Disclaimer: I don't own S.T. borrowed a cooking tip from Queer Eye
although....and I hope diabetics can have smoothies without going into
shock....
Birthday Brigade
Jonathan Archer had it all planned down to the lighting in each corner of the Mess. The kids, with the supervision of Hoshi and Chef, were decorating the cake. They were adorned with glitter balloons every six feet along the top of the ceiling. The decorations of streamers (made of multi- colored replicated crepe paper, was being done by Malcolm and Travis. T'Pol was assigned making mini-p.b. and j. sandwiches, making homemade vanilla-and-strawberry-swirl ice cream, and mixing the fruit punch and limeade with the good Doctor bumbling in her way at every step. This was what the room had looked like the last time he had checked from his personal dining area. He had left several datapads on the table, and while holding another two under his right arm, had walked around the room, and smiled so happily. "Now Travis, if we are not going to make the children dizzy we must alternate the colors according to a precise rainbow scheme." "Don't you want to mix it up a little, Lieutenant?" "No, I don't want to "mix up" anything, I want things to properly put in their place." "Well alright, will do it this time but next time we gotta experiment a little."
Archer swung around into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe watching Hoshi hold up a little boy to reach the tabletop. He was stirring batter with a very concentrated look and Hoshi kept sneaking whiffs of his hair from the top of his little, round head, and then hugging him. "You're squeezing me again, Hosh...why do you keep doing that? You're silly." "Only because I've fallen in love with you, you little gremlin....now add the sugar, and keep beating the cream until it forms peaks." "What are "peeeeks"? "Little mountains with pointy tops, kind of like T'Pol's ears but don't tell her I said that." "Alright. Does that look good? It looks like the facemask you were wearing the other night, when I ran into you're room to scare you with my wolfman mask and you scared me instead. That wasn't supposed to go that way!" "I'm sorry but didn't we laugh about it afterwards?" "Yeah, it was pretty good especially when we snuck up on ol' Trippster in Engineering, to make him take a break from working so dern' much! Man, he never stops talkin' about that dang engine of his!" "Have you heard yourself just now...you could be his kid, you sound just like him"
This caused Hoshi to shed a tear because she and Trip had just broken up a month ago and their friendship was on rocky terms at best. The tear dosed the boy's left ear, and he instinctively leaned back, and snuggled into Hoshi's chest, for he knew what her crying was about. Internally he felt it was all Trips' fault even though he didn't know the details and the Trip ought to say he was sorry. "Well, the guy kinda grows on ya'...or you. Now I have to knead the dough, then mix the seven types of food coloring into frosting in different containers. Then do were really have to let the younger kids decorate the cake? How do you know they won't mess it up?" "They'll do just fine. Whatever happens, it will be a beautiful cake for Alina. Trip's daughter is a very special girl and she is already so happy to have all of your town's children visiting our ship, that this will be her best birthday ever." (Alina was the result of a surprise pregnancy. The surprise being that even though Trip was a human male, he ended up carrying the child to term and being a single parent, since Alina's mother had been killed by an attack from the Xindi. Although the crew loved and as well as fought over babysitting/tutoring responsibilities for the child!)
The Mess Hall was shaping up, thought Archer, and he turned to see how the Doctor and T'Pol were doing. "This punch will not go well with the particular flavoring of the intended cake. The sweetness will make the punch incredibly ...what is the human word?" "Fragrant perhaps, my dear?" "Tart." "Oh, that may not go over well indeed. We'll just order the drink dispenser to replicate an extra allotment of milk. Isn't it a crying shame we don't have an actual earth cow on board the ship? We could have the children get up early, and teach them how to milk just like their ancestors did long ago. " "Children of Starfleet officers do not milk cows." "It would be a good lesson of discipline, and enjoying the fruits of one's labor." "Where would we put this creature? Surely not in one of the cargo bays. It is reserved for shuttlepods and storage containers, not animal husbandry." "It is a shame though....the hydroponics bay is far too small and engineering is already taken. What about the Armory?", Phlox secretly whispered to the stoic lady "It would be advisable never to repeat that phrase again while in such close proximity to Lt. Reed. He penchant for exploding devices would come too close in contact for your personal comfort, Doctor." Archer overheard this conversation, and chuckling to himself walked up to the duo. "Why don't we come the mayor of Kalljaala, and have some fresh milk transported up from the town. It isn't past noon yet, and the milk is sure to be fresh as the early dawn.", Archer said as he spread his arms wide in emphasis. "A wonderful idea, sir...I will open a channel with the request right away.", bustled the Doctor. He then nodded to T'Pol and the Captain, then stepped away.
