Red Mittens and a Rose Garden – the Trisha Pike Chronicles,
Ch28 – "Onwards to a Ring Dance"
A/N: AU. What if there was a long-term consequence to the weekend romp between Lt Caitlin Pike and Lt Harmon Rabb Jr at that motel back in the summer of 1996? What is the responsible way to deal with an unexpected aftermath?
A/N – link to Canon Episodes: "Rules of Engagement" (S05Ep02) first broadcast 28-Sep-1999. "Salvation" (S06Ep19) first broadcast 19-Apr-2001. A "post-canon" timeline puts this into "JAG Season 24…" (solely for those who want to count! "Season 24" would have started broadcasting around 20-Sep-2018).
A/N: Publication date: 13-08-2020:
Notes: Mike, UK, 13-Aug-2020 – msg... An important "rite of passage" in Academy life looms.
Characters from FFNET – C Pike, H Rabb jr, Faith McBurney-Coleman plus OC
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Ch28 – "Onwards to a Ring Dance"
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Friday 1st February 2019 – 19:49hrs EST
Superintendent's Apartment, The Buchanan House, US Naval Academy, Annapolis MD:
"Harm, Trisha's back."
Trisha Pike staggered, semi-exhausted, through the door of the Residence. Half a pace behind, RV wandered in, uttering the lament of "coffee, please" as he closed the door behind him.
The two middies were returning Harm's Lexus, following the long drive back from Norfolk Naval Yard. They had been down there all week, developing, testing and de-bugging the test rig for her Marine Engineering project.
The omens were good, with 29 out of 30 tests successfully passed. The troublesome 30th test involved a test deployment of new software. As always, "just a few minutes more" had become the watchword on the Wednesday night – until the mutual decision was taken to give up at 05:59hrs on Friday as the dawn arrived! A few hours of snatched sleep had preceded the final attempt to satisfy the 30th test scenario once more.
As a result, Trisha had enjoyed (or endured? She wasn't *quite* sure!) the "pleasure" of RV Galindez, sleeping soundly and snoring loudly, with his head resting comfortably on her shoulder for the first half of the journey back to Annapolis. This guy simply *had* to be special! Trisha smiled to herself as she continued to haul her way towards the horizon.
Her patience (and concentration) had finally run out as she headed towards the interchange where she would exit the I-64 to slide onto I-95 for the run north to home. Seeing a "Golden Arches" McDonalds sign in the distance, she dived off the 64 onto the 360, just before the 64 began its contortions as it wound its way around Richmond. She wakened RV as she entered the parking lot.
One comfort-and-coffee stop later, RV was settling behind the wheel and Trisha was reclining the passenger seat and pulling her father's favourite travelling blanket up and over her. She had handed over the map details and current position (just to back-up the GPS display inside the cockpit) as RV took up station behind the steering wheel to continue the journey towards Annapolis.
"Goodnight Vienna" was the last communication from Trisha Pike, until RV rolled the Lexus up to Harm's parking lot in the Academy.
A quick mug of Harm's chocolate-enhanced coffee apiece brightened both midshipmen, before Harm quickly drove RV across to his dormitory. Trisha was planning to head across to her dorm later, but ended up sleeping in her parents' guest room. Well, more accurately, she fell asleep on the settee after the evening meal. Harm eventually carried his full-grown daughter up to the guest room, where Kate quickly removed their daughter's outer clothes and they left their grown child to slumber onwards towards the dawn.
Trisha would surface and enjoy a leisurely breakfast at her parents' residence, before borrowing Caitlin's bicycle and cycling across to the Galway for the Saturday Horsemen lunch.
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Saturday 2nd February 2019 – 09:36hrs EST
Superintendent's Apartment, The Buchanan House, US Naval Academy, Annapolis MD:
"Thanks mom, the ring designs are complete and I'll be wearing it with pride from May onwards."
When she had commenced her third year at the Academy, Trisha had a solid reason to anticipate the events planned for the year ahead – jewellery! She commenced the year as a "Second Class" midshipman and the climax of the year would be the "Ring Dance" in May of 2019, when the "second class" midshipmen would receive their class rings.
The "second class midshipmen" in the class of 2020 had placed orders for their rings in late September/early October, 2018. She would become a "Firstie" (First Class) midshipman when she started as an Academy senior in her fourth year, leading to a graduation in May 2020.
The rings are received at the Academy Ring Dance, which for Trisha would be held in May, 2019 when she would be completing her Second Class Midshipman (a college junior/ third year at the Academy). At the conclusion of the dance, class rings may be worn at the pleasure of their new owners, and always with the class crest facing inwards.
Tradition calls for wearing the class ring on the third finger of the left hand, but females obviously tend to reserve that finger for an engagement ring. Trisha, despite her long fingers (which would have made it easy for her to wear a class ring and an engagement ring simultaneously) decided that she would wear her class ring on her right hand whenever she became engaged...
Kate Rabb had donated her ring stone to Trisha for the manufacturing process, as a link across the Pike generations.
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As she cycled across to the Galway, Trisha thought back over her first two-and-one-half years at the Academy.
From starting as a Fourth Class middy (first year/Freshman), the year is all about climbing the monument and putting that first year behind you.
