Say What?! Part II

Posted on Sun Feb 4, 2018 @ 2:54pm by Spencer Aravan & Commodore Michael Aravan

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 32 || 1630 Hours

Once he had the kids and had spent a little time with Piper and Gage, Michael made his way back to the quarters that he and his family had. He was worried that Spencer hadn't returned his message, but he knew he would find out what was going on soon.

He entered the authorization code and headed in, his ears listening for any sound from the quarters as Ava ran off to change. He still held his son as he headed for the bedroom when he saw that Spencer wasn't in the living area.

Spencer was sound asleep in the middle of the bed with an arm tucked beneath her head. She didn't so much as stir around when Mikey and Mikey v. 2.0 made their way into the room. Exhaustion had set in, and it wasn't so much physical as it was mental and emotional. The news she'd received only hours before was still setting in, and it was definitely going to take some time to wrap her mind around.

Michael sat his son on the bed far enough that he wouldn't easily fall off unless he made a crawl for it and held up one finger to mean quiet, but he knew the odds were against that. He kept one eye on his son while he leaned in to give his wife a kiss. "Good evening, beautiful," he whispered.

Now, she stirred around and blinked in the dimly lit room. Spencer couldn't even remember making it to the bedroom, but she had to remind herself that she'd left medical in a daze. "What's so good about it?" she asked softly, rolling onto her back when her son made his way over to her. As upset and scared as she was, she'd never take it out on her kids, so she wrapped her arms around the little guy and hugged him to her chest.

"The fact that I have such a loving wife and two amazing children," he said as he watched their son crawl into her arms.

"Four children," Spencer managed to choke out. She didn't want to cry, but the tears she attempted to hold at bay were close to being shed. "I'm pregnant. With twins no less." She couldn't help but give a laugh as the tears finally started to fall.

"Pregnant? Twins?" The words hit Michael like a hammer. The doctors had told her that if she got pregnant again that the odds would be high that she wouldn't survive. "But...but...." Words failed him and he shunted all his worries and questions aside as he took her in his arms, careful not to squash their son and just held her. He knew there were times when words weren't needed or wanted and this was one of them.

Spencer sat there for a long moment with her husband and son, her head resting against Michael's chest. She sniffled and pulled back to look at him, her expression turning serious. "If things take a turn for the worse at any point, the only option you have is to make sure the babies are safe... that they survive," she said. It was decided a long time ago that she'd lay her life on the line for her kids, and now was no different. She may not have exactly wanted to risk another pregnancy, but now that she was, the two innocent little beings she carried needed to be kept safe. No matter the risk to her.

"We could get a surrogate to carry them to term," he gently suggested. "There's also medical facilities which are designed to gestate babies. If you choose to carry them, I'll have a OBGYN be on call for you around the clock with authorization for site-to-site transport."

"I refuse to let someone else... or have a machine... carry my children for me," she said, climbing from the bed with her son still snuggled against her. She fought hard for him, and now she would do the same for the two surprise that would grace their lives in the near future. "We'll be fine. I just need to take it easy after a certain point... avoid stress... don't over do anything. All things I had to do with him. It happened on shore leave, you know. For a moment, I thought it may have been the day you came home early and we spent a great deal of the day in bed."

Michael got up with her and looked at her for a long minute. "Just say the word and I'll head for Earth and have the best doctors at Starfleet Medical care for you regardless of the mission or where we are." For a brief moment, he pictured the fight going through Romulan space as the shortest route back to Earth and vowed he would do it if he had to.

Spencer shook her head. "No, Michael. What's going to be, will be. You have an obligation to this ship and her crew," she said softly. "The kids and I can get back to Earth easily enough. We can stay with my parents. My Mom would love a reason to take care of one her children and grandchildren"

"Do you want me to contact Admiral Breckenridge to arrange transport?" he asked even though he hated the idea of being separated from her for any length of time. He knew it would be for her safety and Earth was the home of Starfleet Medical and he would do anything for her safety and the safety of their children.

