Thank you for coming back!
This story has been so much fun to write! And no, I still have a way to go before these two get their HEA…well they kind of have it, they've found each other again but life is full of drama… hehehe… next week's chapters is when the poop hits the fan…
Anyway… enjoy and let me know what you think!
Sunday
"I'm not trying to be a wet blanket," Amilyn asks, "but where are you all going to live?"
Rey meets Ben's eyes and, not sure what to say, she does what she always does when she's nervous, she giggles. Ben chuckles and Mama shakes her head. "We haven't thought that far ahead," Rey admits. "My house is too small for anything long term."
"And this house is too far away," Ben adds.
"The kids and I could stay here this summer though. School's out in a couple of weeks— would it be too far away for you to drive?"
Ben shakes his head as he says, "That will give us time to find something closer to town."
"There are several houses for sale in my neighborhood," Amilyn says excitedly.
"Are we talking real estate?" Leia joins them at the island in the kitchen. "There are houses in my neighborhood too," she pauses for a moment. "I almost wish Han would let me give you two the house and we get a smaller one."
Rey looks to Ben, unsure what to do. Yes, it would be nice to not have a house payment every month, but could she be happy in the Solo house? She snorts at herself. Of course, she could, some of her happiest memories are in that home.
"Mom," Ben says. "Thank you?" Whiskey colored eyes meet hazel and green ones. "Let Rey and I talk about it."
"I know, it's hard to think of yourselves in my house. It's got four bedrooms, and well, you know. Plus remember, we finished the basement two years ago."
"Where would you and Han live?" Rey asks.
"Laugh if you want to, but I want to roam around for a little bit in one of those huge RV's. But that will be after Han retires of course. Or we might build a smaller house. Who knows?"
"But what about tonight?" Amilyn asks.
Rey isn't sure what to say, so she kicks Ben, hoping he'll get the hint.
Thankfully he does.
"Mom, Aunt Ami? Can you take the kids, well Mom, you take Jack and Wyatt, Ami, you take the girls home tonight?"
Amilyn winks at them. "Do you want me to call Principal Chewy and tell him that you need a sub for tomorrow?"
Even though she has two kids, Rey's cheeks still heat up. "If you don't mind. And remember, Poe or Zorii is picking them up after school, so you just have to take them to work with you."
"Are you still off tomorrow Ben?" Leia asks.
"You have Mondays off?" Rey asks, feeling silly for not knowing this.
He clears his throat. "We take turns working late on Thursdays."
"That's handy for working patients," Amilyn says. "Ok, girls! Get ready to go!"
Tobias and Han meet them in the kitchen. "Leia, can you drive Padme's car? It's getting dark."
Her doctor hasn't told her not to, but Nana didn't like driving when it's dark. "Yeah, let's get the boys and Nana ready."
"Bye! We'll see you tomorrow," Ben shouts to the last car leaving while Rey waves goodbye beside him on the porch.
They stand there until they can't see the lights from Nana's BMW anymore.
Rey goes back in the house before he does and he has to chuckle. Typical Rey, she goes straight for the refrigerator. She opens the door and asks, "Are you hungry? I know it's a silly question with as much food as we all ate today, but I guess it's-"
He interrupts her by taking her hand and shutting the refrigerator door. She doesn't ask, but quietly lets him lead her out to the deck that overlooks the lake. When he walks down the stairs that lead to the forest floor, she's still quiet. Their footsteps are silent as he leads her to the dock…
"Rey," he drops down on one knee. Her brow furrows as she opens her mouth to ask… but he continues, not giving her a chance to say anything. He reaches into his shorts pocket and pulls something out, but she can't tell what it is. "The past couple of weeks have felt like a dream that I never want to wake up from. I know that we just got married last night, no, the night before," they both chuckle at his confusion. "But it feels right to give this to you, here where we found each other again." He opens his hand.
"Where-" she begins.
"Nana-" he breathes. "She knows everything I think. No wonder Mom and Luke couldn't get away with anything. She gave this to me right after she showed up. Something told me to bring this to you," he mimics what Nana said.
Rey wipes the tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Don't cry, Sweetheart," he murmurs as he stands beside her. He reaches for her left hand. "Let's see if it fits."
Amazingly it does, sliding down her ring finger to rest against the band he bought her forty-eight hours ago. "It's her ring! The one she wore all the time!" Rey exclaims as she remembers. "Is she sure that she wants me to wear this ring?"
"You heard her, she loves you too."
"Your family is just-"
"Nosy, annoying, weird?"
