I know… I suck. This is a crazy time for me, and I hate that I don't have more time to write.
Thank you for coming back to read! I hope you enjoy it!
His face softens and he holds out his arms for her. It should be her comforting him instead—but she curls into him anyways. His heartbeat is strong and steady under her ear, and she just knows—she picks up her head and looks into his eyes. She doesn't miss how he swallows hard. "Rey Andor, will you marry me?"
Even she can feel how dazzling her smile is when she feels it on her lips. She scoots closer so she can kiss him. It's an easy one, light as a summer breeze, it still warms her. "Yes, but only if, you're sure."
He grabs her arms and tugs her close. She helps him, of course. They lean until they touch, nose-to-nose. Just being with him heals her. "Do you feel that?" she whispers.
He rubs the tip of his nose against hers. "I feel it too. It's like I can feel myself healing."
"That's good," she says as tears spring to her eyes. It physically hurts her to think of him, her Ben, hurting. Of course, he sees her watery eyes. "Really good."
"Yes," he agrees as he clears his throat. "Yes—" A knock on the door prevents him from asking— "Who's there?" he calls instead.
"It's just me," Leia greets as she walks in. Dr. Kalonia is behind her with Rose, Hux and Finn following.
"Mom?"
"I know I shouldn't be here but—"
"I know you had to come check on me," he finishes for her.
"I did." Leia comes to his side and kisses his forehead. "Will you be alright?"
Rey doesn't miss how he meets her eyes. She wishes she knew what he was thinking when he says, "I have to be." He returns his mom's gaze. "We stay until the job is finished, right?"
"Not always, just come back to me?" Leia wipes her eyes before she kisses him on the forehead and that makes Rey teary eyed and that makes the doctor almost sob.
"I know, Mama. Are you staying?"
"For your wedding? Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Oh good—now I don't have to tell you how wonderful it was and have you cry all over us—"
Brbrbrbrbr
"Mama! You kept your dress?" Rey asks Jyn as Cassian wipes his silent tears.
"Of course, I did! I knew that one day I'd have a daughter and she might want it. Go try it on." Rey hugs Mama one more time before she disappears into the bathroom. Ben is still upstairs in the step-down ICU. It was Kalonia's idea for Rey and her parents to wait for him here in his new room. Plus, that gives them a moment to ready the room and Rey for the wedding.
Which meant a call to Jyn and Cassian who came with Cassian's guitar and lots of white roses.
Short and vintage, Rey twirls in the mirror. The dress was actually her grandmother Lyria's dress when she married her grandpa G.(Galen Erso to everyone else) A couple of tears and she wishes they'd had time to come from Florida.
Maybe when Palpatine is rotting way in prison, they can do this again.
"Mama, look—" she says as she opens the door. A collective "Ahhh" fills the room. Rose, Hux, Poe and Finn, her parents, Han and Leia and Maz and Chewy are all crammed into this little hospital room, waiting for her.
"you look so cute! And beautiful," Rose gushes.
"Rey! you can clean up—" Poe teases.
"Don't listen to him, peanut. You've always been beautiful and today you get a husband too," Finn adds.
"I'm just glad that the dress fits," Jyn says.
"She's almost as beautiful as you were in it, Mi Bella," Cassian coos but then returns his attention to Rey. "But you are the one who we adore." Dad leans over to steal a kiss. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Even though her dad, Cassian Andor is a retired US Marshal, she knows that she has to keep this from him. Rey hopes soon that Ben will trust her enough to tell her who he is, but until then, she has to keep her secrets too.
Did Cassian and Jyn know who her supposed grandfather was when they decided to adopt her? did they want her or was she given to them to hide her from—she shakes her head in an effort to get the voices inside her head to stop.
And that her adoption papers are real.
She nods and whispers, "I am, Daddy." She reaches for his hand like she did when she was first his.
Before anyone else can come and offer their congratulations, there's a knock and two orderlies push Ben's bed in.
After they get out of the way, of course.
She supposes later, of course that it must have been Han or even Leia or maybe even Hux who helped. Ben, who probably said something about not getting married in a hospital gown or bare chested now has on a white button up shirt. His hair has been brushed like he wears it and for a moment she wonders if someone, maybe even Paige helped him to wash it.
As rushed as all this is, she hopes someone helped him to get ready for this.
The orderlies lock his bed in place. They have to unhook him from a couple of lingering machines that beep when something is wrong. Everyone in the room quiets, as they all silently watch.
