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It's been a good day. A beautiful day, in fact.
In the morning, Rose locks herself, Leia, and Rey into one of the house’s many bedrooms. “Bride central”, she calls it.
Rey’s dress hangs on the adjoining bathroom door, halfway out of the garment bag that has stored it for the past few weeks. The flowing off-white skirt spills out of the bag, the floral beaded bodice sparkling in the sunlight coming in through the windows.
Rose and Leia are already dressed and almost ready to go when they sit a nervous but excited Rey down in front of the large vanity that sits against the wall opposite the bed. She had asked Leia to braid her hair for the wedding a few days prior and she closes her eyes as the older woman brushes out her hair, weaving the top half into loose braids that she joins together at the back of her head with pins. Rose then expertly curls the bottom half.
Rey takes care of her own makeup, knowing Rose would try to do something a little more dramatic than Rey would have liked.
Just as she finishes slipping the dress over her head in the bathroom, there is a knock at the bedroom door. Rose enters the bathroom and adjusts the thin straps over Rey’s shoulders and on the back of the dress while Leia opens the other door just a inch or two, careful to not let whoever is outside to see into the room.
“Ben! What do you want? It’s bad luck for you to see her before the wedding,” she says.
“I just want a second,” they can hear Ben’s voice from behind the door, causing a smile to stretch across Rey’s face and butterflies to flutter in her stomach.
“Not yet!”
Rey and Rose hold back giggles as they listen to the older woman scold her son. Rose helps Rey into her shoes and fixes a few curls before standing back and declaring her ready.
“You’re perfect and I love you and if he ever hurts you, I’ll kill him. You know I will,” she says as she walks back into the bedroom.
Rey laughs. “Of that I have no doubt.”
She turns to look into the floor length mirror on the wall of the bathroom and smiles to herself.
The dress is perfect. The only alterations she’d had done to the original design was to remove a small bow that had rested in the middle of her stomach on the waistline and add an inch or so of fabric to the skirt.
Her hair is beautiful. Leia and Rose did a wonderful job.
She has something old: a tiny moonstone necklace she has had since before she can remember.
Something new: a pair of earrings Ben had given her the night before (which he’d asked Rose to help pick out to make sure they’d go with her dress).
Something borrowed: a bracelet of Leia’s, a simple chain with a single creamy pearl in the middle.
Something blue: her shoes, dusty blue sandals with a small heel and a thin tie that wraps around her ankle.
Rey takes a moment to look at her reflection, then re enters the bedroom. Leia seems to be still bickering with Ben.
“Here’s what we can do,” Rose intervenes. “Rey, come behind the door so he can’t see you.”
She crosses the room to the designated space. Once she is out of view, Leia slips through the door.
“Backs to the door, both of you,” Rose says as she too slips out the door.
Both Rey and Ben understand what Rose was trying to get at and they follow her directions, both extending a hand past the door for the other to hold onto.
"How? How do you look like that when you've probably only been awake for what, like an hour?" she hears Rose ask Ben. Rey chuckles. She knows he looks good in the blue suit she'd helped him pick out. They hadn’t slept in the same room the night before, but she also knows he's most likely been up since before she woke up.
Rose and Leia both retreat down the hallway.
“If you’re not done in two minutes we’re sending backup to bring you downstairs, Ben,” Rose calls over her shoulder.
“Got it,” Ben replies with a sigh.
Rey squeezes his hand. She feels the door shudder with a tiny thump as he leans his head back against it.
“How are you feeling?” He asks after a moment. He strokes his thumb across her knuckles.
“Excited, happy, maybe a little nervous. You?” she smiles even though he can't see it.
“Same. I can't wait to see you.”
Rey can hear the smile in his voice. "Rose is watching you from the stairs, isn't she?"
"Unfortunately, yes, or I would already be on the other side of this door," he sighs.
"I know you would," she laughs and readjusts their hands, lacing their fingers together.
They are quiet for another moment, back to back, hand in hand, just breathing to calm their nerves. Good nerves still require a little care, after all.
“Rey?”
She leans to the side, a little closer to the edge of the door. “Yes?”
“I love you.” He squeezes her hand.
“I love you, too.” She squeezes his back.
The ceremony is small. Only 11 people, including Ben and Rey.
Poe plays the music from his phone into a speaker. Ben tears up as Rey walks into the room, effectively taking everyone’s breath away.
As she walks down their short aisle, the only thing she’s focused on is Ben. She was right, he does look good. But it’s more than that. She can’t remember ever feeling more happy or excited for life than she does in this moment, walking towards the man who will be her husband in just a few minutes.
