The Babysitters Club
Posted on Thu Apr 30th, 2020 @ 8:51am by Az'Prel & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan
Edited on on Thu Apr 30th, 2020 @ 11:01am
Mission:
Return to the Core
Location: Miradon
Timeline: 2397
Three days after the birth of Hlai’vana, Tala, and Amihan GoDox, their beleaguered parents were going to trust them to another for the first time. And in this case, it was a task that was to fall to the newborn children’s grandmother, Jaeih Dox.
Still on the planet of the children’s birth-Mother, Mona Gonadie, came with what Jaeih had thought was an excessive number of traditions, ceremonies, pomp and circumstance. And today, that meant that Mnhei’sahe and Mona were to meet with priestesses of a nearby temple without the children for another such ceremonial… thing. In truth, Jaeih neither understood or really cared. That it was important for Mona was enough for her to keep her skepticism to herself. And it really just meant that she would finally have some time with her grandchildren to herself.
And now that it was happening, she was beginning to understand just how difficult watching these three would be.
“Hlai’vana… my dear… please don’t… aaand she’s trying to fly again.” Jaeih said running across the room where the newborn girl with the black and red feathers was taking a leap, inexplicable, off of the back of the couch.
Holding her arms out as long as she could, the tiny tot was flapping her miniature arms as fast as she could as she hovered to the ground before being snatched up by her slightly haggard grandmother. “I have you now, little one. By the Elements, you are bound and determined to damage yourself.”
Pouting in Jaeih’s arms, Hlai’vana wriggled and tried to squeeze out to no avail as the elder Romulan woman walked across to the large, round next-like bed where the other two chicks were playing.
“Hu'nanov” Tala and Ami squeed as the reached up and made grabby hands, saying the Romulan word for ‘grandmother’. As they did, Jaeih set Hlai’vana down with her sisters, an unguarded smile on her face.
“Well, you three shall certainly keep me easily as busy as young Minerva back on the Hera.” Jaeih said as she walked over to the table to prepare the children’s mid-day meal. Opening up the container left for her, she scooped a portion of the light yellow, mashed meal, the former intel operative mixed it to a fine consistency in the old, clay bowl. “But I shall not be passive in my responsibil… aaand your all gone.”
Turning around with the bowl, all three chicks were crawling away from the bed in different directions as Jaeih set the food down and quickly assessed the situation like an assassin marking her targets. Hlai’van was the largest, but also the fastest and the most likely to get into trouble. Tala was the most curious, and as such, the most easily distracted. Ami was the one that craved attention the most, and therefore the easiest to catch. Because she had crawled straight towards her Grandmother.
=^=Chirrup=^= The door chime of Dox and Mona’s hotel suite where Jaeih was babysitting rang, and after an extended moment, the door slid open. Outside the door, the Vulcan refugee from a mirror dimension stood and raised an eyebrow curiously as the door slid open. On the inside, Jaeih stood with her foot on the door control pad, Hlai’vana hanging with the nape of her little red jumper in Jaeih’s teeth, with Tala under her left arm and Ami under her right.
“P’ees… c’m nn, Ahh’pll.” Jaeih muttered with her mouth full but a controlled expression on her face.
"Do you require assistance?" the Vulcan woman asked calmly as she entered and closed the door behind her. "Or would you prefer to continue your acrobatics solo?"
Jaeih leaned slightly forward, holding the dangling, black and red feathered infant who was hanging from her mouth and pouting. As Az'Prel took the dangling child, Jaeih stepped back to let her in, rotating her jaw slightly after holding a baby's weight with her teeth. "My thanks. Be alert, little Hlai'vana is very much Mnhei'sahe's child and seems bound and determined to leap from any surface so much as a centimeter off the floor."
"And If I didn't know better, I would swear that was... a joke, Az'Prel. Of course, I know better." Jaeih said with a light smirk, knowing her bond-sister quite well. As they stepped back inside, Jaeih popped the door panel with her elbow, closing the chamber door.
"I was about to feed them, and I would... appreciate some assistance in keeping them in one place, thank you. Is all well?" Jaeih asked as she held Ami and Tala in her arms and walked back into the bedroom with the children.
"These past few days have reminded me of my own..." For a moment Az'Prel almost lost her hold on the red and black chick as she once more attempted to take flight and the wide-eyed look on the Vulcan woman's face was almost that of surprise as she had to leap out to catch her in mid air. "My own family. I have had much to think about and this planet has forced those thoughts to the surface."