T'Pol looked at Archer quizzically, and replied, "Thank you sir...I am not sure there would have been enough time for me to meditate the Doctor's ramblings from my mind." "No problem, Sub-Commander. Why don't you ask Chef to set up an open bar, we could use it with all the guests we're about to have on board." "You are preparing to have the children imbibe alcohol, sir? It is highly inadvisable and I as a Senior Staff member will not allow it", said T'Pol as her hand hovered above the Captain's neck. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there....no, it's for the kids, I mean yes, it's for the kids but it's going to just be fruit smoothies...now take your hand away from me, for God's Sake...1/3 of the kids attending this party are diabetic, so they won't feel left out in the desserts." "Very well, will the children get to select which ingredients to put in their "drinks"? "Yes, they will have complete control. Let Chef know he'll be in charge of it. Now I have to get Porthos ready for the party, he's going to deliver the presents, well the small ones, in a wagon that will be harnessed to him. I tried it out on him already last night, and he knocked over several Gamma shift crewmen in the hallway. Oh boy, I'll never try that again." "I would say certainly not, sir." Later on that evening, the party was in full swing, and that wasn't just the style of music currently playing on a replicated jukebox. The kids were dancing with crewmembers or rather on their feet, and holding hands. Some were even being dipped and swung by the more athletic ones such as Malcolm and Travis. Hoshi had a group nestled around her, with the birthday girl on her lap. Ribbons were tied in Hoshi's hair and there was a smudge of dried fruit smoothie on her cheek but she did not care one wit. She was having too much fun. Next to Hoshi, sat T'Pol, with several ribbons of her own, who had two little boys with frosting-caked mouths, in her lap. Several times the two had tried to tickle the serious Vulcan and every time she thwacked the backs of their heads with her pointer finger and thumb. This caused them to shriek with gobs of laughter and snuggle in closer, much to her sweaty appearance that was apparent to onlookers. Just then, the Captain came panting over to the group, followed by one of the townspeople from the planet. The fellows name was Aryan. He had a small boy on his back, who had fallen asleep even in the middle of the celebratory ruckus. Archer had two small boys on his back, who were continually climbing around the Captain, while still clinging to his upper half of his torso. "Got any more room for some squatter?", quiered the out-of-breath Captain "Sure, bring them into the inner circle.", replied a startled Hoshi, who then smiled. "Where'd Daddy? He should be by now!" burst out Alina. "Well, honey, you're right. He was suppose to be here an hour ago. I'll go to a Comm.Unit and page him. Do you want to stay with Hoshi and open some more presents?", said Jonathan "No, I want to come with you Pappa." (Alina had taken to calling Johnathan this name even though he and Trip weren't an item but with Johnathan taking care of Alina in his spare time, he was pretty much joined to Trip at the hip.)
Johnathan crouched down and lowered the boys into the pile of kids, then reached out for Alina. She crouched down on Hoshi's lap, and sprang into the captain's open arms. He laughed, hugged her close, and ambled across the room.
Leaning against the wall, and holding Alina on his right hip, he hit a button. "Archer to Tucker."
Silence, and some odd buzzing from the other end, which should be coming from engineering, since that was most likely where Trip had been last. He might have lost track of time, he had been doing that a lot lately, and several crewman had had to cover some extra babysitting shifts. Not that they complained but it put everyone else in a shuffle with the schedule. The was what created grousing among others who had been lined up weeks in advace to care for Alina. It was all sorted out but Archer made a mental note to talk to Trip about his tardiness. "Captain Archer to Commander Tucker, please respond."
Again nothing but static. At this Alina looked at Johnathan with big, doeful eyes and puckered her little pink lips into a pouty frown. Something was definitely amiss....Archer signaled a crewman who he recognized from Astro-Metrics, and told him to go down to Engineering with him to locate Trip. He walked back to a table that Phlox was sitting at with some of the village people. "I just tried calling Trip and he's not answering. Could you watch Alina, in fact take her back to her circle of friends so she can finish opening her presents. I'm taking Reynolds to see what's up with our Cmdr."
Phlox simply nodded, and Jonathan had to pull Alina out of his arms into the doctor's. "I don't want to go with him, I want you and Daddy, please." "Dr. Phlox is your friend, you know him, hon. Have him tell you one of his stories about growing up when he was a little boy on Denobula. You'll like that. Daddy and I will be right back, I just have to go give him a lecture, then have him come back and apologize for missing so much of his own girl's 5th birthday party." Alina knew whining would get her nowhere with her Pappa so she just nodded o.k. Archer strode toward the door, signaled the crewman he was ready, and they both exited the Mess Hall together. What they would find would change their lives forever and those around them.....
