Posted Oct. 14, 2019, 10:45 p.m. by Lieutenant Christopher Robins (Stellar Cartographer) (Steven Sigle)
Posted by Lieutenant Alexandra Garfield (Xenobiologist) in Two Weddings and a Honeymoon
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.
Meanwhile…
Chris looked at his watch as he stepped out of the cab as he looked around at the hotel. He had only arrived a few hours ago at the Oakland International Spaceport and made the drive across the bay to get in time to meet up with Lexi. The pair hadn’t spoken much in the last six weeks, their time seeming to grow less and less. Part of Chris felt a relief in some ways of the lower contact. He knew as long as Lexi wanted to talk and be in his life he could never fully say no to her. He would always come and be there for her, unable to let go of that hope she always gave him every time they talked. Still Chris is the one who also had been putting up the barriers, limiting the conversations to topics he liked and felt they could enjoy without drudging up the past heartaches.
Then came the call five days ago, Lexi wanted him back on Earth and it seemed vital he make it. He wasn’t quite sure why he agreed, he was on sabbatical for a time before he left in three weeks to join the USS Atlantis. Ian, well if Chris was honest Kelly, had convinced him that he needed a change of scenery and to be with friends. He had thought about joining his father and brothers ship, but that seemed like a bad idea once he learned they were stationed in the Sol system with patrols around Earth. Lexi was here. She had quit Starfleet, finding a quiet life he knew on Earth, and the temptation being so close to her would drive him over the edge he felt.
“Well buttercup… lets find out what you wanted…” Chris said aloud as he entered the hotel, bags in hand as he checked in at the front desk.
Northstar Cafe - One Hour Later
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 Toby, 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 Toby 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
Chris exited the rental car as he looked at the building that felt like a ghost from the past. Why did she ask you to show up here? he thought to himself as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. This place seemed to always feel so nondescript from the outside, but he recalled it’s sheer beauty inside all to well. As he walked to the front entrance it seemed Lexi was sitting in the same location they had before, there was a seat placing for four though and she seemed to be fidgeting with someone to the left of her that he couldn’t quite make out from his angle. It better not be Noah, I swear to god I will just stab them both if it’s god damn Noah Chris mused with a roll of his eyes as he opened the doors.
Coming up the maître d’ welcomed Chris as he said he was the one Lexi was waiting for. Nodding the man let Chris slip by as Chris walked up past other couples he saw eating as the half way gave way as he came around the corner, his eyes lighting up as he fully saw who Lexi was with. The little girl was from his guess no more than eight to ten months old, cute as a bug in a rug from what he could tell with some startling blue eyes that felt all too familiar to Chris.
Standing in front Chris smiled at Lexi, he himself wore a simple outfit, black slacks with a white dress shirt that was untucked with his sleeves rolled up. It was a dress casual look he often employed during his time at the Academy in between hours and something she would know all too well. “Well… I didn’t know we were going to have company… who is this cutie?” Chris spoke with a light tone but had the smallest hint of worry seemed to bulge in the back of his throat. He wasn’t an idiot, he could remember what happened nine months ago as he looked at the kid then back to Lexi.
“Well hello Ruth…” he said with a soft tone as he grabbed the babies hand to kiss only to have her try to pull on his now much shorter blonde locks as a small muffled ompf could be heard from him. “I know most girls wanna grab it too.” teased Chris as he pulled out his chair once he got Ruth’s hand out of his hair as he sat down as he looked across to Lexi. “You look… beautiful.” he said softly as he took a deep breath, his nervousness seeming to build inside him as he seemed to lightly wringing of his hands as he seemed to look around wondering if someone else was coming for the fourth chair.
Christopher Robins
© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.15.11
RSS Feed