Work Text:
Would she ever get tired of watching his t-shirt struggle to contain her husband’s impossibly wide shoulders? Probably not. Each flex of muscle underneath the thin cotton brought a flex of her own. Nowhere near her shoulders.
Rey’s ogling is interrupted by a petulant, “Daddy! Aren’t we donnnne yet?”
Hope Solo was not one for patience. And Rey and Ben had made the mistake of telling her that she could jump into the pile of leaves once they’d finished raking them up together, as a family, this morning. Syrup dripping from the pouty five-year old’s lips, she had immediately honed in on the implication that it would be a family effort. The raking of the leaves. And she wasn’t too keen on that.
But now, Rey finds herself smirking at what she knows is coming out of her daughter’s mouth next, so like her she is. “Mama’s not even helping!” This is delivered with a fiery little stamp of her booted foot.
The temperature had dropped into near winter temps overnight. And although Rey and Hope were bundled up like they were going on a trek through Antarctica, Ben was stripped down to his t-shirt and sweatpants - a lethal combination if there ever was one, if you ask Rey. The man ran hot.
Rey snorted to herself as she considered the man was hot all the way around. Warmth bloomed in her heart at how she yearned and longed for him just as much now as she did the day she had met him almost a decade ago.
~*~
“Benjamin, you will treat this intern with respect. She’s one of the smartest Engineering students we’ve ever had the luck to snag. And you can thank your Uncle Luke for that!”
Leia Organa-Solo wasn’t about to let her son’s dark demeanor drive away another intern. Especially not this one. Here on a student VISA from the U.K., Leia was hoping to keep her here once she graduated at the end of the year by bringing her on permanently.
She also got a feeling that this young woman was special. She couldn’t put her finger on why just yet.
But the moment her son had laid eyes on Rey Niima, she had a better idea.
Ben’s hackles were raised the moment she strode into his office, glossy auburn hair in three ridiculous buns, secondhand pants suit and all. She threw him off-kilter. He couldn’t explain why.
Nine months later and he knew exactly why.
Rey Niima had completely and utterly wrecked him for any future interns.
Most importantly, his mother was right. And although he hated that with a burning passion, he couldn’t deny it. Rey was the smartest damn engineering intern they’d ever had. And her ideas for how to tweak existing systems toward more efficiency were endless.
As was her enthusiasm for her field.
As was her enthusiasm for life, really.
And that is how this fierce little wisp of a woman brought down the mountain of a man, Benjamin Chewbacca Organa-Solo.
Her relentlessly bright toothy grins, her sparkling hazel eyes - alight with mischievous retorts aimed right at him, more often than not - and that ass… It didn’t even take a year for Ben to realize how absolutely gone he was for her.
It took Rey even less time than that to figure out the very same, for herself.
That first month, she’d left their status report meeting with awe for Benjamin Solo’s ability to redirect clients toward a more proficient use of resources and money. Growing up in foster care, without any - money that is - Rey could appreciate anyone’s ability to pare down to bare essentials more than anyone else ever possibly could.
That was to say nothing of his towering height, glowering glare - that did all sorts of inappropriate things to her insides - and constant stressing of his poor shirt buttons. Yeah, Rey was using every weekend to give herself another opportunity to add batteries to her weekly grocery list.
By the time Leia had begun hinting at a possible continuation at Rebel Engineering, Rey was already on board.
It took less than a month for Ben to request that she be transferred to Hux’s division. And Leia, knowing exactly why he made the request, made damn sure to make it happen!
A month later, Ben asked Rey if she’d like to stay late and grab dinner in the main conference room while they went over some proposed changes to the current company-wide project. Her instant yes paired with the blush on her cheeks was all it took.
~*~
Ben turns his head to see that his feisty bride is indeed just standing there, grasping the handle of the rake and staring him down like he’s the last piece of flank steak on the table. And he knows his wife always wants the last piece. And she’ll stop at nothing to get it. He also notices an extra flush to her cheeks.
Giving her a knowing little smirk, he takes the opportunity to tease her. “Yeah, mama. You’re not even helping! What are you doing over there?” Eyes sparkling with mischief of his own, he cocks an eyebrow at her.
