Chapter Text
It was six weeks away from Christmas and Coruscant was already full of Holiday Cheer. Rey loved it all, the lights, the ice skating, the smell of Christmas treats in the cafe. Rey had taken Natalie all over the city, giving the little girl everything from Christmas at the Zoo to meeting Santa. Rey loved finally getting to experience Christmas with someone even if that someone was eighteen months old. It really was magical.
But there was one person who just had to be a grinch.
Bazine.
With Rey’s current schedule, her times to just have fun were few and far between. And Bazine had put a stop to Finn and Rose visiting after she made an unannounced visit one weekend and found Rose, Finn and Rey having a Disney Dance party in the living room.
“I don’t pay you to have your friends come over,” Bazine had sneered. “These two need to leave now.”
Rose and Finn gave her apologetic glances and scurried off.
Bazine then had her lawyer draw up a Non Disclosure Agreement that prevented Rey from even discussing her job with others.
“I am a supermodel after all and people could use you to get to me. Don’t assume those people were actually your friends, everyone always wants to get close to me,” Bazine explained loftily.
Rey had gritted her teeth but signed the agreement.
That had taken place last February and since then Rey hadn’t seen her friends during the weekend since. And truth be told much of Coruscant's student life existed on the weekends. At first Rey hadn't missed being left out but when Finn and Rose were able to take off from work every once in awhile to attend concerts or movie showings, and Rey couldn't it started to get old.
Then Finn one evening at work offered Rey an opportunity she didn't want to miss. “So Poe, you know the guy from Econ, well he asked if we all wanted to go to his parents' cabin in Vermont from Monday to Saturday off for a Friendsgiving and I just thought if you took Friday off, you could both be my wingwoman. It's a cute little village from what I hear, we could go skiing, shopping, it would just be fun Peanut."
"I want to," Rey sighed, "I really want to, I've never seen snow in the countryside, Jakku never got it."
"
Then come," Finn pleaded. "You of all people deserve a break. It's just one day off, one day, we'll have a Friendsgiving and you can eat all the stuffing you want." He grinned. Rey had fallen in love with stuffing at Rose's last year and he knew it.
"I'll give you the time off," Maz hollered from the kitchen, "You need a break. A real one."
"See," Finn grinned, "Do this, for you, for me."
"What about Rose?" Rey didn't want to leave her friend out.
"You know Paige's boyfriend invited the family to New Jersey, probably an engagement in the works, Rose can't come, so it's up to you," Finn pointed at Rey's chest.
"Fine," Rey relented, "I'll ask you know who."
*****
“I’m sorry Rey but the answer is no,” Bazine snapped over the phone.
“But I’ve literally never asked for a day off,” Rey sighed.
“I realize this may be hard to understand for someone like you, but custody agreements are final, Natalie is not going to spend an extra day with her father just so you can go galavanting off on a ski trip,” Bazine sneered. “Besides I’ve arranged a Christmas photo shoot for Natalie that Saturday and I need her regular routine intact so she actually smiles during the photos this time.”
Rey inwardly groaned, Photo shoots with Natalie were horrible. Bazine insisted on holding Natalie and Natalie did not want her, only Rey. It wasn't surprising given that Natalie only saw her mom every few months and never long at that.
“It is very upsetting to me when Natalie is upset so please do whatever you need to make sure my child understands how important the shoot is,” Bazine commanded. “Do not change the routine.”
“Natalie is only eighteen months old,” Rey protested. “No photo shoot will be easy with a kid that young.” Did Bazine not know anything about children?
“Really Ms. Kenobi,” Bazine became stern, “You are becoming all too opinionated these days. Do your job and don’t ask for a day off again.”
With that, Bazine hung up.
Rey felt like throwing the phone across the room but instead tucked it back into it’s port. She wiped a few tears aways
"Mama! Mama!" Natalie looked up from her blocks.
Rey's heart broke.
"Your mom is off the phone honey," Rey sighed. Bazine never asked to talk to her daughter.
"But you my mama," Natalie crinkled her brow. She pointed to Rey. "My Mama." Then Natalie grinned, "My Mamma loves me, My Daddy loves me, My Nanna loves me, My Papa loves me."
Rey scooped the little girl up, "We all love you very much."
"I luv you," Natalie smiled.
Rey hated Bazine, but she would never give up on this precious child.
**************
"You okay kid?" Ben asked the following week.
Rey sighed, she hated it when Ben called her kid, but that wasn't the problem. She was all boiled up over Bazine's refusal and with Rose out of town this year, she really was going to be alone for Thanksgiving.
"Nope," Rey didn't want to talk, "Nothing is wrong."
Ben glanced at her with suspicion, "Not buying it kid. Unless you are telling me off, you are little miss sunshine. What happened?"
"Hey I don't tell you off on regular basis," Rey protested.
"You didn't used to," Ben laughed. "You used to be this really quiet perfect waitress, but now, you tell me I don't eat enough, you tell me I need a break from writing and you even tell me my writing is too depressing."
"Well it is," Rey said indignantly, "You're the one who let me read your writing and you should know by now Benjamin, that I demand happy endings in stories, not whatever that is," Rey gestured to the poor manuscript on the table.
