I was thinking more in terms of "chickenwire* cage around everything" myself. You still need to enclose the plants or varmints can get to them regardless of whether they're in the ground or in pots. It's going to take more pea plants than you think it will to satisfy all y'all, even if you had the space and grow lights to do it more safely indoors. With only one plant, I was never able to get enough peas to do them as the vegetable for a single dinner; I think I recall seeing "4 plants per person" as the minimum target.

*Or ratwire, depending on how small your rodents are. Chickenwire should keep cats and bunnies out, but it won't even slow down small critters.