Posted by Ensign Chloe Harland (Nurse) in Happy Thanksgiving and Welcome to the Family…Baby Harland
Snip

Chloe walked to the back of the apartment and abruptly was pulled back into Mara’s bedroom instead of the hall. The topics were always limited with Meredith in these: Money or men. Only once has Meredith ever asked Chloe for money for a man she was dating. Luckily Nathan stepped in without discussion and handed her copy of the self-help book The M in Men is For Money. Meredith took it easily assuming it was a self-help book about how to marry for money and ended the need to tell her no to the five hundred credits she was asking for. Nate only further questioned the IQ of her sister prompting Chloe to point out again that there was a good chance she was adopted into the Kendrick family and no one wanted to break Meredith’s heart with the truth.

“What is going on,” Chloe asked Meredith in a semi-hurried tone. “I got a turkey in the oven and you know how Dad complains when it is dry.”

“I’m dating Ben,” Meredith said with a glow on her face.

“Ben…Ben…My Ben,” Chloe half shrieked before slapping a hand over her mouth and looking back at the door. That statement did not come out like she intended if anyone had heard.

“Well not your Ben since Nathan threw him off the balcony. Nathan is lucky there was a pool there,” Meredith said in a slightly chiding tone.

“Noooo Ben is lucky that there was a pool there,” she corrected her sister looking back at the door. This was not a conversation Chloe needed to be having anywhere near Nathan. “And why are you dating Ben. Wasn’t Peter Alindor on the verge of asking you to marry him,” Chloe pulled her farther into the room. This was not the first time Meredith went after an EX of Chloe’s. Often Meredith only saw the positives and fun of a relationship so she romanticized the relationship until it fell apart which it always did.

“Peter is so self-absorbed with work,” Meredith flopped back on the bed with a smile on her face. “Ben…Ben gets me. The real me. We have taken trips and go out to dinner like five times a week. I think he loves me. I need you to be happy for me,” Meredith extended her hand shaking it slightly for Chloe to take.

“How am I supposed to be happy for you when the man you are bumping uglies with was the man I cheated on Nathan with who Nathan threw off a three-story building in Boston!” Chloe felt her heart rate begin to rise and a thin sheen of perspiration beaded her brow. Placing a hand on her forehead, Chloe brushed it away letting out a deep breath. A sharp pain richotted down her hips and spine causing Chloe to hold her breath and sit down.

“The baby isn’t coming now,” Meredith looked at Chloe. “I swear we never get a second to talk.” Meredith was excited about the arrival of her new nephew or niece but right now she needed her sister and not have to fight for the spotlight with a newborn.

“Braxton Hicks” Chloe lied letting out the breath slowly.

“Huh I thought you had decided on a J if it was a boy but Braxton is different,” Meredith mused thinking the medical condition was the name of her future nephew. The dead silence of Chloe realizing how dumb her sister was , was reflected by Meredith mulling over what to say next to her sister. “Anyway,” Meredith waved her hand to bring them back to the important topic. “I just wanted to give you a head up that Ben is stopping by for dessert. He told me he has something exiting to tell me and wants to share it with the entire family. I think he might propose,” she did a happy ance. “I am only telling you, you know just in case you want to prep Nathan,” she stood up fluffing out her hair and looking at her communicator that was dinging.

“Prep Nathan that the man that was diddling his wife is about to sit in his living room, drink his coffee, and eat his pie,” Chloe felt like she was in a dream as she uttered the words.

“Yes,” Meredith spun around with the biggest smile on her face as she kissed Chloe’s cheek and showed Meredith the incoming call from Ben. “Can I take this in your bedroom?”

Chloe sat on the bed feeling the room spin as Meredith left already moving forward with the agenda she had planned. “Oh scrapper,” she rubbed her belly feeling the baby moving all about, “I wish you could have met your Aunt Meredith but I am pretty sure Daddy is going to strangle her.”

Exiting the room, Chloe walked into the kitchen. “Nate I have to talk,” she stated firmely before seeing her husband. All the words left her mind as she watched him with Logan basting the turkey. Few things about Nate’s general personality led one to think Nathan could relate to kids but anyone that saw him with his children instantly knew how great of a father he was. While he was perpetually busy, Nathan always found time to teach them things, coach baseball, and read bedtime stories with all the gusto of an OMAP production even when he was dead tired. “Nathan I....I,” Chloe felt her mind go blank. As crazy and difficult as the journey was for them in reaching the Outpost, it was one of the best things they had ever done in their marriage.

Nathan paused as he looked over at Chloe. His eyes narrowed on her as he felt a curious feeling she had something to say he didn’t want to hear. “Is everything okay love?” he asked her softly as he moved over to her.

“Everything is right as rain and as perfect as that turkey,” Chloe bent down and inspected the bird.

Logan looked up at Chloe with a huge smile and pointed to the perfectly cooked turkey and then his dad. It was easy to see how proud Logan was of the job he and his dad were doing with dinner.

“Man Daddy I don’t know but there is a chance you could lose your job of chief Turkey maker next year. I think Logan has learned all your secrets.”

Logan giggled and crossed his arms in a challenging manner at his dad. Life was so much better with his dad and mom around. He would tell them but Logan hated Starfleet. Starfleet always made his daddy leave. When his mommy showed him pictures before they got married she always said “daddy wasn’t there because he was working for Starfleet. Only after they got married and moved to their home in Boston was his daddy around all the time. Then for some reason his daddy decided to go back to work for Starfleet. This was bad enough but after his sister died and Starfleet refused to let him stay with them and his mommy Logan decided he would never talk to anyone in u inform again. Unfortunately that meant until his mommy and daddy stopped wearing the uniform he couldn’t even talk to them. Right now Logan wished he could tease his daddy about how good his Turkey was but someone had to show starfleet they were still mad about Maddie. Luckily his mommy and daddy understood this and could easily understand him with gestures.

