Red Mittens and a Rose Garden – the Trisha Pike Chronicles,
Ch31 – "Graduation and danger"
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: none. 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) so this could/would be the season-finale for "Season 24" - hence the cliff-hanger!
A/N: Publication date: 10-01-2021: I hope that the new year of 2021 is progressing well.
Notes: Mike, UK, 10-Jan-2021 – msg... !
Characters from FFNET – C Pike, H Rabb jr, Faith McBurney-Coleman plus OC
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Saturday 25th May 2019 – 07:49hrs EST (Memorial Day weekend, USA)
Superintendent's Apartment: The Buchanan House, US Naval Academy, Annapolis MD:
Even after a night's sleep, Harm was still having trouble getting his head around the previous day's reappearance of Alison Krennick (or rather Alison Laine as she was now, alongside her British husband) in his life. Lying in his bed and surfacing slowly, he had to admit that she had aged well - along with a drop-dead beautiful daughter who had graduated from USNA among the top 2% for good measure, a year ahead of his Trisha. That Doctor Wilkinson had adopted Alison's daughter - AND then probably encouraged (or inspired) her into the Academy - was just one more line in the Harmon Rabb book of really-freaky world events.
He marvelled that Samantha Wilkinson (Alison's biological daughter) had followed Alison's career path into the USN – and achieved Annapolis graduation. Clearly Samantha had acquired her mother's intellect and - maybe independently – a love of the Navy. He mused; maybe Sam's adoptive parents were behind *that* particular career choice!
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Just briefly, his mind wandered back to a "what-if" scenario, considering the possibilities if he *had* yielded to Alison Krennick's "womanly charms" over 20 years earlier. Caressing the buttock of the sleeping wife alongside him, he was immediately grateful that the-then Caitlin Pike had taken him to her bed that weekend in the motel in 1996. He felt her stir at his touch, so he switched his thoughts back to reality from his brief journey to the land of "might-have-been", as they both awoke fully.
"Morning, my lovely lady."
"Morning, handsome husband. Well, another year over and a graduation successfully delivered. You realise that our daughter will be there next year?"
"Indeed I do; can't wait, Caitlin. You know, I am just so pleased that you came back into my life and let me get to know our daughter. Thank you, Caitlin."
Caitlin smiled proudly; hearing her husband (yes, Harmon Rabb was, indeed, finally her husband and this was not an extended dream from her years of sexual frustration) thanking her once again for Trisha made her feel warm, proud and happy every time he repeated his mantra. She looked up into his eyes.
"My pleasure, Harm. By the way darling, I don't think I shall ever tire of hearing you say that."
Caitlin kissed her husband gently, then settled back onto the pillow to present her husband with an easier target for his affections. Harm, naturally, took full advantage. They cuddled for a while as they became fully awake, before Harm headed down to the kitchen to set up the first coffee of the morning and Caitlyn brought Samual from the nursery.
He had a ten-minute conversation with their elder daughter whilst Caitlin attended to Samuel's needs, before he waved Trisha off on her long, scenic, Saturday morning cycle ride which would lead her to the "meeting of the horsemen" in the pub at 1200noon.
Watching her cycle away, hair flying in the wind from beneath her cycling helmet, he felt so proud that Rabb genes were continuing to serve his Navy and his country. Then he turned to arranging breakfast for his wife and himself. He looked around the kitchen, taking in the scenes of his family home.
Samuel was parked in his high-chair. At eight months of age, he was now alert and inquisitive – anything placed within his reach was regarded as fair game to be grabbed, analysed, chewed and cast off. Harm had gained useful insight from Harriett Roberts earlier during his transition to new-father status. The former Ensign Sims had been a fount of knowledge.
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Saturday 25th May 2019 – 10:56hrs EST (Memorial Day weekend, USA)
Superintendent's Apartment: The Buchanan House, US Naval Academy, Annapolis MD:
Harm and Caitlin lingered over their coffees. Saturdays were just ideal for this kind of restful family day. Not even the Memorial Day Sunday "Indy-500" race, over in Indiana on the next day, would attract more than his brief attention to the television. Memorial Day events around the campus were scheduled in, so that he and Faith had long-before confirmed the timetables, attendances and running orders. His XO was on the case and her customary attention to detail ensured that everything would run like clockwork.
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Saturday 25th May 2019 – 11:55hrs EST
Galway Bay Irish Pub and bar, 63 Maryland Ave, Annapolis MD, VA 21401:
"Coffee, please!" was the standard request from each member of the Four Horsemen (plus supporters) as they gathered in the room above the pub. Several of them had been supporting the graduates yesterday, saying farewell to the older ensigns who were now embarking on Navy careers around the world. Although Trisha had learned that her father had kept in contact with Jack Keeter and Sturgis Turner, learning the story about Diane Schonke's slaughter had sobered her up to the fact that she may have seen some of her friends (from the previous year's intake) for the last time.
