Hello... again

Posted on Mon Nov 1st, 2021 @ 7:13pm by Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne & Lieutenant Jackson Blake Dr

1,729 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 110 - An Endeavor in Discovery
Location: Sickbay, SB400
Timeline: MD3, 1100 hours

Walking into Sickbay Ariana looked around, it seemed oddly strange being back aboard the station without Hades or Carolyn. She missed them both very much but she was glad they’d both found happiness. Of the remaining doctors she wondered who it was that would be taking over her care.

As she stood there she felt someone tug her hand gently, a little curious face peering up at her curiously as a girl, little more than two whispered, “do you have a baby in your tummy too?”

Ariana smiled warmly as she looked down at the young child. “Hi there, actually Yes I do. A little boy, but I have a little girl at home too.”

The little girl smiled excitedly. “Baby in mummy’s tummy too!”

“Emily?!” Calling out after her daughter, Abigayle Blake emerged from her husband’s office with a worried look as her brown eyes swept the room while she held another child in her arms. Relief flooded through her when she spied her daughter.

“I am so sorry,” Abigayle apologised as she hurried towards them, “I turned my back for a second…”

Emily looked between her mother and the stranger with the pretty smile. “Twinsies!” She giggled. “Two babies!”

Ariana grinned. “It’s perfectly alright, Emily was just telling me that her mummy was having a baby too!” She grinned at Abigayle. “I’m Ariana Monroe, Chief Counsellor.”

“ Abigayle Blake. This is Emily, and this is Mia,” the woman said as she made introductions as she set Mia down. Immediately Emily toddled to her sister and threw her arms around her in a clumsy hug. Pausing long enough to get a hold of their hands, Abi smiled. “Congratulations. Is this your first?”

Ariana watched the children and grinned, before looking back at Abigayle. “Actually no, I have a young daughter. She was a twin but I lost my son during the pregnancy, which is what makes this pregnancy all the more special.” Ariana smiled warmly.

“I can understand why,” Abigayle replied with a momentary air of sadness that passed quickly as her children tugged on the hem of her skirt for attention. “Let’s say goodbye to daddy and then we can go to the play -“

As soon as she said the word play both girls were off, holding hands as they ran towards the office shouting a chorus of ‘daddy, daddy, daddy!’

“I wish I had half their energy,” Abi laughed. “It was nice to meet you. Ariana, wasn’t it?”

Ariana nodded. “It’s most definitely been a pleasure to meet you, and your children!” She grinned.

Emerging from his office, Dr Blake was a towering presence by any standards. Added to that his muscular physique that his uniform couldn’t completely hide, it would be easy to be weary until you heard his laugh or saw the smile rarely off his face. Spying his wife he held both of his arms out, a laughing child swinging from each one until he crouched down so their feet touched the floor.

At once, they let go, kissing his cheek before running towards their mother. Jackson followed at a more leisurely pace.

“I’ll get the out your hair,” Abi promised as the girls pulled her towards the door.

“I’ll join you as soon as I’m finished,” he promised his wife before she disappeared out of sight. Now turning his full attention to the newcomer. “Commander Monroe! Nice to see a familiar face… And you came at the perfect time! Come on in..."

Ariana smiled warmly as she walked with him. “That’s a lovely family you have there. Two very pretty little girls, do you know what you’re having next?”

"Thanks. They are full of mischief most of the time but wouldn't change them for the world," Jackson admitted with a fond smile, "as for Bump, no, we want it to be a surprise. You?"

“From scans so far it appears I’m having a boy” Ariana smiled warmly. “I lost my daughter’s twin last pregnancy so this little one is a blessing.”

Gesturing for her to follow him into the privacy of the office, Jackson nodded, "I can understand that. And as you know, it never quite leaves you. I'm incredibly thankfully for the family I've been blessed with, but we've been there too. Now we are waiting on the arrival of number five."

Leading her inside his office it was markedly quieter than one might normally expect. It was a little impersonal for his tastes but he’d work on that.

"Can I get you something from the replicator?" he asked, while gesturing for her to sit.

“A fruit juice would be lovely thank you” Ariana smiled as she took the weight off her feet and back. She massaged her temples, a headache having set in.

