Summary:
Rey goes to brunch, Ben babysits, and things get emotional.
A/N:
I have no idea how more than a month has passed since my last update, but here's a longish one to make up for it.
I do apologize for the wait and am trying to be better.
Also re: the daddy kink poll on twitter told me that it should be a oneshot, so a oneshot you shall have. I have written a good chunk of it that is sort of an outtake of this chapter, but I likely won't post it until the actual story is over.
(For anyone not aware, I tweeted about not turning this into a daddy kink fic, but the idea of Soft!Daddy baseball Ben was apparently appealing to a bunch of people, so it looks like we shall be seeing him.)
Thanks to skyeryder01 for beta reading as always.
Brunch and Babysitting
Ben rode the high of his weekend with Rey right into Monday morning's practice. They'd spent Friday night and all of Saturday alone, then Sunday was spent with the kids, and Ben felt a little piece of his soul click back into place with all of them together.
He pulls his Silencer into the stadium's lot right behind Finn, and they park in adjacent spots. He's not wholly unsurprised to see the catcher exit his car with Poe on the passenger side.
"Good weekend?" Ben asks, smirking. They both grin back at him.
"Looks like yours was pretty good too. Or you had a run-in with a flesh-sucking mynock." Poe attempts to look concerned as he peers at a mark on Ben's neck, but he can't control his giggles.
The marks Ben had sucked into Rey's thighs the night before are much worse than the ones she'd left on him, but he's not about to tell them that. Some primal, animal part of his brain feels pride at having marked her, and she him. He was hers, she was his, and that was that.
Ben is happy to see Finn and Poe together, though, and he's surprised that he isn't surprised by his happiness for them. Kylo Ren, it seems, is well and truly dead.
As Ben walks through the halls of the stadium's underground labyrinth of offices and meeting rooms, he smiles and nods at his teammates, blissfully unaware of their shock at his abrupt change of temperament. After he changes into his workout clothes, Ben wanders into the outdoor practice area. He shoves his wireless earbuds in, thumbing up the playlist Rey had made for him, and chuckles as the bright, upbeat music that is essentially a musical representation of her fills his ears. He goes through his warmup, feeling lighter than usual, giving Finn and Poe a small wave when they emerge into the practice area. Holdo emerges shortly thereafter, but Ben only gives her a nod before he returns to stretching. His hips are looser than usual thanks to Rey insisting they try yoga over the weekend, but they are always woefully tight, and he continues his stretches to avoid injury.
He continues stretching the rest of his body, not really listening to the pop music in his ears, but enjoying the sound anyway. He is about to head to the batting cages when -
"SOLO."
Ben jumps a mile, having completely missed Holdo standing beside him and apparently talking to him. He yanks the earbuds out and turns to face her, noticing in the process that his teammates have all come outside and are now staring at him and Holdo.
Ah.
She said Solo .
Shit.
Anxious thoughts skitter over the surface of his mind as he searches their faces, but he isn't discouraged by what he finds there. He mostly sees confusion, so he just looks at Holdo.
"Yeah?"
"Your mother taught you better manners, Ben Solo ."
This time, she emphasizes the name, and Ben winces. Sure, he'd thought about telling his teammates, but after the season was over so there would be time to process. Not midway through with an away set coming up.
"Yes, ma'am?" He feels the same teen insolence that he'd felt around Leia rising up inside him, but he shoves it back down so he can think about it later.
"That's better, Solo . As I was saying, we're having a team meeting. Perhaps you'd like to join us?" She gestures a delicate hand to where the team have all gathered together. He follows her to them. "Anything you'd like to say?" She glances wryly up at him.
"Uh, hi, guys. As you might have guessed from that ," he waves in Holdo's direction, "my name is Ben Solo."
A beat of silence, then,
"As in, Han Solo, Solo?" Ben isn't sure who speaks because he's staring at Holdo.
"Yes! Isn't that awesome ?" Finn answers for him, and Ben is grateful.
"Wait. Didn't Han Solo marry Anakin Skywalker's daughter?"
Ben sighs.
"Yeah." He finally faces his teammates. "So, um, you guys can call me Ben, instead of Kylo. Actually I'd prefer it. Kylo Ren was…" he pauses. "Kylo Ren was Snoke's creation."
Ben sees a lot of furrowed brows and scowling, but none of it seems directed at him.
"Hiiiii, Ben!" Poe winks and waves wildly at him.
