"How was your flight" Eric asked as he and Lisa walked into Bravo's team room straight after disembarking, the C130 was only capable of doing about half the speed of commercial airliner, Bravo had touched down nearly 13 hours earlier at Dulles, made sure their package was picked up, travelled back to the base and were debriefed, unpacked and currenlty finishing their paperwork
"Was a gucci and a half, right Pepper" Brock said scratching her around the ears
"No problems then I take it" Eric said as Lisa went over to Pepper and give her a scratch
"Nope, no problems what so ever" Jason said
"Hate to tell you this Pepper, but not all our missions are like that, thanks for the loan" Lisa said handing Jess bask her laptop after she'd finished with Pepper's scratch
"Anytime and a gift from Hassan" Jess said taking her laptop and handing over 2 spare first class gift bags her cousin had given her when he met them at Dulles
"Thanks" Lisa said excited to receive one of the overflowing bags, Jess handed the second one over to Eric with a folder
"Greatly appreciated, whats that" Eric asked indicating the folder
"My AAR, now if you excuse me, I have a certain someone I want to get home to" Jess said with a smile as she loaded her laptop into her backpack then headed out the door.
"Don't want to see any of you on base until 1000" Eric said, Jess put her hand back through the door to let her CO know she'd heard and understood, the rest of the team slowly exited handing there AAR's to Eric as they walked out
"Well bet you weren't expecting this" Lisa said indicating the pile of folders Eric held in one hand, and the bag in his other one, he had 8 folders and he was currently holding all 8 AAR's in his hand ready to go through, hadn't had to even ask for them. He guessed the team from the plane would rock up with them but he hadn't suspected Jess bringing home extra
"Add it to my pile here, just wait to you try out those pyjamas Lisa, my advice, keep them under lock and key and keep for deployment, Jess said its something to do with the fabric they're made of, but you will not find anything more comfortable to sleep in, supposed to help regulate body temp, absorb the sweat and moisturise the skin, all I know is they bloody work" Eric said
"Heard from Sonny they were something pretty special, sir, permission to ask something of the record" Lisa asked
"Of course, what is it" Eric asked
"Are you jealous about what Jess has in life" Lisa asked
"I don't quite understand what you mean" Eric asked concerned, last thing he needed was any sudden rivalry between the pair of them
"This first class luxary lifestyle, she grew up in a loving home with two parents, she's smart, talented, seems like she got everything I ever wanted growing up" Lisa said
"Appearances aren't everything Lisa, I can guarantee it" Eric said
"Sir, I don't understand" Lisa asked
"Jess's childhood wasn't all peaches and cream perfection with the white picket fence, talk to her if you don't believe me, you may find you shared similar experiences" Eric said
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"Your home, everyone back safe" Jay asked seeing his daughter walk into the living area, she briefly thought about trying to find some food, but her couch was screaming her name
"Yep, she in bed" Jess asked letting out a huge yawn
"Fast asleep with Cerbs, that dog hasn't left her side" Alie said making her appearance carrying a plate of hot food and a glass of apple juice and handed it to Jess, it was a little homemade pizza, Alie had obviously made up some extra
"Thanks Alie, how'd she go with Stella" Jess asked, she'd arranged for her to pop around and see roughly where Zalie was sitting with regards to the American curriculum, she wouldn't be starting school yet but it was a whole different system she was going into and while Jess and Luca were confident about which way they wanted to go with Zalie for her education, now they weren't so sure
"Good, she's putting together a home study program for Zah while she's still recovering and she's got a long appointment with Doctor Shah tomorrow at the base so we can get the tests done that Doctor Sambridge the paediatrician that Doctor Masterson has arranged wants done" Alie said as Jess continued to eat
"What about with Naima and the kids" Jess asked, she wanted to know everything that happened the few days, checking the time she was surprised to see she'd only been gone 2.5 days, it had felt like an eternity
"Fine, they were over again tonight, looks like we have another vintage gamer on our hands" Jay said smiling
"Uncle Brock will be happy, who" Jess asked curious, knowing it was either Meelah or RJ her dad was referring to
"RJ, Zah loaned him a generic hand held tonight, Meelah likes the games as well, but RJ seems to be particularly drawn to them" Alie said
"How'd that come about" Jess asked surprised
"Turns out Meelah got top mark for a project that she done for school, she was showing us on her tablet and RJ got upset about not being able to use the tablet while Meelah was showing us her project and an argument between the pair broke out" Alie said filling her in
