A Walk in the Park

Posted on Sat Feb 11, 2017 @ 11:07pm by Commodore Michael Aravan & Spencer Aravan

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: MD 4 || 1130 Hours

A mountain of reports wanted Michael's attention and he silently cursed his Yeoman, even though the man's name - Ben Efits - amused his greatly. The guy was really friendly and seemed to want to go out of his way to make friends with people, but he seemed a bit too unctuous for the Captain's taste. He shrugged it off, signed off on the department head reports and filed them away, then left a message with the Yeoman that he'd be going to lunch and could be found in the Arboretum if he was needed.

With that out of the way, Michael got up and headed out of the Ready Room, locking it behind him and turned the conn over to a officer before he left the bridge. In the turbolift, he went to tap his combadge to send his wife a message and remembered that she was no longer Starfleet, so he cleared his throat.

"Computer, where is Spencer Scott-Aravan?" he asked.

"Spencer Scott-Aravan is currently in the park on Deck Six, ground floor of the Arboretum," the neutral feminine voice said.

Michael gave the destination to the computer for the turbolift and exited on deck six into a fresh smelling nature preserve that had no right to be on a starship. He took a moment as he looked around, then began to follow the path around the park as he looked for his wife.

Spencer sat on a blanket that had been spread out over a grassy area with her son settled on her lap while she watched her daughter play. This was one of the very reasons she decided to retire early... and the fact the stress of her job could kill her, but she tried not to think about that much anymore. That part of her life was over, and now she was blessed with the chance to raise her children without the insane hours of being an XO getting in the way

Ava called for her mom's attention, then began spinning around in circles with her arms out at her sides. The little girl had no cares in the world right now, and that was exactly how Spencer wanted it. Being a child in space was never an easy thing to begin with, so it was her responsibility to make life as easy as she could for them, and based on how happy her kids seemed to be, she must have been doing a pretty good job.

"Careful, Princess," she said as her little girl continued to spin. "You're going to fall on your..." But before she could even finish her sentence, the dark haired little girl fell onto her backside and burst into a fit of giggles that proved quite contagious as her mother and baby brother joined in.

Finally, Michael spotted his family and stood watching the antics of his little girl, a smile playing across his lips. This was what inspired him on day after day and he felt the cares and worries of being a Captain melt away. When Ava fell, he wanted to run to see if she was okay, but the laughter of the little girl told him she was. Still, he quickened his step until he arrived where his wife and children were.

"Surprise," he said with a smile as he knelt down where Spencer was sitting on the blanket.

Spencer turned her attention to her husband when she heard her voice and blinked. This surely was a surprise. The last they'd talked to one another, he wouldn't be able to meet them for lunch because of how busy he'd been lately. Still, she wasn't going to complain. "Mikey! Hi!" She leaned in to kiss him just as their son chose to launch himself at his father while letting out a string of happy baby babble.

Ava, who was still giggling, got to her feet and took off in her father's direction. Being mindful of her mom and brother, the little girl dove at him. "Cap'n Daddy! You heah!"

Michael returned the kiss a second before his son launched at him, followed by his daughter. He caught them both and sat down before they knocked him down and gave them both a kiss. "How are my three favorite people in the entire universe?" he asked as he managed to wrangle the kids into his lap.

"Better now that you're here. Did you run away?" Spencer asked unable to keep from smiling. "I didn't think you'd be able to have lunch with us today."

"Captain's prerogative," he said with a smile. "I gave them the option to set me free from my ready room cage or I'd eat my way through the door and start on the crew. Speaking of, there's been a major shift in Command today, too."

"There was?" She asked, gesturing to the huge spread of food in front of them. Fried chicken, cole slaw, biscuits, fresh fruit, ribs, French fries, baked beans and a few other things. "Eat while you talk. Or, I can make a plate for you and feed you since your children are showing no signs of letting you go."

"Would you make me one, please?" Michael asked as he looked down at Ava and Michael Junior before he looked back up at her. "Commander Weisz and I had a major disagreement regarding our Orion guest and she took a personal leave of absence after she threw her pips on my desk. I asked Lieutenant Lischka to fill the role until things get settled."

