A/N: Just a little domestic Kat/Gabriel thing, playing around with formulating a family setting and how it might work in an AU where they settled down and had kids, but also kept on career paths. I made them both nerds who gave their kids star/space-related names, because I feel like that's what they'd do. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only own Cassiopeia and Archer Lorca.
Katrina hadn't changed her name when they'd gotten married.
Gabriel had never pushed her to, and she'd wanted to keep her name for career reasons; he'd never taken it personally, simply enthralled to have their lives entwined. So Katrina stayed a Cornwell professionally, though her heart was a Lorca.
When Cassi was born, they agreed that instead of sticking their kids with a hyphenated double last name and the huge legacy that came with it right off the bat, they'd just have Gabriel's last name. It was enough to have their father's name to garner attention, and it wasn't like it was any secret who their mother was- Katrina and Gabriel's marriage was pretty common knowledge within Starfleet command.
When Cassi tells them she wants to follow her parents' footsteps and join Starfleet as well, neither are surprised- and when Archer expresses that same interest three years after her, it's a family affair.
Cassi takes after Gabriel, which doesn't shock Kat in the slightest- she wants to be a Captain, heading a starship and exploring the galaxy. She has the skills for it, and she flies through the Academy with high marks and her winning personality, dazzling all her instructors- a talent that only serves to cement her Lorca legacy, as Gabriel likes to tease her.
It's to Kat's surprise that Archer follows her into the medical field. She'd settled into teaching at the Academy in the years following her Admiralship, a few lower level psychology classes mixed in with a handful of smaller advanced lectures with graduate students, and she has to hide her beaming pride when she spots her son near the front of one of her lectures.
"I can't believe you're taking Mom's lecture," Cassi teases at dinner one night, helping set the table. "Such a suck up."
"That's enough, Cassiopeia Grace," Kat warns, giving her daughter a look of chastisement.
"Yeah, Cassiopeia Grace," Archer mocks, and Gabriel nudges their son's head as he brings the food over to the table, lifting an eyebrow.
"Alright, both of you, knock it off," he tells them both, and Cassi huffs as Archer muffles a laugh. "I think it's wonderful that Archer's taking Mom's class. He sees her more than I do these days."
Kat rolls her eyes at that, stroking a hand over his chest briefly before patting over his heart.
"You're the one who decided you wanted to train new cadets and work longer hours than me," she reminds him as they all sit, and Gabriel sighs dramatically.
"If I'd known it would keep me from you, my love, I never would have agreed," he says, and Kat snorts, rolling her eyes as Cassi and Archer both make noises of complaint at their father.
Kat makes a conscious effort not to give Archer any special treatment in class; just because he was her son didn't mean she wanted to treat him any differently as a student. But she was pleasantly surprised to find he was genuinely interested in the subject of psychology, and he steadily climbed to the top of the class with no help from her.
"He's such a teacher's pet," Kat's eyebrows lift as she listens to some of her students talk before class one day. They must not be aware she's around the corner, and she doesn't clue them in, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"He's doing so well in this class! I mean, he is a Lorca, but Cassiopeia wasn't this nerdy, according to my sister," it's a girl speaking, and Kat continues to listen in amusement. "I mean- Admiral Cornwell is a good teacher, don't get me wrong, but I can only listen to her talk about the psychology of childhood for so many lectures."
"I mean, he's cute, right? Archer Lorca? Maybe I can get him to help me study for the next test, since he knows Admiral Cornwell so well. Don't they kind of look similar? I swear he has her cheekbones sometimes. It's crazy."
That stops Kat short, her eyebrows knitting together.
Did her class really not realize Archer was her son? The thought baffles her- he'd inherited most of Gabriel's looks, it was true, but he had her hair and her chin and they laughed the same and when he smiled their dimples were nearly identical. Maybe she's biased, because she's his mother, but it couldn't be more apparent that they're related, but then again she had carried him around inside her for nine months and spent ten hours in labor to bring him into existence.
"I don't think Archer's told his classmates I'm his mother," Kat tells Gabriel in bed later that night; her husband continues to card his hands through her hair, listening drowsily as her fingers stroke over the bare expanse of his chest. "They all just think he's a teacher's pet. Hey- listen to me, stop falling asleep."