"Sibling rivalry, never quite experienced that growing up, but I bet it was more of a case of RJ was feeling jealous of his sisters exciting new toy" Jess said, true she never had to share and would be generally given whatever she asked for, she also knew that not everyone could get what she had in the range of toys. Ray had also previously mentioned the rivalry between the pair, they'd wanted to get a tablet for RJ, but Meelah's had set them back a bit more than what they had originally planned by time they had to add the software the school wanted them to have to use, and they'd been trying to find something suitable for RJ to use, Ray and Naima hadn't wanted to give him anything with internet access or required internet access to work, just something he could play some games on and watch movies, Jess could have kicked herself for not thinking of a hand-held
"Yeah, so Zah went and found out a console and headphones and brought it out for RJ to play with while Meelah was showing us, well you should have seen his face light up once he realised the games that were on it, Naima said he fell asleep playing with it and didn't bother Meelah for her tablet all night" Alie said recalling the phone conversation she'd had, asking her to thank Zalie when she woke up
"And just like that, peace has once again been restored to the Perry household" Jay said laughing
"That's my little super Zah for you" Jess said with a smile
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"Hey honey, how was your deployment" Naima asked as Ray walked into their bedroom
"It was good, nothing more than a cruisy gucci, how are the kids getting along with Zalie, playing together okay, how'd they cope with her asthma attack and that" Ray asked, the kids couldn't be forced to be friends, but it would make it easier for Zalie if she had a couple around her age and had a similar family situation
"They were both a little scared at first, but Jay and Alie explained the situation after getting her hooked up so she could get her medication she needed they were okay, they know her lungs don't work as well as theirs do, and she's got to be careful with some of the things she does because of it, and her play equipment is set up undercover like it is. Meelah thinks its awesome that Zalie has such a awesome set-up, because even when its wet and yucky Jess has had it designed so Zalie can still use the area as its heated and warm, Alie said that whenever its wet and weather isn't good for being outside they can come over and play with Zalie. Also Zalie had solved our problem with RJ wanting Jameelah's tablet all the time" Naima said filling her husband in on what he missed, he was glad they were getting along
"She deserves the noble peace prize for that one, how'd she manage that" Ray asked taking his top of to get ready to jump into bed
"Turns out Zalie is a gamer and RJ likes to game as well it seems, he likes a lot off the same ones that Zalie plays, anyway she had some, I think Zalie, Jay and Alie called them a generic hand held console, a lot like those switches but a lot cheaper, you can load the games and movies on, so she's loaned him one of the consoles, he fell asleep playing it and didn't ask for Meelah's tablet once. If it does work with stopping the fighting then we may need to get one for him, and it doesn't require internet access to work" Naima said, that internet issue was one of Ray's biggest concerns, to many stories of kids accidentally getting access to things they shouldn't, last thing he needed was RJ purchasing something he shouldn't be like a car
"Which was something we were definitely concerned about him having, but what about the other costs like purchasing the games, I mean some of those things Meelah's needed for school with her tablet have been on the pricy side of the scale" Ray asked concerned, last thing they needed was another expensive surprise bill. All up Meelah's tablet and software was nearly $2000
"When you purchase the device, they send you a link to a drive on the internet you can access from a computer, all the games are in there, Zalie showed me the file, you just hook it up to the computer and transfer the games on, so no loosing games around the house or if he took it somewhere" Naima said
"Sounds like she's as smart as her mum in that area" Ray said making himself comfy in bed next to his wife
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"Mummy, you're home" Zalie said surprised as she saw her mum walk down the stairs and into the living area. Zalie was sitting at the table eating breakfast, Cerbs had taken the seat next to her sitting there waiting patiently, Jess smiled as she saw Zalie pass him a crust of her toast, Jess knew she should pull Zalie up for it, but she couldn't bring herself to do it yet, she'd mention it to Laura as she'd be living there with them when she moved so she'd keep an eye on it, make sure Cerbs wasn't getting to many treats that he wasn't supposed to. While he was working Brock kept him on a pretty strict diet, he had no choice, like all of them Cerbs needed the proper nutrients to do his job