"Rey—" he utters. She gladly walks over to him taking his hand once she joins him. As she links their fingers together, he squeezes, and she returns the action.
As if there's a cue no one told her about, Leia steps forward with an older gentleman who definitely wasn't there before. "Ben, Rey, this is Ben Kenobi. He's the pastor of the church in town. If it's alright with you two, he's going to marry you."
Rey finds herself nodding in agreement while Ben says, "That's sounds like a good idea."
"Hello there," the pastor greets. "I understand that we don't have much time—"
"Hang on a moment sir—" then to Rey, "can you move for a moment dear?" As she steps away, Han and Hux step on either side of her. When Rey sees what they're doing, tears spring to her eyes as they help Ben to his feet. The room waits, breathlessly as he stands. Underneath the sheet he was wearing black slacks and she doesn't doubt one moment that he'd be wearing the matching jacket if he didn't have an IV in his hand. A glance down, and a giggle. He looks to see—and he chuckles. Both are marrying one another—barefooted.
"Too bad we aren't at the beach—" she murmurs. And several in the little room titters along with her.
"The next one." His promise in his voice. Alpha is good to us.
Alpha is amazing.
"The next one," she agrees as Hux moves so she can take his place at Ben's left side. Her hand finds its way into the crook of her elbow while Mama hands her a bouquet. White roses flanked by daisies and delicate baby's breath makes her smile. The same plants her parents, Jyn and Cassian, let her pick out that first spring she was theirs and then they all planted together that evening.
"We love you and are so proud of you," Mama whispers before she kisses her on the cheek.
Rey would respond but her and her omega are speechless with emotion as tears well in her eyes. A deep breath as their combined scents, fill the room. Which calms her Omega—
"Ready?" Pastor Kenobi murmurs.
She looks up to her Alpha, her bridegroom. Those stupid whiskey-colored eyes meet her green ones and her heart, and her omega do a happy little flip.
"I am," she answers.
"I am, too."
"Good." his smile is wide and friendly. "Friends and family. We have been invited here today to witness the joining of Benjamin Organa Solo and Rey Erso-Andor. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of their day, it means a lot. Today is all about love. Love is the strength of the world, a universal language that binds everyone. I pray this love we are here to witness will spread in our hearts and to all that's ours. We will support them on the journey of their love which begins today." Pastor Ben pauses to wink at Ben and Rey.
"Who gives Ben and Rey to be married?"
Cassian and Jyn smile and then answer, "We do."
Then Han, who is still beside them to offer his physical support, smirks. "His mother and I do."
"I must say, this is the first time I've had both sets of parents give their children away. I think I love it. Let's continue. Rey, Ben, can you face one another and make your vows?
"Ben, repeat after me: I, Benjamin Organa Solo—"
"I Benjamin, Organa Solo—" his deep rumble fills the room. Even wounded, his voice surrounds her, and she knows- "Take thee, Rey Erso Andor, to be my wedded wife." As Ben promises to take care of her—see alpha is promising to take care of us.
"Very good." Ben Kenobi says then turns his attention to her. "Ready, Rey?" she nods, pushing her omega back. "I Rey Erso-Andor, take thee, Benjamin Organa Solo—"
"I Rey Erso-Andor, take thee, Benjamin Organa Solo—"
"To be my wedded husband—"
"To be my wedded husband—"
"To have and to hold from this day forward—"
"To have and to hold from this day forward—"
And as she promises him forever—she can feel the bond that was already there growing stronger. And then as she promises him her forever—she can hear her omega praying that he means it too.
"And now the rings."
"Oh no, I don't have—" She doesn't finish because her own Dad, Cassian, gives her a ring. She looks down at the plain platinum band and she knows—this was his from forever ago. More tears as Mama gently takes the flowers from her.
More murmurs as Han puts something in Ben's hand.
"Now, as you put the rings on, repeat after me. Rey, you first. This ring I give in token and pledge as a sign of my love and devotion."
"This ring I give in token and pledge as a sign of my love and devotion."
"With this ring, I thee wed."
"With this ring, I thee wed," she repeats as she pushes the ring onto Ben's ring finger, silently praying that it fits. Then as if by happy accident, it does.
She beams up at him and she's lost in his words and his happy smile—see I told you Alpha loves us. It's not until he slides the now warm from his touch, platinum onto her finger, that she tears her gaze away. The band is anything but plain as it's decorated with a vine with different stones as if they were the flowers.
