Chapter 3: Blended

Nights at the dinner table were a rambunctious affair for Rey and her little family. The 7-year-old twins, John and Anakina, bickered passionately. John was wise beyond his years, but that didn't make him beyond squabbling with his sister. Their little brother, 6-year-old Kitt, was more quiet and meek.

"All right, you squirrelly Ewoks, settle down!" Rey chided, as she served them their supper of Bantha broth. "No fighting at the dinner table... Anna, sit still!" It was a pet name her daughter much preferred to her full name - Anakina, the latter only spoken when the little girl was in trouble.

Rey led a simple life with her babies, living on the Falcon where it was stationed on the ocean moon of Kef Bir. The ruins of the Second Death Star still sat in the distance, half-submerged in the waves. Being here made Rey feel close to her dearly departed husband.

The stillness of the night was suddenly broken by the powering down of thrusters. Sounded like an X-wing coming in for a landing. Rey stood up, wiping her hands on a tea towel. "I wonder who that could be?"

Then, a voice called through the gangplank's open hatch: "Hello, all! Anybody home?"

"UNCLE FINN!" the three children squealed, scrambling up from their seats without even asking to be excused. They tackled the former Stormtrooper as he came up the walk, sending him sprawling with a laugh.

"Where have you been?" Anna's eyes shone. "We've missed you!"

"My work takes me all over," Finn explained, getting to his feet. "Here, I brought you a treat. One for John and Kitt, too."

Rey stood from the table, smiling tenderly at her dear friend.

"Children, stay here and finish your supper. I need to talk with your uncle alone."

The kids obeyed, as Rey guided Finn back into the sitting room. Sighing in relief, she gave him a hug. "They've all missed you," she murmured into his shoulder. "I've missed you."

Finn chuckled. "I've missed you too."

"So:" Rey stepped back, grinning. "What's new?"

Finn took a deep breath. "I've been offered a new position. A counselorship, to help recondition former Stormtroopers on Dathomir."

Rey's eyes shone. "That's wonderful news! There's no one better for the job!"

"I don't want to take it."

Rey blinked. "What? Why not?"

Finn suddenly exploded in frustration. "Why not? God, Rey! Because it means more reminders of the war. More nights away from the life I really want. More time away from the person I love. The only person I've ever loved, and that's you, damnit!"

Rey's mouth unhinged into a perfect "O" as she gaped at him. She stared at her friend, bewildered.

"But, but what about... Rosie?"

"I've grieved for her, same as you have for Ben," Finn said earnestly, taking her hands in his. "But nothing's going to bring her back. I can't go back to the night she died. And I feel like... like we could help save each other. It's an instinct, a feeling. The Force brought us together. It brought us together on Jakku for a reason." His eyes suddenly brightened as a wonderful idea fell into his head. "Maybe I could still take the position on Dathomir... and have you and the children come with me. We could settle there! Think about it: I could go to work; John, Anakina and Kitt could go to school - Oh, Rey, this way we can have our cake and eat it too!"

Rey gazed at him. "Are you asking me to marry you?" she whispered.

Finn beamed. "Nothing would make me happier," he expressed with sincerity.

Slowly, Rey stepped forward. Holding his eyes, standing up on her tiptoes, she softly, tentatively pressed her lips to his. Finn immediately relaxed and deepened it, and she stepped away.

"All right," she nodded slowly. "On one condition: I want to get married here. Before we move. So we can be a real family."

Finn beamed. "Done."

Days later, in the presence of Rey's three children and a Justice of the Peace, Rey Solo married her childhood friend. Wearing her white Jedi robes, she gently kissed her new husband as her children danced at her feet.

It took many weeks to pack up the Solo-Dameron homestead and store their lives all on the Falcon for the pilgrimage to Dathomir. Having been the man of the house for a long time, John took it upon himself to load the orbaks and cart supplies back to the Falcon. Seeing how his kid brother so desperately wanted to earn his own keep, he let Kitt help him.

And all the while, Kitt would pepper John with his inquisitive questions.

"What's Papa Finn moving us to Dathomir for?"

"For money, of course," John chuckled, as he slowed the orbak to a halt.

"What's money?"

"Well, that's what you buy things with," John swung himself out of the saddle. "Like credits."

"What are credits?"

"Credits are the official currency of the Final Republic."

"Is that the same as Separatist money?" Kit badgered.

"Separatist money? Well..." John's voice trailed off. Kriff it, he didn't know! He shook his head at Kitt. "Don't you ever run out of questions?"

The boys hauled their load up the gangplank, running into Anna as they entered the ship's hull. "You don't wanna go in there," their sister said.

"Why, what's wrong?" John asked, entering the ship.

Kitt made a face. "Mommy! Papa Finn! Yuck!"

Rey and Finn drew apart from where they had been openly kissing, Finn dancing his fingers along Rey's swollen stomach. Rey grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, honey. It's just hormones. From the baby."

