Families
Posted on Wed Sep 20th, 2023 @ 9:37pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Paul Michael & Ensign Auba Lyna
Edited on on Wed Sep 20th, 2023 @ 10:09pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 14 - The Poseidon Adventure
Location: Poseidon Station Promenade
Timeline: MD012 1700 hrs
Paul and Lyna decided it would be a good time to take the baby for a walk. Paul wrapped a sheet across his chest and placed the baby inside it. This would allow the baby to see and hear his father, yet still remain comfortable.
They exited the turbolift and started walking along the promenade, hand in hand.
Lyna would want to go into a store that caught her eye. If the store was too crowded, Paul would wait outside with the baby.
While Lyna was looking at clothes, Paul started walking back and forth to keep the baby sleeping.
Tyler had left Kat to rest for a bit. A lot of the sightseeing had began to take its toll on the very pregnant woman. For the moment he strolled along the Promenade of Poseidon Station just to take in the locals as it were. But it was not the locals that interested him. In the distance he saw his Chief Helmsman and Paul's fiance walking with... was that a baby carriage. Oh, now Tyler had to see what went on. He approached the happy couple. "Afternoon, Paul, Auba. And who is this little one?"
"Commodore, happy to see you, sir." Paul turned Anegn to face the commodore. "While on Bajor, we visited an orphanage. There were many children, ranging in age. This one crawled her way over to us, and once we picked her up, we knew. So we adopted her. May I present Anegn Michael."
"Congratulations!" Tyler began, he was very happy for the couple although he wished he had a heads up so he could have made the ship baby proof as it were. "Well now the Pioneer will really become a home. Very soon little Anegn will have a playmate when Kat gives birth. We are having a hard time thinking of a name. Can I ask how you came up with this name?"
"It comes from old Bajoran texts. There seems to be several variations of the meaning. One has it as 'beloved', another 'precious' and a third has 'found'. We found her, or us. She is now beloved and she's very precious to us." Michael kept patting Anegn's back, which seemed to calm her down. "And it seems that many Bajorans are abandoning having family name come first. So Anegn Michael."
"Now, that is interesting..." Tyler began as he considered what Paul had stated about the Bajoran naming convention. "...I am surprised as that is an old tradition. The Bajorans are fond of their traditions. It is a beautiful name." For a moment Tyler thought about the teacher aboard the Pioneer being Cardassian and if this would be a problem. However, a lot could happen in the years before young Anegn would have to go to school, so he chose not to bring it up. "It seems that you are going to need larger quarters. Shall I put that request through?"
"Yes, please sir." Lyna spoke up. She took Anegn from the carrier that Paul was carrying.
"No problem at all and when we are not on duty Tyler will due just fine." He said with his country charm. "I will check in with Major Tremble as well and make sure that you are put on opposite shift rotations. This way one of you can be home with Anegn. Is there anything else that I can help with to get your family settled?"
Paul looked at Lyna, who nodded. "Tyler. Would you do us the honor of officiating at our wedding? I would mean a great deal to us."
Tyler smiled softly and proudly. "That is one of the oldest and best traditions that a Captain can have. It would be my honor. Just let me know the time and the place." He was overjoyed that the Pioneer was becoming a home to families. It was something that he never thought would happen and yet here they were. He could sense his old First Officer Quinn O Flannagain telling him I told you so already.
"By the way Tyler, would you like to hold the baby?" asked Lyna.
"Absolutely..." Tyler smiled and took the child into his arms. It was the first time he held a baby, and he thought it good practice before his own child came. He smiled at the cooing baby in his arms. "...She is a cutie. Look at those gorgeous eyes."
Everything was going smoothly....the commodore agreed to marry them....he was holding the child and Anegn was sleeping, then...disaster...she soiled her diaper. "On my....I'm sorry sir." Auba was totally embarrassed.
Tyler smiled "I have had a lot worse on my uniform. Besides I need to get used to it. Kat is due in a few months. Then little Anegn will have a playmate to run around the ship with." He handed the baby back to her mother. The child had been a tad fussy in Tyler's arms after her accident. However, once safely back in her mother's arms she calmed down.
"Excuse me." Auba went to one of the restrooms on the station to change Anegn.
Paul looked at the commodore. "That's happened to me a couple of times myself. Just one of the 'perks'," he made gestures in the air, "of having a new baby. That plus a lack of sleep."
Tyler laughed. "Indeed it is one of the many perks. It is something more for us to look after. Something to fight for as it were." The reason to have kids was something that had weighed on Tyler's mind heavily as of late. "Tell me Paul. Why did you want a child? It is something that I have been thinking about a lot as of late and I was curious. Forgive me if I am intruding."
"You're not intruding. We never had a conversation about children, until Auba had a pregnancy scare a couple of years ago." Paul paused. "I think we always thought about children, but we both wanted to pursue a career, and we felt that having a child could detour both our careers." His face showed that he was sad, not talking about it, but a part of his history. "When we visited Bajor, and stayed with her family, the family brought up the question about children, but we only gave simple answers to their questions. Our last couple of days we were there, we toured many different places...shrines, temples, cities and towns. The next to last day, we walked through a town, we found ourselves in front of an orphanage. We looked at each other and we both decided that we should go in." he paused. "We talked to the workers there, and we were allowed to enter the main room where the children played. I had heard about the Cardassian/Bajoran mixed children, but we didn't see any. We were told that those children were returned to Cardassian by the request of the Cardassian government. There were about 30 children in the orphanage. We sat on a side of the room, away from the children. We watched them playing. We weren't in our uniforms. Some of the children looked at us, maybe they were afraid of us. Then, one small child, made her way to us. She crawled, and walked a little, over to us, pulled herself up by grabbing the seat, then she looked at us, smiled, and grabbed our hands." A single tear dropped from his eye. "At that moment, we both knew that this child came to us for a reason, be it Prophets or another reason, but this child was destined to be with us. We looked at each other, smiled and we knew. We picked her up, and held her. She laughed. We carried her to the office and said we wanted to adopt her. We filled out the necessary paperwork, returned the next day, and the 3 of us left that orphanage. I guess the only thing we is that we couldn't take more of the children."
Tyler stood there in stunned silence for a moment. The story was beautiful and touching in so many ways. "I know that my story is similar in that Kat and I had not really thought about children. We both pursued careers and what we wanted out of life. It wasn't until I got command of the Pioneer and saw so many families that we decided it was time for us as well. With a ship of my own and transfer orders for Kat it became a relatively safe place for us.
Lyna came back with Anegn. "All cleaned up." Lyna smiled at Tyler. Anegn put her arms out to Paul. "Uh oh, somebody wants her daddy." Paul took Anegn and held her in his arms. "Ahhh...the smell of clean babies." He laughed.
"Well I am sure that in due time you will have your fair share of the dirty diapers." Tyler quipped back. "I cannot wait to see this little one running around the ship. However, I am going to have to get going if I am going to make the dinner reservations Kat made."
Paul nodded. "Happy wife, happy life eh? Please let us know when's a good time for the ceremony, otherwise have a good dinner."
Tyler made his way to the restaurant with a smile on his face. It seemed that the Pioneer become more and more like a home for all. This was indeed something that was unexpected, something Tyler wanted, but was unexpected nonetheless.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Paul Michael
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign Auba Lyna
Security Officer, USS Pioneer
Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
RSS Feed