"—I thee wed." She hears. And even as Kenobi announces, "And now, with the power given to me by the state of North Carolina, I pronounce you husband and wife. Benjamin, you may kiss your bride."
His lips touch hers and she knows. She now belongs to him and he to her. And she couldn't be happier. A curl of heat starts at her lips, where he touches her. A murmur of congratulations interrupts them and only then does she pull away.
His amber eyes grow dark—like they were when he was in rut—so he does feel it too. But when he grins like he just got the best news of his life—oh. Her omega and her does a little dance, she lets herself believe that just maybe—
"Son—you—" Han doesn't get to finish because Ben does a weird wobble. She wraps her arms around him and between her and Han, they steady him. Before either one can ask, the orderlies are back and between the four of them, they get Ben back onto the bed.
"Now, my favorite part, the marriage license. Let's make this official—" Ben Kenobi says as he rolls over the bedside table. He gives Rey the pen first. "This way, even if it's not filed yet, it's still legal. And you can always mail it, you only have ten days to return it to the courthouse."
Those words remind Rey of why they're here. as soon as she scribbles her name on the dotted line at the bottom, Ben signs his blanks too.
"I hate to do it and I love weddings so don't think this is just me being hateful—" Dr. Kalonia who was in the room too during their little ceremony steps forward. "But I need to get this man comfortable and all that good stuff if he wants to go home with his bride tomorrow. Just when you have the reception, I want an invite."
"Yours will be the first one," Leia promises.
It takes everyone a moment to file out. Then with gentle hands, Rey helps to get Ben out of his wedding clothes and into a hospital gown. Kalonia helps to get him comfortable as she looks him over. A final pat on his shoulder as she announces, "You did alright. Try to walk around some more, and hopefully I can let you go home sooner. As soon as you get into Rey's nest, you'll be able to heal that much faster. I'll be back later to check on you. Get some rest and we'll talk about this more later. Congratulations."
Rey waits until everyone else leaves, including Mama who reminds her that there's more comfortable clothes in the bag in the bathroom—she knows that Rey won't leave Ben's side until she's helping him climb the stairs at the bakery.
"You can go too—" Ben says, those whiskey eyes of his never leave her.
"—Mama brought me clothes. Is it alright if I stay here? I don't want to leave your side." She says, suddenly shy with it just them again.
"I'd love that. but first come here." He holds out his hand for hers. he waits until her hands are in his for him to say, "You are so beautiful. And I'm sorry that I wasn't—I'll make it up to you one day. The beach sounds amazing."
"I'm sorry that I—"
"Don't. I've wanted you from the first moment I scented you. Then when I saw you floating in mom's pool. I just knew that you were mine. Yes, I'm disappointed that I can't drag you back to our nest and knot you over and over again for several days in a row. But I will as soon as I can. But first I want to protect you."
"I want to protect you too." she leans over to kiss his forehead but instead he turns his head. with a tug, their lips crash together. a giggle as she says, "sorry about that."
"I liked it." A long look and a loud exhale. "Can I hold you?"
"Let me go change—I'll hurry."
"No—" he protests. "Let me see my beautiful Omega in her wedding dress just a little bit longer."
"Really?" she squeaks. "You think I'm beautiful?"
"I think you are so many things. Amazing, wonderful, beautiful, cute. You smell good and you taste even better—" she can hear his alpha talking to her and she loves it and so does her omega.
She sits on the bed and his tug is still strong, and together she wiggles until she's curled into his side. The hand with the IV rests on her shoulder and she tries not to think about how she almost lost him. "Are you ok?" Her voice is muffled by his chest and she hates how little it makes her sound but she is just happy to be in his arms again—
"Omega—I can scent your worry." He tilts her head towards his. "He can't hurt you now."
Her omega can feel, and not just hear his alpha command. As much as she wants to mate him, she also wants him to get better. The smell of the—everything that makes a hospital a hospital—is starting to get to her.
"I wish we were at home, in our nest," she whispers. His fingers run along her jawline and into her hair. He gently tugs and she follows as he kisses her forehead.
"Me too," she can feel his lips move against her skin as he mutters the words.
"Are you going to move into the bakery with me?"
The way she's arranged beside him, all she can see is his Adam's apple. And while she watches him swallow before he answers, she loves how close she is to his mating gland. She just wants to lick it until he pulls her under him and fucks her into tomorrow.