He also maybe puffs out his chest a bit.
“Yeah, mama! You need to rake, too.” Not to be left out of the conversation, Hope narrows her gaze at her mother and gestures for her to get that rake moving.
The fact that Rey still makes his heart go from zero to sixty in less than the blink of an eye will never cease to amaze Ben. And that he clearly does the same for her? Well, that always makes him remember the first time he got to kiss those pretty pink lips of hers. And he continually thanks the gods for giving him the chance.
~*~
“They’re bringing the food up now. Should we work for a bit then eat? Or…” Rey let the words trail off as she eyed Ben’s forearms, bared now that he’d rolled up his shirtsleeves after the end of the official workday. She wanted to lick one of the more prominent veins in his hand but found herself able to tamp down that thought with a reminder that he is boss-adjacent. And not her veins to lick.
For his part, Ben watched her pupils go wide as she stared at his arms and couldn’t imagine what might be going through her head. What he wanted to do was put his index finger under her chin and tilt her perfect pink lips up so that he could ask her. And then kiss her.
Shaking his head to clear it of those kinds of thoughts, instead, he answered her question. “Let’s eat first and then work. I know you like your food!” His deep chuckle snapped her head up.
“Wha-what do you mean you know I like my food?” Rey is genuinely perplexed by this admission from Ben. He doesn’t seem to ever notice anything personal about anyone. All business all the time. That’s Benjamin Solo.
Realizing he’s been caught admitting he makes note of her particular tendencies, he sheepishly replies, “Well, I mean...it certainly seems like you would plant a flag staking your claim on the donuts every time there are any during our status meetings, if you could. And the few times people bring in leftovers to the breakroom, you always seem to be first in line.”
Rey’s mouth is left hanging open as there is a knock at the door announcing the arrival of the door dasher with their food.
Making quick work of their food, especially Rey, just as Ben suspected, they got to work hashing out the spec changes for their project. At some point, Rey dropped her stylus and bent to retrieve it from under the conference table at the same time Ben did.
She was quicker.
Which meant that as she went to straighten up, Ben’s face was hovering just above the back of her head. Had his eyes not been closed taking in a large inhale of her fruity scented shampoo, he’d have been able to avert the connection of the back of her skull with his lower lip.
But, then again, he also wouldn’t have been able to kiss her.
Lip bleeding upon impact, Rey was mortified and instantly went to wipe some of the blood away with a soft swipe of her thumb. “Oh gods! Ben! Your poor plush lips!”
Clapping a hand over her mouth and widening her eyes, she braced for the reaction from Ben about her inappropriate remark.
Instead, because bleeding lip be damned, he gently pried her hand from her mouth and informed her, “They still work. See?” as he lowered them to hers and kissed her ever-so-softly.
The second she fisted her hands into the crisp cotton of his dress shirt to deepen the kiss was the moment he realized he owed it all to the wisdom of his mother. And he thanked all the gods for his mother’s wisdom in choosing this woman as his intern.
~*~
Now that Ben is looking at his wife’s flushed face more intently, he notices that it’s a bit fuller. And that she seems more tired than she usually is when she’s partaking in her favorite fall chore. He’s been so busy with building up their client base for their new Engineering firm, Reylo, that he hadn’t noticed these changes.
Concern now lacing his features, he drops the rake and walks over toward where she stands at the base of the front porch stairs.
“What? What is it daddy? What’s wrong?” Always the perceptive little one, Hope has caught on to her father’s change in mood and strides over to where her parents stand only inches apart.
Worming her way between them, she puts a little hand on each of their stomachs and looks up. Alternating between each of their faces earnestly, she finally pipes up, “What’s going on? Mama...”
But her sweet little voice stops mid-sentence as her eyes go down to where her hand lays on her mother’s stomach. “Mama,” she starts with consternation. “Mama, have you had too many donuts?”
“Pipsqueak! That’s not a polite question!”
Looking chagrined, she lowers her eyes and softly replies, “Sorry mama. But your belly is extra soft.”