She swats his arm. "No, they are joyful, wonderful and amazing. Besides, I'm part of your family now too, Buddy," she teases.
"And I'm so glad that you are," he whispers as he tugs her into his arms. He lowers his lips but instead of kissing her, he murmurs, "Did you know that there is another can of Reddi-whip in the refrigerator?"
"There is?" she coos back.
"I think you still owe me dessert from the other night."
"Last Solo to the house is a rotten egg!" she shouts before she takes off running up the path.
His laugh echoes back to him from across the lake. He takes off running after his wife, and there's nowhere else he'd rather be.
Monday
"Do we really have to go home?" She whines as she puts what little bit of luggage she has into the Land Rover.
"Why don't you spend the night with me at Mom and Dad's? Poe's getting the girls today, right?" He asks.
"Oh crap," she mutters.
"What's wrong?" He asks, instantly ready to defend or soothe her.
"We have to tell Poe," she groans.
"Why are you worried about that?" He asks as he shuts the back gate.
"I don't know. Just the way he acted the other night seeing you at the house—"
"How did he tell you that he married Zorii?"
"He called. They had a big wedding. She wanted the girls to be in it so we had to arrange dress fittings and all that crap." They climb in, and after seat belts, they are on the way back to town.
"Did you go to their wedding?" He asks.
"Hell no. Rose was sweet enough to go pick them up for me so I wouldn't have to."
"Well, just because he is the girl's dad, and I'm starting to love them too, we'll go by and tell him."
"You love them?" She repeats with a grin. Then, "You're going with me?" she asks, pleasantly surprised.
"Of course. Why don't you text him and see if he'll meet us at your house?"
"What do you mean you married him?" Poe shouts at her. "Don't look at me like that, Solo."
"Stop yelling at my wife. And even then, there's a good chance that I'm going to beat your ass."
"I'd like to see you try," Poe growls.
"Stop it!" Rey screams. "Poe, stop it right now. I'm not your wife, Zorii is. So, stop it with all this macho bullshit. We do need to talk, but not on my second day of marriage. Your visitation stuff stays the same, ok?"
"That's fine."
"Stop acting like he's a drug dealer or something. He was your best friend ever since you two played baseball together. If I remember correctly, it's when you two were four. He's a doctor for crying out loud."
'"When are you moving out of Abuela's house?"
"Actually, we just talked about that. We're house hunting," she answers.
Poe actually looks surprised. "Well, that's good, there's not enough room here for everyone," he says. She can tell that he wants to say more, but then Zorii's ringtone fills the space. He looks helpless and Rey doesn't know what else to say so she waves goodbye.
She waits for Poe to leave before she exhales, "Dear Lord, I never thought he'd leave." Ben simply pulls her into his arms. Rey is still for only a moment then she wiggles free. "Let me pack a bag. As much as I love this little house and all of our memories, I'm ready to be with you."
"I like the way you think, Mrs. Solo."
"There they are!" Nana Padme greets them with a kiss and a hug.
"What are you still doing here?" Ben asks, accepting his kiss before giving her one of her own.
"It gets lonely at my house." She spies Rey's bag. "Are you moving in?"
"I wish. My ex-husband has the girls for the next two days and nights. Ben suggested that I stay here." She leans in like she's sharing a secret with Nana. "I don't think Juniper or Greer would like it if the boys were in their room."
"Where are the boys?" Ben asks.
"They went shopping with Lala and Papa. Sit down you two. We need to talk."
"Those words are never good," Rey quips. "Are you breaking up with us?"
Ben chuckles, but Nana asks, "Why do you say that, dear?"
"Whenever I've heard them in the past, someone was breaking up with me," she says with a wink. "But I know you'd never do that."
"No never," Nana laughs. "Did you two say that you were going to buy a house?"
"I've been looking," Ben answers. "Nothing yet."
"I understand Leia offering this one to you two, but I know what it's like to want and need your own place." She reaches into her purse that's sitting on the kitchen table and pulls out a check. She gives it to Ben and Rey leans over to look.
"Nana! You don't have to-" Ben says and she gasps when she sees the amount.
"Yes, I do. I'd rather give you your inheritance now where I can see you using it. Plus, I know you sold your condo in Durham but after paying it off there's not much left for a down payment. This will be your down payment."
"Nana," Rey whispers as she chokes back tears. "Thank you."
"Ben is my first grandbaby. And I didn't work all those years not to be able to give my family the things they need. Besides,'' Nana adds eyes lighting up full of mischief. "The sooner you two have your own house, the sooner I can get some more grandbabies!"