Finn, as her former foster brother, gives her away. Han officiates.
As they say their vows, Rey is surprised that she is keeping it together better than Ben is.
The only hiccup in the day’s plans happened the night before, before they had started setting up outside on the large balcony that overlooks the lake. It had begun to rain just as everyone (Rey, Ben, Leia, Han, Finn, Poe, and Rose; Luke, Chewie and Maz would join them the next day)had pulled up to the house. Not a total downpour, but enough that it would still be wet outside by the time the ceremony was supposed to take place the next day. Since the ordeal was so small, it was an easy decision to instead have the ceremony inside, then -if it was dry enough- have the larger reception outside on the balcony later in the evening.
After the ceremony and a lunch, the party decides it's dry enough outside to have the reception on the balcony. Finn and Poe force Rey into a chair so she can't help with the set up, limiting her duties to delegating orders. Not that there is much to do besides set up a few tables and place decorations on them. The space is already well-lit with lights strung overhead, and there is plenty of room for dancing and people to mingle. Despite the ceremony being very private, the reception will have quite a few guests, the invitation open to their other friends and a few coworkers, as well as Han and Leia’s. At first it had made Rey a little sad that she didn’t have any family she knew of to invite to her wedding. But she quickly realized that she has her chosen family. Ben, Ben’s parents, her friends. That’s all she really needs. The people she loves and the people who love her and Ben.
The guests are greeted. The cake is cut. The bouquet is tossed. By the time the dancing has begun, Rey has ditched her shoes and Ben his suit jacket, rolling his sleeves up his forearms.
In lieu of a father-daughter dance, Finn, Poe, and Han all take turns dancing with Rey. Again she is reminded that she has had the privilege of making her own family.
Ben and Leia dance together, a funny yet sweet sight to watch as the tiny woman glides around with her giant of a son.
The sun is setting over the lake, making the sky purple and pink and orange, when Rey joins Ben on the dance floor for their first dance. Ben pulls her close to him, one hand splayed across her back, the other pressing her hand over his heart, his head tipped down to press his right temple against hers. She loosely wraps her free arm around his neck, fingers running through his hair and lightly scratching his scalp in the way she knows he likes.
They sway back and forth to the song they had chosen, almost oblivious to the crowd around them, Ben occasionally spinning Rey under his arm and pulling her back to their same position. He quietly sings into her ear, something he doesn't do often. Rey loves it though, especially when they're this close and she can feel the vibrations from his voice. By the end of the song, she has her head against his shoulder and his lips are brushing against her forehead. When the music ends, Ben tips her backward into a dip, a hand on her back and the other gripping her hip so she doesn’t fall. Rey cups his face in her hands and pulls him down with her for a kiss. The guests cheer and they break away with huge smiles plastered on both their faces.
The rest of the night is spent full of laughter and music. Finn and Poe perform a little dance they had prepared just that morning. Rey receives a steady shower of kisses throughout the night from Ben, all over her face, her jaw, her neck, not caring that they have an audience.
When Rose ushers Rey away to change into a more travel friendly dress, Ben weaves through the crowd to find Finn and Poe. He wasn't super involved in the wedding planning; Rey would narrow a choice down to two or three options and he would tell her which he liked best. His biggest contribution was suggesting they have the whole thing at his family's massive lake house. But this is something he's been planning for a while, something only he, Rose, Poe and Finn know about.
It's been an amazing day, one of the best he's ever had. But besides those few minutes this morning, he and Rey haven't had a single second alone. He’d known this would be a likely outcome, so he has planned in advance to surprise Rey with a last dance for just the two of them.
Together, he, Finn, and Poe usher everyone off of the balcony and to the front of the house. Once everyone is out front, he leaves the two men to deal with the guests. They're in charge of the send-off, anyways. As he walks into the house, Rose is coming down the stairs. Her eyes are a little red, but she has a big smile on her face.
"Is she ready?" Ben asks.
"She'll be down in a second." Rose grins up at him, then starts toward the front door.
"Hey Rose?" he calls after her.
"Yeah?" she turns back to him.
"Thank you. For all your help and for being a friend to both of us." Ben pulls her into a side hug which she returns.
"You're welcome. I love you guys." Rose leans her head against his arm for a moment, then wipes at her eyes and leaves him to wait.
Just as the front door closes, Ben hears Rey's door open. He makes his way to the stairs and can't do anything other than watch his wife walk down the stairs toward him, a small smile on her face. Her green dress is simple, but so completely and utterly Rey. He holds out his hand and she takes it, letting him pull her down the last step.
