A/N: Let's be real... when two lovers reunite they're going to celebrate the way Hux would describe as "sharing a special 'hug' that grownups do" lol. There's no explicitness, just lots of suggestive banter. Keeping this T rated!

Trying to stay realistic just like last chapter. When Ben was overwhelmed by Rey's response he didn't immediately get up. He scooted over and hugged her stomach instead. Felt like it would be a genuine reaction before he actually did stand up. So, realistically if you reunite with your love with 6 months of sexual tension, you're going to be handsy for a day.

No hard feelings if you skip this chapter, you won't miss out on the main story, promise! Remaining chapters have some plot progression but it's all fluffy cuteness.

Anyhow, enjoy if you do read this!

~XXXIII. As It Should Be~

~i. Making Up For Lost Time~

The warmth from the late morning sunshine radiated through the windows of the fourth story Santa Monica loft. A well-rested, satisfied and exhausted Rey woke up to the bright light peering its way through from the half open blinds.

We seriously need to invest in automatic curtains, Rey thought. That bloody frickin' sun. Not having much of a blanket to cover her face from the glare, she groaned, deciding it was time for her to get up and stay up this time to start the day.

She wiggled a bit to break free from his grasp. As she put out her arm and got the leverage from the coffee table to push herself up, she turned around and smiled at him. He was still sound asleep from their eventful morning.

Who would have thought that 24 hours ago Rey was on a lonely journey to mend her broken heart and try to find happiness within her again? Only to be waking up from a late morning nap with none other than the man of her dreams, Ben Solo – her husband. It was quite a 24 hours indeed.

Rey kissed his tousled hair as she slowly rose from the couch, feeling underneath the sofa for her shorts and his discarded undershirt to wear before making her way over to the Keurig. She desperately wanted to brew herself some coffee for a much needed burst of caffeine. She reached the counter and tried to yawn her sleep out of her system. Sure, it was nearly 11 AM but she was still exhausted. She was never one to wake up late, usually started her day no later than 8 AM, 9 on her 'lazy days'. But with the morning she had with Ben… well, they needed to take a nap after a rather vigorous start. She turned the coffee machine on and waited for her beverage to brew, dumping the cold mug of coffee that she first made this morning into the sink. She never did get around to drinking it as the moment she got out of bed, Ben followed her to the kitchen and couldn't seem to take his hands of her. Which was why they ended up sprawled on the couch, napping after their intimate session.

She smiled to herself, still thinking that this was all a dream. She was happy. She was with Ben. And they were in love. How did she get so lucky?

"Is that hazelnut I smell?" a groggy Ben hollered from the couch.

"Yes it is. I bought the k-cups last month," she said back.

She learned over the gala weekend that he had a liking for Hazelnut and Mocha flavored java. Despite he made fun of her for having that new obsession of k-cups, she knew he was grateful to buy him flavors that delighted his all too familiar sweet tooth.

"Smells good," he replied.

"If you want me to make you a cup, get your lazy butt up and come over here," she teased.

A silent moment passed.

"Did you fall back asleep?" she wondered aloud.

"I'm debating if coffee is worth getting up. I'm still tired!" he complained.

"Get up, darling," she said to him.

Grudgingly, Ben managed to prop himself to sit up, blindly searching for his shorts under the coffee table, then got up and off the couch, dragging himself to the kitchen. Rey was sitting on a stool, sipping her cup of joe and reading whatever sports magazine Ben had lying around on the kitchen island. Ben leaned lazily against Rey's shoulder being over dramatic as if he were a kid forced to wake up early for school.

"I want coffee," he announced. He tried sipping from the mug Rey was holding.

"Hey, this is mine. Make your own," she scooted her mug away from his reach.

"But it won't be special coffee, you make the best brew, hon," he said.

"Ben, I push a button and the magic of the Keurig does all the work. Nice try," she stuck her tongue at him.

He took advantage of the moment and kissed her. She thoroughly enjoyed it, kissing him back sweetly until he caught her off guard and grabbed her mug from her, successfully stealing her beverage.

"Too easy," he smugly grinned and sipped away.

"You're so bad," she feigned pouting. "It's a good thing I love ya," she said and kissed his cheek.

Ben placed the mug down and wrapped his arms around Rey's waist, gawking at her eyes, then down to her lips.

"Mm how much do you love me?" he mumbled with intrigue.

"How about I show you?" she smiled into his kiss.