Spencer grabbed a plate and started to pile food on it while she processed what he was saying to her. "You have a bit of a temper when you want to. What did you do?"

"I locked the ready room down and threw my cup at her," he said. "I wasn't trying to hit her, but it did shatter on the door. We got into a shouting match and she manually opened the door and walked out."

She couldn't help but wince. "Michael... why would you do that? Regardless of you hit her or not, that was a bit on the extreme side. You're so much better than that, but all I can say is I'm glad you never did that when I was your XO."

"You never threw your pips down over a disagreement after asking if I were deaf, dumb and blind, either," Michael pointed out. "She has a direct opposing view to our Orion guest even and wouldn't provide evidence beyond suspicion that Vashkele is here for a different reason. She didn't even want to grant temporary asylum or let her out of the brig."

"So... she has an opposing view that she admitted was a suspicion, and you demanded evidence that you knew she couldn't provide?" Spencer asked with an arched brow. "I just might have thrown my pips at you instead of on your desk if it were me. If I were suspicious of someone, I wouldn't be able to provide any evidence, and that's simply because it's just a hunch."

"I realize that, but I can't deny a request for asylum based on a suspicion, Spencer," he said. "I need evidence for that or Starfleet Command would have my head on a tray and be serving it up to Admiral Grant on a platter."

"Did she ever actually ask you not to grant her asylum?" She asked.

"No, but she did say she thinks that Vashkele was right where she needed to be and she didn't want to hear a damn thing about it when it comes to bite us on the ass," Michael said as he eyed the plate she stopped making for him.

Spencer got back to work making his plate, then set it in front of him. "Because I'm no longer Starfleet, I don't know all the details, so I can't form a proper opinion. Based on what I do know, I'd say the right decisions have been made."

Michael reached for the plate after adjusting his son. "I really didn't have a choice from the moment she asked for asylum," he said quietly. "If I had proof, I could have denied it. The truth is, I don't trust her, either. The only redeeming thing from this is that Lieutenant Lischka seems to have formed a bond with Vashkele and is getting information from her."

"Then that is a good thing," she said, reaching for their son just as Ava got up to play again. Spencer pressed a kiss to his temple, then settled him on her lap. "Switching gears, we should talk about having another little one."

The sudden and radical change of topics threw him off so much that he nearly dropped his plate. "A what?" he asked, wanting to be sure that he heard what she had said correctly.

"Or not," she answered, noting that he nearly dropped his plate. That wasn't a good sign. "It's nice that Vashkele has someone she feels like she can trust imagine being in her shoes. On a ship where you know everyone is suspicious of you or doesn't have a single lick of trust in you. It can't be easy. And yet... despite that... she's still helping out."

Michael shook his head. "No, I heard what you said. I just didn't expect it considering that having Mikey put a terrible strain on you that wasn't just related to the stress of command," he said. "I'm not nixing the idea right away, but I think you should see what Doctor Caticasse has to say."

"I'm healthy," she pointed out. "I can't live in fear that something might happen to me. Neither can you."

"You're also still on doctor's orders as a result of the pulmonary embolism," he pointed out, his food now forgotten. "Where you are concerned, I'll never stop. I thought I was going to lose you, Spencer."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can't live my life the way I want to live it. I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon, Michael," Spencer stated. "But... I don't want to be treated like I'm fragile. I'm not fragile. I'm not going to let something that happened a year ago dictate how I decide to live my life. Yes, it could happen again, but I stand a better chance of taking phaser fire to the head if the ship was boarded."

Now his appetite was gone at the picture she painted and he set his plate aside. "No one is treating you like you're fragile, Spencer. There's a difference between that and actually having a medical issue."

Spencer watched him put his plate down and frowned. "I'm sorry, honey. I shouldn't have said that. Please... Eat something?"

"I'm not hungry," Michael said. "I should probably get back to the bridge. We're heading deeper into Orion space and Lieutenant Lischka will need me if anything happens."

