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Poe leaned against his old truck in the school pick up line, scrolling through his phone while he waited. Technically, it was Rey’s turn for pick up, but she’d gotten a call from the White House 20 minutes prior, and President Solo waited for no one. But Poe was happy to take over. At least it got him out of the house. Though it didn’t stop him from obsessing over the latest email from Snap.
His publisher wanted his next big idea, a follow up to Blossom, the fairy that launched a multi-million dollar franchise. Only, she (and her inspiration) were one in a million. There was no way to duplicate that kind of success. And Poe wasn’t particularly keen to try.
In fact, he was ready to shed Ed Allen all together, maybe get back to his first and truest love (besides Rey, of course).
There hadn’t been a lot of time to paint in the past few years, what with Rey working for Governor (and now, President) Solo, Poe managing his fairy empire, and you know, raising four kids. But Deacon and Bea were pretty self-sufficient now, and with Daisy and Shara both in school, Poe was finding more and more time on his hands. And those hands were itching to get back to the brush.
Now he just had to break the news to Snap.
Though lucky for him, that was a worry for another time as the final bell rang out. He put his phone in his pocket and waited for deluge.
It only took a few minutes for the kids to start streaming out, Poe scanning faces. Normally, he’d just wait in the car, but Deacon and Bea were expecting Rey, so he needed to make sure they saw him when they came out.
Just then, he caught sight of Deacon’s face in the crowd, giving a wide wave that made the boy (er, man?) blush scarlet when he caught sight of it. Deacon returned it with a barely there gesture before promptly turning and pretending he hadn’t seen him. Right. Now to find Bea.
He found her with a group of her girlfriends, only a few feet away from Deacon. Good, so they were still in the same crowd. Made it easier to get to know the friends.
Poe waved, and though he swore she saw him, Bea made no move or acknowledgement of his presence, simply continuing to talk to the group around her. Huh, she must not have noticed him. Well, that was fine.
“Bea!” he shouted, waving yet again. “Over here!”
The group of girls burst into laughter as Bea shrunk, obviously mortified by his outburst. He watched as Bea and Deacon exchanged covert glances, the girls (and at least one of the guys) all whispering and smiling and tittering away.
Poe gave a friendly wave and smile to the friend group, recognizing Olivia and Madelyn from a slumber party a few years ago. A couple of the other girls looked familiar, but Poe couldn’t put names to faces. Was the girl with the long braids Addie? Or Maggie? Also, why did everyone’s name end in ‘ie’? It didn’t really matter, not when the whole crew broke into giggles, a couple of the girls gently nudging each other, like they were egging each other on.
“Hi, Mr. Dameron,” yelled Olivia, her little wave nearly cut off by an annoyed nudge from Bea.
Ever the oblivious one, Poe smiled, earning another round of giggles. “Hey, Liv. Say hi to your mom for me.” Her mom was one of the original mombies from back in the day, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be cordial. Anyway, they’d all mellowed a bit since the elementary years.
“Oh, I will.”
Weird. But as he had found out, teenagers were a strange bunch. Then again, Kes had probably said the same thing about him growing up. Scratch that, Kes had definitely said the same about him growing up. Only Poe was also occasionally getting caught tagging buildings. So it could be worse.
Finally, Deacon and Bea detached from their group, making their way through the ever thickening crowd and to the car.
“I thought Mom was picking up today,” said Bea by way of greeting. Definitely not the warm welcome he’d been expecting.
But that had never deterred Poe before. He’d gotten very good at ignoring teenage snark over the years. “Change of plans,” he said, smiling as Deacon bounded and Bea trudged to their respective doors. “How was school today?”
“Can we please just go?” Bea was looking around, half panicked, the group of girls still watching their every move.
They did just that, Deacon thankfully chattering away about some chemistry experiment the entire drive while Bea sulked. Good god, there were some days when Bea reminded him so much of her mother…
Not that that was a bad thing. Zorii had her good points, too.
