STF

Eden Prime - The Black's Arrive

Posted Jan. 17, 2022, 1:24 p.m. by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) (David Shotton)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Kate O’Neill (Chief of Security) in Eden Prime - The Black’s Arrive

Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Eden Prime - The Black’s Arrive

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Paris Black (Science Officer) in Eden Prime - The Black’s Arrive
Paris leaned back in her seat as the boat moved them across the lagoon to the resort from the landing port. She had debated about skipping the water taxi and walking until Mason pointed out how long of a walk it was around the complex. The place was massive and now with little legs, it would take them twice as long to get from point A to point B. She was tempted to lean back, close her eyes, and relax but Harper was not only sitting on Mason’s lap but also leaning over the edge of the boat far more than Paris liked. Reaching over she grabbed onto the hem of her shirt. Once it was securely in her hand, Paris leaned back and closed her eyes enjoying the feel of the wind on her face and the smell of the ocean.

“She is holding onto me again Daddy,” Harper looked up at Mason with a scowl trying to scooch to the side enough to pull away from the body leash attached to her.

“Let her hang on to you, if you fall out you can bounce along the beside the boat and I won’t have to jump in after you,” Mason grinned at the little girl, “besides, Mommy isn’t quite as excited about the water as you are, she’s more into the sand remember?”

“Mommy is from Mars remember. The only way you can drown is falling asleep in the bathtub. All this water is like culture shock,” she replied not opening her eyes or lifting her head.

Harper looked up at Mason wrinkling her nose. All her mommy did was rant and rave about how excited she was that they were going to a beach for vacation but now that they got here, she seemed nervous.

“We’ll have time to play and explore the water later,” Mason promised Harper as he pulled her back in from hanging over the side. “We’re almost there, see?” He pointed to the building that they were fast approaching, mostly to distract both Paris and Harper from the water.

“Wow,” Harper stopped wiggling and was amazed at the building they were moving towards. “Looks like a castle from a Disney movie. Like Cinderella’s house,” she said with a large smile. “Can we sleep out on the balcony and pretend we are Rapunzel,” she asked eagerly. Only a kid would want to sleep in a lawn chair when there were two thousand count silk sheets in a five-star bedroom but that was the beauty of children. They saw things slightly different than their parents. They brought magic and wonder to the mundane, even if the mundane was a hotel room that would rival an actual room in a castle.

It was not like Paris didn’t love the water. Mason was from Deneva. His family lived in the archipelago region where it was all turquoise waters and white sand beaches. Her father Denver had made sure his children were able to do a little bit over everything. It was more what she didn’t know about Harper. Swimming on a starship was not a top on most people’s to-do list. Mason had promised to teach her and even replicated a small flotilla of swimming devices for Harper but the daring streak that was coming out in their daughter was almost more challenging than becoming a parent on the fly. Harper was fearless and wanted to try everything much to the chagrin of her parents. Once the little girl was lathering in sunscreen and buoyed up like a life raft, Paris would be able to relax.

Parisi Black

“What do you think?” Mason asked Harper first, “Ice Cream? We find the biggest, most chocolaty ice cream we can find and once we have our bags in the room, find out where we can hire hover-ski’s and take mommy for a ride?

The Ice cream plan would allow Mason to enact that old time parents rule of having to then wait half an hour before going into the water. That in turn would give Paris time to make sure Harper was well and truly slip slop slapped with sunscreen, and that Paris herself would be armed with a fresh coffee before they headed to the water.

Mason Black

“Can we,” she bounced around on Mason’s lap with huge eyes holding her hands together as if praying.

“Of course we can sweet pea. First thing we do when we get to shore, promise!” Mason grinned at Harper.

“I think Daddy’s idea is brilliant,” Paris smiled at her daughter before moving over to lay her head on Mason’s shoulder feeling a wave on contentment she never had experienced before. Mason and she had taken a handful of vacations together. They had stayed at luxury resorts where they laid in the sun, drank too much, had sex until dawn, and then slept in until lunch. These had been great vacations but suddenly the memory felt like it lacked something. That something was the small bundle of energy in her husband’s lap. Harper made life fun and exciting. Every day was something special and not like the day before. Who would ever have thought a simple away mission would have led to an instant family. “I love you,” she said to Mason kissing his shoulder. There would be time later to express how much and Paris planned to have at least half the time here doing things to show Mason how much she loved him. There had to be a kids club somewhere and if not....Harper did have to sleep sometime.

