Meditations on the Other

Posted on 18 Jul 2016 @ 10:35am by Rear Admiral Azura Ashcart & Major Keisha Afton
Edited on on 19 Jul 2016 @ 1:11pm

661 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: ED 4 0715

A whimpering cry roused Keisha just enough to get Savannah from her bed and crawl back into the warm spot that she'd just vacated. Having not noticed yet that Azura was absent she simply did what she did every morning, enjoyed her time with her daughter. This morning she was still half asleep and dozed as Savannah cuddled to her bosom.

Azura watched with mild fascination as Keisha walked, semi-conscious from the bedroom to the babies room and back. He had been completely unobserved and unnoticed as she moved through the living spaces. He shrugged and turned back to the small stove-top where he prepared the meal he would serve her. Eggs, toast and jelly, fortified orange juice and breakfast sausage. He needed to bring a semblance of order and balance back to his life and last night had been the first step. The first step that had helped him take the second this morning and this would be the third. Baby steps, but steps none the less and he would take what he got.

Keisha'd gotten used to feeding the baby in the morning, and while they didn't nurse as often it was something she always did first thing in the morning. Mostly so she didn't have to wake up and prepare food. Keisha wasn't lazy precisely, just completely exhausted.

Azura ordered the items on the tray and started to walk into the bedroom. The soft tinkling of dishes could be heard as he moved smoothly from the kitchen to the living room into the bedroom. He placed the tray down on the nightstand beside Keisha and moved away back into the kitchen to prepare his own plate. He was starving and he grabbed the hypo that had the medication that would allow him to eat the meats he had prepared without getting sick.

The scent of coffee and sausage reached her nose and a smile stretched over her lips. She didn't even open her eyes, before taking a sausage link and raising it to her lips. A rush of wordless adoration trickled down their link as she chewed slowly.

He sent it back to her as he moved to the bed with his own tray of food and placed it on his nightstand before crawling back under the covers and placing the tray on his lap. He ate quietly as he watched her and the baby, his smile hinting at it's existence.

Blue eyes finally opened and Keisha smiled at him sleepily. "I'd been afraid it was a dream..."

He shook his head "The smell of sausage is no dream." he said softly as he munched on another forkful. The screaming fearful side of his psyche under strong lock and key. He almost felt like his old self again.

A girlish giggle answered him as she set fork to eggs and ate quietly for a moment. "It's the coffee that got me. I've become rather fond of it of late. "

He snorted "Obviously. I can see why."

"Nothing like craving a drink you despise when you're pregnant." she teased him gently as she moved her tray to rest her head on his shoulder.

He laughed softly "True enough I suppose. How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have since...your clone died" she whispered suddenly making the connection that this was real. While she'd known that he was alive, it had taken until now for her to see him as something outside of her imagination. The reality of him next to her was like sinking into a hot bath on a cold day.

He nodded "I understand..." he was uncertain "The same goes for me as well I almost feel like a new man." He took a few bites of his food before preparing to get up and head to the bridge. "Work calls..." he paused "I'll see you later tonight, dinner again?"


-----
Azura Ashcart
Captain
Commanding Officer
USS Redemption

&

Major Keisha Afton
Chief Medical Officer
USS Redemption

 

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