"Okay," she said with a defeated sigh, looking toward Ava who was laying on her belly and watching some koi fish swim around in a pond. Spencer settled Little Mikey on the blanket, then began the process of gathering everything up. "Ava... mommy is going to clean this up, then we're going home. We'll come back again soon."

Ava lifted her head and looked toward her parents. "'Kay, mommy!" The dark haired little girl called back, before turning her attention back to the fish in the pond. Thankfully, she was oblivious to the tension brewing. Her little brother wasn't as lucky, though. He screwed his little face up and started to cry.

The sigh combined with little Mikey broke Michael's heart, but he didn't know what to do. "Wait....I can stay and have something. Xylia knows where I am if I'm needed. I left a message with the officer on duty," he said as he reached for his son and put the plate on the other side of him.

"It's okay, Michael. You're a Captain first. We know that. Go ahead," she said, getting to her feet so she could finish packing everything back up into the picnic basket. "We'll see you when you get home later."

"Well," Michael said as he picked up a piece of chicken and took a bite with his son in his lap. "I guess this will get packed last. Right now, I'm just a man having a lunch with his family."

"Okay," his wife said as she sat back down. If he thought she was going to complain at him choosing to stay, he wasn't going to get. "I love you, Mikey, and I want you to remember that."

"I do know and I love you, too," he said as he set the chicken down on the plate. "I just got thrown off when you changed subjects."

"Well... there's never really a good time to talk about something like that," she said.

"I never said it was a bad time, but it was a radical change of subject that had nothing to do with what we were previously talking about," Michael pointed out.

"Well... I kind of did it in an effort to keep you from delving to deep with the information. I know old habits die hard, but I can't know details anymore," she stated. "As much as I'd love to know things, and for you to tell me, it can get you into trouble."

"I do know how to compartmentalize, Spencer," he said as he picked up the chicken again to take another bite. "You still don't know most of what's going on. I was just telling you the basics of the basics. Oh, there is one more thing that I have to tell you which is going to be a shipwide announcement."

"What is it?" Spencer asked.

"We're going to try to make a run for the Starfleet personnel deep in Orion space and potentially be facing a fleet of warships," Michael said quietly. "Major warships like the D'Deridex, Neg'Var and Vor'cha class. When the red alert sounds, get to the bunker with the kids and seal the bulkheads."

"I will," she said softly, not liking the idea of him being in danger, but she understood. "We'll get to safety after I get Piper and Liam."

"They live on another deck, so get to the one we're assigned to or the closest one," Michael said. "I mean it. Contact them via any terminal, but get to one."

He knew her all too well. Spencer was the type of person to get the kids to safety, then help out others. He also had no idea what he was asking of her. "Okay. We will."

"I'll have Operations maintain a transporter lock on you, them and the kids," he said. "Don't think I won't if it gets you all to safety faster."

Spencer frowned. "Michael... I said I would. The kids being safe is a top priority of mine. I'll make sure I get them to a bunker so they'll be safe."

"I'm sorry," Michael said as he finished his chicken. "You know that I worry about you and them. What do you have planned for tonight?"

"I know you do, just like I worry about you," she said, leaning over to press a kiss to his lips. "As far as plans go, I don't really have any aside from stressing and hoping that all of this goes well. And... hoping my husband comes home to me safe."

"I will," he said as he returned the kiss. "I promise. We've been through worse and we'll see better, too. You have my word on that."

Spencer leaned over to kiss him. "As much as I love you being with us, you should get back. You're the most important person on this ship, and the crew needs you. The three of us will see you when you get home. We might be with Piper and the baby if you don't find us there. I love you, Mikey."

"I love you, too," Michael said as he reluctantly handed their son over and came to his feet. "Hopefully, the rest of the day will be boring and we can meet up tonight at The Black Hole." He looked at his daughter. "Be good for your Mom and help watch out for your little brother. I love you, Ava." He held his arms out for a hug.

"I lub you, Daddy!" Ava said with a bright smile as she dove into his arms.

Spencer smiled. "It's all going to be okay, my love, but stay safe regardless."

"I will." He hugged his daughter and then gave his wife another kiss. With a look at their son, he headed off.