The Orphanage

Posted on Thu Apr 9th, 2020 @ 7:07pm by Lieutenant Mona Gonadie & Az'Prel & Hera & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Petty Officer 2nd Class 'Big Ethel' Jablonski & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan & Artan Pirate Helev t'Liun
Edited on on Fri Apr 17th, 2020 @ 10:50am

Mission: Born and Reborn
Location: Miradon
Timeline: 2397

The mid-sized hover-transport that they had rented in the city was roughly the size of a shorter Type-6 Starfleet shuttlecraft and painted in an extremely bright shade of orange with green stripes down the sides. It didn't get much further from the ground than about two meters, but it moved smoothly and handled well. Not even close to Mona's level of engineering could have managed, but it worked well enough as Mnhei'sahe pulled it in to the parking area outside of the orphanage that Mona had grown up in.

As the transport pulled up to the circular, three-story structure with the ceramic tile roof and the blue and while bamboo-like walls peppered with windows, the group that had come from the Hera was already waiting outside. The goddess Hera herself stood in flowing, pale blue robes and almost seemed to glow, flanked on either side by Petty Officer's Liu and Jablonski. Standing next to them were Az'Prel, Jaeih and Doctor Helev t'Liun.

The doctor had a medical bag over her shoulder and a tri-corder already out and ready as the transport powered down and the door opened. Mona Gonadie came out, looking a bit uncomfortable sitting in the custom-designed hoverchair she was using. Behind her was Mnhei'sahe, looking very much like a Starfleet Lieutenant Commander, in spite of the lack of a uniform as she gestured with a nod to t'Liun.

Immediately, the Romulan woman with the short-cropped brown hair stepped over and gave Mona a full scan up and down. "I am extremely glad I asked to come, Baroness… pardon… Commander. They appear to use paper notes and I am unsure as to the level of medical scanning equipment available. This place is beautiful to be sure, but I like being able to perform basic scans."

"Good to know, Doctor." Mnhei'sahe said, rolling her eyes at Helev's bit of sarcasm, "And what do those scans say?"

"The children are turning. The placental barrier is still intact, but its thickness is reduced to point eight millimeters. We're getting close, Commander." t'Liun said as she looked over the data.

Rolling her eyes, Jaeih stepped over and felt Mona's head, which seemed cool and clammy. "Thank goodness you had a tricorder to determine that doctor. Tell me, my dear, how do you feel?"

"I feel like they're ready to pop out. Do you think we should go to the Aeries now? Or should we wait a bit longer?" Mona had at least stopped panting on the ride and hadn't had any contractions other than what she guessed was one, so she'd lost track. "And the scanners are amazing, but you need Miradonian eyes to use them."

"Hmmm." Doctor t'Liun muttered slightly at the comment about Miradonian eyes, a little embarrassed, but she quickly readjusted as she looked at her own equipment and leaned in to look at Mona herself. "I would say that for now, we can let you rest for a bit until that barrier ruptures. The children are simply turning, it appears and according to my studies, it can be anywhere from an hour to two days before they will decide to start their way out."

Standing up, she looked over at Mnhei'sahe and nodded, "However, I would prefer to confer with an expert in Miradonian medicine in this scenario."

"Oooh... We knew you'd be cutting it close," came a familiar Miradonian voice from the house. "We didn't think it would be this close though," came the sound of another voice.

On the small porch Milla and Mardo had waddled out of the large double doors of the old orphanage, side by side, as usual. Mardo had an old medkit in his hands and had pulled the scanner out to look through it. "Doctor t'Luin, correct? Your assessment is correct, though I would put them closer at two days."

Stepping slightly aside as they passed, Jaeih rolled her eyes slightly at the exuberant pair that she had met at Mnhei'sahe and Mona's bonding ceremony.

It was rare that they spoke separately, but when they used knowledge prior to their careers in the orphanage, they did so. It was Milla's turn to do so now while Mardo was occupied. "Welcome, all off you, to the Minay Moon Goddess Home for Wayward Youths. We founded this home after the last great war with the hunters for all those abandoned chicks who had lost their parents."

Mardo then tucked his scanner away and slung the old medkit over his shoulder, the rotund pair pressing against each other and smiling brightly. "After we bonded towards the end of that war, me a field medic, and Milla a bomber pilot, we knew it was a sign from Minay."

"So please, come in and make yourself at home." "There aren't many chicks these days and most are older and spend their days at school." "The few that are here are in the playroom watching one of those kaiju movies that tourists seem to enjoy." Now they were back to their usual back and forth finishing of sentences and thoughts and since they were wearing almost identical work outfits other than Milla wearing a pink and yellow apron they were hard enough to tell apart. "And if you have any medical questions," "Please feel free to ask, Doctor." "I'll do my best to answer them."

"Excellent, thank you." t'Liun said, putting her own tricorder away and raising an eyebrow at the eccentric couple. But before she could say anything more, Mnhei'sahe smiled and nodded at her unlikely in-laws who seemed as wide as they were tall. "Thank you, both. It's wonderful to see you again."

As the entourage filed into the large dining room, they found that their hosts had already prepared refreshments and some finger foods, though a few had obviously been snatched up by the chicks of the house. The chairs were, of course, the open back Miradonian design with extra padding, but at least most of them were built for adults rather than for the chicks. The plates and silverware were actually simple-looking white ceramic - an oddity among all the eye-bleeding colors of the odd world.