Ben rolls his eyes at Poe, but still feels his lips quirk into half a grin.
"So, Solo," Holdo says, finally speaking, "are you ready to join the rest of the team?"
The next day, Rey pulls into the parking lot of the stadium, singing along with a silly kid song playing through her phone that's been stuck in the cupholder as a poor replacement for a speaker. Ben had forgotten his phone at her house the night before and had used Finn's to ask her to bring it to him before they left for the away set. So she and the kids piled in the car to bring it to him.
She wanted to say goodbye again anyway.
Ben walks toward them through the lot; he must have been waiting by the gate. He waves and opens the back passenger door to help get Alema out of her seat, but halts, apparently stumped by the buckles and straps of a five-year-old's car seat, so the little girl helpfully starts barking out orders. Laughing at them both, Jacen takes pity on Ben and shows him how to loosen the straps to release the wiggling tyrant from her seat. He hoists Alema on his shoulders, walking them around to Rey's side of the car, where he leans down for a kiss. Alema shrieks and grabs his ears to keep from falling, and one of her flailing little feet catches Rey right in the jaw.
As if on cue, Ben and Alema start apologizing profusely, and although she's fine, Rey lets Ben lead them inside the stadium to the doctor's office for an ice pack. Ben keeps looking down at her nervously, and Alema is so upset that she cries, her tears dripping down on to Ben's hat. Both the very large man and the very tiny girl on his shoulders look extremely upset with themselves that Rey has to hide her laughter at their matching dismayed expressions. Jacen and Jaina, completely oblivious, hold hands and wander along, with Jacen spouting baseball facts at his little sister who totally ignores them.
Dr. Kalonia ignores Ben's anxious hovering and politely but firmly shoves him into the corner of her exam room after he all but begs her to look at Rey's jaw. Rey rolls her eyes, and even though she's a bit irked at his reaction, she does appreciate that he's worried for her. It's sweet, if a bit unnecessary. Once Dr. Kalonia declares Rey as fine, she releases them armed with an ice pack and lollipops for all.
"I don't even know where these came from," Ben says around the stick poking out from between his lips. He's adorable, Rey thinks, with his hat on backward and his workout clothes and the candy in his mouth. She stands on her toes to press a sticky kiss to his cheek, and he smiles at her, but won't kiss her back for fear of her getting kicked again.
"Well, hello," a cool female voice calls from a little way down the hall.
A tall, thin woman in lavender yoga pants with a black FO top and hat walks toward them.
Ben sighs a bit.
"Amilyn, uh, Coach Holdo, this is Rey." His words are distorted around the lolly.
Rey shakes hands with the woman who introduces herself as Amilyn Holdo, the new First Order coach.
"And who are these tiny people?" she asks, eliciting a giggle from the girls and a grunt from Jacen.
"I'm Jacen," he says, setting his jaw and sticking out his hand, "I'm ten. And that's my sister Jaina," she waves from behind Rey's legs, "and that's Alema." He points to where Alema still sits on Ben's shoulders, sticky fingers still entwined the hair that pokes out from beneath his hat.
"Well it's nice to meet you all," Coach Holdo says. She looks past the group to a spot further down the hall. "Oh, hello Leia, I didn't expect you for a few more minutes."
Rey felt Ben stiffen a bit, but not as much as he would have before, and Rey thanked the gods that she'd worn a decent looking top with her denim shorts today instead of the oversized, holey tee she'd been considering this morning.
"Amilyn, hello. I needed to drop off some paperwork," Leia nods to Amilyn. "Rey, it's so nice to see you again." Leia gives Rey a half hug and scoops up Jaina, who immediately came out from behind Rey to offer hugs to the older woman. "And how are you, dear?"
"Pwincess Weia!" Jaina screeches, throwing her arms around Leia's neck.
"How's Dad, Mom?"
Rey can tell that Ben feels awkward saying the words, but a look at him can tell he really is concerned. She places her hand on his back and rubs small circles.
"Han is doing better, thank you. He's home now and should be back to normal soon."
Ben and Leia's tones are both stiff and formal, and she wishes they felt more comfortable together. And she can tell that the both feel the same way, even if they're too stubborn to say it.
"It was lovely to see you all," Coach Holdo makes her exit, and everyone else stands and stares awkwardly.
"Well, um, bye," Ben says and turns to walk away.
