Chapter Text
“Are you ready to go?” Ben asked Rey, not looking up as he fastened his cufflinks.
“How do I look?,” Rey’s voice held a hint of nervousness.
Ben’s gaze slid upwards to where Rey stood before the mirror in a red gown that hugged her form. The curve of her ass and her toned legs were show stopping as well as her hazel eyes and ruby red lips. How did he get so damn lucky?
“Gorgeous,” Ben answered truthfully and he walked over to where Rey stood in front of the mirror. His right hand cradled the sweet swell of her belly and his left hand caressed her face, holding her chin up. “If I wasn’t already engaged to you, I’d propose to you right now.” His tone was low and the blush on Rey’s cheeks
Ben’s lips found hers and her right hand slid up to his cheek, for a few minutes the night and it’s purpose was forgotten and he enjoyed the taste of her lips and her body pressed against his.
It was heaven and Ben fought the urge to carry her to bed and undress her. His cock was protesting this denial and soon both his hands were on Rey’s face and his lips were devoured her’s. He wanted this woman so much. Rey’s lips parted more and her hands roamed his body, tugging on his tux.
“Ben,” Rey moaned.
“Later I promise,” Ben nuzzled her neck, grateful that her updo left so much skin exposed. His mouth trailed her collarbone and the tops of her breasts.
The plan be damned. Ben picked Rey up in his arms, “Let’s be quick,” He kissed her soundly again, one hand palm against her ass and the other on her calf; this was going to be delicious.
Well it was until the door swung open.
“They are kissing again, ew,” Mara complained.
“You know they are going to kiss on their wedding day,” Mira helpfully commented.
“Well I’m not looking at them,” Mara frowned.
Ben reluctantly let go of Rey, “You two ready?”
Mara pointed to the red dress she was wearing, “Do you think I would wear this if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, I’m not Mira.”
“I love my dress,” Mira spun around in her green outfit and touched her bow, “Do you like my curls?”
“Yes, they are darling,” Rey smiled. “Both of you look great.”
Mara made a gagging face.
“Aunt Shira did my hair,” Mira beamed.
Mara ushered them all out of the room, “Come on, let's go!”
Ben took Rey’s hand and the four left the hotel suite where they’d been staying in New York for the past few days.
It had been a perfect Holiday Weekend. On Thursday Ben and Rey took the girls for Tea at the Plaza and then to see a Musical. On Friday they all went out to dinner with the whole family to a restaurant in Little Italy. Ben got down on one knee, finally asking Rey to be his wife. He knew better than to propose without the girls around. They’d give him strict orders when they helped him pick out the ring a month earlier.
After the proposal, Ben took Rey on a Carriage Ride in Central Park and she fell asleep against him. He put a blanket over his pregnant wife and took her home.
Now everyone was headed out to the annual Holiday Organa Industries Ball.
“What if they don’t let us in?” Finn asked.
Leia glared at her son in law, Luke may have taken a lot away from me, but the Community Center where the Gala is held is in my name, and was my project, they wouldn’t dare.”
The annual Holiday Organa Industries Ball was held not in a hotel or Art Museum but in a depressed New York Neighborhood that Leia herself had helped revitalize with a community center. Every year the Ball was held there and all proceeds went to the Center. Leia had hypothesized correctly that Luke would never dare cancel the Ball, especially as Mon Mothma, the president of the board, was one of it’s biggest champions.
Din was still working at Organa Industries, although he’d been given his month’s notice and wouldn’t be back after the holidays. He’d happily shared all details of the event and Ben was starting to feel like he might not totally hate Rey’s ex after all.
“Are we going to be there soon?” Nat asked rather nervously.
“I’m sure she’ll be there and you won’t miss her,” Shira let out a chuckle.
“Exactly who are excited about seeing?” Poe teased, “Don’t tell me you have a crush?”
“I do not have a crush on anyone,” Nat protested.
“That’s not true, you talk to Lieda M on your phone all the time,” Mira giggled.
Nat’s answer was a glare.
“Lieda Mothma, that may be useful,” Leia hummed.
“NO!” came a resounding chorus from everyone except for poor Nat.
“You are not using his crush for your grandma, it’s not allowed,” Mara said sternly.
Leia sighed and Ben suppressed a grin.
Mara seemed to be able to hold his mother in check like no one else and it was continually a sight to be seen.
Finally they arrived at the Center.
“Well, it’s showtime,” Leia grinned.
They poured out of the limo and onto the sidewalk.
As they entered the building two ushers protested, “I need to see some identification. This is a closed guest list.”
“Leia?” A puzzled Mon Mothma stood behind them with her husband, son, and Lieda.
“Hi Nat,” Lieda beamed.
“Why is Nat with you?” Mon looked extremely confused. “Leia, Luke said you weren’t well, that Ben’s decision to be with Palpatine’s granddaughter had been very upsetting and weakened your health, but yet,” Mon Mothma gestured to everyone, “you are all here.”
“Mom, Nat is Luke’s son,” Lieda said gently.
“What?” Mon Mothma blinked.