"I am, how'd you sleep" Jess asked sliding into the chair on the other side, Alie slid a plate containing a 2 hard boiled eggs, a little portion of cheese, peeled and quartered apple and a small bottle of fortified milk, she knew Jess wouldn't finish the lot, before she left for the base, but she was at least sitting there enjoying having some breakfast together. Jay had mentioned to Jess a few times last night when she mentioned that she didn't have to go in to late, to actually sit at the table with Zalie in the morning and share something to eat, not allow Zalie to get caught up asking about where she was and what she was doing, focus it solely on Zalie and how she's feeling
"Good, Nonna said I have to see a doctor today" Zalie said with a smile, enjoying the chance to talk to her mum about what was going on
"Yep, Doctor Shah at the base, she's the same doctor I see" Jess said nibbling on the apple
"Are you coming with me" Zalie asked
"I most definitely am, Nonna and Boompa are going to drop you of their this afternoon, so while the pair of us see Doctor Shah, they're going to go out to where daddy will be working when he moves over, make sure its getting set up properly" Jess said, it had been another one of her dads suggestions, and she'd messaged Eric letting him know Zalie was seeing the doctors on the base this morning and she'll need to be there unless an absolute emergency came up. He informed her that they were officially of rotation for 24 hours, and they didn't have anything of major importance to complete that day, it was to be light duties and standard post mission debrief with class work
"He'll be here in 10 sleeps now" Zalie said proudly
"How long you been counting down for" Jess asked surprised, not realising that Zalie was keeping such a close eye on it
"A long time, we can finally be a family again" Zalie said
"We can, mummy will see you at the base this afternoon okay" Jess said as she heard her phone beep, alerting her that she needed to leave in the next 15 minutes to arrive at the base on time
"You're not getting sent out again" Zalie asked softly
"Highly highly unlikely I'll get sent out again before your appointment happens, uncle Eric likes to make sure we usually get at least one full night at home before we get sent out again" Jess said assuring her daughter that the chances of her actually missing the appointment today were slim
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"Someone glad to see you when you got home" Brock asked as he saw Jess enter the team room
"Didn't see Cerbs at all, oh you mean Zah, fast asleep, she's coming to the base later for an appointment with Doctor Shah. Apparently she's been counting down to Luca getting here, informed me this morning that its 10 more sleeps and we can finally be a family again" Jess said updating the group on what was going on today
"And you mean to tell me that you haven't been counting down till he gets here yourself" Jason asked her sceptically
"Peace still restored in your household Ray" Jess said changing the subject, cause she had been counting down to Luca arrived, but she didn't want to allow herself to get distracted
"So far so good, had to stop him trying to sneak it into his bag for day care" Ray said laughing, he'd caught RJ red handed putting it in
"That's exactly why we got them for Zah in the first place, a lot cheaper to replace if it gets stolen or damaged when we'd go places" Jess said to Ray
"What are you talking about" Clay asked curious
"Gaming consoles, hand held" Jess said, the mere mention of the word gaming console was enough to gain Brock's attention
"Zalie loaned one to RJ, try and stop him from wanting Meelah's tablet all the time, she likes to game a bit and so does RJ apparently" Ray said explaining what had happened
"Hey come to think about it, haven't I seen a switch in your backpack occasionally Jess" Trent asked, he'd never paid to much attention except for the fact it was in her emergency bag
"Yeah, just one of the generic ones like Zalie loaned RJ, as it didn't matter if it got damaged when I deployed, I was never a huge fan of the point and shoot games the rest of the boys would play, I was more of a classic girl, and you don't need to carry expensive chargers, gaming cartridges or have internet access to use them, even now we can get some shoddy connections when we go places and can use it on the plane" Jess said pulling it out to show everyone as she switched it on to tease Brock just ever so slightly as he was looking straight at it like Pepper looked at them to get a treat, he was trying to fight the urge to ask Jess to have a go
"Yeah we don't exactly get the right to pick and choose where we get sent" Clay said in agreement as Jess switched a game on that she guessed would have a good chance of driving him insane as it was a well known classic