Their Hope has a penchant for the truth. A character trait they’ve discussed numerous times serving her well later in life.
Right now, it only serves to fluster Rey.
Drawing her eyes to Ben, she sees her clever husband rapidly putting things together. His mouth goes slack as his eyes soften. “Yeah, mama. Is there a reason for your extra soft belly?” At this he leans down and whispers against her ear, low enough for Hope not to be able to hear, “And your reluctance to rake with us?”
Straightening back up, he looks between each of Rey’s hazel eyes and cups her jaw. Running his thumb back and forth in feather-light sweeps across her cheek, he finds her eyelids fluttering closed and her tired sigh giving him the answer he’s already figured out for himself.
“MAMA!” Hope yelps with another little stamp of her booted foot.
This jolts Rey out of the quiet moment and she looks down at her daughter- the spitting image of Ben with his soft inky waves and the very image of her with her freckles splattered across the bridge of her nose - and she wonders. What will this little one look like?
“Hope, would you like having someone to jump in the leaves with?” Rey asks, but all the while keeping her eyes glued to Ben’s.
“You’re silly mama. Daddy jumps in the leaves with me all the time.” Always serious, their little girl.
“I know, Pipsqueak. But what if you had a little brother or little sister that you could teach how to rake and jump into the leaves with?” Now Rey has bent down a bit to look into Hope's ever-widening eyes.
Quick, just like her father, she looks back down at her mother’s belly and whispers reverently, “Is there...is there a baby growing in there?” Rey chuckles at her daughter’s precociousness. She learned all about how babies grow in a mother’s stomach when Rose and Finn’s son, Wex, explained it to her when his new baby sister was born last month.
“Yes, Hope. There is.”
Squealing erupts from the child’s mouth as she starts racing around the yard kicking up leaves as she goes.
Ben allowed his girls to have their moment.
But then he moved his pointer finger under Rey’s chin and tilted it up for a gentle kiss. “When?” is all he asks when he pulls away.
“This little love might just show up and foil any Valentine’s plans you may have been cooking up.” She gives him a knowing smile. He’s not very good at keeping his extravagant Valentine’s Day plans under wraps. Rose was no better at playing secret-keeper-partner-in-crime.
He smiles and begins to whistle as he strolls away from her and over to catch his daughter up around the waist as he swings her around in a circle. “Well Pipsqueak, guess that means you and I need to finish raking these leaves up together and let mama have a little rest.”
Rey shoots him a thankful smile - this first 12 weeks really is kicking her butt - and heads up onto the porch to sit on one of the rocking chairs. Laying her head back she dozes for a few minutes.
But when she wakes up, it’s to find Ben leaning on one of the corner balusters of their porch, nearest where she relaxes, gazing at her.
“What? Was I drooling?” Rey lifts the right side of her mouth in a small smile.
“Nope,” her husband responds. “Just raking it all in.”
She groans at that.
“The dad jokes already? Really?”
“You know I can rake whatever I want.” He makes a valiant effort to pull off that last one without a hint of humor.
It doesn’t work.
Ben’s grin stretches wide, making his dimples deepen and his eyes crinkle at the corners.
Rey gets that mischievous look in her eye before throwing back, “You better leaf me alone. I need my rest, you know.”
Breaking out into simultaneous laughter, Hope comes bounding over. “What’s so funny?”
But by the time she’s made it over to them, their lips are locked together.
“Aw, c’mon, EWWW! Daddy, stop! That’s how you guys got that baby in there!”
Ben and Rey fly apart, shock on both their faces, as they stare at their daughter.
“What? Wex told me kissing makes babies.”
They each try to stifle their laughter and Ben pushes Hope toward their pile of leaves. “Alright, Hope the Hilarious. Let’s hit those leaves.”
This works to distract her and Rey watches her little family take off, feet flying as they jump and stomp and make a royal mess of the massive pile of leaves that mostly Ben had wrangled.
I’m raking it all in, too, my sweets,
Rey thinks as she allows her head to drop back. Her eyelids grow heavy once again, as she allows them to flutter closed.