"Ah... I see. One moment." Jaeih said as she put Ami down on the bed, still holding Tala in her arm. "Amihan, my dear. Your Hu'nanov and Aunt Az'Prel would love to hear one of your beautiful songs while I prepare your meal. Would you please?"
The Romulan woman, more accustomed to dealing in secrets and death, seemed unusually comfortable as her voice softened and the warm smile on her face spread. And looking down, the tiny girl covered in Golden, feathery down blinked her large, copper-colored eyes and blushed a pale green as she began to hum. There was no melody to speak of, but it was still resonated through the space. In her arms, the blue-green feathered Tala calmed down and began to thrum slightly in Jaeih's arms.
Over by the door to the bedroom, even the rambunctious Vana calmed down a little and began to thrum lightly in Az'Prel's arms. It was an extremely pleasant distraction that worked exactly as Jaeih had planned, enabling her to collect the bowl of meal and a spoon and bring it and Tala to the bed next to Ami. As she did, she gestured with her head to Az'Prel to do the same. And once all three chicks were sitting together, Jaeih began to feed them small spoonfuls.
"I can fully understand. In truth, I have been concerned that all of... this... would do exactly that." Jaeih said, lightly patting the other side of the bed for the Vulcan woman to sit. "I may no longer actively be in the Intel Department, but I still have my clearance and have kept up with what information is available. Have you had any contact with her?"
"Until they have removed the augments deemed unnecessary or hazardous, they are keeping her in stasis. They have sent status reports and imagery as they have confirmed that I am indeed her mother and I have been granted clearance, however, I have made no direct contact." Az'Prel paused a moment as she watched the chicks eat. "They estimate that it will be at least two more months before she is removed from stasis for final rehabilitation and they request I be present."
"I am sure the Captain will do whatever she can to make that possible for you." Jaeih said as she took a moment to wipe some food off of Vana's chin and bop the tiny tot on her nose, which caused the chick to giggle for a moment. "However, your choice of words suggests you may be torn about being there."
"I am," the Vulcan woman confirmed with a nod. "My emotions run hot within me at the thought of her and my logic fails me when it comes to this decision. I want to be there but I want to be there for the right reasons. As her mother not as her jailor. I fear she will not accept me as the former but as the latter."
As the bowl emptied, Jaeih placed it on the floor next to the bed and began to gently run her fingers across the chicks heads one by one with a smile. "I understand your concern. And while you strive to control your emotions as a logician, perhaps this is a situation where controlling your emotions means allowing them to... breathe."
"What Mudd did to her is... unforgivable. And those augmentations were even in her mind as I understand the intel reports that were available to me. As such, she may need a mother. More even than she wishes to accept. She knows only what he told you of her and acted under his influence." Jaeih said, looking up to her bond-sister as the chicks began to thrum again happily as they started to snuggle up against each other. "This... may be an opportunity to start over with her."
Then, her eyes went back to her three grandchildren and smiled, "And second chances are... rare."
"In our lines of work they are all but unheard of. However, in this Federation they seem to be commonplace and abundant as long as one is amenable to their means of conflict resolution and ways of thinking." The Vulcan woman ran her fingertips across the feathered head of Tala a few times, prompting louder thrumming from her. "If you were wondering, I find myself inclined to be amenable. I have found peace far more logical... and comfortable... than near-constant combat."
"It is indeed something of a course correction. I am still becoming accustomed to this new position on the ship, but as young Minerva gets older, I understand why the Commander felt an accomplished spy would be ideal with children of the Hera."Jaeih said, smiling slightly at the sight of Az'Prel's tenderness. The two women shared much in common and both had a hard time adjusting to life on a Federation starship.
"For me it was the constant threat if the Tal'Shiar. Of the knife slid between ribs in passing. Never knowing what each false smile held or which meal would hold the poison that would end you." Jaeih said with the slightest hit of longing in her voice. "I will admit, perhaps only with you, that there are days I miss the game. The challenge."
Then Ami burped, a strangely musical sound prompting a smile on the former spy's face. "But that was... before."
"For me it is similar. I feel even now I must be constantly on guard for an attack that will never come. Every Human or similar I see, I expect a fist or a knife at my throat. Every glint of a shiny surface, I expect a squad to throw me into an agony booth or for weapons fire to erupt on my position."