Third Class (second year/sophomore) is primarily aimed at academics. Students will also be expected to have made a career choice: Aviation, submarines, surface warfare, special operations (SEALs), Medical or JAG Corps, Marine Corps, etc. The Summer vacation is the big event for Third Class - because everyone wants to go home.
Second Class (third year/juniors) order their rings in October and begin making plans for the dance in May. She had kept in mind that only 15% of a class is female, so most guys date outside of the Academy. Harm and Diane Schonke were obvious and notable exceptions, back in the day.
First Class "Firsties" are at the top of the Academy pyramid. Unlike the Marine Corps, which is relatively small, the US Navy is huge, so this was going to be the final year spent with close friends. The chances of friends being assigned together are slim, so her "Four Horsemen plus others" were going to split up.
As an example of this, Trisha knew that Harm had not seen his friends Sturgess and Keeter for years at a time once they had graduated from the Academy.
So, she needed to arrange an escort, to accompany her into the Ring Dance in late May. A "swap" of dancing partners, once she and RV were inside the venue, was almost a given.
But who to invite? Naturally, Tony Lee had accompanied Samantha Wilkinson at her Ring Dance the preceding year (she was now counting down the weeks to her graduation and deployment with the Medical Corps), so *his* dance partner for his 2019 Ring Dance was sorted. Thomas McGee and Anna Svenson had decided on a platonic evening together. She idly wondered how those two would end up - probably as "best friends forever". It was clear that the Horsemen had something special as a group - and she looked forward to future reunions as the years went by.
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Saturday 2nd March 2019, 11:20hrs EDT
Upstairs meeting room, Galway Bay Irish Pub and bar, 63 Maryland Ave, Annapolis MD, VA 21401:
"OK, partners please for the foxtrot." A husband-and-wife team of professional ballroom dancers were drilling the Horsemen in the popular dances. The Foxtrot is perhaps the most popular dance at the Academy, so at least half of the dances at the Ring Dance will be the Foxtrot.
The "Four Horsemen plus additions" had decided to arrange additional dancing lessons ahead of the upcoming Ring Dance in May. Everyone who attends the Academy receives dancing instructions. Naturally some dance better than others (Trisha knew that Harm, like *his* father, was an excellent dancer). The Admiral would be present for the Ring Dance (as would "Mrs Admiral", naturally), but Trisha planned to be dancing incognito. Whom could she invite? The problem had been nagging for a while; she was no nearer an answer when she began assisting Samantha with her ball-gown.
Samantha, keen as always to support her "boyfriend-in-waiting" as he completed his Academy career in the year behind her, had brought along her dancing shoes and the ball gown which she would be wearing for her graduation. She had spent the Christmas vacation with Tony Lee's family at the Beaumont Lee residence in Athens, GA. Tony's mom had taken Samantha under her wing and had arranged the designs, fittings and supply of a beautiful ball-gown, which Samantha would be wearing with pride at her graduation.
She just needed to practice getting into the structured gown, so the Saturday ballroom dancing lessons provided a perfect opportunity. The small store-room at the end of the upper floor of the Galway provided an impromptu changing room for anyone who wanted to change outfits.
"Wow, what beautiful material" was Trisha's first comment as she took the ball-gown from its protective carry-cover and folded it over her arm at the belt-line. The skirt of the Royal Blue gown was supported with several layers of petticoats. Samantha smiled, as she slipped off her pants, trainers and socks to slip on a pair of thigh-high stockings. As she bent down to buckle on a pair of dancing sandals with smooth soles, she looked up at Trisha to reply.
"Yes, it is a good representation of the 'Southern Belle' - I felt like a character in that Disney cartoon the first time I tried it on. But the real surprise is in the bustier."
She turned away from Trisha, pulling her sweatshirt off over her ponytail before removing her t-shirt and unclasping her bra. She reached out a hand for the dress, stepped into it and then carefully settled the bustier around her upper body. Trisha realised why the top half of the ball-gown had felt heavy - the boned structure embraced Samantha's body perfectly - once the lacing at the back had been completed. Sam turned to Trisha. "I hope you are OK with lacing me up?"
"Yes sure – and I can see why you didn't need the bra. Mom had to do this for my Catwoman costume at Halloween and she often uses a corset - I returned the compliment with helping her into her Wonder Woman costume the other year. Wow, I must say - that really does wonderful things for your body shape, Sam: I think I am envious."
Ten minutes later, the dress was perfectly fitted and Sam glided out into the main room. Tony Lee's appreciation was clear. Trisha slid on her dancing shoes and followed Sam out into the main room.
During the dancing lessons, everyone became more proficient; as she had expected, Trisha and RV's bodies just meshed together and they were soon moving as one. The Ring Dance was going to be perfect!
At the end of the lesson, as she helped to release Sam from the confines of her ball-gown, Trisha still wondered whom she could invite as her escort to the dance. She still had more than ten weeks, but time was running out - plus, she had to choose between gown and uniform as her costume on the night.
As it happened, the answer to her question would arrive, out of the blue, just a week later.
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End Ch28 – "Onwards to a Ring Dance"
Notes: Mike, UK, 13-Aug-2020 – msg...