"I recognise that music, thats super mario karts, its over 20 years old years old, let me play, please Jess, pretty pretty pretty please" Brock said unable to contain himself anymore, Jason shot Jess a look of you better let him have a turn orim going to ride your butt
"Original release date 1992" Jess said smiling as she handed it over to the dog handler, he immediately retreated into his cage to start playing as Clay went and stood over his shoulder, both of them had eyes glued to the screen in Brock's hands
"Aren't you lot a bit old for that" Jason asked a little frustrated but also saw the funny side of the site he was witnessing
"Nah what, I was 6 when this game came out, I grew up with it, was the first game I learned how to play" Brock said proudly obviously remembering his own childhood for a moment, it was something that was sometimes needed in their lives to help destress
"So what that made us 1 and 2 when it came out Jess" Clay asked looking at Jess with a cheeky boyish grin as she walked over to Brock's cage, they both knew to well that was the same time Jason had started his career as a fresh young baby seal straight out of basic training
"And now I feel ancient, you realise I've been serving since the pair of you were screaming new borns" Jason said pointing at the pair of them
"So's Metal and Blackburn" Jess said smiling, in fact Metal had been in slightly longer than Jason
"What's the oldest game you got Bookworm" Sonny asked
"On there, eldest game is from 1985, which was the same time roughly that the Nintendo gaming system was released" Jess said as Lisa walked into the team room
"Why is Brock playing video games" she asked surprised
"Its Jess's and he's reliving his childhood, the game he's playing was released when he was 6 years old apparently" Jason said
"Which is enough to make Jason now feel ancient compared to those 3" Ray said pointing to Brock's cage where Clay and Jess were still standing
"What do you reckon Jase, we should go and get the baby some milk and graham crackers for a snack and pillow and blankie so he can down for a nap" Sonny said laughing
"Hey if that's original Nintendo games, dating back to 1985, does that include the original super mario and the old donkey kong are on there" Trent asked suddenly realising the dates
"Yep" Jess said proudly
"I've got it next Brock" Trent said to him
"Ah you can just wait your turn there Trenty boy, seniority is a recognised advantage in the military, Brockoli will be handing that over to me to play next" Sonny said interrupting him, they had what 4 years between them, the games on that console represented Sonny's childhood as well, or more his early teens, back when times were simpler for all of them
"Jess, how many spares of those consoles has Zalie got, Naima said they weren't that expensive to buy" Ray asked sensing that there was a good chance he would be purchasing one for RJ, if he lost interest, with games that old Ray was sure he'd find something to enjoy
"$115 for one like that, the smaller ones go for $90, and no you ain't keeping mine, proper switches looking around $400-$450 depending on the price, think she has 4 that we've picked up" Jess said promptly shooting Brock a warning look of just remember where that gets returned to, and it ain't your backpack
"Graphics are just as I remember seeing them" Lisa said glancing at the screen, she'd had a couple of friends who's parents had enough money to get a gaming console when she was younger, always jealous of them as her mum could never afford to get her and her sisters one of their own
"Something tells me she's going to be parting with them" Jason said
"You lot really want one" Jess said asking them
"Hell yeah I do" Brock said
"Figures Brock wants one" Ray said, he'd always seen himself as an amateur gamer
"Who knows, he might actually learn the sit and stay command if he has one" Jess said
"Now that's not a bad idea, especially if it doesn't require internet access, won't matter where we get caught up" Trent said eager as he surveyed the scene, he had 3 tier one operators sitting there there eyes glued to that screen and none of them knew the sit and stay command well enough to actually obey him when he issued it, they would get bored and go looking for something to occupy themselves, might be the perfect solution
"All you'd need to add is a power pack and headphones" Jess said pulling something up on her phone
"What you doing now" Lisa asked
"Its the site we get them from, I've got no problems with Zalie loaning them to people she knows, but I'd rather her keep them for emergency situations, so she's not taking her switch's or DS's that she's collected as she's got some limited edition and vintage retro consoles we couldn't replace if something happened to it, so we keep them strictly for home use and these for outside, just put whatever you want in the basket and fix me up later, I've got to get some things from there anyway and we need to make postage, and keep a couple of spares on hand for emergencies"
