Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Christmas in Florida was not exactly what Rey expected. She'd never had Christmas growing up in the foster care system. Group homes did what they could, but it was little more than what was donated, which was how it was the rest of the year as well. When she started dating Ben she expected his family to have a Christmas party like she'd seen in movies, the tree the presents, the mistletoe, the festivities.

Ben wouldn't say he was a Grinch. He didn't hate Christmas per-say. He just hated family gatherings, people being fake happy, and the stress and pressure of gifts. So while he didn't hate Christmas, he did hate everything about it. But, being the considerate boyfriend he wanted to be, he knew Rey wanted all that crap, so he put in the effort. Not a lot, but some. He got her a tree, invited over her friends, searched for a gift, and bought a huge bag of fake snow.

Finn, Rey's friend from the last group home she was in before turning 18, was bringing his boyfriend Poe, and they were going to have Christmas dinner together. Ben had searched all over for the perfect gift, he had no idea what to get her.

To: Finn

What do I get Rey for Christmas?

To: Señor Grumpy Pants

Idk

To: Finn

I could get her a $50 to Olive Garden. She likes Olive Garden.

To: Señor Grumpy Pants

Naa gift cards r crap

To: Finn

I could get her a snowglobe? I could find one with something festive inside like a snowman or penguin or something.

To: Señor Grumpy Pants

Thats fine except itd only b gud around Christmas time

To: Finn

Okay, what are you getting her then?

To: Señor Grumpy Pants

A puppy

To: Finn

She lives with me. I don't want a puppy. Get her something else

To: Señor Grumpy Pants

[image of a puppy Finn already bought for Rey]

Lol too late

To: Finn

So what do I get her?

To: Señor Grumpy Pants

Don't think of it as a thing, think of it as an experience

To: Finn

You're no help.

Ben searched for a gift, he went to the mall which was awful, he went to the beach novelty stores, which was also awful, he even asked his parents. They were unhelpful. He returned home to find Rey singing Christmas tunes decorating the tree with the ornaments he bought for her.

"What do you want for Christmas?" He asked bluntly.

"You don't have to get me anything, just having Christmas with you is already a dream come true." She smiled at him over her shoulder. He huffed and went to the study and began scrolling through gift idea sites and Amazon. Dumb and unhelpful, respectively. He returned to the living room to find her struggling to reach the top to put the star on. He took it and placed it, looking down at her as if trying to dig through her brain and figure out what she wanted. She beamed up at him.

"What are you getting me?" He asked.

"I got you three things." She said pointing to the two wrapped gifts and a card under the tree. His eyes narrowed.

"How much money did you spend?"

"It's a secret." She laughed. "Should I make food for tomorrow?"

"No, I'm cooking." He said, still frowning at her. She was a terrible cook, and he wanted to be able to actually eat Christmas dinner.

"Can I help?" She asked. He sighed and moved to the kitchen to write a list of things they would prepare. He picked the easiest things for her to work on. Stuffed turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, and roasted vegetables for him, and mashed potatoes, gravy, and cornbread for her. Finn and Poe were supposed to supply dessert. He made a schedule and told her what she'd need to use and wrote out instructions for her. Christmas Eve wasn't until tomorrow so they had time to prepare. That also meant it was the last day he could look for a gift for her. He shot her a look, she was reading over the recipe. Finn said not an object, an experience. The experience of having a dog, the experience of her first Christmas, but what experience could he give her? He'd realized she wanted a proper Christmas, what else had she missed out on? What else had he taken for granted?

"Can we go to the store?" She asked looking up at him. She seemed unbothered that he'd been openly staring at her.

"What do you need?" He asked. He knew he'd already bought everything they needed for the food. She blushed and looked away, was it a girl thing? He'd gotten her girl things before, it wasn't like he was embarrassed. Well he was, but he just looked more imposing and people didn't snicker. She pulled out her phone and searched for a bit, scrolled for a bit, before showing him a picture. It was a screenshot from one of those crappy Hallmark movies. They were all the exact same, the premise was usually just copied one to the next, the actors all looked the same, the dialogue was always awkward, he definitely did not like them. He also definitely did not watch when Rey had them on, because they were crappy, and he absolutely did not care that the couple ended up together, because he was not invested at all. Rey knew he knew the name of the movie the picture was from, he always got more into it than she did, she just liked the festivity of watching the Hallmark channel at the time of year. The girl had been caught under a magically appearing mistletoe and was kissing the boy, they ended up together, because of course they did. So she wanted this. He nodded, he could do that.

He took her to the home improvement store and they bought a sprig. When they got home he sent her to the kitchen to double check they had everything on the list. He pinned it up in the doorway quickly, he knew they already had all the ingredients, he'd checked it twice. When she came back he acted surprised to have caught her under the mistletoe. She blushed and smiled as he pulled her in.

"Merry Christmas Rey." He said kissing her.