"Hi," she smiles up at him.
"Hi," he leans down and presses his lips to hers.
After they break apart, she starts walking toward the front door, hand still holding his. He tugs on it, pulling her to the back of the house instead.
"This way," he says when she looks at him in confusion. She lets him lead her back to the balcony.
The sky is dark, but the lights that have been strung across the space are perfect. It's quiet, the only sounds being the water of the lake lapping against the stone wall below the balcony, the frogs and the bugs and birds singing.
"What are you up to?" Rey asks, noticing they are alone.
Ben just smiles down at her and pulls her close to him, pulling her hands up to his shoulders and wrapping an arm behind her back. She slides her hands behind his neck as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He's had the music queued up and waiting since she went inside with Rose.
He presses play and slips the phone back in his pocket as the music starts to play through Poe's speaker.
Rey laughs as she recognizes the song and Ben smiles down at her, starting to rock them side to side. This song has a bit more of a beat to it; their movements are a little more playful than their first dance.
Ben spins her out under his arm, then lunges forward to catch her in a kiss. Her smile and laugh never fail to make his stomach flutter.
She holds his face in her hands, thumbs stroking across his cheekbones. He watches her eyes roam across his face and gives her small smile.
”Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” he whispers as he pulls her against him by her waist, fingers slowly trailing up and down her sides. They continue to sway to the music.
”Mhmm... A few times, actually. Today and every day since we met,” she moves her hands to the back of his head, threading her fingers in his hair, eyes locked on his.
”And I’ll tell you every day after this one,” he lifts a hand to her neck, caressing her jaw with his thumb.
”You don’t look so bad yourself,” Rey lifts up on her toes to kiss him.
Ben follows as she lowers her heels back to the ground, wrapping his arms tighter around her back. When their lips part, he moves to kiss her nose, then presses his forehead against hers. She holds him there with her eyes closed, one hand still in his hair while the other slides down to rest on his bicep.
”I love you so much, Ben,” she whispers as the music gets closer to the end.
”I know, sweetheart. I love you too," he stops swaying and just holds her, his cheek resting on the top of her head. He doesn't think he'll ever get over the feeling of having her in his arms.
They stay like this after the song ends, holding onto each other with nothing beside the local frogs and bugs and other sounds that come with being on a lake. Long enough that Finn comes out to look for them.
"Hey, you two," Ben hears him say. He glances up to see Finn leaning against the door frame leading back into the house, arms crossed and sporting a smile. Rey turns her head to look as well, then slowly disentangles herself from his arms. He is reluctant to let go, even though he knows they'll have the next two weeks to spend in each other's arms without interruption, not to mention the rest of their lives.
"You're both real cute, but I'm afraid you've got an audience waiting," Finn pushes away from the door frame and steps back, waiting for them inside.
Rey laces their fingers together and leans against his shoulder as the follow Finn inside.
Poe makes them wait another minute or two inside the front door while he and Finn make sure everyone is ready.
When they walk out, they see their guests lined up on either side of the long driveway, all holding up their sparklers.
Rey wraps her free hand around Ben’s arm as they make their way down to the car at the end of the crowd, everyone cheering while they both have huge smiles on their faces.
About three quarters of the way there, they stop walking and turn to each other. Ben pulls her against him by her waist while she reaches up to his face. He bends her backward and their lips meet, still smiling like the love struck idiots they are. The guests cheer louder and they break apart, laughing and bumping their noses together.
Han and Leia wait for them at the end of the line. They take turns hugging each of them.
As Han embraces his son, he says quietly, “I’m proud of you, Ben. You did good.”
Ben can feel a lump start to form in his throat when he replies with a ‘thank you’.
Ben walks to the passenger door with Rey to open her door for her. Once she’s in the car, he moves to his door and takes one last look at the crowd behind them before getting in.
As Ben and Rey drive off, Leia leans against her husband. Han wraps his arm around her shoulders.
“We did good,” he says, watching the car get smaller and smaller.
“No, they did good,” Leia disagrees.
Han chuckles, “You’ve got me there.”
They’d both been through so much with Ben, at one point convinced they had driven him away for good. They both had tried to reach out, but neither of them would have guessed that it would take him meeting a girl with no family to speak of to make him want to reach back, then bringing Rey into their lives in the process.
Rey, in a way, brought their son home and for that, they’ll spend the rest of their lives making sure she knows she’ll always have a home with the Solos.