A/N: This story is so much fun. It adds an immature element that's nice from time to time. Anyway. This is the last installment for the D part of this prompt. Sorry for the late upload! It's difficult trying to write this on my phone. We had just moved and were settling in and then the Internet was stupid slow and wouldn't load FF, sooo I had to result to my phone, and I kept losing my train of thought lol Enjoy! R&R!
DARE
Chapter 3: Date
Rey smiled a bright smile at him and kissed him again chastely. "I will, but not because of a Dare."
Ben grinned and nodded. As he was leaning back in for another kiss, the door flew open, making them both look to the door at the intruder with annoyance. Poe and Finn stood gasping as Rose giggled and clapped. Rey and Ben looked at each other and snickered to each other. Rey reluctantly got off of his lap and he stood as well, their hands leaving together again. "Backfired again, Poe," Finn laughed as he punched his shoulder.
Poe rolled his eyes. "About time the King of Darkness got a girl," he grumbled as he left the room with Finn laughing behind him.
Rose smiled at the two and handed Ben his keys. "I'm glad it worked out for you guys!"
Rey finally put it together. She gasped and gawked at her traitorous friend. "You arranged this from the start!"
Rose giggled and shrugged. "You both seemed so lonely... I had to do something..."
Rey was about to protest, but Ben shrugged. "I have no complaints."
Rey sighed in defeat. "Good. Now, run along and get some food. I'm sure she's starving after -ahem- that," Rose said as she rushed down the stairs.
Ben kissed the top of her head. "It's up to you. What would you like to do?"
She leaned against him with a small smirk. "What are my options?"
Ben wrapped his arms around her with a smirk. "I can cook... or we can go somewhere. Your choice, Sunshine."
She leaned close and whispered, "Surprise me," before kissing him again.
X~x~x~x~x~X
1 YEAR LATER...
Things were going smoothly between Ben and Rey. That party helped them realize that they couldn't be alone and that it was ok to need someone. They'd gone on several dates, each one increasingly better than the last. Somehow they always managed to have fun, and they keep up with the banter all the time. It was their thing. It worked for them. Poe has decidedly left Ben alone once he started dating Rey. Ben half-wondered if it was because Poe was secretly afraid of making her mad. Either way, work was more enjoyable for Ben. Rey had moved into town, closer to Rose and in effect closer to Ben. They'd tossed around the idea of living together several times, but decided that until things were more permanent, they wouldn't.
Six months into their relationship, Ben decided to make it more permanent. He proposed. Not in a traditional way either. No, what he did was special to them both. It reminded Rey of when they first started dating, of when they first met. A game of Truth or Dare. It wasn't out of their norm. They occasionally would play for fun, treating each other in ways only they could. But that time was different. Ben waited patiently for Rey to pick Truth, but she always picked Dare so he dared her to pick Truth next time. It was silly, but it worked. And he'd asked her if she'd marry him. At first, she thought he was joking. But when he showed her the ring, she knew he was serious. She answered with asking him for his pick of Truth or Dare, to which he responded with a Dare.
She told him to put the ring on her finger and to stay with her always.
They had gotten married not too long after that. And now they lived together as Mr. and Mrs. Solo. But they had a party tonight. All their friends would be there. And they had an announcement.
Ben walked into the kitchen and saw Rey standing at the counter, wearing a light blue dress that didn't reveal too much of her figure. He smiled and walked over to her, kissing her neck and wrapping his arms around her from behind to rest on her stomach. "They should be here soon," he said in his deep voice that made her shiver.
She opened her mouth to say something, but a knock interrupted her. Ben went over to answer the door to see Finn, Rose and their little one, Oscar, standing there. The little guy was three months old. Ben let them in and watched as Rey hugged Rose happily. She admired the little boy in her friend's arms and Rose let her hold him. Ben smiled at the sight. She was perfect. "So... when will you two have one?" Finn asked with a grin.
"One day," he said as he shut the door.
Moments later, another knock came. Ben answered it to find Poe, his wife Zorii and their two little ones. They were both nearly one. Poe had been reckless but made it up to Zorii by marrying her, he said for the sake of the kids, but everyone knew the truth about Poe and his high school sweetheart. Ben let them in and felt a headache coming on. Three Dameron boys... that was trouble.
An hour later and everyone was there. Cassian, Jyn, Kay, Paige... They all came. After a meal together, Rey nudged Ben, who looked as uncomfortable and awkward as he felt. He hated being the center of attention. He stood and cleared his throat to gain their attention. Once everyone had quieted down and turned their attention to Ben, he gave them all a lopsided grin. "So, not only did Rey and I wish to have dinner with friends... but we have an announcement." He watched as Rey stood beside him, grabbing his hand for some comfort and squeezing it gently. They exchanged a grin and Ben looked at his friends. "Under your seats are envelopes."