"Sure," she said quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of her son's head. Spencer didn't want to leave, but it seemed as though he wanted her to, and having her on board the ship would only serve to stress him out. Wouldn't being off the ship do the same? He would miss their newest children being born... miss birthdays... all the important things they did together as a family. But... things were different now. "I guess I better start packing and go see my sister." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before making her way into the kids bedroom where she settled down on the floor with Ava and little Mikey to tell them all about the exciting trip they would be taking.

"But... Daddy... someone hasta stay wif him so he isn't alone," Ava said, looking toward the bedroom door. "He needses us."

Spencer pulled her sad little girl toward her and kissed the top of her head. "And we need Daddy, too, but he wants us to go back home for a little while."

"The last thing in the world I want is to be separated from any of you," Michael protested. "I want you by my side now and always, Spencer. You and the kids are my world. I'll turn the ship over to Maddy and we can stay on Deep Space Ten until you deliver."

"Maddy will beat you," she said, looking over to him. "She is more than capable, but the ship needs you. We can go stay on DS10."

"The ship may need me, but I need you," he said. He looked at Ava next. "And you and your brother, too."

"Then it looks like we're going to be staying aboard. It doesn't matter where I'm at, there's going to be a risk. I'd rather there be a risk and be with you, then deal with it without you," she said, patting the ground next to her. "I'm already on medication to keep pulmonary embolisms at bay. I'm sure they'll want to keep me on them and the other meds I'm taking, too. There's a good chance everything will be okay."

Michael sat down beside of her and wrapped an arm around her waist while he patted his lap with his free hand for Ava to sit on. "What Doctor gave you the news?" he asked her.

"William Fontaine did. I have to go back and see him tomorrow or the day after because of how quickly I left. He chased me down with a medkit and some meds I need to take. I don't even know how far along I am," Spencer said with a sigh. She shifted around a bit and laid her head on his shoulder. "Where are we going to put two more babies? Ava and Mikey already have to share a room."

"I'm the Commodore," he said. "The quarters next to ours is about to be relocated and it will become ours, too."

"That's a lot of work," she pointed out.

"Operations and Engineering can do it," Michael said. "All these newer ships use module builds for easy adjustment as new requirements are needed."

"Whose quarters are next to ours?" Spencer asked. She felt a little bad for not paying attention to their neighbors, but on the flip side of that, she was always busy with two kids.

"I don't even know," he admitted. "I'll put them in a VIP quarters to shut them up if they complain."

"I suppose you should find out who it is first," she stated.

"I will tomorrow," Michael said. "But tonight, we have a reason for celebration. Do you feel like going to The Black Hole?" He paused, then got another idea. "In fact, I think I'm going to pay for Mister Fontaine's meals there for the duration of his stay here."

"We can go to The Black Hole tonight. I know the kids will love it. We may even run into Piper, Gage and Liam," Spencer replied, offering him a smile.

"Then let's get dressed and go celebrate," he said as he gave his daughter a kiss on her forehead and put her down. "I may even pay for everyone's dinner tonight."

Spencer laughed. "That's awfully generous of you, especially when you take into account there could be as many as three hundred people inside. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"You have a point," Michael said as he went to pull out a shirt and pants from his wardrobe. "Maybe dessert and a glass of champagne for everyone."

"That's better, but we can't drink champagne, either," his wife said.

"You can get a sparkling cider or whatever you wish," he said as he changed. "The galaxy is yours."

"Until Medical decides I need to go in bed rest, and we both know that's coming. It's just a matter of time," Spencer said with a frown, looking between their two children. "My babies are going to suffer."

"You know that's not true," Michael responded as he came out of the bedroom. "I'm here for them and so is Piper and Gage. They'll be fine and so will you."

"I know, but I still can't help but worry," she sighed. "I've always been a hands on Mom, and that's all going to be changing. You and Gage are busy being a Starfleet Commanding Officer and devoted Marine respectively... Piper runs a very successful restaurant and has a child of her own... None of you can just drop things because I might need something. That wouldn't be right."

