A Rose By Any Other Name…
Six-year-old Sylvia Tilly lived on the Star Fleet ship called The USS Discovery. It was a Science ship, designed around a theory created by her father, Paul Stamets. Their mission was just that, to discover and explore Science. Something she wanted to do for herself one day. Something she found odd about Discovery were names. Nobody ever seemed to use first names, the only she knew were some of the bridge crew, but other people she came into contact with used surnames or ranks. Crew members also seemed to use her surname. Tilly. It wasn't that she didn't like it, it was just odd. Even her father called her Tilly. To her memory, she couldn't remember a time he called her Sylvia. One day she decided, that she just had to ask him.
"Daddy," she began, leaving her room. Paul and Hugh were working in the common area of their family quarters. "Can I ask you a question?" Paul put down his PADD and turned to his daughter.
"Fire away, kiddo," he invited.
"Why doesn't anybody call me by my name?"
Paul appeared puzzled for a second, then the confusion cleared. "Your first name?" Sylvia nodded. Paul patted the chair beside him, asking her to sit with him and Hugh. "You remember our chat, about that special thing that happened to you?" He asked referring to the incident where she reverted from her adult self to a child. She nodded. "When you were a member of the crew, everyone used to call you by your last name. I suppose most people, including us, still do it out of habit. How do you feel about us calling you Tilly and not Sylvia?"
Tilly thought hard about her answer. "I don't… not like it. It's just strange."
"Well we should start remembering to use your real name more. We're grown-ups and it shouldn't be hard for us to remember."
The thought continued to puzzle Sylvia through to her next counselling session with Dr Lindsay who she saw to talk about dreams that came through from her past. She decided to bring it up. Lindsay listened to her thoughts on the matter. "And what would you like to happen? Do you want people to stop calling you Tilly and start using Sylvia?"
"I don't… think… I do, a lot of people call me Tilly and I like how it sounds but I don't want to lose my only connection to my mom." She explained. Her mom was another topic they had spoken about, there had been no trace of her after the War. "But it's odd because everyone calls me something that isn't my first name. Can people… Are people allowed to change their names?"
"Some people do change their names," Lindsay told her, "but they usually take a lot of time to think about it before they do. As for it being a connection to your mom, if you did eventually decide to change it, you don't have to lose Sylvia, people have middle names."
"But what about me? Would I have to be different if I changed my name?"
Lindsay smiled, "not at all, a famous writer once wrote 'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet'." Tilly looked confused. "If the flower, a rose, weren't called a rose, there would be nothing different about the flower itself, only the name. You would still be you, but your name would be Tilly and not Sylvia."
"Hmm. I guess that makes sense."
"Think carefully about it, it's not an easy choice."
After talking to Lindsay, Sylvia spent the next few days considering things before making a decision she wanted to talk to her father about. She chose when Hugh was at his counselling session. Paul was writing his Log when she approached him. "Daddy, I want to talk to you about something important." Paul closed his Log and invited her to sit across the table from him. She sat across from him, mirroring him by clasping her hands together on the surface. "I've thought about it really, really hard, and I think I want to change my name." Paul's brow furrowed, she continued. "Not a big change. But I want to turn my names around, so Tilly is my first name, Sylvia as my middle name – so I don't lose it – and then I need a last name." She hesitated, but Paul waited patiently for her to continue, "and I was hoping my last name could come from you."
Paul's face softened, and he smiled. Paul sat back in his chair, smiled and leaned forwards once again. "I'm honoured," he began, clasping his hands around hers, "that you would want to take my last name for your own. Of course, the answer is yes, you can use it, of course you can. I can't help but wonder what made you decide?"
"I spoke to Dr Lindsay about it in my session the other day. I asked if I changed my name, would I have to change? She told me 'a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.' I'll still be me. Nobody's called me Sylvia in so long it feels weird for me to hear it. And I like the name Tilly. I keep writing it on the school work I have to do. It's already my name. This just makes it real."
"Well, if this is what you want, I'll start making arrangements right after I finish my Log. Then how about we do something fun?"
"Like go to a rec-room?"
"If you'd like then we can do that." Tilly hopped down from the table, turned and threw her arms around his neck before letting him get up. "Was there anything else?"
"There was one thing," Tilly said, nervous once again. "It's about names. The name I have for Hugh."
"What about it?"
"Well, you're married to him and he does all the stuff you do with me and he behaves like a daddy. But I don't call him that. I don't want to call you both 'daddy', but I think I need a word for him. Do you think he'd like that?" Paul smiled assuringly.
"I think he'd love that. Why don't you ask him when he comes home, and I finish up my work?" As if on cue, the door to their quarters opened, and Hugh returned from his session.
