Two weeks had passed since Lisa left New Macross. The first couple of days were a bit hectic for her as she was settled into a two bedroom apartment near the heart of Monument City and the government buildings. Acting as liaison between the UEG and RDF in creating "Spacy" her role was unclear at first and spent the first couple of days working with the committees to define her role and responsibilities. She sent back an official report to Gloval that first week, who commended her work and let her know that feedback from the UEG had been positive about her and that Gloval had made the right choice in sending her as his proxy to represent the interest of the military. Lisa was also given office space in the RDF building along with three aides to help her manage the increasing amount of work. The three woman she worked with reminded her very much of the Trio back home except that these ladies were about the same age as Lisa and were at very different stages of their lives. Charlotte, was a an athletic brunette, a few years old than Lisa, with a partner named Penny and they had two adopted children. Louisa, a perky blond was still single but happy in her singledom and enjoyed going out with her girlfriends after work. Mariah, at 26 was the youngest, but already married for two years. All three had had joined the RDF after Dolza's attack. They had not known each other before they had joined the RDF but met during the first week of training and had managed to stay together, forming a new family in the aftermath of the destruction. They had been worried when they heard that their new boss was going to be the Ice Queen of New Macross. Lisa's exploits were legendary and the rumors that surrounded her, especially around her temper were well known and the three were cautious about working for her. They were surprised to find a young woman about their own age, in the break room making tea that first day who introduced herself as Major Hayes and explained that, "she wasn't quite sure what she was doing there yet, but hoped between the four of them, they would be able to figure it out."
Lisa met with each of the woman individually and then later as a group to discuss the areas she wanted each of them to be responsible for and their assignments. They found Lisa to be incredibly bright, catching on quickly to the lay of the land and easily dealing with the different committees and their own political agenda. Lisa was a demanding taskmaster, but took the time to explain why she wanted certain information or data presented in a certain way so that the woman learned why they were providing the data and the purpose of the report so that each could put their own thought and analysis into it, instead of mindlessly churning out data. While they were curious about her personal life, they knew that she was single but weren't able to discern any additional information since Lisa's desk was free of any personal effects. While there was a lot of work to do, Lisa found that she actually had more free time on her hands than she did in Macross. She wasn't expected to meet with the committees everyday and once a schedule was established, Lisa found that she didn't have to spend all the time in the RDF office as well and while she still put in a lot of time into work, the hours she worked, allowed her the freedom to explore Monument a bit more than she had at home. Since her apartment was located downtown instead of on a base, Lisa was quickly able to see the advantages of living in the city and was eager to partake of the cultural activities.
Settling in quickly, Lisa missed her friends back home but felt a sense of freedom of being away from New Macross It was a relief not to deal with the daily gossip, the anxiousness of possibly seeing Rick and Minmei and Lisa physically felt better as the nausea of the first trimester faded.
Lisa came into the office beaming from ear to ear. Charlotte and Mariah looked at each other and grinned. They had never seen Lisa look so happy and wondered what caused it. Louisa whispered that she had checked Lisa's digital calendar and said that Lisa had blocked off a chunk of time earlier that day and was obviously just returning. As Lisa made her self a cup of tea, Charlotte decided to take the opportunity and teasingly asked Lisa if she had met a hot guy for lunch. Lisa laughed a bit and blushed and the other two woman joined in asking Lisa questions asking who it was and where did they meet. Quite a few people had asked the three about Lisa, some just curious about her but others were interested in asking her out and the three woman asked if Lisa had finally accepted one of the lunch dates she had been beleaguered with. Lisa, who normally kept her private life private, was bursting to share her news. She fended off their questions gracefully especially as they got more outrageous and improbable and the four women enjoyed a good laugh together. Lisa, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes, finally sat down on the break room chair to catch her breath. The others also settled down and still chuckling they waited for Lisa to tell them where she had been and looked at her expectantly. Lisa still smiling, took a deep breath and said, "There is someone in my life, but he or she won't be here for a few more months." Lisa pulled the latest sonogram photo out of her tablet case and showed it to the women. Quickly understanding what Lisa was sharing with them, the woman ah'd and oh'd over the small photos and each gave her a quick hug and a word of congratulations. Knowing that they women had questions, Lisa quickly said, "the father is stationed in New Macross, we've run into a bit of a rough spot, and are taking a break, but I hope that we will be able to work it out."
It was Charlotte who broke the silence and hugged Lisa again. "No worries, Captain, we'll take good care of you and hopefully your man will come around and you two will work it out. Although if he doesn't, I know a few good women that would be interested."
