Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in Earth- Tipping Points

(snip)

They hung up and Caridee sat at the desk lost in her thoughts. He was right. She wanted to see her parents as she had when she was younger. Those days on the Berlin had been pretty amazing for a young child. It had all been so lovel… no, it hadn’t all been lovely. There was that dark time when Jour was born and Mom had just lost her parents. And then Dad’s work took him away from the ship so soon after and mom, well, there had been a lot of people in and out of their quarters, helping, like Roger. Mom and her had had conversations about that time as Caridee got older, so she now understood that on top of terrible grief and dealing with a premature baby, Eela had fallen into severe postpartum depression. It was strange that time though. She remembered it with the child’s awareness that not everything was okay, but her mom lit up when Caridee came into the room. That was the thing she remembered. But Dad wasn’t there for awhile and then he was back suddenly. She had never thought to ask her mom about that, about why he left so soon after Jourin was born and what made him return.

Suddenly Dee was examining the lens she saw her parents with and wondering what else she had missed. The answer was disturbing.

~Caridee Severn & Rear Admiral Roger Kellen

Roger: |Know that we all love you and are here for you. Dee is worried, as am I, but if we’re reading too far into this situation, just tell us we’re being idiots. If not, El, then we’re here for you when you’re ready to share what’s going on.| Attached to the message was a video clip from one of Oed’s social news sites depicting the scene from the lobby of the Seven Palms Hotel where Cory was being escorted by the CCDA.

There were waits you could endure and then there were the ones that dug deep into your heart and you desperately wanted to be over. He was right that it was going to take time and he couldn’t even predict how much because he had no idea what was happening. He wished he was there. He felt like he should be there.

A while after Roger Kellen had sent his message to his favourite person in the entire galaxy, he sat motionless at his desk gazing out the window. He wanted to believe that he could have done something more, said something earlier. But no, if it was Cory in the video, no one made him go across the quadrant to see the woman he had pushed out the door with little regard. He had made a choice and there had been consequences.

Finally, there was a response.

Eela: | Yes, he was here. No, it was not good. I’m safe but I’m not okay. Get Dee and I can fill you both in? Tell her I’m sorry she found out that way. It wasn’t how I wanted anyone to find out, but it was not my choice. |

Whatever he was expecting, this message was better and worse than he imagined. He immediately called Caridee. Her face appeared full of worry and expectation. “Well?”

Roger did his back to hold back the emotion, but she would see through him, just like El could. “She sent a quick message back. It was him and she says she’s safe, but not okay and she wants to talk to us. She also said she was sorry you found out that way.”
“Oh Gods, she didn’t know about the video, did she?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think she did. I’m going to set up a call with her. Just hold on, it might take a minute or two.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”

Roger sent a message letting her know they were there and again he waited, his heart drumming along with his fingers on his desk.

When she appeared, he could tell she was (unsurprisingly) in a different location. Her wearing of her Academy t-shirt was oddly telling and Eela looked worn in a way he hadn’t seen in awhile. It was sadly familiar over the last few years though. “Hey. I’ve got Dee, let me just pull her in.” Eela nodded. He linked the three of them and gave Eela the deepest look of reassurance he could through a screen. “We’re here for you.”

“Absolutely,” Caridee said.

Eela took a large visible breath and looked off to the side as if some answer might be reachable elsewhere When she looked back her eyes glistened. ||I’m not sure if I can go through all the details, but at the same time I know that the simple version lets him off the hook.|| She looked at Caridee. ||I don’t know how to say any of this, especially to you. I was adamant that you and Jour were allowed your own relationship with your father that could be very different from the one he and I had. That is still true but I know if I don’t tell my side, he’ll have his and I’ll be the one that loses out yet again.||

Caridee leaned in. “I’m not a little girl, Mom. I can handle it.”

That just seemed to make her mother more emotional. ||Oh Love, I wish age made a difference. Sadly it does not.|| She inhaled again. ||He showed up yesterday on Oed without warning, in contravention of our agreement. Things had been amicable enough that I never felt I needed to warn anyone to give me a heads up. Anyway, he showed up at my apartment building and I went down to the lobby. He said he had had some realizations and wanted ten minutes to talk. So I relented and brought him up.|| She paused, gathering herself, not quite meeting their gazes. ||We talked but it was so surreal. He said he missed me, that he thought the divorce could be a re-set for us. That we could start over. I thought he had lost his mind. We were clearly not remembering things the same way. The worst part was he felt happy to see me. I kept getting emotions from him that didn’t make sense based on those last three and a half years together. Hell, even separated we could barely have a civil conversation. I basically told him that I was happy with my life now without him and I didn’t want to try again.|| She paused and gazed directly at Roger. ||I should have warned you that he knows. Then again I think you maybe knew that. But I did tell him when the Decree came in.||

Rogers snorted. “Bet he loved that.”
Caridee took in the two with curiosity but knew enough to not say anything. Interesting.
Eela looked exasperated. ||His jealousy just proved that he really doesn’t understand me. Maybe he never did, I don’t know. In any case, I was clear that our previous arrangement no longer suited my life and I wasn’t interested. I told him he could let himself out. He…|| Her face shifted, a strange and beautiful mixture of anger, indignation and dismay. It was like she couldn’t say the words.

Caridee leaned in closer to her screen. “If it helps, you don’t have to look at us. We’re here no matter what. Say it how you need to.” Inside, her stomach was all knotted. BUt she could adopt her therapist’s mask and not add the weight of her own reactions to her mother’s obvious distress.

Eela nodded slowly. She kept her face towards them but dropped her gaze, her voice barely above a whisper. ||He grabbed me as I tried to walk away. It took a moment to realize that it hurt and he was holding on so tightly his fingertips were digging in.|| She instinctively moved her hand to her bicep where the small bruises were partially hidden. ||I threatened to force him to let go if he didn’t himself. He did. I told him we were done, that he was no longer welcome in my life and I never wanted to see him again.|| She looked up and directly at Caridee, anger flooding her eyes. ||He tried to use our family as a reason I should make a different decision. He wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t leave, and I was so angry I took a vase and threw it on the floor. Next thing I know a team of my guards in tactical gear were right there. He was escorted out and my physical therapist had also arrived for our appointment. Jal’na helped me out of the mess I was standing in and when I was panicking about staying there, she got me to pack a bag and took me to Sharah’s. I’ve been here since, just… an utter mess but working through things.|| Tears slipped down her face.

[to be continued…]

~Roger, Caridee & Eela