“If these imbeciles would let us in, we would be very happy to tell you the whole story,” Leia replied.
Another member of the board, Gial Ackbar happened to be coming in as well, and his son nodded to Nat.
Ben glanced at his cousin with suspicion.
“I think I’d like to hear this story as well,” Gial frowned.
“Just come in then,” One of the ushers sighed and the other shrugged.
The crowd poured into the lobby and Ben put his hand on Nat’s shoulder, “You didn’t prearrange what time the Ackbar’s and Mothma’s would arrive here did you?”
Nat turned red but met him the eye, “I am a Skywalker after all, and Lieda is my girlfriend but don’t ever tell that to Aunt Leia.”
Ben laughed, “Somehow I don’t think I need to tell her, she already knows, let’s crash this party kid.”
Leia explained the whole story to Mon Mothma and Gial Ackbar who listened with skepticism at first. But when Shira produced not only a paternity test but also bank statements that lead back to Luke their skepticism faded away.
Ackbar sighed, “Well it looks like there is going to be a scandal here one way or another but I suppose the truth needs to come out. We were wrong to cast your family aside so quickly for fear of Palpatine’s influence.”
“We all have difficult family members, trust me,” Mothma glanced at her husband whose eyes were on his phone and had been disengaged the whole time. “I think I know how to handle this, Luke is supposed to give a speech in a few minutes but has asked me to introduce him, just lay low, if that’s possible and let me guide the way.”
Laying low was impossible once they entered the room.
Ben noted that Luke saw them all and frowned but clearly didn’t want to draw attention to their presence. There were just too many of them to kick out without making a scene.
A few people approached Leia, including Board Member Senator D’Acy and her wife Wrobie Tyce. Their reception was warm and Ben began to feel a sliver of hope.
Ben noticed that Ackbar had pulled Board Member Hera Syndulla and her son Jacen to the side and was involved in a very deep and animated conversation with them.
“We’re going to have trust that your mom’s former colleagues are more loyal to her than Luke thinks,” Rey put a hand on Ben’s shoulder.
Ben received a mixture of responses from the crowd, some glanced at him in curiosity, some in disdain and a few such as Jacen waved. But it was clear that everyone knew whom he and Rey were.
The girls stuffed themselves with cookies and chased after Nat and his friends. Luke looked very unsettled at his great nieces playing with his son.
“Looks like he’s gonna shit himself,” Han said as he stuffed a cookie into his mouth and then muttered, “thank good there’s food for kids at this place, can’t stand caviar and all that crap.”
“I’ll get you a beer dad,” Poe offered.
“Thank god,” Han clapped Poe on the back, the two headed towards the bar and Luke eyed them nervously when they stuck up a conversation with two longtime employees Nora Wexley and Wedge Antilles.
Ben spied Luke walk over to the ushers and at the door and clearly have a harsh word but the ushers just shrugged.
“Leia told them she’d pay them double if they kept their mouths shut,” Finn whispered to Ben and Rey.
“Of course she did,” Rey laughed. “She never lets up.”
Luke glanced at Rey, Ben and Finn and marched over to them, “Exactly why are you here?”
“Mom owns this building, so what’s the problem?” Ben folded his arms over his chest. “She’s always been in charge.”
“If you all try anything, I’ll make you pay for this forever,” Luke gritted his teeth.
Ben stepped closer to his Uncle, “Or what, you’ll blackmail us, lie about us, try to kill us, you’ve done all of those things and we’re still here. Believe me Uncle Luke you can’t make all of us go away.”
“You’ll never have this company Ben, never,” Luke threatened.
“Somehow I don’t think that’s the case,” Ben replied nonchalantly, “Looks like Mayor Mothma is about to speak.
Luke whirled around to where Mon had the mic.
Mon began “As President of the board and the Mayor of New York I’d like to take a moment to praise Organa Industries and of course Luke himself for this occasion, we’d all like to give thanks to him for his leadership this year, I’m sure.”
A round of applause was let out and Luke plastered a smile on.
“But before I hand over the mic, I'll like to say how delightful it has been to get to know Nat Skywalker, Luke’s son. It's really a pleasure to have such a strong connection with my daughter now dating your son,” Mon was all smiles.
“You little shits,” Luke muttered under his breath.
Ben and Rey exchanged a glance of triumph.
Mon gestured to where Lieda and Nat stood, “We all know Nat of course as he spent three summers as an intern with Organa industries, I have great faith that Nat, Mara, and Mira as well any siblings or cousins to come will work together to serve our company well.”
“Over my death body,” Luke grumbled but smiled at the crowd.
Luke pushed his way to Mon, “Thank you so much, but you see -”
Hera lifted her glass up and loudly interrupted , “A toast to the merging of the Skywalking and Palpatine lines through not only the girls but Nat as well. The board is so delighted that Shira and Rey want to redeem their father and grandfather’s legacy by making a One million dollar donation to the center tonight and a pledge run in full time. To the next generation of Organas and Skywalkers.”
Gial Ackbar raised his glass, “Can we have a round of applause for Shira, Nat’s mother and Rey, Ben’s fiance. It’s time to let bygones be bygones.”