One wall was almost completely missing and had a perfect view into the large playroom where about half a dozen chicks of mixed ages were completely engrossed in an old flat 2D movie about a giant fire breathing chicken attacking a city that looked to be vaguely reminiscent of Earth's Tokyo. On the long wall was a giant floral mural of presumably all the chicks that had ever stayed there with Milla and Mordo in the middle with the Miradonian words 'Eat, Pray, Live' scrawled over them in vines and foliage.

Pausing at the mural while the rest of the group kept moving, Mnhei'sahe ran a hand across the images. The painting wasn't so specific that she could pick Mona out of the group visually, but her hand stopped on one image of a chick almost on instinct. For just the flash of a moment, it was as if she could feel Mona through her bond, touching it. As if the mural had a memory of Mona in it that gave the Romulan woman a smile as she caught up.

"We weren't sure what kind of things you liked," "So we just made a little of everything," "Including mona's favorites." "We tried to make a few Rihannsu dishes as well..." "But we couldn't get anything close to the ingredients." "So we tried to improvise." "Goddess willing, it'll all still be at least tasty." And you'll at least have good company."

"Indeed. The effort is greatly appreciated by us all. Thank you both." Mnhei'sahe said with a respectful nod.

"Yeah, it looks like a great spread. Thank you very much for your hospitality." Ethel said as a number of the younger chicks slowly came up to the two-plus meter tall mountain of muscle that had to duck to get through the doorways in the building. As the children nervously approached the subject of their awe, Ethel smiled down at the kids and offered a friendly wave. "Well, hi there. How ya' doing? I'm Ethel."

Meanwhile, Mnhei'sahe couldn't help but notice that the pair was much more emotionally restrained then they had been earlier and rested a hand of Mona's shoulder to express the thought to her through their bond rather than saying anything out loud. 

Mona chuckled softly as she leaned into her lover, replying through their bond that they always got nervous when they had company and this was likely the first time the company was from off-world.

"Everything looks amazing and delicious. The energy you put into it looks particularly blessed. Thank you," Hera commented with a bright smile as another curious, wide-eyed chick came up to her. "And what beautiful children, as well. Hello there."

Looking down, Hera could see the broad, golden eyes of the small, purple plumed Miradonian girl opening wide as she looked at her. Nervously, the little chick fidgeted as she reached hesitantly to the hem of Hera's flowing dress. "H... Hello. E... excuse me ma'am. I was just... you're very pretty. And you glow really bright. The same color as the two ladies in sunmetal, but brighter. So much brighter than everyone else here."

As Hera reached down to pick up the small chick, she grinned brighter, unable to help herself from letting her true brightness shine and all but blinding the poor Miradonians around her. "Well, my dear little one, I was once the goddess of many worlds across the stars, but now I'm old and starting to fade and now I just help out where I can."

As the children blinked in awe, Milla and Mardo stepped away from the table where the group was beginning to collect to Mona's hoverchair where their foster daughter and her Romulan wife were still. And with the group a bit occupied with the children for a moment, they rotund pair of brilliant plumed Miradonian's let themselves have a moment.

"Oh, you two, Come here." Said Milla as Mardo raised their arms and continued the thought out loud, "And give us a hug. We've missed you both."

One at a time, the exuberant birds leaned in as far as their girth allowed to pull both mothers to be into a tight hug. As they did, they continued speaking in the back and forth that Mnhei'sahe noticed was quite common for Miradonian's in a close bond. "Look at you, little Mona!" "Ready to be a mother yourself." "You are just radiant!' we've never seen anything like it!" "Those children are just putting off so much life, it's astounding." "Like staring into the Moon Goddesses radiance itself."

Mona was beaming as brightly as she could. "We've been looking forward to this for so long. We visited the shrine before we got here for a blessing. Plus we have Hera's blessing."

Then, Milla waddled over to Mnhei'sahe, with a warm smile, "And you, come to Mammy. Let us look at you." As she did, the green feathered Miradonian cupped Mnhei'sahe's face in her hands while the red-headed Romulan smiled awkwardly. "Oh, you're ready. I can see it. I can see your bond. SO strong." "You found her, alright, didn't you, little bird?" Mardo chimed in, placing their hands on both women's arms. "Never seen one so strong in a couple where one of the members wasn't Miradonian, but from your glow, you'd never know." "You two are just wonderful." "We're so happy you came here for this." "We can't wait to see you with those chicks!" "You are going to be wonderful mothers." "Just two more days according to the scanners."

"Urp..." Mona's belly visibly tensed and her eyes bugged out as the chicks decided they wanted a piece of the action as well. "Yeah, I have a message from the chicks... Screw your readings, we want out now."

With wide eyes, Mnhei'sahe looked down and put her hand on Mona's shoulder and was almost pushed back physically by the sensation of the chicks through their bond. "Fvadt! Yeah. Yeah. I can feel that."Shaking off the momentary emotional wave of energy from Mona that made her own stomach tighten as if she were carrying the chicks at the same time, the anxious Romulan woman looked towards the table, where the others had stopped and were looking back at them. "Okay. Apparently, these kids have more than enough me in them to be stubborn. They're coming now.

Squeezing Mona's hand, the waves of emotions from the children were almost overwhelming as Mnhei'sahe looked down at Mona, and in that moment with the full force of their three daughters linking the new family. When the Romulan pilot spoke, her Miradonian bond-mate did something they hadn't yet done in their relationship and finished her partner's thought out loud.

"It's time to go..." "To the Aerie."