In utter confusion, everyone reached and found an envelope each. Rey stepped forward and smirked at them all. "Inside are various facts about us as well as some made up things. Your job is to figure out the truths from the tricks as part of our game. You take the first letter of each answer and arrange it to spell the message. If you need help, you get two hints collectively." Everyone exchanged glances and Rose giggled excitedly. "Get to it," Rey said as she clapped her hands.
Rey and Ben watched their friends set to work as they showed their drinks with smirks. Poe opened his envelope first and read off the instructions. "Two tricks and one truth about Ben. Take the first letter of your answer and write it down to arrange later." Poe glanced at Ben to see him grinning at the arrogant man. "Ben has always wanted to have a..." Poe read the answers to himself and worked a brow. "Girl, Fast car, or Boy..." He looked at Ben quietly for a moment and saw the evident confusion on the usually confident man's face. "What?"
Rose giggled. "It's a gender question, like for children. Would he prefer a daughter or a son or neither?"
Poe rolled his eyes. "Oh. Girl," he said as he wrote the letter down. Ben nodded in affirmation.
Rose opened hers next. "When Rey was young, what was her dream job?" Rose giggled as she thought of a little Rey. "Teacher... Pilot... or Nanny..." Rose laughed at the options. "Pilot for sure," she said with a wide grin at her tomboy friend. Rey grinned and nodded.
Finn opened his and gawked at the question. "Uhh... Ben's favorite color is... Purple, Green or Red."
"Black isn't an option?" Poe asked with shock.
"You call me 'King of Darkness,' but I do have a favorite color that's not monochromatic," he said as he started to clear the dishes with the help of Rey.
Finn studied the options carefully for a few moments, as did Rose, who looked at the two in the kitchen. They were opposites in so many ways. She wondered if they were opposites in colors, too. "Red?" she asked, earning a grin and nod from Rey.
Finn just stared at his wife incredulously. "How did you figure that out?"
Rose shrugged. "Look at them. They're opposites in almost everything. Why not colors?"
Everyone nodded and shrugged. Cassian opened his envelope. "When Ben was little, his favorite place to go was... Jakku Scrap Yard, Endor Park, or Yavin Cemetery." Cassian's brown went up as he chuckled lightly. "Assuming you weren't a creepy kid, the answer is Endor," he concluded as he saw Ben grin and nod.
Zorii was next. "Ben's favorite calendar month is... July, October or November?" Everyone exchanged curious glances as they tried to rack their brains about something new about Ben. They deliberate for a while, most saying October because of the festivities and the rest saying July because of when Rey and Ben met, which they were wrong on that because they met in August. Zorii looked at Ben for help. "All right, Solo. We're stuck."
Rey laughed softly. "Ben hates the heat. And we don't celebrate Halloween," she said with a shrug.
Rose furrowed her thin brows. "Why November?"
Ben grinned. "It has something to do with the answer."
Rose smiled as she looked at the three remaining envelopes. Jyn took one and opened it next. "What university did Rey attend?" Jyn laughed at that question. "Naboo, Ahch-To, or Scariff? Ahch-To," she said as she glanced at Rey, earning a nod. "Fun times," she said as she flashed a grin.
Rey smirked back. "Sure was." Rey didn't recognize Jyn at first at the party where she met Ben. Partly because Jyn had changed a lot. She went from this spunky person to this strong woman that Rey hardly recognized. She attributed it to her boyfriend, Cassian. Either way, she put two and two together afterwards. They hung out at Ahch-To for so long and then Jyn moved to Scariff. Rey lost contact with her and that was that.
Paige grabbed an envelope. "Ben spent most of his childhood where? Naboo at his grandmother's house, Cloud City with his Uncle Lando, or Kessel racing with his dad." Paige furrowed her brows. They started talking about Ben's love for cars, but also how much he liked spending time with his uncle. They couldn't agree again so Paige looked at Ben. "Help?"
Rey laughed. "Last hint, guys."
Ben thought about it for a moment. "I didn't like cars until I was a teenager. When I spent time with Lando, it wasn't in Cloud City."
"Ok. So Naboo," Paige said as she added the letter to the paper.
Jyn handed Kay the last envelope, earning a sigh from the socially awkward man. "Rey's favorite car is a... Tesla, Nissan or Lotus." Kay thought about it for a moment. "The probability of you liking a cheap Nissan is low, but the odds of you liking an expensive Lotus is lower. I reason you would prefer a Tesla."
Rey laughed and nodded. "You have your letters. Now you need to arrange them," she reminded them worth a grin. She watched as they all studied the letters silently.
Ben put his arm around her shoulders as he kissed her temple. Poe was glaring at the letters while Finn was looking like he was concentrating harder than ever. Rose was having fun. Zorii looked to be like she was just trying to solve a puzzle. Cassian and Jyn sat back smirking. Rey had no doubt that they'd figured it out. Cassian gave Ben a huge grin in acknowledgement, earning him an impish grin of his own. Jyn looked back to the game and watched everyone trying their best to arrange the letters. Kay seemed to have put it together first, but he said nothing, probably realizing he was smarter than most and didn't need to ruin it for others, as Cassian had told him countless times.
