Chapter 57 - The First of Many

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Patricia walked up to Millie’s quarters and pressed the button for the chime. As she waited, she took a sip through the straw connected to her oversized tumbler. She wasn’t sure what was on the menu but she was starving, not an unusual sensation lately. She rested the bottom of the cup on her burgeoning belly.

 

“Enter!” Millie handed a plate of pastries to Statzia, turning to grab a bowl of scrambled eggs and another bowl filled with savory- smelling dumplings.

 

Patricia entered, her hair pulled up in a ponytail and wearing an old academy shirt belonging to Chance which was grossly stretched over her stomach. “Whatever it is, I’ll take all of it.”

 

“Anything in particular you’re craving this morning?” Statzia grinned. “Millie might insist on cooking from scratch, but I’ll replicate whatever we need to keep the pregnant woman happy.”

 

Patricia eased herself down in a seat at the table. “I’ll take whatever’s within arm’s reach. I’m reaching the point of not caring about the weight I’m packing on. If I’m going to look like a whale I might as well enjoy it.”

 

“You look amazing,” Millie commented, setting the food down on until table. “And you’re eating for two–” She paused. “It’s only one baby in there, right? Not hiding an extra one in there?”

 

“One, as far as I know. EMH says we’re up to about eight pounds. Feels like eighteen.” She took another sip from her cup. “And you’re kind but I’m living with this. I’m up thirty-two pounds as of two days ago. I can’t bring myself to use the scale again.”

 

“Shush with that nonsense.” Statzia took a bite out of one of the pastries. “And stay off the scale anyways. Healthy movement, and eat what your body is telling you to eat.” She smirked. “And let the husband eat you every once in a while.”

 

Patricia was nodding to the advice then almost spit out her drink at the last part, before cracking up. “Well, that hasn’t been too much of a problem. He seems very content with where I’ve gained some of the weight. The EMH putting me on a high protein diet doesn’t get many complaints either.” She grinned, biting into a cake.

 

Statzia grinned. “He likes the bump up in cup size, then?” She gave a wink, pouring mimosas into glasses from the pitcher on the table. 

 

“Likes? I think in two months I’m going to have to schedule time for the baby and him so nobody feels left out. How about you? Isn’t yours coming up on his mating season-thing?”

 

Statzia nodded and chuckled. “He’d like to make it out to Cait before that hits, but I’m not sure that the timing will be right. I certainly don’t want to be partway there and have to handle his pacing in the confines of my shuttle. I certainly don’t want to go through his prau on a hammock.”

 

“How long do you have until it kicks in?” Patricia snagged a second…then a third little cake.

 

“I wish there were an exact science to it.” Statzia gave a shrug. “I get the sense that since we’re bonded, it hits a bit harder and faster. He starts getting cranky, and more clingy than usual, and I know it’s time to schedule a couple of days off– one for the romp, and one for the day in Sickbay to patch me back up after.”

 

Millie laughed, returning with a plate of various breakfast meats. “I wasn’t aware it was that intense.”

 

Statzia grinned. “It’s not that much different than mating with a Klingon. The Caitians find drawing blood from a romantic partner to be a bit taboo…but the Chief frequently reminds me that ‘humans can be more fragile than we realize’.”

 

Patricia adjusted herself in the chair, leaning more backwards. “And then there’s our hostess…” she looked around. “Where’s the mad scientist and are you still in the lovey dovey honeymoon phase?”

 

“Oh, she’s on the verge of a breakthrough– or at least that’s what she always says. There’s always a pet project she’s tinkering with.” Millie smiled. “With Lana being so active now, she doesn’t get as much time in the evenings to tinker, especially since we switch up our shifts so much so one of us is home with Lana as much as possible. I told her she could go tinker and we would handle all the gossip without her.”

 

“Well I’m the last one who can say anything about people being too attached to their work. I think that’s been the source of almost every single argument he and I have ever had. Of course, the make up sex is always nice. I wonder if I subconsciously cause the fights just for that.” She considered it for a second. “This may be better for my next psychoanalysis.”