It had been nonstop affection the moment Ben and Rey returned from the lighthouse the night before. When the happy couple made it back to their loft, they wasted no time in celebrating, not leaving their bedroom for the rest of the night. Rey woke up in Ben's arms and the two shared a sweet morning together. Ben expressed this bubbling feeling he had inside him when he woke up to Rey in his arms. It was how it should've been for the past six months if only they weren't so stubborn and blind to see they were meant to be together all along. Rey agreed a bit upset that they wasted so much time with what could have been, but she nor he regretted it because it brought them together in the end anyway.

They waited to tell their friends and family what came of Ben's search for Rey. In fact, they turned off their phones the moment they stepped onto the ferry to head back to the port. They decided that they wanted to keep the night for themselves and savor this reunion together, to face the music the next day. Which was today. However, Ben had not left Rey's side, touching and holding her every chance he got. 'It's to make up for lost time,' he claimed. To which Rey didn't protest. When they made love again that morning before Rey could have her first cup of coffee, they wound up on the couch. Ben claimed to want to 'christen' every room in their loft with their love. Rey of course rolled her eyes and laughed – though with no protest.

Which brings us to now. After waking up from their session on the couch, Ben was currently kissing his wife in the kitchen, picking her up with one fell swoop and placing her bottom on the cold marble countertop of their kitchen island.

"We haven't christened the kitchen yet, baby," he lowly drawled.

"Mm yeah no, don't call me 'baby'," she shook her head.

"You didn't protest when I called you that last night," he smugly grinned. "And I heard you say it several times too."

She slapped his chest lightly, her cheeks were turning red.

"Which is why I can't have you calling me that as a pet name because every time you do, my mind will wander to the bedroom," she expressed.

"It's a win-win for me," he said proudly.

She rolled her eyes at him and laughed.

"Alright, how about honey? Sweetheart? Love?" he suggested.

"I like those better than 'baby'. At least I won't blush," she teased.

"I think it's cute when you blush," he smiled. "But I don't care what pet name you want me to call you, so long as I can call you my wife," he said lovingly.

"You can call me your wife any time, darling," she said sweetly.

"Darling… I like 'darling'. It sounds special," he grinned at the sentiment.

"You're special," she smiled at him.

He kissed her again deeply, intent to show her exactly how special she was to him. Ben started to feel around the hem of Rey's shorts, finding the elastic and hooked his fingers around them. She knew where this was going and broke their kiss.

"Ben, you're not seriously thinking we should have sex on the kitchen island."

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking," he smirked. "You know me so well."

"Honey, we shouldn't. We eat here!" she exclaimed.

"And we watch TV on the couch, but that didn't stop you this morning from screaming very naughty words in my ear," he haughtily chuckled.

Her cheeks flushed red again. It didn't matter that they were already together. Ben still had that effect on her.

"You really need to take a cold shower," she teased.

"Not unless you shower with me," he propositioned.

"We both know what will happen if I do."

"I don't see any problem with that."

"You're impossible," she rolled her eyes at him.

"I didn't hear a 'no'," he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"No shower," she giggled.

"Fine. But what about the counter?"

He tried to sway her by kissing a particular spot on her neck, the softest part of her skin that he discovered last night to be her hot button.

"I guess if we're christening the loft…" she sighed happily.

Ben felt like the luckiest man alive.

~ii. Sharing The News~

"Thanks, keep the change," Rey took the pizza from the delivery guy and shut the door, bringing their late lunch over to the counter where they recently 'christened' it.

"Jeez, you keep your phone off for a whole night and you get like fifty messages and twenty missed calls," Ben said when he finally turned his phone on.

"Yeah, I turned mine on this morning too. Rose practically blew up my voicemail," she giggled.

"At least your messages were from Rose. Most of these came from my mom," he said embarrassingly.

Ben put his phone on the computer desk and walked over to the counter to enjoy some pizza with Rey. They had to order out a late lunch because he was keen on being intimate all morning with his wife. Not that he complained.

"We really should tell everyone, love," Rey said after taking a bite of her first slice. "It's only fair."

"Or, and hear me out, we can hide all weekend and not leave the bedroom," he winked.

"Down boy," she teased him. "We at least need to tell people we're alive," she giggled.

"Augh, but they'll want to come over and celebrate," he protested. "How am I supposed to ravish you with an audience?"

