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Tonight was the night. Hux was finally going to propose to Rose. He’d had the ring for six months now, but everytime he thought the time was right he chickened out.
Why would Rose, his beautiful, brilliant Rose, want to saddle herself with him the rest of her life? Sure, she’d already spent the last three years by his side as his girlfriend, and sure, she’d agreed to move in with him a year ago. But Hux knew in his heart of hearts she could do better, that every moment he got with her was a stroke of pure luck, luck that would eventually run out.
Ironically, it was Ben Solo, by no means his favorite person, who’d pushed him to finally give it a go.
“Dude, just do it,” Ben rolled his eyes before taking another pull from his beer.
Hux pursed his lips, peering in through the window where Rose was fawning over Rey and Ben’s little boy. He’d just turned one and Rose had insisted they both make an appearance for the child’s birthday party. An appearance had turned into spending the entire day at the Solos’, with Rose and Hux the only remaining guests, mostly due to the close friendship between the women.
“Whatever are you talking about?” Hux muttered, sipping his own beer.
“Pop the question. You obviously want to, and knowing you you’ve probably been walking around with the ring in your pocket for like a year.”
Hux bristled visibly. “Don’t pretend you know me, Solo.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong,” Hux peered down his nose at the other man. “I’ve only had it six months.”
Ben smirked. “Oh, well pardon me.” A few moments of silence passed between them. “So what’s stopping you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Fine, I’m just trying to help.”
Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Hux asked, “Why would you want to help me?”
Shrugging, Ben replied, “Why not?”
“Fatherhood has made you soft, Solo.”
At that Ben grinned, “Yeah. I guess it has.” Another moment of silence. “Come on, Hux. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“She could say no,” the ginger’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Ben’s face softened. “So she says no. But Hux,” he placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder, “I really don’t think she will. Rose is like Rey. They don’t do anything in halves. Once those two decide they love someone, they love them aggressively and without reserve. And for whatever reason, Rose loves your sorry ass.”
“Sorry indeed,” Hux chuckled.
“Look, do whatever you want, but for what it’s worth, I think you should ask her.”
Hux just nodded curtly before turning his attention back to where Rose was rocking the sleepy child.
So here he was, taking the advice of Ben Solo, of all people, and manning up to propose to the woman he loved.
He’d begged off work early. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. He spent the afternoon shopping for everything he’d need to make one of her favorite meals, plus of course a beautiful bouquet of roses from the best florist in town.
“Rose? Darling?” he called upon arriving home. A quick sweep of the house revealed his beloved was not at home. A bit odd, since she often beat him home, what with her workday at the school officially ending much earlier than his, but it suited his purposes today just fine. All the better to surprise her with his grand gesture.
He set to work preparing dinner. He’d always enjoyed cooking. It reminded him of the few memories he had of his mother, working in the kitchen, letting him help her as best a child of his age could at the time. Once free from his father’s grasp, he’d returned to cooking as an adult. It was a good thing, too. He often teased Rose that she’d waste away if not for him. The woman could barely manage to heat up noodles.
Sauce simmering, bread baking and chicken marinating, he’d finally hit a lull in the work when he heard a little “Mrowr”. Turning the corner, sure enough he found Millicent presenting him with her latest “kill.” It never failed to amuse him how his cat hunted pens, gifting them to her humans; though truth be told he much preferred it to being presented with germ-ridden vermin.
Hux chuckled. “Millicent, have you been getting into the pens again?” He squatted down. “Ooo, looks like you’ve moved on to bigger prey, eh girl? What is this a marker?” He scritched her chin with one hand, lifting the marker with the other. It was white, and oddly shaped, too flat and narrow to be comfortable to write or draw with. That’s when he noticed the clear cap covered a flat strip of white, not at all suited for writing either. It suddenly struck Hux that this was no marker. Heart pounding in his chest, he flipped it over. There was a small oval window in the side revealing two pink lines. Two. Pink. Lines.
He fell back from his haunches, his ass hitting the hardwood floor. “Millicent, is this what I think it is?” The orange tabby simply purred, rubbing back and forth against his legs. “Christ, why am I asking you?” he yanked at his hair in frustration. “Of course it’s what I think it is.”
