make sure that she would forget about him. Not so sure about his own abilities to forget, though.
He scratched his head and went to the vending machine to get a bottle of water with his attention focused on the voice announcing the arrival of his train. According to his watch, he had around half an hour before leaving all of that behind… before leaving Anna and his gorgeous dark eyes.
"Elias!"
Even her voice seemed to be stuck inside his head.
"Elias!"
He heard her voice again, then turned to look at the wire fence separating the platform and rails from the parking lot. Was he hallucinating?
"Wait for me!" she waved at him and, before he even got the chance to assimilate what was going on, Anna threw herself in his arms. It was really her. Her warm body and delicious scent. Those silky locks were hers as well and he was looking into her eyes.
"Why are you here?" he whispered with sadness.
"I didn't want you to leave without saying goodbye."
"Anna, I-"
"And my parents want to talk to you."
Oh! He looked at her parents approaching the wired fence as Anna pulled him after her. They climbed down the stairs and walked on the grass until they reached the fence.
"Hey, Elias," smiled cordially Mrs Solo. "We weren't sure where to find you. I was sure I left you somewhere else last night."
He lowered his gaze and bit the inside of his cheek.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mrs Solo, but I had to go. I must go back to college."
Anna's parents looked at each other, then Mr Solo cleared his throat.
"If you don't mind me asking… where were you before Rey found you?"
"On the streets?" he lifted an eyebrow amused. "I was chatting with Anna on the phone. I have all the conversations. Why?"
"Let's say that someone is trying to pin something on you and we would like to listen to both sides."
"What?" he panicked. "What's going on?"
Ben lifted his hands to calm him down as Anna squeezed his hand.
"I know what's like to have all the fingers pointed at you and to have your life almost ruined by gossip and false accusations, so listen to me carefully. Have you met Maddie Dameron before you met Rey?"
Elias narrowed his eyes confused.
"Who's Maddie Dameron?"
"This girl," said Rey showing him a photo on her phone. "She's my niece. Have you met her?"
Elias shook his head with a still very confused face.
"Never seen her before. Why?"
Rey parted her lips to tell him the truth about the girl's accusations, but her husband squeezed her hand and spoke before her.
"She had an accident last night and it happened soon after Anna's arrival, so we thought that maybe you got to see something weird."
"No, sorry," he shrugged. "I don't know her and the streets were mostly empty, but I guess her parents can file a request to access the footage."
"What footage?" asked Rey.
"There are cameras all over the town. Not every corner is visible, but you can try."
Ben looked at his wife with a smirk on his face. They had forgotten about the cameras since when Rey went missing, they hadn't been of much help. But in the past seventeen years, the technology had been upgraded so maybe there was a chance to find out the truth.
"Thanks for the tip," he nodded. "And farewell."
"Thank you," the boy smiled cordially and watched them go inside the car, while Anna was still holding his hand. "They were lying, weren't they?"
"They were," she admitted. "But I'm sure once everyone finds out the truth, it will all get better."
"May I at least know what I'm being accused of? Have I run over that girl with my invisible car?"
"No," she lowered her gaze and turned to go back on the platform. "But I'd rather not talk about it. These are our final moments together."
They watched together the train arriving and despite all the technology that could help them keep in touch and forget about the distance, they both felt a huge sadness.
"I'm really glad we got to meet. You are a great friend, Elias."
"And you are amazing, Anna Benjamin."
She chuckled realizing how ridiculous her name sounded as if she were the protagonist of a vintage romance novel.
People were getting off the train and, as the platform was emptying once again, so was her heart. Was friendship meant to hurt like that? She should have been happy that Elias was going to be away from Maddie and her lies and do something useful with his life.
"I should get going," he whispered doing nothing to actually leave her side. So if he was not able to find the courage to leave, then she was going to be the brave one.
"I should leave as well. My brother has his riding lessons."
"Sounds fun. I haven't ridden in years."
"Yeah," she chuckled. "Maybe if you ever come back, we can ride together. I'm the best in the town. I could show you some moves."
What was she doing? She was supposed to leave first to make him leave as well!
"I really have to go now, Elias," she let go of his hand and turned his back on him, "and I would rather not say that word."