But she actually needs him better—
A near shout reaches them through the heavy fireproof door. Their arms tighten around each other and Rey can smell how their scents change. "Let me go see—"
But before she can sit-up, the door bursts open with such force that it slams into the wall behind it. Rey jumps, Ben swears, "What in the hell—"
"There you are, princess. Dear old Grandpa is wondering where his little dove went flying off to." Snoke sneers. John Alister snoke. One of the most wanted men in the United States, stands in his hospital room.
And he can't do anything about it, except hope that for once Hux did his job and left a wire and hopefully a camera on somewhere.
"I can only imagine what he'll do when he finds out you're here with Kylo Ren of all people. Why would you want him, when you could have anyone in the family," he pauses so he can smirk before he adds, "even me."
Since Snoke entered the room, Rey's scent changed sharply from worry and love to anger so suddenly that even his alpha had trouble dealing with it.
"Who in the hell are you that you can come into this room like this and dare talk to me or my husband this way?" Snoke's eyes widen in what could only be surprise and he hopes that somehow, someone is getting this on tape, as Rey gets out of the bed. "That's right, my husband. You need to get out before I tell dear old Gramps what you did." He's amazed when she takes a step closer to the scarred creature who is cowering in the doorway from his omega advancing on him. "And if I'm not mistaken, wasn't Kylo shot because he was trying to save your ass? I think you need to be thanking him, not acting like this." She takes another step and is it wrong that he loves how Snoke backs up like he doesn't want to breathe the same air as Rey. "You better be careful, beta. My alpha might be taking your job next. After all I'm the long-lost Princess, aren't I? And who are you? A pathetic, washed up wanna be beta. I can find more loyal men than you on the police force."
"Tell me this Princess, why are you wearing that dress?" Snoke, somehow pulls himself back together and manages to ask.
"Meet my husband, like I said when you first tried to knock the door down—" she interrupted by Paige and several security guards before she has a chance to finish.
Ben isn't sure what to do—if he does too much his cover will be blown, so he does the only thing he can think of— "The door slipped out of his hands when he opened it. Too much oil on the hinges."
He watches as his bride and the other one who looks a lot like Rose, exchange a look. Silent communication passes between them and finally the nurse nods. "Those damn slippery doors, they just slip out of your hands."
And as quietly as she appeared, she leaves.
"Come along, sir. The patient needs to rest." One of the security guards says. But it's not until he hears their voice that he realizes it's his boss, Lando Calrissian. He might be one of his parent's oldest friends but even he can't decipher the look he gives him.
"Fuck—" he utters as Lando leads Snoke away. Things must be worse than he thought if Lando's here. "Where's my phone?" He asks as she comes back from closing the door. The look on her face matches the way he feels—like he'd rather be anywhere but here.
"It's here." She picks it up from the bedside table and he doesn't miss how her handshakes as she hands it to him. He pats the space she vacated, and it only takes her a moment to climb back in the bed.
He wraps his arms around her and breathes deep as their scents mingle. He loves the way his rain mixes with her lavender. But he doesn't like the bitterness leftover from her anger.
Omega protected us. She's so amazing. His alpha purrs. She's ours. Bite her.
Not yet. we want to be inside her, knotted when we do that.
Then let's do that.
Yeah, we're hurt, remember? But she's still ours. She just agreed to share our last name today—
"Ben?" she mutters, her head back against his chest. He can feel her breath against his skin.
"Rey?"
She pauses and just when he starts to think she either forgot what she was going to say, or she's asleep, she says, "Thank you for marrying me today."
"Thank you for letting me. Now that Snoke is gone, how about you get comfortable? Are you hungry? Do you want to order something?"
"Maybe later." She sits up again. Her green eyes meet his and for a moment, she could swear that he sees her omega there when her eyes shimmer in the harsh reality of the hospital lights. "Unzip me?"
"Anytime," he says with a smirk. She turns so her back is to him. The quiet zip of the old zipper fills the space. But then he sees the span of her bare back only separated by her bra.
It takes everything he has to let her walk into the bathroom and change—instead of pulling her under him and—the cell phone in his hand buzzes as if it needs to remind him that he can't do those things they would be doing if he hadn't been shot yesterday—it's just a text from Hux that he'll check in a minute.
Then his bride, his Rey reappears—and his heart speeds up like it always does when she's close. and now—she's his. Forever and always. She will be his omega. Always by his side, the mother of his pups, he just knows that he's going to love her forever.