There was only one possible conclusion. Rose was pregnant and had fled, not able to bear the thought of having a child with him, not that he could blame her. He’d make a terrible father. That didn’t stop the prick of tears, though, at the thought that she had left him. He scrambled back to his feet, running into the bedroom where he flung the closet doors open. Everything seemed to be in order. Her clothes were still there, including the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. Her slovenly habits usually drove Hux crazy, but he’d never been so relieved to see her mess strewn about. It gave him hope.
Hands trembling, he plucked his cellphone out of his pocket and dialed her number. Straight to voicemail.
“Rose, love,” he tried to sound normal, his smile strained as he spoke, “came home early to surprise you but you weren’t here. Hope everything’s okay at the school. Call me.”
Unable to help himself, he texted her immediately after hanging up. He tried to return his attention to the meal in the kitchen but found his focus was shot now. Once the bread was done he set it aside, turning everything else in the kitchen off. In the meantime, he’d left five more voicemails for Rose and ten more text messages, to no avail.
Rose’s lack of response was making him panic. What if she was hurt? He dialed Rey’s number, relieved when she picked up.
“Hey Hux, what’s up?”
“Is Rose with you?” Hux had no time for pleasantries.
“No, why would she be?” Rey’s voice was confused.
“I thought perhaps you girls were making an afternoon of it.”
“No, she left after her last class today, said she wasn’t feeling well. You mean she’s not at home?”
“No, she’s not.” Hux’s mouth went dry. Rose hadn’t been feeling well and now she was nowhere to be found. “Rey, if she contacts you, please, please let me know.”
“Hux, what is going on?” worry was creeping into Rey’s voice.
“I don’t know!” Hux snapped. “But apparently Rose is pregnant and won’t return my calls!” He bit back a sob.
“Oh…” there was a sound of understanding on the other end of the line, like something finally clicked into place.
“Please, Rey,” his voice was exhausted, “I’ll understand if she never wants to see me again. I just need to know she’s safe.”
“Hux, listen to me,” Rey’s voice was steady. “Rose loves you, and I really don’t think she’s leaving you. She’s probably just as freaked out as you are and needed some air to think. But I promise, if she contacts me I’ll let you know, okay?”
“Thank you, Rey,” Hux let out a shaky breath. The call ended shortly thereafter.
Still nothing from Rose. Millicent hopped up on the couch next to him. “Where could she be, Millie?” he stroked her fur. “Yes, Rey said she probably needed space to think about this mess I’ve put her in.” Millicent purred. “Yes… yes, of course! Millicent, you’re a genius!”
Hux knew exactly where Rose must be. He grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door to find her.
Rose gazed out at the vista, thinking over her current predicament.
Fact: She was pregnant.
Fact: She was keeping the baby.
That was it, those were the only facts she had. The rest was all a mess. She and Hux hadn’t really talked about having kids that much. She wanted this, to have a family with him, so badly, but she never knew how to bring it up.
He clearly wasn’t comfortable with children. She’d never seen him willingly interact with a child, and the few times he did were incredibly awkward. Just this past weekend at little Anakin Solo’s birthday party, he’d clearly been out of his element with the gaggle of toddlers running about. At some point someone had foisted one of the kids on him, much to his dismay. Not really knowing what to do, he’d held the child out at arm’s length where they just stared at each other, both parties perplexed. Rose had taken pity on him, swooping in to take the child, though she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
She’d already suspected she was pregnant. While she hadn’t had morning sickness, per se, she’d felt low-key nauseous a few weeks now. Somehow she managed to keep food down, but she’d been eating less and less. Apart from the meals Hux cooked, which she forced down, she was mostly running on 7-Up and Saltines.
But the moment she saw little Anakin at his birthday party, she just knew. It was like every maternal instinct she had lit up, fueled by the pregnancy hormones coursing through her body. Anakin seemed to sense it too. He already loved his Auntie Rose, but the two of them had been inseparable that day.
So today she’d decided to bite the bullet and find out for sure. Sure enough, the test was positive, and next thing she knew she was here. That was hours ago. She was probably dehydrated from all the tears she’d cried. It was annoying, really. Rose had never been a big crier, but it seemed she couldn’t control her emotions lately.
