Family Dinner

Posted on Tue Nov 6th, 2018 @ 6:31pm by Commander Abigail Prescott & Captain Horatio Refelian

1,945 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Into The Breach
Location: Captain’s Penthouse
Timeline: MD02 - 1900 Hours

After stopping off at Mint’s quarters to allow Mint to change, they then headed to Harry’s penthouse to have dinner with Paloma and Junior. As they stepped through the door, they were greeted by a man holding Junior. “Pete! I didn’t know the Medway was here already. I hope Captain Uden has allowed you some time off to see your family.” Harry said with a smile.

“Yes sir. The Captain has given me a few hours off, I need to be back aboard by 2200 Hours.” Pete replied as he fed Junior his bottle.

“Please enough of the Sir, you’re in my home.” He said with a chuckle before turning to Mint, “This is Lieutenant Peter Cooper, my son in law and chief of Security aboard the Medway. Pete, this is Commander Abigail Prescott, Faltan’s first Officer and my partner.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Commander.” Pete said with a respectful nod.

"Same," Mint smiled, feeling much more out of place than she had. At least this time she didn't run. "I hadn't been told the Medway would be arriving today. I was informed you'd be here tomorrow morning," she tilted her head to the side. "Sorry, I've been coordinating ship arrivals. Maybe your helm misjudged the timing, but I'm glad they did and you get time with your family."

“Captain Uden pushed the engines to get here early for me. The only problem is we won’t be able to stay for the ceremony. Starfleet wants us to test our new slipstream drive ahead of schedule so we’ll be leaving about 1900 tomorrow.” Pete said.

“At least Gerry made sure you got some time with your family at least. The down side of serving on a small starship, they don’t have the resources to accommodate families. In a selfish way though, I’m glad. Means my girl isn’t off flying around the Galaxy.” Harry said as he tickled Junior’s nose and made the baby giggle.

Mint shook her head slightly as she watched Harry. She felt out of place being with his family. Especially now that Pete was there. She bit her lip slightly then moved over to Paloma. "Anything I can help with for dinner?"

Paloma smiled, “Don’t be silly, you’ve been far to busy today. Go and take a seat. I hope you’re hungry and like roast dinners.” She said with a grin.

"Starved," Mint grinned, but didn't move. "I can still help though," she said with a shrug. "And you can't use the guest excuse," she laughed. "Also, I only take orders from him," she gestured to Harry. "When on duty... I'm stubborn off duty."

“I can see why dad likes you.” Paloma replied with a smirk. “Why don’t you set the table as your eager to please?” She said with a grin as she passed Mint four place mats and four sets of cutlery.

Mint laughed. "He's the one eager to please," she quipped. Paloma wanted to play that game, Mint was going to play it right back. She took the place mats and cutlery and sauntered over to the table. She laid each mat in its place then took her time placing the cutlery.

“I thought the Saber Class was too small to have a slipstream drive installed.” Harry said to his son in law.

“It’s a small prototype. Early tests have shown good results, although since we had it fitted its be giving us problems. Nothing major just bedding in stuff.” Pete replied, as he rocked Junior trying to get him to sleep after finishing his bottle.

Finishing with the place settings, Mint walked over to Harry and Pete. "I would love to get my hands on a slipstream drive," she said coming up beside Harry. "I just missed the cut on getting into the initial research projects. I envy you being on one of the test ships," she sounded almost wistful. "Sorry, don't mean to nose in on your conversation. I can't turn off the Engineering brain..."

“That’s alright, yeah it’s exciting times with ships being fitted with the new engines. I don’t have much faith in the smaller ships having it but we’ll see.” Pete replied.

“Right, let’s leave work at the door.” Harry said. “I bet your pleased to spend some time with the little man?”

“Of course, I’m glad that Captain Uden gave me the time off to visit. I’m just gutted we can’t spend more time here.” Pete replied.

“It’s on the table!” Paloma called as she began placing different dishes full of different veg on the table.

"Sorry, Harry," Mint smiled cheekily, not sounding sorry at all. "You'll have to let me know how the test goes, Pete," she said before moving toward the table. "Smells delicious," she said, waiting for Harry and Peter to come to the table before taking a seat. She had that out of place feeling again, but reminded herself that this was normal, natural, and she was not an outsider.

“Sure.” Pete said as he gentle placed sleeping Junior in his cot. “I’ll forward the results onto to Harry for you. I know Corps of Engineers are eager for it to be a success.”

“He always goes down nicely for you.” Paloma commented as she took her seat. “I hope you all like roast beef, I know it’s dads favourite and he has a pretty awful time lately.”