Tilly told Hugh all of what she had told Paul, about her name and that she wanted to have a special word for him like she did Paul. Together they chose the word 'papa.' She didn't want 'daddy' and 'dad' would just cause confusion when she was older. Hugh felt honoured that she wanted to have a special word just for him and was beaming with pride whenever she addressed him.
Paul helped Tilly apply for a change of name form, helping her to fill it in and submit it to Star Fleet. He let her take it to the on-ship admin to submit the forms. Six weeks later, they were summoned to admin to collect the response. It was addressed to Tilly. She opened it in their quarters, out of the envelope she pulled her new name certificate and changed Federation IDs. As she still had access to a lot of her old log-in, Paul helped her compose a notification e-mail to send to her friends through the ship, letting them know of the changes.
Hugh was up to something, Paul could tell. He trusted Hugh implicitly, so he wasn't worried about it, he was curious. He was positive that whatever it was, Tilly was involved, he'd been working late recently on some minor repairs to the Spore Drive and Hugh and Tilly had really bonded over whatever it was they were working on.
Paul's day began like most. Hugh had already gone to his shift and he found Tilly eating her oatmeal at the table, a holo-cartoon playing from her PADD. Michael came to get her for a morning jog, it was one of her two days without tutoring but she insisted that she liked the jogging. It was Paul's day off, but that wouldn't stop him from doing work. He showered, dressed, opened his PADD and began typing edits to his research paper.
Michael and Tilly returned later than normal, "everything OK?"
"Tilly insisted on running the longer route this morning," Michael told him, "on the other deck. Paced herself brilliantly. See you soon, Tilly, Commander." Michael left, and Tilly asked Paul to start the shower for her, she could wash on her own but couldn't reach the 'on' switch.
Once she was dressed and her hair was dry she took her PADD out to Paul. "Daddy, I found a new video I like, could we try it?" She asked, climbing onto the couch beside him. On her screen she showed him a video from the ancient 'YouTube' archives, she looked through these often, recently her focus was hair styling videos. Paul and Hugh had been putting in hours practising on her hair, some attempts more successful than others.
2 hours and at least 12 attempts later, Paul had succeeded in re-creating the style she'd found. The braiding he could do, it was the combining them to produce the desired look that took the longest. He took pictures from different angles, took it all down and re-did the whole thing a couple more times until he could do it without reminders. While he styled her hair, Tilly read to him out-loud from Alice in Wonderland, the copy she'd been given by Michael for her 6th birthday.
Paul returned to his work and Tilly to her room where she began putting Hugh's plan into action. She and Michael hadn't jogged much that morning at all. When Michael had collected her, they had gone to the Spore Drive, meeting Hugh there to prepare for Paul's surprise. Now, alone in her room, she watched the clock, watching and waiting for the numbers Hugh had shown her. When the time came she zipped up her youth-uniform and took a deep breath.
"Daddy," she began, leaving her room, "could we go for a walk and see the Spore Drive?" She asked, she was enthusiastic about the Spore Drive and how it worked, and Paul loved sharing it with her as he always had. "Please."
Paul smiled, "we most-certainly can, let me get my jacket." Tilly and Paul walked through the ship to the engineering bay where the Drive was housed. In the turbo lift, he let Tilly call out their destination, noting the excited look on her face. She'd seen the Drive hundreds of times, not since the first few weeks had he seen her this excited. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," she grinned.
"Try again."
"I promised not to tell."
"Promised who?"
"Papa. It's a surprise." She insisted.
"Alright then, lead the way." Tilly grinned, taking his hand and pulling him along. Tilly bounced on her toes outside the Spore Drive. Paul put in the entry-code and the doors slipped open. "Hugh?" He stepped inside and down the steps to where Hugh was. "Hugh, what's going on?"
"We were once married, privately, and our vows stated, until death us do part. I died, you found me and brought me back. It wasn't easy, but you never gave up on me and I love you. Which makes me want to do this," Hugh sank to one knee, taking Paul's hand. "Paul Stamets, would you do me the honour of renewing our vows, right here, right now?"
Paul knelt, cupped Hugh's face in his hands and pressed their lips together. "I would be honoured." Getting to their feet Hugh nodded to Tilly who pressed the door release, opening them. They were joined by their friends, including the Captain who came closer. With no chaplain on board the Captain was the person it fell to, to perform marriage ceremonies and vow renewals.
Saru stood in front of Paul and Hugh, their crew mates around them as they renewed their vows, that they wrote themselves, that first, private time. "Do you have the rings?" Saru asked. Michael pressed them into Tilly's hands and she brought them forwards. Paul looked at Hugh, he'd told Paul that he'd sent their rings for cleaning.