Ben had given Rey a copy of his manuscript and Rey had loved it until he killed off the male love interest.
"Kyle needs to live," Rey crossed her arms, "You've left Aurelia all alone and that's not fair."
"But Kyle isn't good enough for Aurelia, and you are avoiding telling me what's wrong," Ben frowned. "Come on, spit it out."
Rey sat down and sighed. She and Ben really had gotten to know each other better over the past year although he seemed utterly oblivious to her intense crush on him. Most of their conversations centered on her classes or things about Coruscant; as per Bazine's order's Rey kept her second job quiet.
"I have another job and my boss won't let me out for a day, just one day so I can go with Finn and this guy he likes to Vermont for Thanksgiving," Rey sighed. "I really want to go, so much, I've never even played in the snow and I never get time off."
Ben frowned, "You're boss won't let you, but aren't you guaranteed time off?"
Rey snorted, "I've never had a day off, ever, I mean don't get me wrong, I love the job and I really, really need it, but my boss is a real bitch."
Ben raised his eyebrows, "Considering you are never negative about people, I'd say she's more than a bitch, you always see the good in people Rey." There was a warmth to his words that made Rey's heart flutter. "But there should be something in your contract about days off, I mean how long have you worked for this woman and do you get health insurance through her?"
"Well, technically, I was vetted by an agency and she hired me through that," Rey said thoughtfully, "And the agency provides me health insurance."
"Then, take a look at the agency's policy about time off," Ben grinned. "If she hasn't given you time off in over a year, you can sue her for breaking the contract."
Rey blinked, "I can do what." She'd never done anything like that in her life. "But I would never risk my job for that."
"Does she know that?" Ben chided Rey, "You need to find the policy and throw it in her face, Rey, you deserve a break, you really do." Rey flushed beneath Ben's intense gaze. "If you run into any problems, my mother is a lawyer and let me tell you she never loses a case, ever."
Rey felt buoyed by Ben's attention. "I will look up the contract, I promise. It's just this woman thinks she can treat me however she wants."
"Don't let her," Ben shook his head. "I have an ex like that, only dated her because her Uncle insisted on it. Best thing I did was to break ties with her, well as much as I can." There was something cryptic in his tone. "She was so negative about my writing that she almost took it from me, but she didn't nor did she take Gracie for that matter."
Ben never talked about Gracie's mom so she was surprised by this admission; Rey had the impression the little girl was like Natalie, completely unplanned. There was no lost love between Ben and his ex.
"How's Gracie?" Rey asked.
"Grandpa takes her on Tuesday mornings so he is probably with her at the Zoo again, she's a real animal lover and she totally has my Dad wrapped around her finger," Ben laughed.
Rey wanted to share about Natalie and her love for the Zoo but kept her tongue.
"So you are gonna fight to have time off?" Ben changed the subject, "Right, because you know, I will pester you about this." There was so much fondness in his eyes that Rey wanted to cry. Why oh why did Ben have to see her just like a little sister.
"I will fight it, I promise," Rey swore. "But, you have to work on making your book have a happy ending for Kyle."
Ben snorted, "I'm pretty sure even if Kyle lives, he can't be with Aurelia, she's just too good for him. He would only weigh her down, she's got her whole life ahead of her." There was an odd note in his voice at the end. "She deserves the best and he certainly isn't that."
Rey didn't agree but she wouldn't verbally wrestle with him anymore.
***************
That night Rey pulled up the contract papers from the agency that Bazine recruited her through. Sure enough Rey worked enough to be considered a full time employee and because of that was guaranteed the equivalent of a week off a year.
"You have to give me Friday off," Rey told Bazine over the phone.
"What?" Bazine snarled. "I don't have to do anything."
"No, the paperwork I filled out with the agency guarantees me a week off a year with the amount of hours I put in, so either you give me the time off or I contact the Agency," Rey stood her ground. "I mean I am sure the publicity would be great for you." Rey didn't know where this boldness was coming from.
"You wouldn't dare, you signed a NDA," Bazine screamed.
"I signed an NDA regarding Natalie, not you," Rey replied confidently with the contract in front of her. "Believe me, I could make millions on the story I could tell about your parenting." She knew she had Bazine over a barrel. The press would eat up anything Rey gave them. Not that Rey would actually ever do that to Natalie, but Bazine didn't know that.
"Fine, I guess I will just have to cut my trip short because of you," Bazine snarled, "From now on, I demand a month's notice from you for future time off. This is really inconveniencing my Thanksgiving plans and it also means I have to see Chewie, I can't stand the man."
Rey smiled to herself. Thanks to Ben, she'd not only won this, but it meant she might get a weekend or two with her friends.
"Just have everything ready for me when I come home," Bazine snapped. "What the hell am I gonna do with her for twenty four hours? I thought my days of taking care of rugrats were behind me."
Rey didn't feel at all sorry for Bazine but she did feel incredibly sorry for Natalie. Also when the hell had Bazine ever taken care of a child? The woman appeared to know nothing about them.
Rey just really wished she was Natalie's real mom. She might want time off with her friends but she always wanted to come back to the little girl.
And if Rey was really honest, she wished Ben was far more than a customer.
She just wanted more than pretend.