Turning his head, Mason returned the kiss by placing his own on Paris’ temple and sliding his arm around her shoulder. “I love you more,” he smirked. Later on that night when Harper was exhausted from a day on the water and sleeping the sleep of the dog tired, Mason would show Paris exactly how much and in what ways he loved her. He smiled in thought, at one time a baggage handler that lingered too long in their room would have received an evil glare from Mason as he delayed the two of them from starting their ‘holiday time’ in earnest. Now that they had Harper, that time would be delayed even later but Mason didn’t really mind. It was enough for now to be with the woman he loved and their daughter.

The boat slowly decreased speed as it reached the dock for the passengers to disembark. Harper wasted no time getting off the boat and heading to the cart filled with the ice cream Mason promised. Her parents were slower to follow especially since they had to check in with one of the hotel staff waiting to take their name.

“Mr. and Mrs. Black,” a woman with long dark hair said with a smile indicating another staff to approach them. “This is Jeff and he will be your personal valet. Can I have your luggage pass. It will let him get it all to your room while you and Mrs. Black start to enjoy your time here at the resort.”

“Here you go,” Mason handed over his pass and signed into the hotel.

“She called me Mrs.,” Paris playfully poked Mason’s side. Aside from the life change of adopting Harper, Paris, and Mason had also decided to make themselves official. It was still weird to be called Paris Black but it was also something she loved hearing.

Paris Black.

Blinking in surprise, Mason laughed. “So she did! Well, Mrs. Black, seeing as we never had a chance to actually take a honeymoon, what say we make the most of this one?” Turning suddenly he swept Paris off her feet and into his arms as if he was about to carry her over a threshold.

“Which way to the nearest coffee cart?” He asked the woman who had checked them in, still holding Paris in his arms and not putting her down. Looking around, he spotted one near where Harper was about to take possession of possibly the largest ice-cream Mason had ever seen.

Mason Black

“God you know what makes me tick,” she laughed throwing her head back slightly. Her hand came up rapidly to catch her hat that was about to fall off her head. Seeing Harper with an ice cream that was almost as big as her head Paris bit her lip. “Okay on a scale from one to ten how bad of parents are we if we pretend to not see that,” she motioned to Harper. “I mean it is her vacation too right?” Paris and Mason were not crazy with their new daughter about things but they did set limits. RIght now all Paris wanted however was five minutes alone without the chatterbox adding her two cents or having to use code words that Mason and she were still creating. It had not been long enough for them to develop their secret parent language so whenever they were placed in that situation the message often got terribly misinterpreted.

Paris Black

“Why would we not see that?” Mason said and then grinned wickedly, “I want in on that!” Leaving their bags to be taken to their room Mason carried Paris the few short steps to the coffee cart, before lowering her back to her feet and giving her a playful pat on the backside. “Hey honey, can you get me one of those too? But, bigger! And get mommy the peanut butter and hokey pokey cup would you? I’ll come and help in a moment.”

“What coffee are you wanting today bub, as much as you want. Don’t tell the CO but I put all coffee ordered by Command Staff on this trip completely on TAB to the Odin, lets go wild!” Mason took a coffee menu from the holder on the side of the cart and handed it to Paris.

Turning to Harper, he took the large, oversized Ice cream that she handed him and the smaller cup for Paris. “So hover craft and remote islands to explore? I heard Mr Rhodes found a man eating plant on Risa, maybe we could see if we can find any here as well?” Crouching down, Mason compared ice creams with Harper and made a face, then looked at Paris. Honey, Harpers ice cream is bigger than mine.”

Mason Black, XO

Harper let out a giggle and replied with a very Paris-inspired expression tossed her hair to the side to get it out of her face, “it’s ‘cause I need not be blonde and bitter like mommy so I gets the bigger one with more sugar.” She licked her cone and gave Mason a look as if daring him to challenge her statement.

“That’s my girl,” Mason grinned, and ruffled her hair.

Paris began laughing so hard her coffee sloshed over the side of her cup splattering on the porcelain tiles of the patio. “I told you that she was listening and she is far smarter than you think.” The comment would not seem so funny to anyone passing by however if you belonged to the Black household it would eventually become a family motto. Mason had always joked that Paris’ preferred coffee combo of milk and no sugar made her blonde and bitter. The couple used it often until one night Mason off-hand called out if she wanted her coffee blonde and bitter. Not paying much attention when Harper asked why Mason had said because that’s mommy. Paris laughed kissing Mason which made Harper see it was something silly and happy. The couple did not think anything of it until the teacher called from school stating when Harper was asked what best describes her mommy her answer was blonde and bitter.