"With this ring I thee wed…" Paul watched as Hugh slid the ring onto his finger, the ring had been altered slightly. A new layer had been added and inside danced spores. Paul's love for Hugh intensified as he repeated the action.
"By my word as Captain I pronounce you husbands, you may kiss." Paul, despite not being one for public displays of affection put his hands on Hugh's sides and drew him close, connecting their lips. Their friends applauded and one of the engineers opened a small spore container, letting them surround the occupants of the room.
The large group moved to a pre-set rec-room where tables had been set for a meal and dancing. Paul and Hugh shared a dance in front of their guests before the meal began. As their guests enjoyed the party Paul and Hugh spoke in hushed voices. Hugh had not only been planning one surprise for this day. "You think now's a good time?" He asked Paul. There was something else they had been planning together.
"I think now would be perfect," Paul assured him.
"We'll never be able to slip out to get them," Hugh told him.
"No, we won't. But, fortunately, I suspected something was going on and brought them with me," he pulled an envelope from his uniform. Hugh smiled and kissed his husband.
"I love you."
"I love you too," Paul replied, standing and calling for the attention of their guests. He took Hugh's hand and walked into a clearing in the crowd. "First, I want to thank you all for coming, I never, in a million years, could have thought that this would happen today. But, my brilliant husband and I have also been working on something in private and in front of you all, we have a question for Tilly, my wonderful daughter." He waved Tilly over and she joined them. Paul nodded to Hugh.
"Tilly," Hugh began, "I love your daddy and I adore and love you as if you were my own daughter. If you consent, I would like to make you my daughter, by signing these papers, meaning I would adopt you and be your other father." Hugh went to his knees, showing her the papers. "Would you like that?" Tilly looked from Hugh to her father and back to Hugh again. She nodded, a grin spreading over her face as she threw her arms around Hugh, who hugged her tightly. "Captain," he turned to Saru, "we request you witness our signing of these papers and us creating our family."
Saru stood, walking over to them, plucking a pen from his own uniform. "I gladly shall," he said, holding it out for Hugh to take. After Hugh and Paul signed the papers, Tilly enclosed them in the envelope and handed them to Saru, who would file them with Star Fleet on their behalf.
Paul pressed a kiss to Tilly's hair and his husband's lips. The family shared a hug in front of their guests. "There's one more thing I want to ask my new daughter." Hugh said as Paul left them to walk over to a panel. Hugh held out his hand, "Tilly, may I have this dance?" As he spoke music filled the rec-room once more. Tilly nodded, and Hugh stood, lifting her to rest her on his hip for their dance.
The festivities continued into the start of the sleep-cycle, where crew-members began filtering out. Michael and Saru approached Hugh and Paul as they prepared to take Tilly to bed. "We have one more thing, Commander," Michael began before stepping aside for Saru.
"As a wedding gift I have arranged and granted a few days for the two of you on a planet nearby the station the crew will be taking Shore Leave at in two weeks. It is Star Fleet's gift to you both. Do not threat, Tilly shall be taken care of. This is on top of your already allowed leave, so you may still spend some time together as a family."
The couple thanked their Captain and retired to their quarters to put Tilly to bed. Tucking her in Paul and Hugh pressed their lips to her forehead and whispered their 'goodnight's.
"Goodnight daddy, goodnight papa." Tilly whispered as she drifted to sleep.
Later that evening, as they laid in each other's arms, a thin sheen of sweat making them glow in the low light, Paul admired his modified wedding ring, the spores dancing in the space. "Do you like it? I wanted to make them special," Hugh said, showing his matching ring.
"I love it, I think it was a brilliant idea."
"It was Tilly's idea," Hugh told him, proudly, "she's full of brilliant ideas."
"She is," Paul said smiling. "Our brilliant girl. Tilly Sylvia Stamets-Culber."
"Stamets-Culber?"
"She told me afterwards she wanted your name in there too, since we're keeping our own for professional reasons. Especially if you're adopting her."
"Well I'm honoured. I sometimes wonder how a different up-bringing is going to change her, if she'll be any more or less 'Tilly'."
"I don't think we need to worry too much about that, she's still Tilly and she always will be. As she keeps saying, 'a rose by any other name-"
"'Still smells as sweet'." Hugh finished for him, with a chuckle, bringing their lips back together.
Hi guys, let me know what you thought or any situations you'd like to see these characters in, so far in my notes I'm gonna do:
shore leave,
Pride Festival
and Tilly's first crush.
Let me know if you have any ideas or even just to tell me what you thought of the fic.