Preparing for Planetside

Posted on Sat Oct 20, 2018 @ 7:41pm by Ensign Jonathan Baker & Ashley Baker

Mission: An Oceanic Shoreleave
Location: Personal Quarters
Timeline: MD 1 || 1800 Hours

Ashley sat on the couch feeding the baby while she pondered what to pack for shore leave. So far, a great deal of the crew had already left the ship, but because her husband was assigned to wrap up a few things, they would be heading down a little later than the rest. A large part of her knew it was because Jon was so far down the totem pole, but he wasn't much of a complainer, and neither was she. They'd get their share of what Pacifica had to offer.

"What do you think, princess?" she asked her little girl, gazing down at her with more love than she ever thought possible. "Do you think we should start packing, or wait a little while?"

A grunt from the nursing baby caused her to laugh, then shake her head a bit. "I did mean after you finished eating," she said, lowering her head to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead before settling back against the couch to close her eyes for a few minutes. Ashley wasn't going to go to sleep, but planned to rest for the remaining time Andi ate.

Jon came into their quarters and headed over to where his wife and Andi were. "How's my ladies?" he asked as he leaned down to give kisses.

Blue eyes opened and turned to him as a smile formed. "We're doing good. Enjoyed a quiet day at home," she replied.

"I wish it was quiet for me," he said. "Being the transporter chief, it fell on me to coordinate beam down times for all the crew going down to the planet. I heard so many 'don't you wish you were here instead of us?' comments that I was almost ready to beam those funny people into space."

"People like that are just jerks," she said with a frown. "We're going to get our chance. As a matter of fact, just before you came in, me and our little princess were trying to decide what we wanted to pack."

"Next time, I'll beam their clothes separately," Jon said with an evil chuckle. "As long as it isn't the Admiral's niece this time. Something light and white to reflect the solar radiation," he said. "We'll be cooked in a day if we don't."

"Well... I don't think Andi needs to get too much sun," she said, looking down at their baby girl who was on the verge of being sound asleep before turning her attention back to him. "Dani took care of reservations for us, too. We're staying with her, William and Alex in one of their larger suite where we won't be stepping all over one another."

"...I forgot about that, too," he admitted. "Dani's a lifesaver. We need to do something special for her and William."

Ashley smiled. "Maybe we can watch Alex for a few hours so they can have some alone time?"

"We can definitely do that," Jon agreed. "Have you made a list of things you want to do when we go down?"

"No. I wanted to wait for you to get home to do that," she replied. "That, and I thought it would be nice to wing our vacation rather than plan the entire thing out."

"I like the way you think," he said. "I'm so used to duty and shifts and everything being planned that I usually forget about spontaneity."

Ashley smiled and gave the couch a pat next to her. "Well, we aren't going to plan life out. That eliminates all of the fun."

Jon sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I am so glad that you finally agreed to marry me," he said. "I'd still be trying to put on my pants with both legs at the same time."

"There was never a question. I was always going to marry you," she said, tilting her head a bit so she could kiss him.

He returned the kiss. "You were?"

His wife nodded her head. "Of course, I was."

"Does that mean I have to wear clothes on shore leave?" Jon asked with a grin.

Ashley couldn't help but return the grin. "Not if you don't want to, but keep in mind that's how our baby girl got here in the first place."

"My shot is up to date," he said. "Is yours?"

His wife nodded her head. "I haven't missed one since Andi has been born, and I don't plan to until we're ready for baby number two. That's not going to be for a while yet since I'm just so smitten with her, and wish to give her all the attention she could ever want."

"And she gets every bit of it from me, too," Jon said. "Care to join me for a bite to eat before we pack? I worked through lunch today."

"I'm always hungry, but I think that comes with nursing. What do you feel like eating?" Ashley asked as she looked down to the baby again. Little Andi was sound asleep, which allowed her mother the chance to make herself decent once again. She shifted the baby over to her father and rose to her feet to stretch.

"Loaded chili cheese fries and a Philly steak sandwich, please," he said as he took their daughter. "And a glass of ale."

Ashley made her way over to the replicator and out in what he wanted, then got a grilled chicken Caesar salad for herself. After getting a couple drinks, she brought it over to the table. "It's all ready."

Jon got up and put Andi in her bassinet, then headed to the table and sat down. "Thank you," he said. "I can't wait to feel the sun on my face. My tan has vanished."

"Mine isn't the best anymore, either, and tanning beds at the salon just aren't as good as the real thing. We'll have to see if we can't get a beach umbrella from somewhere for Andi, though. I don't want her being exposed to the sun. Her skin is still sensitive," she told him as she settled down next to him at the table, then reached for her fork.

He grabbed his sandwich and took a bite, then washed it down after he chewed for a moment. "We can replicate one easy enough," he said after he swallowed. "Or go to the Quartermaster."

"Either one will work," she said, taking a bite of her salad. "Is the Quartermaster even in board still?"

"Someone is always on board for nearly any position that fills needs," Jon said. "We usually take shifts when it comes to shore leave so nothing piles up on us for when we return."

Ashley took another sip of her tea. "I'll go see about getting one after we finish eating."

"I can contact Brennan and have him send us one at the transporter room," he offered. "We transport stuff all the time, all over the ship."

"That would certainly make my life a lot easier."

"Yes, but you can't beam massages and hair styles to people," Jon pointed out with a laugh.

His wife laughed in return. "If that were the case, I would be out of a job, as would my employees. If anyone finds a way to make that happen, let me know so I can figure out a way to sabotage them."

"Maybe you can research a temporal salon," he joked. "That way, as soon as they want one, you can do it and all they have to do is pay you."

"I think I'll pass on that and stick to the old fashioned way. It's gotten me pretty far already, and as the saying goes... if it's not broke, don't fix it."

Jon laughed and finished his chili cheese fries, then dug into his sandwich. "I gotta tell you, Ash, I am really looking forward to getting off of this ship."

"So am I. It's going to be nice to take Andi on her first little vacation," Ashley said with a smile, taking a bite of her salad. Once she chewed and swallowed, then leaned back to study her husband for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I am," he confirmed after a drink of his ale. "I'm just tired of running all these diagnostics and double checking redundant systems all the time. When I made Ensign, I thought I'd have more duties, but I don't. I just have more responsibility to make sure everything is doing what it's programmed to do."

Ashley cut a piece of chicken and brought it to her mouth, but she didn't eat it right away. Instead, she looked thoughtful for a moment. "But, isn't that what Operations does?" she asked. Since she wasn't Starfleet, she didn't know much about the ins and outs aside from what she was told by her lives ones that did serve. "If you're not happy in your current position, why not too to Commodore Aravan or Captain Weisz about moving to another department? It's happened before."

"I'm just grumpy from beaming everyone but us down today," Jon said. "I'll be okay and love Ops."

"If you're sure," she said, taking another bite of her salad.

"I am," he assured her with a smile. "I just want to soak up that sun and go swimming, not listen to people make jokes."

"We're going to have our chance soon," she said with a smile on hoped of making him feel a bit better. "Now, let's finish dinner and contact someone in Ops, then we can start packing. That will put us one step closer to being planet side and enjoying all those things you just named off."

Jon finished off his steak sandwich and smiled. "I'll put that order in now while you finish up," he said. "Then we can both pack and beam down."