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“Papá! Papá! Come on come on come on!” Little Shara, in her sugar plum fairy costume and tutu, dragged Poe through the crowd. “You need to meet my teacher!”
Everywhere, there were parents, all there to see the ballet recital of The Nutcracker that the school put on for all of the kids who took classes. The older kids had leading roles, giving five year old Shara the role of a fairy. But she didn’t mind. Hell, she absolutely loved it. Every night, whether she had practice or not, she practiced for at least fifteen to twenty minutes, making sure that Poe or her Abuelo, Kes, watched so they could offer advice. Poe had never seen her so dedicated to something. And he was proud to see her so excited.
He had never been able to go to her lessons, he'd always been working, so his Papá was the one to take her. He'd never met the teacher, but Shara absolutely loved him, whoever he was
“Come on!” she tugged impatiently on his hand and Poe laughed, letting himself be pulled along.
“I'm coming, bebé, I'm coming.” he laughed as she yanked him along with all the brute strength of a five year old.
Finally she stopped in front of a man who had his back turned to them, currently talking to a couple of people, possibly parents. Shara tapped the man on the arm and whoever it was wrapped up the conversation before turning to look at Shara. “Well hello there, Shara.”
Oh no… He was hot. Beautiful. Smooth dark skin, short hair full of corkscrew curls, and broad shoulders, filling his suit jacket. Dammit, ballet teachers weren't supposed to be hot, they were supposed to be off limits, hell, they were supposed to be boring. And the smile he gave Shara, hell, he was cute too. This was not fair.
“Hello Mr. Finn! This is my Papá, his name is Poe. Papá, this Mr. Finn. Finn like a shark!” Finn couldn't help but chuckle and looked up at Poe, offering a smile. Poe's mouth went dry and he smiled back, offering a hand to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Finn-like-a-shark.” Finn chuckled softly and shook the hand.
“It's the best way to have the kids remember the name, at least when we first meet. After that, it just sticks.” He sounded a little sheepish, and Poe found it endearing.
“Well I like it. It's cute.” Poe grinned at him. Shara giggled as she watched the two of them.
Finn laughed softly. “Well, thank you. So, you're Shara's father?”
Poe nodded. “I am. I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to meet you, I have work during her practice, so only my father has been able to drop her off and pick her up.”
Finn shook his head, gesturing vaguely. “Don't worry about it, honestly. Your father said as much when I met him. Shara speaks rather highly of you, you know? I was wondering if I was ever going to meet the illustrious Poe Dameron.”
Reaching down a little, Poe ruffled Shara's hair, just enough that it didn't fall out of place. He had spent a good half hour making that bun perfect, he wasn't going to lose it to affection. She giggled, smiling brightly at the two adults.
Poe gave a flourishing bow, which seemed to make Finn laugh. “Well, you've met me. Hope I live up to the hype.”
Once he straightened up, he found Finn to be smiling even more than he had been before. “Definitely. You seem pretty great to me.”
Poe grinned. “You're not so bad yourself.” Finn was about to respond when a timer on his phone went off and he frowned. “I'm guessing that means you have to have to go.”
Finn nodded. “Yeah, that means it's about time for the recital. That means it's also time for Shara to come backstage to get ready.”
Poe nodded and the two waved before Poe crouched in front of Shara who, surprisingly, looked nervous. “Hey kiddo, you're going to be fantastic, okay?” he tucked a stray curl back into place and she shifted nervously.
“What if I mess up? What if I trip and fall and knock over everyone else and everything is ruined?” Poe could hear the anxiety in her voice and he shook his head.
“You won't mess up, you'll be perfect. You've been practicing everyday, just pretend it's like that.” When her distress didn't go away, he continued. “Pretend that the audience is just me and Abuelo, and no one else. You're just practicing in our living room, and afterwards, we can have a little dessert, and watch a movie just like we always do. Okay? You're going to do just fine bebé, I know it.” She looked a little more convinced, although somewhat uncertain still. He kissed her head. “I promise. You'll be the best sugar plum fairy anyone has ever seen.”