"Oh, Rey?" Leia says before they can all follow Ben. "Um, would you like to join Amilyn and I for a late brunch or tea this weekend after the team returns from their away set?" Her words rush out just like Ben's do when he's nervous, and Rey swallows a grin.
She has to think for a moment, but she's fairly certain that both Kay and Rose have plans for the weekend, meaning she won't have a babysitter.
"I'd love to," she starts, "but Rose and Kaydel, the other foster moms for Jakku won't be able to babysit for me."
Leia's face falls, but she brightens again after a moment.
"Ben can babysit for you!"
Ben blinks at his mother, mouth gaping.
All of the kids start exclaiming their agreement for that arrangement and Rey is outnumbered.
"Um, I'm not sure?" She says, looking at Ben. "I don't think he's ever-"
"Oh they'll be fine," Leia interjects. "He's an adult, and they clearly adore him."
"Ben, is that okay?"
Ben looks between Rey and Leia with his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hat.
"I think so. Umm, can I have help, though? Finn and Poe? Or Phas?"
"Oh, no, dear, Gwen is joining us for brunch."
"Finn can help, Ben, he's practically one of the kids himself," Rey reassures him. "They love him."
Ben exhales.
"Good. I'm okay, then, if you want to go?"
Rey really wants to go. She'd really enjoyed talking with Leia, and she may have ulterior motives in wanting to find out more about Ben as a kid. And Amilyn Holdo just seemed like a badass.
"I'd like to, if you're sure you'll be okay with the kids."
"Sure thing, sweetheart, anything for you."
"Excellent!" Leia fishes in her purse and pulls out a card. "Rey, here's my card. Text me your information and I'll get you the details. Lovely to see everyone, now I really must go have that meeting with Amilyn." She sets Jaina down and waves before following Coach Holdo in her office.
Somehow, Ben had managed to talk her out of her anxiety over brunch, and she'd even managed to dress herself for the occasion, surprising Rose and Kaydel to no end. She'd managed to thrift a pretty lace top and paired it with dark jeans and a pair of ballet flats borrowed from Kay's infinite closet.
Both Jaina and Alema are in her room with her, playing with little makeup kits in front of her mirror and offering her commentary while she gets herself ready when Ben appears in the doorway. He watches silently for a moment, their eyes meeting in the mirror. When she starts to pull her hair up in a bun, he starts forward.
"Can I do it?"
Rey blinks at him in the mirror.
"You want to…do my hair?"
He nods slowly.
"Is that okay?" He seems a little nervous to be asking, which Rey thinks is very sweet, if a bit unnecessary at this point in their relationship.
"Sure," Rey shrugs.
He comes over to stand behind her, taking the brush from her and gently passing it through her hair a few times, pressing gently against her scalp. Rey nearly purrs from the sensation. Ben grins down at her and massages his fingertips into her scalp for a moment, and then she really does purr. After a few moments, he parts her hair and gathers sections in his hands, deftly braiding and twisting the top half of her hair back. Clamping her jaw shut to keep from gaping at him, Rey watches as he finishes the braids and pins them in place.
Jaina and Alema watch in delight and immediately start clamoring for him to do theirs too. Without even thinking about it, Ben plops down on the floor and the little girls squabble over who gets to go first. Alema somehow wins, and she sits on Ben's crossed legs while he brushes her hair and follows her demands for mermaid braids, whatever that is. Rey watches in awe at the serious look on his face while he braids and twists Alema's hair, reworking strands patiently while she bounces around. He catches her watching and winks up at her before proclaiming Alema's hair done. Jaina scrambles into his lap.
"I want hair like Pwincess Weia," Jaina demands, prodding Ben's shoulder with her tiny finger.
Ben bites his lip but nods, braiding Jaina's hair into a crown on top of her head.
"How did you learn that?" Rey asks, still vaguely awed by this new turn of events. She has mastered the three-strand braid, and that is it.
Ben blushes, and Rey loves seeing it, this redwood of a man, blushing while he braids the little girl's hair.
"I used to watch my mom," he says, ducking away from her, shoulders turning inward. "I guess I just sort of picked it up."
Rey nods absently.
"You are good with your hands."
Instantly, he perks back up and grins widely at her.
"I am?"
Now, Rey feels her own cheeks burning.
"I meant- with the baseball and stuff- not that ," she stammers.
"Oh," he pouts, "not that ?"