 

Millie raised an eyebrow. “You know that man would have sex with you if you asked, right? You don’t have to bait him into an argument. Just…take off your clothes and he’d probably get the hint.”

 

“Well I don’t know if I’ll be doing much work after this. My handler died and Chance and I will be going to his funeral. He was a really nice guy, but I don’t think I ever actually met him in person. It won’t be the same and I don’t want to break in a new person and have to build a new rapport.”

 

“New handlers are hard.” Statzia leaned across, stabbing at the sausages with her fork. “I’ve been through three.”

 

“And I’ll have something to occupy my time for ya know, like eighteen years. Maybe more than one something.”

 

Statzia grinned. “Going for a full house, are you?”

 

Patricia grinned, slightly shy. “I told him if I could, I’d have a hundred. I’ve never felt closer to him.” She finished a cake. “I’ll need to take some time between and get back in shape or I’ll be five hundred pounds.”

 

Millie grinned. “Have you settled on a name?”

 

“Yes. As a background which is too long to tell, he and I have a special connection with astronomy. So if it’s a boy, Orion. And if it’s a girl, Cassiopeia.”

 

Statzia looked up from her plate. “You don’t know the gender?”

 

“We want to be surprised. I know he or she is healthy and so far my new organs are doing their job so that’s all we’re focused on.”

 

Millie chuckled. “Surprised is having a pregnant foreign dignitary hand over her newborn. You two really aren’t finding out in advance?”

 

“I think it’s a girl.” She grimaced, going quiet for a minute. “And she likes to kick the hell out of me.”

 

Statzia smirked. “As if there were any doubt that your child would enter the world ready to throw hands.”

 

“Very funny.” Patricia shook her head in faux disgust before giving a grin. “Boy or girl I hope they take after their father for everyone’s sake.”

 

“If they have their father’s eyes, you’re going to have trouble either way.” Millie gave a wink. 

 

“You know, when I had left the ship and we were on route for me to marry James, Chance snuck onto the SI ship to find me and try to convince me I was making a mistake.  We weren’t a thing but there was something there we’d both been fighting for a while. Anyways, he found me and told me that James didn’t love me, not like he did. I looked into those eyes and I don’t know how to describe it but I almost melted on the spot.” She smiled to herself at the memory.

 

“And your wife chased you down, too, didn’t she?” Statzia waved her fork at Millie.

 

Millie laughed. “She sure did. Hacked Patricia’s console to figure out where we were, and then convinced both Chance and the Captain that they needed to go out in search of us.”

 

“I can’t even imagine what my life would be like if it wasn’t for ballerina here. She saved my life.” She patted Millie’s hand. “Of course she also talked me into bringing that old woman home and planting her in my front yard so I think we’re even.” Patricia took a long drink before turning to Statzia.  “How about you? How did you and the Chief get together?” 

 

Statzia chuckled. “Oh, ours is not nearly as romantic as the both of you.” She took a healthy swig of mimosa. “It was a really rough day–someone had left booby traps all over Deep Space Ten, and one of them was triggered. Stranded several crew members in a dangerous stasis field. We went back to his quarters to decompress and get a little drunk…and we did a bit more than just get drunk.” Statzia chuckled softly, shaking her head. “If you ask any other Caitian, they aren’t supposed to be able to bond to humans. It only takes once, and if it happens it only does on the first time you’re together.” She gave a shrug. “So, surprise! Now I have a Caitian following me around the station like a shadow and threatening any crew who came within arms reach. Day after we bonded, he assaulted the ship’s doctor for running a test that was a bit physically painful, and the Chief couldn’t handle it.”

 

“See, I think that’s romantic. Must have been hell on both of you to be separated.” Trisha subtly snuck another cake.

 

Statzia’s smile seemed to fade. “I…I would venture that it was far harder on him than it was on me. He was never told that I was recruited by Starfleet Intelligence, and that he would not be allowed to go with me because of what I would be doing. Only reason Emma came with is because I made an illegal copy of a Starfleet issue EMH and took her when I left.” Statzia stabbed at one of the dumplings on her plate. “He told me that he spent several years passing out copies of my picture on every planet and every port he stopped in. It took a long time before he stopped looking for me.” 