The crowd roared in applause.
“When did you do this?” Leia came over and demanded.
Rey’s expression was smug, “Shira and I met with Hera a few weeks ago, we figured having as many people in our camp as possible was a good thing and Ben agreed.”
“Well done,” Leia offered and Ben knew Rey had finally impressed his mother.
Luke started to back up when Poe and Han snuck up beside him, blocking his departure. Poe whispered something in his Uncle’s ear and Ben smiled as Luke’s fists curled.
“We are also so glad to welcome Leia back after her absence,” Mon’s smile was huge.
Leia took the mic, “I think I will be retiring, it clearly is time for the next generation to take over, Luke and I have come up with the most marvelous idea, we are both going to retire, “ Leia casually dropped, “And Poe, Ben, and Rey will hold the reigns while Nat shadows them as able. When Nat comes of age he’ll get his share and so will the girls. We do realize that we’ve simply been in charge for too long.”
The final nail in the coffin was of course Nat coming up to Luke, the resemblance was crystal clear, “I’m so grateful for my Dad making sure I knew how to help run the company. Thank you for everything so much.” Nat pounded his father on the back, perhaps a little harder than he needed.
“Of course,” Luke smiled tightly, “I suppose all that has needed to be said, has been said. Happy Holidays.”
A round of Happy Holidays echoed, and while some people still appeared confused, Ben was quite sure that Mon, Gial and Hera had helped their case greatly.
Poe whispered something else to Luke who looked like he was about to bolt till Finn linked arms with him. Poe and Finn escorted Luke out of the building.
“How do we know he won’t do anything to Poe?” Shira asked worriedly.
“Oh Poe can take care of himself, plus Finn is with him,” Ben thought of the many wrestling matches his brother had won.
“I remember those,” Leia sighed, “Many of my vases were lost that way.”
“But what’s more important, the vases or your boys having fun?” Han chided her.
“You always do try to make me sentimental,” Leia rolled her eyes but Ben could see a smile there. Leia needed Han more than she would ever admit and Ben was so glad he was back.
“Well then should we dance?” Han held out his hand to his wife. “That really should make you sentimental as we used to do this all the time.”
Leia looked close to crying, but held it together, “I think if you can manage to dance well then so can I.”
Ben’s phone buzzed and he shared the text, “Luke is in FBI custody. He knew he was screwed.”
“How did you manage that?” Shira looked puzzled, “He paid me child support and your dad to stay away but neither of those would get you in trouble with the feds.”
Ben had held this information from everyone but Poe and Rey. He knew that to really truly get rid of Luke they needed to push as hard as possible and they found what they needed finally.
“Armitage Hux made one final deal in order to get Rose reunited with Brandon for Christmas, he told us to check out his dad’s offshore bank accounts as well a disorder server that Shadow used,” Ben disclosed. “Pretty good Christmas present for us all. "
“And?” Shira raised her eyebrows.
“Turns out the biggest double agent all this time was Luke, Palpatine had recruited him years ago, telling him he was continuing his father’s legacy. Luke was responsible for Mara’s death and ratted me out all those years ago,” Ben sighed. “He also funded the rebuilding of Shadow which led to the death of six FBI agents, that’s enough to get him locked away for the rest of his life. Rey was able to break into the discord with the information Armitage gave. It was a flood of information."
"Why didn't Hux share it before?" Shira asked.
"Luke's contact with Paige made him scared but after Hux found out Rose told us about Paige he figured he'd better talk," Rey shared."People will do anything to protect their family so I get where Rose and Armitage are coming from, I think Rose wanted to be friends but between Luke and her Father in law there really never was a chance."
Ben agreed, his malice with the Hux - Tico family had disappeared. Yes Rose had made some pretty horrible choices but Ben would kill to keep his own family safe.
"I did some things to protect Nat," Shira admitted, "I think the only reason Luke never eliminated us was that he wanted to stick it to Leia that his son got the company and not hers. He had some sick deathbed reveal in mind probably."
"But that's over with," Ben waived his hand, "It's going to be different for these kids
“We’ll teach them to care about each other,” Rey promised and squeezed her Aunt’s hand.
As Nat hoisted Mara on his back, Ben smiled, “It reminds me of Poe and me.”
“Thanks for, thanks for including me .. well us in the family,” Shira said and Ben felt the weariness in her tone. “I think I should enjoy the party though,” she glanced at Gial Ackbar, a recent widower. Gial to Ben’s amusement smiled back at Shira.
“See you kids later,” Shira waltzed her way over to an obviously flattered Ackbar.
Ben slipped his hand around Rey’s waist, “May I dance with my fiance?”
“You like calling me your fiance, don’t you,” Rey grinned.
“You like hearing it don’t you,” Ben said darkly and pulled her close. His voice was low, “Maybe we can let the girls stay with Poe and Finn tonight.” He wanted Rey all to himself.
“There’s just one thing you should know,” Rey teased.
“What’s that?” Ben gazed at the love of his life and twirled her around.
“The girls got their Christmas wish, when I went to the doctor on Tuesday, I found out we are having twins, again.”