Getting out of bed and walking into the kitchen, he wrapped his arms around Trance's waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Morning." He said.
"Good morning Harper." She replied, as cheerful as ever as she returned the kiss.
"Mmm, that smells good. What's the big occasion, we almost never eat breakfast here." He said as he placed his chin on her shoulder and watched her cook.
"No special reason, I just felt like doing it." She admitted. "Go sit down and I'll bring it out." She told him as she served the food.
"Yes Ma'am, anything you say." Harper replied with a grin.
Sitting at the table, Trance placed a plate in front of Harper and one in front of herself. The smell of the food was making Harper's mouth water. Trance, even though she didn't really think this meal was healthy, was eager to eat as well. So without the need for word they both began to eat.
A half hour later, after Harper had a morning coffee and Trance had some juice, they both prepared for work.
"Hey Trance, I'm gonna take a shower before I get dressed. I gotta keep my hair in that disheveled look you love so much." He said as he stripped his t-shirt and boxers on the way to the bathroom. "You wanna join me, that way we can both get clean at the same time." He asked her with a backward glance over his shoulder.
"I showered before I started breakfast. But we'll take a shower later tonight." She told him with a small smile and a twinkle in her eye.
He just grinned in anticipation as he proceeded through the bathroom door and closed it behind him, he loved his steam and didn't want any to escape.
Trance just smiled at his antics and finished getting dressed in her normal outfit, the body armor looking clothing she'd been wearing since she changed places with her younger self.
When she heard Harper singing off key, she knew that it was time to get his clothes ready for him. If she didn't, he'd just grab the first thing he saw, no matter how many times he'd already worn it or how dirty it was. So when he got dressed in the morning, Trance would have a set of clothes ready for him, even though he was an engineer and got dirty on a daily basis, she still wanted him to start the day in clean clothes.
Trance was cleaning up the last of the breakfast dishes when Harper came out of the bathroom humming the same melody he'd been trying to sing earlier. When she heard this she stifled a small laugh.
"Hey Trance," Harper called to her from the bedroom, "Have you seen my tool belt?" He asked as he came out in the same style of work pants he always wore, and a muted olive Hawaiian shirt. Trance was lucky to have found a store that carried the pants he liked, she bought the entire stock, just so that Harper could have clean pants everyday.
"I thought I saw it in your workroom." She reminded him, he may be a genius, but due to that talent he sometimes forgot where he put his tool belt, so busy was his mind with other tasks.
"Oh, yeah, here it is. Thanks love." He said as he retrieved the belt from his workbench and put it on.
"Well, I'm already for work. Shall we go see what the good Captain hunt has planned for us today?" He asked as he offered her his arm, which she took.
"Yes, let's go see what he has planned." She said with a smile.
So arm in arm the two set off for Command to find out what 'chores' Dylan had in store for them.
"So Beka, what are you doing after your shift tonight?" Dylan was asking as Harper and Trance entered.
"I was planning on reading a book. Why do you have something you'd like to do?" She asked him from her position at the Slipstream Console.
"I was thinking that we should all play a game tonight, you know spend some time together."
"Really? What game did you have in mind?" She asked.
"Monopoly." Was all he said as a grin spread across his face.
"Sounds fun." Beka replied, she then glanced over at Harper and Trance. "Hi guys, what's up?" She asked.
"We came to see what Dylan had planned for us today." Trance told her.
"Yeah Boss, so what chores do you got for us?" Harper asked as he leaned against a console facing, Trance beside him.
"Well, I would like you and Trance to go on a supply run to Alacar Drift, we need some new parts for the Maru, and I need Tyr and Beka here to help with repairs. I'm sending you guys because I know you can get good deals on the parts we need." Dylan told the couple.
Harper and Trance looked at Dylan for a few moments before Harper spoke up.
"So, let me get this straight, you're sending me and Trance on a supply run and leaving Beka and Tyr here to do repairs?" Harper asked, not really believing his luck.