 

Patricia looked from one woman to the other, finding herself overcome, and quickly wiped her eye. “That is so beautiful.”

 

“When I was injured and they pulled me off of undercover duty, I just…never reached back out to him. I think a part of me hoped that after fifteen years apart, he would have met someone else…or gone back to Cait and started a family.” Statzia looked back up at both women. “Imagine my surprise when I was assigned here and started looking over the duty roster. Even then, I didn’t seek him out. It took him a couple of weeks, but he followed my scent down to the briefing room.”

 

“I have begun to believe that we are put in places for a reason and I’m not the religious type…obviously. But you get stationed on his ship.” She turned to Millie. “Your wife, who somehow unencrypted my system was on this ship. I was brought here to spy, and was welcomed by my now-family. If I’d kept with my original orders or been put on any other ship I’d have never met my husband or gained a son and now this.” She patted her stomach.

 

Millie giggled. “Are you calling the Mercutio the ‘Love Boat’?”

 

“I’m saying…some things are meant to be.”

 

“Like the fact that we all do up a uniform size when stationed here because of the Counselor’s cooking?” Statzia had polished off several of the savory dumplings and was reaching for another.

 

“As if I need help.” Patricia eased herself up to her feet. “I’ll be right back, this kid likes to use my bladder as a pillow.”  

 

Millie chuckled softly as Patricia departed. “So…no kids for you and K’Naut?”

 

Statzia nearly chuckled on her drink. “Oh, Prophets no. I took care of any potential children possibilities back when I entered the Academy. Given how many times I was offered up by my father as possible ‘payment’ for his debts, I vowed to myself when I ran away that every relationship I had would be on my terms, not someone else’s.” She gave a hint of a shrug. “So, I proceeded to sleep my way through half of my Academy class several times over.” She stabbed yet another dumpling before Millie just slid the bowl the rest of the way over to her. “At this point, I’m over 50. There’s no pressure to have kids for K’Naut, because even though I’ll be put somewhere in the line of succession for marrying into his clan and having the bonding ceremony, I would guess that I’ll be pretty far down the line. There are enough other clan members in the succession that there wasn’t a huge amount of pressure for him to sire children.”

 

Patricia returned, shaking her head. “I got lost. I swear to God, my brain doesn’t work half of the time anymore.”

 

“Because your brain is too busy growing a parasite for 9 months.” Statzia grinned. “That’s a lot of work to keep two bodies running.”

 

“I went to the holodeck to do some basic easy target practice. I missed every single one of them.”

 

“You have an 8 pound counterweight attached to your torso.” Statzia gestured at the baby bump with her fork. “Of course your balance is going to be off.”

 

“You think it’ll come back?” She sounded worried.

 

“The parasite?”

Millie snorted as she took a drink of mimosa, coughing her way through a laugh.

 

“She’s not wrong in a technical sense. They’re just cuter than most tapeworms.”

 

Millie laughed again. “You two are horrid.”

 

“I’ll tell you what I am not looking forward to in the least….diapers. When we took Kieren he was already past that.”

 

“You know what’s worse than diapers?” Millie leaned over the table, reaching for the bowl of eggs. “Diapers and fur.”

 

Statzia laughed. “I am so glad that humans and Caitians are not biologically compatible for that exact reason.”

 

Patricia’s expression was a mix of horror and a desperate attempt not to imagine it.

 

“And then there’s spit-up and fur…and baby food and fur.” Millie laughed. “At least your baby won’t be eating pureed raw salmon anytime soon.”

 

Patricia turned a little green and put her fingers over her mouth. “Next topic!”

 

“Well, speaking of babies,” Statzia jumped in, noting the nausea in Patricia, “I heard that Theo–the bartender down in 5 and Dime–and his husband have decided to connect with a surrogate.”

 

“He’s married? I don’t think I knew that….or maybe I did and I can’t remember.” She sipped her drink.

 

Millie nodded. “I think he got engaged right after he coaxed Evelyn and I into agreeing on a first date. His husband teaches the Federation Literature courses to the school-aged kids. He’s the cute one with the single dimple.”