"Ben, it's not like they haven't seen us provocatively. Remember the morning after we woke up in Vegas? Our faces practically screamed 'sex'," she reminded him.

"Well if we tell my mom you know she'll want to come over with dad," he told her. "And no offense Rey, I love you, but I'll lose my libido if my parents come over."

"Why are you so frisky all of a sudden," she smiled at him curiously.

"Because sweetheart," he placed his slice down, this time holding her hand tenderly. "I lost so much time being a coward. I want to show you how much you mean to me."

"I already know how much I mean to you silly," she kissed his nose.

"I don't know, I guess…" he trailed off.

"What's on your mind?" she brushed back his hair gently. "Tell me."

"I guess… a part of me is still waiting to wake up; that this is just a dream and you're not here and I'm still alone," he sadly smiled.

Rey's heart shuddered at his words. Ben had the same anxious thoughts as she. How did she ever get so lucky? She grabbed his hand and placed his palm softly on her cheek.

"I'm here, I'm real. I'm not going anywhere."

Ben's sullen expression disappeared, and back was his boyish smile. Did he actually get what he wanted this time? Well, he took a huge risk and came up with more than just winnings. He got Rey.

"Fine, fine," he playfully sighed. "We can tell everyone."

He gave her a quick peck on the lips and went back to his food. Rey was right, as much as he wanted to continue to ravish her, they needed to reenergize with food.

Rey grabbed her phone from the computer desk and walked back over, this time sitting on Ben's lap.

"What are you going to tell them?" he wondered as he sipped his drink and hugged her side.

"I don't know, I don't want to sound too cheesy," Rey said. "Oh, I know! Smile!"

She held out her phone and took a photo of the two of them. Ben nuzzled his chin on Rey's shoulder with his arms wrapped around her waist and the two of them flashing grins at the camera.

"There. I'll just send this pic on the group chat and to your parents. I think it's self-explanatory, I can't really think of anything cheeky," she giggled.

"Yeah, they all gossip enough. They can fill in the blanks themselves," he said of their group.

She placed her phone back down, hopped off his lap to sit at a stool and the couple continued to eat their meal in peace for a bit. However, like clockwork, their phones started incessantly buzzing just moments later.

Oh thank god, finally! – Phasma

Adorable! – Leia

OH MY GAWWWD girl I'm so happy for you! – Rose

About damn time! – Finn

Congrats love birds! – Hux

And Solo gets the girl! ;) – Poe

Proud of you, son! – Han

The couple looked at their phones and laughed at the flooding of all the new messages.

"I think they're happy for us," Ben chuckled.

"I mean, they placed bets on when we were going to get together," Rey giggled. "I'm sure they were rooting from day one."

"Wait what?" he was surprised. This was the first he's heard of this.

"Yeah, Finn and Rose started a pool. I guess Hux and Phasma joined in sometime later. And Poe obviously did too," she rolled her eyes at their silly friends.

"I think we deserve some commission from that! Damn gossips. Making money off us!"

"Ben, it was pretty obvious we'd end up together," she said matter-of-factly.

"I don't know, Rey. You were playing hard to get. I was beginning to wonder if you liked me back," he snickered.

"Oh trust me, I wanted you," she chuckled.

Before Ben could lean over the counter and kiss her, his phone rang. He glanced at the caller I.D.: Poe Dameron

Nope, Ben thought. Poe can wait, I want to kiss my wife! He let it go to voicemail.

He kissed Rey fervently and held her tight, about to take things to the next level as he brought her back to his lap when this time her phone rang instead.

"Poe Dameron, you are the biggest cock block," he grumbled at Rey's phone before she answered it.

"Hello?" she stifled a laugh, answering her phone as Ben scowled before biting into a slice of pizza.

"KIDDO!"

"Ow… okay Poe, don't scream so loud," Rey had to pull the phone away from her ear. She placed it on the counter and pressed a button. "You're on speaker now."

"Is Ben there? Who am I kidding of course he is! I bet he hasn't taken his hands off you at all."

They could literally feel Poe's smirk through the phone. Ben and Rey chuckled.

"What do you want, Dameron? This better be important!" Ben said.

"Well first things first, congratulations! I'd say when's the wedding but you two already did that," he teased. "Then again, I was the only one who attended out of all of us so why am I complaining?" he chuckled.

Rey giggled. Oh Poe, he was going to have fun with this, she already knew.

"Poe I'm going to hang up!"

"Calm down, Ben. You can hanky panky with your woman once I hang up."