Harper and Trance had been talking about asking for a small vacation for just the two of them, not so much a vacation as just some time off together. Apparently, Dylan had developed ESP and had read the couple's minds.
"That's right Harper. I figure that the mission should take about ." His voice trailed off as he thought of a time frame. His eyes sought those of his first officer as the couple took the bait. "A week, go there, get the parts, come back. That's it." He told them, signaling with his hands that there was nothing more.
"Think you can handle that?" Beka asked, humor in her voice.
"Do I think we can handle that? Am I a genius? And is Trance my wife and the mother of my child?" Harper asked the pair, when he received no reply he went on, "of course we can handle it. Don't worry about it." He said with a wave of his hand.
"Good, you'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Tonight however, you two are going to join us for a friendly game of Monopoly." Dylan commanded.
"Yes sir, Dylan sir!" Harper said with a mock salute, "What time should we be there?"
"Say about, 1900 hours, the Obs. Deck."
"Sounds good to me. Come on Harper, we need to get packed for the mission." Trance said as she pulled her husband out of Command, Beka and Dylan just smiled and returned to work.
"So, they're sending us on a mission. I wonder why? They never send us on missions together." Harper said as they walked down the corridor back to their quarters.
"Well, maybe they think we can get better deals than they can." Trance offered.
"I don't know, it's too suspicious. I mean Tyr doesn't even like to do repairs." Harper stated.
"Well, we shouldn't worry about it, all we need to do is pack, get the parts list and play a game of monopoly with them. Which of course we'll win." Trance said with a smile.
"Is that part of the 'Perfect Possible Future'?" He asked with a laugh.
"No, but with us as a team, there is no way that they'll win." She replied.
"We do make a good team don't we?" Harper asked as he hugged his wife.
"Yes we do. Now go start packing, we'll get the list when we go to the game tonight." She said as she gave Harper a gentle shove into their quarters.
Spinning around and grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the room after him.
"I've got a better idea, Trance. How about that shower you promised?" He said as he gently led her towards the bathroom.
"Why not, I mean we do have a few hours to kill." She said as Harper pulled off his Hawaiian shirt and undershirt, and threw them on the bed. His pants were soon to follow as was Trance's outfit.
Giggling like children they raced to be first into the shower, with Harper in the lead as they rounded the kitchen. Trance, however won by a nose as she made it to the shower seconds before Harper.
"That's no fair, you cheated!" Harper protested as he stood outside the door to the shower.
"I did not, you big baby." Trance said from the shower. "Now stop whining and get in here!" She said with seduction in her voice, grabbing her husband's arm she pulled him into the shower with her and turned on the water.
As the steam, rose around them they were both, once again, giggling like children.
The next day, Harper and Trance were at the Maru bright and early. They had already stowed their gear and were almost done with the countdown checklist when Dylan, Beka, and Rommie showed up.
"Hey guys, come to see us off?" Harper asked as he and Trance came down the gangplank towards their friends.
"Yup, you send us off, we send you off. That's the way it works." Beka replied.
"You guys never showed up for the game last night. We were worried until Rommie told us you were fine." Dylan said with a knowing look on his face.
"Yeah, about that, you see . there was this thing." Harper tried to explain, without actually tell them what Trance and him did all night.
Dylan cut Harper's explanation off with his raised hand.
"I don't need an explanation, nor do I want one. Beka, give them the list and then they can go." Dylan said.
"Here you guys go, good hunting." Beka said as she gave Harper the flexi with the list on it.
"Thank you Beka." Trance said.
"Yeah, thanks Boss." Harper said as he followed Trance back into the Maru.
When the airlock closed behind them, Beka turned to Dylan and smirked.
"Pay up Hunt." She said.
"I can't believe that you won. That wasn't a fair bet you know." He replied as he and Beka walked out of the Hanger Bay.
"Yeah, I know, but you still took it, so pay up!" She said once again.
"Fine, my place or yours?" He asked her with resignation.
"Yours, I'd rather have you mess up your own kitchen." She teased.
Rommie popped into existence beside the two.
"I still can't believe that you took the bet." Rommie told Dylan.
