Breakfast at Mona's

Posted on Thu Aug 15th, 2019 @ 9:32am by Lieutenant Mona Gonadie & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan
Edited on on Sat Aug 17th, 2019 @ 4:32pm

Mission: Mudd on the Souls of Mankind
Location: Deck 8, Crew Quarters
Timeline: 2396

Standing in the modestly sized kitchenette, Jaeih Dox was absolutely out of her element. The older Romulan woman was many things: a smuggler, a cloaking engineer, a former Tal'Shiar agent, a prisoner twice over, and a skilled Intelligence Operative. But one thing she was not... was a cook.

With a PaDD propped up on the counter in front of her, she struggled with a bowl of eggs that she was attempting to whip to the proper consistency. The kitchenette in question was in the quarters of her daughter, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox and her daughter's new bride, Ensign Mona Gonadie, who was sleeping soundly in the bedroom.

The night before had been a remarkable comedy of errors as Jaeih, Ensign Fiona O'Dell and Ensign Briaar Gavarus had conspired to safely and covertly return the exhausted Mona to her quarters using the experimental Variable Mode Mech known as the Silver Banshee. It had been discovered and known only to the three and Mona herself, that the newlywed Miradonian R&D Chief was pregnant and, after falling asleep while testing the neural link in the Banshee, Mona was exhausted beyond compare.

So Mona slept, having been secretly carried in the cockpit of the remotely piloted walking starfighter and gently deposited in her own bed. And Jaeih, who had chosen to go along with the farcical plan, wanted to make sure her new daughter-in-law's morning was as pleasant as possible. Hence, the attempt at breakfast.

She had considered simply using the replicator once Mona had awoken, but thought that the smell of cooking food might be the single most positive way to wake someone up. So, on the small stovetop was two cast iron skillets. One cooking up a large slab of bacon and the other about to receive a large bowl full of eggs to be scrambled. She had never known Mona to eat meat, but when she found Mona asleep the day prior at work, she was face down in a breakfast of eggs AND bacon, and made the leap hoping she was not wrong.

Quickly, she mimicked the movements on the PaDD as she turned the quickly cooking eggs in the skillet as the smell of both wafted gently to the bedroom where Mona had been sleeping, deposited there gently and tucked in, still in her uniform.

Which was the best way to wake up for a Miradonian - the scent of breakfast cooking was almost intoxicating for them and Mona was no different. As she woke up and wondered how she got home and why she was still in her uniform, it was almost an afterthought to what was cooking and who was cooking it. Heading to the refresher to relieve herself and wash up as quick as she could, she wasted no time heading to the kitchenette to investigate.

Mona took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of eggs and bacon and taking in the sight of her mother-in-law awkwardly trying to cook as she grabbed some garlic pepper and sprinkled a little on the eggs, taking over for Jaeih. "Morning. I take it I have you to thank for getting me home?" Once the eggs were almost done, she grabbed out her jar of roasted peppers and tossed a few in with the eggs as well, stirring them in.

Stepping away to let the clearly superior chef go to work, Jaeih raised her hands in mock surrender. "Good morning. I'm glad to see you up and about."

"As for getting you here..." The elder Romulan's tone became almost anxious, "I cannot take full credit. Ensign's Gavarus and O'Dell... certainly played a part. Which, I suppose will merit an... explanation."

"Ah..." Mona finished up the eggs and served them up on two plates along with the rashers of bacon and popped open a jar of preserved peaches, adding a few large chunks of each of them as well. "Toast... Do I want to hear this explanation? Knowing them it's going to be a bit crazy." Pulling out a fresh loaf of bread and her bread knife, she activated the energized blade and sliced off a few pieces of it for both of them, making sure to stow the self toasting bread knife securely when she was done.

"And what do you want to drink?" Mona asked as she carried both full plates to the dining table.

"Just a coffee, please. Black." Jaeih nodded as she took a moment to collect her thoughts. And once both women had sat down with their breakfasts, the Miradonian's new Mother-in-law repeated, in detail, the events of the night before. Of O'Dell's powerful insistence that they do whatever was possible to protect her chiefs dignity. Of the incredible control it's tiny pilot exhibited over the mechanism. Of O'Dell's slip that revealed Mona's pregnancy, but only to Jaeih. And of the need for Mona to sign off on the affair after the fact lest security begin looking deeper into the incident that could adversely harm the careers of the two well-meaning Ensigns who simply wanted to help their superior.

As Jaeih related the tale to her, Mona was silent and listened intently, eating her breakfast as she did so. "Well, if they collected a lot of good test data, I have no objections. Besides, I'm no worse for wear and it seems Gavarus has a date now, though I figured the two of them would... Ah nevermind. Maybe I'm seeing things in their relationship."