Ben and Poe laughed at his comment. Rey on the other hand blushed madly.

"I'm really not comfortable talking about mine and Ben's intimacy with you, Poe," Rey begged the men to quit the teasing.

"Oh she's red like a fire truck now, huh Ben?" Poe chortled.

"To be fair, she's been blushing all morning," Ben shared cheekily.

"Ben Solo!" Rey smacked him in the arm.

"Ow!" Ben grabbed at his forming bruise. Okay that actually hurt. But it was so worth it.

"Ahh, a woman after my own heart. I'm so proud of you kiddo!" Poe continued to tease.

"Poe I'm about five seconds from hanging up. And it's not to kiss Ben, it's to kill him," Rey grumbled.

"Okay, okay! I'll stop!" he called a truce.

"I'm sorry," Ben whispered to Rey. Though he wasn't really convincing because he was still grinning. She glared at him flippantly but let him embrace her anyway.

"What's up, man?"

"Right! If you two love birds are free tonight, we were all thinking of celebrating a bit with you guys."

"We got married like six months ago. I don't think there's much celebrating needed anymore," Ben said.

"Yeah, but you two didn't acknowledge it until now. Come on, you guys. I mean I know I'd be crushed if I didn't get to go to your wedding. That's how everyone else feels. Come out and celebrate with us please?"

"But I don't really want to go out to a club and party all night, neither does Rey."

"We'll do it at the Cantina. I'll close early. It'll be a private event. Just your friends here. Oh… and your parents."

"What? My parents?!"

"Dude, your mom called me the moment you guys sent that photo out to everyone. You should thank me, I told her that you two were busy running some errands so she wouldn't stop by your loft. I didn't have a choice but to invite her tonight."

"Wait, invite? So you're already planning this?" Rey probed.

"Yeah… Kaydel, Rose and Phasma are already coming by to decorate the bar," Poe chuckled. "This is more of a formality than anything else."

"Of course it is," Ben grunted. That Poe, always scheming things.

"Let's do it, sweetheart. It'll be fun," Rey said to Ben.

"Yeah sweetheart, it'll be fun," Poe mocked Ben with the nickname Rey gave him.

"Poe you're teasing Ben, he's turning red," it was Rey's turn to poke fun at him.

"Ben's blushing?! Rey take a picture for me please!" Poe begged her.

Rey couldn't help but laugh along with Poe this time.

"Augh, fine. We'll go if it means we can end this conversation," Ben gave in.

"Awesome! Stop by the Cantina at around 6 PM, cool?"

"We'll be there Poe!"

"Alright, you two can go back to your sexcapades," Poe hollered and cut the line before they could yell at him.

*click*

"Do we have to go?" Ben groaned in disdain.

"Yes, we promised our friends," Rey explained. "And they're already planning it apparently."

"But I don't want to share you with them," he pouted.

"I think it'll be nice," she said to him. "I mean, we rushed it all in Vegas. Didn't really get to celebrate with everyone. And your mom was devastated when she learned that we got married and wasn't invited. This is our chance to actually share our happy day with everyone we love."

She smiled at him softly. He saw it in her eyes how much it meant for her as well.

"Augh, you're so hard to say no to," he kissed her temple. "Alright, we'll go."

"Yay," she yelped in delight.

She hopped off his lap again and they proceeded to finish their late lunch. After their meal, Rey began to tidy up, washing the dishes while Ben wiped down the counter. She was finishing the last of the dishes, humming to herself when her all too familiar husband's touch wrapped around her side.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked modestly.

"I think enough time has passed for us to reenergize, rest and go for round two."

"Round two? You mean three, right? Don't forget on the couch this morning before our nap."

"If you're counting from the moment we got home and even when we slept, I think we're like at round seven," he lowly mumbled in her ear.

"Ben, we've got a party to go to tonight," she reminded him.

"That's in like four hours," he said.

"Mhm. But we still need to get ready and I have to go out to find something to wear."

"Poe left some of your clothes hanging in the closet. He wasn't really good at packing all your things," Ben chuckled. "Hence why he left behind your photo too."

"Oh good, now I have a few things I can choose to wear tonight," she was happy.

"Great! So…. Round three? Seven? Doesn't matter, I'm ready to go!" he was so eager.

"No, love. We have a party to go to tonight," she protested.

"I'm not going to be upset if we skip it."

"Nice try, we're going."