Tuesday
"What neighborhoods do you want to look at?" Ben asks. The organized doctor is coming out as he looks at google maps. He has the entire town on his laptop's screen as they sit around his parent's dining room table.
"I guess the ones on this side of town? Mom's over here and so is yours. Plus, Nana is close."
"And Poe is too."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Rey grunts. "I will get the girls back tomorrow."
"I know," Ben exhales. "I wish we could come home with you."
"What are you two in here doing?" Han asks as he walks into the room.
"Trying to figure out where our little family of six is going to sleep tomorrow night." Ben continues scrolling through Zillow.
Rey or Ben doesn't see Han's grin before he asks, "Will you two come with me?"
They glance at one another, exchanging confused looks as they follow him upstairs. The master bedroom is downstairs, on the first floor. Up here are three extra bedrooms for company and where Ben spent his childhood sleeping.
It's also where he and Rey are finally sharing a bed. It's his king sized one of course.
Han stops in front of the last empty bedroom on the second floor. "I hope your girls like this-" and opens the door. Rey gasps and Ben grins. "Your mom helped."
A vision of pink and purple, Juniper and Greer's favorite colors line the walls. Two matching beds are on opposite walls. Galaxy Wars in purple decorate what could only be Juniper's side of the room. Then on the pink side, it looks like several unicorns puked rainbows and left their babies for Greer to look after.
"We know that they might not be here that much, but we want them to have a space-" he doesn't get to finish because Rey has her arms around his neck squeezing.
"It's perfect." She sobs, "I know they will love it as much as I do. Thank you."
Ben doesn't miss the way his father's eyes get misty too. "Your girls are pretty special. Just like their mama. Which is good because their dad-"
"Dad!" Ben interrupts.
"She knows how I feel about Dameron. I'm just glad that you came home, Son."
"Me too," Rey sniffs as she finally let's go of Han. She accepts another hug from Ben. "Thank you so much. I know they'll love it."
Wednesday
"All this is for us?" Juniper whispers the next day after school. "Meemee and Lala did all this?"
"I think Han- Papa and Pop-pop helped too," Rey says. "You can go on in."
Juniper tiptoes to her side of the room. Greer, who wants to do everything her big sister does, tiptoes too. They both sit on their beds, and look around some more. Wyatt and Jack, who just got home from where they'd been out with Leia, run up the stairs.
Ben had a long talk with the boys last night about respecting boundaries. He also heavily stressed that when his and Rey's bedroom door was closed that they had to knock and wait for permission to come in.
Same for their new step-sisters. They could only go into their room if they were invited. Rey is going to have the same talk with the girls in a little bit.
"Listen you two, I'm going to go help with supper. Do you remember how to get back to the kitchen?" Greer nods, already waving Wyatt in to come play with her new toys.
"Can I come too?" Juniper whispers.
Rey recognizes the uncertain look on her daughter's face. "New place making you nervous?"
Juniper steps closer and Rey crouches so she can hug her. As soon as Rey hugs her, Juniper hides her face in Rey's shoulder. "A little bit," she mutters.
"That's ok. I'm a little nervous too."
"You are?"
"I came here a lot when I was growing up, but I always went home with Meemee and Pop-pop."
"But our house isn't big enough for all of us."
"You mean you don't want to share your room with your new step-brothers?" Rey asks as she tickles Juniper. They laugh together getting Wyatt and Greer's attention. Even Jack steps into the room from the hallway.
The kids tackle Rey, who ends up being the bottom of the pile of kids. There is tickling, screeching, and laughter echoing in the room and hallway.
No one hears him tiptoeing up the stairs.
As he watches his new wife, he has a new wife, the goofy smile he's been sporting all day appears again.
Somehow, through legs and arms sprawled over her, she manages to look up at him standing in the doorway in his aqua blue scrubs he left this morning in. "Oh, look! Daddy's home."
His laughter joins his family's as the kids are able to drag him into the room and tackle him, bringing him to his knees on the carpet beside Rey. Now that the kids are not climbing on her, she's able to jump up, but before she can make her escape, he pulls her back on top of him.
"Hello, Wife," he greets her before he steals a kiss.
"Hello Husband," she replies before she kisses him again.
"Mama just kissed Ben!"
"Daddy just kissed Rey!"
"And I'm gonna do it again," he whispers against her lips before he does what he just promised.
"Mama! Those boys," Juniper whines but Rey has to bite back a giggle, "Left water all over the bathroom! It's bedtime but I didn't get to take a shower!"
Rey walks into the bathroom. "It's not that bad," she says as she starts to wipe everything down with the still damp towel left over from Greer's shower.
