TWELVE of THIRTY-TWO
*UPDATE – Hello everybody, it's me, TheManFromMudos, and today I bring good news! So, yesterday, as you may recall, if of course you're reading this at the time of writing, I posted the first half of this chapter, and explained to you that regrettably, I was having trouble with my laptop. Just after uploading that chapter, though, I considered whether one of my new house-mates might be willing to allow me to use their laptop for writing, at least for the time being. I was reluctant to ask at first, but lo and behold, one of them was gracious enough to allow me a quick hour to finish off the writing of this chapter. So here you go! It's complete, and hopefully the next one will be written soon, so please, get stuck in. Also, don't forget that you can now read Matthew Jones' entire Record of Service on my profile page. Every ship that Matt's ever served on, compiled into a single, handy list! If you're interested, feel free to take a look, and in the meantime, here's the complete twelfth chapter. It's still a little shorter than most, but thankfully this foreword takes the word count just up to my chapter target of two-thousand five-hundred! So, read on and enjoy. It's 'Xavier'. THANK YOU!*
The rest of the day was uneventful, to say the least. Katie busied herself cleaning the house, Xena watched over the children, and I cooked. For dinner, steak and kidney pie, and for tea, a pasta bake. Then, as the evening drew in, we all gathered round the television and watched... soaps. Katie loved them, it seemed, although of course she'd spent the last fortnight watching in confusion as the characters she'd known twenty-three years ago had either been killed off or replaced. Personally, I hated it when that happened. Just when you get to know a character, they kick the bucket, and the writers come up with some almost-identical-but-not-quite-the-same replacement. Anyway, the soaps dragged on until nine o'clock, after which late night television saw us through the night. I finally got up to go to bed at about eleven o'clock, shortly followed by Xena. I don't know what time Katie came up, but it must have been quite late, because I didn't fall asleep until gone midnight, and she was still downstairs. Once I had finally gotten to sleep, though, the night passed relatively soundly, with me only being woken up once or twice by Xena's ribcage digging into my back. Still, I couldn't complain. I knew what I was getting myself into when I dragged her dead carcass over to the Constantinople twenty-three years ago. Oh, the things one does for love…
The next morning, I was up bright and early as usual, thanks in part to the wonderful alarm clock that I was proud to call my son. He and Amanda were bawling loudly as always, and Katie was quick to wake me up and get me to deal with it. I clambered out of bed drearily, and after drudgingly dragging myself down the stairs, I wandered into the kitchen to whip up two bottles of baby milk. No sooner than I had done this, Katie came waltzing in with a smug grin plastered across her face. I was glad she found amusement from all of this, because I certainly didn't.
"Look at you, eh?" She teetered mockingly as she set about making herself some cereal. "'Matthew Jones – Stay at Home Dad'. Suits you, doesn't it?"
"I've told you, Katie, I am looking for a job." I insisted, glaring at her begrudgingly. "And then all of these glorious duties'll be left to you and Xena."
"Oh, come on, Matthew." She frowned, raising her eyebrows slightly. "There's only one thing you're looking for, and that's trouble."
"Not trouble. Answers." I explained, yawning loudly as I did so. "Something's afoot, Katie, and I need to know what." She simply shook her head in disapproval at this. I got the feeling that neither Katie nor Xena wanted me getting involved in something as big as this.
"Well anyway, you can't do that today, because I need you to run some errands." Katie told me with a mouthful of cereal, before taking her bowl from the kitchen side and walking out into the living room. Hesitantly, I picked up the two baby bottles and followed her.
"Run some errands?" I repeated, shocked by the very notion. "There are people being kidnapped across the ship at a rate of dozens per night, possibly being tortured or experimented upon as we speak, and you need me to 'run some errands'?"
"Yeah." Katie replied flatly. "Look, Matthew, I appreciate the fact that you want to help solve this… mystery, or whatever you want to call it. But right now, you need to help us. Remember us? Me, your girlfriend, two children? You need to wake up and realise, Matthew, that life is not some kind of sci-fi fantasy, and you're not the main character. So buck your ideas up, get changed, and go shopping."
"Shopping?" I scoffed with derision. The sheer humiliation. Me, a hardened veteran of interplanetary travel, reduced to the family work horse.
"And after that, you can take these forms I've filled out to the Registry Office." Katie continued, ignoring my snide response. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer to spend the rest of your life aboard this ship as an immigrant? Because let me tell you something, Jones, I don't."
"Alright…" I said impatiently, finally accepting Katie's demands. "Alright. And is that all? No other odd-jobs you want me around for?"
"Well, now that you mention it, the kitchen sink hasn't been draining properly for the last couple of days." She remarked. I had to bite my lip at this.
"Plumbing?" I said calmly, although my fists were now clenched tightly around the two bottles I still held in my hands. "You expect me to do the plumbing?"
"Well, I assumed you'd have some knowledge of it, Matthew." Katie replied plainly. "You were a Technician on the Aristotle, weren't you?"
"It was the Archimedes and I was a Senior Navigational Officer!" I snapped loudly. At this point, my grip on the baby bottles had become such that the lids popped clean off, and warm milk began to run through my fingers. Katie stared at me in both surprise and thinly-veiled disgust.
"You might want to get some fresh milk, Matthew." She uttered sternly. "And probably some fresh air, too."
"You're right." I replied in a slight daze as I wandered away into the kitchen quietly. "Some fresh air, that's all I need. A nice, quiet walk." On the inside, though, my blood was boiling. I couldn't stand living like this for much longer. My place was out amongst the stars, billions of miles into deep space, with the universe itself on my doorstep. Not cooped up in here, with… kids, and responsibilities. Maybe Katie was right. Maybe that was the real reason that I was so eager to involve myself with the first bit of potential action that I could find.