"We also have a top notch medical department with a dedicated Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Nursery, and Labor and Delivery Suites," he said.

"I know, but you have to see it from my side of the fence. This is incredibly terrifying," she said softly, cuddling both of her children to her.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make it as safe as you can be," Michael said as he scooped up their son.

Spencer got to her feet with Ava in her arms. "I don't doubt that for a second, but you're not going to be able to alleviate my fear. It's always going to be there."

"Tomorrow, I'll go to Medical with you and we can both be filled in on what can be done and everything," he said as he headed for the door.

She watched him and cocked her head to the side. "Where are you going?"

"Aren't we going out to dinner at The Black Hole? Michael asked her, looking confused.

Spencer, who was still sitting on the floor of the kids' room, nodded her head. "We are, but the kids and I haven't even changed yet. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around what I found out today. Not to mention it's only sixteen-thirty. We normally don't have dinner for another three hours."

He sat back down and put his son on his lap. "I'm sorry, Spencer. It's been a long day for both of us. I was all over the ship talking to department heads. I know it's not nearly as important as what happened to you, though."

"That's not true. What you do every single day is far more important," she responded. "You're the Commanding Officer of a starship. You oversee an entire ship of people, and that doesn't just include Starfleet personnel. We have quite a few civilians, too."

"Then there's the task group which updates me constantly," Michael said. "In some ways, I'm glad that Maddy got made Captain. She can run things just as effectively as I can when I'm barricaded in the ready room dealing with that. I never should have accepted the promotion to Commodore."

"Why? You've busted your ass to get where you are, and if Starfleet didn't feel you were worthy, they wouldn't have offered you the promotion in the first place," she pointed out.

"Maybe, but it's more PADDwork than anything else," he said. "If I didn't have a Yeoman, I wouldn't know where to begin or what was important."

"Pass off what you can to Maddy. She can handle just about anything you decide to throw her way," his wife said, smiling when their daughter snuggled against her. It was things like this that made her determined to do everything her doctor wanted her to do. There was no way she'd miss any of this.

"Mmhmm, but there's some things that she can't handle," Michael said. "Such as all the flood of reports and requests from outside the ship. I was thinking about letting her go ahead with the crew of the Victorious and the fighters. A sojourn into Romulan space to help her take the shine off her new pip."

Spencer shook her head. "Remember, I'm not Starfleet anymore. Some things you shouldn't discuss with me."

"You still have the credentials of a Starfleet Commander, retired or otherwise," he said. "That means you can get pulled back to active duty."

"They wouldn't pull me back now," she pointed out.

"Maybe not now, but you still have the clearance to hear certain things like that. I wanted to let you know so you could be prepared," Michael told her.

"I appreciate that. I'll organize some drills for the civilians to see if we can't better our time getting to the bunker. Last time we needed to actually use it, we made great time, but we can always do better."

"I'll authorize site to site transport in red alert situations for civilians," he said after a moment. "That way, you just have to assign heads to each group and break them down by however many can be transported at once."

"That sounds like a good plan," she said.

Michael looked at her for a long moment before he reached over to lay a hand on her stomach. "Twins," he murmured with a smile. "I have a feeling that both of us will be very busy soon."

Spencer nodded her head. "Indeed we will be."

"Would you like me to schedule an appointment with the Doctor?" Michael asked her.

"I have to go back in a couple days after all of this has had a chance to settle in my mind," she replied.

"Okay. You know I'll be here for you," he told her as he leaned over to give her a kiss.

She returned the kiss and smiled. "I know. Now... let's spend some time with the kids before we head out to dinner. Things will be changing for them soon, and I want things to be as normal as possible for them until that happens."

"Let's play a game until then," Michael suggested. "I pick Snuggle, Cuddle, Kiss. Point out who you want to do what to and what you want to do to them. You get to go first."

"Snuggles. All three of you until it's time to get ready for us to leave," she said with a smile.