Taking a bite of her meal, a bit slower than Mona, Jaeih smirked and chuckled. "Well, I had just met them and thought they bickered like an old married couple, so you can be forgiven for that observation."

So her coffee, the relieved Romulan matron continued. "And they were quite excited by the data collected in spite of the insanity they... well I suppose I should say we were courting."

"They're unusual and a bit odd, but they know their jobs well and are brilliant in their own fields. That's why they're here and working under me, after all." Mona sipped at her latte as she sat back in her chair, relaxing and taking a break in the middle of her breakfast. "So three chicks. That's better than we had hoped."

"Three? I simply knew you were officially expecting, not the number." Jaeih was noticeably surprised by the news. "I suppose congratulations are in order. How are you feeling so far?"

"Still a bit tired and hungry. Nervous, happy, relieved... In a month I'll start molting. They expect the chicks to take longer - closer to nine months since they're a mix, so I'm going to get pretty big. I expect the constant thrumming will get to me at some point. Lots more planning of course." Mona sighed and dug into the rest of her breakfast. "I just hope my Minay gets home soon."

"Well, nine months is short for Romulan children. I carried Mnhei'sahe for..." Jaeih thought for a moment, roll her eyes. "Thirteen months. Longer than not. Thirteen very long months. Though I'm sure she will return before too long. The time ripples have abated and reality is quite intact, so that means they succeeded in their mission. She will not be away from you for long. I... don't think she could anymore."

The statement was said with a warm smile. After such a hard life that she herself was largely responsible, it gave Jaeih an incredible comfort to see her daughter as happy as she was with Mona.

"That's true," Mona replied, closing her eyes and smiling softly. "I can at least feel her energies again. She exists in this time. I don't know where or how she's doing, but she exists and that's all the comfort I need right now."

Raising an eyebrow quizzically, Jaeih titled her head. "Wait, you can feel her... right now? Through your... that bond you described? I... I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"Because she's alive," Mona replied as if it were a simple statement of fact. "We're a part of each other. The part of her within me, no matter where she is in the universe, will live on inside of me as long as she's in this universe. I don't think she feels the bond quite the same way - I think she has to actively feel it. But a piece of me lives inside of her the same way. And no, we can't talk to each other telepathically unless we're touching."

The natural investigator, Jaeih was legitimately fascinated. "Remarkable. You'll have to forgive my curiosity. Our people once possessed enhanced mental abilities like the Vulcans, and I know Mnhei'sahe has been training with Mr. Sonak to try and restore those abilities in her, but I had no idea your bond was so... advanced."

Taking a sip of her coffee, Jaeih continued. "Is... what you're describing what that holographic display of colored lights was meant to represent at the bonding ceremony?"

Eyeing her mother in law over her mug, Mona had a bit of a smug look as she sipped her latte. "That... was in no way holographic. That was our bond made visible to everyone by the Moon Goddess herself. It's rare that it's visible like that - maybe one in a million ceremonies. The projector was just for the twin moons behind the Captain so we could align everything with the ceremonial timing on my homeworld in order to honor the Moon Goddess and the Trickster. Even if it was holographic, how would we have described how we feel the bond so vividly in such a moment and in what coloration... Before it even happened?"

Taken aback slightly, Jaeih was legitimately surprised as she absorbed the new information. That the magnificent swirlings of blue and red light that radiated from Mona and Mnhei'sahe respectively, merged into a brilliant lavender aura that orbited the couple before being pulled back into the two, was real shocked the cynical Romulan. In spite of her lifetime of intelligence experience, her view of the Galaxy had been, until joining the Hera, much less... cosmic.

Then she thought of Mona's last comment. "Telepathic? Is that why you too always just sit and give each other... significant looks, smiles and seemingly random chuckles at dinner? What, are you playing footsie under the table to touch?"

"And why my foster parents talk as if they were one person, yes," Mona confirmed, before finishing up her breakfast. "And how Miradonian chicks tend to be born with a basic understanding of language, even if they can't speak yet. Oh, and they purr and squawk. I'm told that that's not the norm for most races."

Chuckling, Jaeih thought of Mona's exuberant, rotund foster parents that did, in fact, tend to speak in one unbroken sentence between the two of them, wondering if that would one day be her daughter and Mona. "So... the children will be a part of this bond, then? You'll be connecting with them while pregnant? Communicating? Will that extend to Mnhei'sahe as well when you touch?

The brightly plumed Miradonian nodded as she finished off her latte. "It should. Most mixed-race couples, the bond isn't that strong, but my Minay is particularly strong so she should be able to hear them about the same time I do."