Arriving in the kitchen, I continued to ponder over this notion as I tipped away the last of the warm milk from the two baby bottles down the sink. As the white liquid slowly drained away down the plughole, the pipes gurgled loudly. Katie was right, someone did need to look at the plumbing. But come on, what do I know about that stuff? 'A Technician on the Aristotle'? I was certain that she'd said that just to grind my gears. Anyway, as the last of the milk gurgled it's way down the pipes, I took the two bottles and quickly topped them up with fresh milk, making sure to replace the lids carefully. Then, after gathering my bearings, taking a few deep breaths, and heaving an even deeper sigh, I walked back into the living room with the bottles in hand. I silently wandered across the room, past Katie, and to the foot of the stairs as calmly as possible, refusing to show any further signs of anger or frustration. I don't know if she was convinced or not, but she didn't say anything, so it was fine. I silently made my way up the stairs then, steadily carrying the bottles in front of me, and turned into the kids' bedroom without a sound. I knew, though, that as soon as I went back downstairs, I'd have to face Katie again. What would she say? What would I say? I'd snapped, plain and simple. Was she starting to think that I wasn't stable? Wasn't I stable?
After taking a few deep breaths, I walked over to the far side of the bedroom, where Xavier and Amanda each had a cot. For a few moments, I simply gazed down at them. My children. Alright, so neither of them were biologically related to me. But I was responsible for these children. I was responsible, from now on, for making sure that they lived happy, healthy childhoods, and that they'd one day grow up to be good, honest people. How could I do that if I was busy chasing down mystery? If I was out searching for trouble, and without any leads, at that? Anyway, I suddenly came back to my senses, and remembered that at this particular moment, I was standing over them, with a bottle of warm baby's milk each. I carefully lifted Xavier from his cot, and he opened his weary eyes to see what was going on. Was I a complete stranger to him? Would his own father have seemed like a complete stranger to someone too young to understand? Either way, he was here now, and I was going to look after him. I sat down on a small stool beside the two cots, cradled him in one arm, carefully holding the bottle to his mouth with the other, and he begin to drink. And a few moments later, I did the same with Amanda. Again, she wasn't mine. She was Katie's child. But with her partner gone, probably dead in the Constantinople explosion, I would have to be the father figure in her life, too. Which meant that I had a whole lot to learn, and a whole lot of responsibility on my shoulders.
Ten minutes or so later, after gently feeding Xavier and Amanda the last of the warm milk, I knew that it was time to go back downstairs. It was time to face Katie, to tell her straight what had happened, and why I'd snapped. This life, this environment, it was all new to me. Nobody's ever ready to become a parent, but nobody could be less ready than I was. And owning a house, paying taxes and bills, going shopping, just generally living an ordinary life. I wasn't used to it. I hadn't lived in a house, a real, proper, actual house since I was eighteen. I'd spent so much of my life since then in space, where you don't pay for your house, or your food, or your utilities. Re-integrating into society was going to be an uphill battle, to say the least. Now, if only I could say all that to Katie, exactly as I wanted to. Would she understand? Or would she say that I was overreacting, and that I needed to man up and take responsibility for myself? Reluctantly, I decided that there was only one way to find out. Standing up slowly, and taking one last look around the children's bedroom, I made my way out into the landing, and towards the stairs, and walked down to the living room quietly. Katie still sat silently on the sofa, a half-empty cup of coffee in her hands. I approached her slowly, and cleared my throat to let her know that I'd returned.
"Sorry for getting so worked up." I mumbled, slumping onto the sofa beside her. "I just snapped. This isn't the life I'm used to, Katie."
"I know." She replied warmly. "I know. But you'll have to get used to it from now on. Remember, you were the one who wanted to settle down, weren't you? To find a nice, quiet place where we'd all be safe? And think about Xena. You want to keep a low profile, for her sake, don't you?"
"You're right." I said with a weak nod. And she was. I couldn't forget that, no matter what, my top priority right now was to keep Xena, and Xavier, safe. And that meant fitting in. Living a normal, average life. And if that's what it took, then that's what I'd have to do.
"I promise I'll start looking for work. Properly." I continued sincerely. "And I'll do more around the house. But I'm not letting this go, Katie. I can't."
"Do what you need to, Matthew." She told me with a smile. "Just… be careful, won't you?"
"I will." I replied, heaving a deep sigh and a slight chuckle. "You know, it's been a while since anyone's cared so much about my wellbeing. I mean, Xena does, obviously, but… It's nice to actually hear someone say it once in a while." Katie simply smiled, and gently put a hand on my shoulder.
"You saved my life, Matthew." She said, the coffee cup in her hands starting to tremble slightly. "I… I owe you just as much as Xena does. I care about you just as much as Xena does." With this, she moved her hand from my shoulder to place it over one my own. Suddenly, I realised what her words meant. I understood exactly what she was trying to say to me. And I was outraged. How could she even think for one second that I could…
"I… I'm going to go and make a start on those errands now." I said calmly, removing my hand from under hers and abruptly standing up.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, you do that." Katie replied, stuttering as she spoke, her hands trembling even more so than before. "See you later." I didn't reply to this as I walked over to the front door silently. I didn't even turn back to look at her until I heard her call my name as I reached the doorway.
"Matthew?" She called hesitantly, her voice full of sadness, regret, and probably a whole range of other emotions. I turned around silently to face her.
"S-Sorry." She mumbled, looking down at the floor as she spoke. I wanted to laugh out loud at this, really I did. As if that word, that single word, could undo what she'd just said. I don't know how long she'd been thinking of this, or how long she'd been wanting to tell me, but a mere 'sorry' wasn't going to make it go away.
"I'll be back at lunchtime." I said calmly. And with that, I opened the door behind me, and stepped out of the house in silence.