Lisa laughed and the woman patted her and told her to stay positive. Lisa looked at the photo of the life growing inside and smiled. She knew what she had to do.
To:flyboyRH
From: lhayes
Date Sent: February 26, 1:56pm
Subject: Re: Your note
Rick,
I'm sorry that I haven't written back to you sooner, I should have taken the time to respond back to you when I got your note but I didn't really know what to say. I hope you can forgive me. I want you to know that everything is going well and am feeling physically a lot better. The nausea and tiredness has seemed to disappear and my energy levels are back to where they used to be...even without coffee! I wanted to let you know that I went to see the doctor today and things are going well. I also had another ultrasound done and have attached the photos. Look how big the baby has gotten. You can see the head profile so clearly and just look at his little arms and his little legs. I can't tell you how happy I am to see that he is doing so well. I know I am calling the baby a him, but I really don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, the doctor said that I maybe able to find out in another 8 weeks but I didn't like the idea of calling the baby "it" until then. I hope you are ok with that.
Yours,
Lisa
Rick checked his email after lunch like he had daily for the last 10 days. He was getting discouraged that Lisa hadn't responded back to his email and wondered if he got the email address right. Claudia and the Trio had started to finally thaw out and talk to him once it was known that Minmei had moved out and that Rick was no longer seeing her. Rick had gone to see Claudia directly and talk things out with his big brother's girlfriend. With Lisa gone, she was more willing to hear his side of the story and told her what really happened between him and Minmei. Claudia just shook her head after hearing his story and said, "It's not me you have to convince. Even with Minmei leaving, she might not be able to forgive you. You may not know this, but she's been in love with you a long time and you totally disregarded her feelings and treated her so poorly. Give her the time she's asked for and let her come around on her own. Maybe if you two had been able to talk it out then, you wouldn't be living in two different cities right now. I don't know Rick, I can't tell you what she would say or do, but I hope you two will be able to work it out." Rick thanked Claudia for her honesty and told him that he wasn't going to give up on her.
Rick was just about to sign out of his personal account, when a new email icon popped up. Hoping it was from Lisa, he clicked on the little envelope and was happy to see her return email address. Hands sweating, he opened the email and at first glance he was disappointed to see that the note was so short but excited to see what she had to say. He read the email quickly and downloaded the two high resolution photos that she had included. Rick held his breath as the images loaded on his screen and teared up a bit when he saw the images. Staring at the screen and tracing the soft outline of the baby's image, Rick felt an immense sense of sorrow and hope at the same time and said softly, "Oh Lisa, I'm so sorry... I can't tell you sorry I am for hurting you.. I promise you, if you forgive me and let me back in your life I won't ever let you regret it." After taking a few minutes to save the images and print one out for him to carry with him. Rick set about emailing Lisa back.
To: lhayes
From: flyboyRH
Sent: February 26h, 2:15pm
Subject: Thank you!
Lisa,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the photos. The baby looks amazing and I can't wait see you two again. I am in awe and I'll admit I teared up when I saw the photos. You know that I'm not good with words and am a better pilot than I am about talking about feelings. I wish that we could be having this conversation in person instead of over email but I want you to know that I've thought about you every day since we spent that rainy night together. I screwed up by going to meet Minmei that morning of the picnic and I can't tell you how much I have regretted going. I want you to know that I'm going to fight for you Lisa, to prove to you I can be your man. I may not deserve a woman as good as you but I'm not going to lose you to anyone or let you out of my life. It may be a little premature to tell you but I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings about how I feel. I hope I hear back from you soon.
Yours truly,Rick
Lisa was surprised to see a return email from Rick so quickly. The email was only a few lines but she had to admit that Rick's admission secretly thrilled her. Maybe, just maybe, all wasn't lost between them. Lisa sighed as she returned to work, she would have to wait to respond to Rick as she was going to be late for a meeting with one of the numerous subcommittees if she didn't leave now. It wasn't until almost the end of the day that she was able to email him back.
To:flyboyRH
From: lhayes
Date Sent: February 26, 4:56pm
Subject: Re: Thank You !
Rick,
I'm glad that you liked the photos too. It's starting to feel so much more real to me. I have to admit the last couple of months were like a bad dream to me. Everything just seemed so surreal to me and I actually wondered at times if this was really my life I was living. I think getting away from New Macross has helped me put perspective back into my life.
I would agree with your statement that declaring your intentions is a bit premature and suggest we just take this one day at a time. I'm going to share the photos with the Admiral, Claudia and the girls if you are ok with it and if you want to share it with Max and Miriya, I'm ok with that too. If you don't mind, I'd like to keep the pregnancy quiet for now and we can discuss what to tell others when I return.
Lisa