They all went back into the sitting room, and Luke smiled as Rey and Ben both stepped towards the fireplace. "Rey, look up."

She gave him a puzzled look, before glancing up to see a bundle of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling.

"Since you're both standing under it, you're supposed to kiss." Luke was grinning widely now.

Rey blushed before turning to face Ben.

His excitement at getting to kiss her was all too obvious, yet the look in his eyes was filled with genuine affection. He looked down at her, before gently caressing her cheek.

She timidly touched his thick hair, unable to hide a faint smile.

He leaned down and gently brushed his lips across hers.

She placed her hand on his cheek, pulling him closer and kissing him more affectionately.

They pulled apart and looked at each other for a long moment.

Luke's smile grew even wider. He turned to Hux who nodded and smiled in agreement.

The only one who wasn't happy was Temiri. The look on his face was one of betrayal and sadness. He quickly ran out of the room.

Ben looked at Rey confused. He didn't understand why Temiri was so upset, maybe he didn't like him after all. Maybe he felt that he wasn't good enough for his sister.

Rey touched his cheek. "I'll talk to him," she whispered.

Ben nodded.

Rey turned to leave, and Ben decided to follow her. He would give her a moment to talk to him alone. But he thought that he should apologize, maybe he should have asked Temiri's blessing before he took such a big step with Rey. If he married her, it would include Temiri as well. They would all be a family, and he realized that wasn't his and Rey's decision to make alone. It was more complicated than that.

"Please excuse us," he told his uncle.

Luke nodded, clearly confused.

~*~

Rey found Temiri in his room, sitting on his bed hugging his knees. He tried to hide it, but she could tell that he was crying.

"Temiri, what's wrong? Don't you like Ben?" She sat on the bed beside him.

"Of course I like him, and you ... you love him. You love him more than you love me," he mumbled.

She hugged him. "Temiri, that's not true. I love you both equally, I just love Ben in a different way. It's hard to explain..." she trailed off how could she explain what she felt to a six year old? "Sometimes when a man and a woman become close, they fall in love, they want to spend their lives together. But that doesn't mean that they stop loving their families. You'll understand when you're older."

He shook his head. "I already understand. You want to marry him, and when you do you'll leave me behind just like mum and dad."

"Temiri, I would never do that. And neither would Ben, he didn't just fall in love with me, he fell in love with you too. He loves you like a son, he wants to be your father."

"I don't want him to be my father, I want my real parents back. What if they come back? We can't be family again if you're married and living at the castle."

Rey didn't understand, she had heard him say that he wished Ben was his father. But she thought she knew what was bothering him, before their parents left they had told Temiri that they had a Christmas gift for him and so every Christmas he thought they would come home.

Ben felt his heart breaking. Both because Temiri didn't want him to be his father, and because he realized that the only thing Temiri really wanted was to see his parents again. The same thing that he wanted. But Temiri didn't deserve parents who would abandon him and only return when they needed something.

Rey sighed. "Temiri, we'll be a family no matter what. But I don't want us to waste our lives waiting on them when they may never come back. I want to start a family of my own and I want you to be a part of that family. I thought you wanted Ben to be your father."

Temiri nodded. "I do. But I'm not a part of Ben's family. If you have kids he'll forget about me," he started crying.

Ben couldn't bare this any longer. He could understand why Temiri would be afraid of being left or forgotten. But he wanted to give him a family. He stepped into the room and smiled warmly at him.

He went over to him and rubbed his back gently. "Temiri. As far as I'm concerned, you're already my family. I already love you like a son, if we had children of our own it wouldn't change how I feel about you."

Temiri hugged him, relieved.

"I'm sorry. I should have asked you before I began a relationship with Rey, it's not just our decision. You should be included. But it's okay if you don't want us to get married, I understand if you don't want me to be your father."

Temiri squeezed him tighter. "My real father never tucked me in or played with me. I didn't mean that, I love you Ben. I want you to be my daddy, I was just afraid that if you married Rey I would be left alone."

"You will never be alone," Ben promised.

"Thank you. I just wanted to see my parents for Christmas. I never got to tell them goodbye, even if they can't stay forever I wish they would at least tell me goodbye."

Ben put his hands on his shoulders. "I know how you feel. All I wanted for Christmas was to see my parents again. But after we started pretending to be a family, I just wanted it to be real. I wanted you to really be my wife and my son."

Rey blushed, looking down at her wedding ring. He had pretty much just proposed to her.

Ben reached over and touched her cheek. "Rey can Temiri and I talk alone?"

She nodded, then turned to leave.

"Temiri, you'll get to see your parents for Christmas. I promise," he whispered.

"Really?" Temiri asked, surprised.

Ben nodded. "I was thinking of asking Rey to marry me. Is that okay?"

Temiri nodded. "I can't wait for all of us to be a family."

Ben nodded. "Me too."

Then he and Temiri stepped out of the room to find Rey waiting for them.

"There's something I have to do, sweetheart. I'll be right back," he kissed her forehead then turned to leave.