"You positive" Lisa asked her, actually feeling excited about the prospect of being able to finally play the games she'd seen and heard her friends talk about when she wanted, she'd always felt that she'd missed certain rites of passage growing up and this was one
"Yeah, positive" Jess said with her usual smile, she would always help out her close friends where she could and never expected them to rush and give it back, hell she never actually expected it back half of the time, but it was how she had learnt to judge who was friends with her because of who she was and who was friends with her because they thought they could get something out of it themselves. She remembered one incident in particular not long before things started to turn physical between her and Logan, they were getting deployed and her mate Dede's father was extremely sick, Dede's phone was old and about to die and his parents wasn't much better. They were going away for 3 months and there was a good chance that Dede's father wouldn't be alive when he returned and it was tearing Dede apart, so before they left she went and brought 2 new smart phones with excellent video call capabilities and put international sims in them with enough internet data to easily get them through the 3 months, she gave one for Dede to take with him and gave one to his parents so they could face call whenever they needed. Even though Dede wasn't able to be their personally when his father did pass, he'd been able to still see and talk to him over the phone as Jess and Critter pulled double duties to cover his absence. Of course Logan found out that she'd brought the phones, went straight to her and demanded she buy him one which of course she'd straight out told him to get lost, because A they weren't friends, B this had been a special circumstance and C Dede's mum had basically all but adopted Jess as a second daughter
"How old a consoles she got" Brock asked suddenly curious
"Think the eldest is 40 years old and, she's got a magnavox, 2 ataris, a sega, 3 Nintendo's, 2 play stations and a X-box in her vintage stuff, and that's just the ones we can hook up to the TV, she's got some hand held consoles in there as well. To answer your next question Brock, yes what she has still works, but as I said, we limit their use to home only, she doesn't take them out" Jess said as she could see his mind ticking over
"So no you can't burrow them" Ray said
"Think his next plan would be to move in in that situation ain't that right Brockoli" Sonny said
"I'll have to have Cerbs search his bag each time he goes to leave after visiting for stolen contraband" Jess said poking fun at him
"What's she like to play" Brock asked suddenly really keen to meet his new niece in person, dog mad and a gamer, perfect match for him
"All the classics, mario, donkey kong, crash bandicoot, pac man, sonic, space invaders and pokemon or course" Jess said
"Of course, can't have her not playing pokemon, especially when she's pokemon bedding, clothing, toys, books, bags and everything else under the sun" Trent said recalling the amount of stuff he'd seen in the hospital and Jay pack to freight over, a good 80% of her belongings were somehow related to the games Jess had just mentioned and you were talking about 85% of that was pokemon themed
"Sounds like she doesn't have a typical play room then" Clay asked sensing something was going to be different about Zalie when he took delivery of the TV and couch in there and Jess had the electrician come in to add the extra powerpoints, put new lighting in that could be adjusted to different levels and had block out curtains hung
"Nothing about my family is typical" Jess responded
"You know that's true" Ray said
"Her play room is actually a gaming room where she can keep her consoles all set-up, and not take over my living room and TV, she can set herself up on the couch in their if she's sick or anything, as its right of the main living area and opens up onto our outdoor entertainment area" Jess said explaining the set-up, the boys now knew exactly where Jess was talking about
"So she's in the thick of it anyway you look at it" Trent said, he'd guessed that the area was deliberately chosen for strategic reasons as you had the it in amongst the living areas, Jess's study and another room which he presumed would be turned into Luca's office, the bedrooms were all located on the second floor with the master suite on the third so it made sense to Trent that it had been selected on purpose for keeping an eye on Zalie if she was sick
"I do have one more question, why pokemon and video games" Jason asked
"Didn't know there was a rule saying 8 year old girls can't be pokemon obsessed and play video games" Jess responded looking at him, she knew Emma had pursued the more typical girl activities, Meelah had done taekwondo for one year before she stopped in favour of attending ballet class. Zalie on the otherhand was pure tomboy