"Ugh, Ben ." She rolls her eyes and flounces out of her bedroom, pretending to still be irritated at him because she knows-
Yep.
She hears him stand and chase after her.
"Do I need to remind you how much you like my hands, sweetheart?" he purrs into her ear, kissing the skin just below it.
"Ben!" she hisses. "There are children !"
"I'm not doing anything wrong," he says, still nuzzling into her neck. The sensation of his warm breath and lips ghosting over her skin send shivers down her spine.
"Benjamin, I am not going to a brunch with your mother all hot and bothered," she gripes at him through a gasp as his tongue just barely flicks out against her neck. "Stop that," she orders.
He pouts again but backs away. His dark eyes burn into her like a promise for later.
"Yes, ma'am," he breathes.
She files that away for later.
The doorbell rings, and Ben goes to answer while she searches for her purse.
"Um, Rey?" Ben sounds rather bemused. "Come see this."
Rey follows his voice to the door and stops just behind him. A limo is parked in front of her house. The sunroof is open and a very tall woman with short blonde hair sticks her head out the open upper window.
"Hey, Ren!"
Beside her, Rey sees Ben's mouth fall open.
"Phasma?" he gapes beside her.
"What's Phas doing here?" Rey asks.
"Huh." Rey is exceptionally confused by this. "Why's she here?" she asks quietly while waving awkwardly to the older woman.
Before Ben can answer, one of the limo doors opens and Leia steps out, all regal calmness as usual.
"Do join us, Rey, we have reservations for brunch, and Bebè would never forgive me if we missed them." Leia waves Rey toward the oversized car's door. Rey kisses Ben and goes forward, bewildered. She ducks into the car, and on a whim stands beside Phas, poking her own head through the roof and waving to her kids and Ben.
Alema and Jaina have managed to climb Ben like the tree he is, and Jacen stands beside them, and they all wave at her. Rey and Phas sit down and the car pulls forward.
Once she's seated and buckled, she takes in the interior of the enormous car. It's cream-colored and much classier than the movies would lead her to believe. There are no neon swirls or shelves filled with liquor and - thank the gods - no stripper poles. Instead, there are softly-upholstered leather seats that face each other. Directly across from her are Phasma and Coach Holdo, both looking vaguely uncomfortable at their proximity to each other. Beside Rey, Leia is seated and adjusting the fall of her light-grey jacket.
"Um, hello," Rey says, waving awkwardly to the inhabitants of the car.
"Rey, this is Gwen Phasma," she said. "I'm not sure if you've met. I bumped into her just after seeing you, actually, and thought it might be nice for her to have some 'girl-time'."
"We have met, but it's been a while," Rey says, and everything is quiet for a time. "Um. The limo is…nice. I've never been in one before."
"Even for prom?" Phas asks, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. Rey assumes it's because the blonde is so tall that her hair nearly brushes the ceiling.
Rey blushes a bit, and shakes her head.
"Not even for prom," she said, folding her hands in her lap. The finery of the ridiculous car makes her feel intensely uncomfortable.
Phasma chuckles.
"Prom?" The blonde rolls her eyes. "Such a stupid tradition. I wore a tux to mine."
Amilyn and Leia share a smile, and Rey stifles a giggle. She can imagine Phasma stalking around in a severely cut tuxedo, scowling and frightening off potential dance partners.
"Amilyn knows something about wearing scandalous things to prom," Leia offers, smiling smugly at her friend.
"Yes, well, I felt that if we were going to go to an outdated mating ritual, then those cooperating in the mating ritual ought to participate safely," Amilyn replies coolly, pouring champagne into a flute.
Rey blinks, confused. Phasma's face echoes her confusion.
"Amilyn wore a dress covered in condoms," Leia supplies "she wandered around, offering them to dancing couples.
Rey gapes, and Phasma howls with laughter, looking at the coach with a shocked expression.
"No way ," Phasma exclaims, offering her fist to Amilyn. Their knuckles bump together. "That is deadass the best thing I've ever heard."
Leia chuckles with them, and the mood in the ridiculous car lightens as she hands out champagne to its occupants.
When they reach the restaurant, the women all pile out, and Rey, feeling slightly tipsy already, is grateful to herself for having chosen to wear flats and jeans. A short man in bright orange clothing, Bebe apparently, bustles out, air kisses Leia, and shuffles them inside to a table already laden with what looks to Rey to be enough food to feed an army. Instantly, her mouth waters at the sight of the spread of delicious food. Everyone seats themselves, but as people are wont to do, no one wants to start serving first.