Birthday Brigade
Jonathan Archer had it all planned down to the lighting in each corner of the Mess. The kids, with the supervision of Hoshi and Chef, were decorating the cake. They were adorned with glitter balloons every six feet along the top of the ceiling. The decorations of streamers (made of multi- colored replicated crepe paper, was being done by Malcolm and Travis. T'Pol was assigned making mini-p.b. and j. sandwiches, making homemade vanilla-and-strawberry-swirl ice cream, and mixing the fruit punch and limeade with the good Doctor bumbling in her way at every step. This was what the room had looked like the last time he had checked from his personal dining area. He had left several datapads on the table, and while holding another two under his right arm, had walked around the room, and smiled so happily. "Now Travis, if we are not going to make the children dizzy we must alternate the colors according to a precise rainbow scheme." "Don't you want to mix it up a little, Lieutenant?" "No, I don't want to "mix up" anything, I want things to properly put in their place." "Well alright, will do it this time but next time we gotta experiment a little."
Archer swung around into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe watching Hoshi hold up a little boy to reach the tabletop. He was stirring batter with a very concentrated look and Hoshi kept sneaking whiffs of his hair from the top of his little, round head, and then hugging him. "You're squeezing me again, Hosh...why do you keep doing that? You're silly." "Only because I've fallen in love with you, you little gremlin....now add the sugar, and keep beating the cream until it forms peaks." "What are "peeeeks"? "Little mountains with pointy tops, kind of like T'Pol's ears but don't tell her I said that." "Alright. Does that look good? It looks like the facemask you were wearing the other night, when I ran into you're room to scare you with my wolfman mask and you scared me instead. That wasn't supposed to go that way!" "I'm sorry but didn't we laugh about it afterwards?" "Yeah, it was pretty good especially when we snuck up on ol' Trippster in Engineering, to make him take a break from working so dern' much! Man, he never stops talkin' about that dang engine of his!" "Have you heard yourself just now...you could be his kid, you sound just like him"
This caused Hoshi to shed a tear because she and Trip had just broken up a month ago and their friendship was on rocky terms at best. The tear dosed the boy's left ear, and he instinctively leaned back, and snuggled into Hoshi's chest, for he knew what her crying was about. Internally he felt it was all Trips' fault even though he didn't know the details and the Trip ought to say he was sorry. "Well, the guy kinda grows on ya'...or you. Now I have to knead the dough, then mix the seven types of food coloring into frosting in different containers. Then do were really have to let the younger kids decorate the cake? How do you know they won't mess it up?" "They'll do just fine. Whatever happens, it will be a beautiful cake for Alina. Trip's daughter is a very special girl and she is already so happy to have all of your town's children visiting our ship, that this will be her best birthday ever." (Alina was the result of a surprise pregnancy. The surprise being that even though Trip was a human male, he ended up carrying the child to term and being a single parent, since Alina's mother had been killed by an attack from the Xindi. Although the crew loved and as well as fought over babysitting/tutoring responsibilities for the child!)
The Mess Hall was shaping up, thought Archer, and he turned to see how the Doctor and T'Pol were doing. "This punch will not go well with the particular flavoring of the intended cake. The sweetness will make the punch incredibly ...what is the human word?" "Fragrant perhaps, my dear?" "Tart." "Oh, that may not go over well indeed. We'll just order the drink dispenser to replicate an extra allotment of milk. Isn't it a crying shame we don't have an actual earth cow on board the ship? We could have the children get up early, and teach them how to milk just like their ancestors did long ago. " "Children of Starfleet officers do not milk cows." "It would be a good lesson of discipline, and enjoying the fruits of one's labor." "Where would we put this creature? Surely not in one of the cargo bays. It is reserved for shuttlepods and storage containers, not animal husbandry." "It is a shame though....the hydroponics bay is far too small and engineering is already taken. What about the Armory?", Phlox secretly whispered to the stoic lady "It would be advisable never to repeat that phrase again while in such close proximity to Lt. Reed. He penchant for exploding devices would come too close in contact for your personal comfort, Doctor." Archer overheard this conversation, and chuckling to himself walked up to the duo. "Why don't we come the mayor of Kalljaala, and have some fresh milk transported up from the town. It isn't past noon yet, and the milk is sure to be fresh as the early dawn.", Archer said as he spread his arms wide in emphasis. "A wonderful idea, sir...I will open a channel with the request right away.", bustled the Doctor. He then nodded to T'Pol and the Captain, then stepped away.
