Posted by Lieutenant Commander Jessica Vaughn (XO) in the brewery Dad I’m pregnant “Coffee,” Jessica said with a huge smile. “Are you becoming my dealer? Is that why we are going to your beach house? How much for 8 oz or do you think I can handle 12,” she teased. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :”Don’t worry about the recommended dosages, they are more of a guideline anyway, you’re not exactly showering in the stuff. Lets go back to the Office and sit for a few minutes, get a coffee and you can tell me about the bubby and all the wonderful things you have planned for your baby shower and first birthday.” Duncan turned and held out his hand to invite Jessica back to the Office before she had to return to her duties. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lt Rhodes : : : : : : : : : : CSO : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Jessica followed him in and took a seat on the sofa. “Well there are no plans really,” she said picking up a pillow and placing it behind her head as she moved to lounge on the sofa instead of sitting. “I mean I think I should tell my parents about Bump before I start sending save the dates for a baby shower or birthday parent.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lt. Commander Jessica Vaughn, XO : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “You haven’t told them yet?” Duncan asked, pausing to look at her with both eyebrows slightly raised. “So let me see if I understand this” Duncan said, moving to the edge of the desk and leaning on it slightly, crossing his arms and watching her with an expression that amounted to curiosity, as if she was now one of his experiments. “You are pregnant to one of the most recognizable playboys in the world of the rich and powerful, a man who by all accounts rose to riches from rags and behaves like the world still owes him, a man who has had a different woman on his arm each other day and has ruthlessly acquired or made his competitors fall out of business, and you haven’t told your parents?” Duncan stood and turned, switching off his console. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “You know when you say it thaaaaaaaaat way,” Jessica rolled her eyes and toyed with the straw in her drink. “I mean of course it sounds bad thaaaaaat way,” she let out a small gaaawwwd like sound as she averted her eyes as if she was sixteen and not twenty-six. “I am going to tell them…sometime. I have just been adjusting the comm screen,” Jessica wiggled some in her seat, “more towards my…face,” she chose each word carefully. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “Alright Miss Vaughn” Duncan said, turning back to her and his own tone had now become somewhat more businesslike and serious, formal in a way she had not heard before but still Duncan, still her friend. Duncan himself was the head of a powerful and influential business empire, who in years past had made their money in weapons, land acquisition and trading goods in ways that didn’t always mean they had to pay their taxes. Duncan wasn’t cut from the same cloth as those Lords of the past, but he still had the training and family breeding that meant that as much as he resisted his obligations to his family that would eventually pull him out of Starfleet, he knew exactly how the dark world of business worked. “Lets do lunch. You have the time and you have something to talk about.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lt Rhodes : : : : : : : : CSO : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ***** : : : : : : : Evie’s The Brewery on the Promenade : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Jessica fidgeted some in her seat as they waited for the food to arrive and chit chatted about random things with Evie. She loved Mathia’s mother and often felt a bit jealous that her mom could not be here for her like the Captain’s was. Evie also tended to give out free food and good food. The rare prime rib on crispy french bread with au jus was just about Jessica’s favorite thing to eat these days. It had to be fresh and hot. Luckily Evie seemed to adore Jessica and Aedan. Sure her husband tended to squabble with the elder McGarrett but so far each squabble reminded Jessica of a mother placating her son in the end. Why Aedan seemed to put up with the stubborn McGarrett matriarch was the subject of great debate by the Teller staff but Jessica thought she knew. Aedan had grown up without a mother and Evie wanted a grandkid so bad she would usurp anyone willing. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Picking up the sandwich, Jessica thanked god it was so unladylike to eat. Because of its size, it prohibited conversations while eating it. Normally this was not something Jessica looked forward to but Duncan’s intended topic was not on her list of must-have conversations…or was it. The man had a point. She would have to at some time tell her family. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of Aedan or the baby. It was more that she came from a close-knit family. Had she still lived in Dallas, Jessica would have brought Aedan home a week after meeting him? Being on the other side of the galaxy it just seemed weird to parade a guy on a comm screen as her future husband and baby daddy. Chewing her bite, Jessica thought more and more about what she needed to do and suddenly had an idea. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “Duncan I need you to roleplay with me,” she said putting down her sandwich, “but I need you to get into it. Not just pretend but really take over the role. I need to feel what you are going to share with me. So much so that I will either bounce out of this seat and hug you or squirm like I am under interrogation from an intergalactic spy ring bent on stealing the Federations secrets.” Jessica leaned forward in her seat feeling a surge of hyperactivity. “Come on Duncan. I need you to do this. We can do it here or somewhere else if you feel subconscious but I really really need you right now,” she looked at him with a pleading look in her eye. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lt. Commander Jessica Vaughn, XO : : : : : : : : : : : : At that moment a waiter was walking by who wasn’t happening to be serving their table. He looked at Jessica, then to Duncan, and then continued walking. Once back in the kitchen he went to find Evie. : : : : : : : : : : : : “Evie! Two things. First, someone just asked if we have harridberry pie. Ever heard of that? And also, you should have seen the way Commander Vaughn just looked at Lieutenant Rhodes. She told him she really really needed him. Wasn’t she with Teller? What do you think is up with that?” : : : : : : : : : : : : Jonathan, waiter : : : : : : : : : : “No but since the Harriberry is native only on one planet in the Gamma Quadrant I doubt they have really had one before. We will serve him Strawberry-cherry-rhubarb pie. He will never know the difference and if he claims he does we will say the Harridberry flavor is masked some by the rhubarb,” Evie handed him a slice of pie and then poised the can of whipped cream above the slice giving it a generous dollop. Pulling him towards the door, Evie looked out the round window but kept a firm hand on Jonathan’s arm. : : : : : : : : “Alright, I’ll give it a try,” Jonathan said with a shrug. : : : : : : : : : : “What is more pressing is your second comment? Jessica is with Aedan but she does appear to be looking at him ahhhh dllllly,” she drew the word out. “Okay so take the long way about and drop this,” she handed him a second slice pie and then a bowl of soup which she knew was being perched precariously in his second hand. As she let go the soup was already threatening to slosh over the side. “Now make sure you drop this close enough to listen to them but far enough away to not look like you are close enough to listen. Go,” she said giving Jonathan a push out the door. : : : : : : : : “Okay, I’ll find out what I can!” he replied, set on carrying out his mission without being detected. All while delivering pie and soup. Jonathan always fancied the idea of being a detective and working for Evie sure gave him some opportunities to feel like he was. : : : : : : : : Jonathan, waiter : : : : : : : : : : Turning around Evie headed straight to her office. Taking a seat at the desk she activated her comm system. =/\=Hello Margo dear. Tell me could you put Aedan on the line please it is terribly urgent =/\= : : : : : : : : : : Evie McGarrett Pie Maker extraordinaire and Supersleuth. : : : : : : Back at the table Duncan was sitting and looking at Jessica with a raised eyebrow. “You want to role play?” he asked her “Here? Now? Alright.” Duncan put down his cup of Coffee and adjusted his cuffs, the English Gentleman in him making sure he was presentable no matter what he was doing. “Normally this is done in private you know, but I don’t mind doing it your way, although it might cost you extra coffee” a slight smirk played at the edges of his mouth as he looked at her. “What do you need from me?” Duncan looked into her eyes for a moment, trying to work out what exactly she had in mind, then a breathed in deeply and slowly as he looked at her slightly sternly. “You want me to pretend to be your Daddy don’t you?” : : : : : : Lt Rhodes : : : CSO : : : : “Yes oh God yes,” Jessica reached out taking his hands and giving them a squeeze. “You don’t know how much I need you to do that. I have thought about this for a while and went through my list of men but you are the only one that can help me right now. You are smart and witty. I think you could get me to squirm maybe,” she gave him a quizzical look. “I mean you do have that look that seems to be able to force the truth from anyone. So wanna see if you can make me tell you my innermost secrets,” she asked in a soft tone with a smile. : : : : Lt. Commander Jessica Vaughn, XO : : It was at that moment that Jonathan walked away and headed back into the kitchen. Wide-eyed he found his boss as quickly as he could. : : “Evie! There’s no doubt about it. There’s nothing professional or platonic about this lunch date! She wants him and wants him bad. The things she’s saying…the way she’s looking at him. Those tabloids would be eating this up if they knew! I, I, I don’t even think I could repeat it and she’s saying it right there in the open in front of everyone.” The excited young man had forgotten all about whatever his job responsibilites were supposed to be. : : Jonathan, waiter =/\=Oh Miss Vaughn is having an issue alright,=/\= Evie said in a level tone to Margo. =/\=She appears to either be drunk of a gold digger. I will let the paparazzi pick up the story of how she is madly in love with Aedan but having Duncan’s love child. Have him call me in three hours. They might have set a wedding date by then=/\= Evie huffed clicking off the comm badge. While she loved Jessica to death, Aedan was the one who firmly needed her time and attention. No matter how nice this Miss Vaughn was, Evie was not going to net some blonde bombshell toy with Teller. Aedan might have the world convinced he had things under control but it was common knowledge he did not have a mother. Evie would fill this role for him whether he likes it or not which meant helping him along with the fairer sex when needed. Evie looked at Jonathan and put a hand on his shoulder. “Settle down super sleuth,” she said firmly but gently. “But you did not drop the soup. How are we going to find out what is going on with you in here and them out there? Now go back and make a mess. When you think you need an extraction yell out Evie this is a bigger mess than we planned. Get a mop,” she ordered Jonathan moving his back around towards the door. “Oh and take this,” she handed him a small plastic bag and a fist full of napkins. “There are super absorbent but will take forever for you to mop up all the soup. Now get back in there, make a mess, and take an eternity to clean it up. If you do this and do it right,” she said in an encouraging tone, “I will make you day manager.” Evie McGarrett.

