Posted by Civilian Allison Fleet (Civilian) in Mess Hall - An Evening Out

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Mess Hall - An Evening Out

Posted by Civilian Allison Fleet (Civilian) in Mess Hall - An Evening Out

(snip)

Allison held Sophie against her chest, and the little girl seemed fairly content to sleep with her head on mama’s shoulder for now. Allison was grateful for that. “Yeah, with a ship as small as the Asimov, it’s hard to hide the arrival of two infants,” she replied with a small, tired chuckle. “Rovan and I have been apart far too long, so when he decided to get back into service we were hopeful that I and the twins could join. As you see, Starfleet was gracious and allowed our little request.” She watched Shara holding Kasper and smiled, seeing that comfort with handling infants that she was so used to seeing in her ‘Aunties.’ There was something about having grown children that made older woman more easy-going and loving to infants that she figured she understand one day, but currently couldn’t quite get. “That… would be amazing,” she looked at Shara with what was almost tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” maybe she was overly emotional because she was so worn out, or maybe it was the hormones that still hadn’t quite gone back to normal, but Allison felt like crying she was so happy. “Thank you, I was starting to feel like Rovan and I were going to have to figure this out on our own now that we’re on the Asimov and not back on Arda…”

Kasper, for his part, was blissfully unaware of his mama’s tears. At first he was wary of this stranger, but being bounced on her knee was fun, so he didn’t worry about it.

Allison and the Twinfants

“Well, I can’t speak for others, but I spent my years as mother surrounded by people who were all willing to pitch in and help. It was just our way of like on our colony. You don’t find it everywhere, but I’m happy to extend that to you. Even though we’re strangers,” Shara said with a warm smile, keeping her tone of voice soothing and quieter.

“Have you figured out what you want to do on the ship for yourself so you don’t go crazy?” Calloway asked, the question clearly directed at Allison despite her gaze being on Kasper.

~Shara Calloway, CIO

Allison wiped her eyes, shaking her head slightly to try and stop herself from making a scene in the middle of the mess. She also didn’t want Sophie to pick up on her tears and start bawling. “I mean, with two babies to take care of, what can I do other than taking care of them?” Allison said with a weary smile. “I assumed my time would be pretty busy, at least until they’re a few months old and don’t need my constant presence,” she looked down at Sophie. “They’re growing up so fast though, maybe that’ll happen sooner than I imagined.”

Allison

Shara nodded as she gently bounced Kasper. “They will take up a lot of your time right now and it’s easy for it to be all consuming. But I’m going to do that annoying thing people do with new moms and give you advice. But take it from someone who’s lived a lot longer so far and find even one hour a week where you can be by yourself doing something you like, that isn’t baby or household related. And if you need someone to watch these two while you do that, like I said, just ask. I’m around.”

Commander Calloway, CIO