T'Pol looked at Archer quizzically, and replied, "Thank you sir...I am not sure there would have been enough time for me to meditate the Doctor's ramblings from my mind." "No problem, Sub-Commander. Why don't you ask Chef to set up an open bar, we could use it with all the guests we're about to have on board." "You are preparing to have the children imbibe alcohol, sir? It is highly inadvisable and I as a Senior Staff member will not allow it", said T'Pol as her hand hovered above the Captain's neck. "Whoa, whoa, slow down there....no, it's for the kids, I mean yes, it's for the kids but it's going to just be fruit smoothies...now take your hand away from me, for God's Sake...1/3 of the kids attending this party are diabetic, so they won't feel left out in the desserts." "Very well, will the children get to select which ingredients to put in their "drinks"? "Yes, they will have complete control. Let Chef know he'll be in charge of it. Now I have to get Porthos ready for the party, he's going to deliver the presents, well the small ones, in a wagon that will be harnessed to him. I tried it out on him already last night, and he knocked over several Gamma shift crewmen in the hallway. Oh boy, I'll never try that again." "I would say certainly not, sir." Later on that evening, the party was in full swing, and that wasn't just the style of music currently playing on a replicated jukebox. The kids were dancing with crewmembers or rather on their feet, and holding hands. Some were even being dipped and swung by the more athletic ones such as Malcolm and Travis. Hoshi had a group nestled around her, with the birthday girl on her lap. Ribbons were tied in Hoshi's hair and there was a smudge of dried fruit smoothie on her cheek but she did not care one wit. She was having too much fun. Next to Hoshi, sat T'Pol, with several ribbons of her own, who had two little boys with frosting-caked mouths, in her lap. Several times the two had tried to tickle the serious Vulcan and every time she thwacked the backs of their heads with her pointer finger and thumb. This caused them to shriek with gobs of laughter and snuggle in closer, much to her sweaty appearance that was apparent to onlookers. Just then, the Captain came panting over to the group, followed by one of the townspeople from the planet. The fellows name was Aryan. He had a small boy on his back, who had fallen asleep even in the middle of the celebratory ruckus. Archer had two small boys on his back, who were continually climbing around the Captain, while still clinging to his upper half of his torso. "Got any more room for some squatter?", quiered the out-of-breath Captain "Sure, bring them into the inner circle.", replied a startled Hoshi, who then smiled. "Where'd Daddy? He should be by now!" burst out Alina. "Well, honey, you're right. He was suppose to be here an hour ago. I'll go to a Comm.Unit and page him. Do you want to stay with Hoshi and open some more presents?", said Jonathan "No, I want to come with you Pappa." (Alina had taken to calling Johnathan this name even though he and Trip weren't an item but with Johnathan taking care of Alina in his spare time, he was pretty much joined to Trip at the hip.)
Johnathan crouched down and lowered the boys into the pile of kids, then reached out for Alina. She crouched down on Hoshi's lap, and sprang into the captain's open arms. He laughed, hugged her close, and ambled across the room.
Leaning against the wall, and holding Alina on his right hip, he hit a button. "Archer to Tucker."
Silence, and some odd buzzing from the other end, which should be coming from engineering, since that was most likely where Trip had been last. He might have lost track of time, he had been doing that a lot lately, and several crewman had had to cover some extra babysitting shifts. Not that they complained but it put everyone else in a shuffle with the schedule. The was what created grousing among others who had been lined up weeks in advace to care for Alina. It was all sorted out but Archer made a mental note to talk to Trip about his tardiness. "Captain Archer to Commander Tucker, please respond."
Again nothing but static. At this Alina looked at Johnathan with big, doeful eyes and puckered her little pink lips into a pouty frown. Something was definitely amiss....Archer signaled a crewman who he recognized from Astro-Metrics, and told him to go down to Engineering with him to locate Trip. He walked back to a table that Phlox was sitting at with some of the village people. "I just tried calling Trip and he's not answering. Could you watch Alina, in fact take her back to her circle of friends so she can finish opening her presents. I'm taking Reynolds to see what's up with our Cmdr."
Phlox simply nodded, and Jonathan had to pull Alina out of his arms into the doctor's. "I don't want to go with him, I want you and Daddy, please." "Dr. Phlox is your friend, you know him, hon. Have him tell you one of his stories about growing up when he was a little boy on Denobula. You'll like that. Daddy and I will be right back, I just have to go give him a lecture, then have him come back and apologize for missing so much of his own girl's 5th birthday party." Alina knew whining would get her nowhere with her Pappa so she just nodded o.k. Archer strode toward the door, signaled the crewman he was ready, and they both exited the Mess Hall together. What they would find would change their lives forever and those around them.....