Caroline was dead. Archer shook his head in disbelief. She was dead. She was the first woman he'd ever truly loved, he'd been devastated, no, inconsolable the day she left him for New Berlin, on Earth's moon. There she'd lived for 14 years, until 3 weeks ago, when apparently she had taken her own life. Jon Archer felt a pang of guilt, looking at the file he'd been sent he realised with great sadness that he should have followed her or contacted her in some way to ask her why she had gone. She'd been pregnant with his children the report stated, much of the information had been gathered from Caroline's sister, Catherine. Caroline hadn't wanted him to be held back from his career, so she left to raise the twins alone. Twins?! He had twins?? There was no mistake in the report, and the dates did fit... but still! Surely they couldn't be his?!
Bleep. Archer jumped as the door to his quarters beeped.
"Come in." He called, his voice a lot weaker than he had anticipated.
"Hey Cap'n just to let you know..." Commander Charles Tucker the third paused, noticing the pale complexion of his commander, "Have I caught you at a bad time?"
"No, no... well yes, actually you have." Archer said, his voice still more shaky than he would have liked.
"Anything you wanna talk about?"
Archer sighed, "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
"Try at the beginning." The younger man said, sitting down opposite the captain and reclining comfortably.
Archer put his head in his hands and taking a deep breath, brought his eyes up to meet his best friends, his face lined with anxiety, "You remember Caroline, don't you?"
"What the woman who stole your heart before blending it and returning it to you on a plate? Sure I remember her!"
"Well..."
"Don't tell me, she was married and now she's divorced she's come looking for you?"
"No, not exactly. When she left, it turns out, she was," Archer paused, "Preganant, with my child, children to be precise, twins."
Trip let out a whistle, "Wow, well I didn't see that one coming! Are you sure they're yours? I mean that was, what? 14 years ago, what's she doing coming to you now?"
"She isn't coming to me now, Trip, she's dead, she killed herself. I've been informed because I'm the children's next of kin, I need to decide what is going to happen to them!"
Archer got up and began to pace his quarters, a sure sign that he was anxious.
Trip whistled again, "That's a Hell of a decision, to decide their fate. What are you thinking of?"
"Well they're with their aunt right now, Caroline's sister, Catherine, but she refuses to have them for the long term, so I have just two choices for them, either have them up here with me, or have them taken into care."
"You can't seriously be considering having them up here? This is a star ship; it's no place for children!"
"I don't know, Ensign Mayweather turned out ok."
Trip rolled his eyes, "We're not designed for families, now Cap'n I appreciate how difficult this is for you, but think about it, you don't even know these kids..."
Archer cut him, "That's exactly it! My own kids and I don't know them! I need to do something about that! Come on Trip, do you remember when you were pregnant, how protective you felt over that child growing inside you?"
"Well yeah but.."
"I've never had that; until now. Trip, I have kids and ok, it's unexpected, but I have a responsibility, I don't know if I can turn away from that. Why should they pay for my mistake?"
"So they're coming up here?"
"The truth is I don't know, I'm meeting with Catherine to discuss it with her, maybe I can persuade her to take the children and I will pay for them and visit them, but I know I can't just leave them in a children's home, not my kids, I mean what would the press make of that? And that's just the beginning; I don't want my kids to grow up in care never knowing their father."
Trip nodded in understanding, "Well, when are you meeting with Catherine?"
"This afternoon whilst we're in Earth's orbit, I'm meeting her in a cafe in New Berlin."
"Well good luck."
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Archer sat at the table with his expresso, his hands cupped nervously around the mug. He searched the cafe with his eyes, the waitress flitting from table to table, her long brown skirt flowing sexily around her slim ankles, the young couple on the table in the corner feeding their greedy toddler, at this, Archer felt a pang of jealousy, like he'd been robbed of something he deserved. But yet, if he'd been that couple with a child, he wouldn't be who he was now, the Captain of a star ship, living his life-long dream. Still, his accomplishments didn't take away the feeling of emptiness that had been growing since the second he'd learned that he'd missed out on 14 years of his children's lives. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a woman who looked like a brunette version of his beloved Caroline. He stood up and smiled, offering his hand,
"Hi, Jonathon Archer." He introduced himself, "You must be Catherine?"
"Cathy, yes."
"Please, have a seat." He said, pulling a chair out for the beautiful woman, "First allow me to say how sorry I am about the death of your sister, it must be an awful time for you."
The blue eyes before him saddened, "Yes, it was a bit of a shock, I mean she'd been depressed for a while, but no one ever thought..."
Archer nodded in sympathy. The woman sighed, "Anyway, that's not why I'm here."
"The children."
"Yes, the children." She said, "I'd like to make it clear, I don't have any expectations of you, I don't expect money, or indeed that you take the children in, I just felt that now Caroline has... passed on, telling you was the right thing to do, so that you have a say."
"Thank you, I really appreciate that."
"They are staying with me for now, but only until I can find alternative arrangements."
"Can I ask why you won't take them in yourself."
The woman looked down, almost ashamed, "Captain Archer,"
"Jon."
"Jon, I have three small children of my own to think about, I'm run off my feet as it is. I mean don't get me wrong, Steven is a great kid, I'd love to have him, but I'd have to take Jessica too and well, I just can't,I have my hands full already."
Archer's brow furrowed, confused, "I'm sorry I don't quite follow."
"Oh it's nothing for you to worry about! I have brought along some brochures for children's homes, would you like to help me select one?"
Archer's face flushed in a moment of anger, "No thank you, that's not why I'm here. I don't understand why you can't take your own sister's children in now their mother's died. Don't you think the kids are going through enough? I don't want MY children to sit in some home somewhere waiting for someone to give them a home."
"You don't understand; it's not that simple. Jessica is a bit of a handful to say the least. In fact to put it bluntly she is a nightmare, I do not want that child under my roof a moment longer than she has to be! As Steven refuses to be separated from her I have no choice but to give them both up."
"What do you mean, a 'nightmare'?"
"She is failing every class at school except for dance, music and art, she has an older group of friends who take her out drinking, when I ground her she sneaks out anyway, she bullies her brother, I have no idea what he sees in her, she bullies my children, she is rude, obnoxious and has a major problem with her attitude. And that is summing up the problems nicely."
Archer's jaw dropped, "And Steven?"
"Steven is wonderful. The total opposite of his sister. He's a straight A grade student, top of his class in everything, he's polite, a gentleman, he covers for his sister far too much, but he is a lovely young man, helps around the house, great with my kids. I don't know where my sister went wrong with Jessica."
Archer nodded, "But still, they are my children, I can't just let them go into a home and forget they exist."
"Jonathon, if I were you, that is exactly what I would do."
"No. I'm sorry Catherine, I can't do that. If you won't take them, then I will have to, I don't know how this is going to work, but I will not let my children be raised in a home."
Catherine's pale lips pursed, "Ok, the choice is yours, when can you take them?"
"Give me a week to make the necessary arrangements with my superiors and arrange their quarters on my ship."
Catherine stood up, "Well it's been lovely meeting you Captain Archer, a real honour."
"You too."
The woman walked away calling out behind her, "I'll get the children all packed up then!"
Archer was left to the thoughts and concerns that ran through his mind, had he made the right choice?!