Pausing for a moment, the elder Dox thought about what Mona had said. "She's... Mnhei'sahe has never told me exactly what happened. I know much of it is classified, but .. that strength you speak of. Even ancient Romulans didn't experience that level of connection that you describe. What happened?"

Mona pursed her lips and reached for a PaDD. "I shouldn't tell you any of this... But its partly my fault... I invented a neural link interface so someone could literally see what the ship sees in the same spectrums a Miradonian does. We needed it for a mission and she was the pilot. It... Well, it threw the mental gates to every single mental ability in her mind wide open and made her an open wading pool for a being called Anansi, a spider god that steals stories that wanted the helmet. He unlocked her memories... Gave her nightmares..."

She paused for a moment, letting a holographic diagram of the helmet in question hover over the dining table. "And because of the open nature of her mind, allowed her to lead a group mind-meld with Gaia and convince her not to terraform every planet between Romulus and Trill in her image. In return, Gaia closed the gates in her mind, letting her relearn those skills in a more natural manner without literally sucking anyone in that took a peep into her brainspace."

Processing the largely new information Mona had just provided, Jaeih was stunned to learn all that had happened to her daughter. "By Al'thindor... I... I knew. The things that she has seen. Been through in so little time here. Forgive me, Mona. It's... much to learn, you understand. And to think I was shocked to learn that she had allowed herself to be beamed into open space."

"But..." The anxious Mother took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "She has you. And a career she loves. And purpose for the first time in her life. And now a family of her own on the way. I... That is all good. It... I hope it balances the horrors. She seems..."

Looking deep into her Daughter-in-law's jewel-like Amber eyes, Jaeih had an almost pained look in her own, distant black eyes. "But... she is happy here, isn't she? Finally... happy."

"We do our best to make enough happy to outweigh the unhappy," Mona replied with that wide grin of hers. "And hey! You're going to be a grandma of three soon! And you found out before she did! I know that has got to make you happy."

Allowing a smile the crack her own face slightly, the Elder Dox sighed slightly. "Six months ago, I doubted that I would ever speak to Mnhei'sahe again. Now I am..."

Pausing slightly, Jaeih's tone dipped slightly. "I am very happy for you both. I have... no expectations of any role in this."

Mona just laughed that bright, cheerful laugh of hers that dissolves any negativity in a room. "Nonsense! You're going to be a grandma! Your role is to interfere and spoil these chicks rotten and I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"This... bond. This connection you have with Mnhei'sahe. You've shared thoughts... dreams... memories. How many of those featured me as a good mother?" Jaeih sipped her mostly empty cup, not making eye contact. "I... would not be... good for them."

"I also know who you are now. I know the efforts you've been making to try and mend that relationship. Every day, you're more the mother she needs and the grandmother our chicks will need." Mona got up and came around the table, taking Jaeih's hands into her own. She looked pleadingly into the elder Dox's eyes and tried to reach out to her through the bond she shared with her Minay, just hoping she could get through to her. "Whomever you were in the past, it doesn't really matter anymore. I know you're a good person now. I've seen it and I've felt it. With my own senses and with my Minay's."

But whatever gifts her daughter possessed did not extend to Jaeih. She felt only Mona's hands holding her own. She felt physical warmth and the slight vibration of the Miradonian's trilling, but nothing of the bond Mnhei'sahe had described. But she could tell her Daughter-in-law was trying and she smiled in spite of herself.

"I hope you are correct, my dear. But... I'm afraid." Jaeih admitted, looking down and away from those deep, pleading eyes. "I am not a good woman. I can't simply pretend I've not done... horrible things. I broke her bones and scarred her soul. I lied to her over and over again. I don't deserve your compassion. I don't deserve her love. I don't deserve the products of her love."

Mona leaned in so that their noses were barely touching. "And if we offer it freely? Because that's what family does? Live, forgive, and move on together as one? Would you deny us unconditionally loving you because of your selfish self-recriminations?"

Closing her eyes for a moment, Jaeih let out a slight sigh. "I can see you will be... an exceptional mother, my dear."

Finally, the elder Romulan raised her gaze to meet Mona's deep, Amber eyes and she smiled slightly and chuckled. "You wield guilt like a master artist when you need to. They will be powerless before you. Which... I suppose... leaves me no choice but to assume the role of the subversive grandmother and undermine your authority with excess?"

"As per tradition," replied the brightly plumed Miradonian, planting a small kiss on the Romulan's nose before setting about clearing the table. "Besides, with three chicks and being senior officers, we'll need all the help we can get."

Standing up, Jaeih took her own plate and her mug before Mona could collect them with a smile and a nod. "Very well, then. You give me no choice than to accept my new duties. You cooked, I shall clean."

"You still don't get it, do you?" the colorful aviatrix asked with a mischievous look. "We cooked together, so we clean together... As family."