Posted Oct. 14, 2019, 10:20 p.m. by Lieutenant Alexandra Garfield (Xenobiologist) (Kate O'Neill)
Lexi sat on the balcony of the house her parents rented in San Francisco. The soft winds of the Bay blew the white linen curtains so that they billowed from time to time into the room. So much had happened over the past six months. Alexandra Garfield thought she could do it all but quickly realized being a single mom was not as easy or empowering as people led you to believe. Two months into being a mom Lexi realized she needed help. Her counselor gave lots of supportive advice and a stack of things for her to read. The Single Mom’s Devotional: A Book of 52 Practical and Encouraging Devotions showed there wasn’t enough prayer in the world to fix being up all night with a cranky baby and then functioning past anything other than a zombie. The Kickass Single Mom: Be Financially Independent, Discover Your Sexiest Self, and Raise Fabulous, Happy Children only showed Lexi that she was doing something right because Ruth was the happiest baby on the ship. The Successful Single Mom: Get Your Life Back and Your Game On! only showed Lexi that to maintain her sanity, she had to mingle with other adults. The takeaway message Lexi got from all three of these books was she could not do it on her own. After a long hard look at her life, Alexandra Garfield decided it was time to stop living in the stars and with her feet firmly planted on the ground.
Looking at the time, she walked over to the couch and slipped on her pair of shoes. “Honey, I know you said you need a break but the caterer wants to meet with us by 4 and we still have to go over table settings, choose the linens, and meet with the florist. Today is not the day to go take a stroll,” Ester Garfield threw up her hands knowing Lexi was not listening to a word her mother said.
Northstar Cafe
Lexi sat nervously in the cafe half watching the door and half looking at her personal communicator. Her mind was racing with so many thoughts. A quarter of them were on Tobey, a quarter on Chris but squarely half were on Ruth. “You are a mess,” she laughed looking at the matted crumbs all over her face and high chair. Ruth for her part let out a pure baby giggle as she gnawed on the end of the biscotti like a dog with a bone. Taking the napkin off her lap, Lexi tried to clean her daughter up. Chris had never seen her. This would be the first time. Lexi had labored over what outfit Ruth should wear. In the end, she picked a blue dress that matched Ruth’s eyes.
“Okay so you are gonna be meeting da…mommy’s friend,” Lexi corrected herself. Yes Ruth would always be Chris’ daughter but a father was far more than a one night stand. A father was the man that raised you, loved you, and stood by you. In one week that man would be Tobey Schmidt so Lexi had cut back on referring to Chris in that role. “So no pooping, crying, throwing up or any of the other wonderful things you do okay,” Lexi held up her finger. As if to make the promise to her mother, Ruth reached out and grabbed Lexi’s finger giving a tiny laugh. “You are such a dork,” she rolled her eyes as she fiddled with Ruth’s hair for the tenth time in her nervousness.
Lt. Lexi Garfield
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