“Promise?” she held out her pinkie finger.
Poe curled his pinkie around her's and nodded. “Promise.”
Satisfied by this, Shara nodded, and with the wish of luck from her father, she went backstage as well.
During all of this, Kes had gone out quickly to a flower shop, so by the time Poe returned to his seat, Kes was already in his own seat, with a bouquet of roses for them to give Shara when she had finished.
Just as Poe had predicted, she was brilliant, at least for the amount of time she spent on stage, twirling and dancing. It really wasn't very long, but every time he saw her, his chest swelled with pride as he saw all of her hard work, and all of her practicing come together. He hardly paid attention to the story, just waiting for his daughter to come on stage again. When the play ended, he was clapping fiercely, a proud smile on his lips.
After the final bow, Poe and Kes weaved through the throngs of parents, finally catching sight of Shara chattering to her friends. When she caught sight of them, though, her face lit up and she broke into a sprint. He crouched, taking her into his arms and lifting her up. She squealed in delight.
“You did so good, bebé, just like I promised. I knew you were going to be great.” Shara giggled and then grinned when she saw Kes with the bundle of flowers. He kissed the top of her head before handing her the flowers and she sighed happily. “Now c'mon. I want to get a picture of you and your costume and your flowers, and then I believe I promised dessert and a movie?”
Shara nodded eagerly, and they were just about to set off when he heard Finn’s voice. He turned around to see him coming to a stop in front of them, grinning. “Hey, I was hoping to catch you after the show. What did you think of the recital?”
Poe smiled at him. “I thought it was brilliant. You did a great job teaching all of these kids.”
“My friend Rey teaches a lot of the older students. I prefer teaching the little kids.” Finn shrugged. “Sometimes the older students are a little more… Gung ho. Prima ballerina type. The little kids are mostly here to have fun.”
Poe nodded, adjusting Shara in his arms as she held tight to her bouquet. “I get that. It’s probably more fun that way.” Finn nodded. “So, did you do dance when you’re younger, or do you still do dance, or are you just pretty good at dancing?”
Finn laughed a little. “I still do dance occasionally, as a hobby. I used to do plays and all that, but I’m taking a break right now, to see how I like teaching.” Poe was about to respond when someone called Finn’s name and he sighed. “I think I have to go. But, if you want to know more about my life story, I can give you my number, and maybe we can go out and have some coffee? After all, we probably aren’t going to be able to talk before or after practice.”
Poe’s grin grew wider and he nodded. “I would love that, yeah. I think that would be a lot of fun. And maybe I’ll be able to come around for a couple of practices every so often, just to say hi.”
Nodding, Finn reached out, grabbing the program he had. “Let me just give you my number…” he scrawled out his number onto the back page before handing it back. “So… you’ll text me?”
“I will definitely text you. We can set up that coffee date of ours.” Poe nodded, smiling at Finn. The voice called again and Finn offered a wry smile.
“Well, now I really have to go. I’ll see you soon, Poe Dameron. And you too, Shara. I’ll see you when the next term of classes begins, so we can prepare for the spring recital. We’re planning on doing Swan Lake.” Shara’s face lit up and she clapped her hands together eagerly. She loved Swan Lake, she watched the Barbie version constantly, it was one of her favorites.
“Sounds exciting, I’m sure she’ll love to do that, huh bebé?” She nodded eagerly. “Well Finn, I’ll text you when I get home, and I’ll see you when we go out for coffee.”
Finn waved before going to whoever was calling his name, and, after a little teasing from both Shara and Kes, he took a picture of Shara posing with her roses and then went home, having dessert and watching the Elf for the millionth time.
Poe and Finn texted throughout the week, only taking a break during Christmas, and a few days after the New Year, Poe and Finn went out on their date. And then another. And another. And when ballet started again, the other kids were shocked when Mr. Finn-like-a-shark kissed Shara’s Papá.