Putting his ex from his mind, he attempted to engage his daughter in the conversation. Soon this too would be a thing of the past, Deacon and Bea both getting their licenses in a few months (assuming they passed of course). When had the kids gotten so old? One minute they were begging him to play with them, and now he barely saw them, the house just a passing stop on their busy social calendars. They had whole lives now he was only vaguely aware of. The names of a few friends, something about a Tok-Tok dance they liked, a few vague answers about their day (if they deigned to answer). But nevertheless, he always tried.
Looking up in the rear view mirror, he saw Bea on her phone. Easy. She was always on that app with the dances. “Anything good on Tok-Tok?”
“Ugh, Dad!” she scoffed, her eye roll practically audible from the front seat. “It’s Tik-Tok!”
Ok, better question: when had he gotten so old?
Mercifully, he was saved from having to answer that question himself when he pulled into the drive, the kids out of the car and practically running into the house (and away from him, he noted) before he had a chance to turn off the ignition.
He got into the house in enough time to hear Bea’s door slam distantly in the house, sighing as he set the keys down on the front table. Rey poked her head out of the office.
“What’s that about?” She nodded in the general direction of the slammed door and the teenage girl behind it.
He shrugged, trying to pretend that it didn’t hurt. “Fucked if I know.” His eyes darted toward Deacon grabbing a snack in the kitchen. He tried not to curse in front of the kids. “All I did was wave from the car.”
“Itzerfrands,” said Deacon, mouth full of what appeared to be the entire contents of the fridge.
“Come again?”
Deacon took a full ten seconds to chew and eventually swallow what was in his mouth. “It’s her friends. They think you’re hot.”
Poe blinked. “What?”
“You’re the hot dad. I mean, even a few of my friends think you’re bangable.”
Bangable? Rey chuckled from down the hall when Poe’s jaw dropped.
“Wait, did you know about this?” He turned to Rey.
She crossed the hall, bringing a still dumbfounded Poe into her arms. “Oh sweetie, everybody knows about it.”
Well, everyone except Poe.
“But, I’m going grey.” And he had been for a while, almost since he’d met Rey, though over the last year or so he’d officially moved into the firm salt-and-pepper category.
Rey ran a hand through his newly shorn curls. “Mmm, silver fox, baby.”
“Yeah, it’s a whole thing, Dad. Like George Clooney.”
“George Clooney?” he repeated, still trying to wrap his head around this whole conversation. He huffed a laugh. There were definitely worse people to be compared to.
“Take it as a compliment and move on,” added Rey, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “You’re the hot dad. Every school has one.”
“It’s not weird?”
Rey laughed. “It’s harmless. And if they need any reminders of who you belong to, I’m happy to assist.”
“Is that a promise?” he asked, finally liking the direction this convo was headed.
Rey smirked. “Cross my heart.” Her lips found his, and Poe was already deepening the kiss, hands wandering over the expanse of her back…
“Uh, guys? I’m still here.”
At the sound of Deacon’s voice, they broke apart with a laugh, the look in Rey’s eyes telling him this was far from over.
Tonight, she mouthed at him before turning to Deacon, “Come on, I’ve got to pick up the littles. You wanna drive?”
“Yeah!”
Poe breathed a sigh of relief. “Wait. So how do I fix this with Bea?”
“I dunno, wear a hat or something,” suggested Deacon with a shrug.
A hat. Now that he could do.
So when his next turn came around to pick up the kids, Poe grabbed an old baseball cap off the shelf and a pair of sunglasses for good measure. If it worked for celebs, it should work for him.
Since they were expecting him, Poe leaned against the car, incognito, waving only once to get the kids’ attention. Yet, when Bea dropped into the car, it was still with pink cheeks and a sour mood.
Stony silence permeated the drive home, Bea making for her room immediately after entering the house.
He turned to Deacon. “What did I do this time?”
“They liked the hat and glasses even more,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe try a paper bag next time.”