A Little Surprise (part 1)

Posted on Fri Jun 16th, 2017 @ 7:52pm by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jackson & Ensign Maria Delgado & Senior Chief Petty Officer Helga (Hel) Lowe & Lieutenant Illise Hale & Lieutenant Alexandra Alves M.D. & Lieutenant Rhiannon O'Connor Barak & Lieutenant JG Teenah Spartacus & Veronica Kiley
Edited on on Sat Jun 17th, 2017 @ 10:06am

1,251 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Pulling Together
Location: Main Science Lab
Timeline: Current

ON

Illise fussed over the last few details. She had checked her list three times and everything was good, but still felt like she had forgotten something.

The decorations were finished: a large holographic sign saying 'SURPRISE" in giant glowing letters was prepped to appear when Ronnie entered. Various plushie toys were scattered about the lab and sat on chairs which had been set out for the guests. The snacks were all prepared and arranged to mimic molecular chains on their platters. All-in-all it was a very cute-plush-sciencey display.

The cake was setup to the left of the snack, in full view of the rest of the room. I was held within a stasis field, slowly turning atop a molecular analysis station with the readings displayed below.

The punch was a particular point of pride for the department. It bubbled, hissed, dripped and looped it's way through an antique chemistry set which had been painstakingly replicated in exact detail. Rows of beakers were arranged on the table beside it for the guests to drink out of.

A comfortable chair had been borrowed from Ten-Forward for Ronnie to sit it, and a bassinet had been placed beside it for Elsa. There was also a table prepared nearby for the gifts. Illise had gone ahead a placed hers on it already. A few other department members who had duties and could not attend the party personally had also added theirs.

Ronnie was due to come by the department in fifteen minutes. Illise had asked her to come under the pretense of going through some results from an experiment they had been running before she had the baby. People should be arriving soon. Everything was ready, but Illise still felt as though something was missing, and it was driving her crazy. She stood in the middle of the lab looking around with an intent look on her face. It was like going on a trip; you always felt as though you left something important behind, but rarely ever did. Yes, it was like that. Illise shook her head and smiled as she looked around again.

Yes, everything was ready.

Sam was the first to arrive. She'd found what she hoped would become a well-used gift: a collection of folk and fairy tales from a dozen worlds. While the baby might be too young to understand everything at first, the opportunity to give mother and child a chance to bond over stories was something Sam wished on every new parent. She walked into the lab and looked around, smiling broadly. "This is great! It brings back fond memories to come back to science." She turned to Illise. "How are you doing?"

"Good!" Illise smiled at Sam, "Just making sure everything is ready..." She trailed off as she looked around again but things seemed all in-order. She looked back to Sam. "Yep, seems ready."

Lizzie arrived next. She carried a large plush beetle with a shiny blue and green back, its eyes were bright yellow and seemed to look around. "Creepy, I know, but Ronnie loves bugs, so I think she'll like it."

Sam grinned. "Indeed."

"Oh, and for the mother," Lizzie pulled out a carefully wrapped box. "Homemade cookies."

"Mmmm," Illise said, "great idea! A little comfort food after a long day of diapers and cranky baby." She laughed.

The table with the gifts was set in a carefully prepared spot designed to be out of sight when Ronnie arrived. Already it was near overflowing with colorfully-wrapped packages, and one large stuffed beetle-thing. Illise quickly asked one of the staff to bring another table.

Rhiannon arrived next with gifts for both baby and mom. The most obvious was a stuffed animal that looked like a purple zebra, but was really a Rigelian animal analogous to a horse. She also had a box. Inside were all manner of natural medicines from from her and her father's stash of Rigelian pharmaceuticals. Everything needed for new mom's and newborn babes. Teas and creams and ointments and salves and more.

Rhiannon put the zebra-looking thing in the pile of stuffed animals and set the box down as well.

"Uch," she said. "That thing gives me the creeps, but Ronnie's baby will be fine with it. It's only after you find out that those things that you cuddled at night and hoped one day to ride are mean, ornery, nasty critters. Rigelians use them as beasts of burden and even ride them, but they require intense training, both for the handler and the beast and even then there are only two kinds of Keshtek handlers: the one who have been bit, kicked, and stepped on, and the ones that will be bit, kicked, and stepped on."

Rhiannon turned and smiled at everyone.

"Hello, Illise! This looks great!" she said. "Hello, Commodore!"

"Hello Rhiannon, tanks! I hope Ronnie is on time - and not early!" They were still missing a few people.

Helga was next to arrive. She bustled in with a mobile of colorful shapes that played a variety of baby-friendly songs. "Hello, everyone!" she said cheerfully. She set her gift with the others, then held up a box of candy to share. "I found this wonderful recipe and wanted to share." She set the box on a table and turned to Illise. "Thank you for inviting me. Baby showers are so much fun!"

"Glad you all could make it! Ronnie will be so happy to have you here!" Illise grinned at the group of friends gathered for the party.

Maria walked in with a brightly-wrapped box of old-fashioned baby toys. Rattles, squishy toys that made noises, and several varieties of teething toys. Her package joined the others and she smiled a greeting at the other women.

It's been a while since Alexandra helped deliver a baby before this one, and the arrival of Ronnie's beautiful baby daughter reassured her that this was the most wonderful task her job had to offer. It was natural for her to attend the little 'arrival party' the proud parents held for their newborn she helped to see the light of day, and since her own daughter was quite persistent to accompany her, she brought Veronica along as well.

"I won't tell if you don't!" Rhiannon said. "Come on! There's some over this way!"

The clicking of heels preceeded her as the doors opened; Spartacus entered with a large rectangular box in a soft pastel ceram color with a white bow. She had dressed simply with a powder blue wrap around and sleevless dress that had intermixed white that almost appered cloud like, the simple silver pendant on a 14 inch silver woven chain that matched the dangling ear rings. SHe had her smile on bright tonight as she did love to be a part of anything social and the fact a baby was involved just made it more so.

"Sorry I am late but I had few details about the baby so I had to guess." She smiled. "Leave me with enough credits and no idea what to buy I tend to go overboard,: She went to place her gift with the others. "Sorry I am late, shopping is too much fun."

[to be continued...]

Lieutenant Illise Hale
Chief Science Officer

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jackson
Botanist

Lieutenant JG Rhiannon O'Connor Barak
Head Nurse

Senior Chief Petty Officer Hela Lowe
Nurse

Ensign Maria Delgado
Science Officer

Lieutenant Alexandra Alves
Chief Medical Officer

Victoria Kiley
Alexandra's daughter

Ensign Teenah Spartacus
Counselor

 

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