As she reached for her coffee mug and looked down at the jar of sweetener sachets, Trisha smiled as she realised just how familiar and comfortable her class ring was on her hand. It looked as though it belonged there after just one week and she was barely aware of its presence. The stone setting, originally from her mother's class ring, gave her a linkage to the past.
"Good morning Tony; how's Samantha?"
Tony Lee blushed crimson and mumbled a reply as he grabbed for a coffee from the tray.
In unison, Anna Svenson and Trisha squealed in delight. "You didn't!?"
Tony merely smiled mysteriously; maybe this wasn't something that his fellow ensigns should be pushing him on! The USNA Annapolis Honour Code merely needed to sustain him (along with Trisha and RV, she realised) for one more year until their own Graduation. But Tony definitely looked happy – she could only hope that Sam Wilkinson would shortly be heading to Hawaii with fond memories of her four years in Annapolis.
"OK team; change of subject! First order of business; Tom, we're looking at your project today."
Tom McGee hooked his laptop up to the projector and began to explain the current status of his project to his supportive peer group.
"OK, this design project will run to Christmas then switch to implementation as we all work up to Graduation next May."
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April 29, 2020 – US Navy News article (with acknowledgement and fair-use extract).
The U.S. Naval Academy announced a plan that will allow the Class of 2020 to graduate over a 10-day span in five cohorts of about 210 midshipmen each.
Much like the rest of the country, each of the U.S. military's service academies has had to make unusual adaptations to longstanding traditions in an effort to stifle the spread of COVID-19.
A time typically reserved for families and personnel to celebrate an influx of new officers has instead centered on social distancing and other measures to ensure individual safety.
The U.S. Naval Academy followed suit Wednesday by announcing that midshipmen in the Class of 2020 would be invited to return to the Annapolis, Maryland, campus to take part in a commissioning event, albeit in a non-traditional format.
Commissioning events will be held in "the Yard" for five separate groups over a 10-day period, an Academy spokeswoman told Navy Times.
Each group will consist of about 210 midshipmen who will be on campus for a two-day period, the first of which will begin May 11, she said.
For each cohort, the first day will be devoted to finalizing administrative processing and moving personal belongings. The second day, meanwhile, will be for the private commissioning event. Commissioning of each of the five groups will be filmed and streamed online on May 22 in a virtual ceremony.
A half-day gap between the departure and arrival of each group will be implemented so that academy staff can re-sanitize Bancroft Hall, she added.
The graduating mids have been off campus since March 6, when the academy dismissed its brigade of approximately 4,000 for spring break. Virtual courses were initiated on March 20.
Academy officials announced earlier this month that all of this year's traditional Commissioning Week events had been canceled amid concern over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The USNA Superintendent, however, promised "to exhaust all efforts in our decision-making and planning process to make this special for them, within the guidelines we're operating under."
"I believe we owe it to them," stated the Vice-Admiral, a former US Naval Aviator with a wide range of operational experience under his belt before he was appointed as Superintendent.
The modification to commissioning events marks the first major adjustment to the academy's ceremonies in nearly a century.
"There are certain rites of passage unique to the Naval Academy that every graduate reflects positively upon and thus helps to define and strengthen the Naval Academy experience," Commandant of Midshipmen Capt. T.R. Buchanan said. "Even if not held this May, our midshipmen still deserve the opportunity to enjoy those milestone events."
The academy's elaborate cohort-based plan will allow each graduating midshipman to take the oath of office in uniform.
Graduation ceremony measures taken by Naval Academy officials are similar to those instituted by leadership at both the U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
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On the day:
Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper will give a pre-recorded keynote address to the Naval Academy's Class of 2020 during the first-ever, virtual graduation for the institution.
This virtual graduation ceremony will also include recorded segments from the five in-person, commissioning events held at the Academy May 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20, as well as remarks from the Chief of Naval Operations and Vice Chief of Naval Operations; Commandant of the Marine Corps; Naval Academy Superintendent; and the USNA Class of 2020 President MIDN 1st Class Mike Smith.
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Friday 22nd May 2020 – 19:03hrs EST
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, USNA Annapolis MD:
Harm walked once more around the stadium. Earlier that day, he had presided over a truly-weird event – a virtual graduation. Even so, he felt satisfied. Everyone had been involved, the Academy had risen to the virus-threat and the Academy had preserved and honoured as much as possible of its treasured traditions. Once more, he walked up the stairs, ascending onto the podium. He looked out on a now-empty field.
This sure would go down in history as a memorable Graduation. However, he was pleased that Trisha and her cohort had been able to celebrate and mark their graduation during the series of two-day sessions which had run since May 11th, in a socially-distanced set of events.
He then strolled across to his Residence, where his wife and son were awaiting his return. After recovering from Samuel's birth, Caitlin had already returned to work using the local offices of her law-firm to minimise commuting. However, since February she had quickly re-instituted the stay-at-home arrangements in an attempt to prevent the virus from burning its way across America. She was now an expert on video-conferencing.