"Well, then reward me for complying, baby," he traced kisses along her jaw.

"I said no 'baby' for a pet name," Rey poked his chest playfully.

"You said not unless we're talking about sex," he winked.

He gazed at her; his pupils so dark wanting her. Sure, she was playing hard to get, but Ben Solo knew how to make her insides scream for him.

"Augh, why is it so hard to say no to you," she gave in, letting him guide her to their bedroom.

"You know you love it," he smirked.

"Keep that up and I'll make you sleep on the couch tonight. I'm sure you can get comfy on the sofa," she teased him and ran to the room.

"Oh you're so getting it!"

He ran down the hall quickly, stepping inside and shutting the door to their bedroom.

~.~.~.~

"Hon, wake up," she poked his cheek.

"Five more minutes," he grumbled.

"Uh-uh. We need to start getting ready for the party," she poked his face again.

"But I'm tired. No energy," he whined.

"And who's fault is that?" she joked.

"Yours. You're just too irresistible."

He grabbed Rey, who was lying beside him, and pulled her on top of him. They had just awoken after taking a nap from their afternoon delight.

"If this is what marital bliss is, I don't ever want to lose this feeling," Ben happily sighed.

"Me neither," she smiled down at him before giving him a peck on the lips. "But we need to get ready. Thanks to you, we barely have time to shower and get dressed now. You most likely need to iron a shirt."

"Wait, we have to get dressed up?! Aughhhh," Ben grumbled.

"When did I marry such a grumpy Gus?" she teased.

"I'm not grumpy. I just don't want to share my wife with anyone today," he said.

Rey sat up, covering her chest with the sheets. Married or not, she was still shy about her nudity. She's a woman of dignity for goodness sake!

"Look at it this way, the sooner we go to the party the sooner we get back home and go to bed," she smirked at him with her sultry voice.

That was all she needed to say to get Ben to sit up immediately.

"Deal."

Ben promptly got up and put on a pair of his boxer briefs. Rey had instructed him to toss their linens in the laundry and change their sheets as they thoroughly soiled their current ones in the past 24 hours. Ben proudly boasted while doing said chore. In turn, Rey fetched a nice summer dress from the closet and hung it behind the door to smooth out. She picked out a dress shirt for Ben to go with her outfit and proceeded to steam out the wrinkles. He rolled his eyes at her choices but was eager to oblige matching with her so long as Rey was happy about it.

Ben tucked the last corner of the duvet from their fresh clean sheets and fell back into the bed with satisfaction.

"That's so you to mess up a perfectly made bed seconds after you finished doing so," she chuckled when she walked back into the room to see him lazily sprawled on their mattress.

"It needs my stamp of approval," he joked.

She crawled on top of the mattress and snuggled beside to him. He wrapped an arm around her midsection and gazed at his wife.

"Are you sure we can't just stay at home together? Games aside, I just want to spend time with you," he said lovingly to her.

"I do too, but we at least owe it to everyone to show up. They were rooting for us the entire time, you know that," she informed him.

"Okay, if it's really important to you then I won't complain anymore," he smiled at her. "I just want you to be happy."

"You make me happy," she replied.

He pulled her in for a tight embrace. He really wasn't complaining. He just wanted to spend time with her. Rey understood, she wanted it too.

"We have to leave in about an hour," she said to him.

"Alright, go get ready." He kissed her forehead and let her go.

She lazily got up and made her way to the bathroom. Ben stayed lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, happy and content at where he and Rey were now. Who would've thought that this bad luck streak of his would end and his ultimate prize was the love of his life? Nothing could make his life any better.

Rey opened the bathroom door and peaked her head out, clad in just a towel, with the water running in the background.

"Ben?"

He turned to look at her.

"Yeah sweetheart?"

"I'm going to take a shower… Care to join me, baby?" she winked at him and turned back around, leaving the door ajar but enough for him to see her shed her towel and step into the steaming stall.

Scratch that, this made his life even better.

A/N: That wasn't so suggestive, right? Fun fact, I took a lot of the dialogue in this chapter from a screenplay my colleague and I wrote a couple years back. Anyways, 2 more chapters left!

A/N: Preview of next chapter: Finally

"I think it's time for your first dance, don't you think?"

~.~.~.~

"They want us to kiss."

"I don't think they've ever seen us kiss... well with the exception of drunk Poe."

"I guess we'll just have to give them a show."

"I guess so..."