"Mama-" Juniper starts…
"Just get in the shower. It's like you said it's bedtime.' Juniper meets her eyes then looks down. Rey knows this look well. "Hey Juni-bean, what's wrong?"
"Mama- I like Ben and all but Jack-and-Wyatt-are-stinky-boys."
"Yes, they are," Rey agrees with her.
"Are we really going to get a new house?"
"Yes, Juni-bean. Why? Any special requests?" Rey asks as she turns on the shower to the right temperature.
"Can I please have my own bathroom?"
"I'll see what I can do," Rey chuckles. "I want my own bathroom, too."
Rey steps out so Juniper can have some privacy. She can hear Ben's deep baritone blending with Han's coming from downstairs, while Greer and Wyatt playing come from the girl's new room.
"Hey, guys- where's Jack?"
"He's with Dad," Wyatt says. "Do you wanna come play with us?"
"When Juniper is out of the shower, you two need to go brush your teeth. It's time for bed." The shower shuts off and Rey opens the bathroom door enough to ask, "Do you need help?"
"No, Mama."
Rey goes back to the girl's room. So far, Greer and Wyatt are being good, and putting their toys back on the shelves. Juniper comes through the door, and Rey says, "go brush your teeth, please."
"Jack needs to brush his teeth," Wyatt adds.
"I can tell you've been hanging out with Greer." she mutters as they walk by before she starts combing Juniper's hair. At the same time, it sounds like a herd of elephants come barreling up the stairs.
'"Rey!" Jack peeks around the door frame.
"Go brush your teeth."
Jack disappears to be replaced by Ben. "Is it bedtime?"
"Yes-" Rey moans. "I love you all, but I'm ready for all the short people to be in the bed."
"But Lala's short. Does she have to go to bed too?" Wyatt asks as he comes back into the girl's room.
"Son-" Ben starts.
"Smarty-pants!" Rey interrupts laughing. She sits on the cushion in front of the bookshelves. The children surround her on the floor and Ben sits on Greer's bed. That's when she pulls out a new book that Rose suggested…
"A new book?" Juniper asks.
"A new one?" Jack excitedly adds.
"I can't see the pictures," Greer observes.
"That's because Mama hasn't started reading it yet," Wyatt says.
"He called me Mama," Rey says as she melts. She meets Ben's gaze and he's watery eyed too. She takes a deep breath, "Aww Wyatt. Yes, it is a new book. And you haven't seen the pictures yet because I haven't showed them to you." She opens the book and begins to read… "We were talking about families at school. The teacher asked us what we thought made our family special. I went last because I wasn't sure what to say. My family is not like everybody else's…"
Saturday
"You know, he wanted to ask you to go to the prom with him," Leia admits as she finishes the intricate braid.
"He did?" Rey meets her eyes in the mirror. "The one where Poe went with-"
"That one." Leia grabs another bobby pen and tucks it just right there… She steps back and takes in her work. "He actually wasn't going to go. It took Rose and Finn stopping to get him motivated." She divides up the other side of Rey's hair and begins to weave. "Now stop that. I didn't tell you all that to make you sad. I think it's amazing how you two are getting this second chance. Not many people get that."
"We are lucky," Rey agrees with a smile lingering on her face. "Sometimes I feel really guilty for wasting all that time we did. If we'd just admitted how we felt-"
"That's the thing. If you two would have, way-back-when, yes, you might still love one another, look at Rose and Finn after all but you might not even be together. Plus, Juniper and Greer-"
"And Jack and Wyatt. I can't imagine life without those four. I even get to get a new vehicle now."
"Ah a minivan?" She teases as she finishes the other braid.
"They make really big SUVs now too," Rey answers. "We'll see." Leia is then holding up the pink lace dress, the one she wore last weekend for the reunion up. She helps Rey to step into it, and with a quick zip, secures the dress. "This is my wedding dress," Rey whispers with a grin.
"You look-" Leia begins.
"Amazing." Comes from the doorway.
Rey grins and slowly turns for her husband while Leia asks, "Is that your wedding suit?"
"Yes, Mother. I sent you the pictures, remember?" Ben says. He leans over to Rey and says in a loud whisper, "See, she's mad. She wants us to get married so she can plan it."
"Benjamin Solo!" Leia throws the towel that she had draped over Rey's shoulders at him.
He catches it with a smile. "I love ya'" Mom," he admits before he kisses her cheek.
"Oh, how late are you going to be? Do you have to help clean up?" Leia asks. "And I want pictures! Don't leave yet! Han!"
"What?" Han appears in the hallway.
"Take some pictures of these two before they go."