 

“We’re going to have to ask for a bigger ship if people keep popping out kids around here.” Patricia picked up one of the dumplings from Statzia’s plate and tried it. “Can you make like…a dozen, dozen of these?”

 

Millie chuckled. “A dozen? Or a dozen-dozen?”

 

Patricia looked sheepish. “A hundred and forty-four.”

 

Millie blinked. “And you realize that the boys will eat just as many, right?”

Statzia smirked. “We’re going to need a bigger ship, not because of the kids…but because of your cooking.”

 

“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll hide them.”

 

Millie laughed. “Hide them where? In your weapons locker?”

 

“Kieren knows not to go in there. I could have them all to myself.” She grinned, finishing her drink. “Any chance for Lana to stop being an only child? You have the touch when it comes to kids.”

 

There was a slight widening of her eyes, and Millie briefly glanced up to Statzia–whose face didn’t falter. “I’m…not sure. With all of the experimental projects that Evelyn plays with, I’m not sure that she’d want the risk of being the one to carry a baby.” She paused. “I think if we add to the family, it might be through adoption again.”

 

Patricia nodded to the idea of adoption. “If my experiment didn’t work, and it didn’t kill me in the process, I think we would have looked into that. Maybe we still will, who knows.” She had caught the look on Millie’s face but wasn’t sure why she was caught off guard by the baby talk.

 

“I know that ours was an…unusual circumstance, but adoption is not for the faint of heart. Especially with an inter-species adoption.” Millie gave a wistful chuckle. “Even with the best of intentions, I can’t teach her to be Wohan. And as solitary as their planet is, we have a limited amount of information on her people and their culture. I still worry that we’re not doing enough sometimes–and I worry that when it’s time to introduce her back to her people, she won’t know how to be Wohan.”

 

“You’re raising her, loving her, I don’t think you need to fault yourself because you’re not in tune with a culture she’s never even experienced. If she wants to learn about that when she’s older that’ll be there for her. She may not even want to go back to that world.”

 

Millie nodded. “At the same time, her mother was the princess. We still don’t have intel on why her mother hid her pregnancy, or why she came all this way to hide her daughter. There may be a chance that she’ll need to go back to her people, to assume whatever role or responsibility her mother would have intended for her. I would be falling short as her Mama if I failed to prepare her for that possibility.”

 

Patricia ceded that point with a nod. “Just don’t think you’re not a great mom.”

 

“I had some serious self-doubts about my parenting abilities.” Millie set her fork down, too full to eat anything else. “I didn’t exactly have stellar examples to work with, and I didn’t have any extended family to fall back on–well, except the entirety of the Crow clan.”

 

“Preach, sister.” Patricia stood, excusing herself for a second time.

 

Statzia chuckled softly. “Do pregnant women always pee that much.”

Millie smirked. “Absolutely they do.”

 

Statzia let out a breath, shaking her head. “Thank goodness I will never ever be pregnant.” She glanced up, making sure Patricia was out of earshot. “You wouldn’t carry?”

 

Millie likewise ensured that Patricia was in the bathroom. “It probably wouldn’t be safe to have a baby that is biologically mine. If we could use Evelyn’s egg and a donor, maybe I could carry the baby, but I won’t risk…you know.”

 

Patricia walked back a few minutes later. “Okay, no more drinks or food.” 

 

Statzia laughed. “The baby had her fill?”

 

“I thought she said they weren’t finding out the gender.” Millie stood, clearing platters from the table.

 

“Look, if Patricia thinks it’s a girl, I’m going to call it a girl until it comes out with dangly bits between its legs.” Statzia grabbed the pitcher and the bowl that was now empty of dumplings. “And since we have time before we need to get back to our spouses, I brought cards, if we’d like to play a few hands of poker.”

 

“Well, I suppose if you’re gonna twist my arm, I could play a few hands.”

 

Millie chuckled. “You know, I never used to keep strips of latinum around until I started hanging with the two of you.”

 

“She says that, like it’s a bad thing.” Patricia glanced at Statzia.

 

Statzia smirked. “She plays with us, and then she won’t have any more latinum to keep around, right?”

 

“Exactly! See, what are friends for?”