Paris Black

“Yes, clearly she is and has me completely wrapped around her little finger,” he laughed, and kissed Harper on the head and then looked at her Ice cream with Envy. “What is it mommy always says? Appearances are everything. Take your huge Ice cream and enjoy it, but I bet you can’t finish it before I finish mine.” Taking his own cone, Mason stood up and made a show of taking a big bite out of it.

Walking back to Paris, he booped her nose with a finger dipped in his ice cream and handed her the tub of ice cream Harper got for her. “How’s the coffee? It better be worth the cost, I’m the one going to have to reconcile the accounting when we get back.”

Mason Black

“Not that I don’t love you with all my heart and soul,” Paris handed Mason her coffee as she wiped the tip of her nose, “but you and I got married in the back of a governmental building built with hammer and chisels probably created somewhere between the birth of the galaxy and the time the pyramids at Giza was built. This is the wedding, honeymoon, and all the parties in between so it is going to cost you.” Paris took a bite of her ice cream and smiled. Nodding she liked it, Paris took a seat at a table and waved her spoon in the distance at two people literally barking out a squabble in the plaza. “You know I am so glad we are not at that stage anymore. The awkward stage where you debate if you want a date or are you going to ask them out, and then the whole nerves about whether they are going to say yes. You and I,” she pointed the spoon at him, “we just always tend to go for the gusto. Move forward. Push ahead. God I love you,” she said leaning forward to punctuate the sentence with a kiss.

Paris Black

“Ditto, gorgeous,” Mason answered right before he locked lips with Paris and returned the kiss, lifting his hand and holding the back of her head to keep the kiss going far longer than was publicly decent.

Harper looked at her parents as she continued to eat her ice cream cone. She allowed this to continue until Harper realized they were going into one of their ignoring phases. It happened when her Dad came home from work. He would say hi and kiss her making her giggle at the door, carrying her to the kitchen. Then he would kiss her mommy and that at times could take forever. Sliding off her chair, Harper tucked her head under Mason’s arm wiggling her way between them all the while never stopping eating her cone.

“You loved the wedding by the way,” Mason defended himself, laughing. “Christmas Day, a proper white wedding with snow and everything and your parents waiting in that little chapel on a planet in the middle of nowhere. And you thought we were going to have a back-of-the-shuttle Christmas on the way back to the Odin after picking up Harper and signing the papers. Did I do good or what? I even held back processing those papers until we were Mr and Mrs Black. I’m more than just a pretty face you know.” He winked at her again and turned to Harper.

“How’s that Ice cream, Precious?” He asked, seeing a large part of the massive ice cream cone had disappeared. “You thought I was clever wrapping up Mommy’s wedding dress as a present and keeping her other big Christmas Present besides you a secret, right? Back me up here munchkin, it was awesome, right?”

Mason Black

“Uh huh,” she mumbled still more concerned about her ice cream than what Mason was saying.

“There see,” Mason looked at Paris triumphantly. “It was so awesome it even managed to break Harper away from her ice cream long enough for her to grunt out Two Syllables,” he emphasized the word two.

Paris leaned back in her seat and took a long sip of coffee looking at Mason and Harper. Mason was correct. Her wedding was not what she expected but then again neither was this life. Her father Denver always said plan as far as you can reach in front of you but dream bigger. The dream Paris had for her and Mason however was exactly as she imagined. “Baby,” she said in a questioning tone, “you should say Paris, love of my life, all I hold dear,” she paused and waited.

Paris Black science

“Why? How much will it cost me if I do?” He smirked, then put one hand on Harpers head, leaned forward and let his lips brush Paris’ once more. “Baby, love of my life and the air I breathe....” he trailed off and waited for Paris to reply, but made sure his lips just touched hers. If she was going to break out one of her ‘exciting’ ideas, he wanted her focused on him instead.

Mason Black

“It was all I hold dear,” she corrected him,” but the air that I breath does have a really nice ring.” She paused to give him a wink. “I was wrong. So wrong about so much.” Paris these moments with Mason. It made her feel young and exciting. She motioned with her head for him to keep going and repeat what she had said.

Paris Black

“What?” Mason asked and pulled back slightly. “What were you wrong about gorgeous?” He knew full well that she was expecting him to repeat her words, but there was no way in hell that she was going to get him to say he was wrong before he even knew what she was talking about. Instead, he used her head motion as an excuse to let his lips brush hers again and for longer this time. “It ok, all that I hold dear, tell me what you were wrong about. I’m listening.”

Mason Black


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