Chapter Text
December 2, 1927
“Here’s to Poe,” Han said, raising his glass towards the aforementioned man, “on his last few hours as a single man!”
The other two older men in the room laughed and raised their glasses of brandy in response while Poe rolled his eyes.
“Thank you, Han. That doesn’t sound terrifying at all,” Poe took a larger gulp of his own drink than he intended.
“In ten minutes it’ll be your wedding day,” Snap teased.
“And fifteen hours after that,” Poe said loudly, “all of you will have to find something else to badger me to death about.” He leaned back in his armchair and closed his eyes. Eight months. Eight months of planning, nitpicking, last minute changes, disasters, surprises… And that was only on Poe’s end. Poe didn’t have to live with the meddling, well-meaning perfectionists that were the dowagers. Finn hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in months, and the only reason Poe hadn’t thrown propriety out the window and dragged Finn off to his apartment just so Finn could rest had been the fact that soon they would be married and Poe didn’t need Luke glaring daggers at him at the ceremony.
“You still with us, Poe,” the third man asked with a hint of concern.
“Hmm? Yeah, of course.” Poe straightened in his seat. “Just been a long few months.” The three men nodded in sympathy. “But it’ll be over tomorrow. Pour me a bit more,” Poe said cheerfully, handing his glass off to Snap who held the decanter.
A frantic series of knock on his apartment door prompted Poe to turn. He glanced around at the men seated in his living room, who seemed equally confused.
“Maybe Luke decided to come by and toast you,” Han said with a decidedly mischievous smirk. Poe shook his head at that insane suggestion, while Snap doubled over laughing. The third man offered to get the door, but Poe gestured for him to stay and went himself.
“We never decided our name.”
“Finn? What are you doing here,” Poe asked, holding the door open to allow his fiancé to come inside. Poe glanced down at Finn’s pajama pants peeking out under his overcoat and his lack of a hat, even though there had been snow falling outside when Poe and his party had arrived at his apartment an hour ago. “How did you get here?”
“Rey drove me,” Finn said quickly. “And as soon as we’re married I want my own car, but that’s not important. We never decided our name and I only have,” Finn looked down at his wrist and then back at Poe’s face, “five minutes until I’m not allowed to see you and the priest has to present us by some name and Papa said--,”
“Love, I need you to take a deep breath for me,” Poe ordered gently, pulling Finn into a tight hug. He felt and heard the younger man inhale shakily. “Your father has no right to get you this worked up the night before the wedding,” Poe growled. “I told him--,”
“He doesn’t mean any harm,” Finn interrupted, jumping to his father’s defense. “He just wants everything to be perfect and--,”
“And so long as you say ‘I do’ it will be,” Poe said firmly. “I don’t care what name we use, Finn. Draw lots or something.”
“But you said before that I shouldn’t take Dameron because I’m a Skywalker,” Finn mumbled into Poe’s shoulder. “And you said you couldn’t take Skywalker because you’re a Dameron.”
Poe sighed and rolled his eyes upwards. That conversation had taken place back in May, and they had never discussed the topic again after Finn had thrown his arms up, declared that Poe was being impossible, and if Poe was going to be like that then they just wouldn’t have a last name. There had been other things to worry about and plan and, in all honesty, Poe had forgotten all about it.
“And as you like to remind me, I'm an idiot,” Poe said easily, planting a kiss on Finn’s forehead when his fiancé glanced up. “So how about this? I would be honored if you want to be a Dameron. I would be honored if you want me to be a Skywalker. I would be honored if we hyphenated our names--,”
“Hyphenate?”
“Yeah?” Poe frowned. “That’s an option. Dameron-Skywalker?”
Finn stared at Poe in amazement. “Is that allowed,” he asked breathlessly.
“Finn,” Poe said slowly, “of course that’s allowed. Didn’t Luke tell you—he didn’t mention that?”
Finn shook his head. “But that’s perfect. Dameron-Skywalker. I have to go tell Papa!”
He made to pull away and leave but Poe tightened his grip to keep Finn flush against him. “Finn, I want you to promise me you’ll get some sleep tonight. Please.” He ran his thumb across the bags under Finn’s left eye.
“I promise I’ll try,” Finn said honestly. “But there’s so much to do, and Papa and Aunt Leia have people working all night preparing for tomorrow and--,”
The bells from the church a block over began to toll and Finn’s eyes went wide. “I have to go,” he said. Finn pulled back enough to kiss Poe on the lips firmly. “I love you, Poe. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding!” And Finn hurried out of the apartment.
Poe moved back into his apartment, past his guests, to the window overlooking the street. He watched Finn’s figure climb into Rey’s waiting car and then the car drove off, the church bells chiming midnight as the car disappeared around the corner. Poe sighed and turned back to the others, who were watching him silently.
“He’s going to collapse at the altar,” Poe complained, crossing his arms.
“He hides it well,” Han said, taking another sip of his drink. Poe turned to Han with a skeptical look and Han clarified, “I don’t mean he hid it well right now. But he’s been hiding it from Luke and Leia.”
“Finn will be fine,” Snap said reassuring. “My wife was the same before our wedding. Once the two of you are on the honeymoon and away from all this, he will relax.”
Poe ran a hand through his hair. “It shouldn’t be this stressful. I told them to stop worrying Finn over every little thing.”
“We know,” Han said.
“We were there,” the third man laughed.
“You yelled at the dowager emperor,” Snap added. “I always knew you were crazy but…”
“Yeah, well,” Poe flushed slightly at the memory, “he deserved it.” Poe walked back to his armchair, picking up his refilled glass on the way. “A toast,” he said raising his glass. “I’m glad all of you are here. We made it.”
“We made it,” the three echoed, clinking their glasses together. The four took a swallow of their drinks and a short, contemplative silence fell in the room. Then Snap snorted.
“What, too strong,” Han asked.
“No, I was just thinking--,”
“Uh oh,” the third man said softly to Poe.
“—Poe might be the first bridegroom in history who will be begging his husband to sleep on their wedding night!”
Poe groaned while the others had a laugh at his expense. The worst of it was, Snap wasn’t wrong.