"I thought that was the plan?" Han asks.
"Let's go outside by the trees?" Rey adds as she follows Han out the back door with Ben and Leia right behind them. The boys heard everything, trails along, not to be left out.
After Han and Leia both take heaps of pictures, Rey looks at Ben's watch. "We have to go!"
In a flurry of goodbyes, everyone gets a kiss from the newlyweds, then Ben follows her out the door.
It takes Leia a moment to remember… "Rey didn't answer my question!" when her phone chimes an incoming text.
Rey:
The teachers hired a clean-up crew lol. It will be after midnight before we get home, because the dance doesn't end until midnight. We'll be quiet, we promise.
Leia:
Be safe and have fun.
Han comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her. The boys are still running around the back yard, playing on the swing set Ben bought for them when he first moved back home. He presses a kiss to her temple and whispers, "The Kid looked much happier to be going to this prom than he did the last one."
"Isn't that the truth?" Leia laughs as she turns in his arms. Han still watches the boys before his eyes meet his wife's. Their lips meet and he lingers as she wraps her arms around his neck.
"I love you, Mrs. Solo."
"I know," she answers with a smirk.
"Wasn't we just here?"
"I've been here for years,'' Rey teases back. "But yes.'' They enter the cafeteria that the prom committee decorated for the evening's dance. "We can't sneak out to go to Gatlinburg this time."
They walk into the cafeteria where the Juniors decorated for prom. Members of the prom committee are still doing the last-minute decorations while other teachers and their dates are helping where they can. "This isn't half bad," Rey says. Yes, there are balloons everywhere along with white Christmas lights and streamers, but in her junior English class, this is all they could talk about this past month.
"Isn't this how our prom was decorated?"
"Probably. There's only so much you can do with streamers and balloons."
"Hey, Solos!"
They turn at the same time to see Rose and Finn waving from the other side of the cafeteria. Rey and Ben walk over to join them. Where Rey and Rose see each other every day, Ben and Finn haven't since Saturday.
"How's married life?" Finn asks.
"Good, I can't wait for the honeymoon," Ben answers.
"When are we doing that?" Rey asks. This is the first he's mentioned it, but now that he has, she wants to go somewhere with him.
"Soon," he promises as he pulls her close for a kiss.
Rose watches them with a huge smile on her face. "We should do something like you two go to the beach first, then we'll meet you in a week with all the kids and spend another week."
"I like that!" Rey says. "Then that way, we can babysit for you too."
"Now, you're picking up on what I'm laying down," Rose quips. Rey can't help but to laugh with Rose joining her.
"We need to finish!" A crazed seventeen-year-old screeches sending the rest of the kids in a frenzy.
"Should we go help?" Finn asks.
"We might need to," Ben answers.
"Will I get in trouble if I ask my favorite teacher to dance?" A deep rumbling voice murmurs in her ear.
"I don't know-" she looks around the almost empty dance floor. There's fifteen minutes until the dance is over, but most of the students already left an hour ago. "You might." she answers as she turns to the owner of the voice. "Did you hear? She ran off last weekend and got married!"
"She did? Dang it! There goes my chance." Ben stomps his foot and crosses his arms in front of his chest.
"Come on, you Dork. Dance with your wife." He lets her tug him out onto the makeshift dance floor. Once there, he's the one who pulls her into his arms. The first couple of notes echo across the room, bringing tears to Rey's eyes. "What did you do?"
Ben stops, his heart sinking to his knees. "Was this not ok?" he whispers.
"You don't know how many times I'd hear this song and think about you and me." She starts to sing:
'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need
I love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do
I will be strong, I will be faithful 'cause I'm counting on
A new beginnin'
A reason for livin'
A deeper meaning, yeah
I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me
And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky
I'll make a wish, send it to heaven and make you want to cry
The tears of joy for all the pleasure and the certainty
That we're surrounded by the comfort and protection
Of the highest powers
In lonely hours
The tears devour you
An' I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me
Oh, can you see it, baby?
You don't have to close your eyes
It's standin' right before you
All that you need will surely come
Ooh, yeah
I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need
I'll love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do
His exhale is ragged, even to his ears. "We wasted-"
"Don't. We got the kids out of that wasted time," she whispers. "We get to start over. It's like the song says, we saved the best for last."
He does the only thing he can in that moment. He wraps his arms around his wife and dances until the other chaperones turn the lights on.
The book Rey reads to the kids is called A Family is A Family is a Family. I don't own it.
The song is Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden. And I don't own it. I just love the song and these two might have listened to it a time or two when they were in high school