Is this the end?

Posted on Wed Apr 24th, 2019 @ 2:09pm by Commander Abigail Prescott

703 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Into The Breach
Location: Captain's Lounge

Sitting in her new office still felt weird to Mint. The fact that it was her office and not Harry's anymore was the oddest part of it all to her. But still, Harry weighed heavily on her mind. So did this pregnancy. She wasn't sure she could do this long distance relationship stuff and the more she thought about it, the more her heart hurt. She understood why he'd gone to Earth with his family, but why he'd done it permanently and not temporarily and why he'd made this decision without consulting her, the woman he was dating and whom was currently pregnant with his child, is what hurt her the most.

It seemed like ages of her sitting in the semi-darkened office before she hit the comm button on her console and called Harry to talk. She watched the Federation logo spin while the call tried to connect. Finally, the screen switched to show a very tired looking Harry. Though his face brightened when he saw Mint's face on his own screen. Her heart felt like it had been stabbed by a needle, but she knew she had to do this now or she'd let it linger forever.

"Abigail! You don't know how glad I am to see your face... what's wrong?" Harry frowned as he noticed the expression on her face.

"How is Pete?" She asked, trying to deflect the conversation momentarily.

"Stable now, thankfully, but we're not sure how well he'll respond to treatment."

"Paloma? The babe?"

"They're doing as well as can be expected," he frowned further. "But an update isn't why you called, is it? Abigail... what's wrong?"

"I don't know if I can do this Harry," Mint admitted after a moment of silence. She chewed her lip and looked down at her hands.

"You'll be fine, you've run the station before," Harry pointed out, a small smile forming over his face. "I have every confidence in you! You'll be a fine commanding officer!"

"That's... thank you, but that's not what I meant, Harry," she looked up, tears in her eyes now.

"What did you mean, then?"

"This..." she gestured to the console. "This long distance thing. I was scared enough to find out I'm pregnant, and that we had to hide our relationship, but this is a whole other layer added to that. And now I'm running the station, while pregnant... I just don't know if I can handle this complicated relationship and raise the baby and run the station. It's just too much..."

"Abigail... I won't be gone forever..."

"Yes, but even if you come back, our relationship is still complicated, it's still a secretive thing," she sighed and wiped her face. "I can't do it, Harry. I won't cut you out of my life or the baby's, and you're always welcome to visit. But I can't do this complicated, long distance relationship. I'm sorry."

"I..." Harry frowned. "As you wish, Abigail. I wish it weren't this way, but I understand..."

"This is the worst timing for this conversation, I know, but I couldn't string you along thinking everything was fine. I have more respect for you than that," her voice wavered slightly and she hung her head again. "Pass on my regards to Paloma. And I really do hope Pete pulls through. You'll all be in my thoughts."

"I will," Harry said sadly. She wasn't looking at the screen to see his expression, but she knew she'd hurt him deeply just by his voice.

"Goodbye Harry," she said just barely loud enough for it to register on the call. "I will keep you updated on the pregnancy and the baby, and I hope we can talk face to face soon," she looked up and gave him a teary smile before cutting the call.

Once the screen went black, Mint stood from the desk and moved to one of the couches. She collapsed to its soft surface and began to truly cry. Heart wrenching, heart breaking sobs wracked her body as she let out her feelings into the pillows. She let it all out for a long while before the body shaking sobs slowed, eventually stopped. Though the tears continued to flow until she fell asleep.

 

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