"Anna?" grabbed her Elias by the wrist, pulling her closer and almost forcing her to face him. Anna looked at him with her huge dark eyes and exhaled rather nervously. He was just making things more difficult.
"Elias…" she whispered his name in such a soft manner that the young man gave up on all of his fears and finally kissed her. They were both clumsy and rather unsure of what they were doing, but Elias' hand on her shoulder and the other one pulling her even tighter were making her body feel warm and her eyes release tears after tears.
"I'll come back, sweetheart. I promise."
"And I'll wait for you. I promise."
\|/
Ben looked at the twins sleeping in the backseat and smiled. Jamie was also napping after all those math exercises his sister made him do.
"Please tell me why we had to lie," asked him his wife as she entered the car with a paper bag full of honey glazed soft pretzels.
"I felt something when I saw him, Rey-Rey. You might not get it and think that I'm just projecting, but I saw myself in his eyes and I do believe he is innocent."
"Good. Because he is," she said munching on a pretzel. "I called Finn while I was waiting in line. I told him about my meeting with Elias and suggested him to do what he said. I also asked him if he had taken Maggie to the doctor considering that some random guy raped her."
"And?"
"She threw a tantrum right on spot. You know… I really believe that she hurt the twins on purpose. I don't know her reasons, but I want to meet her and I swear that I won't care about Finn and Poe's feelings and our relationship. If that girl is guilty, I want her out of our lives and as far away from our children."
"I can't even imagine why would someone do this. She's just a kid herself."
"Hux was a kid too and we know how that turned out."
"Let's not go there," said Ben making an uncomfortable grimace, then looked at the pretzels. "What's with these?"
"I was dying for some pretzels," she moaned. "These ones to be more specific."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah," she chuckled taking another bite. "Obviously. Why?"
"Rey, you haven't had these pretzels in almost two years. You used to send me to get fresh ones for each meal for two weeks until I started making them myself."
She raised an eyebrow confused.
"Rey, you used to eat three at each meal. One for you… and one for Alex, and one for Holly. And before that, you used to eat only two - one for you, one for James."
Rey stopped eating and looked at the bag. No… it was impossible.
"How many are you eating now?"
Ben was joking with his question, but Rey was serious.
"Five," she coughed and his jaw dropped.
"You're not serious, are you?"
"I said five and I already ate two. Trust me, I'm going to eat all of them and no one can stop me."
She caught Ben's gaze lowering on her belly, which, after so many births, cookies and years, was no longer that flat.
"Listen, it's not going to happen. We said that we won't have any more babies for a while, after the twins were born, then that we won't have any more babies after we turn forty and fifty."
"But we're not yet forty and fifty."
"Ben, no! We already have my business to run, yours, four kids and one very old cat. Besides, you already had to renovate the house to make a new bedroom for the twins. Where would another child or more fit?"
Ben looked at his daughter kissing her lover boy on the platform and caressed Rey's cheek right on time to keep her from turning and seeing them. Just because Elias was inoffensive, it didn't mean that she would not make a scene about a Hux kissing her daughter.
"Well, our mango might go to college," he said nonchalantly.
"Ben, no!" she furrowed again, then looked at the pretzels barely keeping herself from devouring them. She was not hungry, but somehow she had that urge to eat more. Maybe it was just her anxiety manifesting differently. It would stop once they would reach the farm and get their minds off that horrible day. But now that she remembered the farm, her mind could not stop thinking about freshly baked bread, juicy tomatoes and cheese.
Pursing her lips, Rey thought about the last time she and Ben made love. They were supposed to have a passionate night until they got that terrible call about the twins being in danger and Anna missing. Before that, they had been too tired to even kiss, falling asleep as soon as they got in bed. Well… except for that hot summer morning in the shower…
"Your face is red," smirked Ben.
"Well… I suppose we can stop to get a pregnancy test on our way back home."
/|\ "Well," said the writer, "technically, this is the end of our story... actually chapter 29 was and the following three were a long epilogue. However, thanks to the popular demand coming from the readers on ao3, I have decided to write a short sequel. My plan is to write no more than five chapters, though this story was also supposed to be only twelve then twenty chapters and look at us now. So the transition to the next part might seem a little bit odd, although timejumps and flashbacks are obviously my thing."