Once down Chloe realized that getting up was not going to be as easy as it was without being nine months pregnant. Leaning back slightly she pressed her back to the wall as she pulled herself upright on the cabinet with a loud grunt.

Chloe leaned against the wall giving the two most important men in her life a thumbs up.

“Dax Miller needs Logan for F-Box,” a now more familiar voice rang through the space causing Logan to scamper off.

“How is the scraper?” Nathan asked as he placed his hand over her belly.

The baby moving all over indicated something was off even if Nathan missed the dazed expression on his wife’s face as he asked the question.

“Oh Meredith is fine,” she waved off the question without realizing she never answered it.

“Hey Nate when is the turkey going to be done,” Meredith called out from the back room.

“Never…he didn’t put it in,” Chloe responded quickly.

“You didn’t put in the turkey,” Andrew walked into the kitchen. “When the heck are we going to eat then? You know I need to eat to take my back pills? Are you planning to feed us something then or just have us starve,” he looked at this son-in-law.

Nathan felt a sense of shock as he looked over at Chloe, the turkey was finished of course, but she wanted to stall. Why he wasn’t certain, but he knew he had to get her alone. Looking around he could help but keep a terse smile. It wasn’t like they could be alone here.

“What” she looked at him not able to even feign innocence. “I didn’t know when you put the Turkey in,” she moved her arms up over her buldging belly. It took several tries before she decided to rest them on the top of her tummy. Crossing her arms always was Chloe’s way, along with every sentient beings way, of creating a distance between themselves and the speaker.

“I know the stress and you are a dangerous cocktail, do I need to run a few tests on you?” he asked as he looked at her with his discerning and concerned look. They had been through so much and he knew now more than ever is when mistakes could happen.

Harland, CNS

“That’s called playing doctor and that is how we got to this,” she pointed to her tummy playfully. She opened her eyes a bit wider and smiler a bit larger hoping to steer Nathan off the topic with a little bit of tete a teté fun.

Chloe knew that look. “Oh dont over analyzes this,” she raised her crossed arms before removing them from her tummy. “You put on eight hundred pounds and tell me how easy it is to find a place to rest your arms so that someone doesn’t thing your being grumpy.”

“No being grumpy is being hungry and I’m hungry which means I’m grumpy,” Drew pipped in looking between Nathan and Chloe. He could admire that the pair still had the spark but he had a spike of hunger pangs which overrode any kissy face on his watch. “Nate you need to get me that Turkey.”

“No, you need to give me a drink. You are gonna give me a stadol when I am in labor so think of it like a pre-labor prophylactic,” she said fully serious.

Chloe

“Why don’t you take one of those pills Dr Blackburn gave your mom to give to you,” Drew looked at Chloe. “Jenn…Jenn,” he began to yell

Nathan put a finger up at Andrew as he took Chloe away from the kitchen as he pressed the pantry door as he pulled her in. “Family meeting Drew… you understand don’t you?” he said without waiting for an answer as he closed the door behind them.

Chloe broke out laughing as she watched Nate pull the pantry doors closed.

“What?” Nathan said as he turned around looking over at Chloe.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you,” she grinned before raising on the toes and letting her arms encircle his neck. Looking up at Nate she felt dizzy. The man had such power over her. His confidence had always attracted her to him. Nathan had a way of taking charge of any situation and finding stable ground, even if in this case it was a pantry surrounded by dry goods, fish crackers, and juice boxes. Pressing her lips to his Chloe blocked out the world as she deepened the kiss. She desperately needed her husband. Not exactly in this moment but in every moment. Why she ever thought she could have this baby without him showed Chloe how deep the despair she had fallen into. The longer she kissed him the more she contemplated doing other things. Moving her hands from his neck she found his hair. A slight moan escaped her lips before it turned into a groan and grunt. Dropping to her feet she held her breath and closed her eyes grabbing his arm for support. Letting out a controlled breath she lessened her grip on his arm. “Braxton Hicks…give it a second and it will pass”

Behind them the door suddenly opened with Meredith’s face peering in. “Huh dad was right. You are in here. “. Looking at Nate she grimaced. “Is it because of me?”

“No,”chloe said as Nate pushed Meredith out and te closed the door.

“Spill… I know you, you are bursting, maybe literally and figuratively,” he said as he looked down at her belly then back to her.

Harland, CNS

“Okay,” she shifted her weight nervously. “Meredith told me she might be getting engaged....and it might happen over dinner…but,” she put a hand on his chest, “you and I both know that is a holiday tradition. She says he’s proposing. He doesn’t show up by dessert. We spend the rest of the night hearing how the love of her life is a dog.”

Chloe

“When have I ever really cared that much about what your sister does love? She is family, which I am legally required to call her… so if she wants to try and fake the happiness train by shaking up with someone that’ll last for 5 weeks… well I guess it’s better than her asking us for money for her new crystal skull aura reading business now isn’t it?” Nathan said as he kissed the top of her forehead as he brought her in close as we hugged her gently.

“You know this has got to the least romantic place I have been turned on you in…. but something about hordes of family and the half eaten pop tarts and that left over box of lucky charms really makes you seem super sexy right now love.” Nathan said as he brushed back her hair as he leaned in once more to kiss her deeply as he felt content for a brief moment in a house of horrors.

Harland, CNS