"Well, I thought that he wouldn't try to explain why they missed the game." Dylan said defensively. "Plus, that's one explanation I didn't want." He said with a shiver.
"But he did, and you lost." Rommie reminded him.
"I'm just glad you cut him off when you did." Beka said with a smile. "I really would have hated to hear his excuse, I'm sure we wouldn't have enjoyed hearing it." She said with her own shudder.
"Well, I guess we'll never know what his excuse was, and I for one, am glad." Rommie said as her hologram disappeared.
"Yeah, me too." Beka said as she and Dylan entered Command.
On the Maru, Harper and Trance were settling into the routine of life onboard the small freighter. Harper was flying, the main reason was they both didn't want a repeat of the trip back in time like before. Trance had taken it upon herself to do all the cooking during the day long trip to Alacar Drift.
"So Trance," Harper started as the pilot's chair moved away from slip position. "What do you want to do for the next few hours?"
"Well, I brought a deck of cards, you wanna play?" She asked him as he set the autopilot.
"Sure, sounds fun. What do you wanna play?" He asked as she took the cards out of the box and started to shuffle them.
"Well, let's use the table in the galley." Harper said as he led took Trance's arm and led the way.
"Ok, so what game do you want to play?" She asked as they sat at the table and faced each other.
"Let's see," Harper said as he mentally made a list of card games for two people, "we could play Go Fish, a version of poker, blackjack, and that's all I can think of right now." He said as he watched Trance shuffle the cards again.
"Let's play blackjack. I've never played that before and it sounds fun."
"Ok sounds good, first I'll be the dealer since you've never played before. The rules are simple, the number on the card is how much it's worth. The face cards are all worth ten. The Ace is worth 1 or 11, depending on what you want it to be. Do you got all that?" Harper asked her.
"I think so, but let's play a few games to let me get the hang of it."
"Works for me." Harper said as he dealt the cards.
An hour later, Trance had the hang of blackjack. Had they been betting, Harper would be down by 100 thrones.
"This game is easy." Trance said after she won another hand.
"Yeah, well, I'm glad you think so Trance. I'm getting bored." He told her as he leaned back in his chair and stretched.
"Yeah, you can only play this game so many times before it gets boring. So what do you want to do then?"
"I don't know, we've got a few hours till we reach Alacar. Why don't you go back and try to get some sleep? I'll keep busy with flying, don't worry. If I get bored enough I may even join you." He said with a small grin.
"Ok, then, I'll be waiting for you." She said as she made her way to the crew bunks o try to sleep. Harper returned to the pilot's chair and just sat there watching the stars.
When they arrived at Alacar Drift, they had to wait for a docking bay to open up. They had to wait only a few minutes before they were cleared to dock.
"Well Trance, here we are, Alacar Drift. The best place in the known universe to get ripped off, also the best place for hard to find parts." He said as they left the Maru.
"I've seen worse." She replied.
Harper only grinned as he led the way towards their first destination.
Back on the Andromeda the rest of the crew was congratulating themselves on getting the couple off the ship.
"That was a very good way to get them out of here." Beka said as he, Dylan and Tyr were on the Command Deck.
"Yes, it was. You are to be congratulated on your deception." Tyr told Dylan.
"Thank you Tyr, but I can't take all the credit for it. Beka did really need the parts for the Maru. So it wasn't a total lie, just the part where we're going to do repairs." Dylan told them with a grin.
"I'm surprised that Harper didn't realize that Andromeda is in perfect shape, and doesn't need any repairs right now." Beka said with a laugh. "I guess he and Trance were too 'involved' with each other for him to realize that."
"Probably, so Dylan, where should we go?" Rommie asked as her hologram fizzled into existence.
"Let's see, they went to Alacar Drift, so we should go to an even closer one. We need to find them some nice gifts for the baby shower. I don't know of a drift where we can find anything like that." Dylan admitted.
"I do, don't worry, and it's close too." Beka said as she moved to the Slipstream Console and entered the coordinates for the drift.
To Be Continued