Thinking about where this all left her brought about another surge of tears. She wanted to do this with him, but she knew how he’d react. He wouldn’t want this, want them. It was time to face the fact that she’d be raising this child on her own.
The sound of tires crunching gravel interrupted her thoughts. She swiped angrily at her face, not wanting whoever was approaching to see her cry. A car door opened and shut as footsteps approached her. When she looked up she saw Hux, an unreadable expression on his face.
“Armitage?” her brow crinkled in confusion.
“Rose. Why haven’t you returned any of my calls? I’ve been worried sick.” His voice was even, like it was taking every fiber of his being to control his emotions.
Rose sniffed. “Sorry. I turned my phone off. There’s no reception out here anyway. How did you find me?”
Hux moved closer, sitting on the bench a few feet away from her. “Do you remember when I was debating leaving my job at First Order Inc.? I was having a hard time of it and you brought me out here. You told me it was your favorite place in the world, and that you often came out here just to think if there was anything troubling you, or you had a big decision to make.”
“Armitage, that was years ago. You remember that?”
He gave her a little half-smile. “Well, it helps that that same night the most amazing woman in the universe kissed me right over there,” he pointed to a tree close to the cliffside.
“Oh, I see,” Rose teased, “if I want you to remember something important, I should kiss you.”
“It certainly can’t hurt,” Hux smiled. A silence fell over them before Hux continued. “Rose, love, what’s on your mind? You know you can tell me anything, right?”
Biting her lip, Rose looked up at him. His beautiful green eyes were so open and honest. He had a right to know. She took a shuddering breath before blurting out, “I’m pregnant.”
He simply nodded. “I know.” Before she could ask how, he retrieved something from his pocket, placing it on the bench between them. “It seems Millicent thought it was one of her ink-filled conquests. She summarily ‘killed’ it and gifted it to me.”
“Millicent!” Rose laughed, but just as quickly as it came her laughter dissolved to tears. “Oh Tage, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how this happened. I always remember to take my birth control, always, I promise. But then that’s not 100%, we know that, I know, but I just, I’m so sorry. I know you don’t want this.”
While she’d been blubbering, Hux had swiftly moved over to kneel before her, wiping her tears away with his fingers, shushing her. “Darling, what are you talking about? Of course I want this.”
“Don’t lie to me,” she snapped. “I know you hate kids.”
“Whatever gave you that impression?”
Rose rolled her eyes, “I’ve seen you with them, Armitage. You get all stiff and awkward.”
“I’m always stiff and awkward,” he tried to joke. When she leveled him with a look, he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, I’ll grant you I’m not great with kids, but it’s not out of a place of dislike. It’s more just, I don’t know how to communicate with them, and I’m terrified I’ll do something or say something that will fuck them up the way my father fucked me up.”
Her face softened, “Oh, Tage.” She took his hand.
“But with you, Rose, I’m not as afraid.” He gulped, “I’ll understand if- if you don’t want me to be a part of this, but I hope you’ll give me a chance.”
“Oh Armitage, you dummy,” she grasped his face, kissing him fiercely. “Of course I want this with you.”
“Well thank God for that,” he smiled. “In fact…” he reached into another pocket pulling out a little box.
Rose’s heart started pounding in her chest. “Tage, no, you don’t have to do this just ‘cause you knocked me up.”
“Hush, woman, I’ve been trying to do this for six months now, and I will not be thwarted any further.” She huffed out a laugh as he took her small hand in his, kissing the knuckles briefly before turning his gaze back up to her.
“Rose Tico,” he began, “I don’t know whatever possessed you to take a chance on a sorry sod like me, but I thank the stars every day that you did. You have quite literally changed my life. I know I don’t deserve you or this little one,” his eyes flickered to her belly, “but I will endeavour every day to be the best man I can be, to be someone you both deserve. I want to build a life with you, Rose, and I would be so, so honored, if you would agree to be my wife.” His eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Rose cried out, happy tears streaming down her cheeks. Stupid hormones. Stupid Armitage having to go and be all romantic. She’d never been happier.
Hux smiled in relief before surging up to kiss her, sliding the ring on her finger. He couldn’t believe it, she’d said yes! Maybe, just maybe, this stroke of luck would last after all.