Trisha and RV were nowhere to be seen, but their bicycles were in the porch and he suspected that he knew exactly where his first child and her Marine companion had headed - repeating their experience of the previous night. He would wait overnight and welcome them in the morning.
Ruefully, he acknowledged that as Graduates of his Academy, "TP and RV" were now merely officers in the great US Navy and USMC. He had brought Trisha through her four-year stint in his Academy without revealing her secret or disclosing her parentage. Only a handful of her trusted friends had ever known her secret and the Press fiasco of Clark Palmer had slid by with barely a ripple. He was pleased that Ensign Trisha Pike, USN, could embark upon her naval career without any inadvertent rumour-mill or wagging tongues. She had qualified at the top of her course and he was very proud of his daughter.
Of course, it was a pity that the entire Intake - the whole "Class of 2020" - had not been able to graduate together. However, the emerging threat from the Covid-19 virus (which had really only begun to hit world awareness at the end of January - barely four months earlier) was clear as the death tolls mounted around the planet. An early outbreak on an USN aircraft carrier had shown, in sharp focus, how the effectiveness of the US armed forces could be decimated without rigorous sanitisation and segregation arrangements. He feared that this might last into the summer. Even Tom and Trisha, over in La Jolla, might need to be isolated and protected.
This social distancing and isolation approach was needing serious forward planning to avoid the risk of infections which were caused through lack of thought.
Harm was pleased to note - from his last conference with Faith McBurney-Coleman - that the Academy was ready for the next Induction as the Class of 2024 prepared to arrive at the Academy.
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Friday 3rd July 2020 – 16:24hrs PST
Home of Tom and Trish Rabb-Boone, Hidden Valley, La Jolla, CA 92037
"Darlings, welcome back. Congratulations, Trisha, on your commissioning. It must be wonderful for you to be starting your naval career on the West Coast."
"Indeed it is, grandma." Trisha hugged Trish and reached out a hand to Tom, who had turned from welcoming Harm and young Samuel (who was now within five months of achieving the "terrible twos" stage of child development).
"So Harm, how long do we have you all with us this summer? Tell me, did those plans we discussed last month all come right?"
"Well Mom, it's a case of staggered departures." Although Boondongle Airways had been able to dead-head the whole Rabb family across from Maryland on the day before Independence Day, the exigencies of the Service had constrained the amount of time which Harm had available to stay in La Jolla before he needed to return eastbound to run his Academy.
Harm had decided to save the least-welcome news for last. "Caitlin and Samuel will be staying here for a few weeks as planned. I need to be back at Annapolis on Wednesday morning and Ensign Trisha here is working on her Marine Engineering implementation project on an LHD platform that is refitting in the Naval Base. She starts Monday, planning then rehearsing the implementation steps for her new proposed system for controlling the placement of a large ship. It is estimated that she will be across here in California until late September."
Trish (and Tom) turned to Trisha, with admiration gleaming in their eyes. Tom Boone spoke first.
"Well done, Ensign Pike – I am proud of you" he beamed. Trisha leaned in to hug her grand-daughter once more as Tom was struck by a thought.
"We haven't seen anything about this programme in the Navy press."
Trisha smiled proudly. "Well Grandpa, that's because my proposal was so innovative – and so well-designed, they said – that the approving board rated it top secret. What I have proposed and designed could give us a military advantage in the future. So since that bizarre week of graduations at Annapolis in mid-May, I've been working hard in the Marine Engineering Faculty and also down onsite at Norfolk dockyard for a couple of weeks. Now we are ready for the next phase of my project. This is why I get to play with a billion-dollar, 22-year-old LHD during its mid-life refit in SD."
She smiled sheepishly. "Plus, I am pleased to report that a certain newly-commissioned second Lieutenant of Marines is running an IT course up at Camp Pendleton and will be detailed to work alongside me as we transfer his coding skills and solutions into the engineering base at San Diego."
Her sheepish smile returned. She and RV were only in the second month of their newly-developed relationship and both wanted to "take it slow."
Tom nodded approvingly. Clearly his "grand-daughter" was going places in the Navy and he was very proud to see traditions continuing. He added a question as he removed the cap from a bottle of Jamaican Rum, to start mixing a rum punch for the pre-dinner drinks.
"So, what's the name of the LHD that you'll be working on?"
Trisha proudly stated: "Oh, it's the Bonhomme Richard."
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Sunday July 12th 2020, 20:14hrs EST
Superintendent's Apartment: The Buchanan House, US Naval Academy, Annapolis MD:
Harm answered the ringing phone as he completed the clean-up in the kitchen. Bachelor status did not prevent him from cooking wholesome food on a Sunday.
As Caitlin began speaking, he sensed the tension – and terror – in her voice.
"Harm, have you seen the news? Turn on the TV. There's been a fire on board Trisha's ship. She and RV are currently listed as missing."
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End Ch31 – "Graduation and danger"
Mike, UK, 10-Jan-2021... end of "JAG Season 24" in FF-world?