As usual, Rey leads the way. She's not going to let anything get in the way of her food. As she loads her plate with lyonnaise potatoes, scrambled eggs with bacon mixed in, three different kinds of toast, and a veritable mountain of fruit, she sees an older woman heading toward them. She has long white hair divided into two plaits with what looks like blue ribbon twined in them, creating a sort of striped pattern in the braids. Leia blinks at the woman, then stands and goes around to wrap her in a hug.
"Ahsoka!" She exclaims. "It's been years!" Leia turns to face the table. "Everyone, this is Ahsoka Tano, an old friend of…my father's". Both Leia and Ahsoka's eyes darken for a moment at the mention of him, but they brighten again when Leia invites the elderly woman to join them.
Leia goes around the table, offering introductions to Ahsoka.
"Amilyn is my oldest friend," she explains to the older woman, "we went through school together. And now she coaches for First Order, Ben's team. And Gwen plays for them too!" Leia's face beams with pride for her son and her friend and their team. "They're doing quite well, there's lots of talk of the Series this year, hmmm Amilyn?"
Amilyn isn't shy and takes the praise with a rather practiced ease that could almost come across as arrogance.
"Yes, well, Snoke put together an excellent team, though his coaching methods were deplorable."
Phasma snorts into her mimosa.
"And how is little Benji?" Ahsoka asks, sipping from her own mimosa.
Benji ? Ha. Rey's going to have to remember that one.
"The last time I saw him, he'd stripped off all his clothes and run naked across the Resistance outfield," Ahsoka continues. "He was what, three?"
Rey feels her mouth fall open, and Gwen, sitting beside her, doubles over with laughter.
"Yes, he was three," Leia says, chuckling before daintily popping a bite of pastry into her mouth. "Rey, here," she toasts Rey with her pink-tinged drink, "is Ben's girlfriend."
The word girlfriend rubs her wrong, but Rey can't put her finger on why. It doesn't feel intense enough for what she and Ben are, what they share. But she's certainly not going to tell that to his mother, so she just nods and smiles.
"And what do you do, Rey?" Ahsoka smiles encouragingly.
"Oh, me?" She's rather uncomfortable, being put on the spot, so she shoves a forkful of potatoes in her mouth to buy some time. "I foster for Jakku House, and when the school year starts up, I'll be a counselor for the fifth school district."
"That's lovely, Rey!" Ahsoka beams at her. "Taking in younglings? It's very noble of you."
"Oh, I don't think so," Rey says. "I just want to offer kids the opportunities I never had until later," she shrugs. "That's all."
"Her fosters are the sweetest kids," Leia gushes. "Ben is actually babysitting them right now."
"Kylo Ren, sorry, Ben Solo, is babysitting ?" Phasma shrieks. "Girl, you must have a magic vagina."
Rey chokes on her bite of potatoes, and Leia spits out her mouthful of champagne. Phasma, realizing what she's said and to whom, looks back and forth between the two and cackles. Amilyn and Ahsoka both try to hide their grins and fail miserably.
"Well," Rey says when she's stopped coughing, "the kids really love him, and he's so good with them. He's really helped Jacen come out of his shell. You know, Jacen, right Gwen?"
"Call me Phas," she says. "Jacen's the kid who came to practice, yeah?"
"Right." Rey speaks to the table, making eye contact with each woman for a moment. "Well, Jacen and Jaina, his little sister, they were… well anyway, my point is that Ben offered to let him come to warm up, and then taught him how to throw a baseball, and now he's teaching him more about the rules and positions, and it's just really helped Jacen open up and be more of a kid." Tears sting her eyes, and when she looks up, Rey sees that Leia's eyes are also shining with unshed tears.
After a few emotionally charged moments, Phas speaks up, saying she wants to hear more embarrassing stories about Ben, and Leia, who is also slightly tipsy after a few of her pink mimosas, obliges. She tells about him sneaking out in the middle of the night at fourteen, pushing the Falcon down the street so the sound of its revving engine wouldn't wake his parents, only to have it run out of gas a mile away from home when he returned from shenanigans with his friends. And about the time Luke had come home to find an increasingly frustrated Ben smoking what he had thought was pot, but had turned out to just be oregano, and wondering why he wasn't getting high.