"I'm awake, I'm listening," Gabriel promises, pressing his lips to Katrina's temple and shifting her a little on his chest, fingers brushing over her elbow. "What happened?"
Kat explains the scene with the two girls, and Gabriel laughs, his chest rumbling under her ear, much to his wife's annoyance.
"Oh, sweetheart- just because two eighteen year old girls who probably didn't have parents in Starfleet don't know we're married and therefore don't know you're Archer's mom, you think his entire class doesn't know you're his mother?" Gabriel strokes his fingers soothing over her back as he talks, his other hand tucking her hair behind her ear. "What about this has you so out of sorts, Kat?"
Katrina's quiet for a long, long time, listening to Gabriel's heartbeat under her ear before she speaks.
"What if he isn't proud of me? He has your name, and so does Cassi. It's…easy, to sweep me under the rug," she says softly, keep her gaze on the fingers she presses to his chest gently. There's a few heartbeats of silence before Gabriel sits up abruptly, tugging her with him; his fingers come under her chin, nudging her face up to meet his gaze.
"Katrina," is all he says, voice serious as he studies her. She swallows around the thickness in her throat, and Gabriel's touch is soft on her jaw. "If you think for one moment either of our children is anything but endlessly proud of you and everything you've achieved, you're absolutely insane. And I knew you were crazy long before I married you."
That draws a damp chuckle from her, and Gabriel nudges her forehead with his gently.
"If our son wasn't proud of you, why would he have chosen to become a doctor, just like you?" he asks quietly, and Katrina frowns, opening her mouth to protest. "Kat, our son has wanted to be like you since he was eleven and started holding pseudo therapy sessions at the playground for his friends. He thinks you're amazing, even if he'll never say it because he's a teenaged boy and terrible with words."
"You're a boy, and you're not terrible with words," Kat grumbles, and Gabriel grins.
"I'm also amazing, and I've had twenty seven years of practice on you," he replies, and Kat rolls her eyes; she lifts a hand, cupping his cheek before she leans forward and kisses him.
"Have I told you lately that I like you an awful lot?" she whispers, and Gabriel smiles, kissing her again.
"You know, I had heard that rumor somewhere," he murmurs back, tugging her back down onto the sheets.
Kat is preparing for her lecture, materials spread out on the desk, when Archer practically skids in the classroom. Kat turns, lifting an eyebrow as her son pants, catching his breath before he speaks.
"Aunt Pippa's back. Said to cancel class to spend time with her," Archer said, and Kat rolled her eyes, snorting in amusement. "Come on Mom, we never get to see her! She's always off in space, it's been almost three years now since she's been home."
Kat looks at her son for a long time, tapping her foot in contemplation; Archer pushes out his lower lip, giving her a puppy dog face that's so similar to Gabriel's she knows she's putty in his more-than capable hands. She relents, smiling.
"Fine. But just this once, alright?" she says, and Archer grins. "Help me gather my stuff up, okay? I'll post a note that class is cancelled on the door."
Together they gather all her papers, and Kat writes a sign that class is cancelled, along with what readings to do to be prepared for next class. She's locking the door when the first group of students appears, and has to fight the urge to roll her eyes at the noises of delight at cancelled class.
"Why is class cancelled, Doc?" one of the boys asks, but before Kat can answer, Archer speaks.
"My aunt's home from space, Mom and I are going to see her with my dad and sister," he says, and the girl from weeks prior speaks up, eyebrows knit in confusion.
"Mom? Admiral Cornwell is your mother?" she asks, and Archer lifts an eyebrow.
"Don't you know your Starfleet history? The Lorca/Cornwell marriage is legacy," Archer tells her, and Kat has to hide her smirk in her shoulder as she adjusts her bag. "You're welcome for the free day. Use it wisely."
He gives a bow, and Kat pushes at his head before she wraps her arm around his shoulders, walking with him through the halls.
"So, where are we meeting your father and sister? Has your aunt decided where we're paying for her to eat them out of house and home?" Kat asks, and Archer laughs, pulling his communicator out of his pocket. He reads off the message from Gabriel, and Kat listens fondly, pressing a kiss to his head before she hugs him a little bit tighter.