Chapter Text
Valentine’s Day 2020
“Good morning, Poe,” Leia cheerfully greeted over the phone. “Are you and Zorii still coming this afternoon?”
“Yep. Still good to go,” Poe replied.
“Shame that Rose and Finn couldn’t join us,” Leia complained.
“They will be back in town next week,” Poe reminded her.
Leia had been rather cryptic over the last few days about this thing that she had planned, but she had assured him that it was something he and Zorii would very much enjoy. It’s not like it would interrupt any plans that they might have had for the day. Everything Poe had planned was meant to happen early in the day; so this was not an inconvenience. Besides, he still needed a distraction from his memories of the day from time to time.
“Good! Make sure you are here by 2:00 that way you can more fully enjoy this!” she reminded him.
Poe chuckled as he said goodbye and hung up. Whatever this was, it had Leia positively giddy. The last time he had seen her this excited for something was the day that he turned up at her house so Zorii could show off her engagement ring. Leia had turned into a wedding planner on the spot.
A few hours after he got off the phone, Poe and Zorii were strolling up to Leia’s front porch hand-in-hand. He had found that holding Zorii’s hand (especially the one with he ring on it) was his favorite thing in the world. Her closeness brought him a sense of calm and comfort. If he had known this sooner, he would have been more willing to meet her sooner. Actually. On second thought, Ben tried to tell him that.
Guess I really am as stubborn as they all said I am, Poe chuckled to himself as he pulled his soulmate closer to his side.
Leia answered the door rather quickly after they knocked. She looked positively beside herself with joy. Her hair was up in a beautifully intricate crown braid, and she was wearing a pink shirt that had a wet spot across the right shoulder. A wet spot that had Poe wrinkling his nose when he leaned down to give the petite powerhouse a hug.
“Whoa! Mama Leia,” he exclaimed, “what is that odor and why does it smell like spit up?”
“Oh hush, Poe,” she admonished. “I will change before we leaved tonight. Come in out of the cold!”
Poe and Zorii were hurried into the living room where they saw something that had not been seen in the Solo household in years – a young teen boy. He couldn’t have been more than thirteen years old. His brown hair was cut short, and he looked somewhat underweight. The brown of his eyes seemed a little dull. Across his lap was spread a small pile of what appeared to be history homework.
“Umm… Leia,” Poe started.
The woman in question walked up behind the boy and lovingly patted him on the shoulder. He looked up at her in a way that spoke volumes. It all but screamed that he craved the love he was being shown. Leia looked up at Poe and gestured toward the boy as she spoke.
“This is Temiri,” she informed them. “Soon to be Temiri Solo.”
Poe gaped at her, but before he could ask if she was going to adopt, a deep voice spoke and caused Poe to jump.
“And he is the best big brother imaginable.”
At a nearly breakneck speed, Poe whirled around to find Ben leaning against the wall at the base of the stairs with his arms crossed and his eyes trained on Temiri with an expression of deep love etched across his face. He wandered away from the wall and across the room to sit on the couch next to the boy.
_
Ben and Rey had been back in Chandrilla for about three months, and they were finally able to rejoin society. The trial was over, and those that would have hurt them were where they needed to be. Now, Ben could give his family what they deserved – a real home instead of a safe house.
The first thing that he and Rey had done when they arrived in Chandrilla was look for her former foster brother Temiri. It hadn’t taken long. When they found him, they learned that he had not been adopted and had been in numerous foster homes since Rey had been in witness protection. The most recent foster home had taken him in from an abusive situation.
Rey had been beside herself with worry when she saw him. He was not at all healthy and was most definitely underweight; however, he lit up like the Fourth of July when he saw Rey. They both shed their share of tears. The poor kid cried even more when they told him a week later that they had decided to adopt him. It was a topic of conversation for several months even before they talked to Temiri, but once Ben met him, it was all over. He pretty well adopted the kid on sight. Only thing missing was the paperwork to back it up.
It would be a little while yet before the adoption was complete, but they had been granted emergency fostering rights until everything was official.
It hadn’t all been a bed of roses. They were learning to adjust together. Temiri was learning to adjust to parents who actually cared about him while Ben and Rey were adjusting not only to normal life again but also to two kids – one newborn girl and one thirteen-year-old boy. Their saving grace was that Leia’s house was open to them while they were waiting for their own house to be built. Along with that set up came a more than willing baby sitter and now the introduction of the godparents. That was a topic of conversation for another day though.
Ben smiled down at the boy who would soon officially be his son as he worked on his history homework.
“Hey, kid, need help with anything?” Ben asked.
“No sir,” Temiri replied hesitantly with a slight blush creeping up his neck. “Got help.”
Ben smiled even more at the young teen as he stood up and ruffled his hair. He turned back to Poe and proceeded to envelop the other man in a hug. Poe seemed to be struggling to understand that Ben was actually there. When he finally accepted that this was real, he held his brother in a bone crushing hug.
“I missed you man,” Poe stated happily when they pulled away. “So much has… WAIT! Did you say big brother?”
In answer to the question, Rey came down the stairs holding a little baby girl with black hair in her arms. The little bundle was cooing in response to her mother’s soothing voice. Rey’s eyes were shining with love as she nuzzled into her daughter’s outstretched hands.
“Poe. Zorii. Come over here and meet our daughter Lanakila,” Ben invited once Rey was settled on the couch next to Temiri whose homework was now abandoned in favor of pouring attention on the precious baby girl.
“We are gonna call her Lana, though,” Temiri supplied.
They spent a solid two hours catching up while they sat on the couch and enjoyed baby snuggles. It eventually devolved into Zorii and Rey staying on the couch with Lana, and Ben and Poe playing video games with Temiri in the upstairs game room.
During that time, they learned some of the big things that had happened in one another’s lives since they had last seen each other two years prior. Ben and Rey had managed to wait exactly three weeks to get married once they had their marks. They had eloped in Hawaii where they had been living since then. Ben had been doing anonymous distance work for Skywalker and would soon be going to work at his family company in person. The board had decided that he was exactly the kind of person they wanted to train to take over as CFO one day. Rey decided that she wanted to, as much as possible, be a stay-at-home-mom and a writer. Since they had a strong desire to help foster kids as much as possible, this would make that easier to do.
Poe and Zorii had remained just friends until maybe eight months ago when Zorii was injured in the line of duty. Poe had been there for her the whole time she was recovering. That served to thaw the remaining ice between them thoroughly. He had proposed maybe four months later, and she eagerly accepted.
Leia interrupted their talk time around 5:00 p.m. to drag them all to the car. She had big plans for the evening that none of them were interested in arguing with. In fact, they all made the final part of it their yearly Valentine’s tradition as a family. The cheesecake was delightful; but Ben and Rey decided that their favorite part of the evening was standing with their arms around each other, Lana held tightly in Rey’s other arm, and Ben’s arm draped across Temiri’s shoulders while they watched the night sky light up with thousands of lanterns.