Rey laughed, loving hearing the stories about him as a kid, and she ate and drank and laughed with the other women, feeling a new kind of burgeoning friendship between them.
When Rey leaves, Ben is a little bit at a loss for what to do with the kids, but Jacen very helpfully supplies that they usually walked to the park if the weather is nice. Jacen also directs Ben as to which items he should place in a backpack so that he'll be fully prepared for any eventuality. Ben finds himself surprised that Rey doesn't have massive biceps with the sheer amount of shit that children apparently needed just to survive a walk to the park. Once everyone is dressed, fed, hydrated, and sunscreened, Ben makes sure everyone's hand is held as they walk to the park. Thankfully, Rose just so happens to be taking hers at the same time, so Ben feels slightly less panicky about being left in charge of three small humans all by himself. Finn had claimed to be unable to join him because of "prior engagements".
Ben assumes that Poe was the prior engagement.
He also assumes that Rose has rearranged her plans to check up on him but is grateful all the same.
As terrifying as the tiny woman is, Ben knows that Rose won't let him do anything that would horrifically maim or traumatize the kids.
"So, Sasquatch," Rose says as they walk through the grassy area between the parking lot and the park's entrance, "what are your intentions with Rey?"
"My what?" Ben blinks down at her.
"Your intentions. You know, like in all the old movies, someone asks the dude who's after the girl what his intentions are." She waves her hands in the air while she speaks.
"Umm," Ben feels his face and neck grow hot. They'd already slept together and declared their love, what other intentions did there need to be?
Unless she means…
"Like…marriage?" A man with a voice as deep as his should not be able to squeak. But the m-word definitely comes out with a much higher pitch than he'd ever heard out of his own mouth.
Rose grins like a she-devil.
"Well, you've had mind-blowing sex, you told her you loved her, she loves you, so that's the next step, right?"
Can she read minds?
"No, I can't read minds, but Rey is like a sister to me, and I know things, okay?" Rose leans down to retie her sneaker. "Have you thought about it?"
Ben would be lying if he said he hadn't considered it. Well, being married, not the getting married part. He knows he wants to be with Rey, but a big ceremony with tons of people watching is terrifying. Which, when he thinks about it, is even more ridiculous given the fact that his job is literally playing a game so people can watch him. He sighs deeply and runs his hands through his hair.
Rose just watches him.
"Look, I want to be with her, okay? That's all I really know," Ben says a little desperately.
"Hmm," Rose says, staring up at him. "That works for now." Then she scampers off like one of the kids and joins the group on the playground.
Ben follows behind her, helping Jaina empty sand out of her shoes and hovering a bit while he watches Alema climb the tallest slide. He holds Jaina up so she can go across the monkey bars, well, he holds her waist and she just moves her arms, but she giggles the whole time. Jacen finds a couple of boys his own age to play with, and Ben makes sure to text Rey because he knows she'll love that. He's really proud of how far the kid has come since he'd invited them to come to warm up with him.
When the sun gets too high, they all walk back to Rey's house, guzzling water from the water bottles Jacen had helped him pack. Thankfully, Rey had left her car; they'd planned to trade for the day, but then Leia showed up in a fucking limo, which was just like her, so he could get the girls into their booster seats to take them all for a treat for lunch. He invites Rose to join them, and somehow they all find themselves at the outdoor seating of a local burger joint. Rose bullies him into ordering gravy with his fries, then proceeds to steal half of it for her own cheese fries. Kaydel also shows up with her kids and keeps giving him the stink-eye until Rose speaks.
"I've already given him the intentions conversation," Rose says, slurping gravy off a particularly cheesy fry.
"Hmm," Kay considers him, then swipes a fry from his plate. She'd ordered a salad, but had made up for the missing calories by stealing bites from Rose and now, apparently, Ben.
He didn't mind, though. He thought it might mean that she'd accepted him.
"But is he taking care of her?" She waggles her eyebrows at him in a way that lets him know she doesn't mean 'putting bandaids on a paper cut' caretaking.
Thankful for the surrounding children, Ben crams his burger into his mouth to hide the blush creeping over his cheeks.
He knows he takes care of Rey, the sheer amount of orgasms he prides himself on giving her account for that, but he is not sharing that with these two women who are practically strangers.
But then he catches a look pass between them, and- they're fucking with him .
So, he decides to do it too.
