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Finn took a deep, contented breath as he placed stakes for sugar pea vines. Not that Northern California, especially the Davis area, wasn’t beautiful, but there was just nothing like Organa’s Organics in early June, after the spring flowers but before most of the veggies had come in. Finn had a feeling he would always hold a soft spot for the way the farm looked in June. After all, Poe had opened up his life in a way he’d never thought possible here just a year ago. Now, he had one year of law school left, if he completed some online courses this summer, a residual consequence of his decision to transfer schools mid-way through his degree. But, he couldn’t help wanting to do work around the farm, at least part-time. He’d realized as soon as he arrived last week that he’d missed this land as much as he’d missed Poe.
Finn was continuing a steady flow of work down the row of young vines when Poe’s voice came through the walkie-talkie at his side. Having spent the last nine months listening to that voice come out of his phone, Finn thought that he might be the only person on the farm that noted the fine edge of panic tingeing Poe’s words. “We have a missing child. Just reported. Last seen about 10 minutes ago. Description: 6 year old female, blonde curly hair, wearing a purple shirt with a dinosaur on it. Name is Katie.”
Knowing the protocol, Finn quickly responded over the radio, “This is Finn, I've got the front gate.” This situation had never actually happened while Finn was here, but Poe always covered it in the staff meetings. In the case of a missing child, the nearest farm hand was to close the front gate to cut off potential escape routes for kidnappers and limit the search area. Finn ran down the row of peas and up the gravel road, reaching the front gate quickly.
He was swinging it closed and preparing to shut the padlock when he spotted a blonde, curly-haired girl sitting on the side of the main road and crying. “Katie?” Finn called, and the girl looked up, then brought her knees to her chest and tucked her head down, crying all the harder.
“This is Finn, I’ve got her, she’s by the front gate,” Finn reported into the walkie-talkie, then walked calmly over to the girl with slow and deliberate movements. He moved to place himself between the girl and the road, worried about trucks, and crouched down to the girl’s level. “Hi, Katie. My name’s Finn. How can I help you?”
Katie, still crying, pointed at a cardboard box near her. “I-I-I heard it earlier when we were on the the t-t-t-tour. I thought that… but I was too late...” She faltered and put her head to her knees again, mumbling into them so Finn couldn’t understand.
Finn grimly moved the box closer to them, not wanting to give up his protective position of the girl. Inside, he saw what he’d feared, a kitten lying still at the bottom of the box, and cursed in his head. People - assholes - were always doing this, leaving their strays and extras out in the country to either survive or not. More often not. “Oh, Katie, it’s okay. I know you tried.” Finn was going to move the box farther away again, so as not to upset Katie further, when the kitten, a little black thing, stared up at Finn with perfect blue eyes, and let out a little “Mew.”
Katie and Finn both gasped and peered into the box. The kitten kept mewling, and Katie looked at Finn with such a grin and hero worship in her eyes, as if he’d somehow brought this kitten back to life, that Finn was momentarily struck dumb. He snapped out of it when he heard the Gator coming down the gravel road. “Let’s go meet them by the gate,” Finn said, picking up the kitten carefully in one hand and holding the other out to Katie, who promptly took it.
They reached the gate as Poe pulled the Gator up, a frantic looking woman whose blonde, curly hair matched Katie’s, seated beside him. She spotted Katie and launched out of the vehicle before it even stopped moving. “Baby!” She pulled Katie into a big hug, tears leaking out of her eyes. “Do not scare me like that again! Where did you go? What were you thinking?”
“I came to rescue the kitten I heard, but I thought it was dead. Then Finn came and the kitten woke up! Can we keep it?”
Poe came over to examine the kitten, who was barely bigger than Finn’s palm. “Way to go, hero,” he whispered to Finn, placing a hand on his shoulder. Finn leaned in to the hand a little, still reveling in his daily proximity to Poe. He wasn’t sure when that feeling would go away, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted it to.
