Settled

Shampoo

"...and another loop around this way, tighten this area, and there you have it." Ben smiled down at his daughter who was sitting between his legs.

Jade's hand reached the back of her hair while holding a hand mirror with her other hand and making sure every strand was in its proper place. She looked up at her father with hopeful eyes, "Does it look like mommy's?"

Ben's smile widened and he lowered his head to kiss her forehead. "Yes, darling, you look exactly like mommy."

"Okay!" she chimed as he climbed off Ben's legs and ran towards the fresher.

"No! I was here first!" Ben heard Han yell at his sister. He stood from the bed and deeply sighed. Ben both loved and hated this part of the day. No matter the amount of times Ben Solo had done this, he would never get used to the challenge he had at the end of the day, bedtime.

Some nights were easier than others, especially when Rey was there to help. Hard to imagine soon he would be putting three kids to bed. As he reached the fresher, he could hear Jade call out to him as Han taunted her on how she looked nothing like their mother with those buns.

"We don't do that, Oli!" he said with a stern voice after witnessing Han, using the force, throw a shampoo bottle at Jade. Ben had reached the fresher in time to stop the object from hitting his daughter. He motioned for Jade to continue getting ready for bed and squatted down to Han's eye level. He held his son's small hands in his and asked, "Why are you upset?" Ben's voice was soft, wanting only to encourage his children to come to him or Rey with any unsettled emotions they may have. As the twins grew older, the dyads found some aspects of raising force sensitive children quite difficult.

Han scrunched his forehead and glared at Jade while she brushed her teeth. "I was here first, and Jade pushed me."

"I did not!" Jade retorted with toothpaste coming out of her mouth as she spoke.

"Yes, you did!" Han yelled. The emotions of the young child got the best of him and soon Ben found himself stopping a tube of toothpaste from hitting Jade.

Ben took another deep sigh. His mother had warned him on how the twins would soon need proper force training to control their abilities. He was around their age when he first started displaying fits of rage by not understanding how to control the power he had within. "Okay, honey," Ben continued his soft tone, "take a deep breath and try to calm down." He turned to Jade, "Young lady, you don't push your brother, how many times have your mommy and I told you? Finish your brushing and wait for me on the bed."

Han eyes glistened as he tried to calm down just like he was instructed. "You're okay, Oli, honey," Ben continued, "I know it's hard, but I'll wait right here with you. Take your time."

"She pushed me." Han stated as he sniffed.

"I know and I will talk to her more about it but remember there is untamed, raw power inside of you and any emotion you carry can project through the force."

"Like mommy when she's mad at you?"

Ben chuckled, "Um, kind of but we don't see mommy using the force to hit me with things now, do we?"

"Oh," Han rang with a toothy grin, "so you were just playing with mommy when she gave you that scar?"

Ben gently placed his hand onto his faded scar. Years had passed since that day and no matter how many times Rey had volunteered to heal the scar, Ben declined each time. He had received the scar the day his father, Han, had plunged Kylo's lightsaber into himself, knowing Ben did not have the strength to do so. In time, the scar became his penance. "No, honey," Ben whispered, "I was being a nerf herder and mommy had every right to punish me." Ben gently pushed Han's brown bangs from his eyes, "Speaking of mommy, she is going to call soon so we better finish getting ready."

With the prospect of seeing his mom, via holovid, Han's mood was immediately lifted as he ran out the fresher. Ben exhaled and began cleaning up the mess the twins had left behind. Afterwards, Ben came out to see his children settled on the king size bed with a communicator between them. It wasn't long until the communicator rang and soon, a small projection of Rey came into view.

"Mommy!" the twins screamed in unison.

"Hello, my loves." Rey's smile shined through the projection. "Are you being good for daddy? Are you ready for bed?"

"Uh huh." Han was the first to respond. "Today we explored and mommy, mommy, guess what?"

"What it is, my love?"

Jade bounced on the bed with enthusiasm as she finished her twin's thoughts. "We sawed 'cplise troops. They said hello to me."

"They said hello to me first, Jade."

"I'm sure they said hello to both of you at the same time." Ben intervened before another force incident could occur.

Rey giggled at the exchange of her children. "Daddy is right, clearly they said hello to both of you. Have you made it to Miren?" The last question was more for Ben than her twins.

"We get arrive tomorrow." Before he could continue, Ben looked down at his children. "I'll inform you later. How are you, sweetheart? We miss you."

"I'm fine. Baby is fine too, before you ask."

"Mommy, daddy said you will tell us a bedtime story."

"I will, my loves. Hmm, have I told you the one about the cute droid being lost in a desert?"

"NO!" The twins replied.

"I'll leave you to it." Ben smiled at Rey as he left the twins on the bed while he made his way to the fresher to begin his own night routine.

By the time Ben had finished his shower, brushed his teeth, and semi dried his hair, Han and Jade were sound asleep. Rey's holoform was still being displayed. Ben took the small communicator and turned it off and soon felt a familiar presence behind him.

"I miss you." Rey said as Ben turned around.

Ben embraced his beautiful wife and took all that was her in. He missed her scent, her warmth, her soft touch, her everything. They exchanged a longing feeling through their bond before Ben captured Rey's lips in his. "I hate being apart from you." Ben whispered after breaking their kiss.

"It's like something is missing and only an echo remains." Rey sighed. "Han used the force again?"

"He's getting stronger." Ben informed with a smirk. "Have you felt it?"

"I have." Rey glanced at her sleeping twins. "Jade as well but she hasn't done anything to be alarmed by." Rey knew what was on Ben's mind, she had known for a while but still refused to agree with him. "It's too soon, Ben."

"Sweetheart, I know they're only four but," Ben debated, "if we wait keep prolonging their training until you feel they are ready, it might be too late. Younglings start their training around this age all the way up to eight years of age. The earlier we start this, the..." he took a deep breathe, imagining the worst. "I don't want them to go through what I –"

Rey cupped Ben's cheek and shook her head. "They won't...they have us."

Ben tried to shake the thoughts from his mind, but he could not help but worry. Even more so with the recent reports coming in. "You do know why I'm going to Miren?"

"I do." Rey exhaled. "Force sensitive children being held captive. Thank the stars, troops found them. Who knows how long they have been there? Have you– "

"Eclipse troops were sent ahead. Master Dareen and my mom have requested both of us to visit the academy as soon as possible."

"Alright, after I finish here on Iles and you on Miren, we can meet on Takodana."

Ben still felt uneasy about the whole situation. He knew the twins needed to be trained in case Ben and Rey could not be there to protected them for whatever reason. "Rey, are you sure?"

"We need to figure out what was happening on Miren before anything else." Rey moved closer towards her twins. "If there is a threat out there, they will think twice before messing with our children."