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She rushed around their apartment in a hurry, moving her things from one pile to the next, occasionally stopping to let out a huff of air, glancing across the room while biting her lower lip. As if someone had whispered the answer in her ear, she perked up and ran to the other side of the room with a look of triumph on her face. The object of her quest, a magazine, clutched firmly in her hands as she turned to him with a smile and a wave.
“I’ll be back in a few hours, we’re still on for the movies tonight, right?” She asked.
Ben nodded. “Sure thing, sweetheart. Have fun.” He glanced down at the Brides magazine in her hands. Her best friend Kaydel was engaged and had asked her to be the Maid of Honor, a duty she performed with her usual dedication and enthusiasm.
“Oh we will,” she replied with a grin. “Love you, bye!”
She was out the door before he had the chance to reply.
Rey was the love of his life. Of that, he had no doubts. They’d met through a mutual friend, Poe Dameon, Kaydel’s fiancé, two years prior. It had taken six months for him to gather the courage to ask her out on a first date and three months later she’d moved in with him. Her controlled chaos, as she liked to call her piles of stuff scattered throughout the apartment, contrasted with his clean lines and minimalistic lifestyle.
He was hopelessly devoted to her and she was his future. Though what type of future lay ahead of them remained unclear. Among the many things that Rey had strong opinions about, her thoughts on marriage were at the top of the list.
“I just don’t think it’s for me,” she’d told him before they’d started dating. “Why do you need a piece of paper to tell you how you feel about a person? All that fuss over weddings, no thanks.”
It appeared, at least, that her thoughts on weddings may have changed. Though he couldn’t be certain that she still held the same opinions about the idea of her own. In the fifteen months that they’d lived together, she’d never brought up marriage and had ignored his subtle attempts to bring up the subject. He’d eventually stopped trying and was content just being with her.
*
“I’m back! Sorry for running late, we got so much done though. Kaydel tried on five dresses at this one boutique and she looked fantastic in all of them, but of course, she’s so indecisive that none of them were the one but we have another appointment next week at this place across town,” Rey barely stopped to breathe as she entered the living room. “Are you ready to go?”
Ben pocketed his phone and stood up from the couch. “I’ve just been waiting for you.” He pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m glad you had fun.”
She snorted. “Well, kind of fun. I still think weddings are a bit ridiculous, but it’s for Kaydel.”
“I’m sure she appreciates it,” he replied. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Their favorite theater was a twenty-five-minute drive from their apartment. Rey chatted as she drove over the low hum of the radio playing in the background, telling him about the adventures of wedding dress shopping. He half-listened, distracted by thoughts of Rey in a wedding dress of her own. She’d wear something simple, no lace or frills, and likely with pockets. She measured the wearability of every dress she bought by whether or not it had pockets.
“...anyway, the fourth dress was my favorite, and I think she’ll come back to it.” He turned his attention back to her as she finished talking.
“Did any of them have pockets?” He asked with a smirk.
Rey’s eyes widened and she slapped a hand on the top of the steering wheel. “No! Can you believe it? All wedding dresses should have pockets, think of all the stuff brides need to carry!”
He was about to reply when her phone buzzed from the console between them. He noticed the name on the display, Kaydel, and reached for it.
“Want me to let her know you’re driving?” He asked.
“Nah, I’ll be quick,” Rey picked up the phone and held it to her ear. “Kay! What’s up?”
She grinned and rolled her eyes. “I knew you’d decide that, did you still want to try on more dresses next week then?”
She’s thinking about the fourth dress, she mouthed at him.
Rey listened to Kaydel’s response, her eyes focused on the road. “Well, just let me know what you decide. I have it on my calendar.” Another brief pause. “Oh, just on the way to the movies with my husband,”
Ben’s head snapped up and he turned to look at her as his heart started racing. Did she just say? No, he decided. He must have misheard her.
“I really gotta go, Kay, I’m driving. Okay, sounds good, bye.”
She hung up the phone and set it down, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“Rey, sweetheart, did you just - did you call me your husband?” his voice began to tremble as a flood of emotion overcame him. Swallowing his excitement on the off chance he’d misheard, he waited for her to answer.
“Maybe,” she replied, her smile growing.
He let out a shuddered gasp and met her smile with one of his own. “You want to marry me?”
“Maaaybe.”
“Really?” His voice broke. No hiding emotions now.
She grabbed for his hand. “Of course, you’re my husband,” she replied as if it were the most obvious statement in the world.
“You’ve never called me that, you said you didn’t think that marriage was for you.”
“I’m thinking now that I may have been wrong about that, husband.” She gave him a wink and squeezed his hand.
Ben took a deep breath and squeezed her hand back. “You really want to be my wife?”
Her laughter was infectious. “Of course I do, Ben, more than anything.”
“We’re going to get married someday," he confirmed, his voice full of wonder.
Rey nodded and glanced over at him with a thoughtful expression on her face. “But only if I get to wear a dress that has pockets.”
*
That evening he held her in his arms, tangled in the top sheet on their bed after he’d made love to her slowly.
“I love you, husband,” she whispered against his chest.
He sighed contentedly and remembered the small black velvet box his mother had pressed into his hand that past Christmas. His Nana Padmé’s ring was currently hidden away in the back of his sock drawer.
“I love you too, wife,” he whispered in return.
There would be time later to plan a proposal.
They had forever.