Mint glanced sidelong at Harry and smirked, though the expression disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "That he has," she agreed. "This station has not been easy, but he has done an excellent job despite his injury and stubbornness where resting to heal was concerned."

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Harry replied, looking at Mint.

“Oh please, don’t you two get all lovey doves.” Paloma said as she grabbed a dish with roast potatoes and smiled. “You’ve both done a great job.”

Mint blushed slightly, but shook her head and reached for the dish of carrots. "It was a team effort," she said, scooping some of the carrots onto her plate. "But, either way, it's nice to have moments like these finally."

“Indeed.” Harry said as he took the carrots from Mint and place some on his own plate before handing them over to Paloma. “I must say, I didn’t think I’d being doing this again after what had happened, but I’m very grateful to everyone here on Faltan for getting me back to health so quickly.” He resisted the urge to rub his shoulder. Every time he spoke or thought about the shooting it began to ache.

“Tell me about it. I wasn’t sure what to think when I got the message from Abi about your shooting, I was in bits. It’s strange to think that a few weeks later and we’re sitting at a table having a meal together.” Harry’s daughter said as she finished dishing herself some carrots before picking up the plate with the carved beef on and took a couple of slices before passing the plate to Pete.

“Yes, I felt very guilty for not being there for you when you got the news.” Pete added.

“Nonsense, you were doing your duty, as was I.” Harry said. “These things happen but we serve Starfleet for the greater good. Paloma knows the score, she’s been a Starfleet brat for a while now.” Refelian said with a smirk.

“Dad!” She said in a playful tone. “How would you feel if you heard something had happened to me?”

“Devastated.” Harry said simply.

Mint bit her lip, but didn't say anything. The conversation was taking a depressing turn already, she didn't need to add to it with talk of her mother. She simply picked up the potatoes while she waited for Pete to finish with the beef. "The agility of our medical technology never ceases to amaze me," she said finally, setting down the potatoes and accepting the plate of beef.

“Or me, I believe another Horatio didn’t survive a similar experience.” Harry said with a chuckle. “So, how long are you thinking of staying Paloma?”

“Actually, I wanted to speak to you about that.” She said sheepishly.

“Sounds ominous.” Harry commented glancing at Mint.

“With Pete on the Medway which is a support ship for Faltan, I...We was wondering if I could move here permanently. You need a teacher for the school. I could do that.” Paloma explained.

Harry beamed, “Of course! I would really love it! To see Junior more would be great.”

Mint tried not to gulp at the thought of Paloma being around all the time. Things would get less awkward with time, but right now? She was not looking forward to the weird dynamic they'd started. "That would be great. And I'm sure all the parents out here would love to have an actual teacher here," Mint added in.

“I agree, I believe there’s a day care opening as well which would be prefect for Junior. I’m sure Mint will be able to find you some decent accommodation.” He said looking at Mint.

"Yes, I believe there's still several civilian quarters available," Mint nodded. "Just depends on how many bedrooms you would like." She added the task to her mental 'to do list' as she spoke.

“Probably just two...for now.” She replied as she smirked at Pete.

“Good good.” Harry said before he took a bite of his meal. “This is lovely. Glad you’re making use of my kitchen.” He said with a smile.

"It's wonderful," Mint agreed. "I haven't had a home cooked meal in ages," she took a small bite of the roast beef and savoured it. "I actually thought I wouldn't get another, unless I cooked it myself, after my mum passed away. Dad's not much of a cook, and the twins are out roaming the stars, so they don't always get to visit at the same time. I don't think either of them cook though," she shook her head. "And while I can cook, it's nothing this delicious."

“Plus replicators have made us lazy on the cooking front.” Harry added.

“Twins?” Paloma asked curiously.

"My younger brother and sister," Mint explained to Paloma. "They're twins, obviously. Since they were always doing things together, so it was always easier just to say 'the twins' when talking of them."

“Oh! I thought they were your twins.” Paloma replied with a giggle. “My apologies.”

“Twins? Junior is a handful at times I couldn’t imagine deal with two at once! How did you parents cope?” Pete asked curiously.

"I'm only 29, if they were my twins, they'd be here with me. But I don't have any children," Mint laughed. "And my parent's struggled a bit, but had a lot of help."

“They must of done!” Pete said with a smile. “I’m not sure how P does it, I’m exhausted just being with Junior for a couple of hours! I love it though.”

“I remember spending many hours with you and your brother under my arms having a nap. I used to occasionally join you.” Harry chimed with smile as he reminiscing.

Mint felt a sudden wave of melancholy at the comment. The perils, she realized, of dating an older man was the possibility of not having children. Up until this point, Mint hadn't even given thought to having children. But now, something triggered in her and she suddenly wanted them. Outwardly, though, she smiled and continued to slowly eat.

 

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