"Oh, well, actually, she takes care of me. There's an apron, pearls, a whole bit." He pauses to wipe his lips and to look up to see their glowers before he continues. "She cooks, she cleans, it's delightfully archaic."
Rose's eyebrows furrow, like she knows something he said was wrong, but she can't quite catch it. Kaydel just glares. Ben raises his eyebrows at them, waiting for them to get the joke.
"Wait a minute," Rose says, starting to grin, "Rey can't cook for shit."
"She cooks, she cleans?" Kaydel throws her blonde hair back and laughs, swatting him on the shoulder.
"Oh my god," Rose says, chortling, "you really had us going for a second. You have earned our approval now, Sasquatch."
Eventually, even the tireless little girls are exhausted, so Ben drives them home after paying for all the other kids', and their moms', food. They're passed out in their room when Jacen quietly asks if they can play a game on the Wii.
"Sure, Kid, what did you have in mind?" Ben hopes it's not bowling.
"Umm. Baseball?" Jacen cracks a tiny grin.
Ben groans, but they play, and Ben is spectacularly bad at it.
"But you have to account for things!" He's shouting at the tv when Rey comes in. "You can't just flick your wrist to pitch! It's just wrong !"
He's so caught up in the wrongness that is Wii baseball that he doesn't even register Rey entering the room.
"Lemme show you how it's done!"
Ben blinks, and Jacen laughs.
"Oh, boy," Jacen says, "get ready for this one."
Rey flounces over, presses a kiss to his cheek, then takes the white controller from his hand. She goes over to stand in front of the tv, grips the controller, sets her feet, sticks out her butt, wiggles a bit, and slings her arm forward in a really horrible imitation of pitching.
Not that Ben minded watching her shake her ass like that. Nope, he hadn't minded that at all.
Eventually, even Jacen gets tired and goes to bed, leaving Ben and Rey alone for the first time all day.
"Hey," she says dimpling up at him with a wide smile and slightly unfocused eyes. She twines her arms around him and rests her head on his chest.
"Hi," he replies, kissing the top of her head.
"I found out why Leia sent a limo," she says, leaning further into him.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. The woman can put away mimosas like nobody's business. There's no way any of us could have driven home."
Ben chuckles into her hair.
She sighs and pushes her face against him, rubbing her cheek against his sternum.
"What're you doing?" He asked, amused by this vaguely cat-like motion.
"Smells good," she says happily into his tee-shirt.
"Okay," he says and just stands with her for a while.
After a while, she starts swaying a bit, so he scoops her up and carries her into the bedroom, depositing her on the bed. She yawns and stretches, then stands and starts removing her clothes, tossing them into her closet.
Catching him watching her, Rey grins at him, moving slower and more deliberately, with intent. It feels like it takes years for her to reach behind her to unhook and slowly drop the lacy bra, and because he is just a man, Ben's eyes immediately drop to the skin that had been uncovered. Her nipples pebbled under his gaze, but she continues, slowly undoing the button of her jeans and sliding them down over her hips, revealing plain black underwear.
Why the plain black underwear gets him almost instantly hard, Ben doesn't know. Maybe it's the way she looks at him while she slides her clothes off. Maybe because he knows what's beneath that little scrap of black cotton. Either way, his eyes trail down her belly and land between her legs and he instantly wants to take them off. Put his mouth on her and make her moan.
And then she saunters over to her dresser and pulls open the drawer that she'd designated as his, rifling through to find one of his black tees. She pulls it over her head and disappears into the bathroom. Vaguely confused as to what just happened, Ben swiftly changes his own clothes to something more comfortable, trying desperately to ignore the raging hard-on that the love of his life had just caused and then abandoned. He hears water running in the sink and other faint sounds and tries to focus on that instead of how badly he wants her. When he hears her opening the door, Ben scrambles under the covers to at least try to hide his erection.
Which is apparently entirely unnecessary, as the second Rey emerges from the bathroom, she pounces on him, pinning him beneath her.
"Hi," she says between kisses to his face and neck, "I needed to wash my face and brush my teeth. It has been a day ."
"Hmph." Ben pretends to have hurt feelings, but she can see through it.
"Well, if you wanted me to stop," she says, pretending to misunderstand him, "you could just say so."
Ben curls his fingers into her hipbones, rolling over with her when she rolls off him, tangling them both in the sheets, so he rips them off, tossing them to the floor. Now, he rises above her, staring down into her face.
"Do you think I ever want you to stop?"