"Fruit juice it is," he smiled as he ordered one for himself as well, handing her the drink. "Do you need something for that headache?"

“Thank you, and please” Ariana smiled and nodded. “I should really have come to see you about it sooner, my own fault I’ve been too busy doing other things.”

With a nod, Jackson disappeared and returned with a med kit. Propping it open on the desk he removed the tricorder, taking scans. “Do you suffer from headaches a lot?” he asked.

“No not really” Ariana shook her head. “My last pregnancy was... eventful to say the least, I was expecting twins but lost my son part way through. Then I went into labour early with my daughter. So far this pregnancy has been pretty uneventful, I’m just hoping it’ll stay that way!”

"Well, your vital signs are good so appears to be a good old fashioned headache," he assured her, administering a mild analgesic, "but let me know if it persists or gets worse. Believe me, I want your pregnancy uneventful just as much as you do."

Closing up the kit he took his seat. "So this is your second?"

Ariana nodded. “Yes, I have a daughter Stacie. Very long story short my deceased husband was unable to have children, unbeknownst to me he arranged for a donor to be used for us to have children via implantation. I didn’t know until recently that my boyfriend Cameron is the true father of Stacie. Medical tests brought it to light, it’s brought us a lot closer together knowing he lost a son and now I’m expecting another boy it’s all the more special.”

Jackson stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head in disbelief, "well, I was warned things would be... interesting on this base. Well, now we are back on the station I can make sure you have an updated check up as a precaution, just so I can be sure that all is well. If you have time, we can do the scan before you leave?”

Ariana smiled. “Sounds good to me, I’ll warn you now Cameron wants a big family so I doubt this is the last time I’ll be having kids!” She grinned. “I do plan a rest break in between this time though.”

“Rest is good,” he agreed, “it’s a concept I vaguely remember!”

Ariana grinned. “What’s it like having a big family?” She looked at Jackson curiously.

“Oh I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he beamed. “It’s loud, it’s often chaos but it’s always fun. We are both aware of how fortunate we are and we’ve had some heartbreak along the way but it just makes you appreciate how fortunate you are when you get to hold him or her for the first time … best moment in the world. I have to admit, Abi deserves the credit. She does the hard part and manages to keep it all running smoothly. I would be lost without her.”

Ariana smiled warmly. “We’ll have to get together for dinner sometime, a play date for the young ones would be fun too. Admitting Stacie is only young but she’d enjoy being with other young ones.”

“My two youngest will probably try to keep her,” he laughed. “But that’ll be great. I’m sure Abi will know about half the station by the time we sit down to dinner but I worry. Bringing them all out here, away from friends - it’s asking a lot of them.”

“Being on the station has it’s moments, we recently had to evacuate when the station was attacked. We managed to get the station back though obviously!” She grinned. “The crew are good people, we all look out for each other.”

“Good to know,” he smiled. “Which is part of the reason why I wanted to speak with you. I’ve been reviewing the medical staff profiles. At the moment we don’t have an official assistant CMO, something I need to address sooner rather than later. From CC’s notes it looks like Dr Reid and Dr Mendez were being left in temporary charge as the most senior staff. But Dr Mendez has a few… issues. Reprimands but also he seems to be a good doctor. What do you think of him?”

“Mendez? He’s... direct and to the point, completely blunt, can be downright rude but he knows his job. Though his bedside manner could do with some work.”

“So not a slam dunk candidate,” Mendez mused. “Good to know. We can request a CMO be assigned to the station if needed. I’d like to meet the rest of the staff first though. If they are all as good as the people on the Pegasus I’m sure it will all work out.”

“Of that I’ve no doubt” Ariana smiled and nodded. “You have excellent staff here, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your predecessors and the medical staff.”

“I don’t doubt it, Dr Hades had built quite a reputation and I worked with Carolyn a few years ago so I saw firsthand just how good she was,” Jackson nodded. “I’ll sleep on it. But how about we get you checked out before I go rescue my wife?”

Ariana nodded. “By all means ” She smiled as they headed over to a biobed together.

{OFF}

RSS Feed