Katie and her mom came over to them, the mom holding Katie’s hand in what looked like a death grip. “Thank you so much, Mr. Dameron, and Mr. …”
“Smith. Call me Finn.”
“Finn. Thank you so much for finding Katie.” She pulled him into a one armed hug, then leaned in to whisper in Finn’s ear. “You are probably going to think I’m the world’s worst parent, but my husband is allergic. Do you think there’s a way we can get her to leave the kitten without crying?”
Finn smiled. “You know, Poe, I think I saw a mouse in our cottage the other day.” Poe quirked an eyebrow at him. “I’m sure Katie would love to take the kitten home, but it would be so nice to have it around our house.”
Catching on, Poe said, “Yes, and we have a vet student from Oregon State spending the summer with us, so Melanie could give the kitten whatever care it needed.”
Katie appeared pensive and all the adults held their breath. “I guess a farm would be a good place for it to live. Can I come visit the kitty?”
“Of course, Katie, whenever your mom can bring you,” Finn held the kitten down so Katie could pet it.
Katie seemed appeased. “Okay,” she said, as she gently stroked the kitten’s head.
When they arrived back at the market building, Finn crouched to let Katie get in a few more pats, and was surprised when the girl threw her arms around his chest. “Thank you for saving the kitty.”
Finn looked over her head with wide eyes at Poe, who was looking at the scene with such longing in his eyes that it took Finn’s breath temporarily. Finn wasn’t sure if Poe even realized he had such a look on his face.
Later, at the cottage, Finn settled the kitten - a girl, Melanie had confirmed - onto his lap. Melanie had guessed that she was about three weeks old, but dehydrated, so they had fed her milk replacer that Poe had to run into town to get. She seemed more active, now, pawing around Finn’s lap and climbing up his shirt. She settled on Finn’s shoulder, kneading little claws into his shirt. Finn snapped a selfie with her to send to Rey.
Finn heard approaching footsteps and turned to smile widely as Poe walked through the door. He blew his boyfriend a kiss. “I’d get up and greet you properly, but…” he indicated the now sleeping kitten.
Poe crossed to the couch, sitting on the arm by Finn and leaning over to brush his lips. “Am I going to have to be jealous of a little furball now?”
“Probably. I’m already in love. She is going to be the most pampered kitten ever.”
“She have a name yet?”
“Not yet, I’m sure one will come to me.”
Poe grabbed one of his hands and kissed the knuckles. “Thanks for your quick response today. Always nice to know people are paying attention to me at staff meetings.”
“Of course.” Finn paused, then decided to forge ahead. “Poe, do you want kids?” Poe’s eyebrows raised. “It’s just, earlier, you were looking at me and Katie like...like it was something you really wanted.”
Poe settled himself on the couch next to Finn, keeping their hands clasped. “What would you think about that...in the future? Like, after law school and you’re established someplace? A few years from now?” Poe was looking down at their hands, his thumb worrying a pattern over Finn’s skin.
Finn’s breath caught in his throat, overwhelmed. Poe rarely mentioned the future in such a positive way; Finn still had to remind him that he wasn’t going to screw everything up, that Finn wasn’t going to ‘come to his senses’ and leave him. That Poe was willing to voice such a desire for the future was a huge step for him in getting past his insecurity. He squeezed Poe’s hand, saying, “When the time’s right, I want to adopt a whole passel of babies with you. Like, at least ten.” Finn grinned at Poe’s surprised eyes. “I’m kidding. But yes, I want to see you be a father. I want to watch you teach our kids to ride horses and patch up their booboos and show them how to grow vegetables and teach them how to treat everyone fairly. And I want to be right there beside you, always.”
They both leaned in to kiss, to seal the deal, but Finn had forgotten about the kitten on his shoulder, and she fell between them, meowing indignantly. Finn burst out laughing and Poe followed suit. “Let’s get this girl raised first.”
“Sounds good.”
They kissed as the kitten settled down in between them.