“Oh, drop the soup!” Jonathan exclaimed, reacting as if a great secret of the universe had just been revealed to him for the first time. “I thought that was waiter lingo for dropping off the soup. Sorry, I haven’t been doing this that long. You really mean for me to drop it on purpose? That’s…” he trailed off and didn’t finish his sentence.

Jonathan returned to the dining area, soup in hand. Dropping soup on accident would hardly be a far-fetched mistake for him to imagine making, but he felt rather weird about intentionally doing it. He picked out a spot that would be just right, two or three meters away from their table, and headed towards it while playing in his mind over and over exactly how this might work the whole way there. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and loosened his grip slightly. The bowl of soup flashed before his eyes, as if it was a key moment of his life he was considering in his waning moment of mortal existence. He then opened his eyes while letting go, mesmerized by the Newtonian physics in action as the artificial gravity pulled the bowl towards its moment of destiny that inevitably it would reach when it collided with the rigid floor. Time, it seemed, had chosen to stand still. After a second that felt as if it had taken an eternity, it was suddenly all over. The bowl bounced, refusing to shatter thanks to the technological achievements in bowl design they had all come to take for granted. But the soup followed its orders to the letter and fled the bowl and spread out over the floor around the point of impact.

“Evie! I need a mop!” he called out, as he began to slowly place the napkins, as if he was in no hurry at all to tidy the mess he had caused.

Jonathan, waiter

Duncan tapped his fingers on the table for a moment as he looked at her, his eyebrow still raised as he considered what she wanted him to do. “Do I really want to know your innermost secrets?” Duncan grinned at her, “I mean I know a few already after Gamma Tiltium, but I think that’s about as much as it might be safe to know for a man in my position” he gave her a wink as he finished and then his face turned serious. Jessica hadn’t seen this face before, it was the one he reserved for business with his families company. It was neutral, and his piercing eyes had become hard as if they were tipped with diamond and would drill straight through the person opposite him. It was a look that both expected and demanded instant obedience, and a look that said that he was accustomed to getting it. A few Ensigns in his department had received the look before, one had transferred off station soon after.

“So tell me what’s going on Jessica” he began, “It’s been a while since you have phoned your mother, all she’s been able to learn of you recently has been through the tabloids which, oddly, most of the main sources haven’t been carrying the same news. Your Brothers are getting concerned and have been planning to come visit you on the Outpost. I’m tempted to let them buy tickets.”

Lt Rhodes, CSO