"What's hormo-" Kitt started to ask, but John clapped a hand over his mouth.

Rey shook her head with a laugh. "Don't you ever run out of questions?"

Rey and her family finally moved their lives and the Falcon to Dathomir, where Finn was stationed on a military base to help former Stormtroopers work free of their brainwashing and move on to new, suitable work. Several months later, Rey went into labor and delivered her and Finn's baby girl. The birth was touch-and-go, with the Jedi very nearly losing her life. But she recovered and as she and Finn gazed down at their daughter, they knew that it had all been worth it.

There was only one regret, which the doctors had told her and made Rey's eyes fill with tears. "I can't have any more children," she told Finn brokenly.

Finn kissed her temple. "We have our daughter. And you know I love the twins and Kitt like they're my own. That's enough for me - for us.

And as Rey nursed her daughter, Mara - Mara, with her beautiful, brown skin - she agreed that they did have all they needed.

"Mama?" 3-year-old toddler Mara asked one night at the family dinner table aboard the Falcon. "Why do we have three fathers?"

Rey smiled. "Because you're lucky," she told her youngest with love. "You have your own special Daddy, just as Kitt has his own special Daddy and John and Anna have their own special Daddy." The question reminded her of the holo recording she had just received several days ago. From the mysterious woman asking to meet. All Rey knew was that it had something to do with Poe...

... and his other son.

Straightening her napkin, Rey turned to Kitt. "Kitt, sweetie? Remember how I said a special person was going to come see you tonight?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... that person is your other brother. A long time ago, your daddy had a baby with another woman. Her name is Zorri. She and her son both want to meet you."

The thrusters of a Y-wing could suddenly be heard, touching down near the parked Falcon in the fields of Dathomir. Rey stood. "That must be them. Kitt, come with me. The rest of you, stay here with Papa Finn."

Taking her youngest son by the hand, Rey guided him down the gangplank to where a woman in a purple uniform and a handsome youth of 18 now crossed to meet them. The woman warmly embraced Rey.

"Zorri Bliss."

"Rey." The Jedi gestured to her youngest son. "This is Poe's and my little boy, Kitt."

"It's nice to meet you, Kitt," Zorri smiled kindly. "This is your brother, Shem."

Shem crouched down to ruffle Kitt's hair. "Good to meet you, little bro."

As the boys got to know each other, Zorri asked: "So, were you and Poe ever married?"

"No. I've only been married twice: my current husband and before that, Ben Solo - the father of my twins."

Zorri nodded. "Kylo Ren. I have heard you were in love."

Rey nodded wistfully. "We were."

"And Poe?"

"No. It was... a night of drinking. I liked it at first, but then... he didn't stop." Rey pursed her lips. "Rape," she whispered.

Zorri bowed her head. "I'm sorry. It wasn't like that for us. I didn't find out I was carrying Shem until after Poe left."

Now Kitt had not overheard the darker details of the women's conversation. But Shem had, and he rose in shock. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Ms. Rey." His voice was angry.

Rey just shook her head. "Don't let it cloud your view of your father, Shem. He was a brave man who made a horrible choice in... taking advantage of me."

There was a sudden scream that came from the gangplank of the Falcon. Except for Kitt, now playing innocently with a laser lasso toy Shem had given him, everyone wheeled around to see a horrified Anna staring at her mother. Clearly, she had overheard, likely through the Force's help.

"Kitt's Daddy raped you?!"

"Anakina Leia Solo!" Rey hissed for her to keep her voice down. Glancing back to her guests apologetically, she hurried to the ship and hustled her eldest daughter aboard. "You come with me." Guiding them into the privacy of her and Finn's bedroom, Rey turned to Anna.

"Anna, I want you to understand something: yes, Kitt's Daddy assaulted me and that is how I came to have your brother. Poe made a horrible choice. But that one choice does not define who he is. It was a serious lapse in judgment. In all other respects, Poe, as I knew him, was a good person." She wasn't about to mention that Poe had murdered Anna and John's father. She might tell the twins that when they were much older. Or maybe never. Rey wasn't sure yet.

"A good person?!" Anna sobbed, staring up into her mother's face.

"Good people make bad choices," Rey told her gently. "Your father made some bad choices before he and I married. He was on the Dark Side of the Force until we fell in love and had you and John. But your father was still the finest man I've ever known, tied with Papa Finn, of course." She breathed deeply. "That said, I want you to keep this to yourself. You can't tell John or Mara. And you absolutely cannot tell Kitt. Do you understand me, Anakina?"

"I understand," the young girl said softly.

Smiling tenderly, Rey kissed Anna's forehead. "Good girl. I love you very much, dear."

"I love you more."

"I love you most." Exiting the ship, Rey called down to Kitt, Zorri and Shem.

"Would you all like to join us for dinner?"

And together, the sprawling family sat down to resume supper on the Falcon.