Rey smiles up at him, reaching up to twist her fingers through his hair, brushing his cheek.
And again, how much he loves her hits him fully in the chest and for a moment it's hard to breathe.
In the next moment, he's kissing her, hard, trying to put all of his emotions into the simple act of pressing his lips to hers.
But it's not enough. It's never enough. He will always want more of her. His tongue flicks against hers, and he feels her legs fall open beneath him. Grinning against her lips, Ben traces his fingers over the waistline of her plain black underwear. But not beneath them. Not yet. His lips move over her neck, gently though, he doesn't want to mark her too visibly. When he finds the spot over her heart, he can feel her heartbeat, and he sucks a mark there. Her hands slide beneath his shirt, pulling it up, and he lifts himself so she can pull it over his head.
That sense of male pride he always feels when she takes him in floods through him even as he watches her eyes darken. Tugging at the hem of her, well really it's his, shirt, he pulls it up over her head, and they both just stare at the other, each drinking the other in.
It's intense and burning and he needs her.
He fumbles a bit in his haste, and they laugh as they bump foreheads, both trying to undress the other. Somehow they both wind up with their clothes on the floor in a heap, and he picks her up so she can wrap her legs around his waist. Ben back up to the bed, letting them fall backward, landing hard enough that his breath is nearly knocked out.
With Rey's knees spread beside him, he can feel how wet she is, and he can't stop himself from dipping a finger between her legs, stroking her core to draw out even more wetness. She rocks her hips, moaning, so he adds a second finger, tracing over her clit and sliding inside her.
"I need you , Ben," she pants, throwing her head back and squeezing her eyes shut. Her words and her actions don't agree. She rocks herself into his hand, and Ben stares up at her in awe. "Ben, please ," she whispers.
Ben moves his fingers from inside her, stroking her on the way out, and she keens at the loss. With both hands, he grabs her hips, holding her still, hovering over his cock.
She tries to writhe and push down, but somehow he manages to keep her from impaling herself.
"Go slow, sweetheart, for me? Please?"
The gods know that he does not want to go slowly, but this feels different somehow, like they need to be slow and sweet with each other, no matter how much they just want to fuck.
Rey nods slowly, breath catching as Ben loosens his grip on her hips to lower her down.
Inch by agonizingly slow inch, she sinks down onto him, enveloping him in her wet heat, and Ben wants to scream in pleasured frustration at how good she feels around him. So tight and wet and his .
He tells her, then says it again.
"You are mine ," he says quietly when he's finally, finally bottomed out inside her.
And her face crumples, she falls forward onto his chest, sobbing.
Rey hates that she's crying during sex. But he's just so sweet and she loves him and she feels so close with him that she just can't help but cry.
"You're mine, too," she whispers into his now tear-stained chest.
She'd felt him freeze beneath her when she started crying, and now he strokes his hand over her hair, the braid he'd done for her somehow still there.
He must not have heard her.
So she braces herself, using his arms to push herself up off his chest.
"You are mine too," she says fiercely, if a bit watery. She sniffles and looks down at his face.
"And you're crying because…?" he says looking up at her like he's waiting for the axe to fall on his neck.
"I am crying ," she says, gripping her hands into his biceps and rocking her hips, "because I love you."
"O- okay?" he grunts as she bucks harder against him.
"Sometimes," she says, with a particularly hard grind, "I get emotional when I love someone." Rey watches Ben's eyes roll back as she starts to speed up, timing her thrusts with her words. "And when someone loves me back," she pauses, waiting for him to look back up at her.
"When someone loves you back," he repeats, bucking his hips up into hers hard enough that she saw stars, "you get attached," thrust , "and then you worry you're too attached and that they'll leave."
He'd taken the words right out of her mouth.
They rock together, finding their rhythm. She slides her hands up so that their fingers are threaded together as their slow, sweet sex turns harder and faster. Rey lowers her chest to his, clenching her walls around him as she feels the climax building inside her.
"I'm not leaving," he says, squeezing her fingers tighter. He says it again, pounding into her after every word.
She starts sobbing again.
Somehow, they still come together, and when she's crying into the crook of his neck with his arms wrapped around her, she whispers it too.
"I'm not leaving."
xxx
A/N:
Is it just me who randomly gets emotional at inopportune times like these two? Yes? I'll see myself out.
Thank you to my darling ReylOlds for the embarrassing stories.
Thanks for reading.
:D