Engineers and Steaks and Babies (Oh My!)

Posted on Mon Feb 3rd, 2025 @ 11:38pm by Captain Alexander Johnson & Lieutenant Sayori Summers & Lieutenant Jade Celes-Johnson

986 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: New Crew, New Mission
Location: Captain's Quarters

ON

The courier that brought her to within beaming range of her new assignment was late. These high speed courier ships were supposed to be high speed! Sayori giggled at the thought. The audacity!

It meant that when she finally boarded the USS Iroquois, it was past dinner. Her stomach gurgled but priorities had to be taken. The lateness meant the Captain was not on the bridge, but his quarters weren't hard to find. She'd studied the specs. She knew where he lived.

Bag on her shoulder, she skipped her way to his front door and chimed.

Alex had been in the kitchen, working on dinner when the chime rang. Not expecting anyone at this hour, he placed the carrot and knife down on the cupboard, washed and dried his hands, then made his way over to the door. When the door opened, an unfamiliar face was in front of him. The rank stated Lt, the bags stated new arrival, the colour of the uniform would indicate engineering. Given he had been notified of his chief engineer had been running late. "Lt Summers I presume. Your quarters are on deck three. This is Captains quarters."

Sayori couldn’t help but giggle. “Silly Captain. No, I wanted to report in right away. Diligently.” She nodded most seriously before smiling again. “So hi! Yes, Lieutenant Sayori Summers, reporting in!”

Jade couldn’t help but smile at her husband’s comments, it was their off hours so she couldn’t really blame him not that she’d be rude. “I’m Jade” she waved from where she was sitting comfortable on the sofa. “Please feel free to sit down.”

"I'll set an extra seat at the table." Alexander replied as he entered the kitchen. "Are you a vegetarian Lt? Steak for dinner, we have our own cows we slaughter on Earth. You ok with that?"

"...Real meat?" Sayori had to dab her lip to stop from drooling at the notion of it. "No vegetarians here, Captain! Thank you so much for the welcome! I've not had a real steak in...in five-ever!" She leaned in closer to Jade. "That's one more than forever," she added with a giggle.

“I’ll have to remember that one!” Jade grinned as she looked at Sayori. “So tell us more about you. Where are you transferring in from?”

"I was on USS Susquehanna," Sayori answered. "Started there as an Ensign and worked my way up to Chief Engineer. I loved it! I would have stayed forever but when this position opened, I saw the possibility of adventure!"

"So we can expect you to be here... for... i mean fiveever." Alexander replied.

"You're catching on, sir!" Sayori said, bouncing lightly on her seat. "Our Captain was married to one of the senior officers too. People weren't sure at first but it worked out really well. Trust so deep in each other that you can rely on it without hesitation."

"This is actually our first posting together... it took a long to get... with some hassel."

Jade nodded. “To be honest I don’t think they’d have given in if I wasn’t pregnant. They couldn’t keep a family apart, plus they needed you.” She smiled at Alexander.

"You're pregnant!" Sayori's eyes lit up. Jade had been sitting so she never saw her belly. "There'll be a baby on the ship! Eeeeeee!"

Jade couldn’t help but grin at Sayori’s enthusiasm. “I take it you like children? You’re always welcome to babysit once this little one makes an appearance into the world.” She rested her hand on her stomach. “There’s only a few months left now.”

"I do love children!" Sayori squealed. "I don't want any of my own, but I want to be every little kid's favourite aunt. The one that brings them ice cream and plays the best games."

"Yet... you don't want any yet... Just wait a few years... I was the same way, I didn't want any of my own. Now I have one, and another on the way." Alexander replied.

“I’ve always wanted kids” Jade grinned. “I’ve always been a natural around them, so wanting kids wasn’t a problem.”

Sayori grimaced at the yet comment, not the first time she'd heard it, but didn't respond verbally. She had her reasons and he had no reason to suspect that she actually had very strong feelings on the matter, feelings that his counselor wife might one day understand but that the average parent wouldn't easily guess.

"Well I'm glad it's working out so well for the both of you!" Sayori squealed. "How old is the older one? And where is he or she?"

"She's running around the ship somewhere." Alexander replied with a grin. "Some don't like the free spirit... I don't really care... I kinda got a locator beacon telling me where she is at all times."

Jade grinned. “Ema is my step-daughter, we get along okay but having another mother around hasn’t been easy on her.” She gave Alex a smile before looking back at Sayori. “This is my first baby so it’s all a learning curve.”

"I am sure she's just as excited as we are." Alex replied

“I think she’ll make a wonderful big sister” Jade smiled.

"I bet she will be," said Sayori. "Well if she wants to explore engineering, let me know and I can arrange something during a slow time. I got to see engine rooms as a kid and it certainly helped shape me into who I am today!"

"That's a good idea." Alexander replied, "Let us get things settled around and then we can discuss an appropriate time."

Jade smiled warmly as she listened to the plans being made, Sayori was certainly a wonderful addition to the crew, and rapidly becoming a friend too.

 

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