Pausing in her petting of Tala to let her burp as well, Az'Prel almost smiled. Almost. "I do not miss those... games... And I would have my daughter know this universe, this Federation, properly and lead a peaceful life."
"It is... a good thing. This is better. When we must use the old skills now, it is towards a purpose that no longer brings shame. Now, we can end pain rather than just perpetuate it. I pray to the Elements that you can help her find that peace." Jaeih said, watching as Tala looked at Az'Prel, then at Jaeih, then at her sisters who were getting drowsy. Then, the curious chick with the green and blue plumage put a tiny hand up to feel her own ear. Running her hand over the point, her big, copper eyes went wide and she smiled as she reached up, trying to touch Az'Prel's own Vulcanoid ear, grunting for the effort as it was out of her tiny reach. "And you will, of course, have whatever you need from me. You are my bond-sister. That makes you a part of this family as well."
The Vulcan woman leaned down so that Tala could reach her ear and touch it. She considered curiosity a good thing and this chick seemed quite curious. "I am unfamiliar with many aspects of this culture. As your bond-sister, logically, I am their great-aunt. Does this hold true in Miradonian society?"
"In truth, I admit I do not know. I have learned from Mona that her people value the bonds of... found family... extremely strongly, so I would suspect that the answer would be yes." Jaeih said, watching as she continued to rub the heads of Ami and Vana, who were continuing to doze off, their bellies full. "Romulan culture these days is generally almost... obsessed with bloodlines, but I follow the old ways. Our true name, Rihannsu, means 'of the Declared' in our own tongue."
"I declared you my sister. That makes you the great-aunt to my Grandchildren. Period." Jaeih said, definitively.
"And in my old reality, in the cells we fought in, our bond sisters and brothers were simply qorDu'. Family. There was nothing more important. You are my bond-sister and you are my qorDu' now." It had been ages since Az'Prel had used the adopted Klingon word for family that her resistance cells had used to describe themselves, but she felt there was no better term. "Thus they are my qorDu' now as well. It is only logical."
"QorDu'." Jaeih repeated, having to think for just a moment to recal her knowledge of the Klingon tongue, she had taught her daughter as a child. "Not a word I've heard in a while, in truth, but a good one. Logical and fitting. QorDu' it is."
Reaching up, Tala ran her fingers over Az'Prel's ear and smiled. Then, she looked back at Jaeih, grabbing her own pointed ears and started to giggle, making the mental connection of what they all had in common, regardless of if she had feathers instead of hair.
Reaching over, Jaeih picked up the curious little one and sat her down next to her sisters, and kissed all three on their foreheads. As she did, Tala almost immediately began to doze off as soon as she physically touched her sleeping sisters. Whispering, Jaeih spoke in her native tongue, which the children seemed to understand a bit more than Federation standard, "Ehhaai notht, arham lacendt jhu'ri." or 'Sleep well, my little angels.'
Then, as the chicks began to thrum in sequence, fast asleep, Jaeih gently rose up from the bed and gestured for Az'Prel to follow as they stepped together into the main room. Leaving the door open, the two women walked over to the table where Jaeih could still see the bed, far enough away so they could not be heard. "Would you care for a drink?"
"I would," Az'Prel replied simply, taking one of the seats, knowing that Jaeih would pick something appropriate for her. "I must admit a growing fondness within me for our expanded family."
Returning a moment later from the main wall panel next to the dining table Az'Prel was seated at, Jaeih took a seat as she waited for their drink selections to be beamed to the center ring of the table as the hotel they were still staying at didn't use replicators, but rather prepared orders on demand and beamed everything in. "Sadly, the kitchen here has neither Romulan or Vulcan selections to speak off, but I have been enjoying a particularly strong local blend of a dark coffee that I am trying to get the formula of for the Hera's replicators. It's quite intense and a bit bitter, but that is my taste."
Moments later, there was a shimmer, and two steaming cups appeared in the center. "Hopefully, you will like what I selected for you."
The Vulcan woman took a moment to savor the aroma of the drink before her. She then sipped at it gingerly and nodded. "Indeed, it is quite pleasing to the palate. Thank you. I have been ordering random food and drink since we have been here. Many of the selections have not been... pleasant."
"Well, just another perk of our extended family." Jaeih said, taking a sip of her Miradonian coffee and smiling across the table at her bond-sister. "And when the time is right, I shall be by your side when we extend it futher, Az'Prel. I swear on the Elements and Al'thindor itself that if there is any way to reach her, we will find it. You are not alone."