The concentration was interrupted when Rose gasped loudly and covered her mouth as she stood from the table. Everyone looked at her in confusion as tears started streaming down her face. She then leaned forward and arranged the letters for everyone else to be clued in: PREGNANT. Poe's eyes were wide, Finn got a grin on his face, Zorii smirked, Paige smiled. Everyone seemed to be happy for the couple. Rose was the first to congratulate her best friend, of course, as she ran to her and threw her arms around her, hugging her tight. "Oh, Rey! This is amazing news!" she giggled/cried into her friend's shoulder.
Rey wrapped her arms around her friend with a small chuckle as Ben let his arm drop from around her shoulders. Finn rose with Oscar and shook hands with Ben with a small smirk. "Take care of them, Solo," he said with a grin, knowing full well Ben would.
The squealing and fawning continued for a few more minutes as everyone congratulated the couple. "So that's why November, huh?" Poe said with a grin as he shook Ben's hand.
Zorii slapped her husband in the back of the head at the stupid question before hugging Rey with a smile. "We're happy for you, Rey," she said as she hugged her friend and nodded at Ben. "Ben," she said as she went to go gather the children, who had fallen asleep on the couch. "Poe," she called, earning a quick nod from said man as he walked over to her to take one of the two boys.
Poe stopped in front of Rey with his usual Dameron smile. "Congrats, Rey. Thanks for the invite to let us know your good news. We gotta get the runts in bed though," he said as he turned to Ben. "Ben," he said as he held out his hand for a shake, which Ben took quietly. "Thanks for having us. Can't wait to see your runt."
Ben grinned at him. "November 11, supposedly."
Poe nodded. "Four months will be done and over with before you know it." Ben nodded. The Damerons let themselves out with a wave.
Rose and Finn noticed that Oscar was asleep as well and she smiled softly. "We should probably head out, too. Oh, Rey, Ben, I'm so happy for you two!" she said as she wrapped the two in a big hug, pulling Ben down to an uncomfortable position, but he put up with it. When she let them go, she gave them a smile. "Are you showing yet?" Rose asked with a failed attempt at hiding her giddiness.
Rey turned to the side and pulled her dress tight against her stomach, revealing a small bump. "A little. It's big enough to where I can't wear my favorite pants," she grumbled before snickering.
Rose squealed and wrapped her arms around her friend again. "I'm so happy for you! Babies are so much fun!"
Rey laughed and nodded. "We'll see."
Rose finally let herself out, followed by Finn and a sleeping Oscar with a wave. Paige went with them.
Kay rose and nodded at Ben. "Cassian, I believe I need to return home as well. I need to be at work early tomorrow," he said as he nodded at the two and left the house. He wasn't rude; just awkward. Everyone had come to expect that Kay didn't really do social activities.
Jyn yawned softly and Cassian looked down at her. "Querida, perhaps we should go as well." Jyn nodded sleepily, but she fought it and stood anyway. She walked over and hugged Rey, conversing softly with her, earning and giving smiles. Cassian himself walked over to Ben and shook his hand. "Congratulations on your new addition, Ben. If you need anything, let us know."
"Thank you."
Cassian was used to social awkwardness. Ben had a little of it, but not nearly as much as Kay. Cassian was always good at conversing with socially awkward people. "So. November 11. Do you know the gender yet?"
Ben gave a small smile. "Girl."
Cassian laughed softly. "Just like you wanted, eh?" Ben nodded. "Do you have a name picked out?"
Jyn and Rey were now joining the conversation. Rey came up to Ben and wrapped her arms around him with a smile. Ben wrapped his arm around her and grinned. "Leia Ren," he said with a small smile.
Jyn and Cassian noticed the bond between the two and exchanged a grin between themselves. They knew there would be many more babies for them, but for now, little Leia would be a very happy kid. "We look forward to meeting her," Jyn said as she nodded at the two. "We'll see you later."
Ben and Rey saw them out and after Ben closed the door, Rey sighed as she flopped onto the couch. Ben chuckled to himself and went over to join her. As soon as he settled himself onto the couch, she snuggled tight against him, yawning softly as her head rested on his shoulder. "Truth or Dare?" Ben whispered to her.
"Truth."
"Do you regret anything?"
Rey was silent for a moment and Ben almost questioned if she fell asleep. Then she shifted in his arms and sat in his lap as she gently cupped his face in her hands. "My only regret is not meeting you sooner," she whispered as she pressed a kiss to his lips. His hand went on her belly and the other around the back of her neck, holding her against him. And they both knew that November 11 couldn't come fast enough for either of them.